S1E165 - 165: It's About Time

I just like how it crunched. There's like a very.

Build up to it.

Hello and welcome to another episode of the backlog Breakdown, a podcast examining video games, stewardship, recreation, all sorts of fun things through a biblical lens. We take playing seriously here, maybe too seriously. I'm one of your hosts, Nate, joined as almost always, by my friend and brother in Christ, Josh. How you doing tonight, big guy?

Hey, hey, hey. Doing good. Doing good, man.

Yeah.

How you doing? How you doing?

I'm.

Say hello to your mother for me.

I don't have time for that. Ain't nobody got time for that.

No. Get out of here.

Speaking of time, that's on the docket tonight. We're going to be talking a little bit about time. I did. I noticed the title you had sort of just, like, thrown into the. I like that. It's about time.

It's about time we talked about this.

It's about time we talked about time. We're going to be doing a little bit of an examination of just. I think the primary question of the episode tonight is going to be like, what does our time tell us about the things we worship? Um, which we, we probably have variations of this conversation or shades of it, but it'd just be a good topic to revisit. But before we jump into that, dude, um, well, I'd like to know how it's been with you since we last spoke.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I see. Uh, no, it's. It's been good, man. Um, we've had some family come in town. My wife's cousin, who, they're, she's close in age to my wife, and they're, they grew up kind of like sis, you know, closer to sisters and cousins. So it's been fun having her here, taking her out and doing stuff. And, you know, we went to another I cubs game, which was fun. Yeah, we've, we've done a ton of stuff. We've been meaning to go to the zoo, but we never ended up doing that because there were just so many other things to do here in and around town and stuff going on. There was the county fair, which sounds like really. I don't know, dude.

You know, the fairs. Fairs can be lit.

It was fun. It was fun.

Like, there's, like, carney food and bad rides.

Yeah, yeah, all kinds. Yeah, all kinds of stuff. It was. Yeah, yeah, it was pretty cool. So. So the Iowa State fair is enormous. That starts next week or, like, in a week and a half. And that goes on in Des Moines. And I've heard it's yeah, it's just. It's huge. It's lit. I actually heard from one of my. It's lit from one of my good friends. He said actually, when he went with his wife, he was gonna meet his in laws there or that that's what they had planned. And he said it was like one of the worst experiences of his life because they were there for, like 3 hours trying to find each other because they're like, there's so many people, and there's just so much going on there.

Insane.

Yeah. Yeah, so. So he was. And he's told he was like, I haven't had a very difficult life. This was one of the worst days of my life. And so that was. And he also. I mean, at the time, his son's maybe. Well, no, his son is Byron's age. And this was last. That last year, last summer. So, you know, a young kid, and then just trying to find your in laws for that long is just. Anyways, so that's huge. And so I think the county fair was pretty downplayed by the people here. You know, it's like, oh, it's fun and it's free, so it'll be a fun thing to go to. So I was very impressed with. With the breadth of it. Side note, they had a whole area, you know, they do a bunch of animals and stuff like that. So they've got cattle that they're. That they grade and show off and all that stuff. There was a tent, and it was like a long tent that had rabbits in it. So there were tons, like dozens and dozens of different rabbits. And there was this one, uh, kind of rabbit. I don't, uh, Flemish. Flemish giant. And these things were enormous. I had never seen a rabbit that big. Like, it was bigger than the last dog that we had. Um, you know, bigger than, like a dachshund. Uh, it was. It was crazy how huge this was.

Well, and I think at the fair, like, those are all meat rabbits. I think, like, all the livestock gets sold. Like, all get sold for things. They get chopped up, but, yeah, those flemish giants, I think Wesley has mentioned them. They are. They are large.

It's. It's crazy. Yeah. Yeah, no, like, seeing one in person was. Was insane. Also, I think meat rabbits would be a good name for band. But anyways, that's what I've been into. How have things been for you? Good, sir.

Not too bad.

Although that's good.

The last. Yeah, not too bad. Just mildly bad. Not horrible. They've been okay. But the last couple of nights I had to. So I had to snake out a clog from our tub drain. Like, the draindeh from the tub going into the sewer main. And then we have drains in our basement floor that the one, like, every time we would run a load of laundry, water would back up and start spilling, like, onto the floor.

Okay.

Drain.

Yeah.

And so I had to do, um. I think I might have fixed it. I don't know. Like, I got a. I got a giant jug of liquid plumber, and then I. After I had used it all up, I read that you're technically not supposed to use that. They're like, you probably shouldn't use that. And I was like, well, too late. I did. I did. So there's that. But I did flush it with, I'd say, 15 to 20 gallons of hot water. Like, I just kept filling up this bucket and just pouring it through because, like. And, like, the thing is, like, it's meant to, like, trap. Like. So there's that. There's a trap in the, like, it's got the, like, the s curve thing. So there's supposed to be water in it. You want water in it to a certain, like, because, like, that's also to keep, like, sewage gas from.

Right.

Getting through, but at the same time, you don't want that backing up into, you know, your thing. So, um. Yeah, so, yeah, I think I got it. I think I got it sussed out, but.

Sweet.

We'll see. We'll see. I ended up having to buy a 50 foot snake. I have, like, a 20 foot one, and I had put that down there, and I didn't. And after I got the 50 foot, like, in there moving around, I didn't. It. I don't know. I hope I got it. That's all I'm saying is, like, I don't know. I just. I hope I got it. It seems like it's. It's working better now.

Okay.

But it also. It's just like, oh, if I ever have to do this again, it'll be too soon.

Yeah.

Because it's like, you get that gray water, and that stuff stinks.

Yeah.

And it's like, yeah, I got a greywater bath when I pulled out the clog in the. In the other line, so it's just, like, gross. Like, plumbing sucks.

Yeah. Super fun.

It's the worst. And so it's like, at some point in time, I've got to go down and just kind of, like, wipe the basement down with, like, Clorox wipes.

Gotcha.

There's a whole bunch of stuff that I'm like, yeah, this is all just gonna get thrown out. Like, that's easy. We're just gonna throw that in the trash. Yeah, but, yeah, no, it was. I mean, that's. It's like, okay. It's like I was texting back and forth with Jared a little bit, and he said the joy. And he. And we were just kind of joking about it. He said the joys of home ownership, and I sent him that gift from nacho Libra. It's the best.

I love it. I love it.

I love it. It's the best.

It's the best. I live in a room all by myself, you know?

And it's like. But, yeah, so that's. I mean. And then today, like, today's just. Today has kind of been like, I was supposed to see, like, the thing is, I was supposed to get together with a buddy of mine and smoke cigars, but then I had to do the stupid thing with my drain, and that made me, like, one of those things is, like, way farther on the fun scale.

Like, yeah, yeah.

The fun side of the scale or the spectrum. And the other is, like, on the suck side of the spectrum.

Right. So the suck is just amplified because you're not able to do the fun.

Yeah. It's like, I wanted to have cigars with my buddy, but now I gotta. Yeah. Anyways. But. But you know what, though, too? We did have dinner with some friends last night, and it was really. They made, like, this, like, fajita. It was. But it wasn't like. It was, like, a fajita mix thing, but it was, like, done on, like, a baking pan. And it was like. I don't know. It was really good. It was really, really good. Like, I don't know. Okay, this is a weird side tangent. Megan is looking at me because she accused. She's. She said to me, she's like, you have never said anything I have ever made was really good. That is not true.

Oh, no.

Yeah. There. There you go. I don't know if you heard that. Yeah, but it was. It was really good. It was. And I think it was like. And the thing that got me is like. And I explained it to them is, like, I don't like a lot of cooked vegetables. Like, I like cooked broccoli or, like, green beans or peas. Right. But as a general rule, I don't really like my vegetables cooked. And when they are cooked, they have to be like. And it's gonna sound like. But if you cook peppers and onions, they need to be soft. Like, I'm not talking, like, soggy, like, falling, but, like, they have to be soft. You have to tell that they've been cooked. And sometimes, like, you. You eat things and it's like. It's like. It's like they barely, like, they heated them up anyways.

Yeah, yeah.

Peppers and onions were, like, the perfect consistency. And then, like, black beans and the kale and there's, like, the sauce that they had. And with the chicken, I was like, dude, this is. It was really good.

Nice.

I liked it. I liked it a lot. And then Megan was mad because she said, I've never said that about any of her cooking.

Gotcha.

And that's not true. It's not true. Maybe I've never used the word phenomenal, but her cooking, like, she makes some things I really do enjoy, so I just. But anyways, so I got myself in trouble.

But, yeah, there you go.

But it's the good and the bad, man. It's the good and the bad. But it's. Yeah, that's. That's what's been. Been going on since we last spoke.

Nice. Nice. Well, that's.

But, uh, I. I guess the other side of that question is, what have you been into since, like, in. In the whole week since we last recorded?

Yeah, that's true. Um, well, you know, I do have some media to report on.

The. If you guys could see what he's doing. He's air drumming so vigorously, it's like the most committed air drumming I've ever seen in my life. So let's get it now.

All right. Yeah, so I do have some stuff to report just a little bit this time this week.

Yeah.

Few things that I've been into, and really, I guess this is just a little out of style because usually it's books that I'm reading or other things like that. This is all a bunch of stuff that I've been watching. Although technically, I guess a lot of my YouTube time is just listening as opposed to actually watching. It's a visual medium, but, you know, sometimes I just don't. Don't watch. I just listen. Pop in a headphone or two. What's up?

I was going to say, like, that YouTube premium, it's a little pricey by itself, but, yeah, dude, it's. It is really nice, because I just. I would just listen to content when I had it. Like, the time didn't sign up for it. I can actually sign up for it through Verizon, I think, for, like, $10.

Oh, nice. Nice. Well, I'll just say, we can talk about that in the brohang. Okay, yeah, yeah. But anyways, it's one of those topics like emulation, where it's like, is that really. But I can throw some ideas your way. Anyways, okay, so starting with some YouTube. Actually, I've just got two channels to plug here that I've been enjoying quite a bit lately. The first one, we can't dive deep on this because I don't want it to derail anything. For anyone who listens to the brohang, we can. We can get derailed whenever we talk about politics because that's super fun topics. But this channel.

And by fun, you mean it's absolutely infuriating.

The american politics is the crazy, like, circus show. Uh, I would say right now, but I think it's been that way for, like, a decade now. It's crazy. And I say that. I mean. Right, right. It's like it was careening that way, and now it's full, full blown. I mean, yeah, got Hulk Hogan and kid rock, man. I mean, why not? Anyways, we're not gonna go there, but I will recommend this channel that is largely a political channel. He goes by dad saves America, and he is just a level headed voice when it comes to politics. I say that as someone who is pretty light. Excuse me, light, right leaning. And so if you're listening to this and you don't agree with that, then he may seem pretty outlandish, but I think he really seeks to. To listen to both sides and give his opinions.

Yeah, I would co sign on dad saves America. You introduced him to me with that. That video he did on sort of, like, the way forward, basically being like, just, like, make everything a Dobbs decision. And, like, I think. I mean, like, you know. Cause that is a. And again, not to get too. But that's, like, a legitimate question, like, how are we going to go forward? There are at least two very strongly opposed, like, ideologies that are sort of, like, in the political limelight, and there's not a lot of cross talk. Right. So it's just like, there's not a lot of, like, compromise or meeting in the middle or anything. And I. It's just like, everything seems very stressed and very tense, and it's like, frankly, I think what he had to say there was really good. It's like, yeah, just make everything a states rights issue. Like. Like, put it all back to the states. Like gay marriage, gun control, all of it. Just put it all back on the states. Like, whatever you can think. Like, no, like, look at the states and say, do your job.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's. He's much. He's definitely for smaller government, which unfortunately, currently in our two party system, neither party is for. So it's.

Yeah, that's true.

It's difficult. But anyways, I would recommend his content now, I don't watch him religiously, so I'm sure there are videos out there that he's done that I would say, eh, no, I disagree with that take. Sure. Why not? But out of the videos that I've seen more than. More often than not, he at least has something very intelligent to say. And so I appreciate. And he says it with a lot of heart. So dad saves America. Good YouTube channel. The other good YouTube channel that I just. I'd like to plug here, that I would recommend. It's this guy. His name is Nate Sala. He goes by wise disciple on YouTube. And I started watching him when he used to be a debate teacher, a high school debate teacher. And he would do debate, not reactions, but like, reviews of debates, where he would primarily look at. And these are usually theological debates. And he would assess the. Not the closing arguments, but a lot of the cross examination of debates, because that's usually where you get the clash there. And he would basically just assess the performance of the debaters. That's kind of how I jumped onto his stuff. But he has a lot of theological stuff in general. It's not just debate stuff any longer. He does all kinds of stuff. And now YouTube, I think, is his full time gig at the moment. So it's good stuff and it makes you think. And, uh. And he is not. I feel like he's not very forceful with a lot of his stuff. Like, he presents stuff, but, uh, again, just another guy that I think has a really good head on his shoulders. And I would recommend his, uh, his YouTube channel. So, wise disciple. It's gooden.

Shoot me maybe like some. Like one of his video. Like your favorite.

Okay.

Video of his.

Because, yeah.

If I do get the. If I do the YouTube premium thing or other things, I might start utilizing some of that YouTube stuff a little bit more. Yeah. So have you been into anything else since then? Since we last spoke?

The only other thing is a show that I've been watching with my wife. It is a like a BBC masterpiece thing. So we thought it was. I say it's a show, and we thought it was a show, but these masterpiece things are basically like mini movies, you know, like, do you remember those, Sherlock? BBC?

Yeah, dude, like the one with Cumberbatch. And.

Yes. Yeah, it's like that.

Who is the other dude, though?

Right? Why can't I think of his name? Martin Young Bilbo. Yes. There you go. It's sort of like that. The production quality isn't quite that high, but it's like that where it's like. It's sort of a show. It's sort of a contained movie, but the. But they, you know, like, they go in a certain order, but they're also, like an hour and a half long each episode. So they're like, movie.

Well, like a miniseries.

High production values, you know? Yeah, yeah.

Very, very long episode. Miniseries kind of thing.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so this one that we've been watching is called Wallander, and it's older ish. I think it started, like, ten years ago, something like that. But they're based on books. Uh, he's this detective in, um. In sw. Yeah, Sweden. That's how you say it. Um, which is kind of funny because everyone has these thick british accents, but then they say, like, the names of places or something, or you see a road sign and it's like, in a different language and it's kind of funny. Um, what's his face. Tom Hiddleston is in it.

Right, okay.

Swedish. He plays one of the side characters, one of the other guys who works at the. At the detective's office, or the whatchamacallit. The police station is what it's called. So anyways, it's been fun. It's been good. And I say fun, you know, obviously it's a crime show, so it gets kind of gnarly, but we've been enjoying it. Yeah, really? That's kind of all we've been into at the moment.

British television. Like, I'm going to sound like probably such a snob right now, and I don't care, but british television, I've always enjoyed. They're programming, I think, so much more than most american television. Like, I'm gonna say this, and I know it's not a popular take, but I earnestly believe that the british office is a superior version. Oh, they are two different things, and I will recognize that. But I like the british version better. It's a. And there was just, like, a few BBC shows that have migrated. Been, like, brought over for american audiences that I just. I've watched, like, the british versions, and I'm like, I prefer this. I prefer the british version. Maybe it's because it's the original, but it's like. And I think that. Well, I think the other thing too, is just a. British television does this thing where. And maybe, like, I'm sure they have, like, long standing, long running sitcoms and stuff like that, but as a general rule, they're just like, much more. They do, like, the miniseries thing where it's like, this show will run for a few years. It'll tell its story, and it'll. It'll go away. And personally, I'm like, yes. All about that.

Yeah.

Now, when we get into Downton Abbey, like, that can go burn on a trash fire. And I'm gonna say this as somebody who loved that show up until they killed my favorite character. And then I realized I had just been watching soap operas.

Yeah.

And it's like, they got me, so they can go. It can go. It can go. Burn on a trash. In a trashy.

As someone who has seen two of the Downton Abbey movies in theaters because my wife wanted to see them, I largely agree with you. I wouldn't go so far to say is, like, burn in a trash fire, but I agree. Like, there's. There's a very. I was gonna say a steep drop off is not even necessarily that it is. That is one show that they did not, you know, send it off to pasture when it go, like, because it was such that that show needs to create drama. Nothing can ever be going, like, all going right. Something bad has to happen. Let me tell you. Like you said, it's a soap opera. It's a. I'll tell you the way for a good long time where I.

Dropped off was, um. I was really rooting for Mary and Matthew, I think.

Yeah, yeah.

And when they killed Matthew, spoilers. Um, I was just like, no, I'm done. Like, this show, like, this show sucks. I'm done, like, because it was, like, there was so much, like, drama everywhere else, and it was like, like, that would have been the perfect place to just, like, end it.

Yeah. Like, yeah.

But they were like, nope, hey, he dies. And I was like, get bent. I was like, I out.

Right.

So I get it.

I get it. I do. I do think it's a good show. But at the same time, like you said, yes, it is totally a soap opera. And if it were only just, like, a season or two, it would have been better.

Yeah. And I really think, like, what was great about that is it really was, like, a fascinating sort of, like, perspective. Like, it's like, there were all these little details, and, like, there was all this, like, really cool minutiae, but it's like, like I said, when they did that arc. I was just like. And then you get like, I think I watched an episode here or there, and I just was like, no, no, but I'm not here to talk about down there. Down Abbey, because I haven't watched Downton Abbey in a long, long time. Like years. I'll tell you something that I have been watching.

Yeah. What you've been.

And I mentioned this a while ago, but I've been like. I just sat down and I plowed through, like, three or four episodes. But Bakugan, it's just the best.

The show about the tops. The top battling thing.

No, I said bakugan, right?

Yeah, that's Bakugan. Yeah. I think you're talking about Bakuman with.

An a. I thought Bakuman was a. Oh, whatever. Anyways, the show that showed. The show about the mangaka.

Right, right. But if there's anyone listening who's younger than us, they're gonna recognize stupid as the stupid battling tops of.

I see. I hate that.

How dare you?

How dare they name those things almost the exact same thing? And then my feeble brain. But, yeah. Bakuman.

Yes.

See, I feel like Bakuman makes sense with the tops because it's almost like a pokemon digimon thing because the tops come alive and they're like monsters.

Okay. Okay.

There you go. That's in my head. That's, like, the association. So.

Yeah.

Just saying. It's just terrible. But anyways, Bakuman is. I've been watching, like, three or four episodes, and it just. It's, like, one of my favorite things. I just. I really do like that story. It's just got a lot of heart, and it's kind of sweet and tender, and it captures a lot of, like, you know, I'm still pretty early on in the run, but it's like. It captures a lot of. Just, like, the. Because, like, these dudes, when that. When the show starts out, they're, like, 1516 years old. Like, they're young. They're middle schoolers, and it's. Yeah. Anyways, I just. I like that show. As far as other things I've been into, you know, I did finish that life is hard, God is good book, and it's. It's a strong recommend still.

Okay. Sweet.

Yeah. And again, I would just caveat that by saying, like, it is pop theology. There's no major insights, but it's just like. It's honest and it's refreshing. Something a little more substantial. I did go through the emotional life of our Lord by BB Warfield, and I'm just gonna say, like, I everybody needs to check that out. It's short. It's like, if you're listening to it, it's like a couple hours long. You read it. I think it's less than 100 pages. It is an absolutely, I want to say, like refreshing and challenging. It just, it surprised me and really, I found it to be really provocative. I think it's excellent. And it's for something as small as it is, it really, I mean, it's BB Warfield, so, you know, there's like some chops there. Right, right. It's, it's excellent. So I recommend it to everybody. Sweet like that. That sort of goes on this like, must read kind of tier. Like, you know, very strongly recommend that last. But, you know, the last sort of thing that I'll throw out there. And it's sort of, you know, bouncing off of your dad saves America. And this is more of just like a couple of stand alone episodes. Last media has a conversational podcast called Constellation. And they grab three or four people in sort of the last Dan media families Orbitz, and they've done two of these, these basically political episodes. There was one shortly after the debate debacle.

Nice. Yeah. Yeah.

And then they just released another one. And the participants in that. And so Colin is pretty right leaning to they. And then he's his co host on sacred symbols. Chris Raygan is a pretty hardcore leftist. He also has David Jaffe, the creator of the God of War series, who is super hardcore left. And then Gene park from the Washington Post, who does, you know, he's on a few of the podcasts in that sort of orbit. He's, he's, he's one of the hosts of punching up or one of the, the chairs I'm punching up. But he's a, he's a pretty frequent contributor in last time media. But he, he showed up on that and it was just a, it was, some of it was insane. Like, and just like full disclosure, warning language. David Jaffe, he sweat, he swears like a fifth grader.

Like, you know, I mean, I would expect nothing less from the creator of God of war, Frank.

Yeah. And, um, but it's one of those things where I think it's, it's interesting because I live in sort of a very red bubble and there's some opinions from other people and, and again, it's, it's, I don't think it's anything super profound, but I did find it to be an interesting conversation about the american political, um, the situation, you know, and I think what's really interesting is that they've done two of those, like, almost like, not back to back, but really kind of, like, very quickly. And even their conversation about Kamala or Kamala or however she said you say her name was, I don't know. It was pretty interesting. So, yeah, it's one of those things where I just, like, I'd say, hey, it's not bad for, like, checking out. If you want to check out conversations that aren't echo chambery, that's okay.

Okay.

Yeah, because, like I said, colin is. And, like, there's some stuff that Colin says that even I was like, oh. Like, I raised my eyebrow because I'm right leaning. I'm more of a centrist. I tend to be a lot more moderate, but I am pretty right leaning. And there were a few things that he said. I was like, what? And then he. He goes on and he explains some of his position, and while it's still, like, I still don't cosign, but that makes a little bit more sense. Like, you said this thing, and I was like, but, yeah, it's interesting. And I. It's like I said, you know, full sort of, like, disclosure. Like, again, there's. There's some language, and if that's a real problem, there's a lot of language. And so David Jaffe also, like, has the. The mental. He's a really smart dude, but he talks and acts like a 13 year old boy. So just. There's. That can be a little off putting, but, yeah, so that's. That's really all that. I've been sort of like. That's out of the. Since a lot the last week or whatever. That's. That's kind of what I've been into and what I would recommend. That being said, we are a video game podcast, Josh, and I think it is time to talk about the things that we've been playing. So let me ask you, what have you been playing lately? What's. What's. Wait, what do you got going? You know, we never even mentioned, this segment is called the backlog report.

Wow.

We are terrible at our jobs. We are the worst podcast host in history.

I mean, I think. I think we pretty much, you know, at least alluded to that when. When we had our.

We didn't do the smooth podcast host thing that I failed everyone. I'm like. I'm like Michael Caine's Alfred in Batman. I failed you.

I'm sorry. That was good. That was good. I liked that. I liked that. Well, don't worry, because I'm a failure as well, and I just haven't been playing that much. I played a little bit more of Legend of Zelda linked to the past on Switch online, so been playing through that and we will be discussing that more on an upcoming episode. Hint, hint, nod, nod, wink, wink, wink. Nudge. Yes, nudge. That's what it is. So we'll talk about that more later. But that's a fun game. Outside of that, man, it's really just been. This is some couch co op stuff. So a little bit more of Rayman legends. Not that much, but mostly what it's been because we've had family over the past, most of the last week is a lot of Mario Kart eight because it's just a great. What do you call those things, man? There's a term for it, and I just feel stupid because I'm in front of.

I would just call it a strife generator.

Well, no, it's an equalizer. That's what it is. It's the great equalizer. Because, I mean, although, like, I've taught my son some things and he's gotten pretty dang good. He's given his old man a run for his money. But even with that, there are elements to the game where, you know, it seems kind of random, but it makes the game a little more difficult if you are playing very well, I'll put it that way. And it elevates players who are not that great.

It's all right to say that it rubber bands.

Yes. Yes. It's rubber banding. Yes. And so it's fun for everyone. Even my little four year old daughter can play because there is auto steering that you can enable and she could just hold down the a button and her character can do, you know, fairly well end up in 9th place or whatever out of the 20 riders. So we have a great time with that. It's. Yeah, it's always fun, whether it's battle mode or racing or whatever. So, man, I can see how it's sold so many copies. It's just. It's just a great game. Mario Kart eight, but with that, it's pretty great.

Yes.

Yeah, yeah. What. What a fantastic series. And. And I like playing my here recently. I like playing with little squid kids. They're fun. I like. I like the splatoon aesthetics. It's fun. Anyways, haven't finished anything, and so my beatdown score still remains at negative five so far as we're. As we're coming over here on the second half of the year, that's where I sit or stand or lay. How about you?

I mean, honestly, this is probably like, yeah, it's not that exciting, but I have just been, I have been doing work on Persona three reloaded. I am in January at this point in time.

Okay. Yeah.

I am like six or seven trophies away from getting the platinum. I think the hardest one is going to be. Well, the guide just helps me maximize because a lot of it is just like, gotcha. There's. It's helped me, like, so, like, the social link trophy. I'll have that one here shortly. I think the hardest trophy is going to be. So there are two trophies. I'm a little concerned about completing the compendium. That's not a trophy.

Wow. How can you say you platinum the game and you haven't completed the compendium, man?

That's, that's a. I mean, I. Something else pretty much have, but that's not a trophy. Yeah, but it's. You have to beat a reaper.

Oh, okay. Yeah.

And so that one, I'm kind of like, that might be. That might be tough. The other thing that I'd have to do is, and I've. I've read in some places that sometimes this is bugged, but there's one that there's 17 twilight shards or whatever that you can find around town.

Okay.

And so I need to. But, yeah, where I'm at in the game is like, I'm really just kind of, like, getting ready for endgame. Like, I'm just. Yeah, like, right now I've just been. I don't have anything meaningful to do at night, so a lot of times I just go to tartarus and I just grind.

Oh, okay.

I gear up and you sort of like, like, you know, uh, level up my different Persona. Like, I've got a lot of the higher end ones. And so I'm just, I'm trying to get. There's a, that weapons dealer, um, who, like the antique shop at the, the mall that you can get like, the, the weapons with a. It's like, almost like it reminds me of, like, it's. It's sort of a half crafting system kind of thing. But, um, because you need, like, different resources from, uh, the tower from tartarus anyways. Yeah. To craft different weapons and, and armor and stuff. So, yeah, that's, that's what I'm doing.

Um, nice.

But it's. I'm pretty much, I've got. I have to finish Yukari's relationship arc and I guesses, or Aegis's or however you say her name cool.

So, yeah, it's nice. So. So I gotta ask. So far, you're not done with the game yet. I get it. But how. Where does it slot in for the three Persona games that you've played so far?

So it's weird because, and there's a part of me that wants to go back and play five royal in a similar way.

Yeah.

And actually for golden, just like, sort of do, like the, just the spoiler free walkthrough to sort of maximize everything.

Sure.

I think by very nature of its theme. So it's like, it's primarily about death.

Right.

It's a little. It's a little weightier and feels a little more substantial.

And definitely more than four, I would say.

Yeah, I liked four a lot, but I think as a general rule, I like the cast in three better. Everybody is kind of, like, grown on me and it's just like, I don't know. Like, honestly, I think the game just kind of, like, I think it does the thing that every Persona game that I've played does where just kind of it does overstay its welcome. Like, these games could all probably be, like, 30 hours shorter and I'd like them a lot more.

Yeah, yeah.

But this one, it feels like the. The character developments are the most interesting. Like, and it's like, I told you as. And we can talk about that. We'll definitely talk about this more with wes. But, like, jdehdem started out as, like, a total. Just jack wagon. Like, I couldn't stand him. I was like, what a. What a dork. Just like, what a pompous little turd. And, like, he's still kind of that way.

Sure.

But it's also like, he's. He's. He's grown. Like, he's grown on me and it's like, okay, yeah. Like, no, I see some of the charm. So it's. It's just kind of interesting. And I think it's, like, it's the least. I would say three is probably my favorite Persona right now. Wow.

Okay. Okay.

I just. I think, like, you know, because, like, four is about friendship and it's a little light and airy and everything else and just like, as a, like, no, I'll save some things for. For the actual episode, but, yeah, yeah, but, yeah, it's. It's. It's one of those things where it's, like, I think it might be my favorite out of, like, three, four and five.

Nice.

Because, like, I think. I think the story just the story's got more hooks and I don't know if that's because, like. So it's like. Is it because it's, like, a little more serious and it's like that thematically, it's a little more melancholy, maybe. I don't know. Because it's about death and loss. Like, and every one of those characters is shaped by death and loss in some substantial way. And whereas I think the four is about friendship and discovering, like, your true self through. Through that. And five, I think, is, like. I think the theme for five, in my opinion, is rebellion. It's sort of like bucking. Bucking the trends and kind of like. But, yeah, I don't know. I think right now it might be three. Cool.

Cool. That is very satisfying to hear, you know, because I've always held to that myself as well. But, yeah, we'll talk about it more on a future episode because there's a lot to dig into in the game. I'm just. I'm very happy to hear you say that. I wasn't. I wasn't sure where you were.

I thought you. Yeah, I thought you'd like that. Yeah. The way it's saying, I just think it's. It's sort of. Especially the three reloaded version, I think is a cobden. And the other thing is, it's not too busy. Four and five, they kept layering on and piling on more systems and more things to do, and it's like, frankly, I, like, kind of just the decluttered. And again, I'm using the spoiler free walkthrough to sort of help me. Guide me through it. But it's like, it doesn't feel as, like, busy or hectic or weird, you know? Yeah, that's interesting. It had, like, sort of a really for a Persona game, like a tight presentation, and I actually like that a lot where it's like.

But cool. Cool. I dig it.

So. Yeah, but I mean, and that's really all I've been playing.

Yeah.

So I guess, you know. Yeah, my score hasn't changed either. I am still at plus one. At some point in time, I am going to beat some things and sort of knock that number down. Um, but, yeah. And I just have to say, too, like, I have been resisting. There have been some things have gone on sale where I'm like, I kind of want that. It's like, no, no, we'll just. We'll hold fast. But, uh, I mean, you guys know what's coming next. It's time for us to talk about all the things that aren't aren't this podcast that you should probably be paying attention to? And so we're gonna start off with just guys. And this is very, like, podcast centric, but it's. It's the backlog beatdown. It's that meta that we run all year long where if you buy games, you take points, and where you. When you beat games, you lose points. And the thing is, you want to get that score as low as possible. That's the gist of it, right? And there's. If you're interested in a rule set or a rule sheet, we have one in our discord server. I think it's pinned in the backlog beat down 2024 channel. The current iteration of the rules and the way that we keep track of that is on the official app of the backlog beatdown. That's the GG app developed by a friend of the show. And I would say our friend, you know, it's not like we're, like, bestest bros, but we're like, we're pretty friendly with him. But Charles Watson. Why did I say it like that? Charles Watson, like, almost like a question.

But my friend Charles. I mean, my idea. Watson.

Chucky dubs.

Chucky dubs.

But Charles Watson developed GG, and it's essentially a letterbox style app for your video game collection. There's a whole pile of features in there that you can sort of get into. You can create. And essentially, the way that we use it is you create custom lists. We have a list for acquisitions. We have a list for the games that we beat. There's also different place statuses that you can assign to that. And we have the different scorings here. So it's like beat complete, et cetera. And you can. There's a whole sort of, like, toolkit in there. You can also rate and review games that you've. I'm gonna. Hopefully, I would. I would strongly suggest that if you're going to rate and review games in the app, you should do it to games that you've played. But you. You can see what your friends are playing. Josh is on there. I'm on there. A lot of the friends of the show. Micah is on there. I think Mark Erickson is on there. Just a pile of the guys that we have on, you know, the breakdown and that we're friendly with. They're all there. Most of them can be found in GG, but. And if you like. And you can get all of that for free, like, though the whole kit is free to download. And if you like what you. You're seeing there for $5 a month or $50 a year, you can get access to the elite program. And what that does is it gives you a unique role in his discord server. So you get a little more access to Charles and that you can, you can opt into, you know, basically being a beta tester and seeing some of the early builds. You also, you get to see, you get to take a peek at, you know, sort of what he's, he's focusing on his different, sort of like the roadmaps and things. Anyways, it's cool. We're both, you know, sort of at that, that elite tier as well. And again, we, we like the product. We like Charles, and we definitely think you ought to check it out. Other things that you ought to check out and maybe throw money at. It's a, it's, well, you're already listening to this, but it's. We have a Patreon, right? And essentially it's a tip jar. We do have a few more costs than, than we used to. You know, we had to opt into a paid version of Zencastr, but that helps cover basically our operating expenses. It also, we, if we have to buy games for episodes or for Patreon recommendations that the money goes towards covering that. But in addition to that, anybody, and for as little as a buck a month, you can help this podcast. But in addition to helping us. Right, so that you get that nice, warm, fuzzy feeling for helping two of your favorite podcast hosts. Actually, well, maybe just one. It's probably just Josh, but you probably get the warm and fuzzies from, from helping Josh. But in addition to that, you, you can have access to the brohang, which is a Patreon exclusive podcast. It tends to be a lot more stream of consciousness. Sometimes we talk politics. Sometimes we talk about video game related stuff. Sometimes we just tell funny stories and make each other laugh until we cry. Yeah, it's just a grab bag and it's kind of whatever. But you also, as a patron, you get early and uncut access to each and every episode. There's a video feed that you get exclusive access to, and you get a special role in our discord server with a channel that only our patrons can access. In addition. So what? You've got all of that, but it doesn't. But there's more. Yeah, there's more. Each of our patrons, throughout the course of a year, can nominate a topic or a game for us to do an episode, and they can join us on that game or on that episode. So if any of that appeals to you. We'd love to have you maybe check that out. Last but not least, let's just sort of like, let's make no bones about it. We have developed some interesting friends over the years, and, you know, we are proud to partner with a few of them in particular. And it doesn't mean that we like other people less or other podcasts less, but these are our favorites. And by a lot, we are proud members of the Playwell network. Alongside our friend Paul, the artist currently known as the techno Funk Boy, he does the Thorns of War, which is an actual play podcast set in the Dragonlance realm. In addition to that, Wesley Ray the Hench, and dad himself is the host of his most current project is Retronym, which is. It's kind of nostalgia, short form content for the most part. He does a lot of, like, he talks a lot about Pokemon and Pokemon. He does tier lists with Pokemon, and he can be, like, pretty petty. And he has no shame when it comes to just being like, no, that Pokemon is hideous and should be subjected to some awful fate. And last but certainly not least, is our buddy, the wonder from down under, uh, porcho. Just, um, with nothing new under the porch. And essentially, the way that I've come to sort of think about nothing new under the porch is that. And it. And he has done some deviations. Like, you know, we mentioned last, that last full episode, uh, the. The horrific, uh, conversation that he and wes had about, like, which Pokemon would you eat? Which was just left me just. I'm still, like, I'm still a little traumatized, like. But it's essentially like if hard drive loved Jesus or if the Babylon be talked a lot more about video games with exponentially more bad accents. But, yeah, we love those guys. We love what they're doing. And we think you ought to check their stuff out because you might like it, maybe even love it as well. And I think now's a good time for a word from one of them. Sit down, shut up, and listen to this. No, you can't make me. I hate sitting down. But what is this magic I'm hearing, huh? Never heard it. You say happy nothing. You under the porch. It sure is wacky, kind of life changing and hardly worth taking serious. I don't really know how to describe it. Wait, are you crying? I call it beautiful. You got that right, kid. Now you stand there and listen to the beautiful, wacky, and life changing show on video games, satire, and theology where I'm gonna keep on repeating myself, and this ad won't end. I'll never stop listening to it. Okay, well, your call. Make sure to subscribe and whatever. My job is done. I'm out of here. And we're back. So, gang, tonight, I make no promises about how long or how short this will take us. Cause we have no idea how much time we're going to use tonight, but time, yeah, it's about time. And I think, and again, just to sort of revisit sort of what I said at the beginning, at the top of the episode, I think Josh and I have had. Josh, I would say that I believe that we have had variations of this conversation, sure. But I. And we may have even visited this sort of specifically not, not. But we wanted to examine time and what it really like and how you use it and what it reveals about your heart or specifically what it reveals about what you worship, because. And that's an important thing. And I think sort of like where I think we can jump off just in is, you know, is that I think one of just an idea here for people to grip onto as sort of like, as we go through this is that time is really the only resource you actually have.

Okay?

And, you know, and it's like we talk about money and things like that, and. But time is really the only resource that you actually possess. Everything else is sort of, it's actually an exchange of time. Like, you know, you spend time at work, you are reimbursed for that with money or goods or whatever. And so it's like. But the only thing that you have really is time. And so, you know, it's. It's been said that, you know, you can, and this is true, but that, you know, to look at what you spend your money on and that reveals a lot about what you care about or what you worship. But I would say in even better indicators, like what takes up the most amount of your time outside of your obligations. So, anyways, that's, that's kind of like a thought sort of going into all this conversation that I just think it's. It's useful to just remember that time really is the only resource that we actually possess. And it's. It's one of those things where you're not guaranteed, like a specific amount you. And. And once it's gone, it's gone. Like, there's no getting it back. So it's, uh. Yeah. Anyways, that being said, and now that I have sufficiently scolded everyone, let's talk about. Well, let's talk about time. So what do you got? What kind of thoughts you got going into this, Josh? No.

Yeah. I mean, I think that's a good place to start. Just thinking of it as a resource that we all possess. And I would say, well, sorry, I don't mean to just start off by even disagreeing, but I just think. I think it is particularly a resource that I talked about Mario Kart eight being an equalizer. Right. Because of the rubber banding there. I think it's. I think this is also. Time is also an equalizer, because while different people are given different gifts, we have different talents, different skills, we can use our time in ways that may even be more beneficial depending on the skills that we possess. Time is something that we all have the same amount of. Like you said, we all have 24 hours in a day. Not that we all live the same amount of time, but it does. Like you said, it reveals something about our hearts and the things that we love when we look at the time that we spend. And it's an interesting way to gauge some of these things, because I think so often we use our time without thinking whether that is just our routines that we have set up or whether it's something just subconsciously, we fill our time with things. And we're not intentional about the way that we use our time. We're still actively spending it when we do take a look at the things that we spend our time on. And even that. Even that idea of spending time, like you said, I think there's a correlation there to the way that we spend our money and what that shows about the things that we value. What we spend our time on shows what we value as well. And so there's a number of different ways we can take this. When it comes to video games, obviously, we're not of the camp that would say, oh, video games are a waste of time. Right. Or that even dumping a lot of time into a specific game is necessarily a waste of time. I think that's. That's a good kind of avenue for us to go down to talk about, you know, our shorter games better or longer games better. Like, what does it mean? What does it mean that you spend, you know, over a hundred hours on a video game? That's. That's an interesting place to take it. But you just kind of out that the outset, thinking through time as a resource that we have, as something that we spend, as something that we actively choose to use up, and as a marker of value as well, is kind of a sobering thought, because so often we can just kind of get in our own rut. And maybe, you know, maybe that's just that I'm a 35 year old man with a number of responsibilities. And so, um, but I don't, I don't always value my time the way that I ought to. And I've got, you know, routines set up and things like that, that as a younger man, I was a bit more free with my time, and it wasn't quite as locked down, you know. But that said, I mean, I guess that's, that's the only perspective that I can come from is my own, you know, my experience and where I'm at in life. But looking at time, the way that we use our time as a marker of the things that we value, is a good starting place as we take a look into even, even the idea of entertainment and where entertainment ought to be in our life. Like, is it outsized compared to other things that we ought to be pursuing? And that's something I ask myself all the time, because there are a number of things that I could be doing, and as responsibilities grow, my time towards recreation and entertainment becomes smaller. So again, I do want to be intentional about it, but I want to put it into places that, that I do truly value. And part of that is what we do with this podcast as well. We want to be intentional about the games that we play, you know, whether. Whether they're good or they're bad, or whether they're just suggestions from friends, that's fine, too. But I do want to intentionally pick games that, hey, I think I'm going to enjoy or go into them with the proper mindset to evaluate them and nothing, frankly, the way that I play, not just play the latest and greatest and get caught up in the hype or just because it's popular. And so you want to kind of dip into it? Not that you can't choose those things, but I want to be more intentional with the time that I spend because I don't have as much to spend on it. And again, that's not to say that. That entertainment or that recreation is not valuable. Valuable because it is 100%. We need time, that we need recreation as a counterpoint to work that will help to rejuvenate us in our work as well. So there is a value in recreating. Well, certainly that's part of what we talk about in this podcast. Um, but that said, I think it's, it's just a good perspective to take, to step back every once in a while and evaluate, hey, should I be spending as much time as I am in different areas of my life and for the sake of this conversation, for the sake of this podcast, uh, in the video games that I play as well.

Well, there's something that you said that we don't believe that video games are necessarily, or I think you said just that are a waste of time. And I would say they aren't strictly a waste of time. They can be.

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah.

And, and I would even go so far as, like, to some extent that I don't know that that's necessarily exactly like, lots of things can be wastes of time. Um, I I don't look at that phrasing as negatively as I used to because I think it's kind of become shorthand is like, because a lot of times it, like, it's been used to sort of dismiss things as being useless. Like, that's a waste of time.

Right.

You shouldn't be doing, but it's, it's kind of, I'm not so sure. I think, and this is sort of kind of a weird thought that I don't have really fleshed out, is that nothing is wasted. Okay. And, like, it's not. Some things are squandered. Like, some things are not capitalized on fully or as, as much as they ought to be or they aren't focused on. But it's, it's everything to, it is that everything can be useful to a certain extent. Now, sometimes it's, again, it's that lesson of, like, things not to do. Like, sure.

Yeah. Learning from mistakes. Yeah.

Learning, learning from mistakes, et cetera. But so there's, there's some of that. But I did want to just sort of stress, though, primarily that we don't believe that video games are strictly a waste of time, but that they can be, you know, sort of using that, that, again, that terminology, sometimes they are not helpful, they aren't beneficial. And I think, you know, especially as you, you take on more responsibility. Like, you know, you're a pastor now, and you have probably a lot of obligations at church, and, but then you also have the obligations of home. And so you're going to find that your, your personal time sort of like shrinks. And that's okay. I mean, and there will be seasons where it's, that's good in some ways. And it's like, there will be seasons where it's probably going to be lighter demands on your time and, and anyways, yeah. Okay. And so, like, you know, it's funny that you mention, you know, the amount of time that we were spending on video games, and I am probably closing in on 90, 80, 90 hours on Persona three. And I've been. I mean, just, I have burned. Like, I have pretty much not done anything else. Like, it's like I play that game whenever I have time. I dumped a pile of hours into it over vacation. And I think the important part here is one of the things that we need to keep in mind while we're talking about this, is that while the chief end of Mandez, you know, is. Yeah, and I'm not talking about the catech, the catechisms, but the cheap end man is. Is. Was made to do things to. To work, you know, and that is a. That is sort of at the core of our, you know, the creation narrative. Like, you know, God made Adam, puts him in the garden and immediately gives him something to do.

Yeah.

And we also. I mean, and there's varying sort of perspectives on this, but God also incorporated rest, you know.

Right.

It's like, you know, I don't know if in a glorified state, Adam slept or not outside of being put to sleep. You know, he went into a deep sleep and God took a rib from him. So he slept at least once that we know about prior to the fall. But I would imagine that to me, it seems like sleep is a good thing. It kind of. It reminds us of our finitude, of our createdness. And just, I would say that, like, we are not meant to be perpetually, perpetually, imperfectly productive. Right. And so one of the things is that there's a phrase that gets bandied about a lot now called, like, mental health, you know?

Right.

It used to be like, there was a lot of talk about work life balance and things like that. And the world has a very particular definition of all of those things. But, like, I think it is important to build in sort of, like, vents that help you. And frankly, video games can be part of that. And I think, like, just. And. And so there's. There can definitely be an overemphasis on it. And, and we've talked about this before, and I think one of the dangers of video games in particular, when it comes, is that they are so immersive and that they really are sort of engineered to. For. For people to dump tons of time into them. Um, but it's looking at. In looking at time as a resource, not all time is expended equally. Right. And he said, sometimes they're better. Like, you sort of alluded to this when you were talking about it a little bit earlier. And I think this is kind of where my brain was going before. And so I blathered on for a few minutes, and finally my brain's like, oh, fine, I'll give you.

Let's catch up. Yeah.

So I sound like a raving lunatic because, frankly, I was for a few minutes. But one of the things you. You said there is that, frankly, there are probably more worthwhile expenditures of our time. Like, there's. There's, in a way, you could always probably be doing something that would be more beneficial. Right.

Okay. Yeah.

But there's also the fact that, like, we are again created as we are creatures of limits. And I think it is also important to enjoy, like, part of that is enjoying the things around us. And we are not, like, you know, and not to, you know, not to store up our treasures like worldlings do. You know, I think of that. Him, you know, the treasure. The treasures of worldlings. I can't remember what him that is, but. But we are really called to lay up treasures in heaven. But I think it is acceptable and at times, good for us to step out of that other work and to utilize that time to refresh ourselves so that we can be productive, more fully productive, but, yeah. And again, my brain kind of, like. I hope I don't sound like a raving lunatic.

No, I think you're making. Yeah, no, I think you're making. I think you're making good points, especially about, you know, being productive in general, is. I think you said that there are. Oh, man. You said something along the lines of not using your time in a beneficial way. And I think that word productive actually captures it a bit better of not even necessarily beneficial, because. Because rest is beneficial, but it's not productive. Right.

Well, and that's. And that's. That's the thing, is, you. You really. I guess I sort of want people like, and I preface this, but it's. I want people to really look at time as a resource. Right.

Yeah.

And when you. You have to. You have to. And you have to invest it wisely. Like, so, like, I. And I think sometimes that means, like, you know, we don't call going on vacation simple or anything like that. Now, if something. If somebody. If all they ever do is go on vacation, you know, at that point in time, there. There's maybe questions, like, okay.

Yeah, yeah.

But I think, like, sometimes it is okay to invest in something that's maybe a little more frivolous or that isn't as heavy or weighty or whatever, because I think, like, and ultimately, we need to be taking our joy and our restoration from scripture and from God and from fellowship with the saints. But I think this is a means that for mature christians, you know, yeah, it is. It can be good to just step outside of the norm and engage the, of the grind and engage with this stuff. Like, I think that can be looked at as an investment in yourself and, you know, by, by investing in yourself in that capacity, you can, you know, love and serve the people around you better.

Yeah, yeah. In the same way that I think other forms of art and entertainment fulfill a similar function. You know, something like a movie or, you know, a tv show or a good book, you know, video games can also, I would slot them into a similar category because they do some of the same things. And to me, you know, some of the best, I've talked about this on a ton, but some of the best narrative experiences in video games are pretty impactful, you know, and you pull from them things that you can put into practice or that reflect something in real life. You know, it's not just fantasy worlds for fantasy world's sake, but it's for the sake of recognizing the way that people think, you know, getting other perspectives or, or are making a statement about the tendencies of man or something like that. There are a number of things that you can glean from a good narrative, whether that's, again, a book, a movie, a show, a video game, or any of these things. I definitely think that there is a place for that. Again, we've talked about that a lot. You mentioned something about vacation and how that's a good thing to find rest sabbatically, vacation, getting away and resting, and ultimately finding that rest in Christ, certainly. But that makes me think about the line even between rest, vacation and laziness. And maybe that'll be a future episode, that maybe that's an episode idea that we can dig into is where does rest cross over into laziness? Where does this yearning for times that are less productive and more restful, where does that spill over into just being lazy? What's that?

Well, and just as a brief thought in that regard. Right. I think a way that, and this is going to sound, hopefully this doesn't sound too insane, but I think one of the ways that christians can sort of really embrace counterculturalism is by stepping away from the ideologies of perpetual productiveness and basically unshackling themselves, you know? Thanks, Andy, Stanley, uh, for unhitching yourself, unhitching themselves from like, hustle culture and the need to just like constantly be keeping themselves busy, but rather sort of actually just stepping out from that rhythm and just in, you know, intentionally stepping into times of rest and. And that that can be, again, video games can be part of that cycle. Um, so it's like video, you know, and I think, too, like now the danger is, and sort of what you did hate is that there's a lot of people who. They have an outsized dependence on video games.

Yeah.

And there are some hooks there that we need to be mindful of. But I think, again, like, a way that we can sort of, like, with our time in that is like we can be enjoyers of the medium without being enslaved to it. So that was like a brief, like, sort of just touching on that stuff, like, and that that is an equally valuable sort of witness to the world where it's like, we aren't bound by these sort of, like, these worldly, materialistic, you know, and I'm using that not in the material girl kind of sense, but in the sort of the humanist, materialist perspective where it's just like. Like it is. These things matter more than just mere stuff that this time can be implemented. But anyways, I just. I wanted to just kind of hit on that real quick before we kept moving on. I think one of the questions, though, and I think one of the ways that. One of the questions you posed in sort of some of our show notes, and I think one of the things is just kind of jumping onto this, is that I think one of the ways that we can demonstrate, and again, sort of like, sort of, kind of almost like they used to use the term living missionally and they were that, but sort of living a gospel freed life. Right. Is that instead of prioritizing video game time as mature christians, what we will do is we will put it in its proper place. So that means, like, our obligations to our. Our family, our church, our workplace, our friends, like, all of those will be met before and not at the expense. Like. Like, you know, like, we will play video games, but it won't be. It won't be in such a way to actually detract or take away from those. Those other actually more mission critical arenas.

Yeah.

So it's like, I'm going to say something like. And maybe. And I don't. I don't want this to be, like, hardcore. Like, I'm nothing. What I'm gonna say might be a little spicy, but it's not meant to be, like, unkind or uncharitable. Right. Okay. You know, we all know the stories about people who take time off from work, like when. When their favorite video game is coming out or whatever. And I'm not saying that that's bad, but as a general rule, like, even that, like, in this conversation, it's like, should we be doing things like that? Like, and again, like, hey, maybe you need a. Personally, I take mental health days at work, like, where I'm just like, I've gotten to a point and I have a, I have a fairly generous amount of sick leave accrued. It's like I hit a point where it's like I'm getting older. Sometimes I just need a day to recalibrate, and sometimes video games will be part of that. Sometimes it's like I just stay home and I do other things and I take care of, like, other things and, or I just rest. Like, you know? But, like, it's like, even something like that kind of has me, like, saying, like, well, if we're prioritizing the actual responsibilities and obligations that and the demands on our time that are required by these other things, like, is it, is it moral? Is it ethical to call off from work to stay home to play? I don't know. Well, I mean, I haven't done that in a long time, but sure, I think even, like, okay, like, you know, like, there's the joke. When GTA six comes off, comes out, there's going to be a ton of people who take a day or two off from work. It's like, and I would just say, yeah, I'm not entering into, should christians play GTA six? I'm not trying to bind anyone's conscience, but rather what I'm trying to do is just sort of like, pose this question and say, like, hey, if that's something that we do, maybe we need to, because, like, how, and I think this is the whole point, how we spend our time matters. And it actually communicates things. It doesn't, it's not just like an issue where it's like, it communicates things to us or, you know, maybe the people we're closest to, or it even, you know, communicates things to God, but it communicates things to the people around us.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I think sometimes that, that pull towards, towards spending an overabundance of time unwisely. Well, you know, with that caveat in place, I do think it's exasperated a little bit. We talked about how, hey, video games are made to, a lot of them are made to hook you. You know, they're supposed to be fun to play, and so they supposed to, they, a lot of them will try and, you know, keep you there as long as possible. And we need to be wise in and intentional about the time that we spend playing. But I think for this, this podcast, even where it started out with talking about our backlogs and games that we really want to play, that we already own, I think it is particularly difficult to remember to keep it in its place and to make wise decisions with our time and how we spend it when we have a lot of games to play, you know, when it feels, because then it creeps into like, oh, well, I am productively beating down my backlog. Right. You know, like, I've got all these things to, to partake in, and so therefore I must, you know, and it becomes, you spend an inordinate amount of time trying to. Trying to finish off your backlog, and.

You can even sort of like, to a certain extent we can. We can at times justify, right, maybe overindulging because it's like, well, it's part of what we do with content creation, like, you know, and it's like our obligations per se. This is like probably a tertiary sort of level of obligation, I think, for both of us, where it's like, it's not primary, it's not really secondary. But there is a little bit of, like, we want to do well. We want to honor our patrons in our community. And there's like, at least for me, I guess I can only speak for myself, but I would. I feel like a little bit of a tug to make sure that I am sort of at times, you know, keeping up for the most part.

Yeah.

But I've also, I mean, I've made no bones about just, like, building and, like, nope, I'm taking time off. Like, you know, it's like I'm just. I'm a little, like, fried. I need, like, some breathing space or it's like I've just been playing way too much of x, Y and Z, and I need to, like, take a step back.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And recognizing that the time that you spent was, yeah. Not altogether what was best, you know, for the time. And you had me, you had mentioned something about making sure that the time that you spend, we're talking about video games here, making sure that it does not eat into your other responsibilities. I would say also one of the big ways this plays out, and we've talked about this numerous times on the podcast about how we have messed this up, is even just in losing sleep over playing video games. As I get older, the residual effect of lost sleep is more. Is heavier, I will say I get, and it takes a toll on the way that I respond to my kids, the mood that I'm in throughout the day, what I will and won't tolerate, and frankly, the grace that I show others when I've only slept a little bit. And so that's another way that we want to be careful, too, in the time that we spend. Don't let it keep you up too late, because it has downstream effects as well.

Yeah, I know that we've addressed this at some point in time throughout the podcast history, but there's that sort of like that webcomic where it's like the person's like, it shows their schedule and it's like, it's like a stack of blocks. And it's like, you know, their schedule is pretty packed and it's like, it looks like they don't have time for video games. And what they do is they end up sort of like squeezing out of basically removing sleep from the equation.

Yep.

And yeah, I would say that's, that's especially sort of dangerous, especially as you get older. Like, you can probably get away with that when you're younger. Like, I think in my twenties and even in my early thirties, I was a little more resilient. But, like, especially, like, in my forties, dude, like, I've just been kind of having a week where it's been. I've been struggling to get to sleep and Byron is going through some sleep progression maybe stuff. So it was like I wasn't getting more than six ish hours a night, which is sufficient. Like, but it's not more than. It's not ideal.

Right.

And I have noticed, you know, it's funny, I have noticed in the last couple days, like, I've been a little short, like, you know, and, yeah, so it's, it's like, yeah, it's a. We don't. If you are staying up late and playing video games and you're being unkind or cross or short with your family, that is not a wise expenditure of time like it's part of. And again, one of the things about having time being this kind of like constantly dwindling resource where it's like, it's constantly being used, right. Is that it's to remind us that we are finite, that we have limits. It's one. And so it's like, and, you know, anyways, but yeah, that's, it's kind of.

A. Yeah, I think too, what's key and has been for me as well, is learning to accept those limits also.

And that's tough. That can be really tough.

Yeah, yeah. It, I was thinking about this in a different context. Let me, let me take a second before I get there. But even just that, that picture that you were talking about or that meme, you know, that's, that's shared, I can't remember everything that was in that pie chart of responsibilities and, you know, stuff like that in the sleep, video games and sleep and how it doesn't fit. And so you pull sleep out of there and put in video games. I think that actually exemplified, I think that's a really good picture of what we often do, is we say we'll steal from these other, frankly, responsibilities that we have because we have a finite resource of time. We're going to steal from these other things that we ought to be doing in order to, in order to play more video games, in order to beat down our backlogs, in order to, you know, hop on with friends or whatever it is. And we're using our time to show that we value that more and that is not accepting the limitations that we have. So one thing that I was talking to a friend of mine, you know, even, even just, you know, becoming a pastor over the past year, there are different people. Well, even with, outside of the realm of the pastorate, but for me it was particularly poignant. But there are just people out there who have a very high capacity for accomplishing things that I can look at or look to and aspire to be. But also sometimes it can kind of beat me up. Like, man, I feel super lazy, you know, when I see everything that this other guy can accomplish and in myself, in my sinfulness and my pride, I'll start to blame other things. Well, my wife wants XYZ amount of my time every week. I'm sure for this high achiever, his wife doesn't need as much from him or my kids are going through these certain things. And I'm sure in order to accomplish all this stuff, it's different for him. Well, frankly, if we believe that God is sovereign, then you have the people around you. You have the spouse that God has intended for you to have, the children God has intended for you to have. Or hey, maybe you're not married. The responsibilities that are in your life right now are intentional. They're specific to who you are. And sure, God might be showing you maybe to take a different turn in life, okay, but especially for someone when it comes to spouse and kids, it's not going to happen. And learning to accept that not only do I have these limitations, but they're often blessings as well. The fact that my wife requests a chunk of my time is good for me because that makes me into the man that I need to be for.

And I think kind of what you're, you're getting at is that a lot of times we look at any sort of restriction as being an impediment, and it really, like, you know, it's boundaries and are blessings in a lot of ways.

Yeah.

You know, sometimes things are there just like they're. They are kind of like sometimes the obstacle is meant to be overcome, and sometimes the obstacle is meant to keep you. And there's a certain amount of wisdom and discernment that needs to be like, is this something that I need to sort of, like, conquer and you, you know, or is this something where I just need to sort of, like, bend the knee, like, recognize that I am limited and flawed and I need to repent of, you know, my pride or my ambition or it's just like, like, yeah, I think of it like, you know, it's sort of, we talk about, you know, we're confessional dudes and the confessions and the creeds, actually, some people will say. But it's like, we believe that those give us basically guardrails so that we don't fall too far into error either way, I think. And so it's. And they help us in a way to capitalize on our time. And so, you know, when, when you are, when you come, when you approach restrictions as, or boundaries as blessings versus sort of as obstacles, just mere obstacles, because sometimes things, again, are put in our path for us to persevere against.

Sure. Yeah.

So. But you are not supposed to persevere against your wife, Joshua.

Right.

I am not supposed to persevere against my wife or my children or other responsibilities.

Right, right. Yeah. Yeah. There's, there's an element of just accepting that my wife is different than your wife, you know, and requires different things and, and maybe it feels overbearing, but that's. Then you have a conversation about it, you know, like, we're not going into all the marriage advice, necessarily. Yeah, but it is, you know, like, if you really feel that, that your spouse is being unreasonable, we'll sit down and talk to them about it and come to a conclusion together, you know?

And the thing might be like that you're being unreasonable.

Right.

And you need that. That sort of like that. You know, I go back to something that we both sort of years ago, dude, hollow Knight, we both experienced. Like, it's just like one of those things.

Very similar things.

It's like Megan was like, and Megan occasionally will just be like, you're playing that again. Like, I think. I think she's frankly tired of seeing Persona, and it's like, you know, she's like that. That, to me, is like when Megan starts, like, just as something is, like, when, when. And just as a. Sort of a. Kind of a. Interesting observation, I guess, is that when Megan starts, like, saying, like, oh, you're playing that again. Or, like, you know, you're playing an awful lot of this, like, when I start hearing those things. Yeah, it does at this point, time trigger flags for me internally. Like, oh, am I spending too much time in this? You know?

So, yeah, almost like she's. She's there to help you, you know?

Yeah.

Kind of crazy. Crazy concept of, you know.

Yeah. And I think that that's a sword that, frankly, needs to cut both ways. Like, you know, it's one of those things where it's like, if I see her sort of like, I don't know, you can watch tv and be productive at the same time, you know, it's like, if I saw her, okay, so we have a pool, and she likes to float in that every once in a while. And if all she did was float in the pool, you know, and it's like, I'd be like, you're in the pool an awful lot, you know, and it's like. Because it's like we're supposed to be, you know, caring for each other.

Right, right.

In this process, so.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's good. That's good. Something else I wanted to hit here before we. Before we wind this down, is along the lines of what we're talking about is spending our time wisely, and I time using time as a value marker. Maybe this is a slightly different perspective on it, but hopefully this will help round out our perspective, is that our belief about something determines our behavior. That's a very simple way of saying it. Belief determines behavior. What you believe about the way that you ought to spend your time determines how you spend your time. So if you believe this mindset of I'm working for the weekend, that, like, I just gotta get all my work done so that I can give myself over to play, that is going to show up in the way that you act. Like every free moment that you have is going to be spent on your own in inhibition. Right. You know, to be able to cast off restraint or entertainment or something along those lines. And I know this happens with me. This is why I'm mentioning it. You'll be annoyed at anything that pulls you away from that. You know, when I feel entitled to my. To my video game time, I get frustrated by my kids who need me, you know, for something or. Or ask me to play with them instead of me playing my video game.

You know, dare they.

Right, right. You know, that's how it feels in the moment. And I hate admitting that, but I think what that shows is an improper belief. Right. My behavior towards my children in that moment shows that I am believing that I deserve entertainment over and the time that I spend with my kids.

Even perhaps that you think that you need that entertainment more than you need to spend time with your children or your wife or that.

Right.

Yeah. Yeah. That could be sort of one of the other things. It's like, you know, because that's the other thing. It is like, sometimes that entitlement is actually born out of an over. No oversized affection or oversight, like a misplaced, um, emphasis on. So, yeah, that's definitely, uh, definitely something to, like. Those are definitely things to consider. Like, you know, it's like, yeah, yeah.

What. What do I. I know this sound. This sounds kind of self helpy, but I don't care. Um, is. Is. What. What are those. Those beliefs that kind of are underneath the surface. And I say that just because I tend into these areas unintentionally, you know, it's. It's. It's more of an assumption than a belief, if that makes sense. I do believe something, but I'm not. I don't recognize that. I do. I don't recognize. Oh, I'm actually pretty entitled if I will fuss at my kids for interrupting my video game. You know, like, that's actually a really. Especially in a day, day and age, maybe not if you're playing dark souls, but in a day and age where there's a home button on most consoles that you can pretty much pause anytime you want, it is a pretty. Pretty rotten mindset.

I do. Yeah. Yeah, it is funny. There's that thing. It's like the pain comparison thing, and it basically, like when men have to pause their game. Yeah, it just. I do like. It is. That is a particularly. That what that reveals is not very pleasant, is not something I want to cop to.

Right? Yeah.

But, yeah, I do often sort of, like, it's like, a lot of times, it's like, I finally get to that point where it's like, okay, like, I can sit down and then, like, Megan needs me to do something for Byron, and it's. There's this kind of, like, huff. Like, it's like. And it's like, that should. It's fine to be frustrated, but, like, at the same time, it's like, dude, it's. It's, like, not that big a deal.

Like, right. What does that actually. What does that reveal about what you believe? You know, you believe that you shouldn't be bothered by those.

And if you. I. And I think that just comes back to. And this is something that it's, like, we have talked about, too, is that. And I think is that we. When I get there, like, that kind of. And when I start getting, like, entitled, I don't think the answer is to just, like, cold turkey, like, cut out all your entertainment for a while. I think actually it is. At that point in time, it is helpful to maybe take a break from, like, video games and actually do, like, you know, Mark Erickson has this. I forget what he like, but basically, like, positive, like, hobbies where it's like, okay, yeah, read more or go draw or write some stuff down, like, do something that is a little more like, it's still an enjoyable activity, but it's. I can't remember the exact term that he used, but it's like, there's basically consumptive and productive type hobbies where it's, like, where video games do tend to be more consumptive, where you're just kind of, like, engaging with the media, and you're just kind of, like, sitting there, not as a completely passive participant, but then there's. There's hobbies that are a little more restorative. Like, you know, let's be honest, like, reading a good book is probably better for our soul at times, then playing videos, maybe not all the time, because they are comparable. There is, like, a. And it's not to say every video game is, like, more sort of consumptive, but it's like, I I think what is helpful for me in those moments, it's like, I'm gonna spend, like, a week not playing video games, and instead, what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna, like, double down on, like, just doing some reading or drawing or whatever. Like, something that, like, kind of fills that same gap, but does it in a different bend to kind of recalibrate things. Now, sometimes it is helpful to just, like, kind of cold turkey it and, you know, just. But, yeah, it's just a thought.

Yeah, no, I I love it. And I think as we kind of wind down, um, there's just a few things that. That some of the practical application like that, I think are some kind of key takeaways that we can throw out before we finish out. And actually, this one is just a question that I have been asking myself, not necessarily pertaining to video games. I was actually asking myself this in pertaining to the time that I spend at work, up at the church. And the question that I have written down here is, does your calendar reflect, reflect what you say you value? This goes back to your belief determining your behavior, because I was very intentional in that last half of the question of what you say you value, because really, what you value is what you spend your time on. That's what you really value. But I might say, or I might think I might tell myself that I value certain things, but when I look at my calendar, when I look at the way that I spend my time, I don't actually value those things very well because I'm not spending time on them. And I think that's a good question to ask across the board, but especially with an eye towards video games, is do I value video games enough that it gets, you know, I I don't know. I'll just throw out a number a 20 hours of my week. Is that really, like, I value video games that highly? That that portion of my life right now is going to video games? Is that an. Ought I truly to value it that highly?

Well, and what I would say, too, is that, yeah, you need to, like, I think it's important to stress, like, the calendar aspect of it. It, it's not just like a, sort of like, okay, you might have spent 20 hours on one week on video games, and that could have just been an exceptionally light week for you. It could have been whatever. Like. But, but, yeah, it's, it's like, look at the long term patterns.

Yes.

Like, yeah. Are you dumping 1015, 20 hours a week into video games every week?

Right.

Like, then that's. Yeah, that, that might. That's. That's a bit of a red flag, right. Because, like, you know, the fact of the matter is we should be prioritizing other things. We should be prioritizing our community. So primarily, like, your family, your friends, the, the people at church, in addition to, like. And we should be prior, like, you know, and I don't. And especially, like, if you're spending 20 hours a week in, in a video game, are you carving out chunks of time for prayer, meditation? Yeah, like, are you dwelling in the word like? Because if you're just sort of, like, doing like, the 15 minutes quiet time check off, like. And it's like, I, I read the passage. I sort of I ticked off the box. Or maybe you're completely neglecting study entirely and you know, and like, frankly, like that's, we've all been in those, those seasons and those ruts.

Yeah.

You know, and, yeah, so it's, but it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's helpful to do and that's, that's sort of like something that we've talked about before, but it's like this is something, we're like tracking some of this stuff.

Mm hmm.

Like it might be good. Like it would probably be helpful for people sometimes. Like it would be interesting to just do a time audit to just like, yeah. Log and maybe like just in like sort of like 15 minutes chunks. But it's like, just like throughout, like spend a couple weeks and say like, okay, like this is like, I get up, this is like, and this is kind of what my day looks like and go back to. And that's where like, frankly, like practices, like journaling can be helpful. You know, where it's like. Because you can, you can do that. You can just sort of like do a recap of the day and just sort of like say, hey, this is, this is how my day was spent and this sort of, yeah. And, and you can, that can give you some, some data points to maybe help you think about these things.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love it. I love it. I think along with that, it is something that you mentioned early on in that is not necessarily taking it at a game by game basis, although that might be, that might be helpful. So, for instance, when I look at some of my favorite games and games that I have put a lot of time into, I'm not going to beat myself up about the fact that I spent, you know, over 100 hours in completing Shin Megami Tensei five. Because when I look at the overall time that I put into that game, I asked myself, was it worth it? Yeah, I think it was. I think of another game I spent a lot of time with earlier on this year, Xenoblade Chronicles three. You know, I can't remember exactly, but I think it was like 90 hours. Something like that is what I spent on it. And I don't regret the time, the overall amount of time that I spent on it. So I threw out the question early on in this conversation. Oh, are shorter games better or longer games better? It was a little bit of a red herring because now coming back to it, I don't think, I think it's good to ask that in terms of is it worth that much time into a single game? Was the game bloated and did it waste my time? You know, was I doing things that, that I didn't enjoy? Was a good amount of, could you trim the fat on this game? Those are good questions to ask, but I'm not going to beat myself up if I spent a ton of time, you know, tears of the kingdom. I spent a lot of time on that game, and I don't regret the fact that I spent a lot of time on that game. Final Fantasy eight.

I do.

I do. Well, that's what I was. I do regret.

That's a joke. That's a joke.

I do regret the amount of time that I spent on Final Fantasy eight. You know, that that was an early experience back in high school when I remember beating the game and it was like in the upper eighties of hours that I spent. And I'm just like, I feel cheated out of this experience. And part of that is why we do this podcast. If I can kind of put a bow.

Just to contrast that though, too, is that, you know, something that you brought up in a recent bite sized was journey, which is a short game. Like, you can beat that in 4 hours, something like that, maybe 5 hours. It's, it's. You can beat it in basically a sitting.

Yes.

Or two. And, like, it's got weight for a four or five hour game and it earns that time. And it's like, frankly, I've played through that game several times and it's like it each, each time it doesn't feel like, it doesn't feel wasteful. It feels like there's something clean about that. And there are some games like, you know, just to throw something under the bus, though, like, is like, I think about Marvel snap, which is a brilliantly designed game, and those rounds take five minutes a pop, you know, like, and but it's a, like, you know, for me especially, that was not benefit. It was like, it's. It's barely a dent in my time, but it was not time well spent. And of course, the game ended up eating a lot more than just five minutes at a time. It was like 5510, 1520. Like, you know, I'm playing. I was playing that game a lot of.

A lot.

A lot, a lot. So. But yeah, it is interesting, and it's.

A good way to evaluate a video game is how much does it ask of you, right. And then is it worth what it asks in terms of time?

And frankly, you're not going to know that until you're done.

Right, right.

And sometimes the lesson is, well, that wasn't really worth the ride.

Yeah.

And that's. That's okay. Like, you know, so.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. My overall point is that it shouldn't be inherent that if you spend, you know, over a hundred hours on a video game, you should feel bad. No, sometimes there are experiences, and I will say they're very rare experiences, but there. Sometimes there are experiences that. That I would say are worth that. And where I was going is that, like, even just to kind of land the plane is. I think that's part of what we try and do with this podcast as well, is to guide you, or at least point you in the direction of experiences that we think are worth your time. Especially if you're a fan of this medium of video games, then we want to, you know, highlight some of the best that it has to offer, which is why, you know, we do a number of things that we do. We report on the games that we. That we're playing. We have our top 100 list, all kinds of, you know, we have specific games. I remember last spooptober we played through. Oh, why can't I think of it? The little dos looking game. It's one word, faith. There you go, Faith.

You know, a physical version of that is coming out on switch.

I did not know that. Hmm. That's. That's good.

I might buy it and never play it.

Right, right.

And Parker sent me a text, and he was like, hey, hey. And I was like, oof. That game weirded. Oh, I think the exact text was like, that game weirded me all the way out.

Mm hmm, mm hmm. Yeah, yeah, man, oh, man. But the reason I bring that. Why. Why did I even bring that game up? Is that it was. We stumble on these games all the time, and we try to explain why we think they're worth your time. You know, we have episodes, you know, just for the sake of talking about a game or series of games or something like that. So, anyways, that's part of what we do with this podcast, is we want to share what we think is valuable, what may be worth your time. And for this episode, hopefully, it's getting you thinking about what is and what isn't worth your time. You know, it's like I said at the beginning, is that I don't want you to just by default, be playing video games. I want you to evaluate the value that you are putting into it, because, yeah, time is a finite resource that we all have, and we want to use it intentionally. As christians ultimately, we want to use it intentionally to glorify God, because that is, as the catechism says, that is the chief end of man.

And to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

Forever. Which is awesome. That even that last word, forever, it's like, yes, have all eternity. Well, that's awesome to think about. But while we're here on earth, we have a mission, and so we ought to be prioritizing that. Anyways, I don't mean to ramble, but I think this has been a good conversation about it, and hopefully it is challenging to you as you're listening to it. Or maybe it's just reaffirming some of the things that you already have put in place, in which case, well done.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't have anything, dad. It's like, I do feel like this is mostly just a conversation. Like, we revisited something, but I think it's good to be reminded of these truths. Right. And just, you know, just because we've said it before doesn't mean it doesn't need to be said again.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And you need to be reminded quite often. Often.

Well, that. And it's just like, given enough time, like, we've probably shifted on some things. Like, if you go back and you dig up old episodes where you've talked or, you know, kind of. I'm sure we've said something a little different, you know?

Yeah.

But again, it's. Yeah, it's. I think it is just really important, you know, like, some of the key takeaways that, like, belief shapes behavior and that we need to think about that. We need to be challenged by that and that, you know, and that ultimately, that by examining our time, we can really. That can be a useful tool in sort of helping us to repent of being wasteful.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So all that being said. Yeah, I'm kind of like, yeah, I don't have a lot left to say.

Mm hmm.

This. So I think it's like, this is probably just a good place to sort of just, like, put a pin in it, land the plane, and sort of keep moving along. So we do have a couple of forms to hit out. Hit, hit on our way out the door. So, Joshua, what do we got?

So, next up, it is time for our community shout out. So we just want to highlight some of our community members on social media and things that are going on there. So, for me, and this may seem very timely or untimely, depending on when you're listening to this, but, Nate, I just wanted to shout you out because of the arc that I see you going through that started off with this. You're the worst seething hatred for AI music that I've added to the podcast. And then here you are earlier today, throwing in your own AI songs into the discord and having fun with that. That might have even just been on our brochacho channel. I don't recall. I don't remember.

And it was mostly ironic, but pleasantly surprised by the irony.

And that's it. That's it. That pleasant surprise. Because it came from disdain. It started off with disdain every time I play the media reporting podcast song, and now you're over here creating your own. And I just wanted to shout you out that you are sharing your creative vision through these AI songs.

I mean, I still like, here's the thing is, there's, like, one. How dare you, sir? But I do. I do think, like, I think we need to be careful with AI. Yeah. I think the way that you and I are using it and that, like, our friends, like, it's a goofball. Like, it's like, oh, this is so dumb. But I do like, I also think, like, hey, you know, it's not like, I don't know. Yeah, it's mostly just like, oh, this is so dumb. And it's like, I'm entertained by sort of, like the. Just absolutely insane. Like, just, well, and it's. I have to admit, I am a little sort of intrigued by just how, like, refined these things are as a general rule. Like, I've used some image generators to just make myself. LAUGHTER yeah, yeah. And it's like, it is very, like, it is bizarre how, like, it's like one of those things where it's very, like, was that, oh, the uncanny Valley kind of thing.

Yes.

Where it's like, it comes so close and then it just like, wildly veers and like, oh, oh, I did not see that one coming. You know, it's like you really don't.

Know what you're ahead doing.

Yeah, it's like, yes, that was a choice. Yeah. It's like sometimes I read the lyrics that some of these songs or whatever are like, oh, that was a choice. Not a great one, but that was a choice. Yeah, yeah. So, well, like, I grudgingly accept that shout out. I guess I'm a little embittered by this, something I'm not embittered about, which is absolutely, we recently, a fairly recent addition to the podcast, and I don't know if we've. But Kay Huffman, I just had. But Kay Huffman, something just joined the discord, the discord not too long ago and, you know, I wanted to on the podcast just sort of Kay Huffman 91 to shout him out and say, hey, we're her. We, I don't know that we know that much about you, Kay Huffman. That's okay if you like to be a person of mystery, but hey, and we're just glad to have you, you know, don't let the weirdos, including Josh and me, scare you off. But yeah, I just, I think it's kind of fun when we, we get new members to just give them a little bit of a leg. Hey, we see you. You know, we're glad you're here.

Yeah, yeah. Thanks for being here with us. For sure.

You didn't do anything except for be cool. Yeah. And that's, that's cool.

Yeah.

So, yeah, but, yeah, so that's, that's my shout out. Okay. Huff, awesome. Glad, glad to have you in the discord, friend.

Yeah, yeah. Thanks for being here. Thanks for joining us. Yeah, yeah. We'd love to get to know you better and hear what you have to say on some of the stuff that we're talking about. So before we head out for the evening, we do have one final form that needs to be observed that hasn't been observed in quite a while. And that is our monthly challenge.

Here comes a new challenger.

We alternate with these episodes. We ask question or we challenge one another or ourselves, I suppose, and kind of pick up where we left off and report on how our challenge has been going because it's been so long, I don't even remember what my last challenge was. So I'm not going to give any updates. We'll just start fresh, starting fresh with a new challenge for the next month or so. And for me, I actually started this about a week ago and thanks to the rejuvenator in the discord in the Gus gut Busters channel, he talked about it there as well. But I've been calorie counting, fell by the wayside a bit because had family in town and so, yeah, listen, just let go a little bit.

When you're partying, you got to just put your fat pants on.

Yes. Yeah, exactly. Make healthy choices. Okay. But within that, it is certainly not all you eat all that cake, you.

Grab all them oreos you get after it, bro.

I mean, I'm of the mindset that, yes, I'm going to eat a piece of cake or a few oreos, but not as much as I normally would. Not all of my inhibitions are off, you know? Yeah. Anyways, anyway, so I've been. I've been a bit more lenient, you know, more along the lines of just not gaining a lot of fine, be reasonable, as opposed to maybe not losing. At least if I could stay the same weight for a little while, then push back my goal a little bit, that's fine. Um, but. So for the next few days before more family comes in town, it's really keeping track of calories because I found that, yeah, I can think that I'm making healthy decisions. Um, but really calorie counting, it does a lot for me, and maybe it's just because I haven't done it in a while, but really tracking everything that I eat forces me to recognize, oh, yeah, okay, yeah, there are 400 calories if I want to eat chips, you know?

Yeah. If I'm going to eat all those chips, it's got to come from somewhere.

Right, right, exactly. So I'm going to. I'm going to keep that up. I do have goals for some weight loss because I'm getting a bit. Getting a bit rounder, getting a bit pudgier, and I don't like it. So. So there's. Yeah, I've got some goals in place, but for right now, like, my challenge is to continue calorie counting for a good amount of time until some of these goals are hit.

Yeah, that's. That's not about. That's one that I should probably get back on that train. But there's. There's another thing that I really just, I feel is, like, absolutely foundational that I need to. I need to get into better sleep rhythms, patterns. Um, y you know, I I went on vacation, and I was staying up to, like, one or two every morning, and that has just guttered me. So, yeah, for the next month, the. The challenge I'm going to sort of issue to myself is that, yeah, I do. I do just want to get better sleep. Like, I need to be a lot more. I need to be more intentional there, like, because, like, frankly, like, I need to. And so part of, like, I want to get to a point where I'm going to bed and I'm getting up early enough that I have a little time to get into doing even just, like, kind of a light morning reading, I. Yeah. Because that is an area where I've just been struggling to sort of, like, get traction.

Gotcha.

For a while. It's just I do a lot of reading. I listen to a lot of, like, teaching and sermons throughout the day kind of stuff, but that doesn't necessarily. I need to be prioritizing time in the word and time and prayer. Meditation better with more consistency. Like, I pray throughout the day. It's like, I probably look like a raving lunatic, but a lot of it is like, I need to. I. I need to have a better sleep routine slash rhythm. So that's kind of like something that I want to prioritize over the next month or two, so.

Awesome. Awesome, dude. Well, I love it. These are some good challenges. And we will pick that back up on in two episodes.

Yeah, yeah. Or until we remember to pick it back up.

Yeah.

Then hopefully it'll be in two episodes. But I think, you know, it's. It's one of those things where I really. I think this is like, we need to just call it.

Yeah, yeah, that's true. And so it's the time. It is now time for us to finish out the episode. And we've had lots of thoughts on time throughout this episode, but if you've got some timely thoughts for us, there's tons of ways you can reach out. Lots of social media, different places that we're at. You can find all of the links to all of those things on our link tree. Just linktree.com, the backlog breakdown. Reach out. We love to hear from you. Yeah, it'll be a good time.

Send us emails, tweet at us, whatever. So. Yeah, yeah. But, yeah, I think that's. This is a good place to just call it, man. I'm tired. You're tired. And I think it's just. Well, it's time. So we did our thing. And until next time, what should they do, Josh?

Guys, keep beating down your backlogs and we'll keep breaking down the benefits. It.