Podcasts about MapQuest

Sibeal Pays A Visit.Book 3 in 18 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.It is selfish to believe that your family will always love you. At some point you will be asked to earn it{Right where we left off}It was H-hour plus four. A Thai soldier fired another burst from his T A R 21. The other four soldiers around him did the same. They were using an overturned car as cover. He saw movement at a building across the street to his right. He fired off another few rounds. The figure fell to the ground. By hard-earned experience, he realized the enemy soldier had probably dived for cover, not been hit."Time to fall back. One block back," he hoped he didn't sound too shrill. "You two go first," he indicated the two townsfolk. His battalion major had drafted them minutes after the attack began. Any organized supply depot had been an open invitation for an artillery strike, so he had called for civilians to help carry the ammunition loads instead. These two had been attached to his platoon. Now they were with him.They nodded, hefted up the crate of 5.56mm and sprinted toward the rear while his men gave them cover fire. They made it. He named off two of his other men. It was their turn to go. After their sprint to safety, it was time for him and the last two to go. They ran past some terribly close flanking fire, but all made it.This Thai soldier wasn't the squad leader, or even the squad's second in command. He was a lowly Phon Thahan (Private, not 1st Class). Those two men were already dead. No, he was a common soldier who found other men listening to his orders so, by default, he was in command. His initial squad of ten had shrunk down to three. The fourth man had been part of the regimental staff, a driver, sent into the firefight to replace losses. He still could point and shoot, which was all that mattered at the moment.At the next block he found the two civilians. His men dumped their empty clips on them, then positioned themselves for the next enemy rush. The leader of this ad hoc force took the driver over to the far corner of the building they sheltered behind. Too often, going inside buildings was a death trap. The enemy would corner you then call in their artillery."Guard this corner," he told the driver. "I'll be checking up on you." The frightened soldier nodded, then took up his post. Now he had a few seconds to consider his position. He was running out of town to retreat through. Behind him lay open fields. Just then he saw the tale-tell site of a Dragon Anti-Tank missile firing from the next raised roadway to his rear-right.He couldn't see if it hit anything. There was no huge explosion. Still, it indicated that other elements of his battalion were in the fight. From what little briefing he had been given when the attack started, the major had placed his heavy machine guns and recoilless rifles on each flank to stop the enemy's mobile forces from getting around his command and surrounding them.Little did the soldier understand he was involved in a textbook defense by foot-bound infantry versus armored opponents. His two townsmen were busy shoving bullets into the thirty round magazines. His men had already engaged the enemy to the front. Gone were the cries of 'got him'. No one gave a damn anymore. They were too exhausted to care. Now they counted the comrades they had left, not the possible number of enemy out there.Six minutes later he heard the sound of death coming his way."Everyone down," he screamed a second before an artillery round flattened their shelter. For a few moments all he could do was gaze up at the heavens. His body hurt, his ears were ringing and the belief that he could stop now, he had given it his best shot and his part in this battle were over.He pulled himself and examined what he had left. He wasn't hurt if you didn't count the blood coming out his ears. He couldn't say the same for his companions. One of the townsmen had the top of his head torn off, his soulless eyes gazing up to the forever. One of his men had a smoking chunk of meat where his spine should have been. A second one was nursing a bad leg wound.The third soldier? He was already up and firing. The second townsmen was a bit dazed, yet looked like he could carry on. The soldier crouch-ran to check on the driver. He was laying on his belly. For a second he mourned for that fellow then the man got off a burst, then scooted back. He had been 'playing possum' in order to draw some enemy out. He was alive and fighting."We have got to get out of here," he told the man. "Get to the elevated road across the field then provide cover fire for the rest of us." The driver acknowledged the command, fired off one more burst then bolted for the field. The Thai made his way back to his other survivors. He gave them the same order, the civilian first.The wounded man? He couldn't make it with that leg wound and if any of the others carried him they would most likely die too."Cover us as long as you can," he ordered. The wounded shoulder crawled to the corner to relieve the only standing soldier."Go," he ordered that man. Off he sprinted. The leader placed two spare clips next to the wounded man, wished him luck, then it was his turn to sprint to safety. Close to the end, a few bullets hurried him along. He found the others had made it unwounded as well. The townsman was already shoving more bullets into the empty magazines.To his right was the remnants of the squad with the recoilless rifle and a light machine gun. To his left was a group of six Thahan Phran, paramilitary border guards. He rejoined the firing line. The enemy had overrun the buildings closest to them and were faced with the same quandary he had just overcome, the open field. When a man tapped his shoulder he nearly jumped out of his skin.It was his company commander."You've been doing well. I'm placing you in command of this section. We have a Carl Gustav (another version of a recoilless rifle) in the trees over there," the Captain pointed to the right. Hold this position as long as you can. Help is on the way."Before this fight, the soldier had dreaded this officer. He had been so pompous, so spit-and-polished and arrogant. Now he saw different qualities in the man. He was cool under fire, had his mind on the bigger picture of the fight and the discipline he had instilled in his men was paying dividends the private soldier hadn't appreciated at that time."You are Sip Tho (corporal) now," the officer told him. With that declaration, the common foot soldier had inherited 13 more men, the squad of seven to his right and the six Thahan Phran to his left. Combined with his two that made something more like a combat command. The Captain made his way back up the line. The Thai didn't have long to appreciate his promotion. Smoke shells began detonating between his position and the town, obscuring the place."Remember," he shouted. "Short, controlled bursts and only shoot at something that you know is out there!" With that, he had established his command of the situation. Several explosions detonated in the wooded position. Half a minute later, a tank appeared and pumped another H E into the position. In doing so, it exposed its side to Thai's section.The two men manning his Dragon launcher looked his way. It was a shot at a 45 degree angle and any heavy weapons fire would bring about all kinds of hate."Fire," he ordered. The man aiming the device took a few seconds then let loose. The rocket didn't penetrate the side, but it did knock a track out."Now we are going to get it," the Thai mumbled.A few heartbeats later, a larger TOW missile slammed into it from a position to his command's rear. This time the tank blew up. Of equal importance to the soldier's mind, there were men behind him and that could only mean, the second regiment had finally arrived. He was sure he wouldn't be falling back any further, giving the invaders one more inch of sacred Thai soil. It also meant his men would most likely live to see the end of the day. That mattered too.  It was H-hour plus six. Two hour earlier, elements of the Vietnamese People's Army's 314th Mechanized regiment and 206th Tank Regiment with the Mobile battalion of the Laotian 1st Division and the Khanate's Laos Force Command slammed into Khon Kaen. By that time, the small city had already seen its share of hell. Khanate forces had stormed the regional airport with an aerial assault at 4:10 AM that morning.There were no dedicated combat troops in Khon Kaen. It was the HQ for both the Royal Thai 3rd Division and its component 1st regiment. That had resulted in a see-saw battle until the relief force arrived from the north. After that, resistance had collapsed. Over three hundred men surrendered. A hundred miles to the north forces in the town of Udon Thani, battalions of the 1st and 2nd regiments of the 3rd Division were still in combat with Laotian and Vietnamese forces. The final outcome of that battle had yet to be decided.What did matter was that the entire command structure of northeast of Thailand had been neutered. There were five more battalions out there that had no idea what to do next. They suffered from sporadic air attacks, but nothing serious was coming their way.What none of them were aware of was that a Far North Force out of the Laotian highlands had broken a battalion of the Royal Thai's 6th Infantry Division, taken Roi Et and severed the communications between the two formations. At Roi Et, the Khanate armored spearhead had left elements of the 2nd Regiment of Lao's 4th Division to hold the airport and was blazing a trail westward along Highway 23, to the south/rear of those five battalions.South of Roi Et, two other Thai battalions were grudgingly giving ground to a regiment of Vietnam's 305th Division plus the 270th Combat Engineers and 16th Artillery Brigade. What mattered was that those forces were drawing off the efforts of the 6th Divisions to counteract the invasion.The 6th Division had its own litany of woes. It was the subject of a dozen pinpricks. The division's commander had lost contact with the other two divisions under the 2nd Army's command. He had enemy forces to his north around Amnat Charoen, he'd lost contact with this 1st regiment HQ at Roi Et.His second regiment, at Ubon Ratchathani, was heavily engaged with the Alliance's North Force. His 3rd regiment, spread out along the southern approaches to his life line, Highway 24, had discovered small teams of Special Forces at every bridge and crossing, making every attempt at creating a unified front costly and ultimately futile.The 2nd Army's HQ and supply hub were at Nakhon Ratchasima. They were under attack, the airport had fallen and the sole mechanized regiment (minus one battalion) was having a terrible time retaking it. They were presently incapable of coming to his defense, since their third battalion had already been called to the capital to put down unrest/enemy forces.He finally made his decision. The remnants of the 1st regiment were to retire westward over the back roads towards the division headquarters at the Si Sa Ket Railway Station. The second regiment was to hold in place until sunset. Using all of the division's remaining assets, he was going to secure Highway 24 so that his command could retire using that path before they were cut off and defeated one regiment at the time.  It was H-hour plus seven. For one of the drivers in a Khanate Heavy Mountain Supply Zuun, there wasn't much to love about this mission. He was a truck driver with a weapon, not a true foot soldier. He was content with his role in logistics, which was why his current mission scared the crap out of him. He wasn't in an armored vehicle and was accompanied by only one Fast Zuun ~ by its very nature a lightly armored unit. Now he was driving deep into enemy territory with a truckload of Karin freedom fighters, who also were lightly equipped.He had already reached the first goal, the town of San Buri, 270 kilometers behind enemy lines and only 60 kilometers from downtown Bangkok. There was a fear that his own air force would mistake then for an enemy supply column and shoot them up. Then there was the fear that some rear echelon troops would find the convoy suspicious and fill his unarmed vehicle with holes. His luck held, the enemy were looking to the north and east, not at a group of trucks heading south.Soldiers from the rebel faction of the Thai Royal Army were stationed in each vehicle to cover any conversation with the local constabulary that might come up. The cover story was that the unit was driving with a purpose ~ the capital was under attack and they were reinforcements using back roads to avoid airstrikes ~ the phone network was a mess and the fact that the plan was so audacious, the normal police officers didn't feel the need to slow the military trucks down.The last phase was pure madness. They rolled down Road 304 at 80 kph. Every time they approached a checkpoint, the unit's commander called in a hopefully faux airstrike, on both them and the Thai soldiers. That made it plausible for the convoy to race forward as the troops around them were too busy diving for cover to stop them. If anything, the defenders thought those truck drivers were the bravest men they'd ever seen.At the end of the journey, they rolled across the Road 304 Bridge over the Chao Praya River, then dispersed. Each truck disgorged 16 Karin fighters, for a total of 560. To that was added the 100 members of the Fast Zuun and 35 drivers, three Tigr's and 59 combat troops. Miracles of miracles, they found the capital to be in total chaos.  It was H-hour plus 6 and a half. The Turkish Khanate commander of 100 looked south in the direction of In Buri. He was already in the 'spread chaos' phase of his operation. The central part of In Buri was the junction of Highways 11 and 32. Somewhere to the far north, friendly units were fighting their way to him. Forces retreating south, or reinforcements from Bangkok would have to pass through his position. He commandeered some passing civilian vehicles and created barricades on all three sides of the T-cloverleaf.Before long, the ground elements of an Airmobile Zuun had joined him. That allowed him to deploy several two-man observer teams over the surrounding countryside. He left two AFV's on the bridge and camouflaged the others in the best ambush points he could think of. Then, he waited.  It was H-hour plus eight. For Julia Atwood, this was the culmination of twenty-five years working in Asia, covering a host of military conflicts and both natural and man-made humanitarian disasters. She'd gotten a tip two days earlier that Bangkok Thailand was going to be the place to be. Since she wasn't a known anti-government reporter, her entry into the country had been easy enough.She had spent the previous day picking a city guide, luckily finding one she knew well, and looking around for sources of information about 'trouble'. What she found was a quiet city on the edge of an explosion. The police, paramilitary forces and the military had everything battened down tight. At the same time, the population was extremely anxious over the upcoming loyalist offensive against the rebel northwest.The military had clamped down on all information coming out of the prospective war zones while exhorting on all forms of mass media the sacred traditions of Thai national identity and the need for law and order. That made the hairs on the back of Julia's neck tingle. It spoke of an upcoming shit storm. Still, Day One had been a bust. Few people wanted to talk about what was going on; all known opposition leaders were in prison or in exile.She had awakened early in the morning to the sound of heavy weapons fire. She had been in enough war zones to know the difference between grenades exploding, or pistol, assault rifle, machine gun, and tank fire. She was hearing tank fire, which made no sense. The Thai army didn't need to use their tank's big guns to fire at anything the opposition could bring to bear.She slipped out the back of her hotel to avoid any possible police minder, gathered up her guide and went hunting for the story. Twice she barely avoided roving army patrols. What immediately occurred to her was these soldiers didn't seem to know what was going on. They were jumpy (not good) and nervous (great for a story).Her trained ears and years of instinct led her to one of the eyes of the storm. Julia's jaw nearly dropped open. There were Central Asian men riding around in Russian equipment surrounded by throngs of hundreds, possibly thousands, of Thai 'Red Shirt' protestors marching on a police barricade. Several leaders of the movement had bullhorns and were communicating with the police. It was a tense situation.Julia forced her way to the BMP-3M, then shouted up at the commander standing in the copula. She tried Uzbek. The man looked her way."No. I'm Kazak. My Uzbek isn't very good," he replied. Julia's Kazak wasn't the best in the world, but she endeavored to make it work."What are you doing here?""I could ask you the same thing," the man smiled. "We are part of the Alliance effort to bring about democratic change in this country." Julia knew he was spouting the party line."What are you really doing here?" she pressed."I have no idea," he chortled. "I don't speak this language, don't know who these people are and only found out where Thailand was two days ago.""Are there a lot of you here?""Not really.""How did you get here?""We landed at the airport. We are a portion of an airmobile Zuun."Just then one of the protestors tried to get the unit leader's attention. He kept repeating something."He wants you to advance on the police line and look menacing," she translated."Okay," the Khanate officer shrugged. "That I can do."He spoke rapid fire Kazak, which Julia couldn't quite follow. Her ride lurched forward, the crowd parted and she could see the blood drain out of the police commander's face. Without looking her way, the Kazak spoke to Julia."Tell them they have thirty seconds to put down their arms or I'm going to shred the lot of them."Julia thought about it for a second. She was recording this exchange on her camcorder. She knew this was straying dangerously close to becoming a participant, not a reporter. She translated to the Thai young man. He sprinted toward the police and relayed the message. She had no idea what a 100mm fragmentation shell would do, had an idea how bloody a 30mm auto-cannon could get and had great familiarity with the effectiveness of 12.7 & 7.62mm machine guns.The lead protestor had a rapid discussion with the lead policeman, bowing and begging for this situation to be resolved peacefully. The countdown reached eight when the officer indicated his acquiescence. The mob didn't surge forward victoriously. Julia slapped the turret to get the Kazak's attention."You don't need to fire.""I understand that," the man acknowledged. It wasn't over though. Another protestor, a woman, waved for the Kazak's attention. Since she wasn't alone in doing so, the man hadn't noticed her. What she was saying did get Julia's attention."She is saying that tanks are on the way!" she shouted at the man in the copula."Which direction?" he inquired. Julia confirmed the information relayed by the girl, who double checked with the person on the other end of her phone, worked out the terrain in her head, then drew a quick map on her palm."They are coming up the road one block up. They are heading north toward us.""Clear out the crowd," he responded evenly. He once more ordered his unit to action. One of the Tigr's raced forward and disgorged its men close to the next corner then the vehicle withdrew."What do you plan to do?" she asked."Do what I came here to do, kill the enemy.""But they have tanks.""Fortunately I have things that kill tanks," he grinned."Do you mind if I stick around?""It is your life," he shrugged. The BMP moved forward to the point where, with its barrel turned sideways, the vehicle was just short of exposing itself. He was busy talking to someone else.Seconds later, one of the Khanate soldiers at the corner launched a grenade up the street, then two others opened fire with their assault rifles. They ducked back around the corner right as a larger caliber machine gun chewed up the wall as well as the street in front of her. Two other soldiers fired off flares into the sky."You might want to get down," the Kazak advised her. Julia nodded, jumped off and ran to the corner to join the other troopers. She edged around the corner, leading with her camcorder. Sure enough, up the street was an honest-to-God tank, with others behind it. One of the foot-bound Kazaks was busy shouting at the others. Once more, a soldier fired a grenade at the tank, to no visible effect. This time he apparently got the response the Kazaks wanted.The tank's big gun fired. One of the troopers, mindful of Julia, grabbed her as they propelled themselves to the ground. The world exploded. Julia was doing a quick check of her well-being when she heard the BMP race forward, barrel turned perpendicular down the street and then it fired. Julia barely caught it all on her camera. The IFV had fired an anti-tank missile out of its main gun. The oncoming tank was a Ukrainian made T-84 Oplot.It exploded; the turret flying away in a curtain of flame. This time it was the blast that blew Julia to the ground. A Kazak soldier hefted her up and pulled her to safety. He was truly pissed when she dodged back into the danger zone to retrieve her camcorder. She sighed happily when she found it undamaged. The BMP rolled back behind cover."Get down," the Kazak ground pounder growled. "It is about to get a whole lot worse.""How?" she looked at him."Well, now that we have stopped the column from moving," he grinned like a maniac. That wasn't much of an answer. Then she noted all the Kazaks clutching at the concrete sidewalks. She did likewise. Seconds later, she heard the jets. 'Oh God', she gulped. She'd seen more than her fair share of airstrikes. She had never been this close to one.Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the Thai crowd moving closer."Get down," she screamed in Thai. "Get Down!"Others repeated her warning and the crowed went down to their knees. Then came the thunder. Julia could barely make out the whoosh of missiles before the detonating rockets and missiles shook her world.A stubby-winged jet raced past her vision. The pilot had gotten so damn close to the building tops she could make out every feature of his aircraft. This level of caution where civilians were concerned was surprisingly unlike the Khanate. She tried to stand, but the soldier next to her had wrapped an arm around her."They come in twos," he cautioned her.Sure enough another series of explosions rocked her surroundings. No sooner had she gotten to her feet, the Kazak commander shouted,"They are coming around for another pass, then we go!"A series of passes followed with the jets using auto-cannons on whomever was left out there.Julia pushed away from her guardian and rushed up to the BMP officer."Wait," she called to him. Stunningly, he waited, looking at her. "Let the crowd save the survivors. This is their struggle too.""If the soldiers fire on them there will be little I can do," he responded."Give them a chance."Against all her expectations, he did. The crowd moved to discover the carnage visited on their oppressors, and fellow countrymen.  It was H-hour plus eight. The Thai tank commander was close to the end of his rope. He'd been fighting since sunrise. Defend, attack, withdraw to a defensive position then wait for the order to counterattack. His platoon had dwindled down to his sole surviving tank. His company no longer acted as a separate entity. Now his battalion, barely a company in strength, operated as a fire brigade, shoring up his beleaguered battle group.The last attack, backed by air power, had shattered his unit. He fell back, literally backing into a second story building to avoid the ever-present Alliance attack helicopters. From his vantage point he could see a column of armored vehicles rolling down Highway 11. He was debating which one he would fire on first when he noticed a jeep coming his way. Onboard were three Thai soldiers, rebels.The jeep rolled right up to his hiding spot. The man in the back dismounted and he walked right up to the tank."Can we talk?" the man inquired. The tank commander kept him covered with this machine gun."What do you have to say, traitor?" he barked."I come to request,""We will not surrender," he growled."We are not asking you to surrender," the man corrected him. "We are asking you to let the war pass you by.""Why should I?""If you fight, you will be destroyed. The Thai army will need to rebuild when this is over and we must be strong. If you throw your life away, we will all be weaker."The tank commander had to think that over. If he began firing on that armored column he would be striking a mighty blow for his country. He would also be sentencing him and his men to death."There will be no surrender?""No sir," the man insisted.The rebel soldier made some sense. The Thai military would have to rebuild when this catastrophe was over. He and his men had done their part."We will stay here for a while," the tank commander informed the rebel."Very well," the soldier bowed. He remounted his jeep and drove away."We are going to stay here a while," he addressed his crewmen. "Get a bite to eat and a drink of water."His men hesitated for a moment."Now, while we have the chance."The men hopped to. They had their orders. They would worry about the morality of their actions later.  It was H-hour plus nine. The men in the Royal Thai Army's high command were finally getting ahold of the big picture. The good news was the Third Army's offensive was grinding to a halt along a line stretching along Highway 1 from Tham Pet Tham Tong Forest in the east to Chai Nat on the Chao Praya River in the west. It was accepted as fact that the 3rd Cavalry and 11th Infantry divisions could hold the line.West of the Chao Praya was a chaotic mess of small garrisons involved in raids and counter-raids. It was deemed unlikely the Alliance forces could push forward any further in that direction either. It also meant that they couldn't pull units from that region to reinforce any of their other trouble points and they had a few.That was most of the good news.Another piece of good news was the1st Army's 2nd Infantry Division had stopped the invasion force they were facing only a few kilometers over the frontier in the area of Watthana Nakhon District. As soon as they had gathered the majority of the division together, they would be mounting a counter-offensive with the intention of overwhelming that force and destroying it.After that, it only got worse.In the area of the 2nd Army, the 3rd Infantry Division and the 2nd Cavalry Division had virtually ceased to exist as cohesive forces. Two battalions of the 3rd Division were retreating south into the 6th Division's area. The 2nd Cavalry division had been reduced pre-battle to one mechanized regiment. That regiment was gone and with it, the supply routes for the 2nd Royal Thai Army.Inside that zone, the 6th Infantry Division still existed, but it was in a world of trouble. They had lost control of Highway 24, their primary supply/evacuation route, and were relentlessly being driven out of Ubon Ratchathani. Even with the slowly arriving battalions of the 3rd Division, the 6th could barely muster two combat-effective regiments and those were running short of fuel and ammunition. The 6th had become a static force, too large to be overwhelmed, too immobile to press the enemy out, or save themselves from a slow strangulation. Had they their assigned tank battalion, but they didn't.The 1st Army's 9th Division was in the worst shape. They had gathered into one elliptical shaped perimeter centered on Chanthaburi and were down to four battalions and two tanks. Technically, they had another battalion, except the 1st Army command had ordered that into Bangkok to aid in suppressing the rebel movement. The 9th Division was surrounded, under attack from the land, sea (the Indian Navy had joined the fight) and air. Their commanding general expected to be wiped out before sunset.And Bangkok?It was turning into a typhoon scale disaster. They had finally determined that there were eight small Khanate platoons roaming the city, seemingly at will. The 1st Division had finally located and destroyed one of those, along with a dozen protestors who chose to fight by their side. The others were still at large and causing trouble.That wasn't the worst of it though. The plan had been to pacify outlying neighborhoods and work their way in to the worst areas. That had started out effectively, then suddenly they had lost the northwestern and southeastern sectors. In the northwest, there were Karin fighters killing, or capturing police and paramilitary strongpoints.In the southeast, it was much worse. Unknown armored troops from the 9th Division's rear area had come seeping in along the riverfront. They seemed to be everywhere at once, surprising roadblocks and checkpoints then ambushing the forces sent to restore order. They were a cancer pushing into a city already short on reserves.There were public displays of defiance going out over the international news, surgical air strikes and a growing sense among the rank and file 'Guardians of the Public Order' that they were on the losing side. There were reports of police turning their backs on the unrest, directing traffic and arresting petty criminals instead.The Royal Thai Army in Bangkok still had over 50,000 men under its command. They were sure they were facing less than a thousand hardcore militants, yet they were losing control of the streets. Part of that was caused by the military being tied down to certain strategic areas they had to hold. They had to protect over a dozen buildings and, as they had painfully learned, a platoon wouldn't do.The Government House had been temporarily overrun and Parliament had been shelled. Channel 3 had been hijacked and the forces sent to take it back had been subject to intense helicopter attacks and driven back. They'd killed two such craft, but that only seemed to make the Alliance troops angrier. This was what a death by a thousand cuts felt like. This was worse than bad, because it looked bad on media going out all over the world.  It was H-hour plus twelve. The commander of the MARCOS had finally taken the time to eat. He was in the Maleenont Towers section of Khlong Toei, Bangkok. It had been his masterstroke, seizing the Channel 3 station. He wasn't sure who the eight shady characters who showed up with the VIPs were and he didn't really care. What did matter was while the VIP's fought like wildcats in private they were putting on a unified front while on TV.One of the VIPs was the former civilian Prime Minister of Thailand. The other guys seemed to hate her guts, but were willing to work with her to overthrow the generals. What he did care about was the nearly five hundred men under his command plus a dozen helicopters and jets somewhere above, waiting to swoop in and help when the next government attack materialized.He had to give them this much, the police forces had guts, not a lot of brains, but plenty of guts. Their counter-terrorism unit had known their stuff, but they didn't have any effective anti-tank weapons and he had a half dozen tanks. Whenever the army got feisty, he called up 'Shiva's Fist' ~ his men's joking reference to the Khanate air support. Those bastards not only killed you, they came back around and killed your corpse too.He got a call from the perimeter. Some of those Karin fighters had crossed half the city to join them. The Indian officer had thought that part of the Khanate plan was utter madness, yet here they were, shooting up the place in a manner only highly experienced insurgents could. Those guys didn't even want to hang around. They were asking for more ammo. The locals were giving them all the food and water they needed.At nine, once it was truly dark, the Khanate was promising to drop off a few tons of whatever they need plus some more medivac units. He was down nine men dead and twenty-seven wounded badly enough they need to be removed. The Khanate had lost four times as many. All in all, the overthrow of a military regime was turning out to not be as difficult as he thought it would be. He was waiting to be surprised.  It was H-hour plus fifteen. The fighting had died down and now the main activity was the Thai civic authorities fighting the fires burning in Saraburi. The Khanate Commander of 1000 looked over his shoulder at the burning city. It hadn't been much of a fight, mainly a few rear echelon forces from the Royal Thai 2nd Army and some paramilitaries.He wasn't in the town. The majority of his troopers had already rolled down to the junction of Highways 1 and 33. He had communication with other elements farther west on Highway 32 at Ang Thong and to the northwest at the junction of Highways 1 and 32. The offensive operations was essentially over for his command. That was just as well. He was running low on petrol. He still had plenty of ammunition though.They were sitting on the lifeline for the 1st Army's 3rd Cavalry and 11th Division to the north and the 2nd Division to the east. The 6th Division was too far in his rear to matter and the 9th Division was facing annihilation along the coast. It was very dark now, but the air force was still active. Some pilots were flying their sixteenth mission of the day.For most of the day, the Khanate Air Force had concentrated on his axis of advance and the battle in Bangkok. The Vietnamese Air Force had concentrated on the hapless 9th Division. In reality, the Alliance was almost at the end of its tether.His combined Laos and Far North Task Forces were spent. The North and Cambodian Task Forces had the 6th Division pinned down. The South Task Force had done the same with the 9th. Only the Central Task Force facing the 2nd Division appeared to be in serious trouble.None of those formations were actually near defeat, though many of them wouldn't realize that until morning. Only the 3rd Army's two task force had consisted of more than 5,000 hastily gathered troops and most of those were Cambodians, Laotians and Vietnamese. To that the Khanate had added 50 mobile Zuuns spread over ten task forces and another 50 airmobile, parachute and airlifted units ~ less than ten thousand men and women spread over all fronts.The cold, hard reality for him was that not a single loyalist Thai unit had been destroyed. The 3rd and 9th infantry divisions has been battered, that was true. The majority of their mobile forces, the 2nd and 3rd cavalry divisions, still existed as a potent force. The 11th and 2nd infantry divisions were also out there, but they were all cut off from the capital. And in this elegant global play, the one theater that mattered was Bangkok.In the morning, if they came for him, the loyalist Thai's were going to discover that offense was a lot more painful that defense. Only the 2nd Division bothered him. The forces to the north were too heavily engaged with the rebel Thai 3rd Army to dispatch more than a battalion his way and he would gobble up a battalion.It would be too much to ask the battered Alliance Center Task Force to keep the 2nd Division occupied. From what he had heard, they were on the verge of disintegration after a powerful Loyalist counterattack. He did have patrols on the 304 and 359 Roads in case their commander got creative. What those few men lacked in vehicles, they would compensate for with air power.The Khanate Air Force was a 24/7, all-weather operation. They had lost 40 aircraft to enemy action and a further forty to mechanical malfunction. Losses in helicopters was also high. But there were still enough of both to get the job done. Now all he had to do was wait for the Americans to arrive.  It was H-hour plus seventeen.There were only three major acts left in this macabre play before the eyes of the world. A squadron of 12 Tu-22M bombers found two of the 2nd Division's regiments sneaking to the west. The Thais had done this with as much secrecy as they could. Unfortunately, their move was one of only two option left to the Loyalist Royal Thai Army.Option One, the most likely one, had the 2nd Division attacking the Khanate troops south of Saraburi. It would not only give the 2nd Division freedom of movement, it would establish supply lines to the divisions currently holding the rebel Thai Third Army at bay. It was the predictable choice.The Khanate U A V were out there, scouting for them and when they spotted the three columns using the backroads to approach their attack positions, they relayed that information to a not-so-distant A-50E/I. The squadron of waiting bombers had incredible endurance and had been circling the suspected target area for three hours. They broke up into groups of six then into groups of two. The first two lined up on their targets then unleashed their lethal cargo.Each plane dropped sixty-nine 250 kg bombs. That was138 bombs with a combined explosive power of 75,900 lbs. spread out over three-quarters of a mile. The A-50 assessed the damage for 7 minutes before sending the second set of two in. Another 138 bombs. Another 75,900 lbs. of death. The third group wouldn't be needed. In ten minutes the fighting power of the 2nd Royal Thai Infantry Division had evaporated.Option Two? That called for the 1st Infantry Division, with her added units, to sally forth from Bangkok and rescue the trapped elements of their other divisions. That would have entailed abandoning large areas of the capital to the protestors and the tiny groups of invaders that were helping them. No one thought they would do that and they were right. Had they been wrong, there was another squadron of bombers waiting for them.  It was H-hour plus nineteen. The Thai Phon Thahan-turned-Sip Tho looked out into the darkness. Four hours ago he was anticipating crossing the Cambodian border and burning down their town for a change. Now, now it was wait-and-see. The majority of the division had withdrawn for a long night march to the west. From what he had gathered, the 2nd Army had been pummeled and it was once again the time for the 2nd Division to save the day.He spotted movement in front of him. He glanced over to his 'sniper', a Thahan Phran who was the best shot in his unit and had a taste for the task. The man had the target in his sights."I come to parlay," the voice in the darkness shouted in less than perfect Thai. The Thai soldier had to think what that meant. His instinct was to shoot the man. His training taught him to not make choices above his pay grade."Advance. Don't do anything stupid," he called out. To the man next to him he whispered, "Go get the Captain." The man slunk away. No one alive in the unit stood up to do anything. You even pissed crouched down. The man coming toward him was a Cambodian. It was evident in both his gear and accent. "What do you want?""We want a truce," the man replied. He remained very erect, his hands in the air and only made slow, careful movements."I should shoot you," he growled."That would be unfortunate for both of us. I would, of course, be dead, and my allies would open up with our artillery."The conversation was truncated by the captain's arrival. They went through much of the same routine, absent the 'I should kill you part' and the counter-threat. The captain turned to the Thai soldier."Blindfold and bind this man's hands then take him to the Phan Ek (Colonel). Let him figure this out."Without the soldier saying anything the Captain added, "This could be a ruse. I must stay here. Hurry."He nodded, took a shirt from one of the civilian volunteers, cut it into strips then blindfolded and bound the man."If you so much as sneeze, I'll put a bullet in your head," he warned the man."I understand," the Cambodian replied. The soldier took the Cambodian one block behind the lines, spun the man around several times, then led him toward the command bunker. He spun him around twice more before making his final approach. A wounded junior officer met him at the entrance."Come on," he took custody of the man. Having nothing else to do and not having been ordered to release the prisoner, the soldier followed along.The Regimental Commander had the man un-blindfolded. His hands remained bound."What do your masters want?" the Major snapped."They want a truce," the Cambodian blinked in the sudden bright light."You invaded us without a declaration of war. That makes you criminals, not combatants.""We attacked at the request of the legitimate authority in Thailand, the Commanding General of the Royal Thai Third Army.""Those men are rebels and you will not refer to them as anything but," the Phan Ek insisted."Very well. My Commander wishes to let you know that our mobile hospital has arrived. We wish to exchange prisoners and place our facilities at your disposal as well.""The Royal Thai army will be there soon enough," the Major glowered."Unlikely. Our Khanate allies have informed us that most of your division was destroyed on the road. You have one battered regiment and a handful of tanks. You are not going anywhere."The soldier wanted to slap the smug smile off the man's face."I do not have the authority to hand over prisoners until their status as POWs or criminals has been established," the senior officer countered."If you consider our men criminals, we will treat your men like traitors.""Are you threatening me?""Yes. A fact you should be aware of is that the Khanate has been flying in reinforcements since noon and we have five more armored, mechanized and artillery Zuuns to attack with. Come sunrise, we will be coming at you again unless we have a truce.""Now you are threatening us again," the Phan Ek pointed out."I am explaining the realities of your situation, nothing more," the Cambodian countered. "Our task force commander believes that further violence will be futile. You have done your job and we have done ours.""And your job was to keep us occupied so you could rape and pillage other parts of our country?""No sir. The Alliance forces have been operating under very strict guidelines. The Thai people are our allies and we are a liberating force," the Cambodian replied."You consider this town 'liberated'? You've destroyed it," the Phan Ek noted."It was unfortunate that you chose to fight us here."The Colonel studied the man silently for thirty seconds."I will agree to a two hour truce. That should allow me to contact my superiors for further clarification on my mission. We will hand over any critically injured 'invaders'. You will return any POW's you are holding in exchange.""Agreed," the Cambodian immediately responded."Just like that? It is really within your authority to make such a deal?""As I said earlier Phan Ek, we believe the fighting is over. We don't need your captured men. We would like to see as many as our comrades live as possible. No matter what your commanders say, the fact remains that if you come out of these ruins, you will be slaughtered. You know that. I know that. Peace is the only avenue that leads to any level of success. Today, today, both our forces did what our commanders told us to do. The dying should stop.""Go. The truce will take effect in, fifteen minutes ~ 12:12 am. We will transfer prisoners and wounded at your point of entry. We will both give a warning whistle fifteen, ten, five and one minute before the truce ends at 2:12 am. Do you understand?"The Cambodian repeated the terms of the truce. He was bound up then sent back with the Sip Tho."Do you really think this is the end of the fighting," he asked his blind captive."On the lives of my children I hope so," the man sighed. "I led 88 men into battle this morning and now I'm down to 46 effectives. I have lost too many already for a battle that wasn't in my nation's best interest. I am tired of the killing.""Me too," the Thai said a moment later. After he delivered him to the Captain on the front lines, the man was unbound."Good luck," he found himself saying."Good luck for both of us," the Cambodian gave a weary smile. "May we not meet again.""If I see you again, I will kill you.""I feel the same way," the man chuckled. "We are both soldiers doing what more powerful men have commanded us to do. I don't know about you, but I have had enough." Several Thai soldiers nodded. They had driven the enemy off Thai soil. Continuing the fight didn't seem to have much of a point.  

Digital technologies have changed how we shop, work, play, and communicate, reshaping our societies and economies. To understand digital capitalism, we need to grasp how advances in geospatial technologies underpin the construction, operation, and refinement of markets for digital goods and services.  In The Map in the Machine: Charting the Spatial Architecture of Digital Capitalism (U California Press, 2024), Luis F. Alvarez Leon examines these advances, from MapQuest and Google Maps to the rise of IP geolocation, ridesharing, and a new Earth Observation satellite ecosystem. He develops a geographical theory of digital capitalism centered on the processes of location, valuation, and marketization to provide a new vantage point from which to better understand, and intervene in, the dominant techno-economic paradigm of our time. By centering the spatiality of digital capitalism, Alvarez Leon shows how this system is the product not of seemingly intangible information clouds but rather of a vast array of technologies, practices, and infrastructures deeply rooted in place, mediated by geography, and open to contestation and change. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Digital technologies have changed how we shop, work, play, and communicate, reshaping our societies and economies. To understand digital capitalism, we need to grasp how advances in geospatial technologies underpin the construction, operation, and refinement of markets for digital goods and services.  In The Map in the Machine: Charting the Spatial Architecture of Digital Capitalism (U California Press, 2024), Luis F. Alvarez Leon examines these advances, from MapQuest and Google Maps to the rise of IP geolocation, ridesharing, and a new Earth Observation satellite ecosystem. He develops a geographical theory of digital capitalism centered on the processes of location, valuation, and marketization to provide a new vantage point from which to better understand, and intervene in, the dominant techno-economic paradigm of our time. By centering the spatiality of digital capitalism, Alvarez Leon shows how this system is the product not of seemingly intangible information clouds but rather of a vast array of technologies, practices, and infrastructures deeply rooted in place, mediated by geography, and open to contestation and change. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/geography

Digital technologies have changed how we shop, work, play, and communicate, reshaping our societies and economies. To understand digital capitalism, we need to grasp how advances in geospatial technologies underpin the construction, operation, and refinement of markets for digital goods and services.  In The Map in the Machine: Charting the Spatial Architecture of Digital Capitalism (U California Press, 2024), Luis F. Alvarez Leon examines these advances, from MapQuest and Google Maps to the rise of IP geolocation, ridesharing, and a new Earth Observation satellite ecosystem. He develops a geographical theory of digital capitalism centered on the processes of location, valuation, and marketization to provide a new vantage point from which to better understand, and intervene in, the dominant techno-economic paradigm of our time. By centering the spatiality of digital capitalism, Alvarez Leon shows how this system is the product not of seemingly intangible information clouds but rather of a vast array of technologies, practices, and infrastructures deeply rooted in place, mediated by geography, and open to contestation and change. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/economics

Digital technologies have changed how we shop, work, play, and communicate, reshaping our societies and economies. To understand digital capitalism, we need to grasp how advances in geospatial technologies underpin the construction, operation, and refinement of markets for digital goods and services.  In The Map in the Machine: Charting the Spatial Architecture of Digital Capitalism (U California Press, 2024), Luis F. Alvarez Leon examines these advances, from MapQuest and Google Maps to the rise of IP geolocation, ridesharing, and a new Earth Observation satellite ecosystem. He develops a geographical theory of digital capitalism centered on the processes of location, valuation, and marketization to provide a new vantage point from which to better understand, and intervene in, the dominant techno-economic paradigm of our time. By centering the spatiality of digital capitalism, Alvarez Leon shows how this system is the product not of seemingly intangible information clouds but rather of a vast array of technologies, practices, and infrastructures deeply rooted in place, mediated by geography, and open to contestation and change. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/science-technology-and-society

Digital technologies have changed how we shop, work, play, and communicate, reshaping our societies and economies. To understand digital capitalism, we need to grasp how advances in geospatial technologies underpin the construction, operation, and refinement of markets for digital goods and services.  In The Map in the Machine: Charting the Spatial Architecture of Digital Capitalism (U California Press, 2024), Luis F. Alvarez Leon examines these advances, from MapQuest and Google Maps to the rise of IP geolocation, ridesharing, and a new Earth Observation satellite ecosystem. He develops a geographical theory of digital capitalism centered on the processes of location, valuation, and marketization to provide a new vantage point from which to better understand, and intervene in, the dominant techno-economic paradigm of our time. By centering the spatiality of digital capitalism, Alvarez Leon shows how this system is the product not of seemingly intangible information clouds but rather of a vast array of technologies, practices, and infrastructures deeply rooted in place, mediated by geography, and open to contestation and change. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/technology

Five things we did this week; small signs of pushback against Elon Musk; foreign policy implications of DOGE; security risks from merging government computer systems; efficiency vs. other priorities in government; what's in a place name; the fleeting nature of place names in a digital world; maps as arbiters of truth; Mapquest does not care; and Marcus' rose is off the budThe opinions expressed on this podcast are solely our own and do not reflect the policies or positions of William & Mary.Please subscribe to Cheap Talk on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your podcast player of choice to be notified when new episodes are posted. Please send us your questions or comments!Further Reading:Mapquest's “Gulf of Something” websiteSee all Cheap Talk episodes

On this episode of Bounced From The Roadhouse:Special Guests in 4B:ChowderTaterTot CasseroleLynne Marie StewartRedneck Couple AnnouncedToll Tax Scam TextEggs with Sale of HomeRoadhouse FiveMapQuestBrushing on the ToiletToilet LidThat's a Great QuestionCryptidStolen Credit CardSlice SodaQuestions? Comments? Leave us a message! 605-343-6161Don't forget to subscribe, leave us a review and some stars Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New episode out now! We watched the first episode of the ‘90s British mystery series Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, titled “The Bearded Lady”. We discuss the character of Hetty and how she feels a little bit different than other characters who fit the “older lady who solves mysteries” description, and have differing opinions on whether or not we even like her. We try to figure out what actually happened in the episode with varying success, wonder if audiences are treated more with kid gloves nowadays, get confused by science experiments, and disagree on whether Dominic Monaghan has an “English cheekiness” quality but enjoyed him as the teen sidekick anyway. Katy tries to make excuses for Hetty and fails, Carrie does not want anyone in her home, Maddy harkens back to MapQuest days, and Mack shares a childhood memory. We also make fun of our mental scripts for hosting, would not put anything past the ruling class, reminisce about watching LOST live on air, and love libraries. Listen to hear more about Bluey, children being used by detectives, shrimp paste, and Scooby-Doo. Enjoy!TW: Scientific experimentation without consent, hormonal changes, difficulties of being an unhoused person, censorship of trans people, mention of human sterilization

Chris and Amy are joined by Ryan McClure, Executive Director of the Gateway Arch Park Foundation, and Mike LaMartina, President of Ballpark Village, to discuss the $670 million redevelopment of the Millennium Hotel site into a vibrant destination for residential, office, and public spaces. They highlight how this project will transform downtown St. Louis and connect it better with iconic landmarks. The conversation then shifts to MapQuest's new feature, allowing users to rename the Gulf of Mexico, sparking a fun discussion. Finally, Polo Ascencio joins the show to talk about the Cardinals' spring training, Wilson Contreras' transition to first base, and the team's plans for Spanish-language radio broadcasts during the upcoming season.

Hour 1: Chris and Amy dive into the snowy weather hitting St. Louis and explore the technical challenges of hitting in baseball. Senator Mary Elizabeth Coleman joins to discuss Missouri's DOGE portal, a tool for reporting government waste, and bipartisan efforts to improve government efficiency. They also touch on the exciting Millennium Hotel redevelopment in downtown St. Louis and the incredible discovery of a royal tomb in Egypt. Hour 2: Chris and Amy discuss the investigation of a woman's body found near St. Louis City Hall and dive into weather safety and Missouri's tax rates. Amy highlights the resignation of Hagan Scotten, the prosecutor opposing the dismissal of charges against Mayor Eric Adams. Later, Matt Pauley joins to talk about Cardinals spring training, David Freese's role as a guest instructor, and Wilson Contreras' transition to first base. The hour wraps with a preview of the USA vs. Canada 4 Nations Face Off Championship Thursday at 7pm, plus The Egg Beat segment. Hour 3: Chris and Amy are joined by Ryan McClure, Executive Director of the Gateway Arch Park Foundation, and Mike LaMartina, President of Ballpark Village, to discuss the $670 million Millennium Hotel redevelopment, transforming downtown St. Louis with residential, office, and public spaces. The discussion also touches on MapQuest's new feature, which lets users rename the Gulf of Mexico, sparking some fun conversation. Finally, Polo Ascencio joins to talk about Cardinals spring training, Wilson Contreras' transition to first base, and the upcoming season's Spanish-language radio broadcasts.

Stephen employs a metaphor to explain President Trump's tyrannical behavior over the past week, MapQuest is resisting the president's order to rename the Gulf of Mexico, and we have a preview of the entertainment Trump has planned as he takes control of an esteemed American cultural institution. Stephen asks his Strike Force Five podcast-mate to dive deeper into a story that was mentioned on the pod, involving a mysterious woman who showed up in a family picture drawn by his son Hudson. Watch “Last Week Tonight” airing Sundays on HBO. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Updating's blindfolded dating chaos to Prison Brides and the jaw-dropping truth behind The Jerry Springer Show, this episode is a rollercoaster of reality TV, nostalgia, and unfiltered laughs. We deep-dive into the psychology of women falling for inmates, debate the best (and worst) Girl Scout cookies, and revisit the outrageous moments that made Jerry Springer a cultural phenomenon—even beating Oprah in ratings!But that's not all—get ready for bizarre prison pregnancies, high school horror stories, and a hilarious rant about MapQuest struggles vs. Gen Z's GPS privileges. Plus, we're recording from a stunning waterfront home in Bermuda Riviera, courtesy of our fairy pod mother, Courtney Ortiz from One Sotheby's. So, buckle up for a fun, fast-paced conversation packed with wild stories, hot takes, and unexpected nostalgia!Contact Rachel Sobel:Email: rachel@whineandcheezits.comWebsite: www.whineandcheezits.comFacebook:  Whine and Cheez - its by Rachel Sobel   Instagram: @whineandcheezitsTikTok: @rachel.sobel.writesContact Dale Mclean:Email: dance715@aol.comWebsite: dalethehost.comInstagram: @UptownDale

On this episode of the podcast we talked about Atari's Pong being one of the most important video games of all time not to just gaming but tech as a whole. We also talked about the pop culture gem that was MTV's TRL, the white and yellow pages, Mapquest, Jean-Claude Van Damme's iconic split scenes in Bloodpsport, Pogo balls, Mattel's M.U.S.C.L.E. Men, the dollar movies and them raggedy ass swing sets. Email: SuperRetroPod@gmail.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/superretropodcast/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@superretropodAll things Super Retro: https://linktr.ee/superretroVideo episodes available at YouTube!

On a new episode of Bad Dates, host Joel Kim Booster welcomes Alaska Thunderfuck, Liza Treyger, and Joe Dombrowski to discuss their most iconic dating fiascos. Alaska went so far as to print MapQuest directions but her date had to go and invent ghosting, Liza's date makes the trek to her apartment by longboard but got the wrong idea about negging, and Joe's story takes place in a haunted house with a mannequin picnic, it is not okay.If you've had a bad date you'd like to tell us about, our number is 984-265-3283, and our email is baddatespod@gmail.com, we can't wait to hear all about it! Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for video clips. Merch available at SiriusXMStore.com/BadDates.Tickets for our live show 1/25/25 at SF Sketchfest HERE: https://sched.co/1rbPt Joel Kim Booster: Psychosexual, Fire Island, Loot Season 2Alaska Thunderfuck: Tickets for Drag: The Musical HERELiza Treyger: Netflix special Night Owl available January 28thJoe Dombrowski: Tour schedule and tickets at TheJoeDombrowski.com, new special Joe Dombrowski: I Am Cursive coming in April Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ on Apple Podcasts to listen to ad-free new episodes.

Join Jim and Greg for 3 Martini Lunch as they discuss hopes rising for the Laken Riley Act to pass the Senate, horror and blame as the California wildfires rage, and Trump's new ideas for the western hemisphere.First, they celebrate the passage of the Laken Riley Act in the House, with nearly a dozen more Democrats supporting it than in the past. Now, the focus shifts to the Senate, where seven more Democratic votes are needed to pass the bill. Jim and Greg are encouraged by the bill's momentum and applaud Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman for speaking candidly to his party about the importance of the legislation.Next, they dive into the devastating California wildfires, as shocking images and videos emerge from Pacific Palisades and beyond. Jim and Greg discuss the chaos of the situation, including Mayor Karen Bass being out of the country during the first few days of the crisis. They explore the conditions that turned these fires into a nightmare and examine how environmental policies that are meant to help are instead making the problem worse.Finally, they discuss Donald Trump's latest press conference and his interest in acquiring Greenland, the Panama Canal, and even Canada. He also proposed renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. Jim and Greg explain what they think Trump is doing and get a kick out of the left once again getting hysterical over everything Trump does.Please visit our great sponsors:BetterHelphttps://Betterhelp.com/3MLThank you to our sponsor Betterhelp.  Visit today for 10% off your first month of online therapy. Write your story with Betterhelp.NetSuitehttps://NetSuite.com/MARTINIDownload your FREE CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning at NetSuite.com/MARTINI

Join Jim and Greg for 3 Martini Lunch as they discuss hopes rising for the Laken Riley Act to pass the Senate, horror and blame as the California wildfires rage, and Trump’s new ideas for the western hemisphere. First, they celebrate the passage of the Laken Riley Act in the House, with nearly a dozen […]

Bill Sedgwick is President - Americas and Chief Development Officer at Ultra Commerce.  In this episode, Bill talks about a peripatetic childhood as part of a military family, lessons from living and traveling to different places, Denver, aspirations of being a businessman, Colorado State University, career progression, Hawaii, an immersive travel experience in Australia, teaching volleyball, sales in the early internet age, Mapquest, becoming an entrepreneur, Oregon and the outdoors, hobbies of fishing, paddleboarding, and agate hunting, work-life balance, PinnacleCart, Acquisition by Ultra Commerce, Phoenix, and much more!

We're back covering the lastest episode of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew. The gang has made their way out of Port Borgo and is on their way to finding the path home. Meanwhile, we learn more about the enigma that is Jod Na Nawood.

Hey HBs! Mel and Sabrina are here to recap GET A LIFE, CHLOE BROWN by Talia Hibbert! It's one of their favorite contemporary romance series, so get ready for a lot of cackling and swooning! Bonus Content: is Sabrina a MapQuest person now? (down with the "fancy sky computers!"), having someone up your email game just by being incredibly clever charming, great fibromyalgia rep, being too much and not enough, and so much more! Content Warning: discussions of chronic illness and pain, discussions of domestic abuse. Want to support the show? Rate and review us on your favorite podcast app! It super helps the algorithm connect us to new listeners.  Want more of us? Check out our PATREON! This Friday, December 13th, we're doing a Watch Party at 8pm ET of OUR LITTLE SECRET! The newest addition to the Lindsay Lohan Cinematic Universe! Credits: Theme Music: Brittany Pfantz  Art: Author Kate Prior Want to tell us a story, ask about advertising, or anything else? Email: heavingbosomspodcast (at) gmail  Follow our socials:  Instagram @heavingbosoms Tiktok @heaving_bosoms  Facebook group: the Heaving Bosoms Geriatric Friendship Cult The above contains affiliate links, which means that when purchasing through them, the podcast gets a small percentage without costing you a penny more.

Author of over 50 books, Caroline Lawrence enters the Garden. While we discuss a lot of things, our focus is on Hermes (Mercury for the Romans). We get his origin story. Lawrence makes sense as to why Hermes is the God of so many seemingly disparate things. We venture into Troy and the Aenied, Joseph Campbell, and talk a little Lucifer and Odin. Hermes might be the Mapquest of Gods. Hopefully, we'll hear more from Caroline in the future on Gods, Aesops Fables, our mutual love of Deadwood,etc. An excerpt from Caroline Lawrence.comHi! I'm Caroline Lawrence and I write books for kids. I'm best known for my 17-book Roman Mysteries series (which was televised by the BBC in 2007 & 2008) but I have also written books set in the American Wild West and Ancient Greece. I love history, movies, London and the craft of writing. Click on the links to see more information about me, my books and my public appearances.​Her newest book is "Pantheon:An Illustrated Handbook to the Greek Gods & Goddesses". I'm told there are heroes and monsters in there also. 

It's episode 238 of The Cavalry! Johnny needs backup that the year the movie You've Got Mail came out was the apex of technology being good. Andrew needs backup that emergency vehicles need to either use the siren fully or not at all. Enjoy! 

News: Gemini coming to Google's mapping apps (from Google) Unity 6 Mapquest releases Private Maps for Android Planet Releases Analysis-Ready PlanetScope Product Windows 10 security for $30 GISP accredited by CESB Events: International GNSS Day: Oct 23 annually  

Welcome to Episode 283 of the Traveling Groomers Podcast, where hosts Chris Bear Anthony and Mary Oquendo embark on a delightfully light-hearted exploration of the grooming world and beyond! Join us as we dive into amusing debates over trivial grooming habits, tackle the tech-savvy challenges of navigation with a nod to nostalgic MapQuest directions, and share humorous anecdotes about everything from TSA PreCheck to childhood playgrounds. We'll discuss the relatable "don't wannas" that signal the need for self-care, offering insights into finding balance amid busy schedules and trade show travels. Tune in for engaging stories, practical tips on health insurance planning, and reflections on societal shifts in mental health awareness. Whether it's tales of brush-offs on biometric data, unexpected travel quirks, or the nostalgic thrill of bygone playgrounds, there's something for everyone in this episode. So sit back, relax, and enjoy our journey through the amusing and insightful world of mobile and house call grooming!

The party splits up. It's not a competition, but someone won.Support us on Patreon for exclusive art and early releases! - ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/YaYoTalkShow⁠⁠⁠Check out the TSR Line of Merch! - ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.yayotalkshowstore.com/category/thar-she-rolls⁠⁠⁠⁠ Thar She Rolls is a Ya Yo Talk Show Adventure in D&D using the Dungeons and Devil Fruits Homebrew system for 5E originally created by OneWorld HD Intro/Outro Music Provided by The Dread Crew of Oddwood - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@dreadcrewofoddwood

Johnny Cage, Mapquest, and Normal Ralph - we discuss all that and more as we celebrate Friday the 13th with 1981's "Friday the 13th Part 2"!

**CONTENT WARNING: RAPE, SEXUAL ASSAULT** In this episode Becky & Merie wade into the murky waters of Japanese hostess culture and dive into Lucie Blackman's terrifying disappearance that led to a serial rapist who preyed on women for decades and an unexpected resolution to Carita Ridgeway's cold case. Along the way, they address the burning questions you didn't know you had, like: Can you die from…mothball fumes? Does Becky have a verb in that sentence or does Merie have an arm growing out of her back? Which one of your hosts is destined to listen to a book on tape while checking…MapQuest? Based on evidence, is Becky or Merie your…grandma?!

It's almost Labor Day Weekend and I know what you're thinking to yourself: I need a sun-soaked, sand-covered gay resort town and I need it RIGHT NOW. Well, you're in luck. Scarlet Envy would like you to know that if you've never been to Fire Island, getting there is half the fun. What you're gonna want to do is take the Long Island Rail Road to Sayville, then a shuttle bus to a 30-minute ferry ride, and then you're going to have to walk that perky little ass because there are no cars on the island; just wooden boardwalks and shirtless hunks pulling little red wagons full of groceries, poppers, and lube. And while you're visiting, don't miss the small strip of forest lovingly known as the "Meat Rack". While there is no barbeque served at the Meat Rack, sausage is most assuredly on the menu. Happy Summering! You gotta check out the new softside luggage from Away! Head on over to https://awaytravel.com/bald to see the amazing new softside luggage that will change your life forever! To get Mint Mobile's new customer offer and your new 3-month premium wireless plan for just $15 a month, go to https://MintMobile.com/BALD FX's English Teacher premieres September 2nd on FX! Stream on Hulu! And keep an eye out for a special appearance by none other than Trixie Mattel!!! https://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/english-teacher This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://BetterHelp.com/BALD and get on your way to being your best self! Follow Trixie: @TrixieMattel Follow Katya: @Katya_Zamo To watch the podcast on YouTube: http://bit.ly/TrixieKatyaYT Don't forget to follow the podcast for free wherever you're listening or by using this link: http://bit.ly/baldandthebeautifulpodcast If you want to support the show, and get all the episodes ad-free go to: https://thebaldandthebeautiful.supercast.com If you like the show, telling a friend about it would be amazing! You can text, email, Tweet, or send this link to a friend: http://bit.ly/baldandthebeautifulpodcast To check out future Live Podcast Shows, go to: https://trixieandkatya.com To order your copy of our book, "Working Girls", go to: workinggirlsbook.com To check out the Trixie Motel in Palm Springs, CA: https://www.trixiemotel.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A moderate flow tonight in the hot hot heat of high summer. Lots of new faces in class brought light, fresh energy. Please excuse my lingering cough. 

Twenty years of rumors about an Apple Ring have to lead somewhere soon, and in the meantime, we have more betas to try, and more iPhone 17 rumors to explore.Contact your hosts:@williamgallagher_ on Threads@WGallagher on TwitterWilliam's 58keys on YouTubeWilliam Gallagher on emailMalcolm Owen on TwitterSponsored by:Notion: Try out the incredible power of Notion AI today! For a limited time, try Notion AI for free when you visit: notion.com/appleinsider1Password: Check out the new 1Password Extended Access Management security solution at 1password.com/product/xamOracle: Take a free test drive of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure at oracle.com/appleinsiderLinks from the Show:How the Apple Ring will blow all the other smart ring manufacturers out of the wateriPhone 17 cameras may get variable aperture for better bokehiPhone 17 again said to kill off plus size in favor of iPhone slimApple has reportedly dropped Qualcomm modems on two 2025 iPhonesMicrosoft Copilot is fairly relaxed about trademark useGoogle gives up on Chrome plan to ditch third-party cookiesParty's over: Apple tries to shrink costs of Apple TV+ productionsLook out MapQuest, Apple Maps debuts on the web in betaHow to use the new 'Search Here' feature in Apple Maps with iOS 18Apple seeds fourth developer betas of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, tvOS 18, watchOS 11, visionOS 2How to use iPhone Mirroring in iOS 18 and macOS SequoiaNearly every Apple service involved in Paris Olympics coverageAndroid switchers boost iPhone Sales — but not for the iPhone 15Apple Intelligence may get ability to create Apple Music playlist artElephants and big waves are subjects of inbound Immersive Video releasesApple TV+ seeks more movie licenses from Hollywood studiosSupport the show:Support the show on Patreon or Apple Podcasts to get ad-free episodes every week, access to our private Discord channel, and early release of the show! We would also appreciate a 5-star rating and review in Apple PodcastsMore AppleInsider podcastsTune in to our HomeKit Insider podcast covering the latest news, products, apps and everything HomeKit related. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Overcast, or just search for HomeKit Insider wherever you get your podcasts.Subscribe and listen to our AppleInsider Daily podcast for the latest Apple news Monday through Friday. You can find it on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, or anywhere you listen to podcasts.Podcast artwork from Basic Apple Guy. Download the free wallpaper pack here.Those interested in sponsoring the show can reach out to us at: advertising@appleinsider.com (00:00) - Intro and Apple Vision Pro (07:37) - Apple Ring. (16:45) - AI problems with Copilot (35:24) - Cookies (38:31) - Phone rumors (41:43) - Sport something (43:22) - Betas (48:19) - AppleInsider+ ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Here we go again and Zoom! We discuss some older person dreams and boomer tendencies. Then we shuffle over to remembering Mapquest plus we learn that Ramonites are riled up.

How can a founder transition from a successful entrepreneur, to empowering other entrepreneurs by becoming a key figure in building startup communities? Join host Trevor Schmidt as he talks to Chris Heivly, Co-Founder of MapQuest and The Startup Factory and author of the book “Build the Fort”, about the importance of self-awareness, curiosity, and customer understanding for startup success--and how that success can, in turn, lead to building successful communities. What are some of the many ways that these startup communities can be beneficial? Find out on today's episode, as Trevor and Chris discuss the value of entrepreneurial communities, mentorship, and technology in navigating the entrepreneurial landscape effectively.Hosted by Trevor Schmidt, Founder Shares is brought to you by Hutchison PLLC and is edited and produced by Earfluence.

Recorded 6/5/24. Jeff hosted. Jeff and Amber were there, too. Straight from 6-Foot Studios. Get your hard-hitting news and help us bring America back together.American Fork: Home prices in @afcity are going down.Utah: Google finally changed the destination when navigating to Utah in Maps. You will no longer be taken to Castledale. Note: navigate to your destination, not just the state you're going to. If you navigate to Utah, you'll end up in Utah. That's that. Don't use Apple Maps. Print out your directions from MapQuest. Redwood Drive-In is proposed to be re-zoned as a residential area. Don't do it! Leave our outdoor theater and SWAP meet alone. Phil found a baby deer in the mountains.National: Yellowstone is neat. The Joro spider can fly. They're gonna take over the United States and hold us all hostage.World: Putin wants to strike the West. Does anyone really care about the Presidential candidates anymore?Galactic: Boeing's Star Liner project is $1.5 Billion over budget.Tangent: Phil finally upgraded his phone so he could take pictures of the sky and baby deer.Find us at americanforked.com. You can donate to help support the show at patreon.com/americanforked. Please rate us on iTunes and Apple Podcasts. Send an email to info@americanforked.com with a screenshot of your review and we'll send you a special gift. Also, call or text our voice line at (385)323-0684.

Recorded 6/5/24. Jeff hosted. Jeff and Amber were there, too. Straight from 6-Foot Studios. Get your hard-hitting news and help us bring America back together.American Fork: Home prices in @afcity are going down.Utah: Google finally changed the destination when navigating to Utah in Maps. You will no longer be taken to Castledale. Note: navigate to your destination, not just the state you're going to. If you navigate to Utah, you'll end up in Utah. That's that. Don't use Apple Maps. Print out your directions from MapQuest. Redwood Drive-In is proposed to be re-zoned as a residential area. Don't do it! Leave our outdoor theater and SWAP meet alone. Phil found a baby deer in the mountains.National: Yellowstone is neat. The Joro spider can fly. They're gonna take over the United States and hold us all hostage.World: Putin wants to strike the West. Does anyone really care about the Presidential candidates anymore?Galactic: Boeing's Star Liner project is $1.5 Billion over budget.Tangent: Phil finally upgraded his phone so he could take pictures of the sky and baby deer.Find us at americanforked.com. You can donate to help support the show at patreon.com/americanforked. Please rate us on iTunes and Apple Podcasts. Send an email to info@americanforked.com with a screenshot of your review and we'll send you a special gift. Also, call or text our voice line at (385)323-0684.

EPISODE SUMMARY Join scientist and mindset & high-performance coach Claudia Garbutt and digital marketing agency owner Chris Pistorius as they talk about digital marketing for small businesses.   In this episode, we talk about: - The future of digital marketing and AI - ONE underrated marketing secret most small businesses don't know about - Connecting people, businesses & communities   EPISODE NOTES Chris Pistorius, a digital marketing agency owner, has revolutionized digital marketing with his tailored, impactful strategies. With a background that includes pivotal roles at online giants like Google, AOL/Time Warner, Dex, and MapQuest, Chris brings over 20 years of digital marketing wizardry to the table. His agency, celebrated as one of the top local marketing firms by UpCity, SEO For Growth, DesignRush, Expertise, and AgencyVista, specializes in catapulting small businesses to the forefront of their local markets.    Chris is not only a strategist but also an educator. He traverses the country to deliver seminars that translate complex marketing concepts into actionable wisdom. Each week, he shares his insights on his popular marketing podcast, where he discusses everything from enhancing online visibility to leveraging social media for business growth.   Author of "The Ultimate Guide to Internet Marketing for Dentists," Chris is dedicated to helping dental practitioners and other entrepreneurs flourish in the digital age. Residing in Denver, CO, Chris embodies the essence of a marketing expert who has mastered the art of connecting people, businesses, and communities.   Links: www.kickstartdental.com   https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClvXBKc6Wmcr-qL2v0JWmJg   https://www.facebook.com/kickstartdentalmarketing/  https://twitter.com/KickStartDental https://www.instagram.com/kickstartdental/  https://www.linkedin.com/in/pistorius/ https://pod.co/dentist-orthodontist-marketing-podcast   --------------------------    Are you sure you're getting the RIGHT amount of the RIGHT forms of magnesium to support your mental & physical health?   Check out the BiOptimizer Magnesium Breakthrough which combines 7 of the most bio-available forms of magnesium & get a 10% discount with my special code:   Go to bioptimizers.com/claudia   and use code claudia10 at checkout to claim your 10% discount. ------------ Click this link to listen on your favorite podcast player and if you enjoy the show, please leave a rating & review: https://linktr.ee/wiredforsuccess   Help me keep this show running and awesome: Hit subscribe and join the tribe! THANK YOU for your support! 

Steve & Izzy continue June-jitsu, where guests (or hosts) pick their martial arts movies, as they are joined by Chris of the Home Video Hustle Podcast to discuss 2008's "Never Back Down" starring Sean Faris, Cam Gigendet, Djimon Hounsou, Amber Heard & more!!! Is this movie a secret CTE documentary? Do you guys have fond memories of Nokia phones & Mapquest? Where does the mom work exactly?!? Let's find out!!! So kick back, grab a few brews, bring up a dead dad at your own risk, and enjoy!!! This episode is proudly sponsored by Untidy Venus, your one-stop shop for incredible art & gift ideas at UntidyVenus.Etsy.com and be sure to follow her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram & Patreon at @UntidyVenus for all of her awesomeness!!! Try it today!!! Twitter - www.twitter.com/eilfmovies Facebook - www.facebook.com/eilfmovies Etsy - www.untidyvenus.etsy.com TeePublic - www.teepublic.com/user/untidyvenus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join Father Cooper for a Sunday Session recapping her chaotic Memorial Day weekend. Alex and Matt threw the party of the century that somehow ended up with literal shit in her pool. Then, she reflects on this current stage of her life and how her two friend groups are in very different places - one is all married with kids and the other is single with no kids. Alex discusses what it's like to be in the middle of both groups and how sometimes she feels both behind and ahead at the same time. Finally, Alex tells a hilarious story about the time she got so lost in high school she somehow ended up in New York City and her parents had to use a landline and Mapquest to route her back home. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pastor Brandon closes out the book of Exodus with a special message from our very own new temple. 

Voice of the Chiefs Mitch Holthus and senior team reporter Matt McMullen break down the Kansas City Chiefs 2024 Schedule and talk about the exciting matchups to come.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chris Pistorius: Helping Dentists Succeed in Online Marketing About the Guest(s): Chris Pistorius is an expert in local marketing and the founder of KickStart Dental, a top-rated local marketing agency in the United States. With over 20 years of experience in the field, Chris has refined marketing strategies that drive real growth for small businesses. He has worked with online giants like Google, AOL, Time Warner, and MapQuest. Chris specializes in helping dental practices effectively market themselves online and attract new patients. He is also the author of the book "The Ultimate Guide to Internet Marketing for Dentists." Episode Summary: In this episode, host Chris Voss interviews Chris Pistorius, the founder of KickStart Dental and an expert in local marketing. They discuss the challenges faced by dental practices in today's competitive market and the importance of effective marketing strategies. Chris shares insights from his book, "The Ultimate Guide to Internet Marketing for Dentists," and explains how his agency helps dental practices untangle the complexities of online marketing. They delve into topics such as SEO, social media advertising, website design, and the importance of building relationships with patients. Listeners will gain valuable insights into marketing strategies that can drive real growth for their dental practices. Key Takeaways: Dental practices face increasing competition, and it is crucial for them to have effective marketing strategies to attract new patients. Local marketing is essential for dental practices, and strategies need to be customized based on the demographics of the target market. Building relationships with patients is key to successful marketing, and social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn can be effective tools for reaching and engaging with potential patients. Websites play a crucial role in marketing dental practices, serving as a hub for all marketing activities and providing a platform to showcase services and build trust with potential patients. Tracking and analyzing the quality of leads generated through marketing campaigns is essential to ensure a return on investment and make data-driven decisions. Notable Quotes: "Dentists just want to be dentists most of the time. But you're also a business owner, and you've got to do everything you can to make sure that your business is successful." - Chris Pistorius "Marketing does cost a little money, but if it's not a sprint, it's a marathon. You've got to be committed to it for a little while." - Chris Pistorius "Your website needs to be able to tell people just enough to get them to want to raise their hand and take the next step." - Chris Pistorius Resources: KickStart Dental - Chris Pistorius' agency website To listen to the full episode and gain valuable insights into effective marketing strategies for dental practices, tune in to the [Chris Voss Show](insert podcast link). Stay tuned for more enlightening conversations with industry experts.

Interview With CHRIS PISTORIUSKickstart Dental: Where Dentists Win Online#KickStartDental #DigitalMarketing #ChrisPistoriusHi, and welcome to the show!On today's show I have the pleasure of welcoming author and award winning digital marketing agency owner Chris Pistorius to talk about the tools and techniques that you can start using today to make digital marketing work in your business.Chris Pistorius is a digital marketing agency owner who has revolutionized digital marketing for dentists with his tailored, impactful strategies. With a background that includes pivotal roles at online giants like Google, AOL/Time Warner, Dex, and MapQuest, Chris brings over 20 years of digital marketing wizardry to the table. Chris' agency, Kickstart Digital, is celebrated as one of the top local marketing firms by UpCity, SEO For Growth, DesignRush, Expertise, and AgencyVista, specializes in catapulting small businesses to the forefront of their local Markets.Additionally, Chris is also an excellent educator. He travels the country delivering seminars that translate complex marketing concepts into actionable wisdom. Each week, he shares his insights on his popular marketing podcast, where he discusses everything from enhancing online visibility to leveraging social media for business growth.Author of "The Ultimate Guide to Internet Marketing for Dentists," Chris is dedicated to helping dental practitioners and other entrepreneurs flourish in the digital age. Residing in Denver, CO, Chris embodies the essence of a marketing expert who has mastered the art of connecting people, businesses, and communities.To learn more about the topics discussed, or to contact Chris directly, click the link below.Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored post.” My Future Business is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Hello, Darlings!WE ARE SO EXCITED! In this VERY special episode, we are joined by the self-described sit-down comedian known on Instagram as itsPKav -Priscilla Kavanaugh and we are discussing none other than an iconic show, THE ASHLEE SIMPSON SHOW!Join us as we dress in early 2000s wear and chat about printing out Map Quest, flip phones, Joe Simpson, Ryan Cabrera, that SNL performance, and MUCH MORE!Enjoy! Access bonus episodes on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Episode 60 of Thrillers by the Bookclub Podcast! Join your hosts Chelsea and Olivia as we talk about the latest in thrillers including shout outs for Pub Day and a deep dive into two books we love. Chelsea's Book: THE NIGHT HOUSE by Jo Nesbo (OUT NOW!) - Similar Suggestions: Ghost Eaters by Clay McLeod Chapman, How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix Olivia's Book: WATCH IT BURN by Kristen Bird (OUT NOW!) - Similar Suggestions: I Love It When You Lie by Kristen Bird, The Husbands by Chandler Baker Simone's Book: BRIGHT YOUNG WOMAN by Jessica Knoll (OUT NOW!) Contact Us! Email: thrillersbythebookclubpod@gmail.com Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thrillersbythebookclubpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thrillersbythebookclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Chelsea:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠@thrillerbookbabe⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   Olivia:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠@oliviadaywallace⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠     Simone: ⁠⁠@⁠⁠simonestjames or https://www.simonestjames.com/ Happy Pub Day! STILL SEE YOU EVERYWHERE by Lisa Gardner SUCH A LOVELY FAMILY by Aggie Blum WATCH IT BURN by Kristen Bird

In this week's episode we are thrilled that the days are finally getting longer. We are ready for summer! We also talked about existing in a time without GPS and driving with maps or Mapquest. We then get into our weekend and wellness updates. Laura had a big update since her 9 month post-op appointment with her surgeon. FOTW // Laura - Double True Crime Feature! American Nightmare and Lover Stalker Killer are both on Netflix; Steph - Sweet Spot Labs Feminine Wash Shop past FOTW here. WE HAVE MERCH and a new WOM sticker, order here! Numerous styles, colors, and sizes available for shirts and sweatshirts. Join our Facebook group, Club Wine Over Matter and follow us on Instagram - @WineOverMatterPod, @CrunchesBeforeBrunches, and @AuthenticallySteph! You can also find us on TikTok, @WineOverMatterPod! Thanks for supporting us and our sponsors! Music used in this week's episode provided by Uppbeat (License code: HC5SSAI4EHNGWR2) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wineovermatter/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wineovermatter/support

There's much more to being a millennial than being nostalgic for AOL away messages and knowing which Hogwarts house you belong to! Jana talks to Kate Kennedy about the life lessons learned from the generation of burned CDs and MapQuest.  Kate shares her observations on how millennials make their own way in the workforce, and we find out what being a millennial means as the generation grows older and starts their own families.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

By audience request, this episode has no edits (a No Cut Ep). Frex discusses the downside of going viral, hypochondria, tax season and weighs in on the Kelce/Swift phenomenon. Then she is joined in-studio by Sebastian and Triboro Trina for a look back at the year 2009. Obama's inauguration, the Miracle on the Hudson, the Great Recession, MJ dies, Mapquest thrives. The year they had it all, but still weren't happy.  Please rate review and subscribe, you know the vibes. Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThatsWhatIHeardFrex Apple Pods: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thats-what-i-heard/id1682094717  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2XJFubuUvt6iOGo8dLsaeh?si=Or9Kp0TaQw-uURdL5kD7wg Frex: https://www.instagram.com/lilfrexxx/  Seb: https://www.instagram.com/sebastianconelli/ Trina: https://www.instagram.com/jew_lo/ Producer Mike: https://www.instagram.com/mikecoscarelli/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By audience request, this episode has no edits (a No Cut Ep). Frex discusses the downside of going viral, hypochondria, tax season and weighs in on the Kelce/Swift phenomenon. Then she is joined in-studio by Sebastian and Triboro Trina for a look back at the year 2009. Obama's inauguration, the Miracle on the Hudson, the Great Recession, MJ dies, Mapquest thrives. The year they had it all, but still weren't happy. Please rate review and subscribe, you know the vibes.Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThatsWhatIHeardFrexApple Pods: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thats-what-i-heard/id1682094717 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2XJFubuUvt6iOGo8dLsaeh?si=Or9Kp0TaQw-uURdL5kD7wgFrex: https://www.instagram.com/lilfrexxx/ Seb: https://www.instagram.com/sebastianconelli/Trina: https://www.instagram.com/jew_lo/Producer Mike: https://www.instagram.com/mikecoscarelli/

If you're running a business then you need a system in place. You probably need a dozen systems in place. Technology is making it easier than ever, and today we are looking at how your systems can serve your business. ResourceCheck Out Reward RealtyReal Estate Marketing DudeThe Listing Advocate (Earn more listings!)REMD on YouTubeREMD on InstagramTranscript:What's up? Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the episode of the Real Estate Marketing Dude podcast. Folks, we have quite the reward for you today. No pun intended, Caroline, but what we're going to be chat about, folks, you guys are all running around and your heads cut off. This is the time that you have to go back and like, run your business like a business.00:03:34:13 - 00:03:54:07UnknownNo business exists without systems in place. If you don't have systems in place, you're not running a business. You're just another salesperson with their fucking head cut off and you're running around making sense of nothing. Folks, if you want to right now is the time that while the market sort of changed and revamped, this is when you actually focus on those systems.00:03:54:07 - 00:04:10:07UnknownBut everyone always asks me, Mike, what's a system? What's a system? What's a system? A system is something you repeat in your business with each and every client, each and every month, just like McDonald's makes their burgers. The reason why they taste the same no matter what fucking McDonald's you go to is because they have a system to how they make their food.00:04:10:11 - 00:04:28:11UnknownThat's what defines their business. Unfortunately, real estate agents don't have enough systems in their business and that's why the service doesn't stick with anyone. And while 90% of the people forget what you do for a living, because when you're working with them, there's nothing you're doing to make them say, Wow, that person is a shit. So what we're going to do is bring on the coaching, the systems.00:04:28:11 - 00:04:44:21UnknownI just met her a couple of minutes ago. She's pretty damn impressive. She's got like a system for everything. And I told her, I don't want to know any more. I just want a hit record and I want you to tell us the systems that you implement with your agents in your office that has them all so productive.00:04:44:23 - 00:05:04:11UnknownWhat is it you're doing? Because while everyone else is sort of floundering in the water and treading water right now, you're crushing it. And it's not because of like you got lucky, it's because you got your shit together and you have systems and people are returning to those systems despite market conditions. So I think I'm to call the show something about systems.00:05:04:11 - 00:05:20:14UnknownBut without further ado, let's go ahead and introduce our guest, Miss Caroline Hobbs. How are you, Caroline? Great, great. Thanks for having me. Well, so listen, there's a little bit who you are. Where are you from and what the hell are we going to talk about today? Yeah. So my name is Caroline Hobbs. I am here in Silicon Valley.00:05:20:14 - 00:05:50:09UnknownSan Jose, California, and I've been selling homes for about 15 years now. And I started Word Realty on April will be 11 years. So we've got someone Giovani, we've learned a lot. And all this time and I've really learned about all the benefits of technology and leveraging systems to automate tasks so that you can provide a highly higher level of customer experience for each and every single one of your clients.00:05:50:11 - 00:06:08:21UnknownThank you. No one talks about the experience for customers at all. Like, you got it. Nobody talks about it. Like if people aren't saying wow about working with you, like you don't have a business, you guys and you won't have a business. So I want to start to beginning with you. You have a brokerage. How many do you run your brokerage like a team, or do you guys run it like a brokerage?00:06:08:21 - 00:06:28:02UnknownAnd is everyone sort of on the same system that's within your office? And most people within the brokerage are on my team. I do have some individual agents. But that being said, we do kind of run it as more of a team. And, you know, my whole goal in starting the brokerage was to create something that was really agent friendly.00:06:28:02 - 00:07:00:12UnknownI felt like a lot of the large corporate brokerages didn't really offer opportunity to lean into your own, like individual superpowers and create a lot of self-expression or, you know, differentiate your business from other people. They want you to be the company person and just copy, paste, repeat, copy, paste, repeat with every single one of their agents. And the fact of the matter is, is relationship is a really a real estate is a relationship business.00:07:00:14 - 00:07:30:13UnknownSo if you are not in the business of making friends and meeting people and being able to communicate with people, then you're in the wrong field. Agreed. So let's get into the systems because I don't think anyone has them. Let's start with just in general, like for individual agents out there. I have a question for you first shoot, How many times have you built systems and torn down again?00:07:30:15 - 00:07:47:17UnknownWell, every day. I mean, that's basically what I always do. I always just perfect the system. It's never done. It's always fucking working. I'm literally building three or four different systems right now for our video clients so that they can have a better client experience. It never stops. The day you stop as the day you get beat by your competitor is what I believe.00:07:47:17 - 00:08:14:09UnknownSo I don't think you can't stop. I 100% agree. There's always new technologies. There's always new things out there that can help improve your current workflow. So I think that that's one of the areas that a lot of people struggle with is they think, okay, I'm going to spend January focusing on building my systems for the year and then and then the rest of the year, they don't pay attention to what they're doing.00:08:14:11 - 00:08:40:18UnknownThey don't even think twice about what their systems are. And to me, that's kind of how you get left behind. That's the first step of needing to burn things down again is when you become complacent in an area. And so for me and my team and with all of my agents, one of the things I tell them is if you're doing anything twice, if you're putting the information into the database more than twice, you're being inefficient.00:08:40:20 - 00:09:08:16UnknownAnd so let's figure out how we kind of Roto-Rooter it, so to speak, to create a more automated process because we're all human and we all have lives. We are working because we enjoy the field that we're in. And this is where we have found some passion to spend a lot of our time and build our careers. But we're not doing this for fun.00:09:08:18 - 00:09:51:19UnknownAnd, you know, we are all business people. And I think that with real estate, because of the social side of it, people forget that. And so, for example, you know, making sure that each and every experience from the time that the lead comes into your database to the language that you're using to reach out to them, whether it's a video, a text message, just a plain email with with script, each and every route that you like, each method of communication is going to leave a different taste in the Perkins mouth and really, what you're doing when you're communicating with new leads as they come in is you're introducing yourself.00:09:51:21 - 00:10:15:13UnknownSo that's where we start is when you're looking at building systems. You want to start with your action plans and your action items from the time that it comes into your database, defining them for who they are, what their interests are, how you can help them. Because at the end of the day, they didn't give you your contact, their contact information for you to harass them on things that they're not interested in.00:10:15:15 - 00:10:35:01UnknownIt needs to be an even exchange of information, and they need to see the value that you bring to the table if you want the relationship to progress. So right here and so we're talking about lead system here. And basically here's here's what most people do. They don't want they don't have a system, so they get a lead and then they'll just follow up via maybe phone.00:10:35:01 - 00:10:53:02UnknownThey might send a tax. You might do that for two or three days in a row, but then all sudden just you just forget. And this is what we're talking about. There's no system. So it's got to be like literally every lead has the same experience. That's what you're saying here, right? Exactly. Exactly. So, you know, not every lead is going to pick it up.00:10:53:04 - 00:11:19:18UnknownEven when they were just on the computer or on their cell phones making the requests. Not everyone's going to pick out like say that you are be, you know, type agent lead comes in, you call them within a couple of minutes. So you get that higher, you know, client retention and they don't pick up. So, you know, maybe they put a bad email down there about phone number is that it?00:11:19:19 - 00:11:54:03UnknownLike, what else can we do? Because at the end of the day, you know, if you're a team leader or not a team leader, just an agent purchasing leads from a marketing company or whatever, knowing your numbers, understanding your CPU, your clock cost per click, the return that you're having on that is really, really important. And the reason why it's important is obviously we want to know what's what marketing sources are working for us and helping us build our business or what is not.00:11:54:05 - 00:12:18:22UnknownAnd so the only way that you're going to be able to do that is using the damn system and following up with your leads. Talk to them. Like I said, you didn't get into this business just for fun, to make friends. You you got into the business to make money. And so you need to make sure that you're communicating with people in a way that they understand, in a way that they can catch on.00:12:18:24 - 00:12:50:16UnknownAnd so personal touches, like from requests going out, you know, following up three on a 360 level with market reports instead of just just checking up, I swear to God in be time, I get an email that's like just following up with you. I literally I immediately do it. And what should that's a good a just speaking of that, what should that context be when somebody wants to check it, Hey, you ready in the car to start looking so I can make a commission check?00:12:50:18 - 00:13:13:19UnknownHow do you say that? I send him a property. What do you think of this? How did you see that? This one just came by the market. no. And then you find out their intentions as well, you know, and give them something of value. Like don't just waste their time. And I think one of the other things as an author has been was Phil Jones.00:13:13:21 - 00:13:35:14UnknownAnd one of the things that he does really well, we we refer to his book as the Bible in our office. And the reason is, is he really helps you frame the mindset of not asking yes or no questions because at the end of the day, how easy is it to say to brush someone off and is like, yeah, yeah, and you don't even know what they said?00:13:35:16 - 00:14:03:13UnknownYep, They don't remember either. No, no, they literally have no clue. You left zero impression, but you say, What's your experience in selling a home than you understand? Have they ever sold a home before? Have they ever gone through the process? How deep does this conversation need to dive in order for me to build that rapport? Because at the end of the day, people work with people that they know to like and trust.00:14:03:15 - 00:14:16:24UnknownWalk me through walk me through your actual I want to I want to go. I want to live in your world. I want to go. And I'm a lead. I just entered into my information and came to whatever lead source on your system. Walk me through what happens next, because it sounds like every one of your agents are on the same thing.00:14:17:01 - 00:14:31:18UnknownAnd it's the consistency and the conformity that creates the results. Right? If everyone was doing something different, you'd never be able to measure, would you? Then you would it be able to make those adjustments that you talked about earlier and then you can. Right. It just doesn't work. So walk me through this because I think this is good.00:14:31:18 - 00:14:51:02UnknownI want people let's define what your system is from a new lead and I'll ask from there. So newly comes into your world. Hey, Caroline Re World Realty. I might be buying or selling. I don't know. I just came in looking to see my home's value worth. What happens to me next? Depending on the lead, if it's a direct connection or not, that kind of changes it.00:14:51:02 - 00:15:09:12UnknownIt also every single new lead gets immediately set up onto a drip system. If it's the seller B they get on the property valuation monthly email immediately. So right off the bat three Choose your own adventure is going to happen. A bond, a lead one. Was it a referral? It's a referral. It goes into a system. Referral system.00:15:09:12 - 00:15:27:11UnknownIt's probably more personalized, right? If it's cold, it's an okay, great. You're either buyer or seller. If it's a buyer lead, they're going to go into the buyer system slash strips of some of that. And if the seller leads a seller slash drip system. So make sure you guys are following this. You can't talk to everyone the same way they under your world.00:15:27:11 - 00:15:45:09UnknownThat's where most people fuck up. If someone comes into my world talking about selling a house and I'm telling them about buying a house, like we're not speaking the same language, it's a little bit of a you got to speak their love language, right? And same thing is, if it's a referral, like I'm not going to talk to them like I'm going to when I get a referral, I do them or I borrow them.00:15:45:09 - 00:16:00:09UnknownThat's my style. That's my brand, right? And it's just the way I am. But if it's not a referral, I'm not going to borrow or do someone I've never met before. That little touch is a system, is what we're talking about, you guys. And you can't run a business without it. Okay? I like that. All right. So walk me through that.00:16:00:09 - 00:16:29:06UnknownNow, we actually break our clients down quite a bit further than that. So for us, they're not just buyer or seller referral. There's buyers, there are sellers, they're buyers and sellers, there are investors, there are renters. We bought Zillow leads before you have a plethora of renter leads, you know, doubt and save on because renters are future buyers.00:16:29:08 - 00:16:58:03UnknownThere's no it's not a garbage lead just because they weren't ready to buy a house right now. And they just need to be communicated with differently. And then there's your sphere. Those are your friends. That's the other parents in your kids classrooms. Those are people involved in your nonprofit, at your church, wherever. And so depending on the level of harassment that I want to spend on each group is kind of how we dictate it.00:16:58:03 - 00:17:19:07UnknownSo for like our investors, the email sequence that they get signed up on once they're marked as an investor, after we talk to the client, we haven't talked to the client. Everybody comes in and gets a general kind of like a buyer nurturer, Come talk to me, schedule a consultation with a link to my calendar and things like that.00:17:19:09 - 00:17:48:13UnknownAnd but for the rest, it's very targeted. So for investors, we're talking about 1031 exchanges. The DST is we're talking about short term versus long term rentals. We're talking about maximizing your return on your investment. We're not talking about the granite countertops and the stainless steel appliances and the square footage. I mean, you know, I hope that if they're investing in real estate that they understand value adding, value adding aspects of the home.00:17:48:15 - 00:18:15:19UnknownBut crazy. Yeah. So we're focused on speaking their language. What what are investors interested in? They're interested in making more money. Same with sellers. When you talk about curb appeal, we talk about cleaning services, we talk about living in storage services and these also offer open up our opportunities to create relationships within your community, which can then boost your referral network.00:18:15:21 - 00:18:44:04UnknownYou can even do cross marketing, and I've seen agents do affiliate marketing with them as well, where they'll get a kickback as long as the relationship is disclosed to the clients ahead of time. On a person that's like ancillary services. The Futures Commission compression occurs and if you're not trying to make money off of solar and getting your MLS license as a mortgage broker right now and making a point five basis point on that and you're not trying to charge up the movers to renters and everybody, every other ancillary service you're missing the thing.00:18:44:04 - 00:19:05:11UnknownBut that's a whole nother podcast question What percent of your business is coming from warm versus cold like sources? And it sounds like you're like it sounds like you've created these systems and now your agents are utilizing them right? But where are you guys generating how much of it comes from like lead generation as opposed to marketing and warm?00:19:05:13 - 00:19:35:07UnknownSo how much is non referral and repeat business as opposed to new leads? And then I want to go into your customer service systems next. Those are great questions. I think that it's really dependent kind of also where you are in your career. So years and years and years, about 80% of my business was referral and I'm still closing 20 plus transactions a year and 80% of my business was referral.00:19:35:09 - 00:20:05:18UnknownI still have a lot of referrals coming in through and I still close generally and to be referrals per year. However, because stepping up our game with our marketing, it doesn't equate to 80%. It's probably closer to like 40% now, you know, So it's it's not that we changed anything or we had a depletion in our number of referrals.00:20:05:18 - 00:20:38:17UnknownIt's more of the fact that you're scaling now we're growing, you're feeding what you're feeding. Yeah. And as a team leader, I mean, we have 14 agents at the brokerage and so typically when I get referrals, I really, really, really try to, to service them personally and to do as much as I can. I have a partner that helps me with that just so that way I can we can still be attentive and everything at the same time.00:20:38:19 - 00:21:00:07UnknownBut making sure and I check in with every single agent, I say, Show me your active client list, like I want to see it written down. I want you to I want to be able to point at somebody and you can tell me exactly what's going on when the last time you talked to owners and why they're not in contract yet and go from there.00:21:00:09 - 00:21:21:10UnknownSo I think when you're building systems, you know, something to keep into mind is like I've tossed around the word harassment. So a lot of people just think like, okay, I'm going to get their email address, I'm just going to send them emails every couple of days until they respond to me, and then maybe they'll work with me.00:21:21:12 - 00:21:44:05UnknownI don't know about you, but that has literally never worked. But my kid sits there and taps off at me to get me to do something. It just makes me angry and not want to do that. And I have the same reaction. So all of our sequences from the time you come into our database, the actual sequences are only seven emails long, which lasts about three and a half weeks.00:21:44:07 - 00:22:08:21UnknownIt's exactly those two. Yeah. And that's if you're not going to talk to me after a month, no harm done. But then you're going to move to a cadence of like every three weeks or four weeks you'll get a single email. Yep. And I'll stay top of mind because timing is everything in real estate. And I can't tell you, you know, how many times it's just right place, right time.00:22:08:23 - 00:22:31:18UnknownYou mention the fact that your real name 90% of the time. Exactly. This morning I have an electrician at my house right now installing a EV charger thing and sitting there talking to him. He goes, well, you know, commercial slowed. I got. And I go, well, the real estate markets on fire right now. We have no inventory. And he goes, Why move over here?00:22:31:18 - 00:22:51:16UnknownAnd I go, That's a gray area. Those homes are great. There's a lot of construction going on in there. Yeah, we need to talk, is what he says next. Yeah. And it's yeah, that's been 10 to 1 in ten. One in 15 people are moving this year. You have to talk now. I saw like I saw this stat actually I'm doing a video, I don't hang up with you.00:22:51:18 - 00:23:08:17UnknownAnd 49% of the market only did one or less transactions last year. I'm like, my God. Everyone's like, Wow, that's pathetic. I'm like, No, that's an opportunity. Yeah. Because like, that just shows you 50% of the agents are only doing one. Next question Becoming agents are only doing three a year, you know, And it's just like, my God.00:23:08:17 - 00:23:28:09UnknownSo you really can. You can, but there isn't a lot of yes, there's millions of agents. But if you actually look at what the true competition is, it's not that much. And every single time you could look at every single one of the agents that are like doing the top five or top 10%. And the one thing that they all have in common is they all have systems like the conversation we're having right now is not French to them.00:23:28:11 - 00:23:49:19UnknownThey're probably jumping in and adding in some here, here's what I'm doing in my in my systems and why not? Okay. So lead generation systems are one thing, but that's not the only type of system, right? We can have all kinds of systems. Let's segment into here's a question that no agent can ever answer for me. And here it is like it's crazy.00:23:49:20 - 00:24:10:13UnknownLike, no one can ever answer this question. And I'm like, how the hell can if you can't answer this question, how do you have a business? And the question is, is what the fuck do you do differently than your competition? No one could ever literally ask me the question. Generally, the answer goes somewhere along the lines like this and says, Well, I'm going to, I'm going to get them the best damn deal and like I possibly can, and I'm gonna do the best job where I'm like, You have a fiduciary duty that is part of your responsibility.00:24:10:13 - 00:24:26:00UnknownIt's not a value added proposition. What is it that you do that people remember that make them say, Wow, how do you wild people? So I have a couple things I'll say, and I want to see what you do on your systems. When I first started, I knew that I had to wow people. My goal with every client wasn't to solve the fucking house.00:24:26:01 - 00:24:41:21UnknownI was the third goal. The first goal was to generate one referral from them while I'm selling the house. The second goal was to then please them, so they return to me for repeat business and turn into a walking billboard for me. And then the third goal was until we eventually sold them a house in that order. The only way I accomplished goal number one.00:24:41:21 - 00:25:05:10UnknownGoal number two was through systems that I had in the business to wow them. So I'll give you guys the example of some systems that I would have. And this is how simple a system can be when I would meet with a buyer or seller for a presentation, I would legally bribe them with a brownie gift. I would make sure the brownie would show up before I showed up to the listing or buyers presentation so that I already had something of value I gave to them every single time.00:25:05:12 - 00:25:21:03UnknownThe legal bribe work. That's just a system. So the system was, Hey, you want to meet with me? Okay, great. I know it takes 24 hours for the brownie to show up at your door. I'm going to schedule my appointment face to face in 36 hours. Okay. That's a system, You guys. Also, when I get hired, I would send out a little letter with a $10 gift card.00:25:21:03 - 00:25:43:03UnknownHey, I really look forward to working with you, So I want to get you a coffee. I appreciate the opportunity. It was just a nice touch point just to say, Hey, thanks for working with me just to show that I care. When they went under contract, they got a mortgage contingency. I would buy him a gift. The second the contingency was lifted, I would buy a $100 gift card in there, soon to be old or new neighborhood, and then I would wow them with a crazy closing gift.00:25:43:03 - 00:26:03:10UnknownAnd not a gift card, not a bottle wine, something they had to fucking put on their on their wall. That was a billboard in their house, like a bonsai tree, like a signed autograph of a Chicago Blackhawks player that they loved. Right. Because I'm in it for the long game. So these are little systems that every client had because all I was after was not the closing for that client.00:26:03:10 - 00:26:24:04UnknownI was after the next transaction. Yeah, that's leverage. So if you don't have systems in your customer service that while people it's also very difficult to build a referral based business or a repeat business. So what is it? What kind of things do you advise agents to do when it comes to working with buyers or sellers? Because quite frankly, a lot of people don't have anything in place.00:26:24:04 - 00:26:48:18UnknownIt's just sort of like a there's not really an experience at all. That's fine. So first of all, clients are looking for one thing do what you say you're going to do. So from the time you first make a, you know, have a conversation with them, tell them that you're going to do something and then do it and say, as promised, here is the information.00:26:48:18 - 00:27:15:01UnknownI told you that I was going to send you. As promised, Here is that report. So show that you're trustworthy, number one, that sets you apart immediately, because most people go into a meeting with a realtor feeling very uneasy and not super willing to, you know, trust them. So create that report. No, nobody's hunky dory about going to a meeting with a realtor.00:27:15:03 - 00:27:40:20UnknownNo, no. Literally no one like you. I do something similar prior to my listing appointments. I actually use Uber to deliver a package to the house and a cute little box that I had printed out. That's way better. What do you send them? And you will see? Yeah. So she's only name a gift like that. That gift is like so powerful.00:27:40:20 - 00:28:09:10UnknownIt's not even the cost of it. It's the fact that some physical arrives to it and it never fails. It's the icebreaker. It's what always leads a conversation. All right, so she's pulling up this box if you guys are watching this on video. So what am I looking at here? It says, I'm not sure if it's for you, but if you're thinking about making a move, if you want to take a look at what we prepared for you, it says inside you'll find your home equity report, our dynamic marketing, and it's invaluable resources to help you with planning your next move.00:28:09:12 - 00:28:31:03UnknownSo it's like, okay, yeah, it opens up and it shows our process on one side, it shows the home buying process on the other. And then there's just a little note inside with the QR code, with my contact information, and it goes to a digital business card and that's down to you and that's buyer's console. Yeah. Okay.00:28:31:03 - 00:28:48:00UnknownSo the sellers specific I mean, let me unpack this or people that just listen on audio, which she just showed me, she basically created a clumpy male buyers and sellers presentation that she sends to them ahead of time. So almost like a great pre listing package to send out. It's not and it looks like it's all color coded.00:28:48:00 - 00:29:08:17UnknownIt's it's pretty looking and it's not that like people are even they probably don't remember anything that goes on in it. What they remember is a fact. You sent them a box. Well, I throw some pens in there, I throw some branded mints in there, I throw a couple of brochures and they're a selling brochure. I sell send, put some resources for moving and storage.00:29:08:17 - 00:29:27:06UnknownAnd there so So when you show up, what's the first thing they say. Yeah. You already hired. What's the first thing they say when you show up in the boxes already sit on the table for them When you're there, it is always sitting right there. Yeah, I figure. And they're like, This was amazing. Like, we've got a chance to review this.00:29:27:08 - 00:29:56:12UnknownIt answered a lot of our questions. We want to show you the house, where do we sign that stuff? So, you know, one thing that any realtor listening to this, if you take away nothing else, the biggest game changer in my career with winning listings every single time was quit leaving gray areas on the table. So what I do at every single listing, when I sit down with the seller, I say, okay, this is what we're going to do.00:29:56:16 - 00:30:10:06UnknownWe're going to have it on the market by this date. And then I reverse engineering, which means that we need to have staging invited to this date, which means my stager needs to come the week prior to take a tour of the home. We're going to set inspections that they're going to happen either to stay or this day.00:30:10:08 - 00:30:30:00UnknownThen we're going to have the cleaning crew and they're going to do this. If there's any repairs that's going to go on during these days. And so they already know that I have every single detail covered to make sure that their home is totally ready when we're ready to hit the market. So you remind me of my friend Lawrence Shue in Chicago.00:30:30:00 - 00:30:52:24UnknownYou guys are like spitting images of each other like crazy. Unbelievable. It's great. You're right like that. And how much does that cost you? These? Yeah, You pay a couple bucks a box, so a couple of bucks a box. But it also costs are the time of ordering it kind of Uber or making sure it gets delivered and all of that.00:30:53:01 - 00:31:19:21UnknownNow, I don't know what your mindset is there for you, but I'm going to guess is that you're bribing your your listing client to ensure the fucking listing so you're not scared to spend the $5 or the 20 minutes it takes to order it. Are you? Yeah. No, it's. I want to show them I'm a professional and I want to show them that I'm not just I didn't just have my assistant print out comps before I came in and handed them to me so I can hand into them and call it a day.00:31:19:23 - 00:31:53:22UnknownI'm also showing them that it's not just a blanket presentation that I get to everybody. Yes, there's things in there that are used for every seller and things like that, but a lot. There's also a lot of custom materials to their individual property in there as well. Do you remember the last listing presentation you lost? No, I knew she was going to say that, but now I find that maybe I'm just one of those people.00:31:53:22 - 00:32:32:04UnknownI when you're talking to me, you can tell if I'm confused or angry or sad. I wear my heart on my sleeve. And so to me it's eliminate all the gray areas because that's when everybody gets all agency and distrust comes and everything like that. You had it be two steps ahead of the game. I will tell you, in my professional life, the moment that I had the realization that today today's tasks were preparing me for tomorrow's duties, the moment that mind shift happened, I was no longer scrambling.00:32:32:06 - 00:33:00:13UnknownI was showing up prepared, ready, and, you know, able to conquer whatever came my way. What other little. Yeah. And like, you could answer the question, what's the difference between you and me? Like, you're demonstrating it as we speak, you guys. So, like, don't you know how many I used to? Literally, this is before MapQuest came out when I first became real age was 22, right?00:33:00:13 - 00:33:16:05UnknownWe didn't have fucking MapQuest. I literally had to learn. I would literally drive the streets because I didn't know how to get myself around Chicago. So I would I would pre drive the streets just so I didn't look like an idiot when I had the clients in the car with me because I had no clue where I was going.00:33:16:07 - 00:33:31:01UnknownAnd literally I would have to print out it was called MapQuest. I dunno if you remember that, but that bus instruction, I did have to print it out and you'd go there. But then I remember one other thing I did early on was I didn't understand numbers. So the I'm a loss in Chicago, at least at the time.00:33:31:01 - 00:33:56:01UnknownI think they still have it, but they had this really cool, like simple to understand mortgage calculator that I would calculate the total monthly payment per house reflective of the taxes and the specifically for that house. And people really appreciated that because it was different per property we visited. So but it was literally because I was 22 years old, I knew I had to fucking wow them because I was like, dude, I wouldn't buy a house for me.00:33:56:01 - 00:34:14:23UnknownLike real realistically, I know what I'm doing. I want to buy Are you using me to buy a house? So I knew I had to compensate with customer service, I'd at least appear smarter than I was at the time, which is why I put together all these things ahead of time. But the preparation early on, just to show houses was like an hour down.00:34:14:23 - 00:34:32:16UnknownAnd it turns out in my career I was like, Dude, whatever. I just showed up at shows. I already knew everything. But the point was, is that I was playing the game to prepare and prepare for the experience that the clients would have because it just and it didn't fail. Like it's I don't know why this is so hard to understand for people, though.00:34:32:16 - 00:34:48:13UnknownThat's probably, I think, my most frustrating part in the real estate industry. I'm sure you know, the reason why you probably don't have 300 agents is because you can't find the other 97 or so that will understand your process and why you're doing it. I see that in the business all the time. Like they just don't get it.00:34:48:13 - 00:35:05:01UnknownLike, folks, you're an entrepreneur. You're not running this damn business as you're not working a job, right? And nobody you might be in a good office like Reward Realty Will. They'll have all of the systems set up for you and will allow you to go out and, you know, succeed. But that's why four out of five agents fail.00:35:05:03 - 00:35:47:14UnknownThey don't have the shit set up. They don't have systems. You cannot build a business without systems, period. What else do you want to say about systems? Anything else? And there's customer service systems. There's lead generation systems. What else have we missed that you want to talk or touch on? I mean, consistency is key. I think that in marketing your business and my number one, because I track my profitability and I track my numbers and how much I'm putting in each month, each of the different avenues that we're using for marketing every single month.00:35:47:20 - 00:36:20:23UnknownMy, my, I think I'm at like 37 X, but it is these plastic postcards sending send out and and who is that go to your A farm or your database and it goes actually to so sorry because I like database farming I love it's not to my database it actually goes to non owner occupied properties within the county.00:36:21:00 - 00:36:56:08UnknownOkay absentee owners like it. Yeah I send out 7500 a month and I probably get 5 to 10 listing calls each and every month from it. And it's definitely has the highest relied of like anything else I've tried. But the thing I noticed about it and like the point I want to make is because I do do a lot of marketing around my listings, we send out five pieces of mail for every single buyer sale and seller sale that we transact in, letting them know, giving them updates on the status of the sale, home valuations, introduction letters, things like that.00:36:56:10 - 00:37:26:04UnknownSure. Last year going into 2024, 2023, I had 11 listing agreements signed for Q1 of that year. This year I had like two and it was because I stopped doing my classic postcard for meeting regularly. I got busy and I was seeing other areas pick up and I was exploring other avenues to bring in business as well. And I learned you were being a squirrel.00:37:26:06 - 00:37:45:11UnknownI know I, know it was so silly. So like in December as I was working on my business plan and I'm pulling up the budgets and everything for this next year, really planning ahead, I knew that I had to get back on track. So it's it's it's easy. It's easy to fall off and like lose track of one day.00:37:45:13 - 00:38:08:10UnknownWe have to wear a lot hats in real estate. So nobody's saying that it's easy. Take one chunk, focus on it, complete it, and then go to the next one. The well said. Because you're right, that happens with video a lot, you know, And when we we'd be like, I like there's a couple of people who should I blew you guys up.00:38:08:10 - 00:38:21:15UnknownI'm not going to lie. All right. But you got so complaints that I call you up by names, but you know, you are if you're listening to show, you know, you are 12 months and then they're black, it's huge. Like also it's night and day from a 12 month. But I'm not going to do video anymore. But I'm good.00:38:21:15 - 00:38:40:00UnknownI'm good, I'm good. That's what happens. It happens to me in a lot of ways. We get complacent off of a lead source that was working, but then you're like, yeah, maybe I don't need to do that anymore because this ego thing is real. Like it's legit. Like you could get an ego so fast in this business and it is the number one most detrimental thing.00:38:40:00 - 00:38:58:22UnknownAnd even the best agents, their ego will still get the best of them. Sometimes it's like what Caroline just said. She you have to have that vulnerability with yourself and realize when you make mistakes and fucking own them like you just did. Appreciate and applaud that. It's fantastic. But you know your numbers to see review. Yeah. With someone else, which is something that a lot of people don't do either.00:38:58:24 - 00:39:19:07UnknownYeah. If you're not like I said, if you're not tracking your business and you're your ally and your expenses and things like that, you don't have a business, you have a hobby, you have a hobby that's very expensive. And I really encourage you to look into something more profitable. Yeah, start collecting stamps or something. I mean, yeah, baseball cards.00:39:19:09 - 00:39:39:17UnknownOkay. But I know I'm curious. People want to know your plastic postcard. Before I do, let you go. Plastic postcard. You're sending it to absentee owners so people don't live in a house. Do you have any other data fields that you're filtering over? That is their missed payment and there is or high equity. What other fields is it just absentee owners?00:39:39:17 - 00:39:59:00UnknownAre you layering that data on top of it? Well, I have done it with homeowners and things like that. And we're like filters, age and, you know, life events and things like that in the past. I think it really depends on the market that you're in and where you're at. So right now here in the Bay Area, people have a lot of money.00:39:59:00 - 00:40:23:00UnknownThey've been sitting on not wanting to move up and not really sure if they are going to move up or and kind of slow down on the purchase of an investment properties within the Bay Area unless they're like fix and flips. So for a lot of the calls that I have experienced the last couple of months, these are people that own four or five properties that are rental properties locally with cash.00:40:23:02 - 00:40:50:17UnknownBut because the taxes in California and you know, prices are as high as they are, they're like, all right, well, let's take our return from this. We've already made a lot of money reinvested out of state. And so that's why I have a network of agents that I work with throughout the country. And so I'm always connecting with people in different major metropolitan areas with investment opportunities that I can share with my clients and and not.00:40:50:20 - 00:41:08:10UnknownAnd that's one of the things also that we're doing with our investor DRIP is starting to put in investment opportunities. So we'll go with got services that are selling their investment properties. We can send that out as a blast to, you know, this is already rented to tenants. Here's the return here. The numbers. Are you interested in that?00:41:08:12 - 00:41:34:23UnknownAnd it also helps her sellers as these types of properties make the decision on whether they want to go to market or whether to go sell to another investor and have a little bit more flexibility over the 1031 exchange. So definitely more options. And I think just making sure that you're well versed in all of these different categories and identify your perfect client, like who do you want to work with?00:41:34:23 - 00:41:51:18UnknownDo you want to work with 55 and older? Do you want to work with first time homebuyers? Do you want to work with investors leaning to that? Create a plan to reach that group of people. Don't get too distracted on the sidelines by all these other people. Focus on the type of person that you want to work it at.00:41:51:19 - 00:42:17:15UnknownMake your content around that type of client. Give them, you know, make your emails and everything, appeal to that type of client and you know, your vibe attracts are trying to agree to great. You want you tell everybody if you guys have any referrals for Bay Area, why don't you tell them where they can reach you or they want to learn more about what you're doing or follow you on social or not.00:42:17:17 - 00:42:43:05UnknownCaroline Hobbs Ari on Instagram and our website is Reward Realty dot org and you can also reach me by email at Caroline at Reward Realty dot org. Thank you. Caroline. That was awesome. And thank you folks for listening. Another episode of the Real Estate Market and old podcast. Folks, if you like what you're seeing here and you want a system to stay in front of your database so they stop forgetting who the hell you are, and more importantly, start sending either friends or family and come to you to repeat business.00:42:43:05 - 00:43:00:10UnknownYou need to get referral suite that's WW dot referral suite like popsicle as wect dot com. We help you with your social media content each month. Automate your direct mail to your database and we help you with your video email content. We give you everything. I got to shoot a video and send it out. It's very simple. Stop chasing a bunch of strangers.00:43:00:10 - 00:43:22:23UnknownStart farming your relationships, nurturing them, stay in front of them and become more referral and you will start attracting business. Appreciate you guys. See you guys next week. Please. Thank you for watching. Another episode of the Real Estate Marketing Do Podcast. If you need help with video or finding out what your brand is. Visit website at WW dot real estate marketing dude dot com.00:43:23:01 - 00:43:38:16UnknownWe make branding and video content creation simple and do everything for you. So if you have any additional questions, the site download the training and then schedule time to speak with the dude and get you rolling in your local marketplace. Thanks for watching another episode of the podcast. We'll see you next time.