Designing Women S3 E10 - The Million Dollar Cat Mansion

What do a tabby cat, a 1921 Alaska license plate, and a buncha fishing lure have in common? They’re all things Suzanne could love, once she learns their true price tag! This episode of “Designing Women” introduces us to Sugarbaker’s latest “off the beam” client, but is she really? She’s not telling, ‘cause she’s off to the “Great Pet Store in the Sky”, but maybe a newly-found, handwritten will can solve this mystery!

And stick around for this week’s “Extra Sugar”, where we learn about the value of “one man’s trash.”

In case you want to do a little research of your own, here are some of our references:

• 15 people share the most extra thing they've ever done for their pets

• America’s Most Expensive License Plates

• Five Lures That Might Be Worth More Than Your Truck Or Boat

• Purina meowmix meow mix cat food

• 1984 - Cat Chow - Chow Chow Chow

• Purina 'Chow! Chow! Chow!' Cat Food Commercial (1975)

• Reader's Digest article about 10 millionaire pets

• A $20,000 teddy bear

• What does a $100,000 fishing lure look like? CNN article about a 2,000-year-old Goodwill find

• We discuss this Insider article in "Extra Sugar" this week

Come on, let’s get into it!

Or listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts.

---

Transcript

Salina: Hey, Nikki.

NIkki: Hey, Salina.

Salina: And hello, sweet tea and TV listeners.

NIkki: Sweet teas.

Salina: Hey, guys.

Salina: Hey, y'all.

Salina: Again, it's been no time for you and lots of time for us.

NIkki: Yeah.

NIkki: I was just telling Salina I feel really off kilter this week because it's been a lot of weeks.

Salina: So we hope it's a great listen for you as we try and remember how to do a podcast as if.

NIkki: We knew one in the first place.

Salina: Oh, yeah.

Salina: We're still learning on our feet.

NIkki: Thanks for joining us.

Salina: Sorry about that.

Salina: Well, we took a break, just so everyone knows because, well, we're tired and we both needed vacations.

NIkki: It's been too long.

Salina: Yeah.

NIkki: This vacation.

NIkki: Yeah.

NIkki: The vacation I just went on was the first one I'd had since the same time last summer.

Salina: That is way too long.

NIkki: It's too long.

NIkki: There's no joy in that.

NIkki: There's no honor in that.

NIkki: Just take a vacation.

Salina: Yeah.

NIkki: Just do it.

Salina: Yeah, you got to.

Salina: So you took one and then I took one.

Salina: In true vacation fashion, we did not go on vacation together.

NIkki: We did not.

NIkki: We went on different weeks.

Salina: One day.

NIkki: You plan it.

NIkki: I'm there.

NIkki: Don't make me plan it.

Salina: I know.

Salina: Well, you're a planner.

Salina: I'm a planner.

Salina: But I will say I've got some friends who step up to the plate and do a lot of planning.

NIkki: So.

Salina: Thank you, Alyssa.

Salina: And I'm going to step back and also say, tell me about your vacation because this is really honestly the first time that we've gotten to sit down today.

Salina: We did talk before this started, but I made you not tell me about your vacation.

Salina: So tell me about it.

NIkki: I just feel silly talking about mine because mine was way less than yours was and that's my word.

NIkki: Like I'm trying to say fancy mine.

NIkki: I went to Florida.

NIkki: I have a deep appreciation for Florida, even though sometimes it sounds like I don't.

NIkki: I do.

NIkki: So we go every year with Kyle's family.

NIkki: I think I mentioned that maybe in our Florida memories episode.

NIkki: So we went on the family trip.

NIkki: I told Salina the best version of this trip that we've been on with our kids because every year they get a little bit older, a little bit more self sufficient.

NIkki: It feels a little bit more like a vacation.

NIkki: We stay with my in laws and so the kids get grandparent time and we get to run out and have dinner together.

NIkki: And even the kids going to dinner with us is still fun at this age.

NIkki: So it was good.

NIkki: I think the best part of the trip, we chartered a boat with a captain this year.

NIkki: So we've been doing this thing where we rent a boat while we're there, a pontoon boat and we go out with a family.

NIkki: And Kyle, he drives the boat, but he always feels a little bit nervous.

NIkki: Like he always feels like he's just a huge responsibility you don't go out in the Gulf.

NIkki: You go in this Bay area.

NIkki: But a lot of people are renting boats.

NIkki: A lot of people who know nothing about boats don't know how to drive a boat.

NIkki: They're being irresponsible.

NIkki: So he feels like he has this real responsibility to protect everybody.

Salina: Not really relaxing.

NIkki: Not relaxing.

NIkki: My big dream every year we've gone out on this trip is I really want to see a dolphin.

NIkki: And we've done it, I think, three times and haven't seen a dolphin.

NIkki: So this year, I decided, let's do something different.

NIkki: Let's go with one of the charter companies and have it like a professional captain take us out.

NIkki: It's actually not that expensive to have just a private boat to yourself.

NIkki: So we went with us and our kids, and then my sister in law and my niece went with us, and he took us right out where the Gulf and the Bay meet, which is like a really big feeding area for the dolphins.

NIkki: And we saw so many, like, dozens, so we saw a ton of dolphin.

NIkki: We got to snorkel a little bit.

NIkki: He took us to a sandbar where you can snorkel for sand dollars.

NIkki: We had a sand dollar competition to see who could find the most.

NIkki: My niece won.

Salina: You going to recover.

NIkki: I didn't find it was rough, and I was, like, scrambling at the end to find any because I didn't find any.

Salina: You're like pushing down your own kids.

Salina: Yeah, you're like, out of the way.

NIkki: You guys just float right there for a second.

NIkki: Mommy's got business.

Salina: I'm trying to get something done.

NIkki: So I couldn't find any.

NIkki: And right at the end, he was like, okay, we need to go.

NIkki: So I snorkeled over to the side of the boat, and there were tons right there.

NIkki: And I looked at the captain, and I was like, are you throwing these in for me to find?

NIkki: Because I think you would notice I was pretty upset I wasn't finding any.

NIkki: But he said, no, he hadn't.

NIkki: Sometimes they just like to sort of gather right beside the boat.

NIkki: So I found a bunch.

NIkki: My niece found the most, but it was really fun.

NIkki: I was trying to think, what else?

NIkki: Oh, and the last day we were there, I was sitting on the beach and happened to look out in the water.

NIkki: And we're like early beach people, so I like to go early and late because that's when the wildlife are out.

NIkki: So we were sitting out there pretty early, and I saw this sort of shadow out in the water, and I adjusted my sunglasses, and I looked closer, and I was like, that is totally a manta ray right there, right off the shore.

NIkki: So I threw my goggles on really quick because, yes, I take goggles out and I snorkel around, and I got to swim right over top of this manta ray.

NIkki: He was just cruising around right there.

Salina: That's cool.

NIkki: Somebody was like, Is it a stingray?

NIkki: And I was like, I'm not a zoologist.

NIkki: I don't know.

NIkki: It's a ray of some kind.

Salina: I'm glad you didn't let your fear get to you.

NIkki: Oh, no way.

NIkki: Yeah.

Salina: I'm a scaredy cat, so I would have wanted to see it.

Salina: I'm always like, hey, when we're on this trip, I really need to see what I like to call a substantial animal.

NIkki: Yes.

Salina: And that counts as a substantial animal.

NIkki: I'm glad you put it that way.

NIkki: I agree.

NIkki: Yeah.

NIkki: I'm not scared, I will tell you.

NIkki: We went out one day and went out pretty far, and there was this really aggressive fish.

NIkki: I'm still not sure what it was.

Salina: Little or big?

NIkki: Little, but he looked scary.

NIkki: Yes.

NIkki: I don't know how to put it, but I had been snorkeling.

NIkki: My sister in law was there.

NIkki: My niece was there.

NIkki: And I saw it and I said, look, I don't want to alarm you guys.

NIkki: It's not a shark, but I think we need to go back to the shore.

NIkki: This fish looks he looks something.

NIkki: He made eye contact with me.

NIkki: Like something's uncomfortable.

NIkki: So we're, like, racing back to the shore.

NIkki: We get back to the shore and I find out I think my sister in law thought I said it was a shark.

NIkki: And he was also nipping at her.

Salina: What do you really think it was?

Salina: Because it wasn't a shark.

Salina: Right?

NIkki: Honestly, I've Googled so many Finding Nemo it couldn't have been a barracuda because I asked our captain, actually, someone was like, that's a barracuda, while we were.

Salina: Out snorkeling sand, don't they?

NIkki: They do.

NIkki: But it was long.

NIkki: It kind of had a pointy.

NIkki: Nose sore fish?

NIkki: No, not that pointy.

NIkki: It was a little sharkish, but it was small.

NIkki: And it just didn't seem like a shark.

NIkki: But it made eye contact with me.

NIkki: Something was happening.

Salina: Discovered a new animal.

NIkki: Maybe I did, because I have tried googling relentlessly, and I can't.

NIkki: And now, as time goes on, I'm forgetting what it looked like.

NIkki: But it was not a tiny fish.

NIkki: It's not like this big.

NIkki: It was more like this big.

NIkki: Something was going on with that fish.

Salina: I don't think anybody knows what.

Salina: You just did a foot.

NIkki: Oh, yeah, sorry.

NIkki: It was probably like a foot.

Salina: Close to a foot.

NIkki: Yeah.

NIkki: So my sister in law and niece probably will never swim with me again because she's like, you said it was a shark.

NIkki: And I was like, I didn't say shark.

NIkki: I said, It's not a shark.

NIkki: She's like, you just don't say shark.

NIkki: So I was telling Kyle later, thinking he would take my side, and he goes, It's like saying bomb on an airplane.

NIkki: You just don't say bomb on an airplane.

NIkki: Even if you're saying it's not a bomb.

Salina: Whatever.

Salina: That's tough.

NIkki: The last most interesting thing that almost happened on this trip, we were driving through Auburn to come home and I almost got to make a stop at a brand new Buckies.

Salina: They're not open yet.

NIkki: They're not open yet.

Salina: I'm sorry.

NIkki: It was rough.

Salina: It was a real letdown.

NIkki: It was a real letdown.

NIkki: It really was.

Salina: I'm so sorry.

NIkki: It was a run of the mill Florida trip that was very necessary and we had fun with our kids and it was nothing like your vacation.

NIkki: Are you going to tell?

Salina: No.

Salina: I'm like I feel like you're queuing me up for something I may not be able to deliver on.

Salina: So I and a group of friends, just me and them, we went to Ireland for two weeks because my best friend Ashley and Peter, I would like to consider Peter a friend now as well, but and her fiance got married.

NIkki: So you've said Ireland and you've said best friend getting married.

NIkki: I feel like that just three upped my trip.

NIkki: So you did it.

Salina: You're welcome.

NIkki: You were successful.

Salina: Well, that is not my intention.

Salina: I was her matron of honor.

Salina: I do not like that title.

Salina: Sounds old.

NIkki: You were the old maid of honor.

Salina: Yeah, I was her old lady.

Salina: I think that's fine.

Salina: But it was I mean it's Ireland.

Salina: It's gorgeous.

Salina: She got married in Kinsale, I believe this is in Western Ireland and it's about 4 hours outside of Dublin, if that's helpful for you.

NIkki: Never been to Ireland, means nothing to me.

Salina: It's in the southern part, so I was still in the south.

Salina: Everywhere you go, there you are, there you are.

Salina: And so it was like in a Bay Area and just beautiful.

Salina: There's just all of these sailboats out in the water and the hotel where they got married, the Trident, in case you guys want to get in on this other podcast.

Salina: Anyways, the hotel was beautiful.

Salina: I got an opportunity to see some of Ashley's family that hadn't seen in a really long time and in particular her baby brother got to come, he has three kids.

Salina: But anyways, just to see the human being he's become.

Salina: I hadn't seen him since he was like 16.

Salina: Oh, wow.

Salina: I don't think so.

Salina: And so seeing him grown up and that was amazing.

Salina: And being with her family who just has so much love for her was amazing.

Salina: Being with my best friend and several of my best friends was so amazing.

Salina: And then it was a beautiful wedding.

Salina: The term tying the knot actually comes from Irish traditions and the officiant literally tied them together at the front in a very beautiful and not weird way with like this beautiful ribbon.

Salina: And the ceremony is very different than an American ceremony.

NIkki: I'm trying to remember if you mentioned that her husband is Irish.

Salina: He's Irish?

NIkki: Yeah.

NIkki: So you've got a real taste of true tradition.

Salina: Right.

Salina: But they didn't get married in the Catholic Church, which would have been like the most traditional, but we did get the ceremonies just like, okay, so, for instance, the way that we have a rehearsal dinner, they don't do that.

Salina: So they just kind of tell you before you're going down the aisle, here's the things that you need to do.

NIkki: Which I think is fine.

NIkki: It's not rocket science.

Salina: You don't really need to do anything.

NIkki: It's not that complicated.

Salina: But for the first time in my life as a bridesmaid, I got to sit down.

Salina: And that was amazing.

NIkki: Oh, wow.

Salina: All the focus is on them, which I think actually makes a lot of sense.

NIkki: Sure.

Salina: But then they did call me up because so myself and the best man, who is Peter's brother, we came up and we signed some documents right up there at the front as their witnesses.

Salina: And so they do all of that.

NIkki: Super official.

Salina: Yeah.

Salina: Like royalty is what kind of looked like they were signing a decree or something.

NIkki: I'm going to need to read this.

NIkki: Just give me a moment before I sign.

Salina: Right?

Salina: I know.

Salina: Can you imagine if I had done that?

NIkki: She pulled out, like reading glasses.

NIkki: Like a true patron of us.

NIkki: Just like I'm going to need to call my lawyer.

Salina: Hold, please.

Salina: I did tell her because the official said something about and Peter is her best friend.

Salina: And we all looked at each other, hold up.

NIkki: One of many.

Salina: And I was like, you're lucky I'm who I am because I wanted to go, which, by the way, I know it would have been hard for her to not have done that at my wedding, which she was also in my wedding.

Salina: But anyways, it was beautiful.

Salina: And then we all went down to a beach house in Conamara and we got to spend some time down there.

Salina: And that was beautiful, too.

Salina: And if you would have told me somewhere in Ireland, next to the castles that dot the land, that's like green emeralds, everywhere you look, there's also Caribbean waters, the way they look like that's, how blue they are.

Salina: A little colder, I would have been like, nah, that's not true.

Salina: But it is true.

Salina: I couldn't believe how beautiful the water was.

Salina: It had more of like off Massachusetts coast kind of vibe, but just absolutely gorgeous.

Salina: And so I just want to take this opportunity to say to Ashley and Peter just how much I love and adore them, how happy I am for them and how grateful I am to have taken part in such a beautiful trip.

NIkki: That's nice.

NIkki: And congratulations.

NIkki: Congratulations.

Salina: And best wishes to the bride.

NIkki: I always get that wrong.

Salina: Does it matter?

Salina: Traditions.

Salina: All right.

Salina: So anyways, that was pretty much it.

Salina: Do you want to talk about the episode?

Salina: Yeah, it's kind of like we kind of want to stay on vacation, but here we are.

NIkki: I know.

NIkki: We're back to work now.

NIkki: Back to work.

Salina: Life back to reality.

NIkki: So this episode is season three, episode ten.

NIkki: Mr.

NIkki: Bailey sugar Bakers has had numerous clients who could kindly be termed eccentric.

NIkki: But their latest is the cat's meow says hulu.

NIkki: The air date on this one was January 23, 1989.

NIkki: We're going to call this one the million dollar cat mansion.

NIkki: It was written by LBT.

NIkki: And Pamela Norris and directed by David Trainer.

NIkki: So you want to jump into some general reactions, stray observations?

Salina: Sure, absolutely.

Salina: I should probably also say one thing is I got sick.

Salina: So if I start having a coughing attack, we're going to try nikki is going to try and cut it out, or we might leave it in for the most beautiful experience that you can have.

Salina: But all all say is bear with me because I don't know how my voice is going to hold up.

Salina: It's going to be super beautiful by the end.

Salina: So I apologize.

NIkki: At this point, you sound way better sick than I did when I was listening to the first couple of episodes this season and I was coming off a sickness and I just sounded terrible.

NIkki: So you sound great so far.

Salina: Thank you.

Salina: So I guess my first general reaction is I found the set up for this one to be weird.

NIkki: Okay.

Salina: So here's my thing.

Salina: Why would you assume as sugar bakers, that you'd be decorating the house for the heir of your client who died or that they'd even be keeping the house or interested in your services?

Salina: That was kind of like the jumping off point for this one.

Salina: I think they're trying to make it make sense with this whole her name was Mrs.

Salina: Carver whitehead.

Salina: This is my last wish kind of thing.

Salina: But like what?

Salina: I'm expected to believe that she is laying on her deathbed with Julia at her side, and she's like, oh, Julia, whatever you do, whatever happens, promise me, promise me you'll decorate the house.

Salina: It's silliness.

Salina: I would just assume that this was a rap and we weren't doing that anymore.

Salina: So that lost me.

NIkki: Okay, that makes sense.

Salina: How about you?

NIkki: So I think one of my general reactions, how realistic it all was, that did not bother me at all.

NIkki: And I'm mentally parsing through what that says about me.

NIkki: I liked this episode, so I put that to the side.

NIkki: What I was going to say is I've been super down on Julia lately.

NIkki: It's just my general vibe toward Julia.

NIkki: I'm super down on her.

NIkki: I really liked that she took this bite upon herself.

NIkki: I like that she has a good sense of justice and a desire for justice.

NIkki: And I feel like this was well placed because she said, Mary Joe, this is no longer about giving a cat money.

NIkki: This is about the right to live your life the way you choose and not have your money stolen after you're dead.

NIkki: And all I thought was amen.

NIkki: Good for Julia.

NIkki: Hey, I like that during this episode.

Salina: Yeah.

Salina: I think that's if you're going from that route, I'm into it.

Salina: It's one of those things again where I feel like we're being forced to get to the next place.

Salina: And so the plot feels a little contrived in the beginning, but we're also talking about a cat who inherits a house, whatever.

NIkki: And so what I was going to say a minute ago is that I can talk out of both sides of my mouth on this sort of thing because on the one hand, sometimes the more eccentric the episode, the more I enjoy it.

NIkki: Especially with this show.

NIkki: It's just so silly and so, like, at this point in my life, I enjoy that.

NIkki: I like to put reality aside and just think about silliness.

Salina: Sure.

NIkki: And then on the other hand, sometimes, though, if I don't like the episode, I really hold it against it and I really dig deep on it and I'm like, in furthermore, how inaccurate is this?

NIkki: Well, my opinion matters.

Salina: I could watch it in two years and it'd be completely different.

Salina: I guess that's the point of doing something like whatever it is that we're doing right now.

Salina: It's very subjective.

NIkki: Yeah.

Salina: I will say that for me, I don't know if this hit you at all, but a dusty thing.

Salina: This is my second general reaction, is that this idea of the eccentric pet owner, quote unquote first, it was a story about Mary Joe's uncle who died and left her money.

Salina: He used to always take his dog with him to the family reunions.

Salina: And this is sort of set up as like, this is what makes Uncle Do.

Salina: Kind of strange.

NIkki: Right?

NIkki: I had forgotten about that.

Salina: Then we get in this episode.

Salina: So we have the client who passed away, evelyn and her cat, which the whole episode is based on.

Salina: And then stories about Charlene's neighbor who used to dress her dog up on the front porch, have a tea service and feed them cakes and pies and cookies.

Salina: But I think so much has shifted culturally with pet owners and animals in the last 30 years that when it comes to their relationships, something like this kind of has lost its shine for me because they're, like, trying to use that to paint them as eccentric.

Salina: But I would just call that fairly normal behavior.

Salina: Okay.

Salina: Adoption days.

Salina: Totally something that you see people have all the time for their pets.

Salina: Birthdays, other celebrations with their pets, including decorations, party hats and pet approved cakes.

NIkki: Sure, yeah, we make Jackson a cake every year.

Salina: Puppuccinos, all these kinds of things.

Salina: I don't know there's any kitty chinos, but we'll leave that between cat owners and their cats.

Salina: People dress them up at the bare minimum for Halloween regularly, put them on special diets and regimens, and take them just about everywhere.

Salina: Some jobs, I believe, including your husband's, if he was to go into the office, even allow pets in the office.

Salina: I've even seen a little cute summer camp for them.

Salina: Like going out into North Carolina somewhere.

NIkki: I was with you until the summer camp.

Salina: It did look kind of cute, actually.

NIkki: Summer camps are so expensive.

Salina: Well, I didn't say I would do it.

Salina: Just said it was cute.

Salina: And then this other thing I found, also, that I just had to share is an insider article with 15 of the most extravagant things that people do for their pets.

Salina: Can I share a couple with you?

NIkki: Yes.

Salina: Okay.

Salina: And then I want to hear, because I don't have a pet, I want.

NIkki: To hear if there's anything we do for Jackson or don't do.

Salina: Yeah.

Salina: Or, like, be thinking, is there anything that you think could have made this list that you all do?

Salina: Okay, so I actually don't think this one is that eccentric, but I do think it's super cute.

Salina: They gave their dog their own Netflix profile so they can watch documentaries when they're not home.

NIkki: That's something we did with Jackson when we first got him.

NIkki: Not the Netflix profile.

NIkki: But we would turn on Animal Planet and let him watch animal documentaries.

Salina: I'm like, I know several animals that have things that they are put on TV for them that they react better to.

NIkki: I just worried he got lonely all day being home by himself.

Salina: Yeah.

NIkki: And that's a way to keep him company.

NIkki: Right?

Salina: I mean, it's a remote worker.

NIkki: And so that's the thing.

NIkki: Kyle started working from home just a couple of years after we got Jackson, and so then we didn't need it anymore because he had Kyle.

Salina: Yeah, that's right.

Salina: I don't know that I would do this one or necessarily have this pet, but it sounds kind of fun.

Salina: They built their hamster a Lego maze.

Salina: Oh, that sounds fun, doesn't it?

Salina: Yeah, I'd like to see it.

Salina: I think more than do.

Salina: It sounds like a lot of work.

NIkki: It does sound like a lot of work.

Salina: I'm lazy.

NIkki: I got bitten by a hamster, so I don't like to be around hamsters anymore.

NIkki: Oh, I have a hamster story.

NIkki: Carry on.

Salina: Oh, not have to do.

NIkki: Traumatic hamster, extra cigarette.

Salina: I also have a traumatic hamster.

NIkki: Traumatic.

Salina: All right, put that on the list.

Salina: Listen back, Salina.

Salina: One person's horse has a massage therapist that actually almost tracks for me if they're, like, running in a Kentucky Derby.

NIkki: Right?

Salina: Don't they need that?

NIkki: Exactly.

Salina: So I don't know, but I still liked it.

NIkki: Horses also require, like, a lot of grooming.

NIkki: I feel like horses are just high maintenance, and they're not really pets.

NIkki: They're like a lifestyle.

Salina: Sure.

NIkki: Yeah.

Salina: Really expensive.

Salina: One pet got personalized pillow.

Salina: No, this is an owner.

Salina: Excuse me.

Salina: Personalized pillows for her dog each year from an embroidery shop, and she confers with the dog regarding the fabric color and font choices on the pillow.

Salina: Incidentally, the dog is wearing earrings, a tiara, and a tutu when they come in together.

Salina: This is like the shop owner who's relaying this.

Salina: People love their pets is what we're trying to say.

Salina: Is the last one what you do?

NIkki: What's that?

Salina: For Jackson.

NIkki: What do you mean?

Salina: Confer with him whilst in his tutu and PR.

NIkki: No, absolutely not.

NIkki: We don't confer with Jackson.

Salina: She's not passing judgment.

NIkki: No.

NIkki: And I think we don't do very much extra honestly, we've never really done much extravagant for Jackson.

NIkki: But you're raising a good point in your earlier point about just how times have changed.

NIkki: I feel like we just do.

NIkki: Even when we first had him, we had no kids.

NIkki: It was just the three of us, and we would take him.

NIkki: Like when I found out I was pregnant with Carolina, we took him to the ice cream place and got him a brewsters for doggies and just sat and enjoyed it on the lawn.

Salina: Bad news, pears.

Salina: He's not number one anymore.

NIkki: Soften the blow for sure.

NIkki: Yeah.

NIkki: But now we don't do very much extravagant with him.

NIkki: Now it's more just practical.

NIkki: Like I have to pick him up and put him on the bed at night because I don't want him to miss it's hard for him to jump up.

NIkki: It's tall.

Salina: Yeah, sure.

NIkki: Okay.

Salina: Well, I just thought we needed to talk about it.

NIkki: I think that's great.

Salina: I think that's wonderful.

NIkki: Fantastic.

Salina: I love it.

NIkki: I had another general reaction, but it reads a little stray.

NIkki: So Mary Joe comes in, ranting about the parking lot rules, and okay.

NIkki: So she's going on about how this person had tailgated her.

NIkki: I really thought she was talking about Suzanne.

NIkki: I thought there was going to be like a reveal that it was Suzanne who did it, because then there was the not helping her with their bags, and I thought she was just going to come in and say and Suzanne was doing it or whatever.

NIkki: And Suzanne was really quiet for a long time in this scene.

NIkki: Just surprised me.

Salina: Probably because she just didn't care.

NIkki: Probably.

NIkki: Yeah.

Salina: It didn't really involve her.

NIkki: But if LBT And Pamela Norris had asked me my opinion, I would have said, make it Suzanne that tailgated her in the parking lot.

NIkki: That would be hilarious.

NIkki: And on brand.

Salina: That would have been an amazing twist.

NIkki: Yes.

NIkki: Wouldn't it?

NIkki: Early in the episode.

NIkki: Keep us on our toes, right?

NIkki: Yeah, I'll act it.

Salina: I'm into that.

Salina: Well, mine was my stray.

Salina: I've got a couple, but Charlene's dream about a million dollar cat mansion is a mink scratching post, emerald flea collars, perrier in the cat dish and a little bidet next to the litter box.

Salina: And I got to thinking, like, if you had the money, what would you do with your house?

Salina: Or would you even keep it?

Salina: Would you get a new house?

NIkki: Oh, we've talked about this, actually, a lot.

NIkki: In the current economic environment, we like to dream of winning the lottery more than we ever have before.

NIkki: And I think we're in agreement I guess it depends on the amount of money you get.

NIkki: We being me and you or no, sorry.

NIkki: No, not you, me and Kyle.

NIkki: Just check the person I'd be planning my life with.

NIkki: It depends on the amount we get, but if we got enough so, like, we're talking like in the 100 million dollar range, sure, we'd buy a new house, but it would still be I don't want people to know how much money I have because then they start asking for it and things get awkward.

NIkki: So it would be enough that you probably wouldn't know we were super wealthy.

Salina: Right.

Salina: You have like a little compound under the ground.

NIkki: But I don't know that I'm capable of fathoming that much money.

NIkki: So what I would want in said house is so simple and basic, I think.

NIkki: So I just want a pantry that has shelves.

NIkki: Not wire shelves, has actual shelves and like actual space to put stuff.

Salina: Why did that ever sound like a good idea?

Salina: Every time something slips through that stupid wire shelf, I get so angry.

NIkki: So angry you can't stand if you get the cans, the cans aren't even in the right spot.

NIkki: They just sort of tilt over.

Salina: And how are you supposed to stack?

Salina: Exactly.

NIkki: So then you end up buying all this organizing crap that takes up so much space in there.

NIkki: So I want a pantry.

NIkki: I walk in would be preferable.

NIkki: And I want actual shelves and I want them organized.

NIkki: I want a swimming pool.

NIkki: I would like a swimming pool big enough to swim a lap in.

NIkki: I would like that.

Salina: What's considered a lap?

NIkki: Like to swim a lap?

NIkki: I don't know the exact length.

Salina: Okay.

NIkki: But just enough that I don't like, stroke my arms.

NIkki: I wouldn't stroke my arms twice and I'm at the other side.

Salina: You're not looking for a Dunk pool, right?

Salina: Okay.

NIkki: Right.

NIkki: I think those are the biggies and like a movie room.

NIkki: Somewhere to go watch a movie.

NIkki: Yeah, those are my things.

Salina: I love that.

NIkki: Yeah.

NIkki: What about you?

Salina: Well, I don't really enjoy laundry, but while you were talking about the pantry, I'm thinking like every time I see like a mud room or like a laundry room that you can walk in and there's like nice shelves and stuff.

Salina: Yeah, put me down for one of those.

Salina: I don't want to do the laundry, but since I have to do it anyway, right?

Salina: There's nothing like squeezing into a two foot area to do it.

Salina: Like, it's already annoying in the summertime.

Salina: It feels real hot in there when the dryer is going and all of that.

Salina: And then there's just nowhere to go.

Salina: Or ours is right next to our bedroom, which I do love and I'm very thankful for.

Salina: But because there's no room, I've got clothes just like all down the hallway, like trying to do loads.

Salina: Because that is one place where I'm really weird.

Salina: I need.

Salina: To take care of my clothes in a very certain way.

Salina: So I'm not the kind of gal that just throws everything into one.

Salina: You don't have kids load together.

NIkki: Yeah, I know everything.

Salina: I desperate.

NIkki: I'm going to shove it all in there.

Salina: I'm waiting for the time when I say something that's just like luxuriating in time and you just sock me.

Salina: So I'm sorry, but I also have friends with no kids that they just throw it all towels, rugs, whatever will go in there.

Salina: And I'm like, I'm sorry, are you trying to put white and beige together?

Salina: Anyways, it does feel like it's not just a kid thing.

Salina: It's just like a personality.

NIkki: I think you're right.

NIkki: I do think you're right.

NIkki: But if you had enough money, do.

Salina: You think maybe I would just pay.

NIkki: Someone to pay someone to do your laundry?

NIkki: We were talking about that because Kyle was saying, like, what do really, really wealthy people do about their laundry?

NIkki: And it was nervous.

NIkki: It was so funny to ask that question because I was like, there's two things they could do.

NIkki: One, I'm sure someone really, really wealthy, and he was specifically talking about the CEO of the company he works for.

NIkki: And I was like, they probably have a maid who's just doing laundry all the time.

NIkki: Or there are services where you can just stick it out on your front porch.

NIkki: They come get it and go do it for you.

Salina: Which is preferable?

Salina: Help me.

Salina: Preferable.

Salina: To me, that's still weird.

Salina: Is it preferable or preferable?

NIkki: I say preferable or does it matter.

Salina: Based on whether there's a noun before it?

Salina: You know those weird rules.

Salina: This seems like a sidebar conversation.

Salina: I'm sorry.

NIkki: Anyway, you would prefer?

Salina: I would prefer the service because I don't think I would ever feel comfortable at any amount of wealth with a service person who lives in my house.

NIkki: They don't have to live in your house.

Salina: They just show up.

Salina: Yeah, okay.

NIkki: They show up at 08:00 a.m.

Salina: But sometimes they live there.

NIkki: They can.

Salina: Yeah, I'm not comfortable with that.

Salina: I'm not comfortable with that lifestyle.

Salina: Hey, it's a job for someone.

Salina: I'm just saying, for me, that doesn't work.

NIkki: I think the part that I would struggle with is them handling my business under clothes.

Salina: I see.

NIkki: Like, I'm pretty sure I would just separate my laundry and no matter how much money I make, I would probably still do my own underwear.

Salina: The underwear.

Salina: See, I don't even like the word panties.

Salina: There's no way I'm passing it off to someone.

NIkki: I got a bag of panties for you.

NIkki: Come clean my panties.

Salina: Yeah, you could get money for those.

Salina: So why are you going to pay for somebody else to take them this way 18 ways?

Salina: So the laundry room is one thing.

Salina: That's a big thing.

Salina: For me, it would probably just be either me completely, like, tearing the sucker down and rebuilding it back up.

Salina: I am in a suburban, cookie cutter home.

Salina: It ain't my style.

Salina: It's great.

Salina: It's just not my style.

Salina: I like something that's like either cottagey and has a lot of quirks and pockets and corners until those quirks start.

NIkki: Leaking and you got to get them repaired.

Salina: I know.

Salina: Which is Casey's Point or, like, I love a nice spiral staircase somewhere with, like, a library, like these that like the Biltmore small and manageable a summer house, if you will.

Salina: Anyway, so those are a couple of things that popped out to me.

Salina: We could start a new podcast about.

NIkki: This, but I just needed to know my whole thing.

NIkki: I just want land.

NIkki: I want a big piece of land, but I want it in a location that's convenient to things, and this is that's hard.

NIkki: Very hard to check.

Salina: So you also need a plane.

NIkki: Right.

Salina: And then how are you going to square that with the way you feel about what that does with the environment?

Salina: It's a good thing.

NIkki: That's why I live in the house I live in.

NIkki: Oh, right, yeah.

NIkki: Also, I'm poor.

Salina: It's a good thing that we don't have that kind of money.

NIkki: We don't have that problem.

Salina: So that was my first tray.

NIkki: Okay.

NIkki: I have fashion notes.

NIkki: Oh, okay.

NIkki: I have photographic evidence upset fashion notes.

NIkki: Mary Joe's red outfit at the very beginning.

NIkki: How cute is that?

Salina: Very cute.

Salina: It's giving you Michael Jackson vibes.

NIkki: Yeah.

Salina: Red blazer, black pants.

NIkki: I see a little Princess Diana black gloves on.

NIkki: Or am I yes, she does.

Salina: Okay.

NIkki: Which was going to be one of my strays.

NIkki: And then it felt really, really stray.

NIkki: But yes, she had gloves on and no, like, overcoat.

Salina: Oh, very Princess Diana.

Salina: Yeah.

Salina: I see that.

NIkki: Julia's crisscross belt.

NIkki: Our unidentified fashion object makes a reappearance, and then you feel like you have something you want to say.

NIkki: The last thing I was going to say is this black outfit, about three quarters of the way through the episode, they were not going to this lady's funeral, but she looks like she's going to someone's funeral.

Salina: I was actually thinking because I haven't watched the episode in a minute or two, and so I was wondering, is that her funeral outfit?

NIkki: As far as I know, this was just a pep in the officer it's.

Salina: Black skirt and a red handkerchief and red lips.

NIkki: It's a very pretty look, but beautiful.

NIkki: She showed up, and I was like.

Salina: Kind of like, morticia, though.

NIkki: Yeah, it looks punarial.

Salina: It's nice.

Salina: Good.

NIkki: Fashionist.

Salina: We need, like, a fashion turn to the left.

Salina: Fashion turn to the right.

NIkki: I think we have it.

Salina: Fashion.

NIkki: I'll be cutting that and putting you to the top of this segment.

Salina: It sounds just like David Bowie, too, don't.

NIkki: I actually wasn't sure who that was.

NIkki: Thanks for clarifying that.

Salina: You're welcome.

Salina: Until somebody goes, that's not David Bowie, idiot.

Salina: But I'm pretty sure that's David Bowie.

Salina: I want to pose Julia's question to you, and I think this goes really nicely with us talking about would we be willing to pass our under things onto someone to clean?

Salina: If one of us knock on wood, if one of us passed tonight and a bunch of people came in and looked around at our houses to size us up, what might they find?

Salina: As a reminder, Charlene had a jigsaw puzzle in the bathroom.

Salina: Respect.

Salina: By the way, Mary Joe had a hockey mask in her underwear drawer.

Salina: I don't know.

Salina: That's weird.

Salina: And Anthony had dirty dishes in his fridge.

Salina: Been there.

Salina: And hills in the bathtub from his date last night or his last date.

NIkki: Or something, which real quick was one of my strays.

NIkki: We haven't talked about Anthony dating in a while, so go Anthony.

Salina: Yeah.

Salina: So with those in mind, it's funny.

NIkki: That you're posing this question because the same thing occurred to me while I was watching this episode.

NIkki: So I've really been noodling through this and going through my day to day life for a while now, thinking like, remember what is the weird stuff?

NIkki: Remember the weird stuff?

NIkki: I realized how shockingly plain my house is even with kids.

NIkki: So the hockey mask in the underwear drawer is totally something that I was expecting I would think of something like that because I got the two little kids.

NIkki: You do random things.

NIkki: You have random things.

NIkki: My house is really boring unless it's so normal to me that I don't recognize it as weird.

NIkki: But I did have two that occurred to me.

NIkki: I have a little squirrel statue that is in my bedroom on my dresser.

NIkki: And I feel like you walk into somebody's house and you're like, why a squirrel?

NIkki: It's like really realistic looking.

NIkki: It's there.

NIkki: It's a thing.

NIkki: It was my sororities mascot and somebody gave it to me while I was in my sorority and it has traveled with me through all my different houses and I just can't get rid of it.

NIkki: And I look at it and I think of my sorority and so I have a squirrel statue.

Salina: Okay.

NIkki: I think that's kind of weird.

Salina: That's not too terribly weird.

NIkki: That's what I'm saying.

NIkki: Even the things that I think are weird are not that weird.

NIkki: The other thing I thought of was I have a dirty paper towel that lives on the counter.

Salina: Okay.

NIkki: And so somebody would like walk in and be like, what is happening here?

NIkki: Kyle uses it to oil a pan that we cook on and I guess there's no good place to keep a dirty paper towel, so keeps it on the counter.

Salina: Yeah.

Salina: Okay.

Salina: I think we're going to have to cut this episode short because I'm just really grossed out by you right now.

NIkki: I know, it's disgusting, isn't it?

Salina: No, not at all.

Salina: I will just say that in general, the very notion of this terrified me before Julia even said anything because I was like, I just think about things like that are just drawers I just throw crap in.

Salina: I have no idea what are in those drawers.

Salina: Like, every couple of years I'll try and but I just imagine there's probably an amalgamation of really weird crap in there.

Salina: But my big one would be what I like to call my transition room.

Salina: It's where I put holiday decorations stuff going to Goodwill.

Salina: But the truth is, it's just where I transition crap to when I don't.

NIkki: Know what to do with it.

NIkki: Right when you run out of places?

Salina: Yeah.

Salina: And I just feel like people might walk in that room and be like, are they hoarders?

Salina: And it's just because it's real messed up, guys.

Salina: I don't know what to say.

NIkki: My in laws moved last year and they had been in the same house for 30 years and we all went over there to help them pack things and clean out rooms.

NIkki: And let's just say it happens that you're going through things and they have a specific purpose for everything.

NIkki: Everything was there for a reason.

NIkki: You just don't know that reason.

NIkki: So I think I'm especially attuned to that now and I try really hard not to pass judgment because you just have no clue why something is the way it is.

NIkki: And this episode resonated with me for that reason, because there's usually a really good reason for it.

NIkki: It's just not your reason.

NIkki: You don't understand it for sure.

NIkki: And it doesn't make moving any easier.

Salina: So maybe what we need to do is we just like have little slips of paper where everything is weird and.

NIkki: It'S like just an explanation in case I'm dead.

Salina: The reason that you're seeing this here is because x, Y, and Z.

Salina: Yeah, good point.

Salina: So that'll be on my never to do list.

NIkki: Well, we were talking about how my in laws are going to come stay at my house in a couple of weeks.

NIkki: And that's actually part of what I'm thinking about is what could they walk in and say, like, what the heck is this here for?

Salina: And I really squirrel.

NIkki: My squirrel is probably going to scare someone.

Salina: And your dirty paper towel telling you.

NIkki: What, that's going to have to get cleaned up before they come.

NIkki: Can't have them thinking we're dirty.

Salina: Kyle, you get this nonsense out of here.

NIkki: Disgusting.

Salina: That was my last stray.

NIkki: I have two more and then I'd love to do a grit splits.

Salina: Oh, God.

Salina: Okay.

NIkki: Julia mentions the types of clients they've worked for in the past.

NIkki: So she says, we have worked for some odd people in our time.

NIkki: We have worked for ex cons, ex hookers, and ex husbands.

NIkki: We have worked for little people, crazy people, old people.

NIkki: We've even worked for naked people.

NIkki: But they always had one thing in common.

NIkki: They were always people.

NIkki: We're not going to cover naked people until the next episode.

NIkki: Have we covered naked people before, or is this an instance of filming out of order?

Salina: I feel like there may have been an early maybe even in the pilot, an early naked client.

NIkki: Okay.

Salina: Maybe.

NIkki: That guy that sexual aggressor.

Salina: No, this would have been like he wanted to put lions in his house.

Salina: You know what?

Salina: It might this might be another out of order thing.

NIkki: I think it's out of order.

Salina: Yeah, I think it might be.

Salina: I want it to be.

NIkki: Yeah.

NIkki: So if anybody out there knows, if we had another naked client, we're forgetting.

NIkki: And then the second one I had was that obviously, as we just discussed, I know nothing about inheriting a fortune, and I know even less about being a cat who inherits a fortune.

NIkki: But I was really surprised there was no handler for the cat.

NIkki: So the women are, like, sitting on the couch holding this million dollar cat, and no one's looking after it.

Salina: She just died.

NIkki: Don't you think that's in the will if you really care about your cat enough to leave them all of this money?

Salina: Oh, that's a huge loophole.

Salina: Yeah.

NIkki: Somebody would be watching this thing.

Salina: Sure.

NIkki: I got to tell you, Jackson my parents know they're getting Jackson if something happens to us.

Salina: Right?

Salina: Yeah.

NIkki: It does feel like he's not worth.

Salina: A million dollars priceless.

NIkki: Well, sure, but dollar wise, if you had to put a number on it.

Salina: My God, I hope Jackson never listens to this.

Salina: This would break his little puppy heart.

NIkki: He can't hear anymore.

Salina: He's so old.

Salina: He can't hear.

Salina: All right, well, that's perfect.

NIkki: So you want to play a game?

Salina: Yes, gosh.

Salina: Especially if I'm in the hot seat.

NIkki: All right.

NIkki: So while we were brainstorming this segment, one thing that resonated with me was the idea of Mr.

NIkki: Bailey being a performer.

NIkki: That's sort of the twist at the end of the episode as we find out that he earned this money.

NIkki: He was in commercials and whatnot.

NIkki: So I did a quick Google on it, and I found a list on therichest.com of what famous animal actors were paid, and I thought we could run through them and see if you could guess what they were actually paid.

NIkki: So I'll give you a ballpark, and you have to guess whether it was more or less than what I say.

NIkki: Okay, so 50 50 shot, right?

Salina: Okay.

NIkki: So before we start, we need to have a discussion.

NIkki: Do you want steaks and not S-T-E-A-K s's, but S-T-A-K-E s's?

NIkki: It's going to be a challenge because I have seven animals.

NIkki: It's a 50 50 shot.

NIkki: It's sort of a guessing game.

NIkki: It's not really based on anything that you would have any reason to know these things.

NIkki: So it feels like steaks aren't necessary, but this always comes up when we have these things, so I want to offer it to you.

NIkki: No, you don't want steaks?

NIkki: No, I think that's the right choice here.

Salina: Oh, good.

NIkki: I think that's the right choice here.

Salina: Next thing was going to be like, whatever you want to do.

Salina: So if you had something, like, great in mind I did.

Salina: Okay, cool.

NIkki: It was going to be a cup of coffee, but I did have, like, if you get four or more right, you get a cup of coffee, but it just feels really unfair because it's not a game based on talent or skill in any sort of way or knowledge.

Salina: Okay, let's go.

Salina: Bring it.

Salina: Split, split, split, splits.

NIkki: Okay.

NIkki: Rin Tin Tin.

NIkki: This is a male German shepherd who was born in France.

NIkki: He became an international star in motion pictures.

NIkki: I thought this was interesting.

NIkki: He was rescued from a World War I battlefield by an American soldier, Lee Duncan, who nicknamed him Rinty.

NIkki: Duncan trained Rintinton and obtained silent work film for the dog.

NIkki: He was an immediate box office success and went on to appear in 27 Hollywood films, gaining worldwide fame along with the earlier canine film star Strongheart.

NIkki: I've never heard of Strongheart.

NIkki: Rin Tintin was responsible for greatly increasing the popularity of German shepherd dogs as family pets.

NIkki: The immense popularity of his films contributed to the success of Warner Bros.

NIkki: Studios.

NIkki: There's some tent polls from his resume.

NIkki: Salina, do you think Rin Tintin made more or less than $5,000 a week?

Salina: Am I allowed to ask what time period this is?

NIkki: Renton yeah.

Salina: I'm only familiar with the TV show because I think later they reboot into a TV show.

NIkki: They do.

NIkki: And there's a story to that.

NIkki: So he was rescued from a World War One battlefield.

NIkki: I don't have this written down, but it would have been that time period, man.

Salina: I think it's possible.

Salina: Like, I want to say more.

Salina: Okay.

Salina: But I think just because I think it's so messed up for this dog to have been in that many shows, I want to say less.

NIkki: It was more.

Salina: It was more.

NIkki: Your first answer was right.

Salina: Okay, good.

Salina: They paid him well.

NIkki: He made $6,000 a week.

NIkki: Okay.

NIkki: At one point in that career.

Salina: Okay.

Salina: 6000, I should say.

Salina: Also, I would love to make $6,000 a week.

Salina: Yeah.

Salina: But I'm thinking about, like, I don't know, anytime you put an animal to work, I just start feeling weird about it.

Salina: And whatever we can do to I.

NIkki: Don'T feel weird about it.

NIkki: And I'll tell you why.

NIkki: I think some probably are exploited and mistreated.

NIkki: I think some live really good lives.

NIkki: And I get the sense Rin Tintin was one of those.

NIkki: Okay.

NIkki: German shepherds are work dogs.

NIkki: They love to work.

NIkki: Anyway, I get the sense he was fed really well.

NIkki: He lived really well.

NIkki: So I don't feel bad for Rinsington.

NIkki: I also found two examples of times he was paid more than his human costars.

Salina: Yeah, I was sitting here thinking that's where it gets weird how mostly he was probably paid more than Marilyn Monroe on a project or something.

Salina: And I'm not kidding.

NIkki: So that's where it gets weird.

Salina: Okay?

NIkki: He was a really big deal.

NIkki: And when he died, this is just for people to know about rent and Tin.

NIkki: There was actually a news bulletin that interrupted regular TV program, like regular TV programming to announce his death.

NIkki: And then an hour long special ran on TV the next day and he was awarded a star on the Hollywood.

Salina: Walk of Fame, which means they have that special Rd can to go, which means that practice has been going on a long time.

NIkki: Weird, right?

Salina: Yeah.

NIkki: Okay, next, Keiko, the killer whale.

Salina: Oh, free Willy.

NIkki: Free Willie.

NIkki: Okay, so Keiko was a male orca that was captured in the Atlantic Ocean near Iceland in 1979.

NIkki: And he played Willie in the 1993 film free Willie.

NIkki: Salina, do you think Keiko made more or less than $10 million for his role in Free Willie?

Salina: That's really tough.

Salina: I'm going to say I'm going to say more.

NIkki: You're right.

NIkki: He earned $36 million and his freedom, kinda.

NIkki: In 1996, Warner Brothers and the International Marine Mammal Project contributed to return collaborated to return Keiko to the wild.

NIkki: So that was in 1996.

NIkki: After years of preparing him for reintegration, he was flown to Iceland in 1998 and in 2002 became the first captive orca to be fully released back into the ocean.

Salina: And then they went and got him for the sequel.

Salina: Is that what you're about to tell me?

NIkki: No, but it's something.

NIkki: So it sounds really happy, but it's actually like a super sad story, and I won't go into the full depth that I went into researching it, but one, I couldn't find any reference to.

NIkki: What happened to that $36 million?

NIkki: Like, I didn't find an explicit reference that the money that he earned went into freeing him.

NIkki: I did find that the total cost of freeing him was $20 million, but it took years.

NIkki: And even after he finished recording the film, he was originally returned to the tiny tank in Mexico that he came from.

NIkki: So, like, the film directors or producers or whatever went out and scouted him, and they were like, he'd be perfect in this film about an exploited animal who needs to be returned to the wild.

NIkki: They do the film, and then they have to return him to Mexico to this tiny tank he was in.

NIkki: So where did all that money go?

NIkki: I don't know.

NIkki: I think he ended up dying pretty quickly after being returned within a couple of years.

NIkki: He just never fully reintegrated.

NIkki: So sorry, I don't want to end on a sad note, but that one was sad.

NIkki: So I'm going to keep going.

Salina: That's my area because some of the.

NIkki: Other animals are happier.

NIkki: Okay, bart, the Alaskan brown bear, the.

Salina: Big one that's always shut up.

Salina: Go ahead.

NIkki: You must know I had no idea who this was.

NIkki: He was a male Alaskan kodiak bear who lived from 1977 to 2000.

NIkki: He's best known for his appearances in The Bear, for which he received widespread acclaim.

NIkki: White Fang, legends of the Fall and the edge.

NIkki: You know him?

Salina: It's who I'm thinking of.

NIkki: That's funny.

Salina: Yeah.

NIkki: According to Wikipedia, Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman, John Candy, Dan Ackroyd, Darryl Hannah, Annette Benning, Ethan Hawke, Stephen Segal, Brad Pitt, Alec Baldwin and Anthony Hopkins all appeared in films opposite Bart, and all were reportedly impressed with how well he was trained.

Salina: Wow.

NIkki: Over the course of his career, do you think he made more or less than $1 million?

Salina: I'm going to say less.

NIkki: Less.

NIkki: Really?

Salina: Okay, so it's more.

NIkki: It's more.

NIkki: He reportedly made $6 million, including 1 million for the movie the bear.

Salina: I was just going with the odds.

NIkki: Yeah, I get it.

NIkki: Pat the collie, who is a rough collie who lived between 1940 and 1958, ultimately performing in 40 television shows and films.

NIkki: He rose to fame as hero and friend, playing the fictional female dog Lassie.

Salina: Okay.

NIkki: According to Wikipedia, powell's ancestry is traced to the 19th century and England's first great collie, old cocky.

NIkki: Because of his large eyes and the white blaze on his forehead, he was judged not of the highest standards and was sold as a pet quality dog.

NIkki: He donated a large sum to the animal rescue, two animal rescue organizations and charities.

NIkki: And Powell's son, Lassie Jr.

NIkki: Eventually took over for Pal's roles.

NIkki: But Lassie, I guess pal continued to join the crew in the studio while his son worked and according to list verse, served as an occasional backup.

NIkki: So, Salina Lassie, was his net worth more or less than $10 million?

Salina: Oh, man.

Salina: I mean, I want to say more, but there's got to be a lesson here somewhere.

Salina: Thank goodness there's not stakes on this that will be so anxiety ridden right now.

NIkki: Go with your gut, Mcglino.

Salina: Let's go less.

NIkki: Go with your gut, man.

Salina: Go more.

Salina: Okay.

NIkki: His net worth was roughly $13 million.

NIkki: He earned an average of $4,000 a week.

Salina: All right, so, I mean, I did not realize that Lassie was a boy.

NIkki: Yeah, it's crazy, right?

NIkki: Yeah, I got it all mixed up when I was doing my research and ken confirm Lassie was a girl, pal.

Salina: Boy, all I can hear my head is Lassie.

NIkki: All right, I only have a couple more.

NIkki: I'll speed this up.

NIkki: Moose the Jack Russell.

NIkki: This is the adorable wire haired terrier who lived between 19 92,006 and played the pup, Jack Crane on Fraser.

Salina: Yeah.

NIkki: Okay.

NIkki: He was too rambunctious at birth, so his owner gave him away to a company that trains animals for film and TV.

Salina: Eddie.

Salina: I love Eddie.

NIkki: He had numerous television appearances and several magazine covers to his credit.

NIkki: There is an official moose calendar and an autobiography, my life is a dog, which was written by Brian Hargrove, husband of actor David Hyde Pearce, who portrays Niles Crane and Fraser, did Moose earn more or less than $5,000 an episode?

Salina: Gosh darn it.

Salina: I got to say more than thank you.

NIkki: Okay, more.

Salina: They're all more.

NIkki: I think maybe I didn't think this through.

Salina: So tricky.

NIkki: He earned $10,000 an episode totaling $3.2 million over the course of his time on Fraser.

Salina: I don't know that this is true, and I don't know if you saw this or not.

Salina: And the only reason I know this is because the show, The Mindy Project, where they go to one of the characters tricks another character that they're going to do to go find his actual grave because his grave is like a public landmark or something, but they're actually going to do something different.

Salina: But anyways, I wonder if that's true.

NIkki: That may be true.

NIkki: Yeah, I didn't see that.

NIkki: I didn't see that in my research.

Salina: But love that dog.

NIkki: According to the way they treated, like the dog who played Ren Ten, the dog who played Lassie, I mean, they become possible.

NIkki: They become like family.

NIkki: Like family.

NIkki: Crystal is a capuchin monkey.

NIkki: Crystal was born in 1994, still alive today.

NIkki: She got her start in 1997 as a baby monkey in George of the Jungle.

NIkki: She also played the drunk monkey in Dr.

NIkki: Doolittle Two, the drug dealing monkey in The Hangover Part Two, dexter in Night at the Museum and a recurring role as Annie's B**** on Community.

Salina: Okay.

NIkki: Did you watch Community?

Salina: Parts.

Salina: Funny parts, but not all of it.

NIkki: In 2012, Crystal was cast as the star of the NBC show Animal Practice.

NIkki: For that show, Salina, did she make more or less than $15,000 an episode?

Salina: More.

Salina: Less.

NIkki: Just slightly less.

NIkki: You're getting really good at this game.

Salina: You winked it.

NIkki: I did have one that was less.

NIkki: She banked $12,000 an episode for the short lived show.

NIkki: Okay, I think this is my last one.

NIkki: Terry, the terrier who starred in wizard of Oz.

Salina: Kodo.

NIkki: That's right.

NIkki: A female carne Terrier who lived from 1933 to 1945.

NIkki: She appeared in many different movies, most famously as Toto in The Wizard of Oz in 1939.

NIkki: It was her only credited role, though.

NIkki: She was credited not as Terry, but as Toto.

NIkki: She did her own stunts, and during the filming of The Wizard of Oz, someone stepped on her foot and broke it.

Salina: Oh, so sad.

NIkki: As a result, Terry spent two weeks recuperating at Judy Garland's residence and Garland developed a close attachment to her.

NIkki: She offered to buy Terry, but her owner refused to sell her.

NIkki: So Salina, Terry the Terrier, more or less than $100 a week while filming The Wizard of Oz.

Salina: Less.

NIkki: More.

NIkki: $125 a week or $2,300 a week with inflation.

Salina: I'm terrible at this game.

NIkki: According to several sources, that was more than many of the human actors in the film and also more than the average working American at the time.

NIkki: So that's the end of our game.

NIkki: And I lost you in the game of life.

NIkki: That's seven or eight animals who made more money in their short lives than I'll ever see in my entire human life.

NIkki: I found one other article I'll drop in our show, notes about millionaire pets.

NIkki: We, meaning me, went the route of Mr.

NIkki: Bailey being a performer, but there's also a lot to be said about rich people leaving their pets money.

NIkki: This is not infrequent and unusual.

NIkki: I mean, it probably is infrequent in the grand scheme of life, but it's not unusual for very rich people to leave their dogs or pets money.

Salina: Right.

NIkki: So I found a Reader's Digest article that I'll link to as well.

Salina: Nice.

Salina: Well, I liked it.

Salina: I also think what really proves how in the culture these animals are who are, like, paid performers is I knew everything you were talking about, even Rin.

NIkki: Tintin from World War I.

Salina: Right.

NIkki: We know who they are still in.

Salina: The culture to some degree, though not as much today.

NIkki: Yeah.

Salina: Perfect.

Salina: All right, well, wonderful.

Salina: So do we want to move on to things that we like?

NIkki: Yes.

NIkki: My first one is I loved the writing and the acting around the Zippy the fourth story.

NIkki: I actually laughed out loud multiple times.

NIkki: This is when Charlene is talking about her neighbor's dog from Poplar Bluff.

NIkki: And I think Mary Joe says, he doesn't sound like a healthy dog.

NIkki: And Charlene says, well, no kidding.

NIkki: Why do you think he was zippy the fourth?

NIkki: The way she delivered that, the way that those two lines hit back to back, that whole piece made me laugh really hard.

Salina: Okay.

Salina: Yeah, that was funny.

Salina: The one that ate all the pies and the cakes melt.

NIkki: Yes.

NIkki: Doesn't sound very healthy.

NIkki: No kidding.

NIkki: Another one I had is so on brand for Suzanne, how she hates cats, but then a second later, she comes in lovey dovey.

NIkki: And my first thought when she picked up that cat was not in a silk shirt.

NIkki: And sure enough, he snagged the shirt, and it became like a whole thing that he snagged her silk shirt.

Salina: Oh, yeah.

Salina: I felt that you were going to this seems like a good place to interject mine, which is in the beginning, she's unknowingly comparing herself to a cat.

NIkki: Yes.

Salina: They're the most useless animals, sitting around acting picky and superior, taking naps and grooming themselves and occasionally taking time to choke on a hairball.

NIkki: And then she's like, yes, that was very good.

Salina: Sorry I was taking that opportunity for me to really call you.

NIkki: Just using that as an excuse.

Salina: Perfect.

Salina: Another thing I really liked was just the twist at the end I thought was a good one.

Salina: Spoiler alert.

Salina: But all the stuff they thought made Evelyn crazy were all these collector items, and leaving all her money to her cat made sense because he earned it as Fluffy the kitty.

Salina: Yum, yum's cat.

NIkki: We got a throwback to Mr.

NIkki: Tyson, which I appreciated because I.

NIkki: Love continuity.

Salina: That is nice.

NIkki: And my last one is I liked Mary Joe's cat joke about the woman who uses her genie to turn her cat into a handsome man.

NIkki: And the reason I liked that one so much was because I loved Annie Potts'delivery of that joke.

Salina: She's a master.

NIkki: She did it really well.

NIkki: It's very cute.

Salina: Building off me, liking the twist.

Salina: I also like that that meaning behind that is something I really like, too, which is that.

Salina: And this is sort of what we've been circling around in our conversation today, but people do strange things sometimes for good reason, and we just have to take the time and care enough to learn more about who they are instead of judging who we think they are.

NIkki: Or just mind your business and don't care either way.

Salina: Well, that would work, too.

NIkki: Let people live.

Salina: That would work, too, if you want to go that route.

Salina: I like the episode rewarded.

Salina: And this is my last one, someone who was good to Evelyn and Mr.

Salina: Bailey.

Salina: Even though I kind of wish the money had gone to Anthony because that would have been nice for Anthony.

Salina: But I like that.

NIkki: So I feel like that last one maybe leads to the one thing that I don't like.

Salina: Okay.

NIkki: Which I'm not sure is really a not like.

NIkki: It's just something that would keep me up at night.

Salina: Okay.

NIkki: Mr.

NIkki: Hale, the man who's going to become Mr.

NIkki: Bailey's caretaker, he's visibly elderly as well.

Salina: No.

NIkki: So are we not at all concerned about this whole thing just happening again?

Salina: You know, I didn't even really think of him as being, like, elderly.

Salina: He was moving around pretty good.

NIkki: He's very Whiteheaded.

Salina: Yeah.

NIkki: I myself have the grays, but he was Whiteheaded.

Salina: He was maybe chicken, maybe.

Salina: Was he a pharmacist or something?

Salina: I don't know.

Salina: Anyways, I think he was a pharmacist and lived, like, nearby.

Salina: I feel like the buck's going to stop with him and he is going to have a plan in place.

NIkki: I hope so.

Salina: For this thing that we're concerned about.

NIkki: I was deeply concerned about it.

NIkki: I was deeply concerned.

Salina: Yeah, that's fair enough.

NIkki: That's the only thing I didn't like.

NIkki: And again, I'm not sure it really counts.

Salina: I thought you were going to say Suzanne's insinuation that the cat is their boss was still a step above Anthony, which I thought was very rude.

NIkki: Good point.

Salina: Yeah.

NIkki: No, I didn't think about that.

Salina: I don't know.

Salina: There was something there.

Salina: I just said I didn't love that.

Salina: But also it was very true to her character.

Salina: So that's fine.

Salina: And then I think, again, I'll just say I like so many of the components in this one.

Salina: I just didn't really care that much for the packaging it came in because of that contrived way that we had to start.

Salina: However, in some episodes, I just want to be positive.

Salina: In some episodes, there's no payoff when it's contrived.

Salina: And in this one, I thought it was a really good payoff, actually.

Salina: And so that I really liked.

Salina: Do you want to rate this sucker?

Salina: I do.

Salina: Okay, what you got?

NIkki: My scale is hot tub sized cat owls.

Salina: And what's your five out of five?

Salina: Five out of five.

NIkki: I thought this episode was outstanding.

Salina: Oh, wonderful.

NIkki: Mostly just because I'd rewatch it a couple of times voluntarily.

NIkki: Like, you don't have to force me to rewatch it.

NIkki: I thought it was cute.

NIkki: It was clever.

NIkki: The writing was funny.

NIkki: I thought the story was quirky.

NIkki: I'll have a quirky story.

Salina: Sure.

NIkki: And I really love every episode where we've explored eccentrics.

NIkki: And I appreciated, as you mentioned earlier, that this one showed us that she's not really that eccentric.

NIkki: There was a plan.

Salina: I liked that, so I gave it three out of five.

Salina: Kitty.

Salina: Yum, yums.

Salina: Three.

NIkki: Not on the same page.

Salina: I see.

Salina: Things I liked couldn't outweigh that this just didn't make sense to me.

Salina: But I couldn't put it lower than three because it had a cute twist at the end.

Salina: And I think it's so funny that you said it was fine.

Salina: One of the reasons you rated it so high is because it's something that you could watch over and over again.

Salina: I simply was not clamoring to see it again, really.

Salina: But it's funny that we use that as a gauge to whether or not it's rewatchable for us.

Salina: And for me, this isn't as much of a rewatchable, but I really did like digging into the episode.

NIkki: Sorry, you're wrong.

Salina: It won't be the first time.

Salina: Even in the last ten minutes.

Salina: See?

Salina: Grit splits.

Salina: So who won the episode for you?

Salina: Who buttered our biscuits?

NIkki: Mr.

NIkki: Bailey.

NIkki: He was a silent character, but he was central to the episode.

NIkki: I found him charming and endearing and wonderful.

NIkki: Or was it his money that I liked?

Salina: Depends on how Suzanne you're feeling today.

Salina: I had Mr.

Salina: Bailey as well, but also Joe Hale, the person who winds up getting him.

Salina: They're both about to get a couple of million dollars, so not too shabby for a cat and a neighbor who looked in on Evelyn from time to time.

NIkki: Yeah, that was nice.

Salina: Who lost the episode, or who served us that lumpy gravy?

NIkki: The legal system.

NIkki: Man, what a racket.

Salina: Just big thinking for you.

NIkki: Trying to steal a hard working cat's livelihood all in the name of the law.

NIkki: What is that about?

Salina: Well, the law benefits some.

Salina: It doesn't benefit us all.

Salina: You know what I'm saying?

NIkki: Not cats, for sure.

Salina: Mine was Suzanne or Anthony.

Salina: I couldn't decide.

Salina: But Suzanne, because she really tried and failed to get Mr.

Salina: Bailey to love her, just wasn't happening.

Salina: Anthony because we don't know.

Salina: But what if he secretly got his hopes up when he got called in for the reading of the will?

Salina: Why did they call in Juliet for that?

Salina: It's another loophole.

Salina: I guess.

NIkki: Yeah.

Salina: 80S things.

NIkki: I didn't have any.

Salina: I didn't either, which made me think I missed something, but since you don't.

NIkki: Either, I think we're okay.

NIkki: We could have been in any era.

NIkki: It's true.

NIkki: We really could have in this one.

Salina: Because when it is quirky, it's almost like you're in another universe.

NIkki: It's true.

NIkki: Which I like.

Salina: Okay, southern things.

NIkki: There was a saying, set Big store.

NIkki: Charlene says a lot of people set big store by their pets.

NIkki: And then she launched into a poplar bluff story.

NIkki: So I had to look that up because I didn't know what that meant.

NIkki: It means to value highly.

NIkki: I don't know that it's Southern, but it sounds like it.

Salina: Fair enough.

Salina: I had that in references that we needed to talk about, so yeah, that also more to add.

Salina: No, just like I got it from the context, but I was I have never heard that.

Salina: Never my entire life.

Salina: But I like calling it Southern, you know?

Salina: I like, if something sounds Southern, we just make it Southern.

Salina: It's our show.

NIkki: I was following your lead.

Salina: Yeah.

Salina: I'm going to do what I want, so I like that you're taking my route.

Salina: Mary Joe talking about previous clients made my list, so this is not the first time we've been the designers of choice of someone whose brains have gone around the bend.

Salina: So I liked it.

Salina: It was a Southern reference and a clairvoyant reference to the show because I like to end the show with letting you guys know that you'll see us around the bend.

Salina: We'll see you around the bend, or whatever it is that I say we'll see if I remember by the end.

Salina: What else do you have?

NIkki: The last one I had was Suzanne saying, what in the Sam Hill are you talking about?

Salina: On my list, too.

NIkki: All right.

Salina: I don't think we ever get the client.

Salina: Oh, we do, actually.

Salina: We get the client's full name.

Salina: It's Evelyn, but just the fact that they keep referring to her by, like, a formal married name, that feels very old Southern to me.

NIkki: Oh, good point.

Salina: References that we need to talk about.

NIkki: I have two.

NIkki: I looked up Stife teddy bears.

NIkki: They mentioned that.

NIkki: So the Stife website says that this manufacturer has been making plush toys and collectibles since 1880.

NIkki: They're perhaps best known for their bears and allegedly invented the teddy bear in 19 two.

NIkki: It says they've designed more than 16,000 animal designs.

NIkki: But this is a quote I think I pulled from their website.

NIkki: Vintage Stife pieces are regularly sold on the secondary market for thousands of dollars.

NIkki: These products are generally considered family heirlooms and are passed from generation to generation.

NIkki: I found an article from this year about a 1912 design that was sold after the sinking of the Titanic that just sold at auction for over $20,000.

Salina: Well, we both looked that one up.

NIkki: Okay.

Salina: So I'll just jump in and say that the difference between you and me, as you say, allegedly.

Salina: And I was like, they invented the teddy bear.

NIkki: I get wary of anyone that invented, quote unquote, something like that.

NIkki: Because, I mean, really, no one's ever made a stuffed creature look like a teddy bear before 1902.

NIkki: I just don't know.

NIkki: I just don't know.

Salina: Well, we used to just make kids work from the time that they walked out of the womb.

Salina: So I kind of believe that they.

NIkki: Had to have time to learn to walk first.

Salina: Right.

NIkki: And a child cannot walk when they're born.

Salina: Yeah, like three is a really good time to just go ahead and also, in my head that a three year old is just learning to walk shows you how much of a parent I am.

Salina: Some of them might.

Salina: Yeah, that could that's true.

Salina: I just don't think that's an average yeah, that's true.

Salina: Okay, so I do think it's important to say that the stiffs are like sounds like I just said something dirty.

Salina: Anyway, that Stife is like a luxury brand.

Salina: This is alleged, too.

Salina: Maybe, but they're like the only luxury toy brand in the marketplace today.

Salina: I also looked up some different things.

Salina: It's so interesting because what I read is that they go by inches.

NIkki: What's funny?

Salina: I don't understand.

Salina: I don't either.

Salina: Up to $500 per inch of the bear.

Salina: Isn't that weird?

NIkki: That is weird.

Salina: Anyways, but with some 20 inch bears selling for around $10,000 at auction, I also found something where an original Stife bear, they called it 28 PBS, can sell for up to $40,000.28 is centimeters, I think, but P for plush and B for the German word for movable.

NIkki: Okay.

Salina: Anyways, I don't know.

Salina: They have other vintage Stife toys, so not just bears.

Salina: And in earlier years, there's things that have gone to auction for more than $100,000.

Salina: And I'd never heard of this before, ever.

NIkki: Because it's their luxury.

NIkki: Yeah, I was going to say they're not sold at Toy Rug.

Salina: Yeah, I thought FAO Schwartz back in the day.

Salina: Oh, for sure.

NIkki: That's luxury fancy store.

NIkki: They probably had sty spares.

Salina: Oh, yeah.

NIkki: Total aside.

NIkki: But there's a show I think you can see on Netflix called The Repair Shop, and sometimes they have the teddy bear ladies who repair teddy bears.

NIkki: I follow them on Instagram as well.

NIkki: Teddy bears, one, are a very personal thing.

NIkki: I have a teddy bear I've had since I was a kid.

NIkki: They're a very personal thing, and it is really cool to watch them rebuild these bears and bring them back to their former glory.

NIkki: And they'll leave some of the imperfection because part of the joy of having your teddy is that their nose is rubbed off.

NIkki: Sure.

NIkki: Total aside.

Salina: Yeah.

NIkki: One thing that I do not have and cannot I don't identify with this at all was something they mentioned called the Haskell's minnow fishing lore, this is apparently another big time collectible this design was patented in 1859 as the first minnow shaped lore to be patented.

Salina: It's got to happen sometime.

NIkki: And so, see, I don't say allegedly because it was the first to be patented.

NIkki: So with that clarification, I feel comfortable.

NIkki: As a result, they're desirable by collectibles, according to a fishing lore website I found, and this is where measurements come in the copper and brass lore came in four lengths of three and a half, four and a half, six and ten inches.

NIkki: The larger lores are scarcer than the smaller ones.

NIkki: Some of them have tiny impressions like scales, and some are smooth.

NIkki: The smaller lores are stamped R.

NIkki: Haskell, and the larger ones are stamped Riley haskell.

NIkki: I found one sold at auction in 2003 for $102,000.

Salina: I found that, too.

NIkki: Same references.

Salina: Well, you don't get to look up Fishing Lords every day.

NIkki: You don't.

Salina: You know what I'm saying?

NIkki: That's your only that's my last one.

Salina: Yeah, well, I looked up the other thing that was also, like, in her house and worth something were the license plates.

Salina: This is specifically the Alaska 1921 license plate, worth $10,000.

Salina: So according to Tim Stinteford I thought.

NIkki: You were going to say stife.

Salina: Okay.

Salina: Right.

Salina: Wait a second.

Salina: But anyways, this is editor of Plates magazine, the world's premier license plate publication, and proof that there really is a magazine for everything.

NIkki: Just thinking that there are some vintage.

Salina: Plates that are worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Salina: The most valuable is the 1921 Alaskan plate.

Salina: It's worth about 60,000.

Salina: Now, inflation.

Salina: But here's why there are only four known to exist.

Salina: What, the plate?

Salina: Yes.

Salina: So be on the lookout.

Salina: Bolo the plate was the first issue by the territory of Alaska decades before it attained statehood.

Salina: Back then, transporting an automobile to Alaska was extremely difficult, and once the once the car arrived, there were barely any roads to drive it on.

Salina: The last cell of a 1921 Alaska plate occurred in 2000 in a Wendy's parking lot in Bitterford, Maine.

Salina: For how much?

Salina: I don't know.

Salina: I heard Wendy's, and all I could think about was French fries and frost.

NIkki: Frosties?

Salina: Well, it doesn't say, but I guess probably, whatever, $10,000 in 1989 is in 2000.

Salina: So probably you're probably up to around 30,000 by then.

NIkki: What an obscure place to make that sort of exchange.

Salina: Or that they even reported on that part.

NIkki: Exactly.

Salina: Where did you do this?

NIkki: It's a Wendy's parking lot.

Salina: Well, hold on.

Salina: Allegedly.

NIkki: Allegedly.

Salina: Yeah.

Salina: I got one more.

Salina: Okay.

Salina: Which is the cat commercial.

Salina: I was like, is kitty yum yum a thing?

Salina: And so I don't know.

Salina: I found a couple, and we'll link to them.

Salina: But there's the cat chow chow chow chow.

Salina: There's meow.

Salina: Mix Cascade by name.

Salina: And I was just going to say that Mr.

Salina: Bailey looks kind of like the Meow Mix cat, but there's only been, in case you're not aware, about 1 million cat commercials.

Salina: So it's really hard to tease apart, but I was hoping maybe there was, if not exactly that one, that there was one that they were trying to emulate.

NIkki: I was just thinking, as you're saying this, that a huge gap in my animal performers piece, which is I should have looked up who Mr.

NIkki: Bailey was.

NIkki: What if he was like the meow mix cat?

Salina: Yeah.

NIkki: Darn it, Nikki.

NIkki: I don't like together.

Salina: That research is available, not secondary.

Salina: Anyway, so that was my last one.

Salina: You got any cut lines for us this time?

NIkki: I had two, but now I'm trying to realize if either one of them is worth talking about.

NIkki: This one is for sure.

NIkki: When they were talking about heirs in Julia heirs, and Julia got on her soapbox about how sickening that process is and how they just come in and they divvy up all your stuff and fight over it, well, it turns up.

NIkki: Actually, maybe that was a little more personal than we got from the episode.

NIkki: So Charlene says Julia, and Julia says, I'm sorry, but too many times I've seen ungrateful young people grabbing up the remains of their elderly relatives estates, and it's a horrible spectacle.

NIkki: Remember when Uncle Bose died?

NIkki: Oh, yeah.

NIkki: Oh, all the cousins had a big fight that went on for about three years over this antique sideboard that he owned.

NIkki: I mean, you cannot imagine the scratching and clawing and greedy behavior and whoever sunk the lowest was going to get it.

NIkki: Whoa.

NIkki: That must have been some sideboard.

NIkki: Suzanne says it was.

NIkki: Well, you've seen it, Charlene.

NIkki: It's in my front hallway.

Salina: Oh, yeah.

NIkki: It's nice.

Salina: Thank you.

NIkki: So there was a lot to that.

Salina: Yeah, that was it.

NIkki: So, next episode episode eleven.

NIkki: I referenced earlier in this episode, but the naked Truth, we'd love everyone to follow along with us and engage.

NIkki: We're on Instagram and Facebook at Sweettv.

NIkki: Our email address is sweettvpod@gmail.com, and our website is www.sweettv.com.

NIkki: And as always, there are several ways to support the show.

NIkki: You can tell your family and friends about us and rate and review the podcast wherever you listen.

NIkki: And then, as our Patreons know, we also have some additional ways available on the website from our Support US page that you can support the show.

Salina: Whoo.

Salina: We love you, Patreon.

NIkki: So a hang tight for extra sugar.

NIkki: I'm going to talk about maybe why you should think about holding on to your junk.

NIkki: We've talked a lot in this episode about weird stuff around our house.

NIkki: Maybe it's not so weird after all.

Salina: Well, maybe I'm not going to be taking my junk to Goodwill this year.

Salina: Who knows?

NIkki: Maybe not.

Salina: Well, we'll see you around the bin by.

NIkki: Welcome to this week's edition of Extra Sugar.

NIkki: In the main episode, we talked about one aspect of this episode, mr.

NIkki: Bailey having been a paid animal performer.

NIkki: But there's another huge part of this story.

NIkki: All that stuff in Miss Carver Whitehead's house stuff that, to the untrained eye, might have appeared to be garbage, but on closer inspection was actually worth quite a lot.

NIkki: So apparently, this is a thing that really happens.

NIkki: Not to me, doesn't sound like to you, but to somebody?

Salina: Not yet.

NIkki: So I found an insider article highlighting 23 cases just like that, which I thought we could talk about today.

NIkki: I'm not going to go through all 23.

NIkki: I've picked out my favorite first.

NIkki: I thought maybe I'd ask the flip of this, which is, Salina, have you ever bought or owned something that you were sure was going to become a collectible one day, but then were sadly disappointed to learn that it wasn't?

NIkki: I feel like I know your answer.

NIkki: Or at least one of your answers.

Salina: Maybe something I would oh, I know what you're thinking of.

Salina: Are you thinking about the princess?

Salina: Princess?

Salina: Maybe?

Salina: Okay.

Salina: Yeah.

Salina: I didn't buy it.

Salina: This was years ago.

Salina: There's a Franklin Mint.

Salina: I feel like I just aged myself to 82.

Salina: There's a Franklin Mint Princess Diana doll in her wedding dress.

Salina: It's a porcelain doll.

Salina: I think my grandmother bought it, and she still has it.

Salina: And it's like a full on replica.

Salina: The train is, like, three or 4ft long.

Salina: It just stays in the box.

Salina: But the one thing that you're not supposed to do, as I understand it, is get it out of the box.

Salina: But I think I begged, and eventually it came out of the box, and we would get it out occasionally so that I could just I love Princess Diana.

Salina: I still do.

Salina: And, yeah, so that will be the thing now that she's passed, but I don't think it actually is probably any.

NIkki: More valuable than it was then.

NIkki: I was actually thinking of a princess.

NIkki: Diana Beanie Baby.

NIkki: Do you have one of those?

NIkki: No.

NIkki: Oh, I thought you did.

NIkki: So I've got my Princess Diana collectibles confused for you.

Salina: What is a Princess Diana Beanie Baby.

NIkki: Beanie Baby?

NIkki: Released after she died.

Salina: Oh, how apparently, everybody tacky.

NIkki: So I found this article on Vox that says it's not that Beanie Babies are worthless.

NIkki: Collectors in the hobby are willing to pay quite a bit of money for the right ones.

NIkki: It's just that the most coveted Beanie Babies today are the ones most people have never heard of.

NIkki: And it talks about the hunt for the Princess Diana one as an example.

NIkki: What's it shapes like it's a Beanie Baby.

NIkki: I think it's, like, special colors, maybe purple.

Salina: Aren't they animals?

Salina: Do I not understand what beanie babies are?

NIkki: Yeah, they're animals.

Salina: I was just trying to think, like, what would represent her?

Salina: Never mind.

NIkki: This is a worthless conversation because you don't own one.

NIkki: You had a Princess Diana doll, so I only halfway remembered it.

Salina: I'm sorry.

Salina: I'm sorry.

Salina: I was thinking maybe it shaped like a rose or something, but yeah, I.

NIkki: Don'T have my phone handy.

NIkki: I don't remember.

NIkki: I want to say it was a purple bear.

Salina: I'm sure there's a reason.

Salina: Okay.

NIkki: Mine are Barbie dolls.

NIkki: Yeah.

NIkki: Holiday ones.

NIkki: And also just like random ones.

NIkki: So when I was like six to ten, I loved Barbie dolls.

NIkki: And at some point, close family started giving me what they termed not they my family, but like what Mattel termed the collectible ones.

Salina: Right.

NIkki: And then my parents started collecting, giving me one every holiday.

NIkki: Or the ornaments.

Salina: We've definitely talked about this here.

Salina: Probably like there's the Bob Mackey ones.

NIkki: Yeah.

NIkki: Mine are not worth anything, by the way, as it no, as it turns out, same situation as I think a lot of collectibles, which is you get this idea that they're going to be collectible one day and they're sold that way, so everyone gets money.

NIkki: Yeah.

NIkki: So there's too much supply for the demand.

Salina: Right.

NIkki: Anyway, I've looked a couple of mine up recently because I was trying to clean out my basement and I found all these Barbies.

NIkki: They mean a lot to me, sentimentally, but they're just sitting in a box and I just hate for them to be sitting in a box.

NIkki: So I started looking them up like I have Native American Barbie, which feels so like something, like a moment in time, something.

NIkki: And I was like, surely someone wants this somewhere.

NIkki: No?

NIkki: $10, because they ended up being sold at like Rite Aid and Eckered and stuff.

NIkki: So there's a million of them.

Salina: I'm sorry.

NIkki: But funnily enough, when we were brainstorming for this episode, I stumbled across a CNN article about a Texas woman who found a 52 pound marble bust at her local Goodwill in 2018.

NIkki: She paid $35 and toted at home, but this wouldn't be extra sugar without a little something extra.

NIkki: Her story doesn't end there.

NIkki: Four years later, her $35 Goodwill find found its way to the San Antonio Museum of Art after she did some homework and discovered it was nearly 2000 years old with Roman roots.

Salina: Yeah, that's crazy.

Salina: I remember that being reported.

Salina: I didn't realize it was £52.

Salina: Would you tote anything out of Goodwill that was that heavy?

NIkki: I wouldn't, but she has a history in art, if I remember, or collectibles or something.

NIkki: And she was just sure like, this is something.

NIkki: Something this substantial for $35 is something.

NIkki: Yeah.

NIkki: So I don't think I have it written here, but she ended up doing a bunch of her own research, reached out to a museum and was like, help me figure this out.

NIkki: So it's believed to be the bust of Sextus pompey pompeii?

NIkki: I'm not sure.

NIkki: A Roman military leader, according to the article on CNN, his father, Pompeii the Great, I'm realizing now it's Pompeii was once an ally of Julius Caesar.

Salina: Okay.

NIkki: Apparently the bust was stolen out of storage in Germany at some point, so it's currently on display in San Antonio under a contract.

NIkki: But it's ultimately going to return to Germany because it's technically Germany's property.

NIkki: What I couldn't figure out is whether she got a finder's fee because she paid $35.

NIkki: Did she at least get her $35 back before all these international countries started fighting over it?

Salina: Sounds like an Indiana Jones plotline.

NIkki: It does, doesn't it?

Salina: Yeah, it's crazy.

Salina: She does it just for the history, Nikki.

NIkki: Right, sure.

NIkki: So that's just one example.

NIkki: Like I said, I found 23 examples from this article, and I'm not going to go through them all.

NIkki: I will link the whole article in our blog post if anybody wants to peruse them.

NIkki: But I pulled out a handful that I thought were interesting and I've ranked them in order of most expensive fines, starting with the cheapest.

NIkki: Okay, so the first one is a Nintendo game called Kid icarus.

NIkki: It went for $9,000 in an online sale.

NIkki: So this dude's cleaning out the attic of his childhood home and he finds the game in a bag, unopened.

NIkki: He had no recollection of buying the game he pieced together, though.

NIkki: Maybe it was intended as a Christmas present because he found the receipt with it.

NIkki: It was dated December of 1988.

NIkki: So the receipt for this $9,000 sale amounted to $38.45 from JCPenney.

NIkki: According to a profit calculator.

NIkki: That's a 23,000% profit.

Salina: Not bad.

NIkki: So cool.

Salina: Also, can I just say that one of the most surprising parts of that story is that the receipt wasn't faded.

NIkki: Probably it was.

NIkki: He found it in an attic.

NIkki: So it was in a bag in an attic in the dark.

NIkki: And I think light is the greatest enemy of ink.

Salina: There you go.

NIkki: But good point.

NIkki: A doorstop.

NIkki: $100,000.

Salina: Is it my ho door doorstop?

NIkki: It's not your hodor doorstop.

NIkki: So imagine this.

NIkki: You prop your bedroom door open every day with a 22 pound rock for 30 years.

NIkki: Sure, I should mention that rock was a real life meteor.

NIkki: What happened to a Michigan man who bought a farm in 1988?

NIkki: The man selling the farm gave him the rock with the property and told him it was a meteor from the 30s.

NIkki: Finally, the new owner brought it to Center, Michigan University to be examined by a geology professor who validated its origins and told him it was made of 88.5% iron and 11.5% nickel.

NIkki: Most importantly, it's worth $100,000.

NIkki: So the profit percentage on this one probably isn't that great since he had to buy a farm to get it, but if you consider it free, separate from the purchase of the farm, sure, I guess it's pretty sweet.

NIkki: I bought a house and all I got was crusty paint cans.

Salina: Yeah, nobody ever knows what to do.

NIkki: With those 26 carat diamond masquerading as a garish piece of costume jewelry.

NIkki: Okay, $800,000.

Salina: Wow.

NIkki: At a London market in the 1980s, a woman dropped $13 on what she thought was a fake diamond ring.

NIkki: She proceeded to wear it every day for 30 years until she got suspicious and took it to sotheby's where she learned it was a 26 carat diamond, ultimately $847,000 at auction.

NIkki: The ring was probably worth over $400,000 originally, but I'm factoring in that she paid $13 for it versus that original.

Salina: Oh, yeah, for sure.

NIkki: So that meant a 6 million% profit for the lucky finder.

NIkki: That is nuts.

NIkki: Is that crazy?

Salina: Yeah.

NIkki: And also, just a reminder, like, I don't have great luck, and that is the dream.

Salina: But, like, 30 years too late, right.

Salina: Or at least 20 something.

NIkki: It's still possible.

Salina: I mean, I'll take it.

NIkki: Maybe there's something around your house you haven't thought of.

NIkki: $1.2 million chess piece.

Salina: Just one piece?

NIkki: Just one piece.

Salina: Wow.

Salina: Okay.

NIkki: So it's in the 1960s.

NIkki: You're a dude out about town, just bargain hunting, as one does for chess pieces, and you find it a beautifully detailed chess piece at the bargain price of $6.

NIkki: So you slam down your cash and head home.

NIkki: Over the years, you pass it down to family members.

NIkki: One day, 55 years later, they visit Sotheby's, thinking there's something to this piece, only to find out it's worth $1.2 million because it's the missing piece from a medieval chessboard made of walrus ivory.

NIkki: The chessboard was found in the 18 hundreds, but it was missing five pieces until this one was presented in 2019.

Salina: Okay.

Salina: All right.

Salina: You know what I thought you were going to say?

NIkki: What's that?

Salina: Just in case you're interested.

Salina: I thought for some reason you were going to say, like, it belonged to Napoleon.

NIkki: Oh, yeah, that would be interesting.

Salina: Yeah.

Salina: He was a big chess player, I think.

NIkki: Oh, is that right?

NIkki: So that's a 20 million% profit.

Salina: That's pretty good.

NIkki: The Declaration of Independence.

NIkki: 2.42 million.

Salina: I'm sorry?

NIkki: The Declaration of Independence.

Salina: Okay.

NIkki: And actually, I thought it would go for more than 2.42 million.

NIkki: That seems small to me.

Salina: Yeah.

NIkki: But this one really blows my mind.

NIkki: So this guy goes to a flea market in 1989 and buys a painting for $4.

Salina: What was going on in the 80s?

NIkki: In the 80s?

NIkki: Yeah, just a wild time.

NIkki: When he got it home, he was looking at a tear in the canvas, and upon further inspection, stumbled on one of 500 original copies from the first printing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

NIkki: Sotheby sold it in 1991 for $2.42 million.

NIkki: According to a statement from a Sotheby spokesperson, that was the highest price ever fetched for a piece of American history.

Salina: Well, I think between that and thinking about inflation since then, that's probably a pretty penny.

NIkki: And it was a 60 million% profit for that guy.

Salina: Yeah, it's not too bad.

Salina: Okay, so we need to be doing some, like, antiquing.

NIkki: That's what it I mean, that's what it is.

NIkki: And you buy a lot of crap and hope you end up with the one like this, which is the world's largest natural pearl.

NIkki: It's the last one on our list, and it's $100 million.

NIkki: So this one also.

NIkki: Is kind of crazy.

Salina: Wait a second.

Salina: You know the size?

NIkki: I do.

Salina: Can I guess the size?

NIkki: Sure.

Salina: Is it like the size of, like a baseball or something?

NIkki: I'm always throwing you I think it's bigger than that.

NIkki: Hold on.

NIkki: We'll get to it.

NIkki: Okay, so according to a local report, a man in his Philippines got his anchor stuck on a giant clam, as one does.

NIkki: So naturally, he swam down to dislodge the anchor, and in the process, he found a pearl measuring 1ft wide and.

Salina: Definitely larger than baseball.

NIkki: 2.2Ft long.

NIkki: It weighs £75.

Salina: Doesn't that just make you terrified of what the world used to be like?

Salina: Because there had to be something big enough to hold that.

NIkki: That's what I'm saying.

Salina: Okay.

NIkki: He kept it as a good luck token, which is kind of ironic because his house was destroyed by a fire, so he gave it to his aunt.

NIkki: After that, it's reported that if there able to authenticate it hasn't been fully authenticated, but if they're able to, it would be worth $100 million.

NIkki: That's 100 million% profit since he found it.

Salina: When did this happen?

NIkki: Recently.

NIkki: I didn't write it down.

NIkki: Within the last few years.

Salina: Okay.

NIkki: Yeah.

NIkki: Anyhow at any rate, this has been this week's extra sugar.