Agent Palmer

Episode 138 features my wife, Stefanie Stershic. During this episode we discuss how we met, our long distance digital courtship, and much much more…

Mentioned and Helpful Links from This Episode

Listen to 50 Questions with Stefanie 
(Spotify | YouTube | Apple Podcast)

From Brain to Keyboard on Twitch

Music created and provided by Henno Heitur of Monkey Tongue Productions.

–End Show Notes Transmission–

–Begin Transcription–

00:00:00:01 – 00:00:22:16
Agent Palmer
Previously on Agent Palmer dot com. From Hiroshima to the moon is an incredible atomic time capsule. Brazen careerist makes a dated but important case for finding a mentor, and I’m sure there will be much more music from 12 days in June in our future. This is The Palmer Files episode 138 featuring my wife, Stefanie Stershic. During the episode, we discuss how we met, our long distance digital courtship, and much, much more.

00:00:22:21 – 00:00:39:34
Agent Palmer
Are you ready? Let’s do the show!

00:00:39:39 – 00:00:55:18
Agent Palmer
Here’s.

00:00:55:23 – 00:01:23:37
Agent Palmer
Hello, and welcome to the Palmer Files. I’m your host, Jason Stershic, also known as Agent Palmer. And on this 138th episode is my wife, Stefanie Stershic, formerly Stefanie Muniz, who was on episode one 1550 questions with Stefanie. Well, now she’s back as my wife to talk about how we became husband and wife. During this episode, we’ll discuss how we met and how distance didn’t keep us apart, how we decided to start dating, and the first time we met, plus our first real date.

00:01:23:42 – 00:01:41:35
Agent Palmer
All of that and more is coming your way shortly. But first, remember that if you want to discuss the episode as you listen or afterwards, you can find all related ways to contact my lovely wife Stefanie and myself in the show notes. Don’t forget, you can see all of my writings and rantings on Agent palmer.com. And of course, email can be sent to the Palmer files@gmail.com.

00:01:41:48 – 00:01:52:09
Agent Palmer
So without further ado, let’s figure out how all this happened.

00:01:52:14 – 00:01:58:09
Agent Palmer
Let me take you back to 2015. Okay. You and I first meet on Twitter.

00:01:58:13 – 00:01:59:04
Stefanie Stershic
Yep.

00:01:59:09 – 00:02:01:19
Agent Palmer
Because we’re listening to the same podcast.

00:02:01:24 – 00:02:07:26
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah, we were hanging on the same Twitter circle all surrounding that particular podcast.

00:02:07:31 – 00:02:11:54
Agent Palmer
Yeah, seven days ago. Yep. We can name drop podcasts here.

00:02:11:59 – 00:02:14:15
Stefanie Stershic
It still exists in some form or another.

00:02:14:15 – 00:02:25:30
Agent Palmer
In some form or another. Yeah, there were a few other shows as well. Yeah. Did, did did you think that this annoying guy from across the country who tweeted you would be your husband?

00:02:25:35 – 00:02:32:19
Stefanie Stershic
Not at the time, no. I don’t think anyone thinks that far ahead. Especially because we didn’t know each other.

00:02:32:23 – 00:02:33:01
Agent Palmer
No, we were.

00:02:33:01 – 00:02:41:40
Stefanie Stershic
Just two fans of the same podcast that were tweeting each other, who had also then had discussions with the hosts of that show.

00:02:41:44 – 00:02:53:17
Agent Palmer
And Jane Grant, we can we can be specific. No, I know, I know, it’s a secret agent thing I put on, but you should know me well enough now. Why?

00:02:53:22 – 00:03:00:52
Stefanie Stershic
Maybe they don’t want to be mentioned. You to respect other people’s privacy.

00:03:00:57 – 00:03:03:43
Agent Palmer
But I will. They’re after they do? Yeah.

00:03:03:48 – 00:03:05:06
Stefanie Stershic
Okay.

00:03:05:11 – 00:03:09:48
Agent Palmer
Have you heard the latest on hiatus? No. They’re sharing everything. It’s fine.

00:03:09:58 – 00:03:10:46
Stefanie Stershic
All right.

00:03:10:50 – 00:03:15:38
Agent Palmer
We can at least give out their names. They did bring us together in.

00:03:15:48 – 00:03:18:26
Stefanie Stershic
In a roundabout way. Yes. Yeah.

00:03:18:31 – 00:03:25:33
Agent Palmer
So we helped out on the first pod tober fest. That’s when we actually spoke. Yeah. 2015 during the prep for.

00:03:25:33 – 00:03:39:10
Stefanie Stershic
That because they had come up with this crazy idea they were going to stream for 24 hour, or they were going to podcast for 24 hours straight. Yeah. Live. Yup. So people could chat. There were. I was it mixer already at that time or was it a different thing? Yep.

00:03:39:21 – 00:03:48:15
Agent Palmer
Mixer had started this year. Started whatever it was in March that we’ve the idea was March. It was in early spring that that idea was hatched.

00:03:48:20 – 00:03:49:18
Stefanie Stershic

00:03:49:23 – 00:03:58:08
Agent Palmer
And you and I were part of the first, we were in the chat in mixer for the first live mixers.

00:03:58:19 – 00:03:58:40
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah.

00:03:58:42 – 00:04:04:32
Agent Palmer
Yeah. I don’t even remember what was before that, but I had just come to them at that point.

00:04:04:36 – 00:04:05:24
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah.

00:04:05:29 – 00:04:10:34
Agent Palmer
Don’t try and think of it. If it, if it won’t exist anymore. Probably.

00:04:10:36 – 00:04:14:50
Stefanie Stershic
Well, we know mixer doesn’t exist anymore. Yeah. So no, it not, it went away.

00:04:14:55 – 00:04:15:54
Agent Palmer
No, it still exists.

00:04:15:58 – 00:04:19:34
Stefanie Stershic
I don’t think so. Yeah.

00:04:19:39 – 00:04:24:41
Agent Palmer
I checked my log in within the last few months. So it would have been very recently.

00:04:24:50 – 00:04:27:22
Stefanie Stershic
And it doesn’t exist the way it did before.

00:04:27:27 – 00:04:30:37
Agent Palmer
Okay. I’m not going to argue with it because I whatever.

00:04:30:46 – 00:04:36:40
Stefanie Stershic
It’s fine. I just remember getting an email saying it was it was going away or turning it to like something.

00:04:36:40 – 00:04:39:27
Agent Palmer
Else or it was changing. Maybe. Perhaps.

00:04:39:31 – 00:04:40:06
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah.

00:04:40:11 – 00:04:41:58
Agent Palmer
Well, it doesn’t mean it’s going away.

00:04:42:02 – 00:04:43:41
Stefanie Stershic
No, but I think it was going behind a paywall.

00:04:43:43 – 00:04:47:17
Agent Palmer
Twitter doesn’t exist anymore as it was when we got together. True.

00:04:47:19 – 00:04:55:05
Stefanie Stershic
That’s true. But. Yeah. No. And, I mean, we weren’t that heavily involved in the first pot tober fest.

00:04:55:10 – 00:04:59:26
Agent Palmer
But yes, we were. Well, one of us was.

00:04:59:31 – 00:05:09:19
Stefanie Stershic
Well, I just remember doing more like I was. I was kind of what you would consider now, like a chat moderator. Like I was in chat. I was monitoring things. I was like shooting. So did you.

00:05:09:19 – 00:05:13:42
Agent Palmer
Information. Are you not in any of those Skype meetings for the first one?

00:05:13:47 – 00:05:26:44
Stefanie Stershic
Not really. I remember being I remember calling into one thing, but I don’t remember it being like a separate Skype meeting. I think it was calling in.

00:05:26:49 – 00:05:29:31
Agent Palmer
Well, you called into the show once or twice for this live.

00:05:29:33 – 00:05:31:52
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah, I called him to the shows beforehand.

00:05:31:56 – 00:05:33:16
Agent Palmer
That wasn’t part tober fest yet.

00:05:33:17 – 00:05:36:24
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah, but I don’t think I was involved in really any of the behind the scenes.

00:05:36:24 – 00:05:40:14
Agent Palmer
All right, well, Skype meeting somehow I was. Well, I don’t remember.

00:05:40:18 – 00:05:45:48
Stefanie Stershic
Big surprise that you were sure. Did. You weaseled your way in there. You’re like, I want to help.

00:05:45:53 – 00:05:47:24
Agent Palmer
No. Well, whatever.

00:05:47:24 – 00:05:52:07
Stefanie Stershic
And I was still too shy. I was like, yeah, I’ll hang out. I’ll help things I like. I suppose.

00:05:52:12 – 00:06:15:58
Agent Palmer
Good place to start that. You’re too shy. And yet you you gave me your phone number. Like like like. Yeah. Big mistake. Not for. For spoilers. For spoilers. During the first part two of our fest. Because if anybody got disconnected or if anything happened. Yeah, I wanted to connect with you directly because you and I were.

00:06:15:58 – 00:06:36:59
Stefanie Stershic
Remote somehow along the way, even though I wasn’t like that heavily involved, I still became like a remote producer, even though it wasn’t technically I was remote help, because I was in Arizona at the time that half the people were in Michigan. You were here in Pennsylvania, and, And Bill was in New York. Oh, no. Sorry.

00:06:37:04 – 00:06:38:34
Agent Palmer
He is. Bill was initially.

00:06:38:34 – 00:06:53:06
Stefanie Stershic
In New York, but he was the only one that went out that year. Yeah. That’s right. He was there in person for the whole thing. And it was, I think, actually Bill’s idea. Bill wanted to be able to get Ahold of us, and then we wanted to get a hold about each other or.

00:06:53:06 – 00:06:54:47
Agent Palmer
I know you’re thinking of it wrong.

00:06:54:50 – 00:06:56:18
Stefanie Stershic
No no no no, no.

00:06:56:18 – 00:07:07:18
Agent Palmer
Know you and I, I remember in connect connection during the whole thing, we were texting back and forth when things were going off the rails or they missed an ad break or whatever. I couldn’t get, but we were we.

00:07:07:18 – 00:07:08:16
Stefanie Stershic
Couldn’t get a hold of Bill.

00:07:08:18 – 00:07:10:10
Agent Palmer
We were supposed to be able to text Bill.

00:07:10:11 – 00:07:10:54
Stefanie Stershic
That was the issue.

00:07:10:56 – 00:07:12:53
Agent Palmer
If you’re listening, we still love you.

00:07:12:55 – 00:07:13:25
Stefanie Stershic
We do.

00:07:13:25 – 00:07:16:18
Agent Palmer
But we can’t get Ahold of, you know, at all.

00:07:16:20 – 00:07:29:40
Stefanie Stershic
So actually, it’s Bill’s fault. Then, because we couldn’t get Ahold of Bill. I give you my phone number. It’s all Bill’s fault. But. Yeah. No, we exchanged. Exchanged phone numbers so that we could.

00:07:29:40 – 00:07:34:13
Agent Palmer
Talk during specifically for during the event, the 24 hours.

00:07:34:17 – 00:07:41:46
Stefanie Stershic
And it was more specifically when there was stuff that was happening that was either heavily involving, like audience participation or.

00:07:41:52 – 00:07:42:58
Agent Palmer
It was just behind the scenes.

00:07:42:58 – 00:07:52:26
Stefanie Stershic
Behind the scenes, or keeping track of, of, you know, oh, was that funny? Or did they do that or tracking data like, oh, this thing happened? Yeah.

00:07:52:26 – 00:08:09:58
Agent Palmer
We should try. We were they, we were. Don’t forget that we were we were still running hashtag wars or hashtag games. Yeah. Every hour, two hours. So I don’t know if it was every hour. I don’t think we did 24, but there were a lot of them. And you were running. You were running a lot of that stuff.

00:08:10:13 – 00:08:27:40
Agent Palmer
And then all I know is that after that 24 hours, you you made the mistake. Of picking up the phone when I would call you after the event.

00:08:27:45 – 00:08:28:37
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah.

00:08:28:42 – 00:08:29:27
Agent Palmer
Yep.

00:08:29:31 – 00:08:36:01
Stefanie Stershic
Okay. I mean, it wasn’t immediate. I guess the other thing to mention is that you had just broken up with your.

00:08:36:10 – 00:08:39:08
Agent Palmer
Oh, I was in the process like oh it had, it was, it.

00:08:39:08 – 00:08:40:41
Stefanie Stershic
Was, it was, it was happening.

00:08:40:56 – 00:08:44:20
Agent Palmer
It unraveled during that pod tober fest. Yes.

00:08:44:20 – 00:08:47:10
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah. So it wasn’t like you called me right away and was like, hey, what’s up?

00:08:47:21 – 00:08:51:09
Agent Palmer
No, I’m just saying we. But we were friends. We were.

00:08:51:14 – 00:08:52:23
Stefanie Stershic
I would say we we.

00:08:52:23 – 00:08:54:52
Agent Palmer
I wasn’t flirting with you straight off the bat.

00:08:54:54 – 00:09:08:27
Stefanie Stershic
No you weren’t. That’s not what I’m saying. But we it wasn’t that we were like, then all of a sudden, just chatting like. Like it, you know, like normal. Like we weren’t exactly what I would consider friends yet either. We just knew each other because we had done this thing.

00:09:08:32 – 00:09:10:47
Agent Palmer
We were getting to know each other.

00:09:10:52 – 00:09:27:15
Stefanie Stershic
Well, yeah, but that was the point. Like we you wanted to get to to know me, but I don’t think it wasn’t necessarily from, like, sound so sinister. No, no, I’m not saying. I’m just saying that you just wanted to. You were wanting to be friendly. I it was just, you know, you you.

00:09:27:16 – 00:09:32:51
Agent Palmer
Yeah. I mean, at that point, I, I had become friends with Bill. Yeah.

00:09:32:56 – 00:09:34:35
Stefanie Stershic
It was just a it was like a it was a free.

00:09:34:35 – 00:10:04:42
Agent Palmer
Were friends with Dave. Yeah. Paula was in the mix. Paul was in it like a lot of. We were doggy. We we were me and. And Jane Grant, too. Like, we were meeting people we were making genuinely outside of work, whatever that is. This was the first time I got to make friends with people I liked. That wasn’t just because they were around.

00:10:04:47 – 00:10:06:38
Agent Palmer
Yeah, it’s not just people you work with.

00:10:06:39 – 00:10:20:56
Stefanie Stershic
And I would say that that first portable office brought us all closer together anyway, because we had spent so much time like planning stuff, doing stuff, and then the whole thing doing the 24 hours, and then afterwards it was kind of like it was a little bit of time. But then there was the debrief, like, what worked? What didn’t work?

00:10:21:07 – 00:10:23:07
Stefanie Stershic
Let’s do this again next year, I think.

00:10:23:08 – 00:10:28:42
Agent Palmer
Well, yeah, it took a it took a little bit, for that to kick off and that kicks I.

00:10:28:42 – 00:10:30:21
Stefanie Stershic
Mean because it was in it was in October.

00:10:30:21 – 00:10:36:39
Agent Palmer
We recorded it in October. It released in November because Jay was still doing,

00:10:36:44 – 00:10:40:12
Stefanie Stershic
Because although it was live, they then decided to release it on their show.

00:10:40:13 – 00:10:50:08
Agent Palmer
No, he was always going to do it that way. Yeah. It was, it was a it was a way to fill out whatever Jay used to call November. He used to just do 31 days of 30 whatever.

00:10:50:22 – 00:10:51:20
Stefanie Stershic
Days of podcasting.

00:10:51:23 – 00:10:52:03
Agent Palmer
In November.

00:10:52:03 – 00:10:55:51
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah. And so you have to release a lot of the content from the 24 hour stream.

00:10:55:57 – 00:11:10:53
Agent Palmer
Well, he was doing a lot of it, but otherwise beforehand. And this year was the that 2015 was the first year he used pod tober fest to fill it every hour, fill the thing. So yeah, he had almost all the month taken care of.

00:11:10:58 – 00:11:19:18
Stefanie Stershic
Then you had the holidays. So then that kind of happened. And so I think it was into the early the next year that really then new planning started.

00:11:19:23 – 00:11:35:34
Agent Palmer
New planning started. I mean, if we’re going to close the book on my old relationship, she moved out in December. Finally. I didn’t take it.

00:11:35:34 – 00:11:37:52
Stefanie Stershic
Well, no.

00:11:37:54 – 00:11:39:35
Agent Palmer
And you know that I think.

00:11:39:49 – 00:11:40:40
Stefanie Stershic
You’d mentioned.

00:11:40:43 – 00:11:45:17
Agent Palmer
Maybe more than some of the other people. And,

00:11:45:22 – 00:11:52:17
Stefanie Stershic
Well, because because we were talking. We talking. But I did like, you know, friendly like, I, I always I like to think that, you know, I’m a good listener.

00:11:52:17 – 00:12:06:54
Agent Palmer
I will I will hear people out. I don’t know. If I was interested in you from the beginning, that I would have been as honest with you about the things I was going through.

00:12:06:58 – 00:12:08:00
Stefanie Stershic

00:12:09:19 – 00:12:10:58
Agent Palmer
But we were just friends.

00:12:11:10 – 00:12:11:41
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah.

00:12:11:46 – 00:12:12:51
Agent Palmer
And there was.

00:12:12:51 – 00:12:20:31
Stefanie Stershic
Nothing I’m easy to talk to. Like people just say that like, I. I feel like people will open up to me whether they would normally do that with other people.

00:12:20:31 – 00:12:36:07
Agent Palmer
And you were a podcaster. It’s not like you couldn’t. Yeah, like you wouldn’t. You know it, you know, maybe, maybe not as much as other people or whatever. But like if I told a story, you wouldn’t just be like, yeah.

00:12:36:12 – 00:12:37:33
Stefanie Stershic
Like you would, I would talk to you.

00:12:37:33 – 00:12:38:01
Agent Palmer
You would tell me.

00:12:38:09 – 00:12:45:42
Stefanie Stershic
Why I wasn’t a podcaster at the time. I was just listening. I did not have I didn’t have a podcast yet. Shortly thereafter.

00:12:45:47 – 00:12:48:13
Agent Palmer
When when does Gotham Light start?

00:12:48:18 – 00:12:49:28
Stefanie Stershic
I want to say.

00:12:49:39 – 00:12:54:07
Agent Palmer
That was 20. You were in it in 2016, so it has to be very shortly.

00:12:54:07 – 00:13:00:19
Stefanie Stershic
Started around that time. But I don’t think it was I don’t think it was during October, that first pod tober.

00:13:00:32 – 00:13:02:47
Agent Palmer
No, it wasn’t during the first policy. But I know when we get.

00:13:02:52 – 00:13:03:28
Stefanie Stershic
Shortly thereafter.

00:13:03:28 – 00:13:05:29
Agent Palmer
When we get to the second pod tober.

00:13:05:29 – 00:13:10:34
Stefanie Stershic
Fest, well, because didn’t when did Gotham air like did it premiere in the spring of 2016?

00:13:10:38 – 00:13:22:32
Agent Palmer
I have no it could have could have been the fall as well, because, Jay and Hino and Neil all tried Gotham Knights. There was there was a book.

00:13:22:37 – 00:13:25:17
Stefanie Stershic
Okay, so that was the thing, though. Gotham Knights started first.

00:13:25:17 – 00:13:26:27
Agent Palmer
That probably started.

00:13:26:27 – 00:13:29:52
Stefanie Stershic
We took off. We took over, started doing Gotham Lights. Yeah.

00:13:29:52 – 00:13:30:50
Agent Palmer
Which probably when.

00:13:30:50 – 00:13:32:11
Stefanie Stershic
It was already further out.

00:13:32:16 – 00:13:52:23
Agent Palmer
Probably 2016. That because. So, you and I are talking through 2016, the early parts of 2016, and then come, let’s say March Grant decides we should get the band back together for the next year ahead of time.

00:13:52:28 – 00:13:54:09
Stefanie Stershic
The budget process, part two.

00:13:54:12 – 00:14:05:08
Agent Palmer
Yeah, we should do this like, with a lot more planning. Yeah, and and every everyone’s going to be there.

00:14:05:12 – 00:14:25:51
Stefanie Stershic
That was the thing. Because they loved having Bill in studio and they thought we also loved, you know, the feedback we were getting from Stefan, Jason, we, we and just having everybody so they know, you know, how much better would it be if everyone was there? As many people as we could get, be there in person, help us do this thing live and have like a big party of it, like just and fun.

00:14:25:59 – 00:14:27:18
Agent Palmer
And.

00:14:27:23 – 00:14:28:09
Stefanie Stershic
And what?

00:14:28:13 – 00:14:33:27
Agent Palmer
And and everyone said yes.

00:14:33:32 – 00:14:34:39
Stefanie Stershic
Well, yeah.

00:14:34:44 – 00:14:37:44
Agent Palmer
Except I don’t remember me.

00:14:37:49 – 00:14:43:24
Stefanie Stershic
Oh that’s right, it’s true. They reached out to everybody and,

00:14:43:29 – 00:14:48:33
Agent Palmer
It was a unanimous everybody’s going but me. I, I, I, I wavered.

00:14:48:36 – 00:14:55:19
Stefanie Stershic
As soon as they said something about it, I was like, yeah, I, I want to definitely meet these guys in person.

00:14:55:23 – 00:15:03:11
Agent Palmer
And by the way, it’s April when Grant puts out the mandate that, like, everybody should be in there. And I immediately went, maybe.

00:15:03:16 – 00:15:11:49
Stefanie Stershic
You went maybe. And I was already looking at flights. I was like, well, how much would it cost for me to fly from Phoenix to Grand Rapids?

00:15:11:53 – 00:15:45:57
Agent Palmer
And so there are a lot of meetings like this is the part where not even for you and me, but just in general, those meetings, the Skype meetings for the second pod tober fest with and you may have been one of the more lucid people in those meetings because and it’s not we’re not talking about drugs. We’re not talking about booze.

00:15:46:02 – 00:16:11:35
Agent Palmer
It’s just that these meetings started 7:00 Pacific. Yeah, 10:00 eastern. And by the way, even though Michigan’s in the middle of the country, that’s eastern standard. So for J. Grant, Bill and myself, we’re getting on this Skype call at 10 p.m.. Yep. And sometimes going til 2 or 3 a.m., I remember, just like that’s the only thing I remember for.

00:16:11:35 – 00:16:21:54
Stefanie Stershic
Meetings devolved quickly. Just they just they started out like on task and like, well, yeah, we should discuss this will work on this. And then it just suddenly devolved into just silliness, a podcast.

00:16:21:54 – 00:16:22:50
Agent Palmer
It devolved.

00:16:22:52 – 00:16:23:04
Stefanie Stershic
It was.

00:16:23:04 – 00:16:25:06
Agent Palmer
A point to a podcast that we these.

00:16:25:06 – 00:16:26:24
Stefanie Stershic
Meetings started to get recorded.

00:16:26:35 – 00:16:27:48
Agent Palmer
No, no they weren’t.

00:16:27:54 – 00:16:29:33
Stefanie Stershic
I thought they were at some point.

00:16:29:33 – 00:16:31:40
Agent Palmer
Were never recorded. We should have recorded.

00:16:31:40 – 00:16:32:50
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah, I think I remember something.

00:16:32:50 – 00:16:41:21
Agent Palmer
Yeah. It’s also like just 230 in the morning and like there’s like three of us left. Whoever it is, like you, me and.

00:16:41:32 – 00:16:44:00
Stefanie Stershic
I have the easiest time because I was on the West Coast like I was.

00:16:44:00 – 00:16:45:26
Agent Palmer
I was just like.

00:16:45:31 – 00:16:46:32
Stefanie Stershic
I was three hours behind.

00:16:46:38 – 00:16:49:46
Agent Palmer
I remember laughing for hours into that.

00:16:49:46 – 00:16:58:58
Stefanie Stershic
There was like, there was a lot of laughing. And of course, by that point, yeah, it was being heavily, heavily involved, like, because we were all going to be there. So we all needed to be involved and we.

00:16:58:58 – 00:17:05:40
Agent Palmer
Were going to do two 12 hours. We were going to make it. Yeah, we’re going to be bigger and more organized. Break it up. We’re going to get advertisers.

00:17:05:41 – 00:17:07:31
Stefanie Stershic
And oh yeah, that was it was going to be this whole.

00:17:07:31 – 00:17:13:04
Agent Palmer
Contests and giveaways. Yes. And so

00:17:13:09 – 00:17:16:48
Stefanie Stershic
So there was that, there was all that. So there was we were meeting in these Skype meetings. So you and I had.

00:17:16:59 – 00:17:20:42
Agent Palmer
About once a month, though, like the Skype meetings weren’t that regular, like Bill and I.

00:17:20:44 – 00:17:22:37
Stefanie Stershic
They got more regular as, as the time.

00:17:22:44 – 00:17:23:17
Agent Palmer
We got.

00:17:23:22 – 00:17:24:02
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:17:24:02 – 00:17:40:04
Agent Palmer
And so you and I, I feel like. So I’m going to try and place this. It’s probably June and you and I are calling and texting on a more on a.

00:17:40:04 – 00:17:40:27
Stefanie Stershic
Regular.

00:17:40:32 – 00:17:44:45
Agent Palmer
Regular basis. Probably daily. I think it’s daily at that point, if not a text.

00:17:44:53 – 00:17:45:33
Stefanie Stershic
It was definitely not.

00:17:45:33 – 00:17:46:03
Agent Palmer
A call than.

00:17:46:03 – 00:17:50:19
Stefanie Stershic
A text. It was definitely the. Yeah, kind of a beginning of summer was.

00:17:50:24 – 00:17:54:26
Agent Palmer
Well, I remember it was June because I had an event, a work event.

00:17:54:30 – 00:17:57:13
Stefanie Stershic
Oh, is that is that the one where you send me the picture?

00:17:57:18 – 00:18:01:35
Agent Palmer
Yeah, I send you a pic. Well, I sent you a few pictures.

00:18:01:40 – 00:18:05:38
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah, but I think that was the picture. It was the first picture where you were dressed up.

00:18:05:43 – 00:18:19:46
Agent Palmer
Yeah, I was wearing a suit. It was a it was. I know exactly what I’m not going to say what the event is. Yeah, because I’m not there anymore. I don’t give a crap about the organization, but yeah, they’re that completely. I have a full like a work event.

00:18:19:46 – 00:18:22:13
Stefanie Stershic
But you hadn’t really sent me that many pictures you sent me.

00:18:22:16 – 00:18:25:15
Agent Palmer
No, it was just like, hey, I’m at a baseball game. Yeah. Hey.

00:18:25:15 – 00:18:36:09
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah, we’re just kind of normal. Normal settings. I mean, I, I will admit I had Facebook stock to you by that point. I’m looking at other photos, so things.

00:18:36:14 – 00:18:40:46
Agent Palmer
I mean, at that time and I never did clean out my ex. So at that point, all it is.

00:18:40:47 – 00:18:48:24
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah. But I wasn’t even looking at those like, I just, I, I just kind of clicked on the pictures of like because you Facebook at the time and I think it still does had the.

00:18:48:29 – 00:18:50:05
Agent Palmer
The of view of you. Yeah.

00:18:50:06 – 00:18:56:29
Stefanie Stershic
So it was only pictures of you and yeah sometimes there are people other people in it. Yeah. But I just looked at that basically I, I didn’t go scrolling through all your photos.

00:18:56:29 – 00:19:14:51
Agent Palmer
I just looked you didn’t go through the posts, by the way, because I’m by the way, even at that point, even though I have the blog, I’m not really I’m, more of a I mean, and you already we already covered that. We had met on Twitter. Really? So like, I was a heavy Twitter user by comparison to what I was doing on Facebook or any of the others.

00:19:14:51 – 00:19:16:23
Stefanie Stershic
At that time, I was still heavily on Twitter as.

00:19:16:23 – 00:19:25:35
Agent Palmer
Well. So you’re not getting you’re getting all of my social activity from Twitter more than anything. I don’t know what you’re seeing on for. I don’t remember.

00:19:25:35 – 00:19:30:59
Stefanie Stershic
I didn’t really look at many of the posts. I, I basically I just went on there, clicked on the photos of you, like scrolling through.

00:19:30:59 – 00:19:33:14
Agent Palmer
Them because I, I okay.

00:19:33:14 – 00:19:39:01
Stefanie Stershic
So definitely by that point, like my family was curious. Well, at the time I was still living with my mom and my sister.

00:19:39:01 – 00:19:51:20
Agent Palmer
But we need to stop for a moment and let people know that in 2016, Agent Palmer as the brand is still using Michael Caine.

00:19:51:22 – 00:19:51:56
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah.

00:19:52:01 – 00:20:12:33
Agent Palmer
For my Twitter and Facebook bios, if not the website logo. Yep. And so I haven’t given up. The ghost is to my real face. Yeah, yeah. So, just to put it out there like you don’t until I send you photos or you Facebook stalk me. You have no idea.

00:20:12:35 – 00:20:29:53
Stefanie Stershic
I didn’t know. Now, when we first started talking. Yeah, I had no idea what you look like, because I especially during the first part tober fest, I only I only knew. I knew the voice. I recognized the voice. And that was it. Because I wasn’t in those early Skype meetings. Once we started having the Skype meetings, you were a guy on a Skype screen.

00:20:29:58 – 00:20:38:36
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah. And so I. I saw you there, but you can’t ever really, like, truly see what somebody looks like. Please. You’re always wearing, like, a hat or something. And you had your headphones on.

00:20:38:36 – 00:21:02:53
Agent Palmer
We had, we, during those meetings, especially in 2016, the early ones, it’s it’s a beanie for like Bill, myself and Grant and we would put up like we I don’t know, there was just a it was just in and that’s what we were wearing. That’s what everybody was. So when we get to summer, I sent you a photo.

00:21:02:58 – 00:21:07:36
Agent Palmer
I think you asked for it. I’m not. I feel like because I had told you I was getting dressed up.

00:21:07:36 – 00:21:16:02
Stefanie Stershic
You told me? Yes. You told me you were getting dressed up and. And. Yeah, I said, oh, send me a photo because you said it was a suit and ties, but I, I’m interested.

00:21:16:07 – 00:21:37:02
Agent Palmer
So by the time. So that’s, that’s in June. Yeah. By the time we get to August meanwhile party event is coming up in October it’s August. And a few things have happened. One, you and I have started watching movies together.

00:21:37:13 – 00:21:38:07
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah.

00:21:38:12 – 00:21:47:19
Agent Palmer
Before there was an actual working stream together. We were just picking a movie on the service and trying to time it. Time it is best possible.

00:21:47:22 – 00:21:48:34
Stefanie Stershic
3 to 1.

00:21:48:34 – 00:21:51:01
Agent Palmer
Play.

00:21:51:05 – 00:21:52:37
Stefanie Stershic
And sometimes it would work and sometimes.

00:21:52:37 – 00:22:09:42
Agent Palmer
It. When most of those movies were movies, we, we, we were watching our classics. So to speak. I don’t think we watched any new stuff at that point. We watched that element that way. I really I genuinely can’t remember any of the other stuff we watched. I remember that was the first time we watched Fifth Element.

00:22:09:55 – 00:22:13:52
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah, yeah, we definitely watch because we discovered that we both had a love of Fifth Element. Yeah.

00:22:13:52 – 00:22:23:12
Agent Palmer
But, so that’s happening. There is also, by the time we reach August, there’s been at least one all night phone call for me.

00:22:23:17 – 00:22:23:35
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah.

00:22:23:49 – 00:22:33:55
Agent Palmer
You I, I saw the sun come up. You were like, man, it’s only 3 a.m.. I’m still going to go to sleep or some stuff. And I don’t know if that was a Friday or Saturday into a Saturday.

00:22:34:04 – 00:22:34:56
Stefanie Stershic
It was definitely on the weekend.

00:22:34:56 – 00:22:38:16
Agent Palmer
It was a weekend or a week, whatever. It didn’t.

00:22:38:21 – 00:22:43:16
Stefanie Stershic
Well, no, it couldn’t have been because didn’t you go to work? But you, you stayed up and then went to work?

00:22:43:16 – 00:22:44:12
Agent Palmer
No, I don’t think so.

00:22:44:14 – 00:22:45:08
Stefanie Stershic
No. Was that later?

00:22:45:08 – 00:22:46:48
Agent Palmer
That was it. That’s for you. And I did.

00:22:46:48 – 00:22:47:32
Stefanie Stershic
It for.

00:22:47:37 – 00:23:03:11
Agent Palmer
You. And I did some 3 a.m. where I went to work, because you would always be like, look, let’s let’s be about like, who’s the responsible one here? I’m just talking up a store. I have a podcast. I have a problem talking. And you also, I would.

00:23:03:14 – 00:23:05:16
Stefanie Stershic
Say you don’t have a problem talking.

00:23:05:16 – 00:23:11:41
Agent Palmer
Like I have a problem in talking too much, not shutting up. And I’ll ask the question to get the story out of you, and then I’ll tell my own.

00:23:11:41 – 00:23:17:30
Stefanie Stershic
And if you’re on the phone, like you just. It’s just for, like, you just talk, talk, talk. And so I’m like, you need to go to sleep.

00:23:17:44 – 00:23:31:58
Agent Palmer
Yeah, well, cause you you were aware, like, I think you were maybe hyper aware of our time difference because. Yeah, I wouldn’t call you. I would bother you in the middle of your afternoon when I got out of work and talk.

00:23:32:00 – 00:23:34:24
Stefanie Stershic
We would. Yeah, we would text when I would genuinely like.

00:23:34:24 – 00:23:41:14
Agent Palmer
We wouldn’t talk until you got back from work. Yeah. Which is later in the evening for me, at least for starters.

00:23:41:14 – 00:23:44:08
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah. There was usually after dinner and stuff like.

00:23:44:10 – 00:23:51:10
Agent Palmer
So there was at least one all nighter in there. I think there was, there was one flu night I remember.

00:23:51:14 – 00:23:53:05
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah.

00:23:53:10 – 00:24:07:16
Agent Palmer
I think I have a fever, but I don’t think I have any drugs that are good. And I think you were on the, you were, I think I hung up on the, I think you made me hang up on you. I went to the store and picked up like fresh tires because.

00:24:07:16 – 00:24:07:42
Stefanie Stershic
I didn’t.

00:24:07:42 – 00:24:12:35
Agent Palmer
Hear a single man problems. Right. Like, I may have some drugs in the house, but I don’t think any of them are good.

00:24:12:37 – 00:24:28:28
Stefanie Stershic
Well, I but I also say, do you have a thermometer? You’re like, no, of course you don’t. Because if you got a thermometer, you could check if you had a fever. So then I will. Okay. You don’t have a thermometer. You don’t think you have any drugs? I said hang up the phone. Go get something and then you’ll be good.

00:24:28:37 – 00:24:34:26
Agent Palmer
She became my wife. But I think that night it was all right. Fine, mom. I was like, yeah.

00:24:34:27 – 00:24:41:03
Stefanie Stershic
It was like, yeah, he’s he’s being a typical male. And I make sure he doesn’t have the.

00:24:41:03 – 00:24:52:09
Agent Palmer
Flu thing when we’re not. In hindsight, you cared way more than you were letting on because what happens next? So that happens sometime during the summer. That’s a during the summer thing, right?

00:24:52:14 – 00:24:57:31
Stefanie Stershic
Sure. There were definitely, I think, feelings starting to develop on both sides.

00:24:57:36 – 00:25:19:59
Agent Palmer
Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So, we are having these digital dates usually on a Friday night. And, I believe it’s August and, you, got on my case. Same as Grant. About.

00:25:20:01 – 00:25:21:02
Stefanie Stershic
About coming to town.

00:25:21:07 – 00:25:22:53
Agent Palmer
Coming to patch over friends, going to Michigan.

00:25:22:53 – 00:25:29:49
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah. And I had already had my ticket by then. I I’ve requested my time off work. I have a plane ticket. What’s up with you?

00:25:29:54 – 00:25:38:54
Agent Palmer
I had well, it was a lot and and so Bill and I are talking and I said, Bill, I think the only way I’m going is if I drive.

00:25:38:59 – 00:25:39:19
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah.

00:25:39:21 – 00:26:00:34
Agent Palmer
And, there was a, there was a hedging of bets when I said, Bill, do you want to go with me? Because I felt like, well, they’ll be mad at me. Like, I don’t know, I just it was, it was an all or nothing kind of a thing, like if I’m the if I’m the way Bill’s getting there.

00:26:00:34 – 00:26:08:23
Agent Palmer
And there was a cutoff point in, like, September for Bill’s plane ticket that no one knew about, I don’t think. But Bill and I.

00:26:08:23 – 00:26:09:30
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah.

00:26:09:35 – 00:26:14:12
Agent Palmer
Up until now, I mean, obviously we’ve we’ve told this story since. Yeah.

00:26:14:17 – 00:26:20:51
Stefanie Stershic
I think also partly it was Bill’s way of if I drive with him, he is guaranteed to go.

00:26:21:02 – 00:26:22:17
Agent Palmer
I don’t know if it was a Gary, I.

00:26:22:17 – 00:26:22:48
Stefanie Stershic
Don’t you.

00:26:22:48 – 00:26:23:38
Agent Palmer
Still don’t know? There was a.

00:26:23:38 – 00:26:44:48
Stefanie Stershic
Guarantee. Not a guarantee. But I feel like he had talked with Grant and J or just Grant or or whatever, but I think there was some planning or something going on that they said like, well, if he doesn’t want to get on a plane and he wants to drive, he and Bill don’t live that far away from each other.

00:26:44:53 – 00:26:55:16
Stefanie Stershic
If they drive together, then they’ll both show up. And then it kind of became a thing where it’s like, well, but then if that happens, he has to come because we need Bill here.

00:26:55:21 – 00:26:59:47
Agent Palmer
Yeah, I wasn’t I may have ended up being important, but everybody talking about Bill.

00:26:59:51 – 00:27:01:28
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah. Well because Bill had been there before.

00:27:01:28 – 00:27:08:41
Agent Palmer
Yes Bill was there. And there’s so that happened sometime in late August, early September.

00:27:08:43 – 00:27:10:26
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah.

00:27:10:31 – 00:27:14:36
Agent Palmer
And at some point during the summer, I had asked you if you’d go out with me.

00:27:14:41 – 00:27:15:05
Stefanie Stershic
And I had.

00:27:15:06 – 00:27:16:05
Agent Palmer
During the summer. Yeah.

00:27:16:05 – 00:27:16:32
Stefanie Stershic
And I had said.

00:27:16:32 – 00:27:17:33
Agent Palmer
No, you had said no, I.

00:27:17:33 – 00:27:17:57
Stefanie Stershic
Said no.

00:27:17:57 – 00:27:18:42
Agent Palmer
Why?

00:27:18:47 – 00:27:22:23
Stefanie Stershic
Because we hadn’t met in person.

00:27:22:23 – 00:27:50:57
Agent Palmer
Okay. So so what changes in the wee morning hours of September 13th. Yep. When I asked you again, basically three weeks before I’m going to meet you. For three, three and a half weeks before where I’m going to meet you and you said yes, which by the way, I wasn’t expecting because I had asked you again since that first, I think this was the third time I’d asked you.

00:27:51:02 – 00:27:53:12
Stefanie Stershic
What time’s the charm.

00:27:53:17 – 00:27:54:43
Agent Palmer
Yeah, that’s what it was. No.

00:27:54:43 – 00:27:57:45
Stefanie Stershic
What was it, I don’t know, something had.

00:27:57:45 – 00:27:59:45
Agent Palmer
Changed, though, because you said, yes.

00:27:59:45 – 00:28:22:52
Stefanie Stershic
I did, but I think it was the conversation. I think it was basically it was like, hey, we’re both going to be at Port Tober Fest. We’re both going to be in Michigan. We will meet. So why not like, why not agree now and then? We’ll have a date when we’re there. And so I think he finally wore me down.

00:28:22:52 – 00:28:28:27
Stefanie Stershic
I think you just like took me down. And I was like, fine.

00:28:28:31 – 00:28:35:14
Agent Palmer
Yeah. So I had a girlfriend all of a sudden who I had never met before. Yeah. Previously. Yeah.

00:28:35:21 – 00:28:45:21
Stefanie Stershic
Okay. Yeah. I mean, I guess that’s that’s because we agreed to, like, this would be us dating. Like, we would start to date long distance because we hadn’t met. We were still.

00:28:45:26 – 00:28:47:28
Agent Palmer
Yeah, it was going to be long distance anyway.

00:28:47:28 – 00:29:00:07
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah. It was and I think that was also part of it. It was like, even if we did meet there, we were still living in two different places. So we’re like, why? Why not? Like we’ve already been doing all these, these movie dates.

00:29:00:07 – 00:29:04:00
Agent Palmer
Yeah, we’ve been doing the dating thing. We’re talking about doing regular basis. Yeah.

00:29:04:00 – 00:29:06:19
Stefanie Stershic
We were doing everything that dating implies.

00:29:06:19 – 00:29:07:36
Agent Palmer
Except for the actual.

00:29:07:36 – 00:29:15:47
Stefanie Stershic
Dating. So I, I think it was like it would still be long distance. So I think that that kind of helped the thought that it was like, well, we’d still be apart.

00:29:15:54 – 00:29:17:27
Agent Palmer
Yes.

00:29:17:32 – 00:29:27:19
Stefanie Stershic
It would still be long distance dating. And yeah, we would meet in Michigan, but then we’d be surrounded by other people and, and things like that. So yeah, I think I just was like, fine, I’ll, I’ll, I’ll do it.

00:29:27:30 – 00:29:46:02
Agent Palmer
All right. So I get I in my part in this starts first I get up, I go to work, I leave work and I go get Bill. And I drive Bill from his house to my house.

00:29:46:09 – 00:29:47:27
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah.

00:29:47:31 – 00:30:01:03
Agent Palmer
By the way, while listening to the Orioles lose to the Blue Jays in a wild card game in a one game wild card game, which is only important because we’re going to see Canadians. And none of that means anything to you, then?

00:30:01:08 – 00:30:02:04
Stefanie Stershic
No.

00:30:02:09 – 00:30:07:27
Agent Palmer
Now Bill is reluctantly letting me watch. Listen to the game in the car. Yeah. And then no.

00:30:07:27 – 00:30:17:23
Stefanie Stershic
One thing to to to mention. What did you do that morning, though? Because like you said, it was September the 13th, wee hours of the morning for you.

00:30:17:28 – 00:30:20:34
Agent Palmer
Oh, I took a screenshot. You didn’t know you do. Yeah.

00:30:20:35 – 00:30:22:34
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah. When I said yes, because I.

00:30:22:34 – 00:30:24:00
Agent Palmer
Took a screenshot.

00:30:24:05 – 00:30:26:58
Stefanie Stershic
Because we had been talking on the phone, but then we had hung up.

00:30:27:09 – 00:30:30:32
Agent Palmer
No, we hadn’t hung up. Well, after, after.

00:30:30:37 – 00:30:36:51
Stefanie Stershic
Said you had texted me and that’s the texts that you then screenshot it. Yeah.

00:30:36:57 – 00:30:53:01
Agent Palmer
No, she’s got it wrong. No. When you said yes and we hung up on that phone, I took a screenshot. That was it. That was period. And then it was years later when we were trying to figure out what our anniversary was, that I found the screenshot and I texted you the screenshot.

00:30:53:04 – 00:30:55:17
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah, but what was the screenshot of it?

00:30:55:17 – 00:30:58:30
Agent Palmer
Just, it’s literally just my home screen.

00:30:58:35 – 00:31:00:14
Stefanie Stershic
Oh, just the date, the text.

00:31:00:14 – 00:31:07:48
Agent Palmer
Just the home screen time I had done. Yeah. So I Bill and I get up the next day late.

00:31:07:52 – 00:31:14:39
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah. But my point was, though, that you commemorated the moment I said yes, I did the screenshot to be like she said yes.

00:31:14:53 – 00:31:36:46
Agent Palmer
But fast forwarding the three weeks. Yes, I get Bill. Orioles are playing the Jays and lose. The next day I get up and Bill and I start our 14 hour journey. Yeah. From Pennsylvania. Michigan. You just hop on a plane? Yeah. And I think you beat us there by.

00:31:36:51 – 00:31:40:13
Stefanie Stershic
Oh, yeah. It was maybe a four hour flight if even that.

00:31:40:13 – 00:31:43:31
Agent Palmer
So when did you get into Michigan.

00:31:43:36 – 00:31:53:05
Stefanie Stershic
It was. Oh, God. Was it late the night before four or was it.

00:31:53:10 – 00:31:55:39
Agent Palmer
It was during the day because we got there two nights.

00:31:55:44 – 00:31:59:51
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah. So I I’m not there yet. Yeah. Yeah. So I think it was mid afternoon.

00:31:59:51 – 00:32:07:37
Agent Palmer
Okay. So you have dinner with the guys because it’s. So don’t forget this is the height of periscope. Well and Bill and I.

00:32:07:42 – 00:32:11:22
Stefanie Stershic
But it was also I think it was it was mid afternoon because.

00:32:11:26 – 00:32:11:57
Agent Palmer
You went out to.

00:32:11:57 – 00:32:19:21
Stefanie Stershic
Dinner early afternoon because we actually we waited at the airport for Dave because I arrived first. But Dave was arriving shortly after me, like me.

00:32:19:21 – 00:32:20:01
Agent Palmer
Dave was one.

00:32:20:01 – 00:32:20:10
Stefanie Stershic
Of the.

00:32:20:10 – 00:32:20:56
Agent Palmer
Canadians that.

00:32:20:56 – 00:32:28:30
Stefanie Stershic
Was flying. Yeah, he was flying in. So we were very close. So rather than leave and then come back, we just hung out at the airport and waited for Dave.

00:32:28:39 – 00:32:45:18
Agent Palmer
You guys photo. It’s to two hour. Bill was periscope occasionally from the passenger seat. Bill doesn’t drive. Yeah. So, we are slightly trying to document the journey. The journey of it? Are are you paying attention at all to any of this?

00:32:45:18 – 00:32:56:15
Stefanie Stershic
I can’t remember, okay. I feel like I did, but considering that I was traveling at the same time, I couldn’t keep track of all of it.

00:32:56:27 – 00:33:04:29
Agent Palmer
So Bill and I finally pull in at about 10 a.m. 10 p.m.. Sorry. Yeah, 11 p.m.. It’s like really.

00:33:04:36 – 00:33:06:58
Stefanie Stershic
Weird. Basically, we we we got Dave.

00:33:06:58 – 00:33:08:34
Agent Palmer
We you guys went to dinner.

00:33:08:43 – 00:33:09:41
Stefanie Stershic
We.

00:33:09:46 – 00:33:10:25
Agent Palmer
Because I remember.

00:33:10:25 – 00:33:24:15
Stefanie Stershic
A picture went straight from the airport. Yeah. To meeting Jay at a restaurant. Yeah. Because Grant had both me and Dave. And then Jay was like, oh, let’s all meet for. And we went to like, a rest bar restaurant kind of place.

00:33:24:20 – 00:33:26:39
Agent Palmer
And then we pull up.

00:33:26:43 – 00:33:28:19
Stefanie Stershic
And then we had dinner and then went back to that.

00:33:28:21 – 00:33:48:15
Agent Palmer
Yeah, we pull up to Grant’s, where everybody was staying and, So this is a whole, pretense to say that during that second part tober fest, we hadn’t told we hadn’t gone public.

00:33:48:20 – 00:33:51:00
Stefanie Stershic
The only two people that knew we were dating were us.

00:33:51:02 – 00:33:52:48
Agent Palmer
Well. And Bill well, I told.

00:33:52:48 – 00:33:56:17
Stefanie Stershic
Bill, okay, you you did. I didn’t know, I didn’t know you told me.

00:33:56:22 – 00:33:59:45
Agent Palmer
But I told Bill during one of the 13 hours that.

00:33:59:45 – 00:34:06:23
Stefanie Stershic
You were trying to get. I didn’t know this, but I had said we shouldn’t tell anyone because I didn’t want to wind up on your show.

00:34:06:27 – 00:34:21:07
Agent Palmer
Very much like. And yeah, that was a concern because it would have been it would not only would have been on air, it would have been it would have derailed what we would have. It really derailed all the work we had planned for the previous six months, and it would have just been the rest of.

00:34:21:07 – 00:34:34:15
Stefanie Stershic
The I didn’t want it. And we had such plans. We had ours and there were schedules and there was scripts and there was like, we we had planned it meticulously and I was like, if we tell anyone, this is not going to go well.

00:34:34:15 – 00:34:38:13
Agent Palmer
So you and I then,

00:34:38:18 – 00:34:42:10
Stefanie Stershic
So you, you guys show up, we all come out of the house to say hi.

00:34:42:15 – 00:34:42:59
Agent Palmer

00:34:43:04 – 00:34:44:08
Stefanie Stershic
And, and.

00:34:44:15 – 00:34:46:42
Agent Palmer
I got a big hug from Grant. Yeah.

00:34:46:46 – 00:34:50:34
Stefanie Stershic
Well Grant’s just a hugger. He, he hugged us all.

00:34:50:38 – 00:34:54:51
Agent Palmer
I don’t remember a hug from you during the initial not dinner.

00:34:54:52 – 00:34:58:55
Stefanie Stershic
No I don’t I don’t think we did. I think it was just kind of like a high. Meanwhile I had.

00:34:59:00 – 00:35:04:42
Agent Palmer
I literally hugged everyone but you. I think I hugged Dave, I hug Jay, I.

00:35:04:42 – 00:35:12:47
Stefanie Stershic
Think I stayed on the porch maybe, and just kind of waved or I don’t remember exactly. But yeah, I remember hugging Bill.

00:35:12:47 – 00:35:19:46
Agent Palmer
Yeah, of course. So then then then then we fast forward to the next day, which is the day before.

00:35:19:49 – 00:35:25:51
Stefanie Stershic
Just, I think you got monopolized by Grant. And then meantime I hugged. Yeah. Cause it was still it was still a game.

00:35:25:51 – 00:35:28:04
Agent Palmer
Time decision, like, is he really going to show up?

00:35:28:04 – 00:35:29:56
Stefanie Stershic
And we went we just went back into the house.

00:35:29:56 – 00:35:36:03
Agent Palmer
So, the next day. Is the day before we go live.

00:35:36:05 – 00:35:45:04
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah. Oh and we’re all staying at Grant’s house by the way. Like I said that we’re all sitting there. The thing is happening at Grant’s house. Like everything’s set up there. He’s setting up tables and all the equipment and all that.

00:35:45:04 – 00:36:04:57
Agent Palmer
And the day before we did a trial. Yep. We went live for like an hour, just a testimony. And then we, you, me and Bill specifically because Grant was doing some of the tech. We went through the at the out the the two 12 hours one final time.

00:36:05:02 – 00:36:13:54
Stefanie Stershic
We printed everything out, we printed everything. And I think we may have like taxed Grant’s printer. I think it may run out of ink. At one point it ran out of paper.

00:36:13:54 – 00:36:15:11
Agent Palmer
Yeah. So we.

00:36:15:11 – 00:36:16:32
Stefanie Stershic
Printed so.

00:36:16:32 – 00:36:26:30
Agent Palmer
Much and so it’s and it I know it seems ridiculous for this internet podcast thing, but like we were very busy that day before. Yeah.

00:36:26:35 – 00:36:31:46
Stefanie Stershic
We were there were we were still finalizing and writing certain things. Like there was still.

00:36:31:55 – 00:36:44:14
Agent Palmer
Up until like 1130 at night when there was like, hey guys, we have to start at like 8 to 8 or 9 a.m.. I don’t remember, we were 8 to 8. I think. I think we went 8 to 8 or 9 to 9 or was 9 to 9 on Friday and 8 to 8 on Saturday.

00:36:44:14 – 00:36:45:18
Stefanie Stershic
So it was something like that.

00:36:45:24 – 00:36:59:16
Agent Palmer
And so, we went to bed, we got up and we did the whole thing. That’s what, you know. And then Friday comes and we did, we we did. We did 12 hours during Fridays, 12 hours. You and I are sharing a table.

00:36:59:16 – 00:37:00:30
Stefanie Stershic
We are off to ones.

00:37:00:34 – 00:37:02:46
Agent Palmer
With laptops in between us.

00:37:02:50 – 00:37:04:27
Stefanie Stershic
Just us two. The others are in.

00:37:04:27 – 00:37:08:09
Agent Palmer
Along to everybody. Yeah, because we weren’t all we had a mic but we weren’t on.

00:37:08:18 – 00:37:17:08
Stefanie Stershic
We could be. We were sharing a mic. Yeah, we had one Mike between the two of us. Because just in case one of us needed to say something, say something, or jump in or help out, you.

00:37:17:08 – 00:37:21:33
Agent Palmer
Were in charge of the whatever hashtags again. So like you were doing that stuff and I.

00:37:21:38 – 00:37:29:25
Stefanie Stershic
And we were both going to be a little bit more involved, like we were both going to be on air at some times and hosting certain things or helping with certain things.

00:37:29:25 – 00:37:33:14
Agent Palmer
And I bring it up and, Gotham Lights did a thing.

00:37:33:14 – 00:37:34:15
Stefanie Stershic
Yep.

00:37:34:20 – 00:37:39:51
Agent Palmer
And we’ll get well, we’ll get to that. So I do during the first day.

00:37:40:04 – 00:37:42:26
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah.

00:37:42:31 – 00:37:47:30
Agent Palmer
I, I definitely looked at you several times. Several times.

00:37:47:37 – 00:37:49:07
Stefanie Stershic
And what did you do when you looked at me?

00:37:49:11 – 00:37:55:23
Agent Palmer
I would wink at you. Yeah. And you would, you would, you would shake your head. Yeah.

00:37:55:28 – 00:38:11:12
Stefanie Stershic
Because I’m sitting there going, what are you doing? Winking at me for no reason and grinning like, like a doofus when the others are right there and don’t know why you’re winking at me. Because I was thinking he’s going to give it away. They’re going to be suspicious. They’re going to be like, what’s going on over there?

00:38:11:21 – 00:38:14:21
Stefanie Stershic
There’s there’s there’s this tension, there’s this chemistry.

00:38:14:21 – 00:38:22:52
Agent Palmer
There’s stuff that’s for my mind. So, so by the way, so after the first day, yeah.

00:38:22:57 – 00:38:27:59
Stefanie Stershic
Cause I knew myself, I knew like, if you kept winking at me, I was going to start blushing or something, and you’re like.

00:38:27:59 – 00:38:37:34
Agent Palmer
What’s wrong with her? But after the first day, Grant’s wife said something to me. And I was like, not yet. I was like just.

00:38:37:34 – 00:38:42:07
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah, she, she, she noticed, she noticed just well because she wasn’t involved.

00:38:42:11 – 00:38:45:00
Agent Palmer
So she could take a take in this because she. Yes I was.

00:38:45:03 – 00:38:45:53
Stefanie Stershic
Observing.

00:38:45:53 – 00:38:46:09
Agent Palmer
Yes.

00:38:46:21 – 00:38:56:03
Stefanie Stershic
Plus she, she’s in what, she’s in the field of like psychology or something like that. I forget what she was. She was. And so but she was definitely like good at reading people.

00:38:56:08 – 00:39:32:01
Agent Palmer
So, the after the second day. Where it’s more of the same, I think we told everybody after the last, hour went down and we were done and we did it and we celebrated, I believe that’s when we told everybody, because I remember Grant being the even though it was his house.

00:39:32:05 – 00:39:32:31
Stefanie Stershic
He was like.

00:39:32:31 – 00:39:33:35
Agent Palmer
Somehow Grant.

00:39:33:46 – 00:39:34:42
Stefanie Stershic
Was the last to.

00:39:34:42 – 00:39:37:47
Agent Palmer
Know. And I remember him being like, what?

00:39:37:58 – 00:39:42:38
Stefanie Stershic
I feel like somebody came up and like, asked about it at.

00:39:42:44 – 00:39:45:32
Agent Palmer
But it was after. So we were we were in the clear.

00:39:45:36 – 00:39:52:52
Stefanie Stershic
Not entirely. I remember somebody asking earlier on when we were still in the midst of it, but they were like, don’t worry, I’m not going to say anything.

00:39:52:52 – 00:39:53:51
Agent Palmer
That might have been Paula.

00:39:54:05 – 00:39:55:06
Stefanie Stershic
Let’s not tell it.

00:39:55:06 – 00:39:56:08
Agent Palmer
Usually been Paula.

00:39:56:15 – 00:39:59:24
Stefanie Stershic
Because somebody was like, let’s not tell Grant.

00:39:59:29 – 00:40:09:10
Agent Palmer
So then Sunday, the Canadians went home because the next day was Thanksgiving for them.

00:40:09:15 – 00:40:10:01
Stefanie Stershic

00:40:10:05 – 00:40:14:35
Agent Palmer
On that Monday and Sunday we just kind of chilled.

00:40:14:37 – 00:40:23:13
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah. We didn’t have any with the thing was over, we didn’t really have to do anything. And we thought well we’re here, let’s go.

00:40:23:13 – 00:40:25:21
Agent Palmer
I think we went on Monday.

00:40:25:26 – 00:40:27:07
Stefanie Stershic
Did we. Yeah Sunday. Just the Sunday.

00:40:27:07 – 00:40:42:47
Agent Palmer
Was just a Sunday was just, like relaxing because I feel like most of the stuff we did, especially the museums, wouldn’t have been open on a Sunday. We went to the museum, we went to the planetarium. We had lunch at the Science Museum.

00:40:42:52 – 00:40:45:04
Stefanie Stershic
They could have been open on a Sunday, but.

00:40:45:15 – 00:40:49:15
Agent Palmer
But that was our first look. The tickets somewhere in this house?

00:40:49:19 – 00:40:58:54
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah. But you basically asked grand, like, hey, what’s what is there to do? And you said you wanted to take me out.

00:40:58:58 – 00:41:13:04
Agent Palmer
And we went on a date. Yeah. And then, Yeah, it was definitely Monday, because Tuesday we left. Yeah. And Monday ended with.

00:41:13:05 – 00:41:19:09
Stefanie Stershic
So I think Sunday was just us. Yeah, I was hanging out. I think we may have gone out again just as a, like a small group, whatever was left.

00:41:19:14 – 00:41:37:29
Agent Palmer
And then Sunday, Monday night, because you’re going to the airport Tuesday morning and Bill and I are leaving Tuesday morning. Yep. And I don’t because of certain. I don’t know how it happened, but you and I end up sleeping in the same bed. Nothing happened. But we end up sleeping in the same bed.

00:41:37:31 – 00:41:38:18
Stefanie Stershic
Just which was the.

00:41:38:30 – 00:41:46:44
Agent Palmer
Worst possible thing. Because Tuesday night, like you’re dead to the world. Like you actually fell asleep. And you.

00:41:46:45 – 00:41:47:04
Stefanie Stershic
Mean Monday.

00:41:47:04 – 00:41:49:09
Agent Palmer
Night? Monday night? Yeah. You’re dead.

00:41:49:09 – 00:41:52:17
Stefanie Stershic
Because what? We had come back from the date we had, we finished the date.

00:41:52:21 – 00:41:54:07
Agent Palmer
And then we met with everybody else for dinner.

00:41:54:07 – 00:42:06:13
Stefanie Stershic
And the family, you know, like, and his family. And we had dinner and then we came back and we, we just we hung out. Wasn’t that also Monday night? Wasn’t that the, it was the debate, right. It was it was the 2016 debate. Yeah.

00:42:06:23 – 00:42:07:54
Agent Palmer
And so.

00:42:07:58 – 00:42:11:17
Stefanie Stershic
We were up late as well. So like after that, I was like, oh, God, I need to go to sleep.

00:42:11:23 – 00:42:25:18
Agent Palmer
So we, you and I are in the same bed, but like, you are under the covers and asleep. Yep. I’m on top of the covers in, like, fever. Like I got something.

00:42:25:19 – 00:42:28:39
Stefanie Stershic
Pronounced to me, like I was just. I was sleeping, nothing.

00:42:28:39 – 00:42:36:28
Agent Palmer
Well, I got something, and I was, when we when we went to bed, I told Grant, I take you to the airport.

00:42:36:30 – 00:42:38:18
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah.

00:42:38:23 – 00:42:42:47
Agent Palmer
About 4 a.m. on. You woke up? Yeah. And I was still awake.

00:42:42:47 – 00:42:44:01
Stefanie Stershic
It was an early flight. Yeah.

00:42:44:01 – 00:42:49:25
Agent Palmer
And I was still awake. I. I said, just wake up, Grant. I’m in no condition to do anything.

00:42:49:25 – 00:42:52:18
Stefanie Stershic
I took one look at you and went. You look like death.

00:42:52:23 – 00:42:53:11
Agent Palmer
And so.

00:42:53:19 – 00:42:54:18
Stefanie Stershic
It.

00:42:54:23 – 00:42:59:40
Agent Palmer
And so we hugged. But because I didn’t feel well.

00:42:59:47 – 00:43:01:49
Stefanie Stershic
And we hung out like at breakfast and everything, we.

00:43:01:49 – 00:43:04:55
Agent Palmer
Didn’t get our kiss and. Oh no.

00:43:05:00 – 00:43:17:48
Stefanie Stershic
We had basically we had held hands at the planetarium because we went into a show of the planetarium and it was, you know, it was dark and we were sitting in seats and everything, and, I can’t remember if I was on the reach for your hand or if you were the one of the reach for my hand.

00:43:17:48 – 00:43:25:28
Stefanie Stershic
But then we were holding hands throughout, like, the whole planetarium show. So we done the whole hand-holding thing. Hugging kind of like, you know, flirting stuff.

00:43:25:28 – 00:43:30:10
Agent Palmer
But no kiss. And then I didn’t feel well. So I was like, I’m not doing that to her. She’s got to get on a flight.

00:43:30:10 – 00:43:33:56
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah. You’re like, I’m not going to kiss her and give her my germs.

00:43:34:00 – 00:43:57:31
Agent Palmer
And then and so after you leave, I finally get like two hours of sleep. Sleep. And I was like, Bill, let’s just go half way. We’ll get there. So we get back, and you and I are still dating. Like the the long story of it is that all of that happens. We meet, we start dating, we have our first date, and you still are willing to keep dating me.

00:43:57:36 – 00:43:58:25
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah.

00:43:58:30 – 00:44:14:57
Agent Palmer
And so we keep going. And what happens next? Because that’s the fall again is that you come back, you come to Pennsylvania by yourself in March in March, yes. Ahead of 17in of snow.

00:44:15:02 – 00:44:20:05
Stefanie Stershic
A fairly large snowstorm that I think I was not aware of. What’s happening.

00:44:20:10 – 00:44:24:12
Agent Palmer
And your flight, which was going to be into my local airport.

00:44:24:14 – 00:44:24:32
Stefanie Stershic
You know.

00:44:24:45 – 00:44:28:22
Agent Palmer
Got moved to an airport an hour away because that flight got canceled.

00:44:28:31 – 00:44:48:47
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah, I, I get to the airport as I am getting the notification that my flight is canceled. So I’m at the airport because I had taken a shuttle, because my mom was going to work, so she couldn’t take him to the airport. So I was like, Now I’ll take a shuttle. It’s fine. So I, I’m, I’m getting off the shuttle and I get a text message on my phone saying my flights cancel.

00:44:48:47 – 00:44:55:08
Stefanie Stershic
And I’m like, well, crap. So I start freaking out a little bit, but I still go to the counter and say, yeah, because.

00:44:55:08 – 00:44:58:49
Agent Palmer
You and I had both taken off for this. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:44:58:55 – 00:45:16:57
Stefanie Stershic
And so and so I go in and I go up to the counter and say, I just got this message that my flight is canceled. What does this mean? And they’re like, yeah, it looks like there’s a storm coming in. And so they’ve shut down that airport. And I said, well, what can I do now? Like, well, we can see if we can get you on a different, different flight.

00:45:16:57 – 00:45:35:13
Stefanie Stershic
First they’re saying like, well, you could go tomorrow. And I’m like, no, I have to go today. And I call you. Meanwhile, it’s very early. It’s very early in the morning. I think I wake you up. No, no.

00:45:35:18 – 00:45:38:30
Agent Palmer
No, but I immediately, like, panicked because I’m like, wait, what?

00:45:38:34 – 00:45:48:22
Stefanie Stershic
Well, yeah, because I’ve got my my, I like my flights canceled. There’s they’re literally saying that Allentown Airport, which is the airport I was flying into, is shut down. They’re preparing for the snow. They’re not letting flights come in.

00:45:48:22 – 00:45:52:37
Agent Palmer
My favorite, my favorite line. I was like, well, where can they send you to?

00:45:52:37 – 00:45:57:58
Stefanie Stershic
And so I ask them again what the options are, because I don’t know, these places I’ve never really been depends.

00:45:58:03 – 00:46:14:25
Agent Palmer
He says. He says a voca And I was like, yeah, do that one because it that one is fine because that’s only less than an hour and it’s less than two hours away. We’ll go with. And so I was able to.

00:46:14:30 – 00:46:16:39
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah. But didn’t he say like Scranton. He said.

00:46:16:48 – 00:46:21:16
Agent Palmer
It. Well it would have been a voca on the thing at the time I think. But yeah, Scranton or whatever.

00:46:21:29 – 00:46:33:46
Stefanie Stershic
I think Wilkes-Barre was, I don’t remember, but there were a couple places mentioned. And you said, no, go with that one. That one’s like, it would be like an hour, hour and a half or something. A couple hours maybe. I’ll drive and get you.

00:46:33:46 – 00:46:39:21
Agent Palmer
And I went up early. And got Krispy Kreme, which you didn’t care for.

00:46:39:26 – 00:46:41:54
Stefanie Stershic
I wasn’t a big fan of Krispy Kreme.

00:46:41:59 – 00:46:46:30
Agent Palmer
But I went up early because I got to hang out with our now mutual friend Chris.

00:46:46:38 – 00:46:47:37
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah.

00:46:47:42 – 00:46:56:49
Agent Palmer
Ahead of time because he was working at the college at the time, so I just saw him. And then I pick you up, and we came back here.

00:46:56:54 – 00:47:01:30
Stefanie Stershic
Because for some reason, even though the airports are fairly the same size, that one was not.

00:47:01:35 – 00:47:04:51
Agent Palmer
The same size. No, not even remotely close.

00:47:04:56 – 00:47:05:56
Stefanie Stershic
Which one’s bigger?

00:47:06:01 – 00:47:08:14
Agent Palmer
Ours is. Really? Yeah, by a lot.

00:47:08:19 – 00:47:11:44
Stefanie Stershic
Well, then that’s what I think surprised me was like, why is this airport remaining?

00:47:11:50 – 00:47:32:26
Agent Palmer
Well, and now you know, because now you’ve seen what happens to Philly when it rains, that it’s a different thing. So the other thing is we we get off the turnpike, we’re basically close to my house. And I go and we, we pull into the grocery store. Yeah. And I said.

00:47:32:31 – 00:47:38:02
Stefanie Stershic
Because I’m basically I am I, I have flown in ahead of this storm, I know there’s a storm coming.

00:47:38:07 – 00:47:52:34
Agent Palmer
And and by the way the models are saying a a, a feat like at this point. So we don’t know exactly how bad it we just know it’ll be bad. Yeah. And so I’m like, all right, what’s your favorite? What’s your cereal like, what do you want to eat? Yeah.

00:47:52:35 – 00:48:13:26
Stefanie Stershic
Like you’re like we’re stopping at the store. I’m like, do you think we need to like. Yeah, because I actually it’s been years since I was, I had been living in Arizona for, gosh, what, 15 years by that point? About and so I don’t know what to expect from an East Coast snowstorm because I haven’t had an East Coast snowstorm in forever.

00:48:13:30 – 00:48:20:55
Stefanie Stershic
So I was slightly confused. But you’re like, no, no, we we are stopping at the store and we’re getting milk. We’re getting eggs, we’re getting bread, we’re.

00:48:20:56 – 00:48:23:33
Agent Palmer
Getting a few things. We didn’t get milk and eggs and bread.

00:48:23:38 – 00:48:24:23
Stefanie Stershic
No, I thought we did.

00:48:24:25 – 00:48:28:17
Agent Palmer
No, no, no, I’m not one of those people. I’ve never been one of those people.

00:48:28:19 – 00:48:30:26
Stefanie Stershic
You definitely got got things like that.

00:48:30:32 – 00:48:31:24
Agent Palmer
We got stuff.

00:48:31:26 – 00:48:36:03
Stefanie Stershic
Used to prepare stuff and some some breakfast stuff. Yeah, yeah, we did do that.

00:48:36:08 – 00:48:44:25
Agent Palmer
And then you were here for a week, and I had planned to show you where I live. Yeah. You saw my house.

00:48:44:30 – 00:48:47:28
Stefanie Stershic
We got the first. We got to the house as it started snowing.

00:48:47:28 – 00:48:55:39
Agent Palmer
Yep. And we woke up to about, eight inches, and it just kept snowing. Yeah, yeah. And then.

00:48:55:39 – 00:48:56:17
Stefanie Stershic
So much snow.

00:48:56:24 – 00:49:08:36
Agent Palmer
I. I feel like we dug out by about. 2 or 3 days later because we had dinner with my father. You got to meet him.

00:49:08:36 – 00:49:08:55
Stefanie Stershic
Yep.

00:49:09:08 – 00:49:10:32
Agent Palmer
But because of schedules.

00:49:10:37 – 00:49:11:18
Stefanie Stershic
Met both turns.

00:49:11:21 – 00:49:27:02
Agent Palmer
It was the next day or two days later that we had lunch with my mother. Yeah. And I feel like we did go back up to Scranton. We did. And you met,

00:49:27:07 – 00:49:27:48
Stefanie Stershic
And I met Chris.

00:49:27:55 – 00:49:34:58
Agent Palmer
You met Chris and you met at a party? And then. Yeah.

00:49:34:58 – 00:49:39:33
Stefanie Stershic
And then that was basically it, like you really didn’t get to show me much because of the snow.

00:49:39:42 – 00:49:41:53
Agent Palmer
And then you came back that summer.

00:49:41:53 – 00:49:42:43
Stefanie Stershic
July.

00:49:42:47 – 00:49:51:47
Agent Palmer
In July with your mother almost killed your mother. Jeez I don’t I, I, I don’t weather related.

00:49:51:47 – 00:49:53:06
Stefanie Stershic
I don’t use the weather related.

00:49:53:06 – 00:49:55:01
Agent Palmer
I don’t use air conditioning usually.

00:49:55:01 – 00:50:00:19
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah, well, in the house doesn’t have central air, and that’s what we’re used to in Arizona because you can’t live without central air.

00:50:00:19 – 00:50:13:39
Agent Palmer
You also are used to a quote unquote dry, dry heat. So your mother gets off the plane. Yeah. You get here. You sat down on my I you sat down on the couch with me. Your mother sat down on the love seat, and your mother drank three bottles of water in 15 minutes.

00:50:13:39 – 00:50:18:54
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah. She was feeling the heat and the humidity. Yeah.

00:50:18:54 – 00:50:29:26
Agent Palmer
The humidity was killing your mother. Yeah. And so I said, should I. Do you want me to turn the air on? Yeah. And your mother, who originally said no.

00:50:29:31 – 00:50:34:21
Stefanie Stershic
It was like, no, no, it was fine. And then finally she was like, now no, no, no, I need some air.

00:50:34:26 – 00:50:38:41
Agent Palmer
So I actually did show you Historic Bethlehem.

00:50:38:41 – 00:50:40:27
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah, that’s what we were. We saw everything.

00:50:40:28 – 00:50:42:12
Agent Palmer
You know, not everything, but a lot.

00:50:42:13 – 00:50:44:56
Stefanie Stershic
A lot. You took us to the steel stacks?

00:50:45:00 – 00:51:00:34
Agent Palmer
Yeah, a bunch of stuff in the casino. That’s 2017. Yes. We didn’t do pot. We didn’t go to October 1st. The third year?

00:51:00:39 – 00:51:01:17
Stefanie Stershic
No, it had.

00:51:01:17 – 00:51:02:20
Agent Palmer
Changed quite a bit.

00:51:02:28 – 00:51:05:25
Stefanie Stershic
Changed. And we also weren’t that heavily involved anymore.

00:51:05:30 – 00:51:10:14
Agent Palmer
No, but you are doing a show at this time.

00:51:10:14 – 00:51:11:23
Stefanie Stershic
I have a podcast now.

00:51:11:23 – 00:51:21:35
Agent Palmer
You’re doing Gotham Lights. And this is only important because. Because I’m dating you, I start watching Gotham. And I.

00:51:21:40 – 00:51:22:25
Stefanie Stershic
You were on the show.

00:51:22:26 – 00:51:30:50
Agent Palmer
I was a guest on the show a couple times. Yeah. And occasionally I sat in for you.

00:51:30:55 – 00:51:33:34
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah.

00:51:33:39 – 00:51:38:11
Agent Palmer
And so I think it is in.

00:51:38:16 – 00:51:49:20
Stefanie Stershic
The, at the same time we were also guest starring on other people’s podcast because several of the people that we knew in our podcast circle had also started podcasts.

00:51:49:25 – 00:51:52:35
Agent Palmer
You UK, did you come a third time? No, no.

00:51:52:39 – 00:51:54:00
Stefanie Stershic
It was just the two times was just.

00:51:54:00 – 00:51:54:38
Agent Palmer
The two times.

00:51:54:38 – 00:52:09:12
Stefanie Stershic
And then but at some point after that second visit, for the for that summer, you had started to ask me what I move in here. Yeah, what I move what? I’m moving with you. Yeah. What? I move across the country.

00:52:09:17 – 00:52:10:21
Agent Palmer
Yeah.

00:52:10:26 – 00:52:17:22
Stefanie Stershic
And come live with you. Yeah. And so we had started to discuss it, and I made the decision to say.

00:52:17:22 – 00:52:22:10
Agent Palmer
You were a big fan of four seasons. Like she got one.

00:52:22:10 – 00:52:22:34
Stefanie Stershic
I, for.

00:52:22:42 – 00:52:28:50
Agent Palmer
Instance, of 17in of snow and was like, yeah, I’m all for this.

00:52:28:55 – 00:52:51:26
Stefanie Stershic
I did immediately fall in love with Pennsylvania. It reminded me a lot of Germany, which I was very used to. I have family in Germany. I went there plenty of times and so the climate was very similar. The forest looked very similar, like it was all just. Yeah, that seems that seems good. So I was liking the idea of moving to Pennsylvania.

00:52:51:31 – 00:53:04:55
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah. And and then started to, to seriously consider it, and, and planned my move. I work for a relocation company. I hired one our moving suppliers to come pack everything up.

00:53:05:00 – 00:53:11:29
Agent Palmer
And so. But but here’s the thing, though. That happens in 2017.

00:53:11:34 – 00:53:12:56
Stefanie Stershic
More so 2018.

00:53:13:02 – 00:53:17:32
Agent Palmer
2018 when you move. But we started talking about it in 2017.

00:53:17:37 – 00:53:21:20
Stefanie Stershic
So I figured I didn’t seriously start considering until 2018, 2018.

00:53:21:20 – 00:53:36:39
Agent Palmer
And it’s in 2018 that you do move in in the fall, in October, in October, close to the anniversary of our first date, because I remember that being a thing. I think you were here in time for it.

00:53:36:39 – 00:53:47:06
Stefanie Stershic
I don’t remember, I wasn’t I came in in the I was here for around when Portable Fest would have happened. Okay. Our anniversary was in September.

00:53:47:17 – 00:53:50:10
Agent Palmer
No, I’m saying, but the anniversary of our first date.

00:53:50:10 – 00:53:56:33
Stefanie Stershic
Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah, because that would have been around. But yeah, I was here for for that. I think I got here like either the day of or the day after.

00:53:56:33 – 00:54:10:04
Agent Palmer
And so in preparation for your coming here. Despite the fact that I’ve been single for two years living in this house by myself, I looked around.

00:54:10:09 – 00:54:10:43
Stefanie Stershic
But dating.

00:54:10:56 – 00:54:30:30
Agent Palmer
In early 2018, and I went I don’t have room for another person, I just have a lot of stuff. So I started downsizing to make room for you. So I was like, well, I just don’t. Yeah, it’s, I, I wasn’t a hoarder, but like, houses have a way of filling up.

00:54:30:39 – 00:54:31:14
Stefanie Stershic

00:54:31:19 – 00:54:40:47
Agent Palmer
And so I in 2018 as you’re thinking about it and I’m like it’s going to come fine.

00:54:40:59 – 00:54:58:01
Stefanie Stershic
Well yeah. But like I had to like discuss the with the work. And because at that time there was no remote working. It wasn’t as big as it was after the pandemic. So I had to kind of convince my work like, hey, I’m thinking about moving to Pennsylvania. I would like to keep working for you guys and keep my job.

00:54:58:06 – 00:55:17:10
Stefanie Stershic
Do you think we could work something out where I could work remotely and work from work from home? Basically, because at the time I was thinking like, we mostly do stuff online, we can do phone calls on the online. We can. I’m doing a lot of stuff via email, like I can do what I do at home, even though it wasn’t that big of a thing yet.

00:55:17:15 – 00:55:34:09
Stefanie Stershic
And because I was an awesome employee and had, it’s just great customer service scores and was a valuable employee, and they loved me. They agreed. They said, yeah, yeah, if you want to do this, we’ll work it out so that you can work remotely.

00:55:34:09 – 00:55:52:14
Agent Palmer
And so you I at this time, I don’t know, it’s is a part of our circle. I did an episode with Chris for you. Yeah, for road trip songs. Because you were going to ship your stuff, but you were driving your car.

00:55:52:14 – 00:55:52:50
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah, yeah.

00:55:52:55 – 00:56:09:21
Agent Palmer
And so, we, I made and I and in addition to that episode, which Chris made sure to time. So it was out for your trip. I made you a separate playlist. You did? Well, yeah. And so you’re driving across the country.

00:56:09:23 – 00:56:11:09
Stefanie Stershic

00:56:11:14 – 00:56:16:31
Agent Palmer
And you’ll have to stay tuned for the next episode to find out what happens next.

00:56:16:36 – 00:56:24:58
Unknown
Then, then. You.

00:56:25:03 – 00:56:49:24
Agent Palmer
Okay okay okay. So this is only half of the story. The other half will be the next episode. And that will contain our nuptials, I promise. But let me be the first to admit that this podcast, not this episode, but this podcast is possible because of the love and support that Stefanie gives me. She makes all of this possible because not only does she want to support my creative endeavors, she does.

00:56:49:28 – 00:57:09:59
Agent Palmer
She happens to be one of those many people who thought I should have started a podcast well before I did, and in turn, I still think she should get back on the mic herself. But getting her on this show may be the closest anyone will get to having her on bike for a while. She did for a time stream on Twitch.tv slash from brain to keyboard.

00:57:10:04 – 00:57:34:06
Agent Palmer
But now you’re more likely to find me on that channel if you want more stuff. And many of you probably want her more than me, just say so. I’m sure if enough of you reach out, she’ll at least come back on this podcast again more often. Aside from just next week that I told you about, and perhaps you will be able to convince her to do her own show as I have been unsuccessful. Also, while the music for this episode was, as always, provided by Henno Heitur, he also sent in a message,

00:57:34:11 – 00:58:06:42
Henno Heitur
my dear friends, on this illustrious alumnus. Some might call it a momentous occasion. I am reminded of a story about an insecure Martian who, while courting a slightly bitchy philosopher dream chick, presented her with this gift. I made a little riff for her and I played that little riff for her.

00:58:06:42 – 00:58:13:04
Henno Heitur
I said, here’s a riff that I made for you. Five, four, three, two.

00:58:13:09 – 00:58:18:34
Unknown
One oh my.

00:58:18:39 – 00:58:52:43
Henno Heitur
Oh, inspired by the insecure Martian who courted this slightly bitchy philosopher dream chick, I too have written a riff for you.

00:58:52:48 – 00:59:20:31
Henno Heitur
And as you go forward, dear friends, on this new adventure in a relationship that really is going to be about the same. But you got a new title and you didn’t get a raise. But this riff will represent pretty much nothing, and it’s analogous of absolutely nothing in regard to the complexities of a human relationship. But I bet I’m the only one that made you a riff. Congratulations! I love you both, and I’m really just looking forward to celebrating in person with you.

00:59:20:35 – 00:59:43:05
Agent Palmer
Thanks. I know and thank you for listening to The Palmer Files episode 138. And now for the official business. The Palmer Files releases every two weeks on Tuesdays. If you’re still listening, I encourage you to join the discussion. You can find all related ways to contact my lovely wife, Stefanie and myself in the show.

00:59:43:05 – 01:00:05:51
Agent Palmer
Notes. The music for this episode was provided by the lovely Henno Heitur. Email can be sent to this show at The Palmer Files at gmail.com. And remember, you’re home for all things. Agent Palmer is Agent palmer.com.

01:00:05:56 – 01:00:40:26
Agent Palmer
You.

01:00:40:31 – 01:00:43:36
Agent Palmer
All right, Stefanie. My wife.

01:00:43:41 – 01:00:44:21
Stefanie Stershic
My love.

01:00:44:33 – 01:00:46:35
Agent Palmer
Do you have one final question for me?

01:00:46:39 – 01:01:01:15
Stefanie Stershic
I do when you asked me that third time to go out with you. Yep. How confident are you that I was going to say yes, given that I hadn’t said yes up until that point?

01:01:01:15 – 01:01:04:33
Agent Palmer
Oh, I was convinced it was a no until Michigan.

01:01:04:38 – 01:01:05:20
Stefanie Stershic
Really?

01:01:05:25 – 01:01:13:50
Agent Palmer
Yeah. I was very shocked. You said yes, but I was going to ask anyway. I don’t know what possessed me that, but I was very much, I very much.

01:01:14:01 – 01:01:18:25
Stefanie Stershic
We had had some, some what I would consider fairly romantic conversations.

01:01:18:25 – 01:01:20:14
Agent Palmer
I mean some in-depth conversation.

01:01:20:19 – 01:01:22:46
Stefanie Stershic
And I don’t mean like sexual in nature. I just mean like.

01:01:22:46 – 01:01:23:24
Agent Palmer
No talking.

01:01:23:24 – 01:01:26:13
Stefanie Stershic
About really important. Like question. No.

01:01:26:15 – 01:01:47:57
Agent Palmer
And by that, by the time I asked you out the third time, we had talked about like, would you want to have kids? We had talked about like, like like like we would we had had those deep, what I call college conversations. Yeah. What do you think about the universe and the things that are in it? Yep.

01:01:48:02 – 01:02:08:49
Agent Palmer
But we had also talked about kids and we had talked about family and we had talked we talked about all that. So all that’s already I’m not saying we still we still had things to learn like we knew each other. But yeah, I asked full well knowing that the answer was probably still no until we meet in Michigan.

01:02:08:54 – 01:02:10:04
Agent Palmer
But I asked anyway.

01:02:10:07 – 01:02:10:38
Stefanie Stershic
Yeah.

01:02:10:43 – 01:02:15:26
Agent Palmer
Because at the time you do that.

01:02:15:31 – 01:02:18:08
Stefanie Stershic
You just you just try. Why not?

01:02:18:13 – 01:02:18:42
Agent Palmer
Why not?

–End Transcription–

This transcription was processed by PalmerTech 3.1 and may contain errors for HUMINT (human intelligence).