Have you ever been in a situation where you walk into someone’s home – someone you don’t know – and the person who lives there is unconscious and actually dying?

Or, have you ever come upon a car accident that just happened, and you stop and try to help the people who are injured?

Or how about this – have you ever actually saved someone’s life?

Most people have never done any of those things. But guest on today’s episode, Eric, has done all of them – and a whole lot more.

Eric’s work as a paramedic in a big city took him into places and situations that the average person would never see. And he has some stories.

As you might guess, this episode needs a content warning for the descriptions of some of the things Eric dealt with.

And one of the wildest things he had to deal with happened on his very first overnight shift.

The Baggage podcast:

https://thebaggagepodcast.com/

Full show notes and pictures for this episode are here:

https://WhatWasThatLike.com/273

Graphics for this episode by Bob Bretz.

Want to discuss this episode and other things with thousands of other WWTL listeners? Join our podcast Facebook group at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook (many of the podcast guests are there as well)

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AG1 - For a limited time, save 20% on your first subscription order of AG1 Next Gen or AG1 Pro at drinkAG1.com/whatwas

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use promo code WHATWAS at Nutrafol.com

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Every other Tuesday, we grab a past question from the Facebook group, then Meredith and Scott answer it and read some of the answers given by other listeners.

The question for this episode:

What was the time when you really needed a bathroom, but there was none available?

Links for this episode:

Travel points website:
https://seats.aero/

Help local teachers with projects through Donors Choose:
https://donorschoose.org/

Meredith’s podcast is The Curious Introvert:

https://MeredithForReal.com

To check out the new Tuesday Question and get in the discussion, join us at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook.

Sponsor deals:

Quince - Go to Quince.com/whatwas for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns!

Find the best deals on what you need at Dupe.com

Boll & Branch - get 15% off your first order AND free shipping:
BollandBranch.com/WHATWAS

Nutrafol - Get $10 off your first month’s subscription, and free shipping:
use promo code WHATWAS at Nutrafol.com

Try Mint Mobile for 3 months, for just 15 bucks a month - MintMobile.com/WHAT

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Scott tells a story: Blair Adams

Sponsor deals:

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use promo code WHATWAS at Nutrafol.com

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Sometimes, something can be wrong with a person – someone you love – and you don’t realize it right away.

My mom has been on this podcast in a couple of past episodes. Just in the opener, not as a featured guest. And I can tell you, she remembers things. This past summer she turned 84, and she still knows the birth dates of everyone in our family – including some who are no longer with us. For me, that’s what Google calendar is for.

But for a lot of people, as their parents age, you start to notice some changes. Maybe they forget something they wouldn’t normally forget. Or perhaps they ask the same question twice. Or they could just get confused about something that should be completely familiar to them.

At the beginning, you don’t immediately think, “Uh oh, something is seriously wrong”. You just think, “Hmm, that’s a little odd”.

That’s what started happening with Amanda’s mom. And it didn’t make sense, because she was only around 50 years old. But those little things didn’t go away. Instead, they became more frequent. This wasn’t just normal forgetfulness.

Amanda realized something much bigger was happening, and their family was faced with some big decisions.

Amanda’s dad Jay is fundraising for the Alzheimer’s Association. You can contribute here:
https://act.alz.org/site/TR/Walk2026/OH-NorthwestOhio?pg=personal&px=12531606&fr_id=19856

Full show notes and pictures for this episode are here:

https://WhatWasThatLike.com/272

Graphics for this episode by Bob Bretz. Transcription was done by James Lai.

Want to discuss this episode and other things with thousands of other WWTL listeners? Join our podcast Facebook group at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook (many of the podcast guests are there as well)

Get every episode ad-free, AND get all the Raw Audio exclusive episodes to binge, by joining the other listeners at What Was That Like PLUS.

Try What Was That Like PLUS free:

iPhone: at the top of the What Was That Like podcast feed, click on “Try free”

Android: on your phone, go to WhatWasThatLike.com/PLUS and click to try it free on any app

Sponsor deals:

Quince - Go to Quince.com/whatwas for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns!

Find the best deals on what you need at Dupe.com

Boll & Branch - get 15% off your first order AND free shipping:
BollandBranch.com/WHATWAS

Nutrafol - Get $10 off your first month’s subscription, and free shipping:
use promo code WHATWAS at Nutrafol.com

Try Mint Mobile for 3 months, for just 15 bucks a month - MintMobile.com/WHAT

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every other Tuesday, we grab a past question from the Facebook group, then Meredith and Scott answer it and read some of the answers given by other listeners.

The question for this episode:

What's a book you read as a child and still think about today?

Links for this episode:

Meredith’s episode about recycling:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/57HULIPwHBBxUe0DoHtyZQ?si=Ev6yE9ZwRTW9DDE8tlQjoQ

Little Golden Books:
https://littlegoldenbooks.com/

Beverly Cleary:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_Cleary

The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Giving_Tree

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_and_the_Chocolate_Factory

A Walk Across America by Peter Jenkins:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Walk_Across_America

Bambi:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bambi,_a_Life_in_the_Woods

Lion Latch:
https://lionlatch.com/

Get a document notarized, online:
https://www.notarize.com/

Meredith’s utensil pocketknife:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TDTRWRS?ref=clp_hp_h_pc&th=1

Meredith’s podcast is The Curious Introvert:

https://MeredithForReal.com

To check out the new Tuesday Question and get in the discussion, join us at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook.

Sponsor deals:

Quince - Go to Quince.com/whatwas for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns!

Find the best deals on what you need at Dupe.com

Boll & Branch - get 15% off your first order AND free shipping:

BollandBranch.com/WHATWAS

Nutrafol - Get $10 off your first month’s subscription, and free shipping:

use promo code WHATWAS at Nutrafol.com

Try Mint Mobile for 3 months, for just 15 bucks a month - MintMobile.com/WHAT

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sometimes you find yourself in a situation that you just never could have expected.

Last month, in Long Island, New York, a woman named Danielle Tammone was at home in her back yard. Just an ordinary day, nothing unusual going on.

That is, until she felt the ground under her feet opening up unexpectedly, and she suddenly found herself at the bottom of an 8-foot deep hole. And she was stuck. Ground level was about 3 feet higher than her head, and she was surrounded by mud and water.

She screamed for help, but no one knew that she had even fallen. After about 30 minutes, some neighbors heard her, and came over to find out what was going on. Eventually she was rescued when someone brought a ladder and she was able to climb out. She experienced whiplash and some pulled muscles. The point is, she never would have predicted that would happen.

My guest for this episode is Eric. He found himself in an unexpected situation also, and he told the whole story here on the podcast way back in 2019.

Eric and his wife were sound asleep one night, when they heard someone on their porch making loud noises and banging on the door. It was a man, and he appeared to be on drugs and extremely upset.

And he was trying to get in.

Full show notes and pictures for this episode are here:

https://WhatWasThatLike.com/271

Graphics for this episode by Bob Bretz. Transcription was done by James Lai.

Want to discuss this episode and other things with thousands of other WWTL listeners? Join our podcast Facebook group at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook (many of the podcast guests are there as well)

Get every episode ad-free, AND get all the Raw Audio exclusive episodes to binge, by joining the other listeners at What Was That Like PLUS.

Try What Was That Like PLUS free:

iPhone: at the top of the What Was That Like podcast feed, click on “Try free”

Android: on your phone, go to WhatWasThatLike.com/PLUS and click to try it free on any app

Sponsor deals:

Quince - Go to Quince.com/whatwas for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns!

Find the best deals on what you need at Dupe.com

Boll & Branch - get 15% off your first order AND free shipping:

BollandBranch.com/WHATWAS

Nutrafol - Get $10 off your first month’s subscription, and free shipping:

use promo code WHATWAS at Nutrafol.com

Try Mint Mobile for 3 months, for just 15 bucks a month - MintMobile.com/WHAT

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you’re a kid, you have your own unique sense of what’s “normal”.

I grew up in Ohio, so I knew that sometime after Thanksgiving, it was going to start getting cold outside. And we would have snow. Sometimes, LOTS of snow. And I loved it. Of course, as a little boy, big piles of snow just meant having fun sledding and making snow forts. I didn’t have to drive on it or shovel it; at least not until I got a little older.

But as far as I knew, that’s how it was in the winter for everyone. What I experienced must be the same for other people. But then sometimes we would go and visit my grandfather, who lived in Miami. And there we were, in the middle of winter, and not even wearing a coat outside. I couldn’t believe it.

My guest today is Angel. He grew up with his three brothers in Brooklyn. And to him, his childhood was normal. The hunger, the abuse, the homelessness – that’s all he knew.

And I have to give you a little content warning here, that this episode is going to include something I’ve never had in a previous episode, but you’ll have some warning if you want to fast forward. There’s a brief bit of audio where Angel talks about what his father did to the family cat. I contemplated not including this, because I hate to hear about animal abuse and I know you do too. But that incident is important to the story and what happened afterward, and I always say, this podcast doesn’t shy away from real life. But when you hear me ask Angel to talk about the story of their cat named Bonkers, that’s when you can fast forward about 2 1/2 minutes if you want to. It’s not a graphic description, just sad.

That’s the incident that finally triggered something inside Angel. He and one of his brothers decided they were going to kill their father.

And Angel was just 10 years old.

Angel’s book:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H4CVDSXP/

Full show notes and pictures for this episode are here:

https://WhatWasThatLike.com/270

Graphics for this episode by Bob Bretz. Transcription was done by James Lai.

Want to discuss this episode and other things with thousands of other WWTL listeners? Join our podcast Facebook group at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook (many of the podcast guests are there as well)

Get every episode ad-free, AND get all the Raw Audio exclusive episodes to binge, by joining the other listeners at What Was That Like PLUS.

Try What Was That Like PLUS free:

iPhone: at the top of the What Was That Like podcast feed, click on “Try free”

Android: on your phone, go to WhatWasThatLike.com/PLUS and click to try it free on any app

Sponsor deals:

Quince - Go to Quince.com/whatwas for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns!

Find the best deals on what you need at Dupe.com

Boll & Branch - get 15% off your first order AND free shipping:
BollandBranch.com/WHATWAS

Nutrafol - Get $10 off your first month’s subscription, and free shipping:
use promo code WHATWAS at Nutrafol.com

Try Mint Mobile for 3 months, for just 15 bucks a month - MintMobile.com/WHAT

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every other Tuesday, we grab a past question from the Facebook group, then Meredith and Scott answer it and read some of the answers given by other listeners.

The question for this episode:

What's a cooking hack that everyone should know?

Links for this episode:

The PSI Games:
https://psigamesinternational.com/

Mise en place:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mise_en_place

Chef Chew comfort food from plants:
https://www.chefchewskitchen.com/

Onion goggles:
https://www.amazon.com/Haoun-Goggles-Kitchen-Glasses-Cutting/dp/B07C5RJPMG/ref=sr_1_5

KitchenAid spiralizer:
https://www.kitchenaid.com/countertop-appliances/stand-mixers/attachments/p.5-blade-spiralizer-with-peel-core-and-slice.KSM1APC.html

Real time video created by AI:
https://infiniteslop.ai/

Meredith’s podcast is The Curious Introvert:

https://MeredithForReal.com

To check out the new Tuesday Question and get in the discussion, join us at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook.

Sponsor deals:

Quince - Go to Quince.com/whatwas for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns!

Find the best deals on what you need at Dupe.com

Boll & Branch - get 15% off your first order AND free shipping:

BollandBranch.com/WHATWAS

Nutrafol - Get $10 off your first month’s subscription, and free shipping:

use promo code WHATWAS at Nutrafol.com

Try Mint Mobile for 3 months, for just 15 bucks a month - MintMobile.com/WHAT

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Larry dreamed about flying – and he made it happen in a very unusual way.

Sponsor deals:

Quince - Go to Quince.com/whatwas for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns!

Find the best deals on what you need at Dupe.com

Boll & Branch - get 15% off your first order AND free shipping:
BollandBranch.com/WHATWAS

Nutrafol - Get $10 off your first month’s subscription, and free shipping:
use promo code WHATWAS at Nutrafol.com

Try Mint Mobile for 3 months, for just 15 bucks a month - MintMobile.com/WHAT

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I live in the Tampa Bay area of Florida, and I like it here. I never have to shovel snow, I don’t have to drive on ice, and earthquakes are pretty rare. I can ride my bike almost year-round.

But - one of the worst things about living in Florida is going through hurricane season. I’m in the Tampa Bay area, which is on the Gulf of Mexico side, so we’re a little more sheltered. But even here, we sometimes have hurricanes that come up into the gulf and cause some damage when the decide to finally come on land. My son David was actually born during a hurricane.

Tara knows about hurricanes because she’s been through a terrifying one. A few years ago she came on the podcast and talked about her experience with Hurricane Dorian.

She and her family were at home, in the direct path of this category 5 hurricane. The flood waters were rising, the high winds were threatening to tear their roof off, and all they could do was sit in the dark attic and watch the water keep rising.

If you’d like to contact Tara, this is her website:

https://tarapyfrom.com/

Get her book here:
https://tarapyfrom.com/order

Full show notes and pictures for this episode are here:

https://WhatWasThatLike.com/269

Graphics for this episode by Bob Bretz. Transcription was done by James Lai.

Want to discuss this episode and other things with thousands of other WWTL listeners? Join our podcast Facebook group at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook (many of the podcast guests are there as well)

Sponsor deals:

Quince - Go to Quince.com/whatwas for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns!

Find the best deals on what you need at Dupe.com

Boll & Branch - get 15% off your first order AND free shipping:

BollandBranch.com/WHATWAS

Nutrafol - Get $10 off your first month’s subscription, and free shipping:

use promo code WHATWAS at Nutrafol.com

Try Mint Mobile for 3 months, for just 15 bucks a month - MintMobile.com/WHAT

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every other Tuesday, we grab a past question from the Facebook group, then Meredith and Scott answer it and read some of the answers given by other listeners.

The question for this episode:

What do you wish you didn't like?

Links for this episode:

Hu Chocolate:

https://hukitchen.com/

How to turn off YouTube watch history:

https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/95725

Jordan Harbinger episode about alcohol:
https://www.jordanharbinger.com/alcohol-skeptical-sunday/

Bushwacker cocktail recipe:
https://www.liquor.com/bushwacker-cocktail-recipe-5198246

MeUndies:

https://www.meundies.com/

90 Day Fiance -

https://go.tlc.com/show/90-day-fiance-tlc-atve-us

Hot Dudes Reading:
https://www.instagram.com/hotdudesreading/?hl=en

Hector’s Voice:

https://www.instagram.com/hectors_voice/?hl=en

DuckDuckGo:
https://duckduckgo.com/

Down For Everyone, or Just Me?
https://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/

The Flash Food app – for grocery’s best kept deals:

https://flashfood.com/

Meredith’s podcast is The Curious Introvert:

https://MeredithForReal.com

To check out the new Tuesday Question and get in the discussion, join us at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook.

Sponsor deals:

Quince - Go to Quince.com/whatwas for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns!

Find the best deals on what you need at Dupe.com

Boll & Branch - get 15% off your first order AND free shipping:

BollandBranch.com/WHATWAS

Nutrafol - Get $10 off your first month’s subscription, and free shipping:

use promo code WHATWAS at Nutrafol.com

Try Mint Mobile for 3 months, for just 15 bucks a month - MintMobile.com/WHAT

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices