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Mallett and Michelle On Dripping Springs Podcast
Mallett and Michelle On Dripping Springs Podcast
Every week from Dripping Springs, Texas, Steve Mallett and Michelle Lewis sit down with fascinating guests-from entrepreneurs and musicians to elected officials, authors, and community leaders-for conversations that are funny, authentic, and full of stories worth sharing. They dive into everything from life's absurdities to community quirks, adding their signature blend of small-town charm and bold candor. Think of them as the funny neighbors with the best stories-the ones who always tell it like it is. With a healthy dose of Hill Country spirit, they explore local happenings and universal topics that connect us all, proving you don't need to be famous to be extraordinary-you just need a microphone and the courage to share your voice. Every episode delivers laughter, insight, and genuine connection. New episodes every week...because ordinary people make the best damn stories.
Sept. 22, 2026

Ep.246 Semper Paratus- Always Ready With BH Galvan

Guest:

B.H. Galvan is the Flotilla Commander of the Austin U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and has served with the organization since 2013, which is pretty impressive considering Austin is still very much landlocked. His professional background spans technology, operations, security, executive protection and private investigation, so he’s basically made a career out of noticing things the rest of us miss. A native of Falfurrias, Texas, the heart of everything he does is service, preparedness and leaving the world a little better than he found it.

Monologue:

  • Coast Guard History
  • Super El Nino
  • Secrets of The Grand Canyon
  • Old Fitzhugh TRZ Project

Saying what needs to be said and broadcasting straight outta Dripping Springs, Steve Mallett and Michelle Lewis serve up unfiltered, unforgettable conversations with the most interesting folks you've never heard of-yet. From wild small-town stories and Hill Country gossip to sharp takes on real life, they mix humor, heart, and a healthy dose of Texas grit. It’s like pulling up a chair at your favorite local bar, where the banter is real, the guests are bold, and nobody’s afraid to speak their mind. You’ll laugh, you’ll think, and you just might see your own story in theirs. New episodes every week...because ordinary people make the best damn stories. They're not building an echo chamber. They're building a table. Big difference.

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SPEAKER_00

Where'll you be going? Texas. Damn, son. Where'd you find this? Go on, make it happen. And now here's Steve and Michelle.

SPEAKER_01

Welcome back to Mallet and Michelle. I just said welcome. I just screwed the whole thing up just like you did. Well we are welcome back. It's episode 246.

SPEAKER_02

We've been here 245 times. 245 times.

SPEAKER_01

That's right. I'm Michelle holding down the fort for our little empire. I have been. And this is this is Steve, and he's recovering nicely. He still cannot run from me. Like, I know.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. I uh took about three running steps the other day, and I went, oh, I shouldn't do that.

SPEAKER_01

Well, it's probably the first time in history that I can outrun you.

SPEAKER_02

Let's just say I'm I'm a pretty fast walker, I've found out though. So Oh, you're a pretty fast.

SPEAKER_01

Are you a mall rocker walker now?

SPEAKER_02

I'm probably gonna do that pretty soon if the temperature doesn't turn.

SPEAKER_01

Today our guest is my friend B.H. Galvin. He's the flotilla commander of the Austin Coast Guard Auxiliary 7-5. Um, and we Steve just threw me up. We are gonna think the sponsorship. For sure.

SPEAKER_02

Uh but I want to remind everybody two things I need you to do today. I need you to follow us on Instagram, and I need you to go to our YouTube channel, Malin Michelle Podcast, and follow us or subscribe on YouTube. That really helps us out, allows us to keep bringing you all this fun stuff. So, but the sponsors.

SPEAKER_01

You know, I was thinking, you know, most people have like an outtake reel. We are the outtake. We're we are just the whole show.

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It's just the bloopers.

SPEAKER_01

It's been blooper after. I think this is the first full show we've done in three weeks.

SPEAKER_02

I think that's what it is. It is. So forgive us. I'm ready to get back on a normal schedule.

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Well, as soon as we're done with this, I am going to go pour myself a big old glass of deep eddie vodka.

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Fine spirits, well. Fine spirits. Well, and then I after I drink, I'm gonna go withdraw all your money from South Star Bank.

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Well, then we also have the Mallet Integrity Team. Man, I tell you what, everybody's talking about how rough this market is, but I'm gonna tell you, I'm gonna give kudos to our team and to you. Dude, we're doing well. We're doing good.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. I mean, uh well, let me read my little copy here because this is uh kind of shocking.

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Buckle up, people.

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Yeah, the National Association of Realtors reports that 84% of licensed agents haven't sold a single home this year in 2026. That's a lot of business cards and not a lot of business. Don't hire someone learning real estate on your dime called a mallet integrity team. Experience matters, especially in this market.

SPEAKER_01

That's right. That's right. From rock stars to teachers, we'll take it all. Right?

SPEAKER_02

I think we met the most famous one yesterday. Yeah, we did. Can't say who it is. Can't say it is.

SPEAKER_01

We had to sign an NDA.

SPEAKER_02

Sign an NDA, but we met him on a private side.

SPEAKER_01

That's right. But like I mentioned at the beginning, um, BH Galvan, um BH as as he is known, is joining us in our studio today. BH, thank you so much. I love the fact that he has always been a quiet soul. And I'm sure he's wondering why you would want me here. I am probably not the person on a podcast, but I admire and respect you a lot. But welcome joining us.

SPEAKER_02

I'm glad to be here. Thank you. Yeah, thanks for coming on the show. So you weren't born in Austin. No. How'd you end up? What brought you to Austin in the first place?

SPEAKER_05

I grew up in a small town. And uh all of our friends in yeah, in in the valley, they're in Falforias. And uh all of our friends kind of migrated up this way, and uh, we always had an interest in technology, and this was a place to be at the time around 99, 2000. So I made my way into Austin.

SPEAKER_01

You may know Falfurious, Steve, as the place that makes butter for Texas.

SPEAKER_02

I I actually I'd never heard at H E B you can still see Falfurious Butter. Is that right? I only butter I will buy until I saw it on your uh on your bio that that's where you're from. I don't I meant to look it up, but I don't even know where it is. But uh but so did you come for a specific job? You I you I think you mentioned something about Dell.

SPEAKER_05

Uh that's where I got my career started. Uh was it was at Dell doing tech support. Okay. Um but I I didn't come specifically for the for that. It's just what I what I fell into. Uh all of us kind of did the same. I actually worked, uh we started doing some of like not day labor, but you know you get kind of contracted to work at a company called uh Selectron. Okay. So we did some um like quality inspections, stuff like that on the lines with our manufacturing. So just got a different flavor of individuals working uh overnight shift. Um, but yeah, that that's how I ended up. All our friends were kind of interested in the same thing, and I just ended up doing uh tech support, and that's where I got started. What are you doing now? So now I'm but do private security. Um that's right. Okay. Um I'm still trying to get back into the corporate world, but uh I just kept my licenses and still enjoyed doing the job.

SPEAKER_02

Okay. I want to talk to you more about that in a second, but uh so BH is not your your given big is not my full name. So what is BH short for?

SPEAKER_05

Uh Bergillo Umberto is my first and middle name. Okay.

SPEAKER_01

Say it. No. Umberto?

SPEAKER_05

Yeah. BH. Okay. That's where the BH comes from.

SPEAKER_01

For the for the widows. For the wedding.

SPEAKER_05

Well, actually, my mom was the first one to start calling my calling me BH. So I guess she just realized she had uh more than she was in for and decided to start calling me BH.

SPEAKER_02

There you go.

SPEAKER_01

Do you have like uh um five last names?

SPEAKER_05

Like did you I I've only owned known of the one.

SPEAKER_01

But like, because you know, um, you know, I grew up down in the valley as well. And a lot of my um friends, especially the males for whatever reason, they have like their mother's maiden name, and it's like they have three last names or so.

SPEAKER_05

I hadn't really followed along that. So no.

SPEAKER_01

Do your parents or do you still have family that live in um Falfurious?

SPEAKER_05

Uh just one of my uncles still lives in Falfurius. Uh my father is in uh lives in Hebronville, which is nearby. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

What do you think has happened down in the valley, the the changes down there? Have you been back there?

SPEAKER_05

I have uh been back fairly recently. I mean, it's it's it's just not really the same of what I remember, mostly just uh people drifting away. Uh, I think the problem with that happens with a lot of small towns is people move out, but nobody really comes back. And it just slowly starts to to to get that. Because I I mean our high school used to be a 3A, 4A school. I think they're back down to like 2A. Oh, wow. So yeah, it's just that's just the way it seems to work.

SPEAKER_01

It's trying to bring people back to their hometown. I know, you know, Brownsville and Falfurious are are a little ways apart, but Brownsville has had such a huge um resurgence, or just uh, you know, it's not just known as where the zoo is anymore, you know, because uh Elon Musk has kind of taken over the schools and and the industry there. I think that's really good. But Felfurious is kind of one of those little towns, you know, like I said, it's I've always known it as the butter town.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, and and it's a transitory town because you have to go to there to get to the valley or to get to Corpus or to get to just all the we're we're about an hour and a half from any of the major cities, so it's really just not a whole lot. I think the biggest uh biggest thing there right now is probably the uh border patrol checkpoint and the station.

SPEAKER_01

Oh yeah, the good, the good time. When you were a kid, where did you go? Would like if you went to the big the city, would you go to Corpus?

SPEAKER_05

Would you go to Probably probably Kingsville because it was closer?

SPEAKER_01

Kings Inn.

SPEAKER_05

And that was yeah, Kingsville, Kings Inn. Um Corpus Christie was also uh a big treat. That's where we would go to the mall.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

So uh that's there or uh McAllen. McAllen would also go to. Yep.

SPEAKER_02

God, that I I grew up going to the mall Fridays and Saturdays. Boy, those that those days are done. Malls are dying on the vine, right? So let's talk about the Coast Guard auxiliary. How did you get involved in that?

SPEAKER_05

Uh a friend of mine uh had been invited to do some on-the-water training, and I saw what was going on. I thought it was very cool, decided to be part of it, and then I just got what year was that? Um, I joined it in 2013. Okay. Yes. All right. And so this thing you went to, what were they doing? They were doing like boat crew training. So they were out there getting on the water, uh, doing some of the things like learning how to drop the anchors and how to uh do uh toes, things like that. So it was more operational side, but it was still an interesting side to me. I hadn't really been involved and uh I hadn't had any sort of prior service, so I felt that was a way that I could contribute in in some form or factor. And I've just been in it and gotten various levels of leadership along the way. And that's where you met Michelle, right?

SPEAKER_01

Yes, that's where so he was my first point of contact whenever I first joined the auxiliary. And uh, you know, I was pretty actively involved when I first joined, but then just you know, COVID happened and that really kind of put a uh a damper on all of us. If you weren't vaccinated, you couldn't go to meetings or you couldn't do this, that, and the other. And and I was like, well, I'm not doing that. Um, but uh, but yeah, I really loved it and I got I got my EMR training through that. Um, but I've really kind of taken a step back currently right now. And I I I'm still maintaining my membership the with the hope that I'm gonna I'm gonna go back in and just re-up everything. Um, but are you guys still meeting at the airport? Or I'm not at the airport. I'm sorry, the uh the constable's office. Yes.

SPEAKER_05

That's still our meeting location. Uh we have met a couple times outside there. We do have a virtual uh uh to to fold into to how we had to adapt with with COVID. We do have a virtual option that that we uh that our members can attend. Uh but yeah, we meet in the same place pretty much the entire time.

SPEAKER_02

Um does the Coast Guard auxiliary have a mission?

SPEAKER_05

Yes. So primarily the mission of the auxiliary is to promote recreational boating safety and to support the U.S. Coast Guard. Okay. So we're a civilian, uniformed uh volunteer organization uh that's plugged into the active duty and we support them in just about every mission with the exception of any direct military or law enforcement. Okay.

SPEAKER_02

And what about the uh the public safety, the boating safety? So the public safety aspect of it.

SPEAKER_05

Uh so what we do by that is we teach boating safety classes. We have a class coming up on October 17th there at the precinct, uh, the Travis County Precinct 2 constable's office. Um, and or we do outreach. So we'll go out to a boat ramp and uh do vessel safety checks where we go and describe here, here's all the safety equipment items you need. If people are deficient in it, we help them identify what it is. And uh what we do is we provide instruction on it because sometimes they can get a fine if they don't have those things and it's not us that are talking to them about it. So that's one way that we do help that. Uh, we also just uh in general teach about boating safety and and also adjacently water safety.

SPEAKER_02

Okay. Do people have to take one of those classes to get I don't even know, is there a boating license?

SPEAKER_05

So in with with Texas, you do need to have a boating safety class if you were born before 1993. Okay. Um, to be able to operate a boat. And then uh you need to be at least 13 with a boating safety class to be able to operate a uh personal watercraft.

SPEAKER_02

Okay. All right.

SPEAKER_01

So I wanted to talk to you about the um Coast Guard and the Coast Guard auxiliary's involvement with each other during times of natural disasters, like hurricanes and things like that, and how how the auxiliary throughout the nation has kind of stepped in or been called in. Um, can you talk a little bit about that and the role?

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, my my most probably, I guess, memorable experience with that was uh during Hurricane Harvey. Uh we were asked to go support the activities there at Hurricane Harvey. Um me and uh another one of our members of our flotilla headed out there while the storm was still happening. So we were constantly having to renavigate how we were getting there. And then ultimately we stayed uh we stayed there on scene and we were working in the air operation center, um, helping to direct some of the helicopters out to do the rescues. Wow. The biggest challenge that we had is that uh there was no latitude and longitude locations for somebody's address. So there was converting the addresses to latlongs, radom into the to the uh to the helicopter crews, and then also relaying any other relevant information if people just needed to be evacuated, sending them to the right location, if there was uh injuries and we needed to direct them to a specific uh helicopter or a specific hospital or other landing zone. Uh so that was probably my biggest uh experience and involvement. So we all of us have to have a incident command. Incident command. So there's there's some basics there. There are some advanced uh courses that people can can take towards that, but a lot of it is gonna be just your basic FEMA um incident command, the 200, the 100, 700. Um and then there's also, like I said, there are specialties, and then the beauty of the auxiliary is is people bring in their personal experiences there. So there's lots of people who are already heavily into emergency management. The uh, the the emergency management, FEMA, all the ICS, it's one big playbook that every federal, state, and local uh entity uses so that you can basically plug in plays. So if you have held this role at a at a local level, uh huh, you can fit that role in any other level because it's the exact same type of job. So it's very it's designed for these type for a disaster. It's it's an easy playbook to use during the disaster.

SPEAKER_02

So are you guys only called in disasters that are on coastlines? Like for example, did any of you guys help out like in the Kerville floods?

SPEAKER_05

Anything in the in the curve floods, the auxiliary response at the time, uh, I I believe they had some chaplains that had that had come out, but during the active response, not the auxiliary was not. Um, but uh as as everybody see the active duty was was heavily involved. Sure. And uh there's always different ways for for for how we can get involved. Like I said, a lot of it just depends on your specific type of training uh and then what uh what it is that the uh coast guard needs. So they're the ones that direct us as to whether they need uh our involvement. Okay.

SPEAKER_01

And I think that people kind of get confused when you hear Coast Guard and you think coast, right? Obviously, because it's in the name, but we're not near a coast, but we do have our Lake Travis, Lake Austin, Highland Lakes. Uh so when you're doing these boater safety checks, where primarily are you are you having um your people stationed at per se?

SPEAKER_05

So so most of what we try to rotate because we do have pretty much all the Highland Lakes is in our area of responsibility. They include Lake Georgetown and Granger. So, you know, to try to make the best of the resources we have, we just kind of change focus, obviously, during some parts of the boating season. Lake Travis is a bigger, uh, a bigger piece. The water levels affect it like last year that the the lower water levels affected where we went, and we kind of only could go to the places that had uh boating ramps over.

SPEAKER_04

Right, right.

SPEAKER_05

Um, but with the lakes being a little better, we've been at that Lake Travis. Uh we also hit up some marinas because that's also a good spot to experience some different type of boats. Most of the time at the ramps, you're gonna get, you know, 15, 25 footers and people with bass boats. But uh getting a chance to do some of the same checks on a much larger vessel, you get our our members to get experience doing uh something slightly different, checking for different things that we normally wouldn't.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. What when you do when you go like do these boating safety checks, uh, what's the like the most common thing? Beginner mistake or just most common thing that you guys come across?

SPEAKER_05

So the most common one is probably going to be the uh either the navigational lights not working, because for the most part, people don't run them uh during the day, uh-huh, but we have to check to make sure that they work completely. So you have to take them out, plug them in, and since most people don't normally do that, that's when you first find out, hey, that bulb is burned out or something like that. So uh I I think that's probably the the most common one.

SPEAKER_01

Um Do you go to auxiliary gel if they're not working?

SPEAKER_05

No, no. Normally all we do is we tell them, look, we can't all we all we simply say is say, look, according to our our our form, you you failed, but here's what you need to do to correct it. You call us back and we'll come out and we'll we'll pass it. When someone passes, they end up getting a decal that they can attach on the side of their vessel that indicates they've passed all the safety requirements. Okay. Doesn't keep you from getting a ticket, but from what we've we've heard is you know, if someone's less likely to look to try to get a safety uh violation, if they've seen you, you have that. Now, if you're acting, you know, if you're doing something stupid, then obviously that's not gonna protect you, but for the most part, it kind of helps um helps with that. Yeah. And and the biggest thing that, you know, that that we're looking for is the life jackets, because that's gonna, you know, all the other technical pieces of equipment, obviously, you know, navigation lights are gonna help help, but a life jacket is gonna be what saves saves lives.

SPEAKER_02

When you check a lot of times, are people they do they not have enough life? Or is it common for people not to have enough life jackets?

SPEAKER_05

It's not so common that they don't have enough. It's the key that they're not as readily available. Uh they're still stashed away inside the bag underneath the uh the the seat and you know there's just that's not really gonna help somebody. I think you know, you you've seen some of the videos, like there's a famous video of someone flipping on their boat. Well, you're not wearing it, it's not gonna do you any good if it gets flung flung away.

SPEAKER_01

You're not gonna grab that. You know, when you first um joined the Coast Guard, you know, you you constantly hear the Coast Guard Auxiliary, I'm sorry, you hear needs of the Coast Guard, needs of the Coast Guard. And one of the things I think that you recognized that you were so good at was that there were a lot of things that were antiquated, and there was a lot of people that had been in the Coast Guard Auxiliary for such a long time that they were just kind of stuck in this round robin, it's the way we've always done it, we're gonna continue doing this way. And you had a push to kind of really modernize um some of the auxiliary aspect of it, and it was get my VS.

SPEAKER_05

Or get my VSC. Yes. Yes.

SPEAKER_01

So talk about that.

SPEAKER_05

Uh so it it it just but like I said before, people were kind of forced to go to the website directly. Um, and we had this long, super long uh website to have to go and direct somebody to. So part of what we tried doing was designing a better way. So I think at the time, I think now the Q the QR codes is what it is now, but at the time it was a much shorter version. So get my VSC was a way that we had to kind of shorten that that would take people to be able to go to our main page to request a vessel safety check.

SPEAKER_02

Okay.

SPEAKER_05

So previous before everything was, you know, put this big long website URL code for somebody.

SPEAKER_02

People give up. Well, you know how it is.

SPEAKER_01

You start going through it and you're like, ah, screw this. This is just too difficult. I'm not gonna do that. So, how hard was that um to try to push that to push that through? Because what uh people also don't know as far as you have the flotilla, and um so you I can't think of the name of it right now. You go out of corpus.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, it's our our station, our station, our sector, that's the sector is sector corpus christi. Uh so that's kind of the uh uh who we report to, if you will. Um, but we do have several flotillas within our division. So we have Austin's probably the northernmost. We have another flotilla in South Padre Island, and then along the course, uh along the coast, San Antonio, Victoria, uh Port O'Connor, or that's the Victoria one, and then Rockport and that kind of corpus area.

SPEAKER_01

And then for people that don't really kind of understand how the auxiliary is set up, can you talk a little bit about the hierarchy or the ranks um comparative to the active side? So you have the active side, right? Yeah, I'm I'm private venture.

SPEAKER_05

She was the staff officer, so she had some gold she had some butter bars on her. Butter bars.

SPEAKER_01

Some chess candy, a little chess candy. Yeah. So explain that kind of um hierarchy.

SPEAKER_05

So they're they're not traditional uh ranks, I was just saying. Because we can't we don't have the authority to order someone. However, because we are a volunteer organization, for the most part, there are elected offices. So I did get elected to be flotilla commander. And then there's other ranks. So uh essentially your staff officer roles are roles that your flotilla commander asks someone to serve. So they obviously they have the choice if they want to serve in that role or not. And then they help contribute to the mission to the flotilla itself. The flotilla is the smallest level of organization within the auxiliary. Okay. It's uh, like I said, uh the smallest unit. And then each flotilla is part of a larger group called a division. So we're part of division seven that extends from several flotillas from Austin down to South Padre. Our division is part of a larger district, a Coast Guard district that extends from New Mexico all the way to a little bit of uh Florida. So that's called the 107-5. Right. Uh and the district, so they kind of made changes recently. We used to be the eighth coastal region. Now we're Heartland Coastal Region. So we kind of went away from the number designation more to the the name nomenclature. Uh, but we're the Heartland coastal region.

SPEAKER_02

Okay. Did somebody recruit you to be the flotilla commander? I think we all did. I got I got asked.

SPEAKER_05

Uh you do have a two-year limit to be uh flotilla commander before you have to cycle out, and I think I'm on my several iteration of it.

SPEAKER_01

He he pops out and he pops back in. And let me tell you, it is run so smoothly. My experience was run very smoothly when he's when he's in charge. Yeah. For sure.

SPEAKER_02

BH, I want to kind of circle back to the uh boater safety stuff. Is part of the training teaching people how to handle emergency situations?

SPEAKER_05

Part of it is um what there's a specific uh course that uh that we talk about, or at least I mentioned try to mention when I can called Suddenly in Command. Okay. And it's my favorite discussion to bring up, especially when we're uh more doing like public affairs stuff because there's you know, everybody comes up to us. But the question is it's normally directed at the people that don't drive the boat. Is like, do you know what to do if he falls overboard or she falls overboard? Do you know what to do if the person that normally drives falls overboard? A lot of the times they really don't know because they don't. Um, so that's why it's important, and that's why that that uh suddenly in command is is is something that I bring up a lot so that they think about do I know how to turn the boat off? Do I know how to, you know, I said you don't have to go back and get them, you just need to know what to do when they go. I'm not I'm not telling you that other part. Uh, but that's kind of the things that people just don't think about. What do I do when the worst happens?

SPEAKER_02

Not that we want to dwell on it, but it's important to at least have a bit on a people's boat and uh where you know they just pull it off the trailer and everybody gets in and we're like, woohoo, here we go. And I've been in people's boats where they before they push off the dock, they go, Okay, here's here's your life vest. Okay, this goes here. This is how you run, this is the throttle, this is uh okay, I'm you're my backup if something happens to me. And they they spend like three or four minutes, and I always feel much better going through that than I do just the woohoo, here we go. You know, that's the way Michelle would drive the boat.

SPEAKER_01

I know. I was gonna say when you when you say that question, so like don't look at me. We it's fun, it's fun. I want to ask you if somebody was thinking about joining, it's not just a matter of, okay, I just I want to be an auxiliarist, right? You actually have to go through a background check. There's there's training that you have to do.

SPEAKER_05

It it it is a federal uh we're basically federal employees, if you will, uh volunteer employees, but we do have to have background checks. The basics to join the auxiliary is to be over 17 years of age, uh, have no felonies or have a clean background and be a U.S. citizen.

SPEAKER_02

Okay.

SPEAKER_05

However, there's no other physical other requirements. So someone who may not be able to join the uh active duty or reserves may be able to still contribute to the mission in a much different way. And we've had some uh members join us who, you know, uh had gotten medical data boot camp. So they didn't get the opportunity to completely fulfill what they wanted to do, but they were able to then uh there were that that was that person that went with me and Hurricane Harvey. He was completely in his element because that's exactly what he trained for and wanted to do. So uh it's it's another way for someone to still contribute. That's really cool.

SPEAKER_01

And there's no age limit, like not like you have to be 17. So even you can join, Steve. That's great.

SPEAKER_05

I think we had an auxiliary in our flotilla um that was 95. Oh wow.

SPEAKER_02

Jeez, that's great.

SPEAKER_01

That's crazy, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02

Um, I want to kind of finish this little section segment here. Um, what's one emergency skill that you think everybody, whether they're on a boat or not, everybody should know?

SPEAKER_05

Staying calm.

SPEAKER_02

Okay.

SPEAKER_05

That's not what's the key to everything else. Yeah, that's the key to everything else because staying calm means that I'm sorry. Uh staying calm to me means that you've already thought about those things and you're confident with your actions because you're calm about them. You understand what to do, and you're not panicking because you've kind of already gone to the class or you've had some other understanding of of what to do.

SPEAKER_02

Or and sometimes that's just a matter of thinking through, okay, it like you said, okay, the guy driving the boat, what if he has a heart attack and falls off the boat? What do I do? And thinking, okay, here's the five steps. I I got my pilot's license when I was younger, and man, they drill that into you. If this happens, this is what you do. And you practice it till it is almost like automatic. You don't and panicking is one of the things that does nobody any good in any way.

SPEAKER_01

Well, and I I wanted to say also, and it's not just um if you decide to join, if you're interested in joining joining the auxiliary, it is not if you're if you're not stuck on the boater safety, if that's not your jive, right? You could do stuff like I did. I went, I did the EMR training, I did the Coast Guard Academy. We also have an aviation um sector or section that you can.

SPEAKER_02

What does that do?

SPEAKER_05

So there's there's many different missions that the auxiliary performs. As I mentioned, we support the Coast Guard in a variety of ways. There's uh the surface operations that Michelle was hitting on, so you can be a member of a boat crew. Uh a lot of times augurists bring their own boats, so those boats are then Coast Guard facilities that can be sent on missions. Okay. Same thing with aviation. People bring in their own planes. Okay. So you have pilots that can uh either be instructors. You also have people that can be trained to be air crew or observers to assist the pilots and the co-pilots as they do their activities. Okay. Uh personal watercraft, that's uh another thing. So you can do patrols on a on a jet ski. And then uh as a it's been a couple of years already, but there's also a uh a uh paddle craft operator. Oh wow so you can now conduct missions uh on a paddlecraft. Mostly it's it's uh around uh boating safety, but uh when you pair it with one of our other facilities, then you can go out and uh do a mission. And there's a variety of things we can do from uh search and rescue. Uh I think there's been a couple of big news stories where uh I think it was a duck boat that had overturned and auxiliars were the first on the scene. So they began helping everyone and kind of doing all that. I know up in Dallas there's uh uh personal watercraft operators that support uh triathlons and marathons.

SPEAKER_03

Okay.

SPEAKER_05

And same thing, they had somebody that that uh that got hurt in the water. They took them over to uh to the shore to be able to pick up, uh be picked up immediately. So there's a variety of the of that. Uh obviously the public affairs missions is also important. Uh now there's even cybersecurity missions that the uh auxiliary helps the active duty with because once again, the beauty of the auxiliary is all of the expertise that comes around from people's own backgrounds and how they can contribute to that overall mission.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

Well, that's really cool.

SPEAKER_01

What does volunteering mean to you, BH? Because you have done this for over 10 years and I know I saw the commitment that you had. And this is more than just a hobby to you. You spend countless, countless hours of your personal time invested in this.

SPEAKER_05

I I do, and and it was just like I said, I I didn't have prior service and I found something where I could get a tangible to me, I could feel a tangible benefit when I put my time in. I saw our flotilla succeed more. Yes. I see, I saw, you know, and and I I saw just someone being being safer. I I felt that I conveyed a message that could help save somebody. And unfortunately, in the uh in the prevention business, it's hard to see any sort of numbers around that. Yeah. So I don't know how many times someone how many lives means. Exactly. And it's hard to kind of put put it put any numbers on that. Uh, you know, in drowning prevention in anything. But it I think it's still important because you never know that's tiny interaction. Uh, somebody came to our booth and we talked about a life jacket, or we taught a parent how to make sure it was fit correctly. Or, you know, some kid remembers some lesson that we gave on how to throw a a uh uh one of the rescue lines or one of the throwable uh PFDs, it it could have made an impact and we'll never know. But to me, it's important to still pass that information along with that.

SPEAKER_02

Well, you're also setting a mindset, right? Uh when you when you teach somebody to do those things, then they start thinking about other things. Okay, when I'm in when I'm doing this, and uh if this event happens, how do I handle that? It makes them have a more safety mindset just in general. So your experience as a flow flotilla commander, you're in a leadership role, obviously. Is it harder to lead volunteers than it is employees?

SPEAKER_01

Like herding cats.

SPEAKER_05

It is a little different. You do have to uh one of the leadership uh principles that they talk about is just leading through influence because I don't have a paycheck that I can influence you with. Instead, I need to convince you that your assistance is going to help us all work a little bit better, and that's how I tried to approach leadership. And I had more than a flotilla leadership role. I I uh was a division commander and then a district captain as well. So uh and and the the auxiliary does send us to leadership and management schools, so there is some more extensive leadership training that goes a lot along with it. So, you know, it it's they they invest a lot because they're you know that there's a huge benefit from being able to run a flotilla better, run a division better, a district better. All of that helps the uh active duty uh helper lose a little bit of their sometimes.

SPEAKER_02

It is hard to get somebody motivated when you can't just like it it it is, you know, command them to do it.

SPEAKER_05

Exactly. And and that's the thing, it's leading through influence. It's you know, if everybody is has faith in the mission and they have faith in you, that's the important part, is they have faith in you, and if they trust you, then they will help. And you can you, you know, you to me the key is just convincing them that thank you for putting the trust in me and let's get this done together.

SPEAKER_02

Have you ever had an instance where you've tried with somebody as a volunteer and they just couldn't couldn't get it with the program? There's always that.

SPEAKER_01

We're not gonna name names.

SPEAKER_02

No, no, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_01

We're thinking of the same person right now.

SPEAKER_02

Did you have to say, hey, uh did they leave on their own, or did you have to say, hey, this isn't really worth it.

SPEAKER_05

It's been a combination of both, because I've uh we've had to deal with it on both ends. And uh, you know, that's the other thing. It's a a volunteer organization, and also there's you know, you don't have a right to be in it, so the uh active duty can just make a decision that uh you no longer should be a member and they can have it done that way too.

SPEAKER_01

Certain people sometimes can get a chip on their shoulder though, too.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, but I think when there is the possibility that if you don't do what is required, you can be removed. That makes you more proud to be part of the organization. I think if if anybody can go and anybody can stay, regardless of how committed they are, then I think that kind of cheapens the role.

SPEAKER_05

It does. Um and and like I said, there's just a lot of it's it to me, it's like I don't want to let everyone else down. And that's what that's what kind of keeps me there is even if I may take on a little bit too much uh too much of that on my own. To me, it feels like if I fail, then everyone fails, and I don't want everyone to fail. I want us all to do that.

SPEAKER_02

I mean that's he definitely he definitely is.

SPEAKER_01

And I want to say we read in your bio, and I kind of knew this, but you have no social media presence. No, and I think that you may be the last functioning adult. Tell me how you do that, Obi-Wan can Obi. Is that intentional or is it just like noise?

SPEAKER_05

Just noise. I I think the only one I have is probably LinkedIn for professional reasons. But other than that, I just haven't had uh I didn't feel everybody uh for like Facebook and stuff, especially everybody that I want to stay in contact with, I'm already in contact with.

SPEAKER_01

So it's like it doesn't but I want to I want to say this because you know, as being in the auxiliary, there are a lot of older members that are there. And if we don't get the younger people more involved and more active involved then the auxiliary, and we had talked about this even before, it it it will slowly just diminish. And but social media is how they are engaging and being in Austin, excuse me, being in Austin in probably the most social media influenced town in Texas, is there a push from the auxiliary to try to get more volunteers, or do they leave it up to the flotilla itself, or does it come from the there is an overall there is an overall push.

SPEAKER_05

Uh, and a lot of it just ends up uh on the individual members and then on individual flotilla commanders to decide what kind of works for your area, because that's kind of the whole key. And you know, clearly we do have while I don't have a personal presence, we do have a flotilla presence. Uh that was out of it's not the most yes. Uh so as we do get members that are better at certain aspects of it, you know. I we we'll we'll get people to step up in a particular role and change things for the better. Uh, you know, I think we even got our modernized version of paying our dues online through through that. I think we're one of the few flotillas that actually does that. I was still right. And I was yeah, it and it to me it's like a you know same thing. It's a simple thing. Yeah um uh it it's just it I think the only uh place we haven't ventured in yet is probably Instagram. Uh, but there are plenty of people that are better at that than I am, and yeah, that's kind of you know, if people have that particular skill set and that's all they want to do, that's also the other beauty of the auxiliary is you can do something that you're already good at, or you can take a leap and do something that you've never done before because you do this all the time at work.

SPEAKER_01

That was kind of like the the academy um aspect that came up, and I was like, I totally wanted to jump on that because I was already real active involved in the schools, and I know that this area right here at one time the Coast Guard Academy recruited or got more students from this Texas Hill Country than any other area. There was a time like when my son Tate went in, we had Dripping Springs High School had more kids from Dripping Springs High School that joined active Coast Guard than any other school in the surrounding areas. It was it was pretty crazy. I don't know, maybe it had something to do with Mama Lewis and Tate that we were bullying people. But you know, the sexy part of the Coast Guard that people love to see on the news is, you know, the rescues and the Coast Guard uh rescue swimmers and you know, people always you always hear this, like, well, the Coast Guard isn't real military. So what is your response to that?

SPEAKER_05

I mean, they they absolutely are, and they actually work every single day in a variety of missions that people may not understand. Uh a lot of disaster response, the Coast Guard auxiliaries or the auxiliary assists the Coast Guard, but the Coast Guard is one of the primary uh incident commanders or incident responses during uh disasters. Uh they developed that skill set over a lot of different things. So uh was it during I'm trying to remember the name of the uh big oil spill that happened.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, uh the the beach. Deepwater.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, the deep water, deep water, deep water horizon. Uh they the Coast Guard, yeah, there's a New Orleans sector. New Orleans is our district's uh home sector. Uh but the Coast Guard has a large presence in that. They also have a large presence supporting active duty military actions overseas as well, that people don't realize as well. They're everywhere, everywhere the the uh the military is, uh they're on it. The only reason people disassociate that is because they roll under the Department of Homeland Security. So I think that's where some of the biggest uh you know misconceptions are.

SPEAKER_01

And the reason why that is, is because during time it's title, what is it, title?

SPEAKER_05

I don't remember the title of the I think.

SPEAKER_01

It's not Title IX. But it's during times of conflict and war that the United States Coast Guard can board foreign vessels.

SPEAKER_05

So the Coast Guard does have uh law enforcement ability on any US flagged vessel. So they can board ships, they can do all that stuff precisely because they are not currently part of the US military. So they don't fall under that. They fall under uh I think they started off as the revenue uh agents or revenue cutters. That's where the cutter, that's where the cutter aspect comes up.

SPEAKER_02

Okay comes from. Uh my mom lives in Oregon and Port Orford, and there's a uh it's decommissioned now, but there's a former Coast Guard station there, and they had those like 30-foot-long wooden boats, you know. And in Port Orford, they had it at the top of like this slide, and so and it, and it was in this inlet. And so when the storms, seas were really bad, it's there's a rocky point there. And you know, a boat was in trouble. These guys would get in that boat and slide down this like hundred-foot slide into the water and shoot out of the I stood there and looked at that and I thought, those guys must have been insane to do that. That's the Coast Guard, that's the kind of stuff they do to go rescue people when they're in trouble on the water.

SPEAKER_01

It's crazy to Yeah, there I always said that Tate, like not any good, sane person jumps out of a perfectly good helicopter.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, but but I'll tell you what, when somebody's in trouble on the water and they hear that helicopter coming, they could not be more thankful.

SPEAKER_01

I I totally agree. You uh BH, back to your personal life a little bit. You are an only child, yes, and you talk a lot about your family. I use that term also, your friends that have become your family. Um do you think that through your association, through the auxiliary, that that is part of the reason why you have continued to be as active, involved, because maybe it's part of a family outside of the Oh it absolutely is.

SPEAKER_05

I mean, I've I've associated with the same members in the flotilla for you know over a decade, so it does become an extended part of your family. Um, you know, everybody laughs together. We we go generally we go eat at Chili's afterwards because gyms started closing early.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, we go to the meetings and we'd go to chili.

SPEAKER_05

We have our second meeting, secondary leadership meeting at gyms.

SPEAKER_02

Uh and then they started closing early during COVID, so we had to find another place so we started going to uh to Chili's afterwards to now you're working security, and you're um I looked in your bio, you're six down sixth street security and then bodyguard stuff.

SPEAKER_05

Yes, I I've I've done done that. I've done some um some some body bodyguard work. Uh I'm not currently working sixth street anymore. I started working at a at uh at coda.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, you did? Okay, yeah. But that's a little just a little quieter.

SPEAKER_05

Vastly different.

SPEAKER_01

I was supposed to go to a coda event tonight, so maybe next week I'll see you.

SPEAKER_02

Just just uh but what's that like working security? I know and you did it on Sixth Street.

SPEAKER_05

I think it's just it was just an extension because I I honestly started doing it as a uh as a side job uh because I was getting ready to sell my house and I wanted to do something to raise some money to to to to make some fixes, and I I just couldn't think of anything else that kind of caught my eye. And I just saw an ad to uh to to work at the when they had the convention center. Oh and I just started doing that and I had a knack for it. I found out that you can get a license to to be uh an unarmed person, and then I saw I got a license, I I got all of my licenses within the same year, I think. So I got my unarmed, my my armed, and then the level four, which is the the bodyguard type stuff work, and uh I did that and I just had a knack for it, and I just enjoyed doing it as a side yeah, as a side thing, just because it allowed me probably an extension of my auxiliary responsibilities, but also it was more tangible to me than the corporate job that I was doing. Yeah, okay. Because if I did everything right, obviously people's commission checks would go through, so people were happy, operations kept up, you know. We had uh, you know, ninety nine percent. You we we met all our metrics, but it it was like Like almost nothing to me. But if I did my right my job right in the other thing, I could visibly see that people were taken care of, or I helped resolve an incident, or I helped, you know, in some so it was a little more um by resolve, you mean you kick their ass? No, no, no, not at all. De-escalation every single I'm keeping it.

SPEAKER_02

Every single time uh you de-escalate.

SPEAKER_05

Well, try to de-escalate.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, so I I have I am known, I have a reputation as not taking no for an answer. And I also have a very strong reputation of being in places that I'm not supposed to be. Um it's just my I always say I have a of a knack. The answer is always no unless you ask or ask for forgiveness versus permission, right? So um how do you handle someone like me where I'm just like beep, beep, beep, you're gonna be able to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_05

Sometimes sometimes I I just revert to my kind of the tech support face, and you just be as unemotional as possible. And you know, I'm sorry, but you can't go back there, but please, no, I'm sorry. And you just kind of have to hold the line and understand when some of the tricks come out, and you know, I've because I've I've run into that before. Can I get in? I was like, no, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_01

I'm not a can you get in, I'm a I'm supposed to be here.

SPEAKER_05

Or or a lot of it is also is understanding that it's very easy to get into places like that. So I've also thought about how to do that. So if I was going to do that, what would I do? So part of it is looking for things that just don't make a lot of sense. And I have sussed out some folks that weren't supposed to be where they were at. Yeah. Because I would, you know, uh, I think my favorite trick is uh when someone would show up to somewhere instead of asking them, hey, are you here for whoever's event? Yeah, I was like, Oh, cool, what what event are you here for? Because if they don't know the name of the event, they're probably not supposed to be in. So that's one kind of easy friendly way to kind of suss out, especially when I don't have any directives on these people are supposed to be here or not. That's usually an easy filter, or people that don't seem like they're dressed for the occasion is an easy way, or someone, you know, if we're working, say backstage place. Yes, everyone is dressed like they're a roadie trying to do work, and all of a sudden someone comes in that doesn't quite look the same. You know, it's worth talking to somebody. Uh and usually I just approach it as a conversation. Hey, can I help you find something?

SPEAKER_01

And mine's not more nefarious. You know, I think I think I use my background as a as a safety and security officer when I used to break into schools and I'd get paid to break into schools and kidnap children. But so I've kind of used that.

SPEAKER_02

There's nothing nefarious about that.

SPEAKER_01

Nothing. They paid me to do it, okay? But um, I I'm not here for a long time. I'm just here for a good time. I'm not here to like I'm not breaking into places that I'm not supposed to, except when it was schools. Like literally, I would break into schools, um, like climb through windows, I would find egresses that weren't supposed to be, because I'm thinking if I can get in, kids can get out. You know, so it was just kind of that mindset. But I'm you know, I work, I work in in uh the music industry on the outside, and so I also know the same little tricks, and so I use some of the same tricks that people try to give to me, and I use it back. But it is kind of funny. Sometimes I've had crazy excuses, and I'm like, you know what? Kudos, that was a good one. I'm gonna let you in.

SPEAKER_05

And and sometimes depending on it too, you know, it it's it's always i it it's I I've never I've never I've never made sure there was never like a threat to safety. But oh, I understand. You know, someone that I could keep an eye on that they're just gonna do X, Y, Z. You know, it it's you you just have to use your best judgment on stuff like that. And and you know, I've helped people that were legitimately lost. They didn't know how to get there too.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

You know, it's it's not like they're trying to do anything bad. They just show up and they're not sure where they they need to go.

SPEAKER_01

Do you remember that that story I told you about George Strait? I went, I had George Strait tickets and we've and I had a bunch of friends up in the suites. So I went up to the suite and I suite talked the security guard, and I wore a hat and my dress and everything, and I went, and then I left and I came back and I took my hat off, and he goes, Oh my gosh, there's a lady the same wearing the same dress. And I was like, Really? It was like it was me.

SPEAKER_02

BH on the bodyguard side. What's one thing about being a bodyguard that most people like me and Michelle don't understand?

SPEAKER_05

A lot of people assume it's someone that's gonna be walking around getting to a with a gun, trying to get into a fight. You should be as inconspicuous as you need to be because you're not trying to draw attention. I'm not, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Especially on Sixth Street, per se.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, or just in in general. Like generally, if you're with a high value uh person, you're not gonna want to draw a lot of attention to yourself. You're not gonna be, you know, there's there's some people that relish the uh the symbolism. You have a bunch of burly guys walking around next to you. There's a place for that, just like in any other team, there's a place for the highly visible folks, and then the folks that you don't see on the side. I like I like to be the uh the other one.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, but when you have when you meet with some when you're gonna bodyguard somebody, do they typically somebody gives you and says, Okay, we want you to be real close or we want you to stand in the back, or do they kind of give you some parameters? Sometimes they do, sometimes not.

SPEAKER_05

Sometimes you just kind of have to figure that out. I think the first job that I did, I did have to ask because that was my you know, I did all this planning. Yeah. And uh, you know, I said, Hey, what you know, what are you comfortable with? So I know, you know, I I don't want to be right. You know, I don't want to interfere with your fans, right? Exactly. I was like, I don't want to interfere with your fan interactions. And they gave me some kind of examples in a little bit, and then you know, it's your your best judgment, you know, some little kid going up for an autograph, probably not as big of a threat, physical threat, because that's what I'm concerned with, is a physical threat, uh, compared to someone who just has a different look in their eye. And uh just like I said, it it's does it look like this?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so so you say uh that's a great example. So you're you got a guy, they're a movie star or whatever, and you're bodyguarding them, and yeah, they're standing there talking to a f eight-year-old boy that wants an autograph, and then right behind them is somebody that's got that eye that's like looking around and making you nervous. What do you do?

SPEAKER_05

Um, it just depends on on what the best action is at that point. If if I'm only with that person and I'm the only one, you know, I'll try to just make sure that we put the space, you know, step behind, yeah, step behind, step in front, whatever would do is to make that space. Uh, but if there's something that happens and I'm the only person, our my job is just to get them out of danger.

SPEAKER_02

Okay.

SPEAKER_05

So I'm not staying to fight. I'm not that's where some people get the misconception, you know, it's gonna be this big firefight or something like that. No, we're just getting away as quickly as possible. And that's really kind of the thing is to keep them safe, and that means getting getting out.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I've always uh whenever I see videos on Instagram, which I know you don't do, uh, of somebody with a bodyguard, I always like watching the bodyguards because I think that's a that's probab it's a probably a rare skill to have to do that exactly right. It's a combination to get involved and when not to get involved and when to when to be really, you know, in the front and center and when to just kind of hang back a little bit.

SPEAKER_01

You think I'd be a good bodyguard?

SPEAKER_02

No, I think you would suck at that.

SPEAKER_01

You think I'd need a bodyguard? I think you need a big um bh, you have on your bucket list you have Spain, Italy, all these tropical islands. What is stopping you? Come on, dude. Go. Yeah, I wondered if this is.

SPEAKER_05

Currently, I'm I'm trying to get back to the corporate world so I can get the vacation time to go and do a lot of that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

What's the first place you think you'll go when you get that two-week great vacation?

SPEAKER_05

I would like to go to Europe. Uh I did get sent to uh Slovakia through through my previous work. So I did get to spend a weekend in Vienna. So I got to go to the see the opera and and visit the Habsburg palaces and all that stuff. So uh that was interesting to me. That that was fun. Uh so definitely I'd like to explore a lot of the history and stuff in in in Italy.

SPEAKER_02

One of the things you said on your bio is one of your bucket list items is to take in the piece of a mountain lake. Is that because your life is generally really hectic and crazy and you just want to look quiet stuff?

SPEAKER_05

It's because I grew up where there was no mountains bigger than a molehill.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_05

So being in the mountains just seems like completely opposite of where I came from. And just the serenity to me, yeah. I mean, everybody's seen the pictures of the you know, those tranquil mountain lakes. It just seems it just seems right.

SPEAKER_02

I've been there and it's better than you think.

SPEAKER_01

Steve's like, let me show you on my thing.

SPEAKER_02

I'm I'm serious. Every time I go to someplace like that, it's quiet and there's no people around. It's man, it does something to me. It is.

SPEAKER_05

Um because like I said, I I grew up on a we grew up on a ranch. Yeah and the same thing. Like I I uh the only time that I have seen a sky as clear is when we went to Big Bend. Yeah. And that just completely dark, like seeing the Milky Way again. And it's a shame that I I I've talked to some other folks who have never seen the Milky Way, and it's like it's just just something breathing.

SPEAKER_02

Last time we were at Big Bend, my wife laid in our tent and uh we didn't put the rainfly on. We laid there and counts counted satellites going through the sky because it was so clear. You could we got up to like 98 satellites in like an hour. You could say they're just everywhere. Oh, that's really that's really cool. But you can only see it when you're out in the world.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, where's absolute darkness? I forgot what what it is that they call there that they kind of enforce, but yes, the it's just we're a dark sky community out here.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, we have the first designation.

SPEAKER_02

But man, in Big Ben, it's you like, wow, how do they stop from bumping into each other? They're everywhere.

SPEAKER_01

It's it's pretty cool. We we love we love being out here when uh we'll go float out in our pool when it's totally dark outside and you can just see see everything. I I know that service is such a big part of your personality. And were you taught growing up, or was it something that you learned when you made the quote? And I've heard this my whole life also, you leave things better than you found them. Was that something that was sounded?

SPEAKER_05

That was a mixture of uh being a Boy Scout, uh, but also uh my grandfather was uh was in the Navy and he served during the Korean War as a navigator on the USS Iowa.

SPEAKER_02

Okay.

SPEAKER_05

And he was also uh he built a business. He was a he had an APA store there in our town, and he also taught Bible class, he sung in the church choir. So that kind of service was to me taught by that example that he had set for me to not only serve yourself, but serve your family and your community. So I think he did heavenly heavily heavenly is also influenced me towards towards that. Yeah. Um, and I think that's where it came from. But the specific saying was was around uh you know, growing up and and being a Boy Scout and Cub Scouts and all that, I'll just leave somewhere better than you found it.

SPEAKER_02

And I tell you, we need a lot more of that in society and culture today. Uh uh we need a lot more people thinking that way. I my I got a final question for you, and it's really serious. So if Steve Michelle and BH are stranded on a boat in the middle of Lake Travis, who becomes useful first and who becomes the problem?

SPEAKER_03

Stop looking at me.

SPEAKER_05

Michelle served successfully as one of my staff officers, so I know she's completely capable.

SPEAKER_02

And you probably don't know me very well.

SPEAKER_05

So you're a little bit more expendable. You're the you're probably the first person we're gonna cannibalize.

SPEAKER_01

But have you seen him? He's a little skinny. He's a little skinny.

SPEAKER_05

Okay, we'll have to make it a we'll have to make it a steep.

SPEAKER_02

You guys are stranded. I might be like, yeah, that's an easy swim. It's only half a mile sea up.

SPEAKER_05

And he's gonna be wearing his life jacket, so he'll be able to get to shore and then call for help.

SPEAKER_01

I don't know if you know this or not, but he's also known as Speedo Steve. Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Well, the life jacket's a little bit more important than that fashionable section of it. Speedo doesn't flow very well.

SPEAKER_01

Oh my goodness. BH, thank you so much for joining us and taking time out. I I have really enjoyed my time getting to know you even even more so. And um, for those of you that would really would like to be interested in joining the Coast Guard Auxiliary, how do they find you? How do they go? I mean, if you have Facebook, you can go to the US CG Auxiliary Flotilla 75 page.

SPEAKER_05

You can also go to the national site, the cgox.org, and find out. But uh Google search of Coast Guard you nowadays you can easily find that out, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. Uh, and then you can find out how to to join and it'll direct you to your closest flotilla. But uh, you know, that's one of the many ways to get a hold of us.

SPEAKER_02

That's great. I've really enjoyed this. Uh, you came in and you were like, I don't know what you guys are gonna talk about, but it's been fun. I really enjoyed getting to know you, and I'm uh and I thank you for being out there doing this good work with you.

SPEAKER_05

I appreciate that. You certainly made it made it easier for me. I was definitely nervous. Well, good, that's our job.

SPEAKER_01

Hey, you've been on my bucket list for a while, and I'm just gonna say, Um, Cynthia Banks, at some point I'm gonna update all of my all of my classes, and I will come back every time I get a the invoice from her to rejoin. I'm like, I know I'm behind on several things.

SPEAKER_05

I've I've gotten the messages before too, even I forget this. I'm about to show up with the with cash in my hand when I'm gonna. I was like, this is my meeting, I'm running it. Here's my check. Thank you. Am I allowed in?

SPEAKER_01

That's right.

SPEAKER_05

Thank you so much. I appreciate that so much. Thank you for the uh opportunity.

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This show is brought to you in part by the Mallet Integrity Team, serving Dripping Springs, Austin, and the surrounding areas of Central Texas since 2004. When you need the best real estate advice and service, give them a call at 512-829-2062. Or email them at malletintegrity team.com. And now here's Steve and Michelle.

SPEAKER_01

And we are back. Welcome back, everybody.

SPEAKER_02

What a great interview with B.H. Galvin. God, what a day. We are just making this stuff up as we go.

SPEAKER_01

We literally are flying by the seat of our pants right now.

SPEAKER_02

Commandant of the Coast Guard Auxiliary. What auxiliary? The Flotilla Commander. Flotilla Commander, yes. We're a great guy. Really enjoyed that. Do you you had a little you want to tell us a little bit about the Coast Guard?

SPEAKER_01

I don't know if you remember or not, but you know, I I am in the Coast Guard Auxiliary as well. Um, but I have taken you know, it is the the the uh requirements are very loose.

SPEAKER_02

Did you have to do a pull-up?

SPEAKER_01

I think no exercise was involved in it at the time. But um I have to say it it is a really cool time. The the things that I have done, I have taken a step back over the last couple of years, um, especially now with um my caretaking abilities that I'm doing. I don't and and I have so much going on.

SPEAKER_02

You do have a lot going on. I'm still currently I had a lot going on you got more than me.

SPEAKER_01

Well, I'm still curr still currently a member. I'm not as quite up to date as I should be on all of my things, but uh but yeah, I would come in here and I would switch into my uniform. You saw me when I'd have to go to Bass Drop and I was taking that EMR class. And so, but you know, most people hear Coast Guard auxiliary and they s they assume that number one, we're military, like full-on military, and number two, it's like some newer volunteer program.

SPEAKER_02

Is that similar to the reserves?

SPEAKER_01

Well, let me let me tell you go right ahead.

SPEAKER_02

Let me tell you what it is. Sorry to interrupt you.

SPEAKER_01

The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary traces its roots back all the way to 1939 when Congress created what was originally called the Coast Guard Reserve. Okay. And at the time, it was a civilian volunteer organization made up of largely of boat owners and yachtsmen who helped promote boating safely, seamanship, and assistance on the water. But then World War II happened and it kind of changed everything. In 1941, Congress reorganized the program, and the military reserve became what we know now as the Coast Guard Reserve, while the civilian volunteers became the Coast Guard, the United States Coast Guard auxiliary. And during World War II, those volunteers did a lot, whole lot more than um boating safety classes. So auxiliarists and other Coast Guard temporary reservists volunteered themselves and sometimes their own boats, which is a lot. Yeah. I mean, a lot of these people, a lot of these auxiliary um or flotillas do not own their own boats. It's members' boats. Now you don't have to own a boat to be in the auxiliary, but um, but they help America's coastline. Um very interesting enough, civilian yachts were used for offshore patrols and anti-submarine efforts in World War II, what which was became known as because a lot of people don't know this.

SPEAKER_02

The Japanese were running submarines up and down the California coast, right off the coast.

SPEAKER_01

Right, that's pretty scary. What was called Corsair Fleet, while volunteers also supported port security, coastal surveillance, and other wartime missions. After the war, after World War II, the auxiliary returned to its heavily to like heavily focusing on boating safety. But so today the Coast Guard Auxiliary is just a it's a uniformed volunteer component of the Texas I'm sorry, excuse me, Texas Team Coast Guard. I'm sorry. I'm like mixing my words up because I was coughing and sneezing at the same time. That's what you heard. It was a cough sneeze. At least I didn't fart, and that would be like a train back on the case.

SPEAKER_02

We don't know. I may find out here shortly.

SPEAKER_01

You just never know. So today's Coast Guard auxiliary, they support recreational boating safety, vessel examinations, public education, safety patrols, search and rescue support, communications, disaster response, and many other Coast Guard missions. Now, the component that I was involved in, I was involved in the Coast Guard Academy. I um signed up for that where I would interview high school kids and um kind of be the go-between, the liaison between the high school kid and the academy. And I would recommend people for that. Um, but they support nearly every Coast Guard mission, and they're trained and authorized to perform with law enforcement and direct military combat with among some major exceptions. Um, so 85 years of history, ordinary citizens volunteering their time and skills to help other people um keep safe. And so you have seen my Coast Guard um auxiliary ID. I have. It's horrific.

SPEAKER_02

It is horrific. It is not you in your best life, Michelle. It is absolutely horrific. And you have also seen me and look like they dragged you to boot camp and said, Here, we're taking your picture.

SPEAKER_01

Well, I have to tell you, when I put on those boondockers and that uniform, I first off, I feel 30 pounds heavier. And but the uniform, since I when I first joined 10 years ago, nine years ago, the uniform has changed, and especially we're in Austin. So now we can wear polos, short polos. There's actual shorts also.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, that makes a lot more sense. When you left a couple times in July, we're headed to a thing. I was like, dang, that looks really good.

SPEAKER_01

And my hair has to be up and the hat and or the the cover and not the hat, sorry, my cover and everything else. But uh what I thought was really cool when I was doing this story, when I was doing research for the story, Coast the Coast Guard also just opened a brand new recruiting office here in Austin. Oh, so when my son Tate decided to join the Coast Guard, we had to go to San Antonio when he depped, which is delayed entry program.

SPEAKER_02

And so they're um You know what's interesting about the Coast Guard is I've met a lot of people that had have served in the Coast Guard, and every single one of them had said has said they enjoyed their time in the Coast Guard, that it was very rewarding.

SPEAKER_01

We like to say that um even the Navy needs rescuing sometimes. But um but yeah, it's really cool. So this new recruiting office is off of Whitestone Boulevard, it's in Cedar Park, which is not really Austin, but you know it's a suburb of Austin. But you know. So um I I really think that the Coast Guard changed the trajectory of my son's life, who is now he was a rescue swimmer. Now he's in med school, and and uh I I very kudos to all the branches, but my heart, even though my father and all my brothers, they all served in the Navy.

SPEAKER_02

My dad too.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, Coast Guard.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah, there you go. Well, one of the things the Coast Guard does a lot is go out and rescue people when the weather gets really bad. And I've been reading quite a bit about uh, you know what El Nino is when the weather's typically Yeah, she's spicy. Yeah, she's spicy. Well, typically the the weather is a little colder and much rainier. Well, now they're saying that the U.S. this year, this fall, starting in October through probably early December, is going to experience a super El Nino. So the Super El Nino is gaining strength and could mean a wetter and colder fall and winter for Texas. It could mean snow, hail, flooding rains, uh, according to all the forecasts.

SPEAKER_01

It'll happen all in one day. Probably happens in a whole winter.

SPEAKER_02

Um so the uh the forecasters are saying residents across the state, so across all of Texas, should brace for a gloomy, chilly, wet end to 2026. So it's right around the corner. It's coming. And some of the the weather reports have been um that they're saying we could have uh temperatures down to five degrees, we could have flooding rains all across the state, we could have snow. You know, typically when we get snow, it's it's late January, early February. They're talking about snow before the end of the year in Texas. Yeah. So um there's a 90% chance of a very strong event happening between October and event uh and November. Um and typically in El Nino means uh 29 to 49 percent more rainfall, and this is more way more than that. So it's uh we're we're in for it, I think, over the next couple months.

SPEAKER_01

I hope the grid can keep up with it, because let me tell you, the Texas grid needs some help.

SPEAKER_02

We've talked about that before, that uh, you know, people need to be prepared. If uh we get a lot of people that come to Texas that don't understand the the extreme weather thing is kind of a misnomer. Weather is always extreme. I mean, there there hurricanes have happened since the earth was formed. Yes, yes you know, tornadoes have happened since the earth was formed. There's nothing going on right now that is making extreme weather. But sometimes in Texas, like you just said, in 24 hours, we have some crazy things happen. And that that's not that's not abnormal Texas weather. That's normal Texas weather. But the first time I came here uh in twenty in 2003, we in December, we had in 24 hours, we got 10 inches of rain in 24 hours. There's not many places in the country that get that. So they're saying this forecast is we may get some of that. And you know, right now Lake Travis is almost full.

SPEAKER_01

It's I think let's fill those lakes up some more, though.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, agree, agree. We need to fill the lakes up. The problem is once the lakes are full, where's the water go out?

SPEAKER_01

Well, won't they open the dams then?

SPEAKER_02

Well, they will, but that water still goes through. You know, you go down past the Pleasant Valley Dam in Austin, you know, it's like just it it's a river out in the middle of the woods, kind of thing. And you know, they open those floodgates, a ton of water goes through there that doesn't go through there all the time. So you'll have branches and debris and things moving downstream, and that's that can cause a lot of damage to bridges and roadways and things like that.

SPEAKER_01

That's we saw with the Wimberley flood and the Kerrville flood. I actually, um, Nomic Power Solutions, who was uh an advertiser of ours, I have reached out to them. Oh, yeah, about getting a generator about looking into a generator because I think it may be time because otherwise I'm gonna go to my neighbor's house behind me, Sylvia.

SPEAKER_02

Because they have one, yeah. Yep. Well, one of the forecasters I read said we may see as much as seven and a half inches of snow before the end of the year in parts of Texas. Seven and a half inches of snow. That is a ton of snow. I don't know how much we got in that last snowmageddon, but I don't think it was seven and a half.

SPEAKER_01

But you know, I think it could possibly be Dallas, you know. Uh I think it'll probably be more north.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, maybe more panhandle up near Dallas. But still, I mean, if they get seven and a half inches of in of snow in Dallas, guarantee we're gonna get a couple inches down here.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_02

But that's what we got to look to look forward to.

SPEAKER_01

But you know what? We'll get 10 inches of snow, but the cowboys still won't go to the Super Bowl. Let me tell you. Come on, cowboys. That's true. Come on, cowboys. So uh, Steve, you have a great love for the Grand Canyon. I do, I do. Like, and I was like looking for some quirky stories on the Grand Canyon, especially when you first told me you were gonna have to have this surgery. Uh-huh. And um, you were one of the things that you said to me, you probably don't even remember. I don't even know if I would ever be able to do the Grand Canyon again. And I said, You've done it, you've done it twice. You've done rim to rim to rim to rim to rim, whatever that I like. I do rim to rim to rim, but it's usually with Tahine on the side of Margarita. But uh, you know that there are parts of the Grand Canyon that are completely off limits to the public. And I didn't know that. Well, naturally, you hear it or the internet hears it and they think aliens, right? Oh, total aliens. But most of the real reasons that are out there are just a little bit less exc exciting. Some of the areas are closed because they are culturally sacred. Some are dangerous, some are contaminated, and some are simply just way too fragile to have tourists crawling all over them. And you know, I have seen video after video of these tourists, like especially at Yellowstone. These people, it makes my eye twitch thinking about how idiotic these people are and they're walking on these uh You know, uh, I just read a story the other day.

SPEAKER_02

You're talking about Yellowstone. You know, those those pools, those geysers where the water is boiling hot that people that watch full of acid and stuff. You know, they clean those out every year, and they've found uh sunglasses, hats, airpods, uh camera covers. People walk out on next to those. You they just have no clue how close they are to dying. And actually, some people have fallen in them and been boiled to death.

SPEAKER_01

Oh no, no, no.

SPEAKER_02

Well, and then in the Grand Canyon, you're talking I've seen people when I've been in the Grand Canyon, they hop the little fence right there so they can stand on the edge and get that cool picture for Instagram, and behind them is a 500-foot fall. You make one wrong step, or that rock gives away.

SPEAKER_01

People are idiots for a so maybe you should have your camera watching their camera and watching them.

SPEAKER_02

I know that would get go viral in the case.

SPEAKER_01

Have you been to the I I'm probably saying this wrong, the Hopi or the Hopi salt mines at the Grand Canyon. Um so it's one that's one of the areas that's closed to the public and restricted because it has a significant um cultural site and also fragile natural material. Um, one of the other ones, uh um, the state, the park service recognizes 11 to tribes with historical ties to the canyon. And then there's places that you cannot enter at all because it'll kill you, like the bass asbestos mine, like asbestos.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, asbestos. I didn't know that was even there.

SPEAKER_01

So they tell you to keep at least 500 feet away unless you have special written permission because of the high levels of asbestos fiber. I wonder what that permission slip looks like. That's what I know. That's what I want to know. Um, yeah, I mean, like why would you want to go visit the asbestos mine? And then there's another place called the part of the tribal lands, Havasupai.

SPEAKER_02

Havasupai.

SPEAKER_01

Havasupai. Um, have you been to that one?

SPEAKER_02

I've been to it. Used to be, I think it's called Havasupai Gardens now. It used to be called Indian Gardens, but now they call it Havasup. Oh, really?

SPEAKER_01

Well, you know, it's it's sacred, and maybe tourists shouldn't go over there.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, there are places I know that in in the Grand Canyon where there are uh, you know, hand prints, like the natives, the native Indians had done handprints or drawings, and people, when they have access to them, they always want to touch them, they always want to rub them. And those things are destroyed by that. It's it's uh I wish people would just have a little more sense about that kind of stuff. So then the National Park Service has to close those off to preserve them for future generations.

SPEAKER_01

Well, and then you go, you go into like, you know, the natural bridge caverns with the beautiful stalactites that are coming, and they're and they're popping them off. But you know, while you were recovering from your heart attack, also there was that major flash flood. The heart, not the heart attack, I'm so sorry. The when you were recovering from the heart surgery, uh, there was that major flash flood that happened August 29th. That was pretty scary looking. And that looked like exactly the area that you and Holly live.

SPEAKER_02

A lot of people thought that the flood was the Colorado River, and there's actually a river that comes from the north rim through that canyon, the North Rim Canyon. And both times that we've been there, it's been maybe two feet deep, and it was probably 60 feet deep.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it was crazy. They said that um two hikers from Granbury, Texas were killed, and another hiker is missing. And um, then right when they were recovering from that flood, another flood happened on the 16th of September. So you just never know what's gonna happen out there.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I mean, it's it's a giant canyon, uh that and so it's collecting millions and millions of feet of rain, you know, and it sends it down in that canyon. So if they have 10 inches of rain in 24 hours on the north rim, it all goes into that canyon, and that little tiny bubbling creek becomes a torrent. It's uh and the sort of the main uh half kind of halfway point is uh um oh dang it. Oh, it just left me. Uh I got brain fog. Uh right, it'll come to me in a second. Right down at the bottom of the canyon, that's where most people go and turn around. There's horse corrals, there's campsites, uh, there's a little cantina there.

SPEAKER_01

Um like like cantina where you can get beer and like beer, you can get lemonade.

SPEAKER_02

They're famous for the most people go in and get a lemonade and a candy bar. Um, but all that whole area around there, the horse corrals, the the the uh camping area, it's all gone. It's just washed with really and those like those horse corrals are you know 100 years old, and that that's what that's where they when the uh mules come down, they put them in those horse corrals. So yeah, it's gonna be, you know, and and this is on top of the lodge at the north rim burning down a couple years ago. That that historic lodge is gone. It not just had a little fire there, it's gone. The Grand Canyon's been been hit really hard. It's it's it's a shame. I hope that the National Park Service has the resources, and if they don't, that the federal government gives them more to get that back to its glory. It is one of the most spectacular places in our country.

SPEAKER_01

Well, maybe one day, Steve, when you hang up your real estate hat and you're hang up your your microphone, maybe you'll be a guide at the Grand Canyon.

SPEAKER_02

I would love to do that. I know you would. I would love to maybe help people do rim to rim to rim. You know, that's something like that. Or uh guide people down. Yeah, I uh it it is everywhere you look, when you go when when you go to the Grand Canyon, everywhere you look is amazing. The thing that and I've said this before, only three percent of the people that go visit the Grand Canyon, take one step down into the canyon, and it is a completely different experience when you go down into the canyon than it is standing.

SPEAKER_01

I have seen the Grand Canyon numerous times from an airplane, and I have only visited once. Um, but you know, I was by the I was in the visitors area. For sure. That was that was it.

SPEAKER_02

But it was I mean, if if if you can't go down because you you can't go into the canyon, I get it. Some people are not able to do that. Uh, and it is a lot easier going down than it is turning around and come back up. But it is still a spectacular place to go to stand there on the rim behind the fence and look out at that wonderful. I mean, it is gorgeous everywhere you look. You just it's it's a fantastic, amazing.

SPEAKER_01

Did you see the influencer that uh the female influencer that I don't know if it was the Grand Canyon, but it was like a canyon. And so she decided she wanted to go down there and she was like filming and everything, and she made it two miles, not even two miles, and had to be air flighted out of there.

SPEAKER_02

I did see that. I did see that. They had to come get a helicopter to get her out. It was like $15,000 or something.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, the memes that have come out of that, and like her friend, like she's spinning around, and her friend's like, Good job, Amy, or whatever her name is.

SPEAKER_02

You know, there uh about I don't know, a couple hundred yards down on any trail that goes down into the canyon, there's a sign of a man on all fours throwing up saying, make sure you know what you're doing. It's a lot easier to know. It says, uh, going down is optional, going back up is mandatory. There you go. Once you go down, you got to turn around and come back. A lot of people they underestimate it. Yes, it is. It's true. It's that should be the title of our podcast. Hey, I want to give a uh quick update on the old Fitzu Tours project.

SPEAKER_01

So remind me what a tours are tax reinvestment zone.

SPEAKER_02

So it's money. Uh some of it comes from uh the city, some comes from a uh special tax uh program from the from Hayes County. Actually, I think the water corporation is donating some money. So old FitsU is going to be transformed. Um it's going to be uh they're gonna put in parking all on, you know. Right now it's just asphalt going off into the dirt. They're gonna put parking on both sides of the road. There's gonna be crosswalks, they're gonna do landscaping, including trees and curbs. There'll be a sidewalk going all the way from Ranch Road 12 all the way down to Mercer Street. Uh, it's a complete beautification of that area, and all the property values in that area will just skyrocket when this is done. There'll be a little small park with an entrance monument sign uh at Ranch Road 12 and uh and Old Fitzhugh. So all that's coming. It's been approved by the city. They have the contractor. The contractor has been given the go. It was supposed to start in August. It's on hold because Text Dot needs to sign off on it.

SPEAKER_01

So uh wait, I I thought they had nothing to do with 12 Text Dot.

SPEAKER_02

So I don't know. I I guess any road improvements, Text Dot has to have some say in them. I don't know. It's a city road, it is not uh I'm it's not a county road, it's not a state road, but uh but ranch road 12 maybe text, it may be the intersection between. So uh but the the project was approved in 2017. It's taken this long, it's taken almost 10 years to go through the planning and then the con the design and then the contracting and all that. But the city's like in August, they're like, it's gonna go. And then Text Dot said, okay, we'll sign off on it, and now it's sitting on hold.

SPEAKER_01

So come on, give me an email. Give me an email.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, if you know anybody at TechSot, please ask them to sign off. They're they're expecting the project once they break ground to take 18 months to two years, adding parking, sidewalks, walkways, landscaping, lighting, benches, and that small park. So it's gonna be really, really difficult.

SPEAKER_01

That should be really good for drip, especially around founders. So we should we should hope for that.

SPEAKER_02

And you know what? Uh Mayor Bill's visited with us a couple times. Uh, you know, this project has been, they've been working on it for 10 years. I kudos to the city for sticking this out, for getting those funds. Keenan, who is a who has been a guestman, um, he was instrumental in that. He's worked with the county and everybody who helped on the design. Uh I I'm glad that the leadership in this city did not give up on that because it's very important for us to have that. Now, that transition from old fits you to Mercer will be much more seamless than it is now, where kind of old fits you kind of looks like, well, what is that? I don't even know where that goes. It will look like a part of our downtown. It's and there'll be parking there, and now we got bathrooms. I mean, it's it's been really good. I'm I'm glad the city has the vision for this.

SPEAKER_01

Well, now if we can just get all of the vendors or the stores and the restaurants to be open on the same day, Sunday, and everything else. Hey, I wanted to give one last push and one last shout out to Fireside Chat Support Network. Um, I am one of the co co-producers of bringing the Josh Abbott band, Kinfo, and our local boy, the Logan Pat Band, to Carter Creek Winery in Johnson City. I know it's Johnson City, but we're still in the Texas. It's not that far. It's not that far. It's October 3rd. Um, you can get your tickets at evilhawkentertainment.com. We still have a couple of tables left, and um we do have GA available and meet and greets. General admission. General admission. But um our the portion of our proceeds are going to Fireside Chat Support Network, which supports our military and our first responders. First responders. It is such an amazing, amazing nonprofit group that Joe.

SPEAKER_02

We have talked to some people that that go there, and it they're changing people's lives. They're they're really making a difference. Uh everything that they do there is really, really helping the community.

SPEAKER_01

I I just really um am asking you uh to just go out, buy a ticket. It's it's a bye week for UT, by the way. So you don't have to worry about football. We will be playing the AM game out there also. Uh we'll we'll be playing football, but um it's it's in support of Fireside Chat, and you'll get to listen to the Josh Abbott band.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so uh we'll the Fireside Chats is at twelve Fox, the the Boots Barrels is at Carter Creek. At Carter Creek Wing.

SPEAKER_01

Again, it's evilhawkertainment.com. Go get your tickets there.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, and thank you everybody for listening. I want to remind you we have for our YouTube subscribers, you can get our podcast a day early on Mondays if you are a subscriber to YouTube. So, Mallet and Michelle Podcast on YouTube, you can follow us. Please go like us on Instagram, makes a big difference for us. So that's right. That's thank you everybody for listening, and we will catch up with you next week.

SPEAKER_01

Thank you. From rodeo clowns, teachers or doctors, and everyone in between, Texans have one thing in common: hard work deserves smart banking. At South Star Bank, whether you're buying your first home, building a dream ranch, or just managing daily finances, our 16 branches across Central Texas are here for you. South Star Bank, trusted by professionals, backed by tradition, and built for Texas. Southstarbank.com, member FDIC, an equal housing lender. NMLS 410624.

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The Deep Eddie Vodka tasting room may be closed, but don't get it twisted. Deep Eddie Vodka isn't going anywhere.

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It's still made right here in Texas, and you can still enjoy every flavor, including the new espresso vodka.

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Pour it over ice, mix up your favorite cocktail, or keep it simple with soda and a lime. The tasting room chapter may be over, but the good times are still being poured.

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Deep Eddie vodka. Find your favorite flavor near you.

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Enjoy responsibly available nationwide.

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This show is brought to you in part by the Mallet Integrity Team, serving Dripping Springs, Austin, and the surrounding areas of Central Texas since 2004. When you need the best real estate advice and service, give them a call at 512-829-2062. Or email them at malletintegrity team.com.

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Call Black Slate Construction.

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Or visit Blackslate Construction.com. Even we're surprised by what we say sometimes.

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Big mouth, small town.

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Follow us on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube.

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Leave us a review or email us at Maladamichelle at gmail.com. I'm surprised we haven't been canceled yet.

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