Episode 191

EP # 191 The financial strain of the current economy.

Welcome back to Dont get this Twisted

In this conversation, Robb and Tina discuss the escalating cost of living in California, the challenges of single parenting, and the financial strain that many families face. They explore the housing crisis, the impact of government policies, and the desire to leave California for more affordable living conditions. The discussion also touches on the role of technology in relocation and the burdens of taxation that affect residents' ability to save and thrive. In this conversation, Robb and Tina discuss the rising costs of living in California, the political accountability of elected officials, the exodus of residents from the state, and the overall quality of life. They express frustration with the current governance and the economic struggles faced by many, emphasizing the need for change and accountability in leadership.

Explicit

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Transcript
Robb (:

And welcome to another show, don't get this twisted. I am Rob, along with my co-host as always, Tina. How you doing, Tina?

Tina (:

We're just gonna say I'm great, Rob. That's how I'm gonna play this one today.

Robb (:

yeah. And if we. You said that we may get some we may get some buzzing. No problem, it'll be like this. Wrong answer.

Tina (:

Life is not easy and I'm not gonna surrender so we're just gonna keep moving.

Tina (:

Yeah, so the contractors out there doing some very loud things with power tools, so if we hear some loud buzzing you might have to edit that.

Robb (:

Yeah. So. Probably not, but we'll see. We were talking before we got on here about personal shit like money and the lack thereof and how Californians who are born and raised here may not be able to afford to live in this state anymore.

Tina (:

No, it's gonna be way louder than that Hopefully my microphone doesn't pick it all up though

Tina (:

Yeah, we'll hope.

Robb (:

And I had told you that again, my rent went up another $110 a month. Yeah, my last year, yeah, last September. So yeah, and it's funny because they say that my rent is $200 less than what it's going for.

Tina (:

I feel like you just told me that like not long ago too, like... was that last year?

Damn.

Robb (:

Which is crazy to me. Yeah. And look, I don't live in a bad area, but it's crazy to me to think that sooner or later we won't be able to live here because wages are not going up and everything else is. You know, we're all gonna need to live in a compound.

Tina (:

Wow.

Tina (:

That's so true. It seems like a Yeah, and nobody's making extra money it's it's going up so fast and it's such a ballooned rate and yet nobody's Making any more money

Robb (:

Yeah, and no one's saving any money. Because we can't, know, even if you are, it's minuscule, right? You're putting 20 here, 20 there.

Tina (:

Kinda hard to deal with that.

Tina (:

Right?

Robb (:

whatever it is. My whole thing is, know, unless you're willing to live with other people, and even people who are in relationships are having issues, right, with two incomes, because it's just, it's difficult. With one income,

Tina (:

I just read, I'm sorry, just read and I don't know exactly where I read that in order for you to live, like I guess comfortably or at a good rate, the family income has to be over $150,000 a year.

Robb (:

Yeah, I heard in California, a single person has to make a Yeah. A single person, not a couple. Yeah.

Tina (:

Yes. 150,000.

Yes. No, the household needs to have in order to live comfortably $150,000. But I'm sure if you have a shit ton of kids that number needs to go way up. So maybe you were right, it was just a single.

Robb (:

Yeah, I'm gonna look it up and see. So it says to survive in California, you need to make at least $80,000 per year for a living wage.

Tina (:

just doesn't.

Robb (:

And in other cities, it's way worse. So like San Jose, 136, Frisco, 100 and a quarter, San Diego, 105, and Los Angeles, 97,000. So yeah, we are just, yeah, there's no way. We're not going to be able to survive as human beings. And let's see. So.

Tina (:

Damn.

Robb (:

It says as an adult. As an adult, you need with zero children, you need to make at least $29 an hour. And then. And then I think this is just surviving. This is not. This is just being able to get by.

Tina (:

Hmm, that seems rather low.

Robb (:

And then it says with, and then it has per children. So if you're an adult and you have three children in the house, one adult, you have to make $83 an hour with three children. And then if you have three children and two adults, it's $60 an hour to survive. So basically you're both making 120 an hour and then you're

You know, because obviously, you know, your rent's going to be higher, you know, because I know, I know people that she's an adult. She has three children in a apartment. A two bedroom apartment, so. Which has to be just insanity. You know, it's so hard. To have three children in one room.

You know and have it not be just turmoil You know what I mean? it and and they're all under I believe they're all under five or six Yeah, she had a couple back-to-back to back-to-back But I was just like

Tina (:

What?

Robb (:

I couldn't believe that, you know, and again, you know, counting out child support and all that kind of stuff. I mean, I never got it. So I didn't I've survived without it the whole time. Did my ex wife take care of my son with clothes and shoes and things like that? Obviously, yes. But I didn't get like cash. I didn't get money for rent. I didn't get money for anything.

So if you are getting that, obviously you're probably doing better if you're a single person. But that being said, I think even that has its issues, right? Because there's lots of, how can I say this, dead beats that

Tina (:

Mm-hmm.

Tina (:

Yes.

Robb (:

that aren't paying their their way and I this poor girl that I know as far as I know is getting no child support which from what I understand he is supposed to but he's fighting it which is as like it's long run is dumb mostly in the state of California

Tina (:

How does that even happen?

Tina (:

Hmm.

Robb (:

Because when you file taxes, they take it all. They don't care. Yeah, I remember when I was married, had step girls. And every time that he didn't pay,

Tina (:

Mm-hmm, and they take your license and they take your passport and if you have a fear in any type of business that requires a license they take those two

Robb (:

My ex-wife would call the DA and have his license taken. Yeah, all the time. He got pulled over a bunch of times, had a suspended license, his car towed, everything. She didn't fuck around. Like, at all. She was ruthless. I don't think that this girl's doing that quite yet. Although I would have done it at least once, because I think you have to throw a stone. But...

Tina (:

What?

Robb (:

Supposedly this guy is also kind of a dick because he has parents that will take care of him and he'll quit his job out of nowhere so he says he has no money and then he'll get another job. Yeah, he's a piece of shit. I mean, without a doubt. Yeah, and then, you know, like most people like that that are pieces of shit, whether male or female, will always claim they love their children a lot.

Tina (:

Somebody you should not get with from the get.

Tina (:

craziness.

Robb (:

You know, so for me it's kind of humorous, but on the flip side, you know, she lives not too far from me up the street and I'm assuming she lives in a really nice apartment. I tried to live there years ago. I'm guessing that her two bedroom apartment is probably 2550 a month. Yeah, she does all right. She's in the medical industry, so she's.

Tina (:

Of course.

Robb (:

doing pretty well, but not not that well. You know, not enough that to take care of three children in that. So, mean, thankfully for her long run, she could always take her. Her license somewhere else and still do OK. And that's kind what I'm trying to tell my kid, because he's thinking again, because I told him rent's going up and he's going to.

Tina (:

Mm-hmm.

Robb (:

have to pay. That's just the way it is. And he's like, well, I'm thinking of moving to Texas and okay, dude, cool. More power to you. But you know, until then, you are gonna pay this. And I said, you can pay this amount here and still make money or you can leave the state and pay a real rent and probably make nothing. So up to you.

Tina (:

However, come this date...

Robb (:

But at the end of the day, I understand. Like, I understand the whole point of just wanting to leave here. It's incredibly hard. Our gas prices are going up again. No matter of fact, they went up eight cents in a day. So, you know, and they're going to close refineries here. So they say by next year, it'll be $8 a gallon. Yeah, it's some serious bullshit.

Tina (:

not going any lower.

Tina (:

Mm-hmm.

Tina (:

That's some bullshit, really. Cause you have to use a car here. It's not like other places. It's not like New York, where you could get in public transit the whole time. Like you need, everything's spread out. You need to have a car here.

Robb (:

Yeah. Mm hmm. Yeah, it it's crazy. And look, like I said, you know, you can shit on me all you want. They're fans of the show. But, you know, the tree huggers in the state are going to cost everyone money. And their life and.

Tina (:

Mm-hmm.

Robb (:

People will leave here. This state has lost more people than they've gained the last like two or three years and Mm-hmm Yeah for one year Yeah, and that's only from one year my brother who lives in Idaho he

Tina (:

Mm-hmm and Another thing that I was looking at I got my registration on my trike. It's a 2020 trike four hundred and eighty five dollars Registration for a five-year-old vehicle for one year. Yeah

Robb (:

They do two years on each time you do your registration. I think the registration on his truck, which is an older truck, like 10 years old, I think it was like $85. Yeah.

Tina (:

Wow. My, I had a 24 year old, uh, Corolla before it was, um, stolen and it was way more than that in, um, registration. It was like 185, I think was the lowest it ever really got.

Robb (:

for two years. Yeah. It's absurd what they're doing to us here. And it's because you're paying to be here.

Tina (:

crazy.

Tina (:

Well, and we're paying for a government that doesn't know their asshole from a hole in the ground. I was trying to come up with something a little bit nicer than that, but there you go.

Robb (:

Ass from a hole in the ground. Yeah. No. Yeah, they don't know the difference between a wrist lock and a wrist watch. It's it's just horrible. But what do we do? Like I wish I always think about that being a Californian.

Tina (:

Mm-hmm.

Robb (:

You was born and raised here. How do we fix it? And we've tried, we've tried to get rid of this governor twice. And for some reason, the fucking numbskulls in this state keep keeping him in. I don't I don't get it. This used to be such a great place in the 80s. Like where you live. Yeah, I mean, but just think like

Tina (:

Mm-hmm.

Tina (:

That was almost 50 years ago, now we're 45 years now.

Robb (:

When when we were in junior high and high school where you live was the place to live in the valley And now not too far down the street from you, it's not great anymore Which is sad like, you know, there was always pockets where you lived like you could say like Parthenia and Tampa where

Tina (:

Mm-hmm.

Tina (:

Mm-mm.

Robb (:

that little ghetto is right there. And it's always been bad. although I heard it's better now than it had been 20 years ago. But there weren't as many pockets, you know, there's places in Kanoga Park there were shitholes, know, Pacoima, there's some bad places in the valley. But not where you lived. Now where you live, there's homeless people everywhere. And it's just sad, I think that

Tina (:

Mm-hmm.

Tina (:

Well, they took the the mall that was there the the mini mall and they put up uh buildings that are gonna be on the first floor it'll be um You know to like Shop or do whatever you want to all the little stores and then above it is uh Low income housing and they're giving every apartment that's above it 1.2 car spaces so

Robb (:

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, which is, can't happen right where you live. There's no place to park there now.

Tina (:

you know, if two people are there and they're both driving, one's going to be parked out on the street of every unit that's there.

Tina (:

Mm-hmm.

Tina (:

Right. That's true. Yep. Yep.

Robb (:

Like across the street where the homes are and there's a high school right next to you. So that's not gonna happen. So where are they going to park? In the shopping center? Well, I mean, they may, but you know what's gonna end up happening there is they're just gonna end up getting towed. So the towing company is gonna make a boatload of money. Because what they'll do is they'll just go by and start marking tires and just towing people out of there.

Tina (:

I don't know.

Tina (:

Yep.

Tina (:

There you go.

Robb (:

But I mean, should it get to that? And I can't believe they're putting like section eight housing right there. Like that really blows me away. No, because the people that we voted in are the ones who are voting for it. And we continue to.

Tina (:

Yeah, we were all shocked and all of the old timers fought it. the people that have been here for long time, they fought it to no end, you know, you can't, can't stop it.

Tina (:

Yes.

Robb (:

keep voting these same people in it's like a single home turned into a

Tina (:

Yes, now listen to this right across the street on the same block and literally right across the street somebody was just Permitted to do five units on one house so they Between their front yard and their backyard now. There's five units to live at where they used to be just one Single home turned into five different addresses

Robb (:

Wow. So did they just, did they build onto it? Wow. It's funny because down the street for me, there's a empty lot, which I think used to belong to a house that's right next to it. And it's big.

Tina (:

they they reconfigured built on built in front of built behind i don't know what they did but there's five units literally on that block on that one little

Tina (:

Mm-hmm.

Robb (:

It's a big piece of property. I would say it's probably two lots, two home lots. And I drove by, yeah, it's like back to back. was like whoever owned it, it was big. was the guy next to it owns like this massive piece of property. And I drove by the other day and this had the sign saying the same thing. It's gonna be turned into a multi-unit like apartment, right? And it's right in the middle of a bunch of houses. It's like.

Tina (:

Wow.

Tina (:

Multi-unit dwelling.

Robb (:

Six houses this and then six houses. They're gonna have an apartment complex in the middle of it That's it's wild to me though and my thing is how like who's renting these things?

Tina (:

That's happening here on every block in abundance right now.

Tina (:

Well, my problem is, you know, here's these people that have had these houses and they're paying legit money for their houses. And then we got this shit, you know, low income housing that we're going to have to put up with because of it. And it's like, wait a minute, if you're, if you're going to make it reasonable for them to live, why aren't you making it reasonable for everybody to live? Like to me, that seems like it's, it's going against what we're all about here.

Robb (:

Right. Yeah, it's I can't move into any of those low income places because I make too much money.

But I don't make enough money to really get ahead. You know what I mean? It's like, you're to a point where it's, I make too much to save anything, but I don't make enough to, I mean, I make enough to survive, but that's it. And it's gonna, I mean, it's driven people out already. I just don't.

Tina (:

Ray.

Robb (:

I don't want to say I don't want to leave because I've been to other states now and man, it's. It's hard not to just go man, I wish I could just pick up and start somewhere else, because I mean, I really liked North Carolina like a lot. I hadn't been there in the summer, I only went into like. Spring ish, so it was still cold and chilly. And I and I know the summers in the South are.

Tina (:

Mm-hmm.

Robb (:

They're humid. It's pretty gnarly. But man, would I would I rather really just pay out of my asshole here and barely get by and and just for the weather? Where you're going to be able to go somewhere else and obviously your living wage won't be the same. That's just a fact. But it'll be comparable.

artment there that was almost:

Tina (:

Wow.

Robb (:

But 1300 square feet is like a fucking house in the valley. Your house is probably 1300 square feet. Yeah, and this was an apartment. It was wild. And I think even the two bedroom, they had a two bedroom, and we were just looking for shits and giggles. And I think the two bedroom, the big two bedroom was 1200 square feet. So the bedrooms were like 14 by 14.

Tina (:

Yeah.

It's a little bit less actually.

Damn.

Robb (:

Yeah, they had like two master bedrooms. It was like wild. So if you had somebody who, if you both made a decent living, if you had, you know, if it was a couple or like, you know, an older kid and a parent, you could do very well and still get by and live in a nice place that's in a, you know, in a good neighborhood. It's just a different lifestyle. And

Not to crap on Californians, probably better people. Well, they are, but they're all going to Austin and Houston. Just don't go there. They're all going to the liberal cities. They are.

Tina (:

I don't know though because it seems like all the Californians are going to Texas so that's not gonna be the case.

Tina (:

I know. I just don't see myself living in Texas. Now, I love to visit there. I have great people that I visit there. But living there just, I don't know. I think because my family, I'm the 11th or the 12th generation born and raised here in California. I literally live two miles from where I was born. And no matter where I lived in my life, I only lived a couple miles from where I was born. So...

Robb (:

Mm-hmm.

Tina (:

Everything I know is here like I could I could tell you where a plumber is I could tell you where the best place to get a burrito is I could tell you like that's how well I could go back streets I could take the I could take alleys from anywhere here to anywhere in the valley that you want to go like I got you So to me it doesn't seem like I would want to really move like this is where my people are This is where I grew up. This is where I I've lived and thrived up until lately

Robb (:

Right.

Tina (:

up until COVID.

Robb (:

I'm kind of the same as you though, even though I haven't lived there in quite a while. If I need to go to the valley, I know streets to go down and I know ways around the major streets. Like I giggle when I look at maps and it's like, get off on Recita and take Recita all the way. It's like, No, but it's funny because obviously maps are trying to get you there.

Tina (:

yeah.

Tina (:

Heck no, you don't travel Rosita.

Robb (:

the if not the fastest the easiest route and like I'm like now I'll get off on Balboa and I'll take side streets a bunch of different ways and make it there 10 minutes earlier so but again that's where you live and now where I live now I'm getting better and I've lived here quite a while I just don't get out much and thankfully we have a map app I think that that helps with

Tina (:

Mm-hmm.

Robb (:

That's going to help you when you move. When people move now, it is a little easier because when you get to a new town, people just open up their phone and go, know, good Mexican food near me. And there's like six things that have Yelp reviews that'll, you know what I mean? That'll put you in the direction. Because when I went back to North Carolina and it's it's a...

A military town. She lived in Jacksonville. It's a small military town. They have a Marine Corps base. That's what I did. And we found a Mexican restaurant there that was really, really, really authentic. I mean, I will tell you that it matched things that I've had in the Valley. I walked in and there was nothing but Mexican people in it. That's how you know it was good.

Tina (:

Hmm.

Tina (:

That's very true.

Robb (:

Yeah, if I walk into a place that's a Mexican food place and it's full of white people I'm like, ooh Do I really want to be here? And I know that that's like crazy to say because I'm pretty ghostly white But I know better Yeah, I'm a widow. There's no no, you know getting around it But I've you know, it's no different and I don't eat sushi But I heard if you walk into a sushi place and there's no Asian people you should probably be a little scared

Tina (:

Use a white boy.

Tina (:

Mm.

Robb (:

Or if you go into a soul food place and there's no black people I'm not gonna eat there That's just you know, it's part of the The the being authentic is the race of people Eat there like Indian food if I go into an Indian food place and there ain't no Indian people. I'm probably gonna go This is scary. So

Tina (:

I get you.

Robb (:

I think moving out of this state at some point will be easier only because of that. Technology has helped us when it comes to that. You can get into a place and you can go, know, here's my new address. Where's Walmart? And you don't have to worry about knowing the streets. You just go boop and hit a button and it takes you there. So the learning curve of a new city is definitely better.

Tina (:

That's good. To me it seems like it wouldn't be so hard because we do have Yelp reviews, do have Google, we pretty much, but I don't know, just that would be kind of lonely. You know, if you move and all your people are here, I don't know, that to me would bother me.

Robb (:

It would. If you, if you move and know zero people, yes, I think it would be hard. But if you move to a city where you know at least one or two people.

At least that's your your foot in To you know, and we'll see if they're a good friend like if I moved to North Carolina You know, I planned on moving to where my friend lived. So it would at least be easier And when I moved to Vegas, I knew someone there even though I didn't you know see them often I did talk to them often so You know, it was it was easier to at least be like Hey, like and when I moved here

Tina (:

Yeah.

Robb (:

You know, I knew somebody in town so I could go, hey, where's this or where do you get Mexican food at or where do you do this? And then she'd just text me and go, hey, go here or here's the name of the place or whatever. So. It my learning curve was definitely easier. But again, I still am in California and I could just drive to the valley if I wanted to, or if I wanted to go somewhere and see people. I could.

Tina (:

Mm-hmm.

Tina (:

Yeah, that's true. If you were close enough to where you could go back to hanging out with any friend you wanted to. Yeah.

Robb (:

That Right, so it made it much easier, you know Knowing that I'm pretty much an hour away from anyone That helps and in look we an hour is kind of a weird thing to me because for fuck's sake it's

Tina (:

Yeah.

Robb (:

It can take you an hour to go eight miles in the wrong traffic here. So I made it from Simi Valley to back home in 56 minutes the other day. It was a holiday. There was no, except for CHP and I already passed most of them. So, but yeah, so look, I just think that...

Tina (:

Very true.

Tina (:

What? There was nobody on the road.

Robb (:

The only way that Californians are going to survive is if our wages go up and both me and you have already talked about that, it's not happening.

Tina (:

Well, the only way we're gonna be able to make this work is if taxes go down. They're taxing the shit out of everything that they could tax. From, like you said, gas prices, our registration, our city taxes, like our... We have, um... What is that? When you buy groceries. There's a 10 %... It's like 9.75. It's basically a 10 % tax.

Robb (:

Sales tax.

Tina (:

And now, you know, since COVID, everybody is like, well, you know, you should tip your waiters better because they're not getting, you know, paid or whatever. So now, you know, it's going to be a quarter of whatever you order. You're going to have to spend a tip out a guy that you're not employing. Then there's like, we went through that last week or the week before. There's so many things that it's like, can I just, what would it cost me to just buy this?

Robb (:

Yeah. Yeah. Last week. Yeah. Last week.

Tina (:

Now what does it cost me after everything that they're going to tax me on? I would like to see that because I'm getting to the point where I'm thinking we're getting close to like 40 % of whatever it is that we want is taxes.

Robb (:

Right. yeah. Well, we're being taxed that much federally. Federally, for sure. Like, I think I paid like

Tina (:

Yeah, yes, literally. But then there's more.

Robb (:

I paid $12,000 in taxes last year. Yeah. So, I mean, just think if we all didn't pay federal income tax and all we paid was state tax, we'd pay... Yeah. no, I think we would. And if we can find a way of doing that, if the president could find a way of doing it using tariffs, it would change the way people live.

Tina (:

That's some bullshit.

Tina (:

we may be able to live here.

Robb (:

If I made an extra $12,000 a year, I mean, I could put money away. Right, I could put money away, you know. So, look, I know that you're preaching to the choir when it comes to things and we're talking about California and like there's many listeners outside of California that listen to the show. So they're going through the same thing, though.

Tina (:

You'd have yourself a new car or you could be able to do that or you could have a savings account.

Robb (:

Probably not as bad on like gas taxes, but the price of food is going up because a lot of the trucks that are coming to these states are driving through cities that have high diesel fuel prices. So we're taking they're taking the hit on that part. So so like look at Nevada, Arizona. Probably those two are getting hit hard from us. Because anything that comes out of the state of California is they're getting.

that gas hit. So all that's going up. And matter of fact, we take gas to that those states at least now for now, but we won't soon. So, I mean, it's just nonsense. Look, we need to find a way for the rest of America to survive and not really just be under the gun of

Tina (:

Mm-hmm.

Robb (:

week to week or month to month and worrying. I I think most people in this country worry if they're going to make rent, make all their bills and eat.

Tina (:

Mm-hmm.

Robb (:

And you know, your dad owns the house and I pay renter's insurance. Two of the companies are raising their rates 18%. So I have mine through Geico and they're not even in the state of California. So hopefully I don't get hit hard on my renter's insurance. Because Geico left. There is no Geico in California at all. If you get Geico, you're going through an outside servicer.

Tina (:

Mm-hmm.

Tina (:

Yeah, that's some bullshit right there too.

Tina (:

Hmm.

Tina (:

Wow.

Robb (:

So I think it was State Farm and somebody else. Newsome just okayed them raising their rates 18%. The Numb Skull we put in power. That's a great...

Tina (:

Yeah, and who is this fucking guy that keeps saying that it's okay without his voting?

Tina (:

That's what I'm saying though, why is he doing all this shit and we're not voting on

Robb (:

question because unfortunately we give power to people and they promise to do something and they don't do it or they make backdoor deals. So. And look.

Tina (:

Mm-hmm.

Robb (:

You know, we should have to vote on a lot of stuff. You know, I can't believe half the things, you know, I'm a gun guy. So, the, the people who are running the state make gun laws that are the most unconstitutional shit in the world. And all, and all they're doing is ending up costing this state more money because they get sued over it.

Tina (:

Yeah, they do.

Robb (:

And then that has to go to court and you know who pays for the state to fight these things? Us. So we're fighting lawsuits from gun people that are fighting for their rights and they just use state tax money to fight them. So it's absurd. It's the most reverse psychology nonsense I've ever heard.

Tina (:

Mm-hmm.

Robb (:

Like, hey, we're gonna make all these laws that we know we're gonna get sued over, because they know it. Like, because there's gun rights groups that go to these meetings and go, I just watched one. He literally looked at these guys in the face and said, you know this is unconstitutional and you're gonna get sued over it. And they still all voted yes. It's like, you guys are nonskulls. And we keep putting these people in power.

Tina (:

Wow.

Robb (:

thinking that they're doing what's best for us and they're doing what's best for them. So, you know, without getting on a political rant tour, you know, we need to vote in people who are going to fight for us to have a living wage and less taxes and less everything. Instead, we keep voting in people who are spending our money.

Tina (:

Mm-hmm.

Tina (:

and start using the billions of dollars.

Robb (:

Yeah, but we're in a shortfall. We're in a shortfall right now. Like we're in debt. This state's in debt and we are the like fifth largest economy on the planet.

Tina (:

Go ahead.

Tina (:

As I'm saying, there's billions of dollars going in. They need to balance their shit is what they need to do. There's enough money to take care of everything, but the way they choose to divvy it up and give it to the politicians, that's what's killing us.

Robb (:

Yeah, and we just need to stop giving it away for nonsense. Like we shouldn't be paying for everyone their insurance. We shouldn't be paying for people to go to the doctor for free when me and you don't. Like, you know, like my deductible every year, because I have, I have insurance, but it's not the greatest. My deductible is 1500 bucks a year. Although I just hit it because of an

Tina (:

Mm-hmm.

Tina (:

pieces.

Robb (:

Well, I had to get an MRI. It was 800 bucks. So now it's kind of cool. So, you know, I'm going to have a surgery here soon. And I think I've I mean, like 1700 bucks in and my total. my deductible is already paid for the year, but my total out of pocket isn't. It's like three grand. So but my surgery is going to end up only being like, you know. 1200 bucks. And then everything for the rest of the next six months is.

Tina (:

Right.

Tina (:

Nice.

Robb (:

Free. So everyone I know is like, you stub your toe, go to the doctor. Because I won't have to pay for anything, like anything. Just go, go, go, go, go and get everything fixed. Like, it makes sense. But other people are going to the doctor and not having to pay a dime. It's like, these politicians need to realize that sooner or later, we're going to get rid of them.

Tina (:

Yeah, anything.

Tina (:

Yeah.

Robb (:

I mean in the old days we would have dragged them out of the office, tarred and feathered them. Yeah we do. I think everyone should be worried about being tarred and feathered. It would make government way cleaner. Have you ever seen, speaking of not to get off topic, have you ever seen pictures of people who've been tarred and feathered? It's absolutely gruesome.

Tina (:

Yeah, they need it.

Tina (:

turn feather that'd be awesome

Tina (:

Yes.

Mm-hmm.

Robb (:

horribly gruesome because I didn't realize you know I'm gonna play kind of dumb but I didn't realize that the tar was that hot I thought it was just like sticky tar that they threw on because tar is gross anyway like it was like cold tar because cold tar will stick to you and then they would throw shit on it no no it was hot like boiling hot tar and then then they threw feathers on you like legitimately

Tina (:

Yeah.

Tina (:

Right?

Tina (:

Yeah.

Robb (:

And it would just burn you to a crisp. And I was like, shit, like. And then in the back of my head I said, we need to bring that shit back. Because politicians will stop being crooked. And it was crazy because it. Doing right. No, I. Yeah.

Tina (:

seriously do something there's got to be some sort of of they gotta they gotta carry some sense of of

Gosh, what am I even trying to say? Yeah, they just have to do the right thing. And if they don't, they should be held accountable just like we would.

Robb (:

Well, I think you should be able to be fired. Just, you know, and there should be some, there should be oversight. Like you said you were going to do this and you voted against it and you voted against it and you voted against it, you're fired. And the person under you, like whatever your lieutenant governor is, you take over. Don't fuck up. We're Tarrin Faraday and you're next. Because we are...

Tina (:

Yeah.

Tina (:

Yeah.

Robb (:

losing people in the state so quickly that they lost congressional seats. They lost so many people. And I think Texas, Texas, I want to say Arizona and Tennessee got seats because so many people moved there. So, you know, we're just cutting our own throats. Like these people don't understand that

Tina (:

Wow.

Tina (:

Yup.

Tina (:

Mm-hmm.

Robb (:

The reason that Congress is now in the hands of the Republicans is because they lost congressional seats to states that are red So keep doing it keep doing it and you're just Yeah, well the last election yeah, they he landslided he took Tennessee took Arizona took, Nevada The only thing he didn't take were like California, New York, New Jersey, Washington like the normal

Tina (:

Yeah.

Tina (:

true. And aren't those aren't all those states red now?

Robb (:

Blue states But he took everything else, you know people in this country are fed up You know if if if you lean left and you're wondering I can't believe how he got voted in If you actually say that out loud and you can look in the mirror and say it again you're stupid because he got voted in because People are done They're done with the nonsensical shit that that the parties are doing and

Tina (:

Yeah.

Robb (:

This state is a blueprint for doing dumb shit. Keep having your registration be 500 bucks on a vehicle. Keep doing it. Because you know what's going to happen? They're going to register that vehicle in another state along with their house and their taxes and everything else. So sooner or you're just they're going to drive good people out and they're going to drive in shitty people that don't care about the city they live in. They'll burn it down every blue moon.

Tina (:

I know.

Tina (:

Yeah.

Robb (:

And the people who used to love California will leave and take their money and their businesses elsewhere. Look how many people have left the state business-wise. mean, Elon Musk picked up, he's gonna move X next. The one in Frisco, it'll be gone. He's gonna move that to Texas. He already moved Tesla to Texas. Who left here? Carl's Jr. used to be out in Carpinteria.

They picked up I forgot where they went they left the state. I think they went to Tennessee So all these companies are just leaving and taking all their jobs and all their high Taxes that they used to be paying here and leaving Soon there'll be nothing here for people with that with the exception of a beach There'll be no other reason to live here because there's other states you can Ski and matter of fact, there's other states. They have beaches

You know, look at Florida. Florida's full of Californians. I agree. Look, we were born and raised here. I also think that we're a little jaded. know, people that I know who come here from other states, they're like, California's awesome. I hate the freeway. The people are shitty. They, you know...

Tina (:

Yeah.

Tina (:

There's nothing like the West Coast though. I've been to the East Coast. There's nothing like it.

Robb (:

Nobody's nice here. There's a lot of things that if you've grown up here, it's easy to say that you like until other people who come from other states tell you like, I don't understand how you live here. This is horrible and this is bad. you know, so I think it's where we are jaded because we live here. And it is nice to be able to go to the mountains and the beach in the same day. Not many people can say that. But, you know, the.

Tina (:

Mm-hmm.

Tina (:

It is.

Tina (:

That's true.

Robb (:

You know you when you go somewhere else And it's just different and look I don't mind a slower pace of life maybe that's just me as well so going to another place where it's like a little more calm and I don't have to worry about you know going eight miles and it takes an hour and I walk into the place and the people are dicks when I go in there It's kind of nice and I don't have to worry about the homeless people fist fighting out in front of the business. I just went into

Tina (:

Right?

Robb (:

I mean, just being honest is, you people pissing and shitting in the streets. No, when I was back there, there wasn't none of that shit. People were nice. We walked into a place. They're like, hey, how you doing? Want to sit down? Want to do this? You'd go places. I never felt like it was a bad place. Now, again, to be honest, it was a small town. But still, live in a, I mean, I live in a small town with

Tina (:

That's true.

Robb (:

know, parentheses, I think my town has like 88,000 people in it. Which is small, considering. In comparison, and I think that town Jacksonville has like maybe 60,000, and that's because it's a military base. So it is a different way of life, you know? It's not like I went to Raleigh or I went to Charlotte, which are

Tina (:

Wow. This small tone. Yeah, in comparison.

Robb (:

big cities. So I'm sure those bigger cities still have big city problems because... But California is a lot of city, at least Southern California. There's not a lot of, you know, small towns here, unless you're going to go to like Big Bear or Arrowhead or, you know, places that are still country-ish or out in the boonies, you know.

Tina (:

Mm-hmm.

Tina (:

Absolutely.

Robb (:

It's just different or you go to the desert, but even then the desert has shitty problems as well It's I don't know. I I'm just at a point where I'm like, I don't I'm sick of paying these people taxes I'm sick of paying for other people's shit and then I need something and they're like make too much money, you know eat a dick like No You know, my middle-class taxes are going to pay for these people shit that I can't

Tina (:

Mm-hmm.

Robb (:

get anything for it. It's it's just turning people. It's turning people to to not want to help anyone but themselves. And sadly, we continue to vote in these people with empty promises and bullshit. And when it comes to them voting, they just shit on us. So

Tina (:

Yep.

Tina (:

Mm-hmm.

Robb (:

I don't know. just I hope things turn around in the next year once a lot of these things start getting kind of flatlining and we all start making a little bit more money and things get back to they were eight years ago. Pre-COVID. Pre-COVID I was making a fucking fortune. I was doing quite well. Yeah.

Tina (:

Were you? I was doing way better too.

Robb (:

I mean, I was doing, there was years that I was making close to 100. So, and I don't make that now. So, yeah, we just need to get back to a thriving economy without giving everything to everyone for free. Sorry, but I work my ass off.

Tina (:

Nice.

Robb (:

I don't want to give it to everybody else. And just lower our prices for fuck's sake. $500 to register your car. It's it's nonsense. No, but I mean everything. Yeah, that's that's fuck. You still $500. Holy shit. And you have a car, which is probably going to be $500.

Tina (:

I'm with you.

Tina (:

Isn't that crazy? It's not my car. It's a trike

It's- it's- okay, it's a trike that I only rode 2,000 miles last year.

Tina (:

Still 500 bucks. Yeah. It's, it's, yes, it's going to be about that as well. It was last year.

Robb (:

Yeah. So I don't know. I just think that we need to find a way to fix California before California fixes us. Because that's what it's going to do. You're going to get to a point where you're going to have to leave the state to survive or to feel like life is worth living. Because look, we all

Tina (:

Mm-hmm.

Tina (:

Yep.

Robb (:

If you live in Southern California, it's awesome. The weather is awesome. And, but I think 80 % of the people never go to the beach. They just drive past it. So to say like, oh, we have the greatest beaches in the world. I haven't been to the beach in four years. I never go to the beach. I lived in Camarillo. I lived 25 minutes from it. I think why I lived there, I went like four times. I lived there eight years.

Tina (:

It is.

Tina (:

Really?

Tina (:

Wow, I was just in Long Beach this weekend, I do go to the beach.

Robb (:

But I mean it but I think most people don't I Think a lot of people don't not as much as you think like we mostly in the summertime Yes, I think more people go often But even so you're not going every weekend because the traffic to the beach sucks the parking sucks. It's expensive You know, there's a lot of things that people don't do that Come off as being

Tina (:

Yeah.

Robb (:

a nice thing about California like, we have Disneyland. OK, it's 350 bucks to go for a day. Who can go? No.

Tina (:

Did you hear that Disneyland is moving out of state? They're moving to Vegas. They bought up all these thousands of acres of land and they're gonna move it attraction by attraction. They're not gonna change their prices. They're just gonna keep moving. Yeah, they're actually moving out of California because it's too costly for them to keep working, keep doing it.

Now I think that's a bunch of bullshit. They just want to make more money and they want to get out of California. And because California's laws are so stupid, it's happening. They're literally moving to Vegas.

Robb (:

Well, they're not yet, but it is a strong rumor. Let's see.

Tina (:

I heard it's happening.

Robb (:

Because they were trying to get more land. They own land in Anaheim that they were trying to make into two new parks or add on to the parks. So it's still in litigation they're trying to do it. But it does say that this is starting at the end of October Disneyland will close in order to move to Las Vegas.

Tina (:

Right.

and they didn't get it.

Tina (:

Yeah, see, told you.

Robb (:

I haven't heard this for real, but I mean, it would make sense. Because land out there is that there's this desert forever, but man, the summer times would be very difficult for them. Yeah, but it's not 125 and it's not 90 at 10 o'clock at night. You know what I mean? But I mean, I wouldn't I wouldn't be shocked. Did you heard that they're going to they're going to build one in Dubai?

Tina (:

Yeah.

Tina (:

Well, summer times are difficult here too.

Tina (:

Tis true. Well, during the summer it can be.

Tina (:

Yes, a huge one.

Robb (:

That's for huge, and it's for sure. They've already, and if you can believe this, you know why they're gonna do it too, is that Dubai is gonna give them money to do it. So they don't have to front all the front end cash. So they'll be able to pay back, pay them back through, you know, having people come there. And it's gonna be monstrously huge. Yeah.

Tina (:

huh.

Tina (:

Nice.

Tina (:

Yeah, I heard that.

Robb (:

But I don't know, like I said, all these things sound great on paper, like, oh, like I said, I have friends who are like, have every sports team there. Cool, do you how much tickets are to go see these things? It's not cheap. I mean, even the cheapest seats to a Kings game, like, and I'm talking at the top, they're like $60 now a seat. Concerts are out of control. Oh no, they're.

Tina (:

Yeah, they're in the 400s.

Tina (:

I was looking for basketball and football and the cheapest I was finding was in the $400 mark.

Robb (:

Yeah, they're it's super expensive. It all matters what team you're gonna go see but like yes there it's out of control. I just bought concert tickets for a band. They were 182 bucks a seat and I'm in the way up the top. Yeah, so well this is in an arena. This is at the Staples Center and I'm like

Tina (:

Yeah, you're sitting in the grass.

Tina (:

Okay.

Robb (:

I'm in like section 300. I'm at the top. They were $182 a seat. And it's funny because I, I, they're called sleep token. They're really good. You should check them out. You'll probably like them. They're like, I put quotation marks metal. You'd have to hear them. But, it's funny. I bought four, I bought four seats for me and my kid. And then I was going to take somebody that can't go now. And then

Tina (:

Whip end.

Never heard of them.

Robb (:

I still want to see if he could take his girlfriend and he's not sure about her now. I can probably sell both of those tickets for like 500 a piece. Yeah, this band is like they're the top of the charts right now. They're the number one album in the country. They're huge. They're monsters. They sold out staples in eight minutes. Yeah, they're monstrously huge. They're an English band. I'll...

Tina (:

Mm-hmm.

Wow.

Tina (:

Wow.

Robb (:

You should check them out. wear masks. They're really good, but their music's like. It's hard to explain, but everyone should go check him out. Sleep token. They're super good. any last words on leaving this wonderful state of ours or. Voting and other people. Yeah, for now. Yeah, I think I, but I think you'll everything will be just be picking up and moving everybody.

Tina (:

I'll to check it out.

Tina (:

I just can't do it.

can't do it with my dad and my brother being here. I just can't.

Robb (:

It'll get to the point where everyone will have to leave. You won't be leaving anyone behind. You'll be taking everyone with you. You'll go and get a compound in the middle of Georgia where you're on like five acres and you never see any other human being except going to town. See, I'd love that. Give me a piece of land where I could just walk and get like two more dogs and just walk my property and be left the fuck alone. I'd love that.

Tina (:

Yeah.

We'll see what happens.

Right? Shit.

Tina (:

Yeah, I don't know about all that.

Tina (:

I think I would go stir crazy. I don't know. I'd have to give it a shot, but I just don't really want to commit to that unless I absolutely have to.

Robb (:

Yeah. I would like a communion. I'd love to have like a commune where like you have like five acres and there's three houses on it with people that you'd love to be around and you just have your own little piece of land. Yeah. And then.

Tina (:

That would be cool.

Robb (:

And then it would be cool because then you could just have like one big huge barbecue all the time. Everyone would be around each other, but you still have your own house. No, but if they live in a house that's like, you know, three miles down the road, who gives a shit? You're not you're only seeing each other when you want to be around each other. And I could probably live like that, but we'll see. Long run. I definitely don't see myself staying in the state of California. Not long.

Tina (:

Until until you start getting know their ins and outs then you may not like it so much

Tina (:

Yeah.

Tina (:

That's true.

Tina (:

It sucks.

Robb (:

It's okay. We can do this show the same way we do it right now. Things for the show won't change at all, except maybe if I live on the East Coast, we'll be just doing it. I'll be doing it at nine o'clock at night. see then. Yeah. So it'll be actually, it'll be better. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. You'll be doing it at like two o'clock and I'll be doing it at five or some crazy shit.

Tina (:

Right?

It's that easy.

Tina (:

No you won't, because I could do it earlier than I can then later. Easier. It'll be a piece of cake. Yeah, it'll be easy.

Tina (:

piece of cake.

Robb (:

All right, guys, you know, it's an opinion show. Don't get it twisted. Keep coming back every Wednesday. Check us out on all the platforms. And I've been updating way more on the social media. So when the show comes out and I'm trying to do it a couple of times a week where you can actually remember, keep sharing the show. It's been been doing better. And yeah, see you in a week. I'm Rob. That's Tina. See you later.

Tina (:

See ya.

Robb (:

you

About the Podcast

Show artwork for Dont get this Twisted
Dont get this Twisted
A show of opinions. yes, we all have them. weekly episodes

About your hosts

Profile picture for Robb Courtney

Robb Courtney

Host with a serious opinion. Ex pro wrestler, and all-around goof ball that believes in the 2A and your freedom of speech.
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Tina Garcia

Co-host