Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: All right. Welcome to the first ever Stan and Friends podcast.
I'm in familiar digs at the Gazette podcast studio, and this is the launch of the Stan and Friends podcast. And as I've told everyone about the new podcast that would be launching, that since it is now named Stan and Friends, there is only one person to have on the first podcast. It's kind of like that first class of hall of famers. With that, it had to be best friend number one, the love of my life, my partner in crime.
If you saw Halloween photos. Yes. The peanut butter to my jelly, the lovely Rita Garrett. Hootie. So welcome.
[00:00:45] Speaker B: Hi. I've waited two years for this. Two years he's been doing a podcast. Never been on it.
[00:00:52] Speaker A: Yes. So it's not the first time I've heard that. But we'll see.
We'll see if. If I'm one and done after this one.
So, yeah, we had a lot of changes going on, and, you know, we roll with the punches. What can you tell us about Mrs. Stan, which has been a name you've been given, not asked for, and about you? And so people see you and I on Facebook. The feedback's been great. People like us.
[00:01:22] Speaker B: That's always good.
[00:01:24] Speaker A: Always good. So what's going on with Rita?
[00:01:28] Speaker B: I'm the boring one in the couple. I work, well, an 8:30 to 6:30am to 8:30 job. It depends on what I'm doing. I work for Saratoga Hospital. I work at Wilton Medical Arts. I have a master's degree in social work.
Think in large part to my amazing husband who put up with a lot of long nights of, can you read this? Cause I can't look in it anymore.
And him going, is that word real? I am known as Mrs. Stan. I get a lot of patients that come in and say, oh, how's Stan? And I'm like, oh, good.
I've been dubbed that by many crew, parents, athletes over the years because they do see me on the sidelines. I'm blessed to work and be around my best friend as much as I can. Our hours are completely different.
Today would be a good example of that.
This was supposed to happen at noon, and it's happening at 3.
I'm the boring one in the couple.
I go to work and I come home, and he's out on the road doing his thing. And I'm very proud of that.
[00:02:32] Speaker A: All right, enough about that. Enough about me. So here's what she didn't say. 30.
How many years we celebrated. This is where I'm gonna get 36 36. Thank you. So married 36 years in August, and we've known each other 40 years. 40 years is the big number.
[00:02:50] Speaker B: How old are we? Yeah, 40 years.
[00:02:51] Speaker A: Yeah, 40 years. We were both. We were. You were a child bride and I was a child groom because, you know, we're only.
[00:02:58] Speaker B: You know, you were 21 and I was just turning 24, I think.
[00:03:02] Speaker A: Yeah, we were young.
[00:03:03] Speaker B: Yeah, we were young.
[00:03:04] Speaker A: Back in the day, we were young.
[00:03:05] Speaker B: You could actually drink at the wedding. That was the nice part.
[00:03:08] Speaker A: Yeah, you saw those photos go up, which I kind of don't change them because I. They are just so iconic to us and everything about it. And we talk about the Summer of Love because we have two groups of best friends.
Chuck and Beth Rhodes were married the same summer in June.
[00:03:28] Speaker B: They got married in May.
[00:03:30] Speaker A: They got May.
[00:03:31] Speaker B: No, they got married in May. And Robbie and Lisa got married in July, and then we got married in August.
[00:03:37] Speaker A: So the July is. My best man and best friend, Rob Slavanik and his lovely wife Lisa were married in July, and then Rob was my best man in August. And so when you see the photos, if you look on Facebook, Stan Hootie across every platform, nobody else wants to be me. So there's no dots, dashes, dates or anything. It's just Stan Hootie. You can see some of those photos of me and Rob jerking around on the side of St. James Church in Johnson City.
And the story that's shared often.
[00:04:06] Speaker B: You want to share that little tidbit.
[00:04:08] Speaker A: So there's a couple tidbits on the Stan and Rita nuptials.
The really funny one is the fact that Rita pulls up, obviously, the front of the church. Immediately they tell Rita, we can't find Stan.
So what does Rita say? Rita just goes, where's Rob?
They say, we can't find Rob either. That's when panic set in.
[00:04:31] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:32] Speaker A: If I was going to fly the coop, it would be the two of us together.
[00:04:35] Speaker B: I still knew it was okay because Rich was around.
[00:04:37] Speaker A: That's true.
[00:04:38] Speaker B: And I knew Rich would never let. Let you do that. He would have killed you first.
[00:04:42] Speaker A: Yeah. So Rich Nathan, great friend of ours, currently in the Nether region, Rhode island, living well with his wife having a blast and kids, which is shocking, you know, walk you down the aisle, which was so great of him. So we were there. We were on the side of the church, goofing around. But we did make it. Monsignor Owen, who married us on Johnson City all those years ago. As we went through the rehearsal, Monsignor Owen said When we're standing up there, you know, for rehearsal, he reminded me, he goes, because you stand on. The groom stands on the right as you're facing the altar. And he goes, stan, you know, there's no exit on the right side of the church, so if you want to get out, you have to go through the crowd.
[00:05:23] Speaker B: He also told me, after you did confession, before we got married, he came out of the room and looked at me straight in the face and said, are you sure?
My confession took, like, 10 minutes. His confession took, like. Well, let's just say a long time.
[00:05:38] Speaker A: 10. I think you were like, 5. And I was like, you know, I mean. I mean, he taught at Saint Bonaventure, but apparently I made him blush.
So, you know, I do apologize for that. So that was.
So that's the one we love to tell. That's funny. The one we always tell that's still funny is the proposal.
[00:05:57] Speaker B: Stan came out. I had had to have surgery, so I wasn't allowed to drink because I had had an infection from my surgery. And it was my birthday. And Stan and one of our best friends, Mike Goodman, decided they would try to drink my ears.
[00:06:13] Speaker A: Yep. 20. Our goal was to drink 25 pitchers of beer in your honor. In your honor.
[00:06:17] Speaker B: I know. And he actually. They were so loud that the bar kicked them out.
[00:06:21] Speaker A: You're too loud.
[00:06:22] Speaker B: We got home, he apparently had the ring in the trunk forever.
[00:06:27] Speaker A: The next morning, I did this.
[00:06:28] Speaker B: Well, yes. And he had been sick all night, but he just was determined to propose anyway on my birthday, and he gave me my ring. We decided to get married. I hugged him and he threw up for like, an hour after that. That didn't bode well, I suppose.
[00:06:47] Speaker A: I think it's a key to a happy marriage.
So part of. Yeah. So I hand you the ring, and you hugged me, and I said, don't squeeze. Then I threw up for an hour.
Yeah.
[00:06:58] Speaker B: So then he ate pancakes and we all went to work and everything was fine.
[00:07:02] Speaker A: Yeah, that's. That's the.
We gotta. Yeah, you know, it is. You have to soak.
[00:07:06] Speaker B: We got married almost a year to the day later, because we got married on 26 August. Almost exactly a year.
[00:07:12] Speaker A: So it's been a fun ride.
[00:07:14] Speaker B: Yes. We're very blessed. We have good friends, and you have a job you love, which is unheard of. We have been in many, many places over the years. I think our first eight years of marriage, we moved 10 times, and at.
[00:07:27] Speaker A: Least six for eight. We were married eight years. Moved six times.
[00:07:30] Speaker B: Yeah. And at least three times. It was state to state. It wasn't just.
We didn't just move apartment to apartment like a lot of young married couples. We moved from New York store to store to store. He was working for service. We both were working for service merchandise.
Well, he first spent seven weeks with your parents training to be a store manager. Then we moved to Duchess Mall. No, first we were in Connecticut.
[00:07:55] Speaker A: We went from Johnson City to Ithaca, then to Connecticut. Connecticut. And before I went to Connecticut, I stayed with mom and dad in Hancock. Trained in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
[00:08:05] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:08:06] Speaker A: Then went to Derby, Connecticut, then to Fishgill, New York.
[00:08:09] Speaker B: And then where we are now, 27 years later.
We had to follow the family. As we say, they brought the kids, so we came with them.
[00:08:17] Speaker A: That's it. We are. We're all a match set. So our. When we say family, it's. It's such a long story. So adults, the young adults in our family, we refer to as our God, children. It's just easier because we've been together for four years. This group of us.
[00:08:32] Speaker B: Doesn't everybody have a boss?
[00:08:34] Speaker A: And so we've been another 40 years. So I refer to them as a godchild. Godchildren. And then great godchildren. It's just a quicker, easier. Yes. We've been together for 40 years. We're as thick as thieves. We love each other to death.
[00:08:48] Speaker B: We had the same. These are friends that we all made working at service merchandise. We all. And. And Devin was born in the summer of Love.
[00:08:55] Speaker A: Correct.
[00:08:55] Speaker B: She was born in April of the summer of Love.
[00:08:57] Speaker A: Yes. The sun and the moon. To Stan and Rita, she was Devin lyons.
[00:09:01] Speaker B: She's our 36. We follow that every year.
[00:09:04] Speaker A: She was born the year we were married. So you'll see that photo go up of our years together.
[00:09:09] Speaker B: And we were very blessed by this group of friends. And we are still friends. No matter what. We're still friends.
[00:09:14] Speaker A: Yes. And there's a. There's a humorous, loving argument that when we're together, someone will usually say, thank you for being so good to my kids.
And then Rita and I are like crying, thank you for letting us be a part of your family. So this is the old adage that. And I truly believe in it, is that if you have friends longer than 15 years, they're family. I truly believe that.
[00:09:41] Speaker B: And after 40 years, they're more than that.
[00:09:43] Speaker A: They're our blood. They are everything to us. So, yeah, Reed has been a. Reed has had the title of gamer trooper everything. And again, when I say by my side, again, if you're not familiar with the original Stan and Rita. Or as Penny Harvey, your maid of honor coined, this is 8, this is 89. So before there was Bennifer and all the combination couples, the number one couple was Streeta. Stan and Rita by Penny Harvey. So we've been together all the way through and we just, we just didn't get the opportunity to have kids.
That's it. That's long and short of it. That's it. Okay.
[00:10:23] Speaker B: So we are blessed with friends that shared their kids.
[00:10:26] Speaker A: Yes. And you know, Rita has. There's no heart big enough on this earth or the patience of Job to deal with me. But Rita's been at my side everywhere at pretty much everything.
There are humorous stories now about traveling to New Jersey to follow Clifton Park Cal Ripken teams through a rain delay.
Through a rain delay.
They had to win game. They had to win the game and advance to the Mid Atlantic or to the World Series or the Mid Atlantic World Series. At the time they lost the damn game. We had to then wait, so the second game, so we're in New Jersey, no hotel, no anything. We're thinking we're one and done. They lose the first game which forces the quote unquote if game because both teams had a loss in double elimination.
Second game doesn't start till 9 o' clock at night in New Jersey. Game goes past 11 and Clifton park loses.
I'm telling you, you know that like if looks could kill or like that burning sensation in the back of your brain when they're just staring at you. Your spouse is your partner. So I had that. They lose. I've got to drive back home. We finally pull off at that first rest stop as you're entering New York State to sleep, take a quick nap.
[00:11:38] Speaker B: And I said and it cried.
[00:11:39] Speaker A: We read us on our phone. I go, what are you doing?
[00:11:41] Speaker B: I said and I quote, I'm looking for a lawyer because I'm going to divorce you.
After I take a nap, I'm going to call a lawyer and divorce you. Because we both had. I had to work that night.
[00:11:52] Speaker A: Yep, Rita had to go to work that night. I had to get back, write the story, put the stuff in for the Saratogan at the time.
We driven to Long island for a game that got lightning out.
[00:12:04] Speaker B: Lightning out. So your boss wanted you to drive home.
[00:12:07] Speaker A: There was a conversation of can you drive back to Saratoga from Long island and then go back the next day? But the start was going to be 11:00am from the 7:00 clock non start to 9:30 lightning cancellation.
We're literally buying clothes at Walmart.
[00:12:22] Speaker B: And toothbrushes.
[00:12:23] Speaker A: And toothbrushes. To get through the night.
[00:12:25] Speaker B: There's been ice storms. Sitting out on the lake on Fish Creek. Watching with Will. Will Springstead.
[00:12:32] Speaker A: Will Springstead out in Alpha. The. The first sports editor ever in the freezing rain.
So many sideways rain for rowing.
[00:12:40] Speaker B: There was the snowstorm in field hockey in Buffalo.
[00:12:44] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:12:44] Speaker B: That was interesting. With Tony.
[00:12:46] Speaker A: Yep. Tony Pintaro, who was writing for. I can't remember if it was Newsday. Nope. Journal News. Journal News. So we are in Cortland. Tony's in Syracuse again. It's not 100 miles away, but it was. It's a trip.
[00:13:01] Speaker B: So.
[00:13:01] Speaker A: So they had to clear off the field of ice. Cause I was at soccer. Burn Hills girls were playing.
[00:13:07] Speaker B: I think it was field Mackie. Sorry.
[00:13:09] Speaker A: They won.
We unfroze at a Chili's, which honestly.
[00:13:13] Speaker B: No food had ever tasted better than that.
[00:13:15] Speaker A: Better than that. Call Tony. Oh, yeah. He's up in Cicero. North Syracuse. How's the weather? Oh, it's good. You're fine. By the time we drive up there, it's a snowstorm. They're plowing the field for field hockey. And as they do a lap of plowing, by the time they come back around, it's already covered again in white.
[00:13:35] Speaker B: There's actually a picture somewhere of Stan, who is, if you don't know this, 6. 4.
No, he's 2ish.
[00:13:44] Speaker A: 63 maybe.
[00:13:45] Speaker B: Knee deep in snow.
[00:13:47] Speaker A: That was a bird. That was. That was the Burnhills of soccer.
[00:13:51] Speaker B: Knee deep in snow and me sitting in the car shivering.
We've done some odd things along the way.
[00:13:58] Speaker A: We. We've.
[00:13:59] Speaker B: And in all of that, I spent three years in Boston studying for my degree.
[00:14:04] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:14:04] Speaker B: So all of this was with. Well, I was driving. I was busing back and forth from Boston.
[00:14:09] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:14:10] Speaker B: So I can get my degree in psychology.
[00:14:12] Speaker A: Greyhound. Uber.
Rita would take Greyhound out to Boston. She was at the original BNB before it existed. Renting a room again. I knew I was in good shape because even though it was Jamaica Plain JP as it was called, she was across from a Catholic church. So I'm like, the nuns would take care of her if she got into a jam.
[00:14:31] Speaker B: It was the year that the Red Sox broke the curse.
[00:14:34] Speaker A: And so Rita gets credit for that. Wearing her red today. Rita red.
[00:14:37] Speaker B: Well, I'm trying to get them through to the playoffs at this point.
But I also once heard, and this is a direct quote, at one o' clock in the morning. Cause Stan heard it. I had the phone out the Window when Poppy hit that grand slam to save it for. To get into game seven.
Six nuns walk outside a convent screaming, and I quote, the Yankees suck. It was the most beautiful sound I ever heard. Full garb habit on black and white, baby. Best thing I ever heard. And it was really. I was just there to get. And I'm a. I'm a proud alum of the University of Albany, and it was just to get extra training from what I wasn't getting from that that I needed to get my More of my degree when I was in Boston. And I'm a proud alum of the University of Albany.
[00:15:20] Speaker A: Two degrees.
[00:15:21] Speaker B: Two degrees. Go Danes.
[00:15:23] Speaker A: Public, you know, state school.
[00:15:25] Speaker B: Go Danes. I'm telling you right now, go you. And I just. It was the best thing I ever heard in my life. And Stan's dying because he's sitting in a room of writers, all Yankee fans. So he made sure they heard it, too.
[00:15:39] Speaker A: That's the fun through thick and thin, you know, the layoffs, the business bankruptcies, the drama of COVID Just papers and then Covid and things like that.
So again, Rita's at Saratoga Hospital.
[00:15:54] Speaker B: 17 years.
[00:15:54] Speaker A: I just said 17 years. And again, six. Was it six on ICU.
[00:16:00] Speaker B: I was six on D1. Then I was six on ICU. And when I first went to ICU, I worked with the families. That was the plan.
God had other plans. And the world shut down. And I was taken back in as a nurse's aide, and I spent two years of COVID as a nurse's aide and managed to bring home and get you sick at least once.
Yeah, that was. And that when he first came here. He'll never tell this story, but I will. He changed jobs and didn't tell me he was changing jobs until he changed jobs. No, you took the meeting and then told me when you got the job. Two days later, the world shut down and Stan got put on furlough for six weeks.
[00:16:43] Speaker A: So, okay, so I thought I. Did I take the job and not.
[00:16:47] Speaker B: Tell you you took the job and didn't tell me until after you took the job? Because I was really uncomfortable with you leaving a job.
[00:16:53] Speaker A: So I left, came down to the Gazette, and it was wonderful. I mean, I think.
[00:16:57] Speaker B: Oh, no, don't get me wrong.
[00:16:58] Speaker A: I thanked Michael Kelly for the offer, who was after me for a year. And I'm not bright at times.
The woman across me will tell you that. So I finally relented and said yes. And within 45 minutes, I. I'm like, why didn't I do this? A year earlier. It's the best thing that's ever happened to me.
[00:17:12] Speaker B: Granted, I'm not saying that it was wonderful that moment.
[00:17:15] Speaker A: I worked here for six weeks and then I was put on furlough. And it was a panic moment in the house for Rita because she's the realist. And I'm like, oh, okay, it's, you know, I'll be back. So there were layoffs and there was the furlough. So I was one of the few that were furloughed and told it's a furlough because where you're coming back, we don't know when, but you're coming back. So it was like all fun and games. That's when baking really took off for me.
[00:17:42] Speaker B: And then I was okay with it.
[00:17:44] Speaker A: I baked earlier, pre Covid, just as therapy. And being a diabetic, in case you didn't know, I bake. Everything goes out the door.
[00:17:52] Speaker B: Yes, it does.
[00:17:53] Speaker A: And goes to Rita at the time at the hospital or to Will and now or here in the office.
And so by about week five of the furlough, Rita's angst kind of got me going, so I was getting a little bit more nervous. And also in week seven, I got the call back and then I went from being a sports writer to a feature writer to photographer and then eventually rolled into the digital team and things like that. So I've had a lot of different hats here within the Gazette family, and.
[00:18:19] Speaker B: I am glad he made the change now. But I was living angst and chaos at work every day.
[00:18:25] Speaker A: Correct.
[00:18:25] Speaker B: So I didn't need angst and chaos at home. That's all I'm saying.
[00:18:29] Speaker A: And it's. And I've been everywhere he has. It's, you know, we bought papers every year we've been here. And that trend is not stopping as we'll announce next week with more properties.
And I went places I never knew. I've done things I've never done because you get spoiled. I mean, sorry, guys. As a sports writers for listeners. And Michael Kelly knows as much as anybody. You know, you go to a game, you go to a 4 o' clock soccer game, by 6:30, it's 3, 2 on the board, you know who won, you know who lost. There may be disagreements on certain calls or things that did or didn't happen, but that's the fact, Jack. Three, two, that's the score. That's your record. There's no. You can't file a petition. You can't do anything. This is it. I suppose a whole New world. The first week I was here with COVID talking to an education reporter when they said the schools were closing and they were talking about how we gonna feed the kids. Again, you and I not versed in, in the day to day life as a parent. Zach Madsen said, how they gonna feed the kids? And I looked at him like, what do you mean? He goes, you know, X amount of percentage is high. Percentage of kids at Schenectady. If they don't go to school, they don't eat.
[00:19:32] Speaker B: That's correct.
[00:19:32] Speaker A: And I went home immediately and called the gang and I'm like, do you know this is what, this is how this works down here. We're in Balsa Spa. We're in Balsa Spa. And Willem, unfortunately, we were clueless.
[00:19:44] Speaker B: Well, I wasn't. I'm a social worker.
[00:19:46] Speaker A: As a social worker, Rita was much more in tune. But I was like floored.
And so we've continued to share that through and Street Soldiers became aware of that as a photographer and things like that. Learned about Street Soldiers here in Schenectady and Albany and Troy and things they do. And then some great things the family did with Mia's cookie jar.
Our sweet Mia can't say favorite because Lily will get mad little. And creating a family recipe of chocolate chip cookies that are the best ever and bringing those to what she called her heroes. First responders and nurses and things like that.
[00:20:23] Speaker B: We were the first stop at the.
[00:20:25] Speaker A: Hospital and she was three or she four.
[00:20:28] Speaker B: What is she now? She's nine. She's probably four, Almost five. She started kindergarten doing it.
[00:20:33] Speaker A: Yeah. And so that was joy that came through our connections and they might have been in the paper once or twice by accident, different names. So nobody's a hootie up here.
[00:20:44] Speaker B: So all good.
[00:20:46] Speaker A: That's kind of sometimes the land on there. It's just they're good looking kids and they say yes to getting their photo taken.
So the one thing I want to talk about is just how special Rita is.
And I share this to a lot of people, but let's put it up on the.
Put it out there on the ethernet. And the podcast world is. So you got to understand what Covid was like for Rita. Rita's on the icu, so this is really the last place you kind of want to be at any given time in your life. But this was Covid I work with.
[00:21:16] Speaker B: Worked with the most amazing people in the world.
[00:21:18] Speaker A: Absolutely.
One third of them were pregnant, so they could not go into a COVID patient room. The other third had their Own parents living with them during COVID so they could not go into a Covid room. So if you can imagine the hazmat suit Rita was putting on two to three times a day to go into these rooms.
That was her life for several years. The early on, it was zero contact zero.
So as these people were leaving us, and again, they were passing, they were dying. Okay, in case you didn't figure it out yet, these people were dying in front of Rita. Rita's holding an iPad for these people to say goodbye to their loved ones. She's.
We're trying to do this.
She's there.
[00:22:06] Speaker B: And I did okay till it was the dog.
[00:22:09] Speaker A: And I'm amazed because this is the funny part of the story, is that we've always had cats. Cause Rita just in our lifestyle, dogs are just. We just can't perform for what they need.
Whenever we have the loss of an animal, I'm the one who's doing the last mile. I'm the one who's going from the vet to our wonderful friends at the crematorium. And then obviously a week or two, we get them back. So we have all our animals, which is a whole other story. So I'm wrecked. I'm done for like two days. And that's a cat. And we love our cast to death, but there's nothing like the passing of someone who's been a part of everyone's life for decades and, you know, not 100 years, but there's nothing, you know, nothing is the same. So I can barely do that. And Rita's done this an untold amount of time. Like, I cannot tell you the number, probably because of HIPAA and just because it's too hard to understand.
And I just can't imagine how she did it. And I tell people this. This is what I tell people about it. I said, here's what I do know. When it's time and you're. You're going passing, whatever you want to call it, ascending, whatever you want to call it, you want Rita there. Because Rita will get you through it. And you will know in that moment, in those moments, in those final moments, that you are cared for by the person who's looking in your eyes as it occurs. And that can never be taken away.
So on that, I just want to just express how much love Rita has. And Rita is a tight lover. So if you're in the circle, if you're in the circle, you're in the circle. And that love, you're getting it. You are part of Rita's circle. And it's a great place to be.
And with it comes a lot of advice and a lot of direction because you're in the circle, you're not a random, you're like a friend.
There's a circle. And if you're fortunate enough to be a part of it, it's a wonderful thing. And I've been within it, obviously for years. For 40 years. And then again with her degree in psychology and social work, I have been on the couch for 40 years.
Thank God. It's, it's, you know, it's per diem, so it's usually ice cream and coffee.
We had a pretty cranking weekend as your schedule changed and we knew that we were launching this.
[00:24:31] Speaker B: We did.
[00:24:32] Speaker A: So, like, how much fun has it been?
[00:24:33] Speaker B: It's been great. I finally, thankfully, thanks to my bosses, was able to change my hours.
I was in one deniner for four years and somebody left and I'm finally. And that was, that was. I was always nights at the hospital too. I always worked until seven at the hospital. So I.
[00:24:52] Speaker A: And that was seven to seven.
[00:24:55] Speaker B: We did 12 hour shifts and during COVID we did five 12 hour shifts and not three.
So I had never really had. And I For the last 12 years have worked every weekend because that was part of the deal at the hospital. That was the hours I was hired for.
This was the first official weekend of my new hours that I didn't have to work. It was awesome because I got to play all day with Stan.
[00:25:22] Speaker A: So we went to.
[00:25:24] Speaker B: Stan has very great qualities. He is my rock, he is my best friend. But the one quality I can say that makes me completely insane is because I keep a little. I keep a notebook with my schedule and I did that through college and hopefully that's why I did as well as I did.
Stan tends to fly by the seat of his pants and it makes me, I can't say the word crazy.
And so he kinda. I think I kind of played his handler this weekend and for the first time he got to every place he was supposed to get to on time.
[00:25:59] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:26:00] Speaker B: And that is. Let's talk about this podcast that was supposed to be recorded at noon and we're recording it at 3:00'. Clock.
[00:26:07] Speaker A: Yeah, well, you know, we had a meeting and had to help. Yeah. But that's what happens. That's what happens. So it's. Yes, so. And also Without Rita, again, 40 years, again, I'm not bright. On Sunday, I did a bang up job getting to a bunch of locations for a lot of the new things with Bite size and biz briefs and things like that. As the business editor, I was literally setting an alarm on my phone so I didn't get chatting with people, which happens because, you know, I'm selling the brand, we're selling the brand, and I do it on a Facebook post and things like that.
But part of Rita was in the back of my head going to do this, you gotta be here, here, here and here.
And I pulled it off thanks to how many conversations we had about the podcast, about asking you what you thought about me pursuing the business center position, things like that. With the opening that was created, we gotta talk about the new schedule, which you liked. The other thing you may not have known is that I've been known as the newsy handler for several years. If you see Newsy at wing walk coming up. If you see Newsy at wing off in Saratoga on the 4th and the 18th, you see Newsy at the holiday parade.
Guess whose smiling face is behind the big smiling face on Newsy? And that's Rita.
[00:27:22] Speaker B: I have such a good time doing that. All the kids hugging me and high fiving me. It's the best.
[00:27:26] Speaker A: So, I mean, we joke about like, I call it newsy therapy, but every. I mean, Rita was at railfest, it was 90 degrees out, sweat pouring off her. I'm like concerned about her physical well being.
I'm getting her icy, I'm getting her Gatorade. And she's like, okay, I'm good. I could probably go another 45 minutes in the costume with the kids.
[00:27:47] Speaker B: And all the other mascots had bailed, bailed from other places.
[00:27:52] Speaker A: Newsy's trooper too.
So what's, you know, Newsy's been around for a long time.
Did we just see it and embrace it and just go crazy with it, you and I, or.
[00:28:02] Speaker B: I think so. I think that I, when he first asked me to do it, I'm a little claustrophobic when I have to have an MRI or something. My doctor has to help me out with that.
In fact, I'm a lot claustrophobic. So the thought of being in that tube at first, and I am a little shaky at first when he's first putting it on me and then at real fast when you couldn't get it off of me because I was so sweaty, I was not a happy camper.
But I think that once you get in it and these kids come running up to you and they want to high five you and they want to and the hugs and it's just the best thing. And all the parents are like, you know, oh, it's been so long since we've seen a real newspaper because our whole generation has gone from the print. Everybody's still reading the newspaper, but they read it online so their kids don't even recognize it.
And it's just the best feeling.
I don't know how it sat in the corner for so long here. I think that Stan is being Stan and if you ever meet him in person, he finds something and he just runs with it, especially if he feels it's going to be. And it is. And we've gotten many requests for Newsy that I couldn't do because I was working.
Now we can. Now my schedule is going to be where I know. We usually know my schedule in advance. It's be to going. One thing about the hospital is they try to give your schedule a month in advance because we have to be covered all the time. Now he can go, oh, yeah, I can take her here and here and here. In fact, one day we're going from Newsy to a gala. A gala. So I'm going to make him take a before and after. Yes, yes.
[00:29:38] Speaker A: We're going to get. Yeah, we've got news. He's got a tight schedule for the wing walk for that, but again, also the gala too. So it's not only Newsy. You get to be gala and you get to sell the brand to get all dressed up.
[00:29:49] Speaker B: I don't get to do much because again, for 12. For 12 years I wore scrubs and now I just wear, you know, business casual for work. And I said it's very unusual for me to be able to get, you know, I'll see it up, as I call it, and it's gonna be a lot of fun.
And that will put him on the clock that day.
[00:30:08] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:30:09] Speaker B: Because we have to leave wherever we are at two because Rita needs to go home and take a shower, do her hair.
[00:30:14] Speaker A: Yes, Very important.
How excited about the new podcast, the Stan and Friends.
[00:30:19] Speaker B: I think it's great. I think it's. And I'm gonna say this out loud, folks, my husband's the greatest in the world and I think he should have been. Everybody should know him and hear him and understand that he just gets you and he'll always get you. And I think the fact that he wants to include other people in it and is wonderful. And I can't wait to get my T shirt. He's getting me a T shirt that says Stan and Friends. So I'm excited. Yes.
[00:30:45] Speaker A: The new logo is up. We got mugs Coming in and things like that. So we're working through our printer friend.
[00:30:51] Speaker B: I think he's going to be able to get much more broad based. I'm reading a book right now that I said, you have to get this person on the podcast for Breast Cancer Month. And I said, you have to, you know, I said, and it's Women in Business Month. I said, can you call my CEO, because she's the first woman CEO, Saratoga Hospital. And Saratoga Hospital been around for 130 years. So that was a big deal.
[00:31:14] Speaker A: All in.
[00:31:14] Speaker B: All in. And so he, he, he'll always take your suggestion. He may not be able to act on it that day. I mean, the guy's busy like today. Yeah, like today. But he will find you and he will. He's listen to his tell me your stories. He's got some amazing people on there.
So I think that this is going to be great because I think for the other people in the newsroom too, because they're going to get a chance at it.
[00:31:41] Speaker A: Yeah, that's we talked about is, you know, the jokes on the other podcast are basically anybody who knows of the podcast or has been on the podcast or knows what a podcast is, is officially called a friend of the podcast. And so that's what's kind of funny with the stand and friends is it's a rotating list of people and opportunities and everywhere we go.
But this first one had to be Best Friend.
We don't have money for Kenny Loggins, you know, still the one.
Some other.
[00:32:12] Speaker B: The Danny song.
[00:32:13] Speaker A: Yes, yes, the Danny song. Things like that. Which represent myself and Rita, but for that. So we cannot let you get out of here without some shenanigans.
[00:32:24] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:32:24] Speaker A: All right.
[00:32:25] Speaker B: Oh, God.
[00:32:26] Speaker A: So some of these, you already know the questions, but for the record, we have to get your answers because this is, you know, a legitimate podcast.
So what were your top four albums?
[00:32:37] Speaker B: Tapestry, Carole King, Bad on a Hell, Meatloaf, Foreigner, four.
Shoot. I always forget the last one.
[00:32:45] Speaker A: You go back and forth.
[00:32:46] Speaker B: I do go back and forth.
[00:32:47] Speaker A: I go back then Bon Jovi, Slippery One Wet, Slippery One Wet, Def Leppard, Hysteria.
[00:32:52] Speaker B: But I think it's still slippery when wet. I think that'll. I've always.
I love Bon Jovi.
Yeah, I think it's always going to be slippery when wet, but I think my top two are Carole King. Oh, no. It's Breakfast in America that knocked out Bon Jovi. Breakfast in America. And now that he's passed. But Breakfast in America, if you have never heard it, shame on you. But Tapestry and Breakfast in America would probably be my top two.
[00:33:17] Speaker A: All right. Podcast wouldn't be complete with the two of us unless we had an argument.
When does Halloween start? When does Christmas start?
[00:33:25] Speaker B: Halloween's already started. I decorated our front door, and my goddaughter got me the most wonderful little tree for the front of our apartment that lights up and that's already been decorated. And that will stop on the 31st. And I'm not fighting it this year. Christmas is going up November. Well, whatever my day off that week is.
[00:33:41] Speaker A: Christmas is going up after November 1st. After November 1st, I just give in.
[00:33:46] Speaker B: Well, Hallmark starts October 17th. I'm just warning you, it already came out that the countdown to Christmas starts October 17th, so.
[00:33:54] Speaker A: And then there's the music. And again, the two most important women in my life now, my wife Rita, my goddaughter, as we've said now, Devin Lyons. They're separated by 25 years. They share the same brain with stuff like that. Okay. Pumpkin Spice. Really? August 24th?
[00:34:14] Speaker B: What's wrong with that? Oh, I just had the best Pumpkin spice.
[00:34:16] Speaker A: Seven Brew.
[00:34:17] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:34:18] Speaker A: Soon to be sponsor.
[00:34:19] Speaker B: I don't understand why Pumpkin spice has to go away. Pumpkin. Pumpkin spice is delicious.
[00:34:23] Speaker A: Well, they just kind of move it for the peppermint.
[00:34:25] Speaker B: I do like the peppermint. And Dunkin. They have that peppermint latte that makes me very happy.
[00:34:29] Speaker A: Okay. All right. So Stewart's ice creams came out with flights. Three ice creams in the old banana boat.
So what are your three Stuart's ice creams?
[00:34:40] Speaker B: Mint chocolate chip. My favorite. And that'll never change is their coffee ice cream.
And then it kind of changes to whatever their seasonal stuff is. They usually. They make a good seasonal one for when the track season's going on.
So that one was. What would they call it last year? I don't even remember. It was that one. They had everything but the kitchen. It was so good. But that always changes. That third one always changes. But those two never.
[00:35:03] Speaker A: Stargazer was in there.
[00:35:04] Speaker B: Stargazer was the one this year. That was the one. And it tends to change, but the two big ones are always. I love their coffee and their mint chocolate chip.
[00:35:13] Speaker A: All right, first concert.
[00:35:14] Speaker B: Doobie Brothers.
[00:35:16] Speaker A: Your first concert was the Doobie Brothers.
[00:35:17] Speaker B: Doobie brothers and sisters.
BoC.
[00:35:20] Speaker A: Blue Oyster cult. Who opened? BoC.
[00:35:22] Speaker B: BoC opened. And the Doobie Brothers.
[00:35:24] Speaker A: And then where's it at? Was that at the Broome County. Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena. The biggest name out there next to Marty Harding, Mazzotti. Anything?
[00:35:33] Speaker B: It was shortly I think. And that was the same weekend that the first saw the Rocky Horror Picture Show. I was.
My drama geek friends, as we like to call ourselves, we went to Rocky Horror Picture show at midnight Friday night after rehearsal, and then we went to the Doobie Brothers the next day.
[00:35:50] Speaker A: And speaking of Rocky Horror Picture show, whenever it's mentioned, I will remind people that Rita played a role in the high school play. The version.
[00:35:58] Speaker B: No, we would just go and play it at the movie theater.
[00:36:01] Speaker A: Okay. Magenta.
[00:36:03] Speaker B: No, I was Columbia.
[00:36:05] Speaker A: Columbia. Sorry, I apologize.
[00:36:07] Speaker B: I was Columbia.
[00:36:07] Speaker A: But it's gonna be at UPH and.
[00:36:09] Speaker B: We need to go because I know you've watched it with me, but it's not the same unless you've been in there with people that are audience. Yes.
[00:36:17] Speaker A: The audience participation.
[00:36:18] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:36:19] Speaker A: Okay. Yes, I think that's it. Because we wanted to keep it short, we went a little bit over, but that's fine, because it's you and it's the first one, and everybody loves you that meets you and sees you on Facebook and they go, and we just had this conversation with Jason, a friend of the podcast and of ours from Saratoga county, about us on Facebook and things like that. And the reference to the bride that until the end, I do love that.
[00:36:47] Speaker B: Although it makes people crazy, I do love that.
[00:36:50] Speaker A: And it's one of those things that. And then we said this to Jason was if you don't get it, then you don't get it. But it's just one of those things that is in my brain all the time.
And that's how I reference her on Facebook. And then, you know, her very important hyphenated name, Rita Garrett. Hootie again, for her brother and her father, keeping the Garrett name. And early on, the running gag was when she divorced me, it just made it easier for her to go back to Rita Garrett, you know, did she. She could just etch it off the license plate or the Social Security card, but it's meaningful. And with the hyphenation, I can now claim two degrees from you, Albany, because there is Hootie on it.
So I think, you know, it's sweat equity.
[00:37:35] Speaker B: And then also was the 80s, and everybody was hyphenating.
[00:37:38] Speaker A: Right. And you're a Miss, and I'm a.
[00:37:40] Speaker B: Miss, and I will always be a Miss. Always be a Ms. Gloria Steinem and God bless Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Those are my. If you want to know my two heroes, you've just heard, they're both their names.
[00:37:52] Speaker A: All right, so we're going to wrap it up. If you Want to get in touch with us again? It can't be any easier. It's my name, Stan. H u D y. So yeah, it looks like Huddy, as my father David would say is huddy. But it's S T a N H u d y at Gmail and on every freaking platform that's out there, you can find me in one way, shape or form. And then Rita's obviously. Rita Garrett. Oh, Rita Hootie. Rita Hoodie on Facebook.
I did set up, so I kind of. I snuck it in there on her on that Rita Hootie.
[00:38:27] Speaker B: And I'm the old fashioned. I still have my aol.
[00:38:29] Speaker A: Yeah. Rita Hootie at aol. Yeah. So reach out. Guest ideas.
We're putting this up today. On a Wednesday. It's still Wednesday, so I'll get it up. We'll start launching. Episode two will be launching on Mondays as it'll be very out and about business. Faced with drop ins and things like that with some live guests and a lot of people we meet on the road.
[00:38:53] Speaker B: If I could say one thing before I go, Absolutely. I am incredibly blessed. I married my best friend from day one and I married and we have our best friends. And if I can tell you anything, it's worth it. If you're out there thinking like a couple of my friends that they don't exist. I know at least seven really good guys and they're all in my friend group. And if you can find this somebody like him, Miriam, as quick as you.
[00:39:19] Speaker A: Possibly can, put a ring on it, ladies, as Rita's birthday has passed and mine's approaching myself like Kelly Clarkson with a wink and a nod. I like my women a little bit older, whatever.
So we got that out there. So for Stan and friends, number one friend, number one best friend, the love of my life, Rita Garrett. Hootie. We're going to take a funny photo and I'm going to close this with my traditional clothes. And it's real simple as I'm here with my best friend. And I think we live it and we walk the walk, we talk the talk and we walk the walk. Love your life, it's the only one you got.
