Off The Desk 11/3/26

Good morning. Happy. I almost said Monday. It's election day. It's Tuesday. Yes. My brain is everywhere, but happy Tuesday. Thanks for being here with us. We've been talking all about election coverage all morning in our morning newscast, and you're going to hear all about it for the rest of today until the polls close at eight o'clock tonight. So if you didn't already take advantage of early voting, get out there and vote today. And yeah, you could stick with us. We're going to have all of our reporters out I'm covering the local races and. Making sure you're in the know before you head to the polls. So big day. Yeah, it's a big day. A big day here. And we're watching really all across the country. There's a lot of big elections happening. But in Massachusetts, we're voting on governor, Senate candidate, first congressional district here. There are some other state office positions. And then the nine ballot questions, those are big. So do your research before because the ballot is, it's hefty. There's a lot on there. And everyone got those ballot books that gives you all the information that you need to know. And it's also easily accessible online wherever, you know, you get your news and things like that. So know what's going on before you get in there for sure. Yeah. And it's not looking like a bad day to head to the polls. We were saying, Chris, it's pretty mild out there this morning. Going to be almost maybe 70, 75 degrees tomorrow, potentially in some spots, but doesn't make for a bad day to stop in. Wherever your local election headquarters are to cast your vote today. Yeah, the weather looks great. This morning you walked outside, definitely probably noticed that it was a bit warmer than it has been. No frost. No frost, yeah. But yeah, it was overall nice to start the day. We'll climb near 70 come this afternoon. And then, yeah, the rest of the middle of the week, tomorrow and Thursday, look quite warm as well. Tomorrow, I could see some spots near 75. So crazy. Nice and warm. Does not feel like November. No, I feel like we've been so spoiled that it's going to hit us. So hard when we go down to even the 50s, it's going to be a big difference. Yeah, most of next week looks to be in the 50s. So enjoy the 70s while we have them, because it looks like we go back to reality, closer to where we should be for this time of year, heading into next week. It already has been kind of weird. We were talking about it yesterday, how it's getting so dark so early. I didn't really notice it on Sunday when we first moved the clocks back, but last night. I was thinking, oh, maybe I'll go out and go for a walk. I'll take Ava out. And she was just having an afternoon. Oh, no. But I went to go, I don't know, get stuff done. Next thing I know, it's starting to get dark out. I'm like, oh, there goes the walk idea. So maybe we'll get outside today or tomorrow since it'll be nice out. But yeah, it's just that time. Yeah. Transition. Yeah. And it's only going to continue to get darker. We don't bottom out with our sunsets until December 8th is our earliest sunset. Oh, wow. Okay. So you got a little while. You got still over a month until we start to see the sunsets start to get a little later. Wait, so if December 8th is our earliest sunset, winter solstice comes around weeks after that, right? Yeah, technically still December 21st is the shortest day of the year. Okay, because of the morning. The morning is still short and up until then. Got it. But our sunsets typically start to get a little later as we go past the 8th of December. Okay. So I think our earliest sunset is 4:19. Oh my gosh, 4:19, so early, wow. And we're at 4:46 or something like that, I just looked yesterday. Yeah, last night it was, I was trying to get Ava to sleep, because she was due for a nap, but it was an awkward time between like, it wasn't quite bedtime, but she couldn't stay up or else she was going to be really overtired. Then it's getting super dark. I'm getting tired. She finally falls asleep after like 40 minutes of me trying to get her to sleep. Then I just kept her on me. So we did like a little contact nap. And then I'm starting to like, I'm having to fight to not fall asleep myself. Because at this point, it's like maybe 5:30, quarter to six. Yeah. And waiting for Bobby to get home and we're going to do our bath time and all that. And yeah, I had turned the lights off just to make it dark and calm for her. I was like, wow, I'm ready to go to sleep too. It feels like it's 10 o'clock at night. It was early. It comes quick. Throwing off the babies and the dogs. Even last night, I think I was a little thrown off because I was about to want to make dinner. And then I realized it was only 4:30. And I was like, oh, sorry to wait. That's a good question to ask you guys. Lately, I've been making dinner earlier in general. And I'll eat dinner kind of early, like maybe like 4:30, 5 o'clock. When do you guys typically eat dinner? I'm all messed up. I do like a linner. I do a lunch dinner. So my biggest meal of the day is when I get home from work. And so I usually do like, yeah, that'll be my dinner. And then I'll have a snack before bed at 6:30 or 7. Okay. Yeah, I feel like I've gone back and forth on what my routine is for how I eat during the day with this shift. I typically eat around 6, I'd say. But there are days, especially working this shift, that I'll eat a little earlier. But 6 o'clock is usually the time we eat. Do you typically have breakfast? Not really. Like when you wake up? No. No. You guys don't? I don't eat anything when I wake up and get ready in the morning. No. I'll bring something in the car sometimes. I don't know, something where I'll bring something to make here, like a little English muffin or something. Yeah. But there's days I don't eat anything until... My lunch here, which is at like 9 a.m. I used to do that. And then when I was pregnant, I had to eat. And also, it's currently now breastfeeding. You also have to eat. You have to have enough energy in you. So I used to be the same way. I wouldn't eat until maybe after the news. And now I try to bring like little snacks that are just like easy to eat. Yeah. And not like cook a full breakfast, you know. But I guess I think I do the same thing, right? My largest meal is probably when I get home. My actual lunch, yeah, and dinner combined. Yeah, I do something small right after the news, a granola bar or a snack or something. Then my lunch break is typically my lunch. But I have an issue where I can't eat lunch food. Even though my lunch is at 9.30 in the morning, I can't eat lunch food. So I'll bring a bagel or a quiche. I've been on those egg bites. Those are good. Oh, yeah, those are good. Yeah, heat up, make a little egg sandwich with that and a bagel. But I can't eat. A salad or like a sandwich at that time, unless it's a breakfast sandwich. Really? Yeah. I'm having chicken pot pie. I just want to, yeah. I remember when Don was a photographer that worked here for several years and worked this shift for a while too. I would see him and it would be like not even nine o'clock. It would be maybe 7:30, eight o'clock and he would like eat like, you know, like leftover spaghetti or something. And it's kind of funny to see, but. When you've been up since maybe 2 o'clock in the morning, it makes sense. I've had steak at 9 a.m. At 9 a.m. Like, bringing leftover steak. Steak and eggs. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. It's just an odd shift. Not a weekend, though, when, like, you know, my life is fairly normal. Yeah. I actually eat a pretty decent breakfast. I like making breakfast. I do, too. Like, I like getting up and making breakfast. Like, I'll make pancakes or, like, omelets or something. Good omelet. Yeah. I'm not a lunch guy. No, I'll eat breakfast and I'll eat dinner and I in the middle of the afternoon and sometimes I'll I don't know make like something quick, but there's days I don't eat lunch. I'll just kind of snack throughout the day and then see I love lunch. This is a good segue because I am such a sandwich person. I love sandwiches and it is National Sandwich Day. Yes. You guys have a favorite sandwich that you go to? Ooh, Crisco. I love anything like a spicy Italian. Or like kind of an Italian sub. Anything like that, I'm a big fan of. I'm going to get a sandwich today. Growing up, I was a huge bologna and cheese fan. Really? Yeah. I never got into bologna. I actually didn't like bologna. Bologna and cheese with some mustard on it? Yeah. That was my sandwich. I think I reluctantly had that as a kid when my parents would just get bologna. Okay, I guess this is what I'm eating, you know? I don't hate bologna. I can get behind that. I feel like my... Growing up, I used to always have ham and cheese, maybe some lettuce, tomato, a little bit of honey mustard. Now, I like turkey a lot. I like turkey, too. Or even hot sandwiches, like any type of panini or chicken parm, cheesesteak. There's a lot of good sandwiches. Something like that, like a caprese with mozzarella and tomato. That's a good one. And chicken and balsamic. You add some avocado on there. Oh my god, I'm getting a sandwich today. Yeah, my favorite is a toss-up between I love a really good chicken salad sandwich, like, especially when you make it yourself, but there are some delis that have really good chicken salad options as well. I don't really like it with the raisins or nuts added, just like a classic chicken salad, and you can add, like, lettuce, tomato, maybe some roasted peppers or something, cheese, if you're feeling it that day. And then I also like a good chicken cutlet with, like, the works, you know? Big chicken cutlet guy. Yeah. So, yeah. Or breakfast sandwiches. Breakfast sandwiches. There's so many options. So many. We had that, you know, we were talking a little bit, I think we shared on Off the Desk, that we have a daily question here on 22 News. Somebody the other day, or was it last week, asked if it was like, the argument was, or the question was, is a hot dog a sandwich? Oh, yeah. That's a classic. Classic question. I would say no. It's a hot dog. It's just different. I think it's its own thing. I don't even know what the results of that were. Do people agree? I don't know. Is a taco a sandwich then? Yeah, like, it's its own category. It's something, I mean, technically a taco shell is like a bread. I guess what's the definition of a sandwich? Just meat between bread? I think that's why people make the argument, because hot dog is technically a type of meat between bread. Yeah, but it's a... Yes, but then, okay, so then if you're going to argue that it's not, what about an open-faced sandwich? Is that another whole category, you know, when it's like a tuna melt or something and you don't have the two pieces of bread? Yeah. It's so niche. Peace. I'm sure people can argue. I think a hot dog is just its own thing. Yeah. I do, too. I think the same way. A hot dog is its own thing. Yeah. What else? Well, we obviously talked about Election Day, get to the polls. And it's also give someone a dollar day. So I don't know. You like being nice? An act of kindness. Anyone want my Venmo? Yeah, right now. If you guys want to give me a dollar, I'll take it. I won't say no. I'll use your dollar towards a sandwich. Yeah. There you go. Yeah. All right. We'll take a quick break. Come back with some other things going on in the news. All right. Welcome back to Off the Desk on this Tuesday, Election Day. It's only November 3rd, but honestly, we've already been talking about Christmas quite a bit before Halloween, now especially after Halloween, and we're only going to keep talking about it. But tis the season of gift giving and starting to get things together for your loved ones. And something that comes around every year that people are really excited to see because it makes It's a great gift for the young ones. It's the Hess truck. Yes. Adults, too. I kind of want this one. I'm sorry it has to end his part. All right. Adults, too. But, yeah, the Hess truck was announced. The Hess truck's here, you know, as they say. Chris, do you want to tell us about it? Yeah, it's actually the first ever garbage truck one. Look at that. I'm shocked. They've had, like, Like, um... They had that truck that was carrying that jet years ago. Yeah. They've had a lot of different ones. Yeah. Before a garbage truck. But when you open up the garbage truck in the back, this guy on like a little, I guess, quad or ETV comes out and he has a little plow on the front. Um, so yeah, it's a really cool one. I actually, I saw it for the first time this morning and I was like, Oh, I actually kind of want that. It's cool. I always, I always collected them when I was a kid. So do my brothers. I have a good, I don't know, 10, 12 of them. Yeah, we did too. My grandfather always gave it to, to, it started with me. And then when I aged out, they would go to my sister and then my brother too. We all had like a few every year. And, um, Yeah, it was a good memory. Very nostalgic to see. To see, yeah. Yeah. I already sent it to my family group chat. Somebody's got to get those for my nephews. They both are very into trucks. So I think they would like it. Yeah, they're like $50. Yeah. Which is like kind of expensive for a toy truck, but it's Hess. It's Hess. And it's a collectible. And you hear people pass them down through generations. So that's something that you probably stick with whoever you're giving it to. And some of them that are a lot older. If you go back to the 90s or 80s, they're worth money. I was curious this morning. I was looking up stuff on eBay. Some of them are selling for a lot of money. Wow. Yeah. They're good collectible items. Cool. I hope that they never stop. I know, right? They're going to have to keep getting very innovative at some point. Maybe one day they'll release one of the new... I was going to say, what are the newer cars that drive themselves? I can't even think of the word for it. Like the self-driving cars? No, like the Teslas or something. Yeah, it's all about time. Like a Cybertruck. Yeah, true. I wonder if it has to be like a brand collab or something. I don't know. I don't really know how any of that works. But yeah, they're cool and yeah, cool collectible items. Something else that I keep seeing and I think they make a great gift. Honestly, for me, because my birthday is December 1st, I would get a lot of advent calendars growing up. But it is the perfect gift for someone who has a birthday end of November, early December because you have it for the whole month. But I saw a few Lego advent calendars that are really popular this year. All the makeup brands. Advent calendars are really popular. Oh, yeah, that's true. Amazon had a list of all of those. Maddie and I get them, but I get the chocolate one that you open and Maddie gets the wine one. I'm like the kid that has a chocolate in the morning and she gets hers open at night and gets a little mini wine bottle out of it. Oh, that's fun. They're so fun, though. This one said to me, she's like, do you want this one? It's a beer Advent calendar. I'm like, no, I want the chocolate one. that's funny but they're so fun yeah we used to um we have like a wooden one that my mom used to fill with candies every day so every morning before school in December everyone would come downstairs and we'd and we'd go to open the advent calendar but it's it's a fun tradition and there are some fun ones out there this year so yeah yeah they're fun they're fun cool Was there anything else with the Hess trucks? Any holiday things? Well, we could talk about the Dunkin' Holiday menu. Oh, that's right. That's what I was thinking of. Let me see if I can pull it up. Yeah, I think I was saying to you guys, I don't know if it was you, Chris, that I asked, have you seen any of the advertising for Dunkin' Spidey on their Instagram? So it was like the Spidey donut was their specialty donut. Oh, yeah. And it was... You got to imagine some Gen Z worker in charge of their social media that was just running the craziest memes and things with this Spidey donut. And then I saw a couple of days ago it was Spidey saying, like, sorry, my time's over, but. This will make you feel better. And then it was the next side was their holiday menu. So they're really getting creative with their advertising online. Yeah, I know the Spidey donut, but I haven't seen that. The marketing is pretty good. Dunkin' unwraps the holidays with the debut of the donut cracker and the return of cookie butter and toasted white chocolate. Wow, that sounds very sweet. What was it? The return of cookie butter and toasted white chocolate. Toasted white chocolate. Is that a coffee? It's just flavors. Yeah, but the donut cracker is a playful new design appearing across holiday cups, donut, and Munchkin's boxes. Oh, so it's a design, not a flavor. And then, yeah, cookie butter and toasted white chocolate are returning. Oh, yeah, the donut cracker, it's this thing. It's the little guy. So I think that's probably what Spidey was passing the torch to. Oh, yeah. He's saying the new holiday mascots coming through. Cool. So that's the new holiday packaging. It looks kind of fun. It does look good. Bright, playful, and unmistakably Dunkin'. That's what it says. So that's fun. Are there any, like, donut flavors that are new? Let's see. Well, there is. So the cookie butter is making a sweet return for every variation of drink possible, all the way from latte to matcha, spiced cookie, iced coffee. Let's see. What else? These are all drinks. It looks like toasted white chocolate, almond white chocolate, shaken espresso, raspberry white chocolate, matcha. That sounds really good and interesting. Do you guys like white chocolate? I like white chocolate. I don't know if I'd eat it. I don't know if I'd have it in a coffee, but I like white chocolate. Okay. Um, it's not saying any donut flavors. Those are just all the drinks, but I'm sure there's, do they have snickerdoodle? Is that a normal flavor? I don't know. I feel like I remember them in the past having that, but I could be wrong. I remember them having a peppermint one. Yeah. I don't know. That looks like all this one says. So I don't know. Maybe there'll be some more announced, but peppermint, peppermint, um, a peppermint mocha. Yeah. Yeah. Peppermint hot chocolate. It's really good. It is good. Yeah. Um, but since we were talking about sandwiches, do you guys remember when Dunkin sold the turkey cheddar bacon sandwich? That used to be my favorite item there. I don't think I ever had it, though. When I worked at Dunkin' when I was in high school, that would be, if I was closing, that would be like my dinner. Turkey cheddar bacon? Turkey cheddar bacon. It would be, yeah, turkey with white cheddar cheese, a couple pieces of bacon on. You could either do the flatbread, which I don't even think they have the flatbreads anymore. Oh, yeah. Oh, remember the flatbread? And they used to have toasted rolls, too, back in the day. So sometimes I would have it on a roll, and then they changed their menu. And that's just one thing. And obviously, like, they've... I've come out with a lot of other great menu items, but that's one thing that I get nostalgic about. They should bring that back for Thanksgiving. Yeah, turkey. Something, yeah. Yeah, that'd be... Turkey cheddar bacon for... Yeah, I wonder... Because they skip right over Thanksgiving, you know? Yeah. And it's all the holiday, like the Christmas-themed stuff. Give you a gravy-flavored coffee. Yeah, right? Yeah. Oh, yeah. We were talking, I think it was a... Sometimes if you burn coffee, it kind of tastes like baby. What? Okay. Does it? It depends on the coffee. I've never experienced that. But we talked a few weeks ago about when Starbucks announced their holiday menu and they had some... The only thing I can really remember was the brisket grilled cheese that they're adding to their menu. At Starbucks? Yeah. I remember that. Oh, yeah. That actually looked kind of good. Yeah. So, I haven't tried any of that. Brisket from Starbucks. Brisket from Starbucks. I mean, we're talking about turkey from Dunkin' and brisket from Starbucks. It's true. You could try it. Yeah. Some barbecue from Starbucks. Yeah, sure. Yum. Right. We'll take another break and see what else we can think of to chat about on Election Day. All right. Back here again on this Tuesday. I thought we'd finish the last couple of minutes with... Something that's sparked a little bit of a conversation. We have talked about it here on Off the Desk, the show Nobody Wants This. Season three is now playing. I still haven't finished all the episodes, so I have to keep watching. But this particular scene comes up pretty early on in either episode two or three, I think. And it's one of the characters talking to another character who's kind of going through a breakup, a separation, and he's trying to inspire himself. To get back out there and just live life for himself by embracing Mel Robbins' let them theory. And if you're not familiar with that, Mel Robbins is an inspirational speaker. She has her own podcast and her whole thing. She created a... I wrote a book about this, was the let them theory. Essentially, if somebody's having a bad day and they're talking to you a certain way, let them. Or if you're a parent and your adult children aren't calling you back and don't want to have any part of your life, let them. It's just examples like that so that you're not letting outside factors. Factors. Yeah. inhibit your internal peace. That's kind of like the whole gist of it. Like you can't control everybody else's actions, but you can control yourself, that kind of thing. And then they're talking about that in the show. And this other character says, well, no, I'm I'm more of a make them like if I want something done or if I want people to treat me a certain way or respect me or see me in a certain way, I'm going to make them through my actions and what I do. And it was just kind of an interesting conversation starter on I get the thought behind both of them, you know, and I think there is a time and a place maybe for each approach. Yeah, you know, no, for sure. Yeah. So what ended up happening was Mel Robbins was asked about this on the Today Show. And, you know, they said, so how do you feel that the let them theory is being referenced? And now there's kind of this counter theory to work with it or against it, if you want to think of it that way. And she said she was happy that to see her theory becoming kind of. A cultural statement in a way that it's now being morphed into the show. But she said that she's been trying to make them theory and it wasn't working for her. But she's comparing it more and using it as with her young children. And she was like, I've learned, you know, you can't make them do their homework or you can't make them eat super healthy. You can't make them exercise. They're always going to have an answer for you. But I think what's happening in the show is it's being used more as an empowerment thing versus. Kind of what Mel Robbins was saying in relation to parenting, where this is more like, OK, if you want a promotion at work, make them give it to you, you know, like show up every day, work hard, make them. If you want your friends to show up for you, be a good friend in return, give them something, you know, make them show up for you. So kind of like an empowerment thing in that way. Yeah, I can definitely see that. I think like with Mel Robbins is let them theory. I get that more in the sense of when it's generally things out of your control, other people's emotions, how other people. Treat, I guess not treat you, but maybe how they present themselves to you. If somebody else is having a bad day, you hear this often, it's more so about them than it is about you, whatever's going on in their life. It's the whole message of not letting other people disturb where you're at mentally. I do understand that, but then where does it become? I think this is the argument with the make them, that line of you don't want to be so passive. When it comes to certain situations, like a good example is if you are somebody who's trying to get a promotion at a job, if you were just like. Yes, man. And never stick up for yourself or don't demand to be in certain rooms or have a certain assertiveness to you. You might just be perceived as, oh, like you can get taken advantage of and get passed over for certain opportunities. That's just like an example in work, but be the best candidate. Make them give it to you. Yes. Yeah. Chris, what do you think? Have you heard either of these theories? No, but I don't agree or disagree with either one of them. I think I'm. I think it depends on what you're looking for. Like, I'm going to let them when it comes to, yeah, if someone is just having a bad day or doesn't want to talk to you, like, I'm not going to make them have a good day. Make them talk to me. Yeah. Like that, I kind of agree with. But yeah, the make them. When like you, yeah, you want like a promotion, you want a raise and you, you know, you make them see that you're trying hard or you make them see your worth or yeah, I like the friend one, like make them want to hang out with you because otherwise if you just. Don't put in the effort, and yeah, you're not going to have a good friend group, you know? I think they definitely coexist. So I feel like there's both exist in everyday reality. Yeah, I agree. It was interesting. And it is also interesting, though, to see references of like that book. Mel Robbins' book was so popular. Oh, yeah. I mean, still is one that's referred to a lot. And to see, you know, it's kind of coming full circle in the show. And I won't give any spoilers, but it does wrap itself up nicely. The theory does in the show. Oh, it does? So, yeah, you'll have to finish it. Oh, I have to finish it over the weekend. Did you like it? I did. I like the way that I did, yeah. I need to keep watching. Alright, happy Tuesday. Go out and vote. And we'll be back here tomorrow for Weather Wednesday. We'll see you then. Bye.