Episode 6 - A Fish Out of Water === Pat: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to English with Pat and Pops. I'm Pat... Pops: I'm Pops... Pat: And we're talking to you from Boynton Beach, Florida. Uh, what's the weather like today, Pops? Pops: Uh, a little cooler today. It's only 76 degrees, uh, about 24, uh, Celsius and the winds are light today though. So that's, uh, about, uh, four miles per hour, about six, uh, kilometers per hour, so... very nice day again. Pat: Yeah, not bad. Pops: It's a good one. Pat: Yeah, we're pretty fortunate down here. Pops: We are very fortunate, especially with all the snow that's been hitting the north, uh, and people are really suffering up there. So... Pat: Yeah, it's been hitting other parts of the country, but... so we gotta be very thankful and grateful for, uh, having nice... nice weather all year round. Pops: Nice, warm weather year round. It's, uh, yes. Pat: Yeah. Pops: It's very good. Pat: So let's jump into the word of the week. Pops: Ah, conspicuous. Pat: Yeah. Conspicuous. Pops: Mm-hmm.. Pat: What does that mean? Pops: Standing out. Clearly visible. Attracting attention. Pat: Yeah, yeah. Someone... someone can be conspicuous or [00:01:00] something. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: And it's, um, something that stands out from the crowd. Uh, you have no problem noticing it. Pops: Yeah, you, you, you're conspicuous. You're... Pat: I'm a conspicuous guy? Pops: You're kind of a conspicuous guy. You stand out, man. Pat: Ah, okay. In a good way. Pops: In a good way. Pat: Oh, whew. Pops: Yeah. No, no. Yeah, very good way. Yeah. Pat: Yeah. Because I... I guess you could... conspicuous, you can be, you know, stand out in a good or a bad way. I guess it's, uh... Pops: It's true. I didn't really think of it in a bad way. Kind of... I always kind of think of it in a very positive... Pat: Yeah, you're a positive guy. Pops: I am all the time. Glass half full. Pat: Yeah... yeah, so that's it. Conspicuous. Pops: Yes. Pat: Attracting attention, standing out. Pops: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Pat: Um, so let's jump into today's episode. Um, we're gonna talk about... we're gonna start a little bit of a series, maybe like a mini-series about our hobbies. Pops: Yeah. Pat: And, uh, something we really like to do is, is fishing. Pops: Yeah. It's one of our favorite ones, right? Pat: Yeah. And, um, you know, I, I kind... we kind of thought of this because I had just saw in the news actually this year, uh, a few months ago, the, [00:02:00] the largest freshwater fish in the world was caught. Pops: You told me about this. I didn't... I haven't seen this article, but yeah, you told me about it, yeah. Pat: In Cambodia there was a 661 pound stingray caught. Pops: Wow. Pat: A freshwater stingray. They can be both saltwater and freshwater. Pops: Oh, I didn't know that, hmm. Pat: And, um, so for our...our, uh, metric system people, that's about 300 kilograms. Pops: Wow. Pat: 661 pounds. It's a really, really big fish. Pops: Wow, yeah. That had to be a... quite a haul. Pat: Yeah. And these, um, you know, you and I... I don't... I don't, I've never caught a stingray, but I... you know, they're, they're pretty docile animals, but they also, they do cause a lot of harm to humans just because, you know, if say you're interacting in a river or something and you know, they're... they're dangerous. They have that barb... Pops: Barb on the... the tail, right? Yeah. Pat: Yeah, yeah. Their basically... their tail is very sharp and uh... Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: So there are a lot of incidents where humans are getting hurt. Yeah, stung. Um, however, in general, like in... in the wild, they're [00:03:00] very, they're chill, you know? Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: Usually you don't see them much. Pops: Right, yeah. Well, they're kind of bottom dwellers, right? Pat: They are, yeah. Pops: So, yeah, just I... they look calm. Pat: Yeah. Pops: That's the thing about 'em, when they're swimming and things like that, they look very calm, so... Pat: Yeah, yeah. Pops: It's... it's hard to imagine 'em getting that irritated, but yeah. Pat: Yeah. Yeah, they, they, they are and, um, you know, but they, they're the largest freshwater fish... Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: ...and this one in particular was... Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: ...the largest of the stingrays ever caught. Pops: Right, right. Pat: There could be something else out there lurking, but... Pops: Yeah, that's... that's maybe this will be on my list now. You know, I've always had... always had that, uh, desire to catch certain fish. So, you know... you know, I... I want to catch a marlin, you know, maybe a stingray will move up on my list now. If it's a big one like that. Pat: Well, yeah, I guess we can, we can jump into, um, our talk on fishing that way. Um, yeah, I think it's, it's kind of an interesting hobby in that like, one... one aspect of it is you like to catch new fish and things you've never caught before. Pops: Right. Pat: But then, you know, we're... you and I are also very content catching the same [00:04:00] type of fish as long as we're catching something, right? Pops: Oh yeah. It's... it's one of the things that I started when I was young... is fishing. I went... my dad took me fishing and, you know, it just, uh, kind of fell in love with it. Pat: Yeah. Pops: And, you know, uh, hopefully you pass it down to your kids, which we did... Ryan and you. And so... Pat: Yeah, yeah. So that's my... my brother Ryan, my... Pop's grandchildren, they're now, you know, starting to fish. Those are his children and yeah, it's, it's one of those, like a, a pastime that, you know, you, you bond, right? Pops: You bond you, you go out, you, you catch fish together or you don't catch fish together. Some of that... it happens too sometimes. Pat: Yeah. Pops: But you just go to different places and, uh, it is kind of a good experience when you're out there. It's a... you're outside, you're in the fresh air and you're, uh, you're just enjoying life. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Being with people that, that enjoy something similar to what you do, so, yeah. Pat: Yeah. For us it's always, you know, sometimes you have those days where you don't catch anything. But that, that's part of it. It makes you appreciate the times when you do... Pops: Yeah. Pat: ...catch a lot of stuff. Pops: Right. Pat: But, you know, it's, it's [00:05:00] funny, like there's a lot of funny aspects to it, you know, catching new fish, but also, like most fishermen, they embellish on... on what they catch. You know, a lot of times you, you catch this small fish, but when you go home, you tell everyone, uh... Pops: You caught, yeah, caught this monster. Pat: You add at least a few pounds or a few inches to it. Pops: It took me, it took me a few more hours to reel 'em in. Pat: Yeah. That actually... it reminds me of a story, you know, cuz I, I went fishing a lot with Pops as a kid. Right? And we took a trip to Canada once. Pops: Ah, yeah. Pat: Yeah. And uh, so we drove up to Canada from New Jersey... quite a, quite a long drive and... Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: ...stayed at a cabin on a lake. And we did some fishing. And while we were on our way up, uh, I was with my brother in the car and I think we were looking through like a book of fish or something and it, um, it was listing all these fish and what could be caught in Canada. Pops: Right. Pat: And one of the fish was called a sturgeon. Pops: Right. Pat: And it's a, a giant, giant fish, like... Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: ...one of these things that looks almost prehistoric. Pops: Right. Pat: Like a dinosaur or something, right? So I remember we're out there on [00:06:00] the lake one day and I think I'm, I'm in the boat with you. Pops: Yeah, you were in a canoe. We were in a canoe. Pat: A canoe, yeah. Pops: We're paddling in a canoe and you're fishing. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Yeah. Pat: And I, you know, so I'm casting my line out there and I, I finally get something. And, you know, I was a, I was maybe 13 or so. Pops: Yeah. Pat: So even a medium sized fish was pretty big for me, you know? Pops: Right. Pat: As far as the fight to get it in. Pops: Yeah. Pat: So immediately I yell out, "it's a sturgeon!". Yeah. Pops: Yeah. Pat: And, uh, I really thought it was. Pops: It was a big fish. Pat: It was a big fish, but it was no... Pops: It was no sturgeon. Pat: ...it was no sturgeon, yeah. And, and so I, I've caught a lot of flack, uh, over the years. Pops: Going "it's a sturgeon!". Pat: Yeah, yeah. But it was still, it, it was still an exciting, uh, exciting time. Pops: It, it was because, uh, you know, one of the things is we're not thinking we're gonna catch anything quite that big or with teeth quite that sharp. Pat: Yeah. Pops: It was... and we get that thing in the canoe. We have no net, no fishing net. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Which I mean for, we... So usually it's better to handle those things with a fishing net. Bring them in and then try to take the [00:07:00] hook out. Pat: Yeah. Pops: We have no net, so this thing's flopping around in the bottom of the canoe. Pat: Yeah. Pops: And we're trying to get the hook out. Pat: And then, uh, that was, that was Pop's job, I think... I think you were the one who figured out how to get it out. Pops: Yeah, we figured out how to get it out. Fortunately, it was a pretty easy process... it was... then of picking it up and getting it out of the canoe was a whole other project. Pat: Exactly. Getting it back into the water... Pops: Without getting, uh, slashed with those teeth. But yeah, that was, that was fun. Pat: That's, I mean, that's part of the, a lot of the fun of fishing, especially with your family or friends, is that you usually have stories like this where like things go wrong and at the time they're, they're stressful. Pops: Yes. Pat: But later it just makes you laugh, you know... Pops: You start laughing. You... I mean, cuz the sturgeon thing is always a story in our family. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Yeah, "it's a sturgeon!", you know, when, when you go fishing, you know? Pat: Yeah, exactly. Pops: And the kids... grandkids know about it too, so it's just kind of a, you know, kind of carries on. It has a life of its own... Pat: Yeah. Pops: ...in a sense. So... Pat: Yeah and, and so we've gone fishing, you know, quite a bit in our lives... both saltwater and freshwater. And when one of the times, um, [00:08:00] I guess a few years ago before we really lived in Florida. Pops: Yeah. Pat: Pops and I went, uh, we, uh, chartered a boat for a couple days. Pops: Oh, yeah. Pat: And we did some saltwater fishing, right? Pops: Yes. Mm-hmm. Pat: Pops actually caught a Mako shark. Pops: Yeah. Which, yeah, I, I have a picture of that one. I'm proud of that one. Yeah. Pat: Yeah. We'll try to post that on something. We have a video and a picture and it, it's very rare that the captain of our boat, uh, said, I, I don't think he had ever caught one and he had been a captain for 30 years. Pops: Yeah, right. Yeah. Pat: And, um, you know, on these big boats, you, you do, you know, they have the captain and the first mate, they do a lot of the work, right? Pops: Right. Pat: So they set these lines out there and they basically troll them behind the boat and you just reel in the fish, right? Pops: Right. Yeah. Pat: So you get the excitement of, of pulling it in. But, um, you know, it, we were lucky that day. Pops: Oh yeah. Pat: And... Pops: Well, matter of fact, the day before we caught nothing. Pat: Right. Pops: That was one day... was zero. It was one of those days. And boy, we were tired. We were, we... it was just, it was a hot, sunny day and we were tired, and then [00:09:00] we, um, fortunately the second day was just, uh, wow. It was, it was nonstop excitement. Pat: Yeah. That, that is, you know, that's one of the things about fishing... Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: ...is it, it really teaches you patience. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: And, you know, you sort of have to be ready for that. You know, one day you can go out there and get nothing and... Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: ...um, the next day you can, you know, you can be pulling up all different, we were catching all different species. It was, it was, we were exhausted by the end of that day because... Pops: What was that big one you caught? That big... what was that? Pat: An amberjack it was called. Pops: An amberjack, yeah. Oh my God. That was a tremendous fish. I can remember. Yeah, your arms were sore after that. Pat: Yeah, exactly. Uh, you, when you reeled in the shark and when I reeled in that one, it's uh, you know, it's about a 30 minute to an hour long experience where you're just... Pops: It seemed like two hours. I gotta tell you, my arms were cranking. Pat: Yeah, I remember you were pretty, pretty sore and tired. Pops: I was, I was, I was tired after that and captain's making fun of me. Pat: Yeah, he was, he was shouting some things down and, and at that point, you don't want to hear it at all, because, you know... Pops: You're just, you're just done, you know, it's, [00:10:00] you know, you wanted to just to get this over with at some point in time, but yeah, it's just, uh, it was, it was a lot of fun. Pat: Yeah. Yeah. And we've gone, you know, down here, we've gone recently, this, this time since we've been back, um, we've gone freshwater fishing, just, uh, me, Pops and my brother and... Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: ...you, you know, you catch a lot of different species. We've called some things we haven't, you know, ever seen before. So it's, it's one of those hobbies that like, you know, you keep learning... Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: ...but it's also, you know, it's also just very relaxing. You don't have to think a lot, you just... Pops: Yeah. Right, right. We even did the, the... which I don't think you enjoyed as much, uh, I... I didn't either, but the one in Cartagena, we did that one in Colombia, you know. Pat: Yeah. Pops: That fishing out there. Which the fishing was great. It was just so rough. Pat: Yeah. That was, um, typically, typically I'm okay on boats, but that was, uh... Pops: That was a rough day. Oof. Pat: Yeah, it was, uh, some... we were in Colombia. Pops: Yeah. Pat: Cartagena, Colombia. And um, yeah, it was just very hot sun and when we were stationary and just sort of feeling the waves in the ocean and I started feeling really sick, [00:11:00] so, um, that was a... the fishing was fun, but I, I was ready to get back to shore that day. Pops: Yeah. We were... we, I think we all were. Pat: Yeah. Pops: We were, we were kind of done with it, yeah. Pat: And in general we do... you, you know, we catch and release, we do it... Pops: Yes. Pat: ...as a, a hobby, as a sport. Um, and we just, we catch the fish, we take the hook out, and we throw it back. I mean, we just enjoy... Pops: Yeah. Pat: ...the experience of doing it, right? Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: And, but, um, that day in, in Colombia, it was, it was kind of nice, um, because we actually, they, they cooked for us what we caught. Pops: Yeah. They, they actually, yeah, they took a couple of the fish, brought 'em into shore. They, uh, cooked them on a grill. So it was fresh fish. Pat: Yeah. Pops: And uh, you know, the local people, I can't remember what else was on the plate. I just remember some kind of fruit or something like that. Uh, kind of salady thing or something. Pat: Yeah, it was salad, plantains... Pops: It was plantains... Pat: ...rice, I think. Pops: Yeah, so plantains... one of my favorites, by the way. But anyway, um, it was, it was, it was pretty, it was really good just sitting on the beach. It was, it was nice getting off the boat then, cuz we were kind of all done with, uh, [00:12:00] that, that, that action in the sea. Pat: Yeah. Pops: So, yeah. So yeah, it was good. It was good. Another good experience. So yeah. Yeah. But I enjoy either fresh or saltwater fishing. It's just, uh, it's just a question of, uh, getting out there and, uh, hopefully you catch some fish. It's that kind of energy, you know? Pat: Yeah. I mean, I think to some people it seems like maybe a, a boring activity, but I think, you know, you should... if it's something that you might be interested in, give it a try. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: Um... Pops: It's not for everyone, but I think, you know, if you like the outdoors, that's the one thing that I think it's, uh, if, if you like being outdoors and, uh, being around water, uh, and just in general something that's very relaxing to me. Pat: Yeah. Pops: I find it extremely relaxing. Pat: You do just have to be patient though, because Pops has done some fishing in Spain. Pops: Yeah. Pat: You know, from, from the beach. And you haven't been too lucky there, right? Pops: No. My fishing, my fishing trials, I bought a nice, uh, surf fishing rod and things like that. And we've been out several times and, uh, haven't had a lot of luck there. It's, uh... Pat: Yeah. [00:13:00] Pops: I wouldn't even call it any luck. Pat: Yeah, I think in, in, you know, two or three years or three years of being in Spain, you've... have you even caught, you've caught one or two fish, right? Pops: Well, I think one. One fish there off the beach. Pat: That was the one when I was there? Pops: Yeah, that was it. Yeah, that was it. Pat: Yeah. We had, uh, actually Pops caught this... quite a, quite a small fish. Um, and it's one that he's since embellished the size of, but, uh, no. Uh, and I remember this, uh, young Spanish boy running up to us and uh, cuz he kind of saw that Pops had caught something. And he ran up and was asking what type of species it was. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: And I, you know, we, we didn't know I was kind of... and I showed him the fish and then he actually just laughed at us and said, no, that, that's more like bait, you know? That's not even, that's not even a fish. Pops: Isn't even a fish, yeah. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Made me feel good. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Fortunately my Spanish was bad at the time and I didn't know what he was saying. Pat: It went right over your head, yeah. Pops: Missed it. Oh my God. Pat: Yeah. I think that's, that's the thing, I mean, it's, it's a hobby we both love, but you have to be ready [00:14:00] to, you know, not have the most exciting of days. It's more about, especially if you go with friends or family, like we said before, just passing the time and having fun with it. Pops: Yeah, it is. And, and if the weather's nice, uh, you know, that's even greater. Pat: Yeah. Pops: You know, you're just outside in nice weather and stuff like that, so it's always, always seem to find something positive to take away from the experience, you know? Pat: Yeah. Pops: Even if you're not catching stuff, you know? Pat: Yeah. Pops: Right. Pat: That's the important thing. Pops: Yeah. All right. Pat: All right. So, um, should we move on to today's idiom? Pops: Oh yeah, uh... Pat: You have that in front of you? Pops: Yes, I do. A fish out of water. Pat: Yeah, a fish out of water. What does that mean? Pops: Someone who feels uncomfortable in a new situation. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: Yeah. Someone in a new, having a new experience... in a new situation and they feel out of place. Pops: Right. Pat: They feel uncomfortable. Pops: Yeah. They just, uh, not for them right now, I guess, or whatever. They just don't feel like they... they quite fit in, right? Pat: Yeah. Pops: Yeah. Pat: Kinda like us when we started, uh, the podcast. Pops: Yeah. Pat: A little uncomfortable. Pops: We feel [00:15:00] uncomfortable and taking you outta your comfort zone, so... Pat: Yeah. Pops: Yeah. Pat: So, if we role play this one... Pops: Okay. Pat: Let's say, um, we... we're two friends and let's say I entered in a contest to win us tickets and we're, we are showing up to the opera for the first time. Pops: Mm-hmm. Okay. Pat: Yeah. So, um, hey, uh, our seats are over this way. Follow me. Pops: Wow, this is really nice theater, but I feel a little uncomfortable wearing my tuxedo. I've never worn... worn one before. Pat: Oh, yeah. I mean, I feel a bit like a fish out of water, but, um, you know, don't worry, you look sharp. Pops: Oh, thanks. I appreciate it. Ugh. Makes me feel a little better. Pat: Oh, good. Pops: Okay... Pat: Yeah. So that's fish out of water. Um, just, you know, just to describe someone who's, yeah, feeling like they, they don't belong. Pops: Yeah, you're just a fish out of water. Pat: Yeah. A lot of times when you're trying something for the first time. Pops: Right. Pat: That's the way to describe, uh... Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: ...the way you feel. You know, a fish is obviously uncomfortable out of the water. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: They can't survive. Pops: Yeah. They flop around a [00:16:00] lot, yeah. Pat: Yeah. That's what Pops does when he is uncomfortable. Pops: Yeah, maybe... Pat: He's a flopper. Pops: I'm a flopper. Pat: Yeah. Um, yeah. So that's fish out of water. Pops: Okay. Pat: Um, yeah, as always, follow us on social media, right? Pops: Yeah. Pat: Instagram, Facebook, uh, Twitter, and of course YouTube. Pops: Mm-hmm. Pat: We'll be, you know, these, the... we'll be putting our, uh, our videos up. Pops: Okay. Pat: Um, you know, we've had some people let us know that they'd just like to see videos of us, uh, recording the podcast, so... Pops: Right. We're gonna get... we're gonna get there. Pat: Yeah. Pops: We're working on it. This is another activity we're, we're trying to get to, so, yeah. Pat: Yeah. We're slow, but we get there. Pops: Yeah. Pat: And, uh, yeah, send us your questions, your comments, your episode ideas. Pops: Please do guys, we, we'd love to hear any, you know, comments, what you think, what you know, what you like, what you don't like, and things like that. Send it to us. Yeah. Pat: Yeah. Pops: Okay. Pat: And, uh, yeah, thanks for listening. Pops: Thanks. Pat: Yeah. Catch you next time. Pops: See ya. Pat: Bye. Pops: Bye.