• Snakes, Coyotes & Desert Life:
Mike shares stories from New Mexico and Nevada: rattlesnakes everywhere, bowls full of collected rattles, coyotes bringing hambones back to the porch like gifts. Everyone compares snake-free Washington to the reptile-rich desert.

• Friendsgiving & Holiday Season:
Mike talks about giving up traditional family Thanksgivings since the Navy and instead doing a long-running Friendsgiving with his wife. Holiday decorations are delayed thanks to a basement remodel and a pile of boxed-up Christmas gear.

• Weather Check-In:
Minnesota has snow through March, Tacoma has rain for 10 straight days, and everyone debates what counts as “cold.”

• Nerd Miner Deep Dive:
A huge geek-rabbit-hole opens: Mike discovers tiny WiFi-enabled USB devices that double as DIY Bitcoin solo miners.
The crew loses it laughing about Linux, dongles, and whether anyone will ever mine a whole block.

• Holiday Movies:
Die Hard is definitely a Christmas movie, Scott’s wife is getting forced to watch it, and Nightmare Before Christmas gets respect as a universal holiday classic.

• Classic GCP Wrap-Up:
Charlie Brown references, blockhead energy, and the classic “You’ve been listening to the Grit City Podcast” outro.

⏱️ Loose Time Stamps:
00:00 – Elevator music & introductions
01:30 – Mike’s Minnesota Minute begins
04:00 – Minnesota lakes & cryptid talk
26:00 – Snakes, coyotes & desert life
32:30 – Thanksgiving food & Friendsgiving
33:40 – Nerd miner & Linux rabbit hole
57:50 – Christmas weather check-ins
01:09:00 – Holiday movie favorites
01:12:30 – Charlie Brown & outro

Sponsored By:

• Die Cut Stickers: Use the code GRITCITY15 at checkout and get 15% off your entire order! · Insanely custom stickers crafted to survive the PNW and beyond! Promo Code: GRITCITY15
• RCF Exteriors: Cut Wood. Not Corners. RCF Exteriors specializes in Window and Door installation across the South Puget Sound region. RCF Exteriors is a customer service orientated company with 20+ years experience in window and door installation. Our efficient and knowledgeable team is dedication to making sure you are satisfied with not only the final product but throughout the entire installation process. Email: rcfexteriors@gmail.com Phone: 253-446-8854
• The Union Club: The Union Club is a coworking space contributing to Tacoma's growing artistic and entrepreneurial communities. It combines a maker studio, event hall, and office coworking space, in a 15,000 square foot historic building in downtown Tacoma, Washington.

Support The Grit City Podcast

Links:

• Hugag - Wikipedia — In American folklore, the hugag is a fearsome critter similar to a moose with an extensive upper lip, preventing it from grazing, and jointless legs preventing it from lying down
• GitHub - BitMaker-hub/NerdMiner_v2: Improved version of first ESP32 NerdMiner
• Home - NMTech
• T-Dongle S3 – LILYGO®
• Pepie | Cryptid Wiki | Fandom — The monster is called Pepie, after Lake Pepin, which forms the border between Minnesota and Wisconsin, where it is said to live.
• GitHub - i-am-shodan/USBArmyKnife: USB Army Knife – the ultimate close access tool for penetration testers and red teamers.

02:10 – Justin gives the down and dirty of a blue checkmark back in the day, Jeff reveals the word of the day, and Justin talks about the present he received from the green Santa Claus. He gives a shout-out to Erik, Justin talks about his recent visit to the library, and the type of books he’s been reading lately. They discuss plans to make a Grit City Book Club and past books they’ve enjoyed.

13:20 – Scott suggests they have another animal podcast episode, Justin shares the idea for them to have podcasting classes at the library, and Scott talks about the cool things that come with having a library card. Justin discusses Elon Musk’s potential plan for Twitter, how the prior verification on Twitter works, and what happened after Elon started allowing anyone to verify through Twitter for a small fee.

26:52 – Scott talks about the considerable impact Twitter comments can have on businesses, Justin reflects on being a scourge on message boards back in the day, and Jeff poses a question on what people may think of him when they pass him in the street. They each share if they’ve been previously confused as a homeless person, Justin talks about his new job, and the benefits of working from home.

39:18 – They talk about the recent FTX news, Binance backing out of the deal to buy FTX, and the US Department of Justice and the FCC investigating the company. Justin talks about the remaining events that happened later in the week post-investigation, what got him into watching Game of Thrones, and Scott talks about buying Bitcoin back in the day.

Support The Grit City Podcast

Links:

• Kanopy - Stream Classic Cinema, Indie Film and Top Documentaries — Stream thousands of films for free, thanks to the generous support of your public library or university.
• Fake news tweets take off as Twitter blue checks go up for sale — People started spreading fake news on Twitter the instant they could buy a blue check
• The Fall of FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Puts Crypto Industry on Edge - The New York Times — The rapid collapse of FTX, built by the billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, suggests that no company in the freewheeling, loosely regulated crypto industry is safe.
• Kraken CEO Discusses Impact of FTX Failure — Says Damage to Crypto Industry Is Huge, Will Take Years to Undo – Featured Bitcoin News — The CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has outlined the impact of FTX’s failure on the crypto industry. After listing multiple red flags, the executive stressed: “The damage here is huge … We’re going to be working to undo this for years.”
• FTX collapse: Everything to know - Protocol — Following in the footsteps of Voyager and Three Arrows Capital, FTX is the latest example of crypto’s volatility
• Disgusting moment 5ft alligator is pulled out of 18ft Burmese python's STOMACH in Florida | Daily Mail Online