Which Is Worse? Insurance or Ercot | Thursday 01.22.26

0:00 Want more Treehouse, check out our YouTube exclusive shows at YouTube dot com. Slash at Treehouse on air. It is time to believe your worries outside and laugh with us inside the Treehouse. I'm Daniel Malley along with Trey Trenholm, comedian Ron Sharman and Jerry Caldwell. And what I like to call a new example of an attractive nuisance. A Florida Keys boat captain has been accused of selling kilos of cocaine that he found at sea. So you know how this guy's gonna get wrung up for attempting to deal and sell kilos of cocaine. But what about those people that hurt themselves in a neighbor's pool, and instead of being prosecuted for trespass, they sue the homeowner for a having an attractive nuisance in their backyard. And when so, I'm just floating this. When you leave drugs floating in the Atlantic, in the Florida Keys in a boat cap that happens upon them, I mean, is it really his fault that he tries to sell them and make a few bucks. It's only fair.

1:24 I think it's good you didn't purchase it to the intended distribute right is if well, I guess it's if you buy it and then try. To sell it. Now, I think the intended distribute is when you is when you try to sell it is when you try to distribute it. So, but I'm with you. I feel like in order for it to be a true, like decades long sentence type situation, I feel like you gotta, you know, be the guy that's handling it from source to distribution, as opposed to look what I've found? Would you like this? Yeah, I have this that I found? Would you like some? It's Is it a system or is it just opportunistic?

2:07 If you just happen to find random cocaine floating in the ocean, who do you sue for the attractive nuisance? The government? Because if they weren't out there blowing ships up and making the drug dealers dump it overboard, then it wouldn't have been floating in the water in the first place. War on drugs has gotten o a hand. Nancy Ragan has to be stopped. Can the attorney use like the finders keeper's rule? I would thoroughly enjoy watching on court TV the finder's Keeper's defense, Except this guy didn't do that. It was finders sellers.

2:47 Yeah, I think the problem with the finders keeper's defense is the other part of that, which is possession is two thirds of the law. Here is that or in this case of eight moll. Oh, it's a lot. I don't know. I don't know, but drug weights. I've never been a hard drug guy. I couldn't even tell you what the proper amount of marijuana is to smoke or to stick in a pike kind of a thing. So I have no idea even how much an eight ball is. I assume that it that it correlates to the size of an actual eight ball, Then why do they call it eight ball?

3:29 Uh eight? Because it's it's an eighth of something. Yeah, I don't think I ever would have gotten there. I just assumed that it was like roughly the size of an eight ball. So whenever I heard someone talk about, oh, I got an eight ball of cocaine, It's like, that sounds like a lot of cocaine. It's the size of a billiard ball. And then I thought, well, if it's not that, then is that is an eight ball? Then eight servings. I have no idea, So it's an eighth of something. Jerry, Yeah, I'm looking that up. It's eight an ounce, Yeah, something like that. An eighth of an ounce. That doesn't sound cool. That sounds kind of weak. It's like an eight bles out again every time. I don't know when I hear I got a new bole that sounds like a lot. When you when it's an eighth of an ounce, it's like, that doesn't sit like a whole lot. I put more.

4:21 I've put more weight protein powder in my bolt of Greek yogurt than you're doing bumps. Of I just I feel like this boat captain, the problem is he got greedy. He really he could have gone to Miami, found some you know, crypto bro and been like, hey, let me. Give you the deal of the century. Yeah, I'm with you because I will say this, with as many police officers as we know, Trey, and enough of those officers that we know have worked under cover, right, not a single one of them could go under cover as a crypto bro. They don't look the part at all and ain't gonna happen. So if you're trying to offload some found cocaine, selling it to a crypto bro is a great choice. Because I don't know a single cop I've never known a single cop that would ever come close to in a million years looking like a crypto bro. Homeless, Yes, a little on the tawdry side in someplace. Maybe they shouldn't be absolutely very good at blending into those situations, but not the not the crypto bro type. So yeah, that's a great idea, finding the closest crypto bro, which is somewhere in a penthouse in Miami, and that's that's your target. And eight ball is one eighth of an ounce or three point five grams. Three point five grams saw metric stuff. I'm so bad at it. How many cups is that?

5:52 Three point five grams? How many cups isn't that? That's how my brain operates. I need to know cups and ounces like not not ounces by weight, but ounces by volume. This is this is the problem with the American system versus the metrics system. My brain can't translate these good. The first time you do hard drugs, you're gonna overdose. That's why we're doing a cup tonight. Yeah, OK, please three point fives? No, man, I mean seriously, I grew up in the era of what what's your bench bro? Not the uh, you know, the dainty you know, finger nail whatever. So I have a hard time wrapping my brain around an eighth of an ounce, being like, yeah, an eighth of announces around three quarters of a teaspoon.

6:50 Doesn't. Again, obviously I've never tried it, so I don't know. My perspective is greatly askew. That just doesn't seem like that much. But then again, whenever I've seen it in film and television and on the a couple of occasions i've seen it in person, I guess it doesn't actually take that much to get you going. I mean, that depends on how far along you are in your cocaine career. But it's a journey, Jerry, we call it a journey. These days, we're all on a journey. This this guy was trying to make it a career. Everybody else is on a journey. A sixty five year old Florida Key's boat captain was arrested on Monday after deputies say he was selling kilos of drugs that he found at sea. Following an investigation led by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, deputy say they nabbed Bradford Todd Picarello and seized twenty three kilograms of cocaine, his thirty eight foot vessel, eight thousand dollars in cash, and a forty caliber handgun. All right, twenty three kilos of cocaine? How much is that it comes? Okay?

8:00 I think it's a forty pounds. This is why I need to know the you know the formula. I need to know what you know? The comparison is, Yeah, it should be roughly if it's twenty three kilos, it should like forty five pounds. Ish, Okay, that sounds like a lot of cocaine. That is that's I mean, that's like a that's like an eight or nine year old. That is approximately one hundred and eighty four cups. Thank you, Jared. That's one hundred and eighty four cups of non fat Greek yogurt. To me, that's a lot. That's what they call Miami too.

8:45 The investigation code. Yeah. The investigation ended Monday, when undercover Sheriff's Office Special Operations detectives purchased a kilo of cocaine from Picarella for ten thousand dollars and placed him under arrest. He was subsequent booked in the Monroe County Sheriff's Office on counts of trafficking cocaine, selling cocaine, and possessing cocaine. And since it's in the story that it was found at sea, I'm just guessing that was his story to the arresting authorities, saying, Okay, look, it's not that bad. I just found it floating and decided I would sell it. It's not like I picked it up directly from Venezuela.

9:29 And you don't want the sharks to get a hold of it again. Yeah, that's right. He's doing us all a favor. He's keeping the beaches safe by making sure the sharks don't accidentally ingest the cocaine again like they've done in years past. And what do you do, Like, okay, let's say you find it. Do you show up at the police station and be like, hey, I found all of this cocaine and they don't arrest you either way? Mm hmm. I think so that's supposed to be how it should work. It's like, hey, it's kind of like finding a lost wall. You say like, hey, I found this, they don't arrest you for stealing the wallet. Wallet's are an illegal possess, all right, that's a solid point, Jerry think I think I'm just saying when the idea is, if you find something dangerous, you're supposed to be able to call the authorities, and they're not supposed to assume that you made it.

10:20 I think if you call the coastguard at the point you find it, you're you're gonna be okay. So like, don't bring it on board. Maybe just call it in, just radio into the coastguard. Hey, here's my position. I see something floating, I'm just gonna hang out about twenty thirty yards away just so you can find it more easily. But I'm not touching it. Drop them a pin. What if he put an actual pin in the cocaine and some shot out and accidentally went into his nose as he inhaled.

11:04 Well, he was just making sure it was pure. That's what this is. Coke great. I just want you guys to know I'm radioing in the good stuff. This isn't fake. I tried it. Yeah, I know, I think it'd be. Hey, guys, I want you to know I'm radioing the good stuff. You're listening to the Treehouse. Visit is online a treehouse on air dot com. I found some real big, real big. You gotta see it. Oh my god. Eight three three Cook DFW is the phone number you need to contact Daniel Cook from COOKDFW Roofing and Restoration schedule that free roof inspection and property review. Speaking of the property review, Daniel, after you're done doing the roof inspection, you come down off the roof and you grab that homeowner and say, hey, let's take a little walk around your property and let me show you a few things I've noticed. What are some of the most common things that you see, but a homeowner doesn't.

12:00 Majority of the time, when we walk around a home, especially a home that's getting that age between five and ten years old, we see a lot of calking seals coming loose. Flashings are starting to fail, the rubber seals around your doors, your garage door, all of those things and all changes based on the home. You know, some homes face south and west, and of course you get more beat down sun in the summertime, and that really affects those kind of things. Some homes face north, they don't get as much sunlight, so you start having the opposite effect with different things growing as far as organic matter and you know, you know, discoloration, and then we always see around the windows, the calking is shrinking. Irrigation sometimes will get affected as your home ages, the soil changes, and so does the way that the plot of land that your home rest on changes. So there's just so many things. Until you go out and really walk around your house and really take it a different perspective, it's hard to know all the things that be going on on your home. So we would love to do that with you. Just call us out, take us about thirty forty five minutes, but it's well worth it.

13:10 At the end. Eight three three COOKDFW. To get that scheduled today eight three three COOKDFW or that website cookdfw dot com. You're in the treehouse, visit us online at treehouseonair dot com. This segment of the Treehouse is brought to you by COOKDFW Roofing and Restoration. To get your free roof inspection and property review called eight three three cook DFW, or go to the website cookdfw dot com and the Know your Home show new from COOKDFW is now live available to you on YouTube. Go to YouTube dot com, slash at cookdfw or click on the link at cookdfw dot com to listen and why the Know Your Home show and learn about the top three threats to your home.

14:03 There you go, all right, Big news out of Fort Worth. Caleb Halverson, Fort Worth firefighter, who was badly burned while responding to a house fire in September of twenty twenty five, will receive workers compensation for treatment for injuries he sustained while responding to that Fort Worth house fire. It only took a minor miracle to get it. And this is the kind of bullet that I just don't understand that happens with first responders. And of course, our DUP insurance system in this country, Sedgwick, which handles workers' compensation claims for the city of Fort Worth, allegedly initially denied the injured firefighters claimed, but then reversed that decision after public backlash to the decision. That's according to the Fort Worth Star Telegrams reporting. Caleb Halverson, Fortworth firefighter was badly burned while responding to a house fire September twenty twenty five.

15:13 While fighting the fire, he became pinned under heavy roof debris and suffered second and third degree burns to his back, legs, hands, and faced. He also sustained a dislocated knee and other injuries. He was released from the burn unit at Parkland Hospital after undergoing several major surgeries. After multiple denials, the city of Fort Worth will now cover the cost of a machine to help him recover from triple knee ligament surgery and laser surgery to aid in the healing of his extensive burns. That's what he said in a Facebook post. In a statement, city Manager Jay Chappa said the delays were related to issues with the physician chosen by Halverson not being within the city's network of workers' compensation providers.

16:00 How does that work well? According to that, he was supposed to choose certain providers in the city's health network and they said he didn't. Therefore that made a huge problems. The short version, it's probably not that he chose someone different. It's because Parkland probably isn't in Fort Wors network. Although but Parkland is one of the best burned trauma units in the country, and. This is where a fair amount of common sense should come into play. I understand that Dallas is not Fort Worth, so I understand the general thinking that Dallas is not in Fort Worth's medical network. However, if you are a fire fighter. It does make sense that you would have one of the most prestigious burn units in the world, which is forty miles away in your network. Jesus Christ, this is stupid, and this is stuff that people see and read and approve. Well, you know what, I made an assumption there. I'm assuming that they're reading through these things.

17:14 Well, it's not even I am sure they probably did not think about firefighter. Parkland burn unit. And you know, although they should. You you would think it would be standard for especially for first responder policies of oh, hey, we'll make an exception, you know, to the nearest level one, you know, burn unit. Yeah. And you know what, even if even if they don't read the stuff ahead of time, and then a situation like this, you know, just kind of layers up and the firefighter is taken to Parkland for treatment and recovery and everything. Maybe when that paperwork comes across, don't deny it because it's out of network, look at it for the sense that it makes and go, hey, you know what, this kind of makes sense. We should probably just approve this.

18:05 It doesn't happen that often. It's probably gonna be okay, someone higher up might get mad that we approved it because it's gonna cost a lot of money. But at the end of the day, isn't that what insurance is. It's gambling and on this one you lost, so you got it. Just pisses me off. Also, this reversal to cover comes after Fort Worth City council member Charlie Lauersdorf called out the company and said he was declaring war in a Facebook post after the company had denied the first responders workers' compensation claims. He says, when a first responder gets hurt doing their job, the system should move heaven and Earth to take care of them and return them to the warrior athlete they were. Instead, I've heard of delays, denials, run arounds, paperwork, games, and bureaucratic a bolt that leaves injured firefighters and police officers fighting two battles, one on the job and one at home. After that, the city managers said that they will add a position to the city's HR department to serve as a case manager, specifically for first responders who suffer an injury at work. Again, that seems like something that they would have had already, because enough of that stuff happens. Fort Worth is a large enough city with enough police officers and firefighters that it would just make sense to have someone on the payroll.

19:29 They kind of help with the process. M crazy thoughts on my end, I guess, then again, I'm not a bureaucrat city manager. Chapa also said, please know the city works consistently to get the best care possible for all of our injured employees. This employee included, while remaining compliant with Texas laws that govern workers compensation. And that is also true. As much as I'm dogging on the City of Fort Worth in this situation and the insurance companies centric, there are our rules and stipulations and laws when it comes to workmen's or workers compensation. So that's another prong of the approach is there may need to be something changed there.

20:14 Oh absolutely needs to be worked from the reworked from the top down. And these are instances where they should do that as opposed to just treating it like a one off, having to wait until something bad happens, and then having to wait till more bad things happen before they actually do anything to accommodate this one bad situation. What if it had been multiple firefighters that it happened to you're gonna wait for that one. Yeah. It's just stuff like this that just drives me absolutely crazy, and it makes me wonder. It's like, why do we keep putting ourselves through this? Like, come on, just just fix it, fix it, fix it. But here, and I'll give you a counterpoint on this one though. Adding a position and a bureaucracy to handle this stuff just ultimately adds cost to the whole thing.

21:02 It's the whole. Yeah, it does. And I tell you what, if whoever was in charge of doing these things on the front end would consider these things, if this person was already on payroll to help help it, then I'd be okay with it. And I'm a big fan of I'm with you, Trey. I like fiscal conservatism. I also feel like you can spend money in a way that would make sense. I'm pretty sure we could find money for that position by eliminating something else that's completely dumb and redundant. Just take a few dollars out of the big guy's paychecks. I said it. There you go, it's me. You can send me the emails. You have to narrow that down.

21:45 Uh, which big guy are you talking about? I wasn't gonna ask it. Uh, you know, the shareholders, the see the sea the sea level positions, you know for the inine making. Yeah, sorry for yeah, it's seduick. Yeah. But what needs to happen and where this could be fixed is you have to go to the state and they rewrite the workers comp laws and put a clause in there for first responders. That changes the scope of things. That's what I like. The problem though, is getting the elected visuals to do something exactly, and in order for them to do something, you have to attach money to it or hooplah or outrage and some type of crisis. Ironically, you have to start a fire for a legislator to make any attempt at putting it out.

22:38 I mean they, I mean, Dan, the Texas legislatures work so hard. I mean they worked six months out of two years. Fuck, what more do you want out of them? Just just a little more, just just like ten more minutes. I'd be a special session. Goddamn visit shoot me in the Facebook special sessions. You're listening to the Treehouse visit us online at Treehouse on air dot com.

23:23 Do you feel restless and anxious, feel like something's missing in your life. Maybe you just need a little more treehouse in it. Go to patreon dot com slash Treehouse on Air and check out all the bonus features of subscription offers, including bonus shows, behind the scenes content, special subscriber only live shows, and so much more. That's patreon dot com slash Treehouse on Air. That's p A t R e o N dot com slash Treehouse on Air. You're in the treehouse. Visit us online a Treehouse on air dot com. I am so glad it's almost Friday. Uh speaking of almost Friday, m m mm hmmm. In news that will not make any Texan feel good, Urkott says the power grid is ready for the winter storm this weekend. I don't have a weep, do you?

24:38 Urcott says they're ready. Believe it or not. Urkott says, the power grid is ready for the winter storm this weekend. Trey, I believe the fuck? Why only because it's only going to be like three days.

25:22 Well, I'll tell you what, you know, who feels really really good about this whole situation, About this winter storm that is being forecast for Texas. Senator Ted Cruz was spotted on January twentieth on a plane heading to Laguna Beach as the state braces for a rare ice threat and Arctic cold front. Look where there's certain signs that, once you see them enough, you're like, Okay, we need to start paying attention to these things. One is tornado warnings, and two is Ted Cruz on a plane out of Texas and it's winter.

26:08 He's like the pucks, a tunny fill of ice storms. He's like the ned stark of Texas. Winter is coming from the friscy flies out of the state. Look, I look at it this way. I appreciate this new warning system that Ted Cruse has provided us with. All you have to do is ask Google. Is Ted Cruz in Texas right now? Yes, things are fine. If he just left, shit's about to go sideways. Did he leave the dog again? Don't know. It wouldn't surprise me though, if Ted Cruz put that dog down just because it made him look bad. Trey, I know it hurts that he's your chopple ganger, So I know that just it's got a sting. Every time you see him, You're like, good damn him.

27:02 Yeah, Normally when I see him, he's pandering to the camera. So That's what really irritates me more than anything else. And he's proven he can do that from in y zip code. That beard help like his beard is awful. Well, he did what a lot of guys do. He gained weight, and in order to try to hide the neck fat, he grew a neck beard. And while it works on some level, right because you grow the neck beard over the neck roll of fat and it does camouflage the flaps and the folds some right, It's true it does, I get it. But the beard works for him now. It was that awkward phase when he was growing it out over like a year and a half that it just didn't look right and I felt like they should have put him in the Biden Bunker until it grew in because I hated watching that transformation in public.

28:04 It's like, dude, either just I can't stand the transformation process, Like, just go away until it's in, then come back. I don't like looking at it. It was weird. It's like Trey. Trey knows he can't grow a beard, so he just doesn't do it. He just shaves, and he also works out and takes care of himself so he keeps his sexy jaw line, which Ted Cruz could have done. If Ted Cruz was to see his better looking twin in Trey, he would recognize that with a diet of you know, eating well and exercising and not doing any sort of enjoyable substances, you too can look like a fifty something year old Greek god. But he hasn't chosen that route.

28:51 He's choosing tacos in Laguna Beach. I would also love to see a hammered Ted Cruz. I think we do. This has got to be on film somewhere already. Uh uh. Anyway, are you guys ready for ice Pocalypse twenty six? Absolutely? As you take your head side to side into no fashion, but you say yes, I got groceries coming, so we're good today, Like are they coming before? Before the storm supposed to? You're gonna get the groceries delivered? Yep? All right? What did you get? What's on what's on your ice pocalypse grocery list?

29:33 Uh? Just you know, some chicken, some vegetables, sandwich, meat, bread, bottle, water. Tight coke. Okay, Trey, are you ready for this? Yeah? Yeah, got a couple of cases of water, got all my lights and battery packs charged up. Uh, got some food. I'm gonna make some food just in case they can eat regardless. And do you have a brandy coming over to snuggle up during Snowmageddon? Yes, had a boy.

30:14 Yeah it'll be interesting because not only is she coming over, she's gonna bring her dog. So that will be a uh uh that's a milestone. Uh huh, It's gonna be interesting. Thikes, meeting of the dogs. It's not meeting of the dogs that I'm really worried about. I mean, especially at this point, I mean at her age days. He just didn't give two f's. It's the cat. Oh yeah, cats are always the X factor. Yeah, it doesn't matter what scenario you are in, what the situation is, does not matter. If you want to see a situation get totally picked up, just throw a cat right in the middle of it. Think of any situation, any scenario that seems fine or that seems secure, drop a cat in the middle of that and just see, just see the excitement. Like I don't know why. Like one of the things coming to mind is any sort of Seal Team six operation is going to be very controlled, very rehearsed, very very you know good, right, Just imagine if when they busted into Ben Ladden's compound, if there was a cat dropped in the middle of it.

31:27 Well especially, I mean, and I've got a fat orange tabby that has, for some reason has some PTSD issues that make him just an absolute wild card. I mean, one minute I'm petting him, the next minute he's drawing blood. And so yeah, it's gonna be. Just, it's gonna be just are you listening, Yeah, are you sure that cat isn't Al Qaeda and wasn't in Ben Ladden's compound and was just sent over here as part of the operation. Like after they kicked Ben Laden into the ocean from the chopper, they're like, oh, I'm y'ao. We'll take him back to Texas, Operation Chaos. We'll give it to Senator Cruz. Oh wait, that was Trey.

32:10 Honestly, they could have probably just dropped Julius into beIN Lauden's compound and he would have gotten him just his eyes out. Yeah, Like, you don't need a flash bang, You just need Julius to cut. Kick open the doors on the floor. Bloody pulp. Okay, it's making biscuits in him. And that's no joke because Julius does not understand retracting claws, so when a lot of times when he's making biscuits, it's full claws out. Oh yeah, right on that soft underbelly. All right, so you get away while he's doing it as arterial sprays.

32:52 Just love, love, loving every second of it. Yeah, all right, good well, I'm glad you guys are ready for What about you? Dan? Are you you bracing? What is he gonna get in the seventies? Now? Hang on, let me check the forecast. I got to check the forecast to see what we're expecting Friday into Saturday. Ooh we have we have a chance of rain and. A high of eighty Oh oh, chili. Yeah, it's gonna be a chili one for us. The weird thing is is that all the problems we had in twenty twenty one with our home from the storm, then from that winter storm we moved twenty two hundred miles away. We've got a solar backup. We've got like forty two solar panels and a liquid propane power generator as the third backup.

33:50 I hope a hurricane hits you, just a random one just out of nowhere. That's called a tornado, Raj, We're gonna be freezing to death and you guys are gonna be on the beach. No, it's supposed it's I've got a fifty percent chance of rain, Raj. I mean, oh sorry, Yeah, that'll probably happen. Yeah, that'll probably happen in the morning. And and Jerry's right, all I gotta do is just pull the cabanas shade over a little bit more and that'll solve any sort of rain problems. I mean the I mean you look. At the weather app and you look at Dan's weather, I mean it is volatile. It ranges from highs of eighty five to eighty six and lows to seventy five to seventy six. I mean, I don't know how you deal with that.

34:42 That's a that's a that's an eleven. Sometimes it's an eleven, sometimes a twelve degree change in twenty five. By the way, Raj, if you ever want to look up and download the weather app here in the Virgin Islands, it's just two big middle fingers and they just happen to be on my hands. They kind of look like a v and then yeah, for all things Treehouse Treehouse on air dot Com you want something to keep you company during Snowmageddon twenty six, Might I recommend the Treehouse Show. Also share the show with a friend if they are without power and need entertainment, Share the Treehouse with them from your favorite listening platform. Hit that share button, and together let's grow the Treehouse Show. We'll see you next time right here inside the Treehouse.