Maybe you're running or swimming between the couches or cycling, right? What do you think of Ellie's scenario that she's laid out?

I am the person who's lagging behind.

My sister is a marathon runner, super competitive.

She's gotten into the Chicago Marathon.

And recently, this year, I ran my first four, 4k fun run and I got her to come with me because I was genuinely afraid I'd collapse so I said I need her to come be my medic my mental health support and all that so she really got me through because I'd done no training so your sister is Ellie in a way

What's your read, Annie?

That's a good solution that's actually more immediate.

I was thinking maybe you do this with your friend and you sign up for another race.

... to be the decision-maker on whether you let someone into your cone of love?

Oh, yeah.

I have definitely experienced losing friends to relationships, and when they break up, they come crawling back.

I'm like, "Here we go." So I think you do get so many chances with me.

I usually, I love the number three.

You know, three is the magic number.

If you come back, um, uh, within that time, then yeah, you're welcome back.

Yeah.

Annie, what's your impression of Michael at this point? Are you sympathetic?

Oh, I think they haven't really discussed the, the kid's choice as much in this and whether he understands the pros and cons of what the consequences might be.

So my gut feeling is to explain.

At grade five they can understand what religion is and what the consequences might be.

So I think laying out the two things and letting the kid decide what he wants to do would be best.

[laughs]

And so it's almost like that kind of, my dad would be like, "Okay, wink, wink," like, "You're Catholic now." Uh, no, yeah, so I would probably go with it so that I can, um, in the end, you know, get a good education, uh, come out with...

There's a lot of benefits that you can also instill extracurricular-wise.

How's your experience with AI, though? Do you find it useful? Do you work well with AI?

I always try Google first.

I use DuckDuckGo actually.

I got very paranoid when I was doing the show China Tonight that China was actually watching.

So I turned all the apps off, stopped using Google, stopped using everything.

But now if I try my absolute best to use Google first, it doesn't work, then I'll use AI.

But it's the last

I was

Annie, what do you think of this situation, the dad revenge plot about basically, you know, calling out this, this tradie dad?

I think he needs to make sure he's made it clear to the person who offered the service that this is not okay.

Because it might be part of their marketing strategy.

What if they do go around to lots of fundraisers doing this so that, in the hopes of making some extra cash? That's me being very cynical.

And it's happened to me before where I've won, I once won a dental voucher to go get my teeth checked-

Uh, what would that conversation sound like coming out of your mouth?

Oh, it would be either, depends on if it's a phone call.

Maybe a phone call's best, so you can get that tone right and really play to that, "I really thought this was a charitable, uh, service that you were providing." [laughs] Maybe guilt them a little bit about that, and play on that, you know, "It's, we're parents.

[laughs]

And Colonel would come and sit at the dining table, and we'd, like, leave a little chair for him, and sometimes he'd have a little sleepover, and I'd text the neighbor and say, "Oh, did you know Colonel Mustard was hanging out here all last night?" And she would go, "Oh, she, he, he's meant to have a cat sitter.

What's the cat sitter doing? [laughs] So sorry," but we didn't mind.

It was kind of fun.

But if Colonel did piss on the couch-

How are you thinking this has turned out for her?

Hmm.

I actually think I would just go into argument mode.

Mm.

And, uh, it's probably that, you know, the hoarding kind of mentality that we have had because of my family growing up poor, and then coming to Australia and not being able to give anything away.

I've moved a few times, so it does help to cull things, but I'm living amongst all this junk now as, having just moved back into my mom's place.

[laughs]

Because this is what's happening on my dad's side of the family in the US.

I just visited them, and these siblings, they fight over everything, and it could be the original photograph, it's someone's ashes, it's the necklace around your neck right now, and you're not dead yet.

So I've never thought about this before.

I think it's so morbid.

Annie, what do you make of Ben's situation, given this kind of sometimes we're full attitude? Pretty special that they lucked out?

Yeah.

I'm, I mean, I just was living in Hong Kong, and so many people bond over that ex- that experience, so they're very willing to make new friends because of how transient people are.

So you could make friends, uh, doing, doing a hobby, and then they become your best friend all of a sudden.

So they seem to, depending on which location, you can get glued to someone, like, very quickly, and that's acceptable.

In that context, Annie, does he kinda have to cop it?

I feel like if he brought it up now and was honest, like, "I went so far back, I found this," that it might not be as serious as he thinks.

Like, if it destroys a friendship, do you really wanna be friends with those people? Like, you might wanna bring it up in jest and then see what happens, because it was so long ago.