Slapping People Like an Old TV Set and Cocaine Ambulances

In this New Year’s episode, I catch up with Bryan and The Duuude for a freewheeling, three-hour hang where we kick off 2026 with stories, laughs, and some real talk. We swap New Year’s Eve recaps—from solo fire-pit zen with a pack of 7% seltzers, to hot-chocolate-at-midnight serenity, to working oilfield staging pads while hunting for cell signal. From there, we wander delightfully through trucking and fracking loads, fireworks prices and city ordinances, drones-as-firework-viewers, dog thunder shirts, vertigo, and the odd places different states drop acorns, anchors, and balls at midnight. We even go deep on the surprising history of time balls and the first Times Square drop in 1907.

We also geek out hard: home bread machines and einkorn wheat, DIY pizza and pretzels, Linux backups, self-hosting, and AI chatbots (how to prompt better, where they’re useful, and why they’re not AGI). The Dude shares ham radio updates—DX chasing, noisy bands, contest goals, and 2026 awards—while I reflect on site traffic milestones, writing rhythms, and value-for-value podcasting. We close with a candid detour on border drug interdictions, the EMT smuggling sting in Texas, and a few state and national political riffs—then wrap with gratitude, goals, and good wishes for a better 2026.

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Email Us:
Rich -- mailto://rchelson@gmail.com
Bryan -- mailto://circlecast@gmail.com

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