Sick Days, Snow Days, and Survival | Ep 29

Marc (00:12) Welcome to guys like us. If you're new to this podcast, this is a podcast about the things you start to think about when you're in, well, we got to admit it, midlife. You'll hear stories about family, leadership, relationships, friendships, fun nights out. In short, the things that shaped us and continue to move us. And we hope there's something in there for you as well. And today's episode is about snow days and sick days, a very pertinent thing. for parents. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're Paul Fattinger (00:44) Fans, no days and sick days, here we go. Nice. Marc (00:48) a host today. Well, I'm Mark Cohen from a crazy freezing New York City. And I'm joined by my bestie Paul. Paul, where are you today? Paul Fattinger (00:57) I am back in Vienna where it's not freezing. It's just as gray as it has been in the greatest winter we've had in 30 years, not the coldest, but the greatest every Sunday is almost like, you know, every day with sun people actually talk about. It's like, saw the sun today. That's how, how that's fucking sucks. There is depressing as fuck, man. It's totally depressing. Marc (01:08) of my god. That sounds that sounds appalling. Okay, okay. Paul Fattinger (01:24) And my voice is a bit off as you can hear, hence the sick topic today. But tell me, how cold is it? Marc (01:30) It is, I mean, I can't even, yeah, I know, there's always that joke, like, can you pee on ice cubes and stuff like that? ⁓ It is, here's how cold it is. Basically, I was telling my son, look outside the window, and we have a, our window looks on the East River, and you could just see chunks of floating ice going, right? And I was like, can we spot a polar bear? yeah, they suspended the ferries in New York. Paul Fattinger (01:33) that you pee ice cubes. No. Marc (02:00) because it's basically like you're going, yeah, you're going through massive waves of ice and it's been like this for two and a half weeks of like minus six Fahrenheit, you know, or six Fahrenheit, 12 Fahrenheit. Like I can't take the kids out because it's so cold, you know? Yeah. And so like I did cross country skiing at my parents, right? You know? And. Paul Fattinger (02:02) Who? Wow. Wow. Yeah. Marc (02:28) you know, when we first a first note and we just kind of went through and now like those tracks are frozen and they haven't moved. It's just like chunks of ice splinters everywhere. It's bananas. Yeah. That was a long answer, but that's kind of a... Paul Fattinger (02:38) Crazy. Huh. Wow. So it is legitimately cold. It's not just you being like, you know, yeah. Okay. Wow. Marc (02:47) It is the coldest I've ever experienced. No, no, no, not being a pussy. It's the coldest I've experienced, consistently cold. I've experienced New York in a long, I think ever. Yeah. Paul Fattinger (02:58) my God, that sucks. I'm sorry to hear that man. That's it. Marc (03:02) So you're living, so you're in the grays and I'm in freezing beds, but there's some benefits to this. Paul Fattinger (03:06) Yeah, man, if it was also be that cold with that gray, I would have moved away immediately if I had, you know, I terrible, terrible. But hey, OK, I mean, Marc (03:13) that's awful. Yeah, yeah. Who's sponsoring you today before I get into it? And are you being sponsored by anyone or or you are I think Paul Fattinger (03:21) No. Vienna's finest dude. I mean I have to say if I want to say I want to talk about this for a second. This has been the driest month that I've had I think since not February guys. I'm still talking about January and let's maybe discount the first five or six days, but the driest three weeks I've had since I was 18 for sure for sure and I feel great actually to be honest. Marc (03:23) See, it's the other spiders. Peace. Really? Wow. Okay. Good. Paul Fattinger (03:51) I mean, surprise, surprise, but I really do feel great. Shocking, shocking. But as I was, you know, out sick for most of last week, I haven't started ⁓ drinking again and I'm okay with it. So I'm drinking Vienna's finest. ⁓ It wasn't even a choice. I would have made a tea if I had the time. But how about yourself? Marc (03:53) Shocking. You're walking over your health. That's good. Good. I'm proud of you. Also, New York's finest. It's I'm about to hop on a flight to San Francisco in a few hours. So I was just like, yeah, the drinking can start on. Yeah. Well, there's this great show. If you you know, I don't plan to drink much at all today. But if you ever want to feel better about what you're putting in your body, you go to an airport at 8am, right? ⁓ Paul Fattinger (04:22) here we go. Okay. That's why we saw early. It's like almost, it's almost, it's nice though. I like it. Yeah, yeah, but I'm almost like I like this. So when I go to the airport and there's a group of guys who, you know, get some beers at like 830, I'm like, yeah, I mean, that's, that's commitment. You know, I, know, you know, they're in for a good time, you know, they're in for a very good time. So I'm, I'm like, I like that. I have to admit, I like up to a point where you drink too much and getting almost kicked off a plane, but how would I know? Anyways, Marc (04:53) Yeah. That's true. Mmm. Mmm. Mmm. Paul Fattinger (05:10) It's a problem when you start doing this and then they delay the flight and you have to keep on going and keep on going and all of a sudden you are really in trouble. ⁓ But hey, you know something else before we start with this topic, a quick shout out. I don't know if you saw it this morning already on our Instagram channel. I was on this friend's podcast the other week. It's called Dead or Alive and they made a super fun. Yeah, check it out, Marc (05:11) Yeah, exactly. yeah? cool! Paul Fattinger (05:40) They made a super fun ⁓ kind of an Instagram AI generated photo and some fun clips. It's all in German though guys, but it's super fun actually. And they did a good job. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Marc (05:51) Nice. Good. Good. Well, I think this is episode 29. So I think you've got a lot of rounds under practice. Paul Fattinger (06:00) No, no, mean, was the practice. No, I don't know how the content was. I liked what they did with it. That's what I wanted to send, which I would love to do more. And then the other thing is I also saw today that the main Austrian radio station is doing a podcast of the year award. So we have to find a way to get lots of people to vote for us, Mark. So at least we become we get ranked into the newcomer of the year. Right. So we yeah, I know. No, but now you have to find a creative way. Marc (06:06) Mmm. I can't wait for my dream. Exactly. Yeah, I want the newcomer best English language podcast. think we can do it. Paul Fattinger (06:28) One person can vote once every 24 hours. And I'm about to think of a script we write, you know, or something that we can put ourselves into this. But no, we would never do this, fans. Please. It's a very cumbersome form online, actually. I almost didn't manage. But we will put it online and you will all get spammed by us in the next ⁓ few weeks. Marc (06:37) I know some people in Bangladesh that can help. Cool. Paul Fattinger (06:57) in order to actually submit your vote for the newcomer of the year, guys like us. Marc (07:02) Good. Cool. Well, okay. On that note, I'm gonna transition to why they should vote for us, which is a topic that is full top of mind, something we all experience. ⁓ How was your week, Paul? Let me ask you that. Paul Fattinger (07:08) Thank you. Thank you. If you listen to our last podcast, that was last week and it was recorded live from my car in the ski resort, drinking a glass of red wine, which was the last glass of red wine I drank because the next day I woke up, not, yeah, it's true actually. And I had another one with my parents, but then I woke up the next day and I felt not great. Marc (07:31) Yeah. Drinking a glass of red wine. was amazing. Yeah, exactly. Paul Fattinger (07:49) By that time I had two sick children at home and I thought okay, whatever, you know, I'm just gonna go skiing I went By lunchtime I couldn't barely stand or nor sit in this hut I went back home went to bed woke up three hours later with the fever So that was me only for the next day for my son to actually fall into the same trap. So ⁓ Yeah, I had the first one down on Sunday, the second one down on Monday, me down on Tuesday, and the third one down on Wednesday, which what turned out to be influenza A, which we had and with a little bit of a bacterial infection on top for me and my middle son who then also went on antibiotics by Wednesday because we couldn't breathe or talk anymore. So that was my week. And all of this while being in a 75 square meter. Marc (08:34) Jesus. Oh my god. Oh my god. Paul Fattinger (08:43) apartment together with my parents up on a mountain. Marc (08:47) Okay, that close that sounds like a circle of hell or circle freezing. I mean, it sounds crazy. But maybe your parents were running defense for you. Paul Fattinger (08:58) They were running defense for me and luckily they've had influenza already over Christmas. So they were immune and, and, and I don't know how I could have done without my mom and a huge shout out there. She was an absolute, uh, like a, like a terminatress, crazy, crazy. Yeah. Um, because on Wednesday I woke up, I was like, fuck this shit. I'm going to pack everything and I go home. And as I get up and say this, I'm like, okay, I have to lie down and go sleep. So yeah. Marc (09:15) Hahaha my god. Paul Fattinger (09:28) It was up actually to be honest with the first time I've ever had a vacation where that happened to me and my whole family. I've always heard this from others, but in that intensity that I always thought like, those poor fuckers. Yeah. This time it was me. Fair enough. You know, now it's over. I can laugh about it, but it was not so fun. Marc (09:37) Wow. And you always said, sucks to be you. Okay, I have a less painful version of that, but it rhymes, which are the snow day kind of thing. So so and, and imagine, well, it's too cold outside, cannot move, right? You're trapped, like, you know, normally, even in the winter, like, you know, we put our kids, you know, they can go outdoors, they can run around, etc. Right? Now it's like, absolutely ⁓ locked down kind of in our own apartment, you know, and then on top of it, Paul Fattinger (09:57) Mmm. What's this no-day? Mm. Marc (10:20) You know, yes, I live in this kind of hilarious luxury building and and you can make them run around, which is kind of the point. Yeah, except everyone has the same idea because it's too cold. So suddenly, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, you know, I thought like, it'd be kind of interesting, first of all, outside of just having a bit of empathy, but to talk a little bit about like, what are your experience? and by the way, and I also have a kid who I'm pretty sure is pretending to be sick today. Paul Fattinger (10:24) Yeah, go bowling. Yeah. That sucks. That sucks. Marc (10:49) right so he can go and he watched so many movies over the weekend because it was so cold out he's like you know what's better let me just pretend to be sick so I can watch war movies ⁓ so I gotta tell you on a scale of one to ten how much do you hate sick days Paul Fattinger (11:00) And yeah. Marc (11:09) Or you like, is it a good moment to be empathetic and you know, your child is weak and you're like, you can be with them, you know, they can't move so much. I've heard some people, some parents are like, you not the worst thing, you know, because they're, they're wreaking less havoc and we can spend with some more quality time. Paul Fattinger (11:14) Ahem. I do not hate them. I mean, it really depends on the circumstance. And I mean, also my ex-wife told me when we talked, it's like, was a great bonding experience because me and my six son were in the same bed, both of the infection as well. Which to a point, I agree with you, it was really one, it was a bonding experience to the point where he woke up hallucinating at night because his fever was so high. Marc (11:31) Mm. Hmm. Paul Fattinger (11:54) and started talking really weird shit, which scared the shit out of me. It was actually okay. And to the point when they started crying because they can't swallow because their throat hurts and blah, blah. So when it gets kind of over that point, like everything in life, there's a very delicate sweet spot where they're sick enough that they don't want to watch TV all the time because they get a headache, but they're not so sick that they cry all the time. So in that sweet spot, them being sick is not too bad. Marc (11:59) Holy shit. ⁓ yeah. That's a good sweet spot. that's a good sweet spot. And then they love you and they're so weak, they need you. Yeah, yeah. Paul Fattinger (12:24) You know, but, but, I exactly, they want to cut lens like that and the right. So the problem is, know, you never have three of them in the same sweet spot. So that's for sure. Right. So I had one who was already fits the youngest one. She had it first. She was done in a day and a half, basically one afternoon, one whole day. And the third day she was already like, I want to go skiing again. And I was like, I don't think you should. Marc (12:33) Be real. Ha ha. Mmm. Paul Fattinger (12:53) And then I had two others lying around and I was like, fuck it, go. I was like, go. And she was fine. She loved it. And luckily we had friends there and she was a dear place. And that's more the problem to handle the different kind of states you have. You have the semi sick one, the full on sick one, and the one that has lots of energy because she just came out of two and a half days in bed and wants to move. that's kind of, yeah. But you know, I mean, you have to take it as you, I mean, I paid Marc (12:57) Yeah. Right. God, I'm not looking forward to that. Okay. ⁓ Paul Fattinger (13:23) Eight days of skiing tickets and I basically, you know, times four and I needed out of those 32 days that I bought, needed 10, 12. So you kind of have to get over that in your head, you know, over those sunk costs and the vacation fees. Marc (13:35) I know. Yep. Yeah, thank you. my god. my god. I, you know, I'm kind of the same way. Well, like, look, it's a test. First of all, it's a good test of your marriage, you know, at least for my at least my marriage, right? To say the least, right? Like, like Paul Fattinger (13:54) Yeah, I'm sure it would be, yeah. Marc (13:57) Yeah, mean, especially it depends on the type of sick. like, you know, if like, can do fever and just like, closing center, but like, if it's vomiting, and like puking everywhere, ⁓ God, let's do need to have the buckets out. It's awful. And unfortunately, Vera always gets puked. I don't know. So bad. No, this is the worst, right? Paul Fattinger (14:09) No. No. No. Now that's a terrible thing. Marc (14:23) And you you want to nurse them back to health in general, our kids are pretty healthy, but like it's it's just also balancing it with work because then you realize, wait a second, like your whole day just got screwed, your whole week just got screwed. I your vacation got screwed. And my day today was ⁓ me trying to pretend like getting on some important calls. And then suddenly a little head pops up, even though, you know, he was in bed and was supposed to stay in bed and wants to watch something while I'm on the call. Paul Fattinger (14:53) Yeah, no, I mean, I hear you and I think, you spoke about, you know, your marriage and your partnership in that distress, but imagine you had to do this alone. And I wasn't alone this time because I had my parents and it allowed me to actually also be sick and to be like, you know what, I'm just going to spend all of this afternoon in bed now because I don't know what to do and how to move, ⁓ which I couldn't have done if I hadn't had my parents, especially my mother. Marc (14:53) Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course. Mmm. Paul Fattinger (15:23) And so I wonder what it is. think if you're actually even able as an I always found that when we had something as a whole family, like, for example, COVID back in the days where, obviously all the five of us had it that I mean, my my ex wife was always less sick somehow or somehow it just was tougher and just somehow I was always kind of there also for the kids and when always also this time left me thinking Jesus, if I had been alone with them. Marc (15:36) Yeah. Got it. Paul Fattinger (15:52) Maybe I would have just popped our profan every two hours to get through this. Marc (15:56) Yeah, exactly. love this note. First of all, gratitude. I imagine I can see how you have done that in the past. am on the first side. So on the snow day thing, I think this is I'm just curious. Like this is always funny to me. Like, you know, I feel this obligation as a parent to take them out in the snow. You know, it's snowing. It's amazing. Let's make. Yes. Like we're going to make we're going to make, you know, snowmen and shit like this. You spend Paul Fattinger (16:02) Yeah, probably. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yes, I understand that. yeah. Totally get that. Marc (16:26) I don't know, 45 minutes getting them ready, know, the toss, are they warm enough, et cetera, they come up there. You seldom on the idea, the romantic idea, oh, we're gonna do snowman, I've got even the carrot, you know, in there, the little eyes, et cetera, pack that, et cetera. You go out there, 12 minutes, they're like, daddy, I'm cold, let's go inside, right? I'm like, no way, I can't imagine. I'm wondering, it's always funny to me to fall for the romance kind of. of the perfect snow day. Paul Fattinger (16:58) Yeah. I did that the other day. I was the same. It was sunny and that was snores like they have to go in a rodent on the sled. By the time we were up there, it was so windy. After seven minutes, they're all somewhere behind the tree shivering. It's like, dad, we want to go home. So yeah, you have to, think, I mean, that's with all of those things. I guess that the common denominator again is to totally reduce your expectations of what should be. Because I think inhibitions fall. Marc (17:07) Yeah. ⁓ my god. Paul Fattinger (17:27) I don't give a damn how much they watch TV or play on their phones when they're sick and need to be at home. I'm sorry, that's not the day to start enforcing things. Because frankly, I was on Instagram all the time. So and they were actually so sick that they said, I can't do it. I'm getting a headache. So in a funny way, they were almost more aware of what this stupid screens do to them as they were sick. But to me, there is no boundaries. Marc (17:31) Yeah, that's the other thing. Yeah. Yeah. Mmm. Yeah, so I think that, he also faked, yeah, yeah, Paul Fattinger (17:56) Not when they fake being sick, though, as my son did too today. ⁓ He doesn't have a voice, but he's okay. then at 9.30 he calls me and like, can I have more screen time for Minecraft? It's like, dude, I don't know, man. It's 9.30. What's happening? Marc (18:10) I don't know. This is the phase that I'm most worried about. And I agree. I think with Vera at home, that is the absolute core tension. Because to me, I'm like, you can watch the entire Disney catalog, for all I care, right? I just got work to do, et cetera. It's not the time to argue, right? And she's like, why doesn't he do a puzzle? or something like this. I was like, puzzles, no? If you want to sit and make the puzzle with him, that's fine, but just like, know, it can't be a endeavor here because daddy's got to get to work, you know, and focus. Paul Fattinger (18:41) You would, if that, yeah. Yeah, that's difficult, right? But I mean, if you have the energy to do that and yours are a little bit small, right? But I would be fine also, to be honest, to go and even buy them a new Lego or something, because that's awesome. That they can do these things and the things that they can do alone. But in a way, I think there are some moments and if you think about it, right? Aren't those also the things that you remember of being sick or being snowed in when you were a child, where all of a sudden Marc (19:06) Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course, of course. Yeah. Paul Fattinger (19:23) the things that were always, you know, there was a big fuss about like TV, you know, all of a sudden it was a free for all and you could do it. And I was kind of special. So I'm like, I think that's kind of cool too. Marc (19:32) Mm. Mm. Yeah, it's just I think the mental model which I think is always really fun. I feel like parents fall in two camps, right? There's the camp of like trying to hold on to like some sense of normalcy and patterns and like rules and groundings, right? And then like other parents are like, the other camp is like, we're just going to get through this, right? And whatever we need to do to make it easier for us is what's going to happen, you know? I'm absolutely that camp. Paul Fattinger (20:02) Yeah. Yeah. But you can't, yeah, me too. But you also have to be careful not to waste all your ammunition on the first morning, basically, you know what I mean? So if you open the floodgates of TV and, and sweets and what other bribes you have, and then you have, but you have four days to go, man, that's also a problem. So you have to rationalize them. You have to think of when you do what, you know, you just can't let it look, let it go. Marc (20:13) Hmm, that's an interesting tip. Paul Fattinger (20:32) And sometimes when you have the time, also have to sit your ass down and play with them. Because it's also fun when you have the mental space, because that also does something. But yeah, man, I mean, being locked inside in a small space with the it's tough. It is really tough. We had fun games of playing board games over them. Now that they were sick of my mom and we were like doing real time solitaire with cards and super fun to see like my 10 year old. Marc (20:38) Of course. Yeah. Paul Fattinger (20:59) doing solitaire with cards. so there are also kind of cute things that I think they will remember. know, that time when we were sick in the mountains and we were playing X-Raisette with Omi. And so that's, it's kind of cute. You know, as I said, in that very special zone of, you know, not being too bored and too sick. Marc (21:02) Hmm. You know, yeah, you kind of hit the sweet spot. And it's funny because I was wanted to guide us to some like tips and tricks here. But actually, think what I found when I'm learning and just talking to you is like, I mean, to state the obvious, the age doesn't matter. And there's something nice about like how you are playing with them, guiding with them, you know what I mean? And you're kind of in it together, which is a is it is an interesting bonding moment, right? I mean, you're Paul Fattinger (21:43) It is because he gets up at night, I get up, like, you how is your throat? it hurts, know, drink a glass of water. It's all these little things and you kind of like also help him, in a sense, also go through that pain because it's like, you know, it's going to be painful, buddy, and you have to get used to it, you know. Marc (21:51) Mmm. And you know, actually now, to take it in a different place. I there's a return to nurture in a way because they're so vulnerable that you're tapping into. ⁓ And there's, can, I can fully understand why there's a lot of joy in that, you know, especially as the kids get older. Like right now I'm in a hundred percent nurture mode, especially with my youngest, right? It's all it is, right? At this point, right? But as they get older, that's, then they, Paul Fattinger (22:25) Yeah, that's all it is, ⁓ Marc (22:29) then they're coming back to you, right? To cuddle and to like, you know, they're sick, they're vulnerable, right? And that's gotta be actually quite beautiful. Paul Fattinger (22:36) It is. That's a very good point, Mark. I think that's exactly what's why this is touching is one part. And, and you also see them, you know, how they deal with things, you know, and I found that very interesting how, you know, my youngest was like, I'm not going to take anything. I'm just going to sit here and endure this shit and I'm going to get over this. Right. And, and, and, and my oldest one was lying in bed for two days, which I never see him do, which is never. Marc (22:43) Mm. Mm. Mmm. Paul Fattinger (23:05) And the guy is always up at five and in bed at 10, he never sleeps. And now he was like, you know, that's, can't do anything. Fuck this. I'm going to lie here. And that's one part. And the second part, I think it's, goes especially out to, I guess, especially to dads and then maybe even more so to divorce dads. I, you know, in the very beginning, I was always super afraid of, of only being a weekend dad and, and, and not to be there for them for. Marc (23:15) You Mm. Paul Fattinger (23:34) for the things that really matter. I still, ⁓ I'm still pretty convinced of the fact that the quality time is important when you have time with them. But I also think a lot of the connection that you build with your kids is because you are there when something happens and they need you. In a sense. you don't really know when that's gonna happen. And usually that happens more to you if you spend more time with them or they're more in your... Marc (23:54) Yeah, of course. Paul Fattinger (24:02) Custody in a sense right which usually as a dad as it is in Austria you always less and and I have them quite a bit Which is fine. So almost I'm like in hindsight Thankful for this because I had this moment where I was sick with all of my kids and and they had to rely on me And my mother to be fair but it's almost like a gift in that sense that they could See how I would be with them and how I could nurture them. So, you know Marc (24:17) Hmm. Paul Fattinger (24:29) There's always light and shadow and I think that's the light part for me. Marc (24:33) That's really touching actually for you to kind of distill it that way. Huh, it's not actually where I thought this was gonna go and that's the way you take it to a place much richer and powerful. So ⁓ it's a good reminder to be present and also you're right to be there when they need you the most, right? And sometimes. Paul Fattinger (24:53) Yeah, I think that's what they're going to remember, right? And it's when they come back the next time they're older and they have a choice of coming to you or not. Right. So, and I think we kind of primed them for those things now where they feel safe with us and seen. yeah. in that sense, it was a great opportunity. I say this now with lots of grandeur. When I was there, you should have seen me. I was just... Marc (25:03) Yeah. Hahaha. Paul Fattinger (25:21) saying what the fuck is this shit I'm gonna go home I hate this why now blah blah blah so enough hindsight has happened you know enough time has passed Marc (25:25) Hmm. Yeah, of course. No. And it's funny, like this one really tests my creativity, even though you being at home with all these kids, like I mean, because also like, you know, it's a New York apartment. So I almost feel like it's easier if it's one parent and two kids versus two parents and two kids. And I'll explain why. Because for not only like not throughout, but like uncertain pockets because I'm inventing games that they can then play with and then it can toss one and toss the other and just distract them or I don't know, set my own rules and boundaries for them to run around. ⁓ especially as we're the age of ⁓ rough housing with the kids, with the boys, so they just wanna jump on you and take you in. that's like, you can do that for an hour. And one of my strategies is... Paul Fattinger (26:13) Mm. Mm. Marc (26:23) totally to wear them out, you know, so either if it's a snow day, you give them shovels so they can run around, you know, it's just, you had to get exactly to get exhausted. Yeah. Here there was a kiddie pool. I was like, great, we're to go for an hour at the kiddie pool. could just run around in the pool. So they get, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, exactly. And then the other co-creative task, which is nice because you know, we both like to cook you and I, so I'm like, Paul Fattinger (26:28) Of course, 100%. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, you need that too. mean, you need to absolutely agree. Yeah. I was about to say that, yeah. ⁓ Marc (26:50) That's the other one, right? You're making pastas together, you're making soups. ⁓ Paul Fattinger (26:54) Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think that's what it is, is to kind of make, you know, as a trick, and if we, know, kind of move into the tips and trick to make your daily chores an adventure. You know, and maybe you make them do things in the kitchen that they would usually not be allowed to do, you know, you know, open the eggs for your kids because they're small, you know, or whatever, and you can be sure two eggs are going to be on the floor. Who cares, you know? Marc (27:14) Go to it. Yeah. Paul Fattinger (27:24) And you make your everyday an adventure, which can be fun. But going back to the relationship side of things, I I remember that times where I felt it was easier to be alone with them because you also didn't feel the expectation of the other person to meet, right? Or am I doing things that now is too loud or that your partner doesn't approve of? And it's really difficult, this one, right? in theory, I think... Marc (27:39) Yes. Paul Fattinger (27:53) It would work best if you kind of have a pact where you say, know what, the next two hours are mine. Whatever I do with them is my fucking problem. and I'm going to clean up the shit and that's what it is, you know, and then the next two hours is your problem. And, and, and maybe there is a cold word if I really struggle or you really think, you know, they're going to die any second, you can say, you know, that, that cold word. Marc (28:04) Hahaha! Yeah, that's a good one. Paul Fattinger (28:21) But in between that or outside of that, that's it. Don't worry about it. Go down to the pool and relax for two hours. Marc (28:25) It's good. I see. That's nice. That's nice. I like that. I also my friend was close. He always gives me this hacks. I always forget. I'm always a little bit nervous. He always pops edibles, you know, when on the he's like, he's like, he's like, we're gonna get nuts, like, I gotta relax. Like, there's just no way. Yeah. Well, I'm not saying he gives it he gives them the Paul Fattinger (28:44) Yeah man, I'm not sure. Listen, I just gave them two or three little pieces of mushroom chocolate and they're really happy. Marc (28:58) Yeah, he does it himself. I don't think he's giving these kids his edible. So that would be really fun. Paul Fattinger (29:01) I know, I know, but imagine, imagine you'd have your kids shrooming out. That's what I thought my son had that one night with a high fever. He was starting to talk. Wow, man, that was crazy shit. Yeah. Yeah. So, no, but I think that's really to divide and conquer. But when you divide, you really divide, you know, edibles, you know, maybe that's one of the more hardcore ones making your day an adventure. think that goes up to a point. Marc (29:11) All kinds of fun stuff. Cool. Paul Fattinger (29:29) Then obviously you always have the TV card that the problem with the TV though guys is like it works as long as it works and then they get so cuckoo in their brains that everything that happens after the TV is an absolute disaster. Nothing works anymore. That's kind of what I feel. They get so fucked up their neurons so that nothing works anymore. So yeah. Marc (29:32) ⁓ yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah, that's true. Yeah, it's a dance with a double that one. That's for sure. Paul Fattinger (29:54) It is, it is. Yeah. So, and you can't even go and have a, you know, have a bottle of wine at night to kind of get over this because then you wake up the next morning and this whole thing starts on the wrong foot and then you're fucked. So you really have to fucking stay. Yeah. No, of course. Who hasn't, whoever hasn't made this mistake. mean, come on. I don't believe you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Marc (30:06) It's it's it is. I've made that mistake. ⁓ Yeah, it's everyone does. Yeah. God bless you. Exactly. Because I feel like when when that happens, I am just like at the end of the day. Yeah. Paul Fattinger (30:23) Yeah, in a sense, I mean, that could speak for the edibles if they kind of like go by without any, you know, big headaches afterwards. It could be something there. Yeah. Marc (30:35) No, nice. Well, this is fun. I like it's, you know, a beautiful. This was a nice come twist and turn of a conversation. I thought we're going to riff and go and go. mean, all the all our war share our war stories, but instead I've walked away with a touching reminder of what it means to be a parent when your kids are really vulnerable. And so thank you for that. Thank you for that. Paul Fattinger (30:37) So yeah. Oh man, you're gonna sit, listen, one thing, well, you're welcome and thank you for the idea and the topic. And let's talk about this again after the 10th time you sit with, you have two sons in an emergency room with all of your sons because they hit their foot playing football or something, because that's coming up now. And I hate it. And I have really, I mean, if my oldest son comes back, it's like, dad, I kicked the floor playing soccer in school. like, what, why? Marc (31:20) Yeah. Paul Fattinger (31:29) So, and then you go there and then they make an X-ray and you wait for two hours with a bunch of other idiots who kick their foots like all of these half teenagers. And then they tell you, well, it's nothing, but you always have to look at it because of blah, blah. You're going to see. It's an endless story. My mom always makes the joke that she had an, she had an, she had an annual pass at the, at the, at the children's ER in Graz where we grew up because I was there all the time. So. Marc (31:45) Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's an industry. my God. That's funny. Yeah, I believe in that. I totally believe in that. Well, Terminators and idiots of the week. Paul Fattinger (31:59) in the end is all coming around. Alright man. I have a clear terminator, man, and I have an idiot too. ⁓ I'm not going to say so much about the idiot because this whole being sick is the idiot. is whatever fucking virus we had. I mean, I said already last week and I can see now I talk so positively about this experience, but fuck it big time. You are my idiot of the week and you deserve it. Thank you. Marc (32:15) Okay, great. You go. And your Terminator? Paul Fattinger (32:37) Please go ahead. my Terminator. My Terminator. ⁓ This morning, I installed Claude, whatever the fuck it's called, the app on my thing, Claude Cowork. And I've been playing with this because I wanted to play with Claude Code actually. I mean, apart from the fact that maybe I'm too stupid for it, but no, I've downloaded it on my Mac. Marc (32:51) Mmmmm Wait, wait, wait, you downloaded on your phone? Okay. Paul Fattinger (33:03) And this cowork thing, it was a product of my AI chat I have with Jamie and I where I ask him how to do things. I had to do, basically, no, and it was very simple. I had to do my bookkeeping for my company. And basically over three months, I have 120 invoices that I have to sort and blah, blah, blah, and, whatever. And it takes me hours. And I was like, I'm stuffed with this. Marc (33:14) And Gemini's like, I can't do that shit. Let me recommend another. Paul Fattinger (33:33) Can I not do some kind of a workflow? then Jamie gave me a workflow, which with make.com, it was too complicated for me. It's like, must be an easy way. So I got cloud cowork and this thing is absolutely phenomenal. I give it access to the folder where I have all the things and I just dump in all of the shit that I have and that I get. And I'm like, sorted for me into month, rename the files. check with a credit card statement where everything is there or not. And it is absolutely astonishingly good. I'm blown away because this is real help. is the thing finally, not doing research, but doing shit that I would have to do otherwise. I love it. Marc (34:08) Well, OK. All right. I'm going to. Nice. I'm going to check it out. That's scary, especially since I've got some interesting conversations this week on it. OK. Well, my idiots. So I'll take two bits from the news last week, which are kind of fun, which just to briefly talk about. The first idiots are, obviously, these Epstein files things keep going and going. It's. Yeah. Paul Fattinger (34:38) Jesus, no, man, this must be made. Sorry, guys, I'm revoking everything. I am sick to my stomach. Marc (34:45) Yeah, it's so it's so crazy. And the thing I would say about it is, you know, this other comedian was mentioning this and I'm gonna lift from it, you know, all that QA non stuff, you know, that was making fun of, you know, as these giant conspiracy theories, these guys were closer to like, Paul Fattinger (34:47) sick to my stomach gross Mmm. Mmm. All true. There is always a kernel of truth, huh? I mean... Marc (35:09) Yeah, I mean, holy hell, right? It was just is just profoundly disturbing. And also, you know, it plays out like every, it's like, every conspiracies theory that you think how things will will show up is actually happening out on paper. And who's involved? It's like, who is it in this thing? Paul Fattinger (35:27) Exactly. Who, who in your opinion is the biggest loser? And in a sense, who's public image is suffering the most with the recent? Yes, 100%. Not, not even a question. Marc (35:38) I mean, it's gotta be, I mean, the Bill Gates thinking that he got an STD from like these, mean, yeah, I mean, it's just, and I think so many of these guys like Gates, Musk, I mean, they're on the spectrum. They don't know how to get, talk to women or, and they, this is the easiest thing for them. And anyway, it's just. Paul Fattinger (35:58) Yeah, but you know, on the funny one, I'm not going to defend anyone because no one's there, but if you, that's the other thing. If you read through all of those and I've done, there is a central link, which someone kind of put them in something that looks like a Gmail inbox and you can sort through folders. One is Elon Musk and you read through all of them. Right. And if you read through all of them, when he said, when is the best party? He was in St. Barthes with his back then woman. And I don't think he got it right. Because he was like, Marc (36:14) Yeah. Paul Fattinger (36:25) then then abstain was replying. I'm not sure you're know, to lie out would be we would know we would feel comfortable with the ratio and he writes back. She doesn't have a problem with ratios. So he just wanted to party and then he was actually quite a brush with him on the other side. I think there's also what I hate about it is there's so much taken out of context again because people don't have a context and also want to portray it the way they want to portray it and so on. So Marc (36:28) You guys said no one under 25 will be there. Paul Fattinger (36:54) It's obviously highly politicized and we will not know, but it's just as a whole, it's appalling. And the other one who really, I think is Peter Attia, whose book I really enjoyed and whose messages are also not really hard to misinterpret, to be honest. I mean, they're like, what the fuck. Marc (37:03) Yeah, unbelievable. Sorry. Also like, I mean the hypocrisy, Deepak Chopra, the guru, the spiritual guru, it NASA, yeah, asking for like cute Israeli girls. I mean, the hypocrisy, it's crazy. Okay. Paul Fattinger (37:31) I mean, the only one who doesn't have the only one that which is actually quite that's where you can see your political animal is Bill Clinton. Because because Bill Clinton, mean, obviously sleazy as fuck when it comes to this. I mean, he was almost impeached for a blow job. So ⁓ but he comes out of this now almost better than before, because he's like, you know what? I'm willing to talk about all of this as long as you turn the fucking cameras on and show it to everyone. So he's the only one actually, you know. Marc (37:40) Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. ⁓ Which would be the best thing. Paul Fattinger (38:02) which would be the best thing, I think it's an amazing political feat as well, right? To come out of this almost strong and then you came in. This is amazing. So yeah, yeah. That would be crazy, I agree with you. Marc (38:07) Totally, totally. And I would be scared shitless, exactly. Yeah. He's not my Terminator though, that would be crazy. ⁓ my Terminator is, ⁓ so we had a pretty average to not great Super Bowl last week, yesterday. But ⁓ the halftime show, Bad Bunny, was awesome. And ⁓ a super Terminator in the sense of, obviously we're going through, Paul Fattinger (38:27) Yeah. Marc (38:36) really tough political times in this country with ICE and Minneapolis, et cetera, and to have the balls of someone like him to deliver something entirely in Spanish and make it uplifting and fun. wasn't like a massive political statement. He didn't need to say it all. I thought it was cool. And, ⁓ Paul Fattinger (38:52) No. I didn't know who Bad Bunny was until the Grammys. I had no fucking clue. I'm sure I had heard a song. mean, I don't live on the moon, but I didn't know how big he was. And I just saw bits and pieces today on Instagram and this part where it's like, know, God bless American. he, know, repeat, you know, he kind of lived all year from South to North, lists all the countries, which was just super cool. Yeah. I was awesome. Awesome. Marc (39:01) wow. wow. Yeah, it's an amazing one. Yeah, Yeah, and he spikes the football. Yeah, yeah, it's fun. Yeah, it's cool. It was awesome. Paul Fattinger (39:24) Yeah, no, that's a rightful terminator, man. Absolutely rightful. Love it. Love it. All right, my friend. It was, as always. Have a great day. Have a safe flight to San Fran. Let's connect this week. Yeah, thank you, Marc (39:28) Yeah, that's right. Cool. Well, this is awesome chatting with you as always. It was great. and feel better. Bye.