WEBVTT
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I don't care what they're going to say.
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Welcome to another episode of Chewing the Fat.
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I'm your host, Big Robb.
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Thank you so much for tuning in, downloading the podcast, for the folks that have supported me by buying me a coffee.
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Thank you, Ansley.
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I certainly do appreciate that.
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It helps me to be able to continue to run the podcast and help folks tell these beautiful, messy human stories.
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And right now, uh in front of me in studio, uh uh is somebody who definitely knows something about some messy weather for sure.
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Please welcome Riley Hale.
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Riley, how are you doing, buddy?
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Doing well.
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Thank you for having me, Robb.
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Excited to be here.
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And uh yeah, we've definitely had our fair share of some messy weather over the last couple of months, even last couple of years, honestly.
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Yeah, for sure, for sure.
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Uh if you don't know, Riley uh is uh the uh chief meteorologist at the CBS affiliate here in the uh CSRA.
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Um and he is, you know, he's he's sitting here in my studio, so because we're in the same town.
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So I I appreciate you being willing to come in and and actually talk with me.
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Absolutely.
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Um so is the is the CSRA your home?
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Is this where you're born and raised, or are you transplant?
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So I am a transplant.
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I um moved here.
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I took the job at WRDW in July of 2017.
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So I've been here almost 10 years, be nine years this summer.
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Um I'm originally from I kind of claim Savannah, Georgia, and Charlotte, North Carolina.
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Um kind of had a split childhood between those two cities for the most part.
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Um but uh Charlotte and Savannah still have uh my mom's in Charlotte, dad's in Savannah, and most of my dad's family is still down there.
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We were just down there this past weekend.
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So Augusta and the CSRA ends up being a perfect middle ground for that.
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It's just about a two, two and a half hour drive either direction.
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So it's been a good place to call home.
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Um but yeah, um from the region, but not necessarily from here exactly.
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Gotcha.
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Gotcha.
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So were you always I mean, you're you're a meteorologist now.
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Was science something that was that always like fascinated you when you were growing up?
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Definitely so.
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Um I I think if you ask most meteorologists about how they got into this field, they usually start with the story of their childhood of like a big storm that happened when they were young, and it really just kind of sparked their interest.
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So same thing for me.
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Um I was about 10 years old living in Charlotte at the time, and we had a generational ice storm up there um to where we didn't have power at my house for close to three weeks.
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Oh wow.
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And and I absolutely loved it because it felt like camping inside.
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Um, we had a wood-burning stove in our living room, so we had the air mattresses and we're camping out in the living room staying warm during that event.
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And I fell in love with it uh ever since then.
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I was I was watching the local on the eights and the weather channel, wanting to know when that next big storm was heading our way.
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So that's where it initially piqued my interest.
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Um, I never really considered it um necessarily a career choice until I actually got to the University of Georgia.
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Um, I was at Georgia, I was in the business school in Terry.
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Um I was doing risk management and insurance.
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Kind of getting more into that course load.
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I was like, do I really want to do this the rest of my life?
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I'm not really sure.
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Um, and then just through a little bit of serendipity, um, one of my fraternity brothers mentioned that there was an atmospheric science program at Georgia.
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I didn't know we had one, um, looked more into it.
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Um, and kind of some of my science electives I was taking for my major at the time, I'd kind of re-sparked that interest and eventually switched my major, um, did a victory lap or two at Georgia, which is uh a good time, but um ended up uh finishing my degree uh for the business side, but also atmospheric science, and graduated there in May of 2015.
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And then my very first job out of school was in the Mississippi Delta.
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Oh wow.
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Um, in Greenville, Mississippi.
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So that's usually how it works in the TV business.
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Like for sure.
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Your your first job out of school, you got to start small.
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So I was in market 198 out of about 200 TV stations across the country.
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But uh finished out a two-year contract there and then moved here in 2017.
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Oh wow.
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Wow.
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Yep.
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Uh obviously, um, I mean, when you know the science and you know how to read the models and things like that, you know, weather's weather is weather, and you can, you know, you you can kind of predict what's going on.
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But it is a it is an ever-changing thing.
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And a lot of times, you know, folks give you heat for like getting it wrong.
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100%.
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That I mean, it comes with the territory.
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Um, it it's not it's not something that is unique to any one meteorologist.
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It happens to all of them.
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And so I mean, in those cases, absolutely there's times when the forecast doesn't go according to plan a hundred percent.
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I mean, it's gonna happen predicting the future.
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Right.
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Um, but in those cases, I mean, you just gotta not try to take it too personal.
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Yeah.
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I mean, uh most of the time what you're saying isn't necessarily a a whole lot different than what they're saying across the street or at the National Weather Service or things like that.
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It's just hey, sometimes it plays out a little bit differently than what you think.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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So and I assume that the weather in Greenville, Mississippi was a lot different than in Augusta, Georgia.
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Definitely had some differences to it, 100%.
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The big thing about the Delta was that um it it's it's big ag country.
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So right in where I was in Greenville, it was basically two hours northeast, south, and west, you were driving through farm, uh just farmland.
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Um very fertile part of the country being in that uh just Delta region.
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Yeah um so it has a long history of farming there.
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And the really unique part that that creates is that with all that excess moisture around farmland, you can get some crazy humidity.
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So I mean, there was some days to where I mean the heat index would be over 115.
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Wow.
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Um, which it made for some unbearable summers 100% down there.
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But they also deal with uh kind of some some same general type weather patterns that we see here.
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Flooding, um, they can get impacted by the occasional tropical storm or hurricane, um, severe weather outbreaks, even ice storms, snow.
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Um, they get it all too.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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Uh we lived in uh Birmingham for a few years when I was working um there.
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And you know, you look at a map, and we're basically on the same like latitude, you know what I mean?
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And but it was crazy the difference in the weather, like temperature-wise, uh remained the same.
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But like they were so much more susceptible to like the hurricanes coming.
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I never realized how buffered Augusta was from hurricanes and things like that with the panhandle and all of the bot you know, the bottom of Georgia and Alabama and all, you know what I mean?
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But then you're in Birmingham and it's like, nope, it shoots straight up from the Gulf.
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It's like, there it is, it's it just comes comes right at you.
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Um so it's it's crazy when you find a place and it you know felt very much home and there were pine trees and all like that.
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But that was like that was some, you know, having a place that had like tornado sirens in it, I had never experienced that before.
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So that was that was uh really interesting coming from Augusta to go to a place like um like Birmingham that had that type of stuff.
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And I mean, even with uh the type of severe weather they see in Birmingham and a lot of Alabama and Mississippi, um, that's kind of been labeled as the new uh Dixie Alley.
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And you always hear about tornado alley on the plains.
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Well, now they're kind of designated as a new Dixie Alley to where we really see a high concentration of tornadoes and severe weather happen in that corridor.
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Um and geography can play a little bit uh uh in that.
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Um for us here locally, we our weather patterns can definitely be impacted by the Appalachian Mountains, and that can lead to what we sometimes call uh cold air damm events, the wedge.
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Um that may be kind of a buzzword people hear us talk about sometimes.
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But uh with the Appalachian Mountains and us being on the east side of it, sometimes that that can keep um drier and less unstable air pulled up over us to where they don't get those effects over in Alabama, Mississippi.
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They really just get the full surge of that gulf moisture and energy to interact with these fronts passing through.
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And they honestly do see uh a lot more severe weather with than what we do here.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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And um you know, when when you think about that stuff, and then uh, you know, we can't, you know, forget what Helene did to this area, you know, because we'd never had hurricanes in uh such a long time.
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And you know, in all the models, it's gonna go this way, it's gonna go that way, and then it turned and went straight straight through.
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And there's still it still breaks my heart.
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There are areas that you drive through now that the st tarps still on houses, things that are just not there.
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The whole face of Augusta changed with all of these, you know, pine trees, which are, you know, they're softwood, they're you know, they're we they're thin-rooted trees.
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They're they go out wide, but they don't go very deep.
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And and you see all these plates that are just up still and just dead, and it just changed the entire face of the area.
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Um and it's again, it's it's just one of those freak things that happen that that could not have predicted.
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Um and for like you guys that are on that front line, you know, I know that's because the station's wanna gonna want to send you out live to the windiest part of whatever's going on when you're the one, you know, I had to do that.
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I was the one telling people stay home.
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Right.
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But the station was like, come to the station and tell people to stay home.
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It's like, I have family too.
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You know, what what is something an event like that?
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What is that like professionally and personally when you've got family at home and you've got that and you see what is happening?
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Yeah, it it it's really hard.
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Um, especially being the chief, I mean, whenever there's bad weather, you got to be there.
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Um and for Helene specifically, I mean, that was a 26-hour day.
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Um because I mean, even before the main wind showed up, the day prior, we had significant flooding.
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We even had a couple of tornadoes reported in some of the outer rain vans.
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Um, and then the main event showed up late that night into early Friday morning of September 27th.
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Um and during that time, um, yeah, my wife and my little little girl were at home by themselves, um, just kind of listening to that uh wind roar out there.
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Um I would say luckily my wife has been through significant weather events.
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Um she actually went to the University of Alabama when they were impacted by an EF4 tornado.
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Oh wow.
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Um, so she had experience, I guess, experience seeing the effects of that type weather to where honestly Helene was the worst thing I had ever seen.
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Um and I hope something uh we never see again here locally.
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But I mean, as you said, I mean, there's still effects that you pass by daily driving around the area.
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Um there's neighborhoods you go into and still get disoriented because it just looks so much different.
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Um but I mean when you're there covering an event like that, I mean, you are so pumped full of adrenaline just making sure people know what's happening and how to stay safe.
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And that's really when we take our job very seriously.
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And I mean, that's that's the whole point of what we do, right?
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Um helping people stay safe.
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Um and I mean it it's just so devastating and hard with these events when you do have so much loss of life.
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Um for us here just in the CSRA, we had 33 people lose their life that morning, all from trees falling on their homes.
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And I'm I remember bursting in tears.
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I mean, I'm still I'm trying to fight back tears um talking about it um here.
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Um, because I mean that event is something I will always um think back on of what you could have done differently, what you should have done.
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Is there anything you could have done to help save an extra life?
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Um It was hard in the days after that um because you not only see the effects of it um across your community, but you know people did lose their life, and some people don't have their mom, their dad, their sister, their brother, their husband, their wife anymore.
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And I mean, it's just devastating.
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Um but uh lean was the worst thing we'd ever seen here locally.
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And it was uh just such a unique weather event because um I mean to think that this system moved 200 miles inland and was still a hurricane by the time it reached us.
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I mean, just a really unprecedented thing for us here locally.
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Yeah, and something I hope we never see again.
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Yeah, and you know, and the thing is, and this is I guess it's because I'm here.
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Um, you know, and I love Asheville, and Asheville got a ton of national coverage.
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It was horrific what happened there.
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All of the flooding, diff you know, and yes, they had trees down and things like that.
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A completely different type of situation because it's different geography.
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But it was almost like on the national front that like the other areas that were impacted kind of got forgotten because Asheville became the you know, the the shy the the the prodigal child of of the weather event.
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And I'm like, you don't understand.
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There's still areas here that don't have power.
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There are people that have lost their lives here.
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There, you know what I mean?
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Not to not that our you know, our tragedy is worse than yours, but it's like uh to me, it was like, come on, you gotta, you gotta widen out that lens and see everybody along that path that got affected and and and whose lives neighborhoods are now changed forever.
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Right.
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Um because of what happened with that, my assumption is that it it caused not necessarily you, but everybody in the your profession to kind of think differently on how to cover possible severe weather like that is coming to an area um to make you more cautious of like things that are not the standard of what you normally see on your your graphs and charts and things like that.
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Right.
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Yes, the definitely a lot of lessons learned after Helene.
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Um and I think one of the biggest things um just taking in criticism or uh comments that people have said is that moving forward, whenever we have an event like that now, I think people want to know what the worst case scenario could be.
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Not necessarily what's expected, but hey, this is what could happen, even though it may only be a 10% chance it happens, it there's still a chance.
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Um and I think moving forward, that's that's definitely something I've I've taken to heart because I mean, prior to Haleen, I think the sentiment was that y'all are just saying this to hype it up.
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This nothing ever happens here.
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Right.
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Um, y'all just need to boost your ratings.
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That's why you're saying this stuff.
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And so there was uh prior to Helene, I think there was some caution to really over-amplifying something because of that constant criticism you had received over the years of maybe a severe weather event didn't play out, we didn't really see much.
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Um, and you don't want to be the person that cries wolf.
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Um but after Helene, I think people recognize like, okay, like bad, really bad weather can happen here.
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It does happen here.
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And so now um I think with these events moving forward, part of our forecast would be like, all right, this is our forecast, this is what we're expecting, but you know there is still a chance that it could overproduce or be a little bit stronger than expected, and this is what that would look like.
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Right.
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Um and I know in our area here we we had that kind of situation happen here recently with uh ice storms and the winter weather and things like that.
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And the and you know, the the Northeast is dealing with a lot of that right now with a with a front that has come through.
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But we go back about six weeks or so ago, we thought we were gonna get hit with there was every weekend for almost a month, we were gonna get hit with snow and ice and blah, blah, blah.
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It was three weekends in a row with with winter alerts.
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Uh first weekend was, I believe, the the the ninth, where it was a winter weather advisory.
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We got the chance for a few flakes, not really expecting much.
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That played out kind of as expected.
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The next weekend was the potential ice storm.
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We saw ice storm warnings issued for most of our I-20 counties, anywhere north of that, and was calling for quarter inch of ice to maybe even up to a half inch of ice, which isn't as much as the February 2014 ice storm, but still enough to cause some slick spots on roads, maybe some power outages, things like that.
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Um, and that forecast really did evolve a lot over a week time frame because initially, kind of early on into the week, it was looking really bad.
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Yeah.
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And then as we got closer and closer, it was like, all right, we're still expecting some ice, just not necessarily like devastating ice storm.
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Um and then we would end up getting a little bit of ice in some spots.
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It was really interesting, kind of like you would drive, uh, you drive around downtown Augusta, not see much, but then you say go up to like exit five in North Augusta, and there's a little bit of ice on the ground.
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You go 30, 45 minutes another uh further north, farther north up towards the lake.
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And then they got sleet and accumulating ice on stuff.
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So that threshold, especially with ice storms, are just so tricky because it comes down to one or two degrees.
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Yeah.
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And not just one or two degrees at the surface, but one to two degrees a thousand feet up, two thousand feet up, ten thousand feet up.
00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:54.559
Um so in in those events, you are really stressing hard because you know it the the possible outcomes changes drastically based on one to two degrees.
00:18:54.559 --> 00:18:54.799
Aaron Ross Powell, Jr.
00:18:54.880 --> 00:18:54.960
Right.
00:18:54.960 --> 00:19:02.720
Yeah, well, and then that's you know, where we live, uh the the C S R the Central Savannah River area, it's what, eight, nine counties?
00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:06.559
And and in all kind of varying topography.
00:19:06.799 --> 00:19:06.960
Yes.
00:19:07.359 --> 00:19:16.559
So you've got valleys and hills and bluffs and plains and all of that in all of these, you know, across two states in all of this area.
00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:22.400
And like you said, 10 percent in one place is looks completely different than 10 percent in somewhere else.
00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:33.440
You know, and and that's the thing too, is like, you know, when when people say, Oh, there's a 10 percent chance of snow, it's like, okay, in this entire area, 10 percent might get the snow.
00:19:33.440 --> 00:19:38.240
It doesn't mean that where you are, you're gonna get the you have a 10 percent chance of snow.
00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:49.039
People don't understand like even any particip precipitation that it's like, no, that has nothing to do with you standing where you are on your porch, that you're gonna get 10 percent out of a hundred of the snow.
00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:54.480
It's in this entire area 10 percent could get out of this this area.
00:19:54.559 --> 00:20:03.839
Aaron Powell The probability of precipitation is something that is very confusing and can't even be confusing to meteorologists.
00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:18.319
Um when I was actually at Georgia, we did a uh uh case study where we sent out surveys to meteorologists across the country and asked them Um, what is your definition of POP, probability of precipitation, um, your rain percent?
00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:20.960
Got back all different types of answers.
00:20:20.960 --> 00:20:29.599
And it's it's just so interesting to think of something that we see so often in a forecast that can be uh misunderstood so much.
00:20:29.599 --> 00:20:40.799
Um and so a lot of stations now even have gotten rid of putting a percent chance of rain, they'll just say isolated showers, scattered showers, numerous, widespread.
00:20:40.799 --> 00:20:51.200
Um and so the technical diff definition of probability of precipitation is you basically take um the area you're forecasting for.
00:20:51.200 --> 00:21:00.559
All right, so the CSRA, if you think rain's gonna happen, what percentage of that area would you expect to see rain?
00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:05.039
And then you multiply that by your confidence.
00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:08.079
So it I know.
00:21:08.079 --> 00:21:11.920
Yeah, that's a that's that's the variable that a lot of people don't hear.
00:21:12.559 --> 00:21:13.119
Your personal confidence.
00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:13.680
Exactly.
00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:17.119
So that's why it can change so much like person to person.
00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:19.440
Like how how sure are you and yourself?
00:21:19.440 --> 00:21:21.279
Exactly.
00:21:21.279 --> 00:21:29.440
So with like say um say like today, we have um we're expecting pretty widespread rain.
00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:35.680
So I would say 80 percent of our forecast area is expected to see rain.
00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:39.519
My confidence in that, 70 percent.
00:21:39.519 --> 00:21:48.640
So then you would take 0.8 times 0.7, quick math would be roughly 50 to 60 percent chance of rain.
00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:49.119
Okay.
00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:59.759
Um, so then that's how you would get your percentage chance of rain, is kind of like that coverage percent and then your confidence percent, which uh can get interesting.
00:21:59.759 --> 00:22:08.480
And then I mean so it's like on a day when uh just kind of a plain summer day to where we got the chance for some pop-up showers and thunderstorms.
00:22:08.480 --> 00:22:22.480
I mean, even with that, that's even trickier to kind of pinpoint exactly where it's gonna happen because it's basically like you put a pot of water on the stove to boil, and the first little bubbles that pop up, those are like your thunderstorms.
00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:28.240
And it can be almost impossible to pinpoint, like, okay, the bubble's gonna pop up right there.
00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:34.640
Um but you know you where the pot is, you know where the water is in the pot and where it's gonna be heating up.
00:22:34.640 --> 00:22:43.279
So you have a general area, but as far as the resolution to be able to pinpoint, all right, this square mile is gonna see the rain first.
00:22:43.279 --> 00:22:44.799
Like it's impossible to do.
00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:47.519
And weather models will never really be able to get to that point.
00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:48.400
I love that.
00:22:48.400 --> 00:22:49.279
I love that analogy.
00:22:49.279 --> 00:22:50.480
That's amazing.
00:22:50.480 --> 00:23:03.279
Um and with that, and this is with that, and we talk about the snow, you got a lot of flack because it did not snow on that first that first weekend and there was no ice or anything.
00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:04.799
I saw I just saw on social media.
00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:05.200
Yes.
00:23:05.200 --> 00:23:07.759
A lot of people want to give you some guff about that.
00:23:07.759 --> 00:23:15.680
But then there were a lot of people that that that ran to your defense and like if he didn't say this and it turned out to be Helene, because now that is our default.
00:23:15.680 --> 00:23:16.319
That's right.
00:23:16.319 --> 00:23:18.079
Helene is the biggest thing we've seen.
00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:21.839
So now it's if it had turned out to be Helene, you would have been mad then too.
00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:22.160
Yes.
00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:23.440
If he didn't say this.
00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:27.119
So uh like you said, giving the worst case scenarios.
00:23:27.119 --> 00:23:28.079
Like, here are all the cards.
00:23:28.079 --> 00:23:29.440
I'm showing you all the cards.
00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:29.839
Yep.
00:23:29.839 --> 00:23:33.200
From the least case scenario to the worst case scenario.
00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:35.759
And you and I have to tell you all the cards.
00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:36.319
Right.
00:23:36.480 --> 00:23:36.960
You know?
00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:39.839
And the forecast is somewhere in the middle.
00:23:39.839 --> 00:23:40.160
Yeah.
00:23:40.160 --> 00:23:41.119
You know what I mean?
00:23:41.119 --> 00:23:45.599
And so um that can be the tough part of communicating the forecasts.
00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:57.039
And um it was interesting because the Friday before the ice event was expected that weekend, I had made a post showing what the worst case scenario could be.
00:23:57.039 --> 00:24:08.480
And it showed that the worst case would be maybe up to like four-tenths of an inch of ice in Augusta, maybe up to three-quarters of an inch up towards the northern C SRA.
00:24:08.480 --> 00:24:12.160
But our forecast was generally calling for around a quarter of an inch.
00:24:12.160 --> 00:24:15.759
Uh but it could maybe be two to three times that.
00:24:15.759 --> 00:24:32.960
But in my post I made on Friday, I was saying, all right, this is our worst-case scenario, and I want to put it in perspective to say, all right, even though this is a low percent chance of happening, a 10% chance of happening, even if it does verify, it's still not even close to the February 2014 ice storm.
00:24:32.960 --> 00:24:33.519
Right.
00:24:33.519 --> 00:24:42.799
And so uh initially people were getting upset with me talking about that to basically say like it's not gonna be bad as 2014.
00:24:42.799 --> 00:24:49.119
And then people were like, Oh, now you're saying this, and we've already bought generators, we've got food and everything.
00:24:49.759 --> 00:24:50.880
All the milk and bread is gone.
00:24:51.279 --> 00:24:59.519
All the milk and bread is gone, and you're you're scratching your head, like, when when did I say that this was gonna be like something you wouldn't have power for multiple weeks for?
00:24:59.680 --> 00:25:00.079
Right.
00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:06.880
Um, but then weekend unfolds, we get some ice in some spots, not much in others.
00:25:06.880 --> 00:25:13.039
Um ended up seeing some heavy rain with temperatures right around 32, 33 degrees.
00:25:13.039 --> 00:25:18.079
It would have been a couple degrees colder, completely different event um type deal.
00:25:18.079 --> 00:25:25.680
But then, yes, as you said, there was a lot of people that gave me flack for it, but then there were also a lot of other people that kind of came to my defense.
00:25:25.680 --> 00:25:28.480
And those are the comments I really try to focus on.
00:25:28.480 --> 00:25:33.440
Because I mean, you can definitely get in a bad headspace just reading constant criticism.
00:25:33.440 --> 00:25:34.559
Yeah.
00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:35.359
For sure.
00:25:35.359 --> 00:25:43.839
And and I have to uh also applaud you for not taking not taking the BS as well.
00:25:43.839 --> 00:25:49.680
Because you had you had some fire responses to some people for the for what they were saying.
00:25:49.680 --> 00:26:06.160
One of my favorites was when you compared your forecast to the insurance that the guy was selling, and then they decide to not file, you know, fill the claim or go out of business, or just they can't took all the took all the payments, but then they're not gonna pay out.
00:26:06.160 --> 00:26:10.319
That I was like, you go, Riley Hale, you go.
00:26:10.319 --> 00:26:11.599
Because that was amazing.
00:26:11.599 --> 00:26:14.559
And and then you got a lot of people that are like, yeah, he ain't taking it.
00:26:14.559 --> 00:26:15.119
He ain't taking it.
00:26:15.119 --> 00:26:18.160
And that's but that's the thing, is like because you understand.
00:26:18.160 --> 00:26:33.279
And and the thing is, is people see a face on a television and they're hiding behind a keyboard, and I can say anything I want to to this person, and not realizing that you're a human being with a family and a heart and compassion and kindness.
00:26:33.279 --> 00:26:37.200
And yeah, and what you do, yes, it's your job, but it's also, as you said, public service.
00:26:37.200 --> 00:26:43.839
You go out in the storm when it's time to tell people to stay inside and to gather their supplies and stuff like that.
00:26:43.839 --> 00:26:56.160
So I just I just applaud you for not taking it from people, but also, you know, the way that you did it was not you weren't rude or anything like that, but you definitely weren't taking anything.
00:26:56.559 --> 00:27:03.440
Yeah, I d and I I found out quickly that people do definitely read the comment section in those posts.
00:27:03.440 --> 00:27:09.680
Um but yeah, I mean, in in certain cases, I don't respond back.
00:27:09.680 --> 00:27:13.039
I'm like, there's probably nothing I can say to make this person change their mind.
00:27:13.039 --> 00:27:23.440
But then other instances, it's like, all right, I I think this p person's getting a little too comfortable, and I I I want to let them know, like, hey, I'm an actual person.
00:27:23.440 --> 00:27:39.680
Um, I'm trying to do the best job I can, and my heart is in a place to where I'm I'm really just trying to protect people, not cause chaos, not make you buy a generator that you don't need, like all that type stuff.
00:27:39.680 --> 00:27:57.440
Um so with with the insurance guy too, and that comment I made to him, I've I basically tried to compare like, hey, I'm sure you catch Flack in your industry because people will tell you, hey, you're collecting all my premiums, but then you deny my claim.
00:27:57.440 --> 00:28:04.640
And I kind of ended that with saying, like, I'm sure you receive Flack like that, but you know it's more nuanced than that as well.
00:28:04.640 --> 00:28:14.799
Um and same thing goes for the forecast where it's like sometimes you get it 100% right, sometimes it's a little bit different, sometimes completely off.
00:28:14.799 --> 00:28:17.200
It's just it's just part of predicting the future.
00:28:17.519 --> 00:28:18.160
Yeah.
00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:25.359
Um and maybe and and to to switch gears a little bit, why is it milk and bread?
00:28:25.359 --> 00:28:26.160
I don't know.
00:28:26.160 --> 00:28:27.759
Why is it always milk and bread?
00:28:27.759 --> 00:28:29.599
Is it and is it a southern thing?
00:28:29.599 --> 00:28:31.839
Because it's it seems like it's always down here.
00:28:31.839 --> 00:28:37.039
It's like, I don't know, we're gonna live on French toast somehow or something like that, but it's always milk and bread.
00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:38.319
They go first.
00:28:38.319 --> 00:28:41.440
Um they are the first things to be emptied out of every grocery store.
00:28:41.680 --> 00:28:44.480
I I I'm guessing people love PB and J's.
00:28:44.480 --> 00:28:57.119
Um and uh the thing is with the milk, I guess it's a lot of sustenance relative to uh the amount, maybe, but if the power's out, I it's it's gonna it's gonna spoil.
00:28:57.119 --> 00:28:59.599
I guess they think they can put it outside in the snow.
00:28:59.599 --> 00:29:00.400
Maybe.
00:29:00.400 --> 00:29:00.960
I don't know.
00:29:01.039 --> 00:29:05.839
But I think even if it's a rainstorm or a hurricane, they do they're buying up all of the milk and bread too.
00:29:05.839 --> 00:29:06.720
So I don't I don't know.
00:29:06.720 --> 00:29:07.119
Yeah.
00:29:07.119 --> 00:29:13.519
I thought maybe as maybe in meteorology school, they were like, now we're gonna talk about the milk and bread.
00:29:14.400 --> 00:29:14.640
No?
00:29:14.640 --> 00:29:25.279
I wish I had a better answer of kind of the origin story of the milk and bread, but that that's just been kind of the the thing that's been around since as long as I've remembered.
00:29:26.079 --> 00:29:34.160
Um also, aside from being uh uh excellent meteorologist, you are a pretty sporty fellow as well, right?
00:29:34.160 --> 00:29:38.000
You like to get out and get on the water and drop a line every so often?
00:29:38.400 --> 00:29:39.359
Love to fish.
00:29:39.359 --> 00:29:42.559
Um that is my number one favorite hobby.
00:29:42.559 --> 00:29:47.200
Um like to golf too, but fish is definitely the more relaxing of the two.
00:29:47.200 --> 00:29:50.079
Golf can get kind of frustrating a little bit.
00:29:50.079 --> 00:29:54.079
But uh with fishing, it's something I've been doing since I was a little kid.
00:29:54.079 --> 00:29:58.160
Um used to always bug my dad growing up.
00:29:58.160 --> 00:30:00.640
Let's go fishing, let's go fishing, let's go fishing.
00:30:00.640 --> 00:30:06.000
Eventually got to the point to where um we were moving out of our church parsonage.
00:30:06.000 --> 00:30:10.960
So my mom's a United Methodist minister, so we kind of grew up in parsonages um growing up.
00:30:10.960 --> 00:30:20.799
But then we eventually moved to our own house, and my dad made sure to pick a a house with a little tiny pond in the neighborhood so we could always go fish.
00:30:20.799 --> 00:30:29.440
And so, I mean, since the age of maybe eight, nine years old, um, that was something I was always doing on my free time with the neighborhood friends.
00:30:29.440 --> 00:30:32.160
We'd have a little John boat go out and fish all the time.
00:30:32.160 --> 00:30:40.000
And um, that's another aspect of why I've I've really loved the C SRA is that there's just so much great opportunities to fish.
00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:45.599
Um, the river, the canal, the lake, um, the McDuffie public fishing area.
00:30:45.599 --> 00:30:48.640
I mean, there's just so many good spots for public fishing.
00:30:48.640 --> 00:30:52.720
Um, and that's really when I fell in love with the area when I first moved here.
00:30:52.720 --> 00:31:04.319
Um found out about the canal, had my little kayak I'd brought over from Mississippi, and caught like a five, six-pound bass in the canal, and I was like, oh man, this is awesome.
00:31:04.319 --> 00:31:05.200
It it's on.
00:31:05.200 --> 00:31:09.200
And ever since then, I've been fishing the waters hard.
00:31:09.200 --> 00:31:12.559
And it's something I definitely love and and find peace in.
00:31:12.799 --> 00:31:13.440
Yeah, yeah.
00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:17.279
Does the does the meteorology help you in your fishing a little bit?
00:31:17.599 --> 00:31:20.480
There's definitely a weather component to fishing, a hundred percent.
00:31:20.480 --> 00:31:28.559
Um, I actually um with the Clarks Hill Striper Club, I gave a presentation one time to them about how weather can affect fishing.
00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:39.759
Um, and I try to keep up with a fishing game log, so anytime I fish, I'll I'll come back and kind of go over what the what the weather variables looked like.
00:31:39.759 --> 00:31:41.200
Um, what was pressure doing?
00:31:41.200 --> 00:31:42.079
Was it cloudy?
00:31:42.079 --> 00:31:42.799
Was it sunny?
00:31:42.799 --> 00:31:43.759
What was the temperature?
00:31:43.759 --> 00:31:46.960
What was the water temp time of year, moon phase?
00:31:46.960 --> 00:31:54.480
All the different types of stuff like that can definitely influence um uh fish behavior and fish feeding uh windows.
00:31:54.480 --> 00:32:12.319
Um so yeah, I always say fish ahead of the cold front, dropping barometric pressure is when those fish are gonna be fired up because they're picking up on those barometric pressure changes and knowing, all right, if pressure's dropping, that means a strong system's moving in and my environment's really gonna change a lot over the next couple of days.
00:32:12.319 --> 00:32:14.559
So they're really trying to feed ahead of that window.
00:32:14.559 --> 00:32:25.599
Um so I've caught a lot of uh had a lot of good fishing days kind of on the uh day or two before front passes, and then behind that can be a little bit tougher, but then you just change your strategy.
00:32:25.599 --> 00:32:35.359
Instead of fish being uh maybe suspended up in the water column, chasing bait ahead of the front, now they're kind of sitting on the bottom and being a little bit more sluggish.
00:32:35.359 --> 00:32:39.200
So you just have to change kind of your presentation and how you go after them.
00:32:39.519 --> 00:32:40.720
What's your go-to rig?
00:32:41.440 --> 00:32:47.200
My so this time of year, um kind of this pre-spawn before we get into the spawn of spring.
00:32:47.200 --> 00:32:55.440
I love throwing spinner baits, jerk baits, um Alabama rig is a big thing I love throwing during the colder months.
00:32:55.440 --> 00:32:58.640
Um so yeah, big moving flashy baits.
00:32:58.640 --> 00:32:59.920
That's that's kind of what I like.
00:33:00.240 --> 00:33:00.880
Nice, nice.
00:33:00.880 --> 00:33:04.319
And what's your uh what's your favorite uh fish to fish?
00:33:05.119 --> 00:33:12.400
You know, uh I I've fell in love with bass fishing early on, and and that is closest to my heart, I think.
00:33:12.400 --> 00:33:15.359
I I do all types of fishing and I love all different types.
00:33:15.359 --> 00:33:24.880
Um growing up, kind of the later years of high school in Savannah, got way more into inshore saltwater fishing, redfish, trout, flounder, things like that.
00:33:24.880 --> 00:33:26.319
Love doing that too.
00:33:26.319 --> 00:33:33.920
But I mean, if I'm on a kayak on the Savannah River, catching smallmouth, largemouth, that's my absolute favorite.
00:33:34.240 --> 00:33:34.720
That's awesome.
00:33:34.720 --> 00:33:38.640
Yeah, and you you catch and release, or you keep a few and cook or what?
00:33:39.039 --> 00:33:40.799
Catch and release mostly.
00:33:40.799 --> 00:33:45.279
Um there's certain instances where maybe I'll keep some.
00:33:45.279 --> 00:33:48.799
Um love a striper's great table fair.
00:33:48.799 --> 00:33:55.119
Um so if I'm ever fishing with someone and we're catching striper and hybrid, usually keep a couple of those.
00:33:55.119 --> 00:34:08.320
Um fish a couple farm ponds with some buddies, um and they manage their ponds, so they know they have to pull out X number of fish per year to keep the population stable.
00:34:08.320 --> 00:34:14.880
So whenever we're fishing those spots, definitely keep a few largemouth, and hey, anything tastes good if you fry it.
00:34:15.280 --> 00:34:17.199
I mean, you know, you're not wrong there.
00:34:17.199 --> 00:34:18.000
You're not wrong there.
00:34:18.000 --> 00:34:22.719
Um you work with my buddy Cliff over there at uh over there at Channel 12.
00:34:22.719 --> 00:34:28.320
What any any any inside uh Cliff stories that I could embarrass him with?
00:34:29.519 --> 00:34:31.280
Let's see, with Cliff.
00:34:31.280 --> 00:34:32.719
Oh man.
00:34:32.719 --> 00:34:34.639
So many good ones.
00:34:34.960 --> 00:34:39.199
You know, I I gotta say, I f I forgot who it was, but it was Halloween a few years ago.
00:34:39.199 --> 00:34:54.000
And one of the people that that y'all worked with when they had like costumed dressed up as Cliff for Halloween when he had the arm brace on and would wear the jacket over and then and then the guy put like a wig in his shirt for the for the hair to come in.
00:34:54.000 --> 00:34:55.199
I thought that was amazing.
00:34:55.679 --> 00:34:56.000
Clayton.
00:34:56.000 --> 00:34:59.039
That was one of the best uh Halloween costumes.
00:34:59.039 --> 00:35:05.840
And they actually let him go on the morning mix too to be a host for a little bit before before Cliff came in.
00:35:05.840 --> 00:35:06.559
Yes.
00:35:06.559 --> 00:35:11.039
Um that was a great one, and um, yeah, shout out to Clayton too.
00:35:11.039 --> 00:35:14.880
He he helped me with my Reeling with Riley segment as my camera guy with us.
00:35:14.880 --> 00:35:18.800
Um and he's a great dude, just had his first daughter a couple months ago.
00:35:18.800 --> 00:35:23.679
Um, but with Cliff, um it's actually really funny.
00:35:23.679 --> 00:35:35.599
Um so about a month ago, my wife went on the morning mix, and Cliff didn't recognize her at first until the interview was over.
00:35:35.599 --> 00:35:37.199
And it's like, wait, what?
00:35:37.199 --> 00:35:39.679
You're Riley's wife.
00:35:39.679 --> 00:35:44.400
He was just so caught up in the moment of getting the interviews done and everything.
00:35:44.400 --> 00:35:55.039
And I think they had someone show up late that day, so he's a little uh flustered a little bit, but then it like gets to the end of the interview, he's like, Oh my gosh, Emily, you're Riley's wife.
00:35:55.360 --> 00:35:56.000
That's hilarious.
00:35:56.239 --> 00:35:57.440
But Cliff's a good dude.
00:35:57.440 --> 00:35:59.360
I I will say this about Cliff.
00:35:59.360 --> 00:36:03.519
He is uh he he is a great supporter of mine.
00:36:03.519 --> 00:36:16.239
Um with the ice storm stuff from about a month ago, he was one of the first texts I got saying, like, we appreciate you, um, love what you do, and hang in there type deal.
00:36:16.239 --> 00:36:18.159
So Cliff's a great guy.
00:36:18.159 --> 00:36:18.880
Love Cliff.
00:36:18.880 --> 00:36:19.519
That's awesome.
00:36:19.519 --> 00:36:20.639
And Heidi too.
00:36:20.639 --> 00:36:22.000
Oh yeah, of course.
00:36:22.800 --> 00:36:34.159
Being here in uh the CSRA, is there uh anything that like you have just I mean, uh you've been here, like you said, almost almost 10 years.
00:36:34.159 --> 00:36:39.840
Um so it's it's it's home for now.
00:36:39.840 --> 00:36:43.280
Is there any thoughts to move on past this?
00:36:43.280 --> 00:36:47.920
Or we or like this feels like the place that that the family is gonna be for a while?
00:36:48.719 --> 00:36:57.440
This does feel like home to us, and um I've already kind of signed multiple contracts to get to this point.
00:36:57.440 --> 00:37:04.159
Um I I'm not sure exactly what the future will hold, but I mean, right now we are very happy here.
00:37:04.159 --> 00:37:08.079
Uh my wife works for Richmond County School District.
00:37:08.079 --> 00:37:11.280
Um, she's their literacy specialist for K through three.
00:37:11.280 --> 00:37:22.960
Oh wow, so she's worked her way up the ranks um in the district office, and she's amazing and and and creates so much good change in our local school system.
00:37:22.960 --> 00:37:28.480
Um and so she's happy with her job and I'm happy with mine.
00:37:28.480 --> 00:37:32.159
And I mean, we got married here, we had our first daughter here.
00:37:32.159 --> 00:37:36.000
So I mean, and we got a second one due at the end of May.
00:37:36.000 --> 00:37:38.159
Sounds like the roots are growing deep.
00:37:38.159 --> 00:37:40.880
The roots have grown deeper and deeper for sure.
00:37:41.199 --> 00:37:41.840
That's awesome.
00:37:41.840 --> 00:37:42.800
That's awesome.
00:37:42.800 --> 00:37:53.519
Um So, Riley, aside from you know, the stuff that you got going on uh in your in your job and and fishing, what's bringing you joy?
00:37:55.039 --> 00:37:57.280
My little girl brings me so much joy.
00:37:57.280 --> 00:38:02.639
Um coming home to her saying daddy and just running to you in your arms.
00:38:02.639 --> 00:38:04.239
I mean, my heart melts.
00:38:04.239 --> 00:38:05.840
It is is the absolute best.
00:38:05.840 --> 00:38:09.280
I would say that's definitely where a lot of my joy comes from these days.
00:38:09.280 --> 00:38:10.480
Um my wife, too.
00:38:10.480 --> 00:38:14.159
We um are expecting our second later at the end of May.
00:38:14.400 --> 00:38:14.960
Congratulations.
00:38:15.280 --> 00:38:16.079
Thank you very much.
00:38:16.079 --> 00:38:27.360
Um so yeah, we we are our family's growing, and that's where a lot of my joy comes from seeing her grow up and um just getting to embrace her.
00:38:28.239 --> 00:38:31.280
Is she uh gonna follow in dad's footsteps?
00:38:31.440 --> 00:38:34.960
Does she uh She's uh quite the performer for sure.
00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:36.480
She loves to sing.
00:38:36.480 --> 00:38:36.960
Okay.
00:38:36.960 --> 00:38:41.440
Any any Disney tune, she could uh she can belt it out.
00:38:41.440 --> 00:38:44.880
Um so maybe she's a maybe she'll be a singer later on in life.
00:38:44.880 --> 00:38:45.440
I'm not sure.
00:38:45.840 --> 00:38:49.599
When it when it did snow here the other day, did you guys go out and perform Frozen?
00:38:49.599 --> 00:38:51.840
Did she sing Let It Aaron?
00:38:52.079 --> 00:38:55.840
That is her absolute favorite character, is Elsa from Frozen.
00:38:55.840 --> 00:38:59.039
And that's been her go-to song lately, too, is Let It Go.
00:38:59.280 --> 00:39:01.039
So I mean it's a weather-related song.
00:39:01.039 --> 00:39:04.239
I mean, come on, that's that's that's right in the pocket.
00:39:04.639 --> 00:39:17.360
What's funny is her favorite line from that um song Let It Go, she'll belt this out in the middle of the grocery store out of nowhere and saying, I don't care what they're going to say.
00:39:17.360 --> 00:39:21.119
It's just like, shh, we're we're in a public place, Ellie.
00:39:21.119 --> 00:39:22.000
That's awesome.
00:39:22.000 --> 00:39:25.519
But yeah, she loves that line of saying, I don't care.
00:39:28.079 --> 00:39:30.480
Which is which is so great in a public place.
00:39:30.480 --> 00:39:31.760
Exactly.
00:39:31.760 --> 00:39:38.320
All right, Riley, this is the second segment of the show.
00:39:38.320 --> 00:39:42.079
This is where we dive a little bit deeper into your mental health journey.
00:39:42.079 --> 00:39:46.880
Um, because I believe the more we can talk about this stuff, the lighter it becomes for all of us to realize we're not alone.
00:39:46.880 --> 00:39:49.760
Because that's what depression wants to tell you is that you're alone.
00:39:49.760 --> 00:39:53.920
Uh and if we can take that power away, it makes it so much easier.
00:39:53.920 --> 00:39:57.679
So for you, how do you keep the darkness at bay?
00:39:58.400 --> 00:40:09.679
You know, um, keeping it at bay is um has been something that um everyone struggles with at some point in their life, you know, um, and I and I'm no different.
00:40:09.679 --> 00:40:12.159
Um, especially early on in life.
00:40:12.159 --> 00:40:25.679
Um switching cities, halfway through high school, parents divorced, um having to move to a completely different place, make new friends, um that type stuff.
00:40:25.679 --> 00:40:38.960
And so I mean, early on in life, um, I battled with depression, um, was medicated for it, and was something that I had to kind of deal with through like my later teenage years, early 20s, through college.
00:40:38.960 --> 00:40:46.079
Um got better and better, but I mean the biggest thing I have to focus on is not to get lost in your head.
00:40:46.079 --> 00:40:59.039
Um, really try to find um good outlets to get that energy out, whether it be exercise or relationships, um and and just positive self-talk.
00:40:59.039 --> 00:41:02.639
Um because I think a lot of times we're our own worst enemies.
00:41:02.639 --> 00:41:07.280
And um just try to keep the self-talk positive.
00:41:07.280 --> 00:41:10.239
Um exercise when I can.
00:41:10.239 --> 00:41:13.920
That's not something I've necessarily been super great at since becoming a dad.
00:41:13.920 --> 00:41:20.000
But um our my biggest outlet was um man, playing basketball in college.
00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:27.599
I loved playing pickup basketball, and it seemed like anytime I would go out there and play, I would forget about anything happening in my life.
00:41:27.599 --> 00:41:32.800
So um good exercise like that, fishing as well.
00:41:32.800 --> 00:41:40.800
Um, fishing was a another um big hobby in my life since I was a little kid, and that's also where I found peace.
00:41:40.800 --> 00:41:49.840
And you gain perspective, just kind of being out there in yourself with yourself and nature and um and prayer too.
00:41:49.840 --> 00:41:52.960
I mean, I think prayer has gone a long way in my life.
00:41:52.960 --> 00:41:59.599
Um, I mentioned my mom's a United Methodist pastor, so it's um faith has been part of my life since early on.
00:41:59.599 --> 00:42:13.840
Um, and I mean, me personally, I've had so many of my prayers answered um by just sitting down and letting it all go and and just being like, all right, this is this is what's happened, this is how I feel.
00:42:13.840 --> 00:42:15.519
Let me know what you want me to do.
00:42:15.519 --> 00:42:24.960
Um so faith exercise and good positive self-talk, that's that's kind of my mantra for for keeping the demons away.
00:42:25.280 --> 00:42:25.760
I love that.
00:42:25.760 --> 00:42:26.639
I love that.
00:42:26.639 --> 00:42:49.360
And and as you mentioned earlier, you know, you being a you know, a public figure, being on television, uh you know, people can come at you, you know, in ways that are you know dehumanizing almost, you know, because they they don't know you, they don't realize that the human that's there, you know.
00:42:49.360 --> 00:42:52.159
The the saying is you know, we're all going through something.
00:42:52.159 --> 00:42:54.559
You you never know what somebody's going through, be kind.
00:42:54.559 --> 00:42:55.119
Right.
00:42:55.119 --> 00:42:56.000
100%.
00:42:56.000 --> 00:42:59.920
Uh but sometimes people don't play by those rules.
00:42:59.920 --> 00:43:03.440
Um and then being in the news as well.
00:43:03.440 --> 00:43:20.960
I know when I was working news, you know, we have stories of you know bodies being found, murders being committed, you know, the tragedies, accidents, things like that that you see but that we don't air, you know, you because you see the raw footage and and having to deal with that stuff.
00:43:20.960 --> 00:43:29.360
But having you know your your trio there, I'm sure definitely helps in those type of situations.
00:43:29.840 --> 00:43:30.559
Definitely so.
00:43:30.559 --> 00:43:34.559
Um yeah, I I w going back to Helene.
00:43:34.559 --> 00:43:37.920
After Helene, very dark spot.
00:43:37.920 --> 00:43:43.039
Um really, really was down on myself after that event.
00:43:43.039 --> 00:43:51.679
And it took a good amount of time, several months, before I really felt kind of back to normal, um, headspace wise.
00:43:51.679 --> 00:44:01.199
Um, and that's part of this job, is uh is that there's gonna be intense things that happen, um, whether on the news or weather related.
00:44:01.199 --> 00:44:15.920
Um and yeah it that can be it is it's critical to to have an understanding of how you're feeling why you're feeling it and knowing kind of how to pivot it into a positive direction.
00:44:15.920 --> 00:44:23.840
So in the wake of Helene it was really like a lot of self-doubt and is this really what I'm supposed to do?
00:44:23.840 --> 00:44:34.639
Like um and then it became you can either quit or you can learn from it and make it make it so you become a better meteorologist.
00:44:34.800 --> 00:44:35.199
Yeah.
00:44:35.440 --> 00:44:55.440
Um so I mean it in this in this field you definitely get a lot of criticism as you were saying and people can come after you and you can take it personally sometimes and get really uh kind of beat yourself up about it and think what they're saying is is true.
00:44:55.440 --> 00:44:55.920
Right.
00:44:55.920 --> 00:45:10.639
And so that can be the hard part and then it always seems like whenever you have some of those comments that present themselves there are comments on the opposite side of that spectrum true that say we appreciate you thank you for what you do.
00:45:10.639 --> 00:45:19.440
And so you're trying to balance out not just focusing on the bad but also realizing like not everyone feels exactly this way.
00:45:19.440 --> 00:45:34.719
But yeah it can be tough after big weather events um just going from the adrenaline high to just very very low after it especially in the wake of something like Helene.
00:45:35.280 --> 00:46:15.599
Yeah yeah and I think that's important what you're what you're saying is like yes you there are those you know folks that comment and say the that we appreciate you but having a a close circle or even if it's just that one person that is that is going to be there that you can say hey I'm feeling like this and they're like yeah you you couldn't literally you couldn't control the weather right you did the best that you you could things happen but that doesn't mean that you are less of a person or that you're less loved or you're less uh at all don't let yourself talk to yourself that way.
00:46:15.599 --> 00:46:21.360
And I think that's one thing that all of us do is you like I said we all are our own worst critics at times.
00:46:21.360 --> 00:46:35.119
And one of the things a friend of mine said is like you know if if you wouldn't talk to someone that way I'm not gonna let you talk to yourself that way.
00:46:35.119 --> 00:46:36.159
You know what I mean?
00:46:36.159 --> 00:46:42.079
If you wouldn't talk to a friend that way I'm not gonna let you talk to my friend you that way.
00:46:42.079 --> 00:46:42.960
Right.
00:46:42.960 --> 00:46:48.400
And being able to have those type of people is is so critical.
00:46:48.400 --> 00:47:15.039
And and you don't even have to know the person because because depending on where you are maybe you're somewhere where you're just alone and you don't know but there's always someone that you can call you know whether it be you know like the you know the the suicide prevention line was it the 988 it's not yes it's for suicide prevention but also if you need somebody to talk because those dark thoughts are coming.
00:47:15.039 --> 00:47:15.840
They're there.
00:47:16.320 --> 00:47:48.639
There are and and so many different uh telehealth networks too um to where it may not necessarily be someone you are meeting face to face but there there's avenues to talk to someone and so many of those resources and I I think as we've um in this day and age it it's so much different than just 20 30 years ago being able to openly talk about this stuff and realize that hey everyone kind of goes through this at some point and it's important to be able to have someone you can reach out to and don't just keep it all inside.
00:47:48.639 --> 00:47:56.320
And I think um especially with guys I mean it it can be hard to open up about stuff like that.
00:47:56.320 --> 00:48:11.920
A lot of times we're not as good as expressing our feelings as women can be um so it's important for us to work on that and and know when we do need to talk
00:48:11.920 --> 00:48:21.920
all right Riley it's time now for the third segment show it's time now for the Fast V Five it's time now for the Fast Five Fast Five.
00:48:22.239 --> 00:48:27.840
Sorry I'm still working on the song for that segmentation or something.
00:48:27.840 --> 00:48:56.960
Anyway the Fast Five is uh it's uh powered by Pod decks an app created by my friend Travis Brown if you go to chewingthefatbr.com slash poddecks it'll take you to where you can download it on uh to your own device and it's made for podcasters but they're great icebreaker questions as well so no wrong answers first thing comes to the top of your head you ready ready all right here we go question number one what would constitute a perfect day for you
00:48:56.960 --> 00:49:35.440
perfect day for me would be being with family we're going out to do something together as a family for my perfect day it would be we all go out fishing together and then we enjoy a great day fishing come back for a good nap wake up from the nap play outside take girly to the playground walk the dogs around the neighborhood and then get home make a good home cooked meal maybe grill something and then a couple ice cold beverages to close out the night and then that'll be a perfect day.
00:49:35.840 --> 00:49:48.880
That's awesome that's a great day that's a great day question number two what's the most annoying bill you have to pay
00:49:48.880 --> 00:50:05.119
the most annoying bill I have to pay is oh man that's a good one I would say car insurance.
00:50:05.119 --> 00:50:13.679
Car insurance I feel like insurance rates have just gradually or not gradually but have just gone up a lot over the last several years.
00:50:13.679 --> 00:50:19.440
I love my insurance agent but it's just it's just so much money.
00:50:19.679 --> 00:50:29.440
Car insurance home insurance and I wish that stuff worked more like you know like kind of like health insurance just like oh well the tires went down the car.
00:50:29.440 --> 00:50:31.679
I pay the insurance can't I just get some new tires?
00:50:31.679 --> 00:50:33.119
No it doesn't work that way.
00:50:33.119 --> 00:50:34.800
Nope that's not how that works.
00:50:35.119 --> 00:50:40.639
Or if you don't have an accident or don't speed for several years in a row maybe you can get a little discount.
00:50:40.639 --> 00:50:44.719
Right or a lot of discount or a lot of discount yeah yeah awesome
00:50:44.719 --> 00:50:53.760
all right question number three is there anything that you would like to accomplish in this next year
00:50:53.760 --> 00:51:01.119
I think I mean my my biggest thing on my mind this year is obviously welcoming in our baby boy later on in May.
00:51:01.119 --> 00:51:09.360
So I think the biggest thing I want to accomplish is being good dad and husband and and making sure my wife makes it through the recovery process well.
00:51:09.360 --> 00:51:16.159
We manage our new one well and also continue to still give the most amount of love to our first one too.
00:51:16.159 --> 00:51:21.280
So um I that's the biggest thing I want to accomplish being the best dad and husband.
00:51:21.599 --> 00:51:22.559
Yeah that's great.
00:51:22.559 --> 00:51:22.960
That's right.
00:51:22.960 --> 00:51:24.159
What's the age difference?
00:51:24.719 --> 00:51:32.320
So she turns three at the end of May and the due date of the second one is about two days away from her birthday.
00:51:32.320 --> 00:51:40.079
So oh don't let them have the same birthday we're trying to uh to avoid that may's a busy month could be a few days apart.
00:51:40.320 --> 00:51:57.360
Look my birthday is is they're all they're all in October so my mine's the 11th my wife's the thirteenth my youngest son's is the 14th and my oldest son we always tell him we used to tell him it was October the 32nd but it's November 1st so my birthday's November 2nd.
00:51:57.360 --> 00:52:08.719
Look at that let them have their own because my youngest could have been born on my birthday and it wasn't that I didn't want someone born on my birthday I was like he needs his own day though.
00:52:08.719 --> 00:52:10.079
Yeah for him.
00:52:10.079 --> 00:52:10.960
You know what I mean?
00:52:10.960 --> 00:52:11.599
Exactly.
00:52:11.599 --> 00:52:18.480
So yeah hopefully hopefully but you know we'll see how as with the weather sometimes these things can't be predicted.
00:52:18.480 --> 00:52:30.960
That's right question number four if humans came with a warning label what would yours say
00:52:30.960 --> 00:52:33.119
warning grumpy in the morning.
00:52:33.360 --> 00:52:47.920
Ooh I I don't necessarily wake up the happiest person all the time I can be a little bit grumpy waking up uh early in the morning so that's something I also need to work on too but um yeah that would be the mornings with this new child.
00:52:47.920 --> 00:52:56.000
I know I need to fix it but um yeah that that's my warning label uh needs coffee in the morning
00:52:56.000 --> 00:53:06.960
that's awesome and question number five do you consider yourself to be superstitious
00:53:06.960 --> 00:53:12.079
to quote the great Michael Scott maybe not superstitious but a little stitch.
00:53:12.320 --> 00:53:13.039
A little stitch?
00:53:13.360 --> 00:53:21.360
I I definitely kind of like uh I'm trying to think off the top of my head some things that I'm a little superstitious about.
00:53:22.800 --> 00:53:32.559
I mean you you you went to a a legacy college like Georgia you know game days there's lots of superstition on game days wearing same socks underwear whatever that type of stuff
00:53:32.559 --> 00:53:43.199
I would say there's definitely shirts I don't wear on Georgia game days after we've lost um 100% so you have like your lucky shirts and your your unlucky shirts your your shirts you don't wear on game day.
00:53:43.199 --> 00:53:52.239
But then I mean with like oh man I mean I'm thinking as a kid like don't walk on the cracks.
00:53:52.239 --> 00:53:53.679
Break mom's back.
00:53:53.679 --> 00:53:54.639
That's right.
00:53:54.639 --> 00:53:55.760
Little stuff like that.
00:53:55.760 --> 00:54:35.360
I mean I don't I don't really pay attention if I walk on the crack of the sidewalk now but um it was funny we had Friday the 13th a couple weeks uh two weeks oh last week two weeks two weeks two weeks ago um so we made a funny little weather graphic of all the different superstitions it had like a black cat walking across it had the spilled salt on the table um the broken mirror the ladder the open umbrella inside I would say that yeah I don't open umbrellas inside so maybe a little stitchious with that but if I spill salt try to throw it over right left shoulder I can't really remember if one of the shoulders it's like left shoulder with your right hand or something like that.
00:54:35.360 --> 00:54:45.119
Yeah I always think of that scene in Dumb and Dumber when he spills the salt and he just tosses the whole salt shaker that's awesome.
00:54:45.360 --> 00:54:46.000
That's awesome.
00:54:46.000 --> 00:54:50.079
Well that's our Fast Five and that's the show Riley thank you so much for being here.
00:54:50.320 --> 00:54:52.079
Thank you for having me Robb great talking with you.
00:54:52.320 --> 00:54:53.199
Yeah I really appreciate it.
00:54:53.280 --> 00:55:02.000
If folks want to keep up with you uh obviously they can see you on the TV uh but uh is do you do social media a whole lot uh is there a way folks can keep up with you
00:55:02.000 --> 00:55:19.280
yes I would say uh my Facebook page Riley Hale WRDW um that's where I post the most um content kind of daily usually I'm posting forecast updates there and occasional fish pictures family pictures things like that so Facebook page Riley Hale WRDW that's the best place.
00:55:19.519 --> 00:55:30.719
Awesome I'll make sure to put that in the show notes and again thank you so much for being here I really do appreciate everything that you do for for this community uh and wish you nothing but success in in everything.
00:55:30.719 --> 00:55:34.559
100% POP for your success my friend.
00:55:34.800 --> 00:55:44.480
Thank you very much Robb I'm uh honored to be a guest on the show and thank you for everything you're doing too to help um uh increase awareness and understanding of mental health thank you
00:55:44.480 --> 00:55:55.760
thank you and if you would like to support this podcast I'd appreciate it if you bought me a coffee at chewing the fatbr.com but until next time I look forward to the chance we have to sit a spell and chew the fat.
