Hey everyone, I'm Scott Shigeyoka. I'm GoDaddy's entrepreneur in residence and I'm here at home, sheltering in place. And earlier this week, I got to talk to a round table of experts from Washington DC who shared a bit about the updates to the PPP. Today I'm going to talk to small business owners who have actually been impacted on the ground. So there's one small business donor who has successfully applied and is waiting to hear back. There's one entrepreneur who decided not to apply and then there's another small business that applied and actually got funding. So we're gonna talk a little bit about their experiences, what they've learned and if they have any advice for other entrepreneurs out there. I'm speaking with Yolanda who runs a farm to skin spa in Atlanta, Georgia called Iwi Fresh and she applied for the PPP and is waiting to hear back and she's gonna talk a little bit about her experience. Hey Yolanda, really excited to chat with you. I'm wondering with COVID-19 going on and some of the relief efforts that are happening. Have you heard of and applied to the PPP and how did that experience go, if so? Yeah, so we was very excited to hear about the PPP. I'm with a large bank Bank of America and I think they were the first one that sent it to me. So we got it, it was just one form. We filled it out, we sent it in and we thought, oh, that was simple. Then we realized that it was a little bit more in-depth and it was a lot of more paperwork so we had to get our accountant involved and my accountant had to take over and help us fill out all the paperwork, get it all in and we were submitted. Then we heard on the news that they ran out of money. We've been out since March 19th, you know? So we've already hit our month mark April 19th. So now we're going into May, you know?  Is your team still on payroll right now? A local company gave us a very small amount of money so we was able to get that just enough for me to pay my payroll, to pay my staff, give them something and do a little bit of inventory. I still owe my staff another pay period but I don't have the funding for that yet. Is there maybe something else about, you know, there's still opportunities out there even in the midst of this COVID-19? There's a lot of opportunity. I mean, what I've learned through this is that I really need to put more energy in my online sales, my online products. Even when the doors open, I gotta have that. I can't just have put all my money into the brick and mortar. I can't put all my energy in there. I have to really push it. So I'm gonna be pushing my online sales and my digital presence as though COVID is coming back. Do you have any advice for any other small businesses who might be going through some of the same experiences you're going through with BPP? Apply, because you never know. You gotta apply. We don't have nothing to lose, you got nothing to lose. So you might as well reapply and just, you know, and just sprinkle some love around it, some good vibrations around it and pray and hope you get some money. Thanks Yolanda, it was really great talking to you and I hope you stay safe and well. All right, bye bye. So next I'm talking to Lizzie who runs a rock climbing business out in Bend, Oregon called She Moves Mountains. And she ultimately decided not to apply for a PPP loan because it didn't feel like a good fit for her. Hey Lizzie, nice to meet you. I'm a fellow rock climber and I'm curious to start with, you know, how has COVID-19 impacted your business and so much of it occurs outside and in person? We're a seasonal business and so our season runs from the last weekend of March until the last weekend of September. And right now the parks around us are closed indefinitely and the parks in Washington are closed until September 30th for the national parks we operate in. And so at this point in time, it has put a full stop to everything that we know. I'm curious, were you aware about the PPP and are you or have you applied? And if so, why or why not? I am aware of the PPP, but when I looked into it, it didn't make sense for us at all. Basically all of our guides are independent contractors because of the nature of our work and some of them will only work about four days a month. So they're not technically on payroll even though I decided to pay them for every single day of work through the month of April. Their full wage, it still doesn't qualify me and then we don't have like physical address. So in terms of like paying mortgage, our gear storage is all at my house. And so the stipulations that were attached to the PPP didn't make any sense for us. When you realize that you weren't eligible, like what was going through your mind and how does that affect your business? You know, just trying to stay open and support your wonderful guides and employees. As the CARES Act has rolled out, I've realized that I'm just as on my own as I was before any of it came out. So it's a little disheartening. I guess like my feelings were feelings of stress and helplessness for the most part for a couple of days. And then I've had to switch that into being resilient and creative. I'm curious, like where are you finding, you know, hope or support or community? At first I felt incredibly alone that all of the decisions were mine to make, that all of the people that work for me are mine to support. And I am somebody who moves the world, throughout the world with a lot of transparency. And so I just shared what I'm up against to the people who follow us and follow me personally through our social media channels. And we began selling hats with optional donations and gift cards and also offering our clients refunds or credits. The amount of donations that we have received covered the payments that I made to my guides. And so it made it no longer feel like the burden is mine, but it's ours. And that if I ask my community for anything, if I just let them know what I need, that they're gonna be here. There's likely a lot of small businesses and entrepreneurs who don't qualify for the PPP or don't see the PPP as the right fit for them. So what's the advice you would give to them? Stay resilient, be creative and humble yourself enough to ask for help. I think people are so understanding right now of the situations that we're facing, but people can't help if they don't know you need it. Thanks so much for providing your voice. I'm just so thankful for the time and just giving you lots of light on this continued journey that you're on. Thank you. I'm gonna talk to Kevin, who's the co-owner of Freeds and Scoop in Astoria, Oregon. It's a fries and ice cream shop and they applied for the PPP and received funding. So he'll talk more about how that experience went for him. Hey, Kevin, thanks so much for joining me. I was wondering if we could start off by talking about how the application process went for you? The application process is very simple. So it probably took me 15 minutes to fill out the majority of the paperwork. I think we're gonna have to two weeks later, at most, we had heard back from our banker saying that we were approved and seven days later, we had signed the paperwork and the day after that, it was funded. Ah, that's awesome, congratulations. I'm super happy to hear that. Thanks. How did you feel when you learned you got the loan and how did you find out? Did your bank call you? It was a Sunday morning and I got a call, a text message from our local banker and he just said, you've been approved for the PPP loan for X amount of dollars. It gave me the feeling of I stopped the temporary bleeding for now and we'll see what we can do with this money as we go forward. What are some of the concerns you have about this loan? It's a very short-term help and it's an appreciated help, but it's very short-term and I think for most people in very small businesses like ours, it's a band-aid at best. If we're gonna take on a loan, it has to be forgiven because I guess one of the other problems is that let's say for some reason, I mess up somehow and I don't get all of this turned into a grant. Well, then I have to pay that back. They say it's a very generous 1% interest, sure, but it has to be paid back in two years. Do you have any advice for small business owners who might wanna apply for this loan? My only advice is in a general sense, apply for everything. If you can get this loan, at least get in the system and try to get the loan, I would say go for it. You can always worry about the details later. I haven't spent a cent of the loan yet because I'm still being very cautious, but I feel better about having the loan in my bank account now than worrying whether or not I'm going to get it later. It's stressful no matter what, but it's slightly less stressful to have the money than not. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story and for your time today. So I hope this content and this conversation has been really helpful for you. It's really important for us to stay connected and to stay in community as small business owners. With the PPP constantly evolving, we also need to stay up to date and informed. So if you go to openwestand.org, we're including some resources and some links for you to support you on that journey. And if you have questions, you can leave those in the comments below and you can subscribe to this video channel as well to stay up to date. And know that you're not alone, that we're all in this together. And I really appreciate your time. Thanks so much for joining me.


Have you been watching the latest series of Celebrity Endurance Challenge? You know that woman on there?  Well, I thought it'd be fun to start a few rumors about her on Twitter.   Get this though. She actually sees this and replies to me saying I should stop harassing her family and that the lies and abuse are damaging and all this stuff. So I posted on a load more forums, loaded up some more comments, thought I'd get a few more laughs out of it. I mean, what right does she have to say what I can and can't post on the internet? If she's bothered by it, she should just ignore it. I've not killed anyone. I'm not hurting anyone. Is trolling a valid form of expression or should trolling be made illegal?


Hillary from Book Born has chosen for me. She's woke up and chose violence. To be friends with me is to be coerced into reading first law. Who is this supposed to be? For all our feminist rants. So my march is not entirely in my control. This month, I will be reading partly books that I picked very few. Partly books that are my obligation books, books that are like buddy reads, et cetera. But the thing you're all here for, I assume, is to see what. Hillary from Book Born has chosen for me. She and I are doing a TBR swap. She doesn't film TBR videos. So I don't think you're gonna know what I picked for her until we talk about it at the end of the month. So she'll be coming on my channel to talk about the books that I picked for her. And then I'll be going on her channel to talk about the books that she picked for me. So I thought, you know, I put them at the top of the stack. I figured that's what you're here for. So we'll do those first. And then if you care to see what else I will be attempting to cram in as well, then we'll get to those as well. But even though I opened these, I kept the wrapping because she wrote on each one, kind of like lined it with a book, what her reasons were for picking it. So I didn't want to forget when I went into reading it myself, and I also didn't want to forget and like I wanted to be able to tell you what her reasons were. So let me put this stack down. Okay, so we each picked four books for each other. There was no, there were no parameters beyond like the person couldn't have read it before and ideally didn't own it because you know, we're giving each other four books each. And so beyond that, it was just kind of like, you know, be courteous.  So I guess we just trusted each other and we'll see if that was wise. So she picked four books for me. Again, as I picked four for her. And yeah, well, we'll just tell you why she picked them. So for the first one, it says for all our feminist rants, which you know, when I saw that I was like, uh-oh. And it is in fact, bad feminist by Roxane Gay. I believe this is, yeah, it's a collection of essays. I've never read anything by Roxane Gay. I have obviously heard of Roxane Gay. So like her writing has been on my radar, but I had, I have never read this and I didn't own it. So hence it being a, a, an option for Hillary's issues for me. And I don't really often read essays. Like when I've read nonfiction, it's usually been, I did read, freedom is a constant struggle last year, which is a collection of essays. But anyway, I'm gonna kind of approach this like a collection of short stories that are not short stories because they're not stories because it's nonfiction. I feel like that's the vibe, you know? So anyway, we'll see how we do with this and we'll see if any ranting will result from this. I'm gonna do this one last. And then she said, since we like short stories, I think you'll like the blend of genres. We're going with like a short story type vibe a lot here. And this is the Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu. My patrons actually have been kind of wanting me to read this. Oh my God, why is the type so small? Okay, so even though this looks kind of short, it in fact is on like 0.5 font. So I've been wanting to read Ken Liu. Hillary keeps time on Ken Liu. I've mainly been thinking to start with Grace of Kings. Again, my patrons have been wanting me to read this and now Hillary wants me to read this. So okay, okay, message received. I'll start with the Paper Menagerie. And yeah, I'm excited to see how I do with this. And if Ken Liu was all he's cracked up to me, then I did rip this pretty bad, but she wrote a unique writing style and floaty story, I hope you'll enjoy. And this is, this is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, which is another book that like I didn't own. I don't know why now I own it, but it had been on my radar and I had been interested in picking it up and I just sort of hadn't gotten around to it. I almost actually bought the Lumicrate Special Editions because it was one of those, you know, like, well, now or never. And then I was like, you have a credit, you have no idea if you're gonna like it, stop it. So I didn't and that made it possible for Hillary to choose. And then if I love it, then I will regret not getting the Lumicrate Editions. So it'll be all Hillary's fault that my heart is broken. So hopefully I hate this. So then I don't regret not buying the Special Editions. Okay, last but not least is the spiciest choice perhaps. She wrote, I am 95% sure you're going to hate this, but it's my TBR and I can do what I want. Just woke up and chose violence by which I mean Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson. Yeah, I hope I like it. I hope I do. I never go into any book hoping to hate it.  No, she thinks I'm gonna hate it. So that doesn't bode well. It is a standalone, but so is Elantris and I DNF'd Elantris. So, but I have generally heard more positive things. I feel like Elantris is one that even Sanderson fans are kind of like iffy on. I have heard several people say Warbreaker is their favorite. I think, I mean, it's Hillary's favorite. And if it's not her favorite, I think it's among her favorites for Angela from Literature Science Alliance. And I just generally, I feel like Sanderson fans like when I've heard them generally talk about his books and the Cosmere, I think I don't recall ever hearing much negativity about Warbreaker. Then again, I don't really hear much negativity about Sanderson at all except for myself. So, but yeah, Elantris I had heard people say like, oh, that was his early one. Oh, that one's not that good. Or oh, the audio book is terrible. So like I had heard things and I was like, well, I'm gonna try it anyway. Watch me be the one that likes it. I was not, no, it didn't happen. So anyway, I do hope that I like this. It would be nice to like Sanderson. Last year I liked Skyward. So it's not impossible. I do like Mistborn. It's not impossible. So here's hoping especially because this is the longest book that Hillary picked for me. So that's the one that I will spend the most time with in March among of these. But if you wanna know what I end up thinking about it, you're just gonna have to tune in to the live on Hillary's channel when she and I are going to discuss how I felt about the books that she picked for me. Moving on then to the rest of my TBR. Next up is The Last Regiment of Kings, Do Ever Crown Me? This will be my fourth time reading it because just like last year, as you may know, I'm rereading all the first law books but not in anticipation of the release of Wisdom of Crowds. It is purely because we are doing a first law read-along on Bethany's podcast, chapter three podcast, which I will try to remember when you've linked down below. In January, we did an episode on The Blade Itself. In February, we did an episode on Before They Were Hanged and then March, we're gonna do an episode on The Last Regiment of Kings. And it will be fun. And my friend Heather, who you may know from such wonderful productions as our Shakespeare discussions. And at the moment of this video going up are like very shortly to be coming rant about For the Killing of Kings, which will be up like hours after this. Anyway, she will be joining us on the podcast to talk about this because she did recently a coerced her into reading first law. To be friends with me is to be coerced into reading first law. And she loved it. And so she's gonna join us to kind of talk about it because Last Regiment of Kings we're not only gonna talk about the book, but also to sort of add the trilogy as a whole and sort of like what he's able to do with the trilogy. Like now that we've come to the conclusion we've gotten the answers. Okay, let's unpack what he did with this trilogy. So I'm really looking forward to that chat. I think it's gonna be a good one. And yeah, I'm looking forward to re-reading this book again. Next up, I have a book that I've been meaning to read for a while, but I've also been a little scared because of hype. But my patrons wanna read it. And I'm also going to be buddy reading it with Mara from books like, well, this is an official patron buddy read, but there are a few of my patrons that wanna read it and want me to read it. Actually, one of my patrons sent me this copy of Jade City by Fond de Lis. I've heard so many things about this, like a lot of hype, but I have heard like a little bit of negativity that's like given me pause and also anything overhyped is in danger of exactly that of like you coming away feeling like it was overhyped. So I'm trying to like go in with like middling expectations just like, okay, well, let's see. Let's see, this might be my favorite thing ever, but it very well may not. It is, I know like sort of like a mafia crime lord type of situation. And I don't often have occasion to read stuff like that because fantasy more so does that nowadays. I've seen more things do that, but like previously that wasn't a thing that fantasy was so interested in because fantasy was swords and sorcery, not like gangs on the streets, but like I love Six of Crows by Lee Bardugo, which obviously has a gang of criminals at the center of the story. And I love shows like Peaky Blinders and I love Guy Ritchie movies, which are all about criminals, not so much like mafia, Anyway, yeah, I think there's a good chance that I will like this, but no guarantee. So I'm gonna give it a go. And then you'll see what I think of it if I'm breaking hearts again because I hate a book that everyone loves or if for once I can join the hype train. Next, my friend, Evee very kindly sent me a copy of this book, so we're gonna buddy read it. And that is More Do by Alex Phoebe, I think is how you say that name, or that's at least my best guess. I don't really know too much about this, except that it really intrigued me when I first saw it, which was a very long time ago at this point. I genuinely don't really remember anything about why. Well, God is dead. His corpse hidden in the catacombs beneath More Do. Yeah, I don't remember anything about this, except that it sounded very, very cool. And I'm given to believe the writing style is a very sort of like literary writing style. The cover is spectacular. It says extraordinary and extravagant and an unnerving marvel. Those are things that sound good to me. And it says on the back that there are shades of Philip Pullman, T.H. White, China, Malville, Meville, Susanna Clark, Susanna Clark, Michael Morkock, not familiar, and Lewis Carroll. You finish desperate to read more. And I think there is a second book that is either out or about to be out. Another review says that it's a beguiling splicing of Dickensian social satire and rackety steampunk fantasy written with combustible verve. I mean, this all sounds fantastic, but as to like what it's about, I couldn't tell you. I mean, I could tell you because I could read the jacket, but you know, I like not knowing. So I'm excited to read this with Evie. I'm excited for us to potentially agree on a book again. We don't agree very often, but one thing we do absolutely agree on is Susanna Clark. And since this is compared to Susanna Clark, that goes well. And this is a very, very pretty book. So I would like to like it. Next up is my book of the month clip pick, which according to my own rules, I must read in the subsequent month. So surprise, surprise, I picked the fantasy option, which was A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross. Again, I know very little about it, except that I was like, well, that's the fantasy one. So I'm gonna get that one. It starts with a letter and an ominous journey across dark waters. 10 years after being sent away to the mainland to become a bard, Jack Tamerlane is summoned home to cadence. But his return is not a joyous one. Girls are going missing from the island. And Adaira, future leader of the clan believes Jack is the only one who can find them, blah, blah, blah, goes on. I wanna know less rather than more. So anyway, I have to read it per my rules. So I am pretty excited about this. It sounds intriguing. Next is a sort of last minute addition to my March TBR that I'm quite pleased about. One of my all-time favorite books used to be my official favorite book. And now it just didn't feel true anymore, but I do love it still, is Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt. And my patrons were talking about like reading something that would be sort of like Irish appropriate for St. Patrick's Day. And was there anything? And I was like, well, I think they were meaning like Celtic fantasy. And I was like, I can't think of any, but Angela's Ashes is literally about an Irish man's childhood in Ireland. So we kind of talked about it. And so we're gonna read Angela's Ashes in March, not as an official patron, but you read just like kind of also gonna read it. And then go on to read. I have read Angela's Ashes and Teyes before and I always meant to go on and read Teacher Man. I never did. So not that this is like a fancy story where you have to go back to the beginning to read it from the beginning because you don't, but we're gonna read all three. So these will be rereads for me for the first two Angela's Ashes and the next month Teyes. And then for the first time, I'll finally be reading the month after that Teacher Man, which is, so these are Frank McCourt's memoirs about this first one is about his childhood in Ireland. Teyes is about his early life as a young man when he first comes to America.  So I love Frank McCourt's writing style. And it is, I mean, a lot of things that happen to him are tragic, but he has, you know, that sort of quintessentially Irish gallows humor that lightens it up a bit. It's kind of like with Abercrombie. It's very, very different from Abercrombie's writing style. That same kind of like, this is a dark book, but I don't feel like depressed and weighed down by it because there's enough of a balance with like cynical humor to kind of like, you know, ease up. So anyway, I'm excited to reread this. It is a fantastic book. And if you were thinking of picking it up, I cannot recommend Highly Enough, The Audio Book, which is narrated by Frank McCourt himself. Next up is the actual official patron body read. And I am realizing I probably shouldn't have picked, I have several copies of this. I shouldn't have picked the shiniest one that I have, but here we are. Strange the Dreamer by Lainey Taylor. Actually, I really hate the American cover. The American like, dust jacket, which tellingly for the American paperback, they used the British design. So I don't know who, like this looks to me like a John Green book. Like it's gonna be some kind of like YA contemporary, which like for a long time I didn't pick up Strange the Dreamer until I saw the UK cover. And I was like, oh, it's like, tell me this doesn't look like a sequel to The Fault in Our Stars. However, in the US edition, which the UK edition, this is not true about, the naked book has a little design on it as it does music nightmares, which is purple, the worst color in the world. But anyway, my patrons were talking about Reading Strange the Dreamer for a long time and have generally said that, you know, maybe we should make our patient buddy reads like an ongoing, like for several months we like lock in a series that we're reading because we keep starting series. Cause when you read fantasy books, they're all beginnings of series. So we end up just starting a million series and then never finishing any of them. So between wanting to sort of read through a series and also those several people wanting specifically to read Strange the Dreamer, Music Nightmares, that's what we're doing. I put on the poll that if we read, if we pick Strange the Dreamer for March, that we're locking in Music Nightmares for the following month. That's what my patrons chose. We were reading Strange the Dreamer in March and then we're going to read Music Nightmares in April. This will be a reread for me for both. Strange the Dreamer is one of my all-time favorite books. This duology is one of my all-time favorite duologies. Lainey Taylor is one of my all-time favorite writers. So I am very, very excited to revisit Strange the Dreamer. And similarly to, well, it's not read by Lainey Taylor and I wouldn't recommend it if it was. But the audio book for Strange the Dreamer is how I fell in love with the narrator Steve West and for a long time, Steve West to me was a lot less strange. So it was hard to adjust to him reading anything else. So I do recommend the audio book if you're into that but also just recommend this book because it's amazing and beautiful and I can't wait to reread it. We've finally reached the part of the As Long As I'm Fire read-along where it is no longer a reread for me. We are diving our toes, diving our toes. You're diving in or dipping our toes or we are moving on to A Night of the Seven Kingdoms which is short stories about, like, that are in the world of the song of As Long As I'm Fire. And this edition is illustrated. I think they all are. I don't know that it's possible to get this without illustrations. Oh, I'd just like to just look at that. It's also considerably shorter than Dance of Dragons. So I wish this had been the February book since February is a short month. But anyway, I'm excited to continue on with Jimmy and Alex and finally read something that I have not read before from George R. R. Martin. We're gonna read A Night of the Seven Kingdoms and talk about it on Jimmy's channel. That's where the rotation is. And then after that, we're gonna read Fire and Blood and we'll be back to my channel. That'll be in April. And at that point, we'll be done with As Long As I'm Fire but we will not be quite done with buddy reading. Anyway, yeah. So I'm excited to read this because it's new. I've heard good things. It'll be interesting to sort of see something a little bit different from the saga of As Long As I'm Fire. And yeah, I'm excited for this and illustrated. So this is even shorter than it looks because like half of this is pictures. So relieved about that.  And we are now at book three, Blood of the Fold. And once again, we have another version of Richard that looks nothing like how Richard is supposed to look. Who is this supposed to be? Like for real. I don't know how they could have every single cover in this series have a different looking man on it and none of them look like Richard. Anyway, this is the third book in the sort of truth and we'll be talking about it back to Bethany's channel. And I'm looking forward to it. I haven't read this in a few years. So I'll be interested. I remember quite a bit about it but the details are quite fuzzy. So I'm curious to see what I'll think about it this time around. Those are all the books that I'll be reading in March. Let me know in the comments down below your thoughts and feelings about what I will be reading. If you've read it, if you wanna read it, if you're gonna read it, whatever. A few of them are buddy reads and collaborations, et cetera. If you want to read those as well and participate in the forthcoming lives associated with them, that would be fantastic. But otherwise, I will see you in my next video. Bye.


Stand by for crime. Chuck Morgan again.  No matter whether you're liked or disliked, whether you're agreed with or disagreed with, you feel a sense of duty. Especially when you know your listening audience is extensive. That's why when this tip came in about that accidental death, I thought I couldn't pass it up. Wouldn't be fair to the people who paid me or the people who listened to me. The tip said that the accidental death wasn't accidental at all, but murder. It occurred at a remote section town in the Southern Express Railroad. If I drive up there, I get some interesting copy from my broadcast. Well, it so happened that Carol Curtis, my blonde secretary, and I had nothing better planned for the weekend, so we wound up the old jalopy and headed out into the desert. You know, darling, I think it's a wonderful idea going to Las Vegas for the weekend. Yes. I have a new gown. I'll wear it tonight. It's a strapless black taffeta with golden broodry. Think you like it? Chuck Morgan, you haven't heard a word I've said. What was that? I said, you think, what are we stopping here for? That signboard over there. Can you read it? Signboard? Why, yes, it says Squalling Indian for heaven's sakes. What does that mean? Well, maybe it means there's an Indian over there who keeps squalling. Come on, we better get started. Wait a minute, Chuck. You're taking the wrong road. Las Vegas is up that way. Who cares about Las Vegas when there's a squalling Indian over the hill? Chuck Morgan, you turn this car around right now. You promised me we were going to Las Vegas. No, I believe my exact words were, and I quote, glamour plus. Let's drive out into the desert this weekend up toward Las Vegas. Why, you fiend, you tricked me. You know I've always wanted to go to Las Vegas. Stop this car at once and let me out of here. What about my new dress? You don't know what it means to a girl to buy a new dress and then have no place to wear it. You stop this car at once and let me out. Well, what are you doing now? Stopping the car. What for? We're a million miles out in the desert. It's so hot I can hardly breathe. The least you can do is keep moving. Glamour plus, you said you wanted me to stop the car so you could get out. What? I said that? Don't be silly. You know something, glamour plus? What? You're really pretty good looking when you're mad. Oh, is that so? Well, let me tell you something. There are plenty of men who would... What was that? It sounded like a shot. Yeah, there's a puff of smoke up there in the hill. Probably a hunter. Chuck, he's shooting at us. Yeah, aren't tires anyway. Glamour plus, you're really going to get your wish. You ever work a jack handle before? Of course not. There's a first for everything. Out you go. I didn't want to alarm Carol so I acted as though it were a regular routine for me to have my tires plugged full of holes by unknown snipers. Carol sat in the shade of the car and made sarcastic remarks about my integrity while I sweated with a tire iron. And finally dislodged the bullet that had deflated the inner tube. It looked to me like a 30-30 special, which proved nothing. Well, I got the spare in place and we headed down the road toward Squallingenden. An hour later we came to our destination. It was the most desolate looking place I've ever seen. A cluster of yellow painted buildings partly shaded by two cottonwood trees. The double tracks of the Southern Express ran by the front door. Well, this is just great. This is simply bangy. Shall I change to my new strapless gown with a golden broad ring hour? Glamour plus, will you do me one small favor? What?  Why the idea? You're on serious business and if you... Here comes someone. Hello there. Looking for anyone special? We're looking for anyone. I know how you feel. Pretty desolate looking place, isn't it? Come on inside. It's much hotter and I can at least offer you a cold drink. Oh, that sounds good to me. How about you, Carol? Yes, sure. I can hardly wait. My name's Jim Gainesley. I'm the signal maintainer. Oh, here we are. Hi, honey. We got visitors. Oh, how wonderful. Visitors are always welcome here. This is Betty, my wife. Hello, Betty. Nice to know you. This is Carol Curtis, and I'm... You're Chuck Morgan, the news commentator. I'd know that voice anywhere. My golly, that's right. You are Chuck Morgan. How about that? Well, I didn't think my broadcasts were heard this far away. Oh, we don't get you around here, but I used to live in L.A. Jim and I've only been here six months. Don't you find it terribly lonesome? Oh, Jim and I are never lonesome if we're together. It isn't as bad as you think. There's another family living in that house over there. Ted and Jane Maynard. Ted's the boss of the work gang. Hey, but how about that cold drink, I promise? Great. And I think I'd better explain to you why we happen to drop in on you so unexpectedly. Well, sit down and make yourselves comfortable first. All right. Now you're here. We want to encourage you to stay as long as possible. Very nice of you. Here's that cold drink. Here you are. Carol? Thanks. Take this one. Thank you. By the way, that man that was killed up this way last week... Oh, that was a real tragedy. Either of you or the Maynards get to talk to him? No, none of us even saw the chapter until it was over. Then, well, there wasn't much left to identify. Then we never found out who he was. No, I understand that an inquiry was conducted, but nothing came of it. Where did the accident happen? In the cut, about half a mile up the track. Apparently, the man had been walking along the tracks, heard the train and climbed the embankment, then slipped and fell. There's a torn-out place at the top of the embankment that makes that theory almost a fact. What's your interest, Mr. Morgan? Well, it's remote. I had a friend who looked me up in L.A. two days before the accident. He's a geologist. Said he was coming up this way to look at some unusual rock formations he'd heard about. And you haven't heard from him since? No. Checked a couple of places without any luck. Oh, I'm probably borrowing trouble. Chances are he'll be calling me at the office tomorrow. Listen. It sounds like a train. Now, that just could be, grammar-verse. There are a couple of tracks outside. It's the Golden Streak Streamliner from L.A. to Chicago. Right on the nose, too. For a minute, I thought it was coming into the room. She's doing 90 when she passes here. And the same when it goes through the cut? Oh, a little better. There's a slight downgrade there. No wonder there was nothing left of the man who was hit. How about you two staying overnight with us? There's plenty of room. And when the sun goes down, it really gets cool. Sure. That's a great idea. Would you like your company? I'll help you carry your gear in. Chuck, you promised. Sorry, grammar-verse. Thanks. We'll accept your offer. But there's something I want to say to you first. Oh, what's that? I don't think that man being killed was an accident at all. I think he was murdered. Jim and Betty Ainslie weren't as startled by my murder theories. I thought they would be. Seemed more amused than anything. They were worrying enough to go along with the gag, however. Apparently feeling that to do so would assure them of our company overnight. Jim and I brought in our bags from the car. They gave Carol a room in their own cottage and assigned me another. Beyond me was a cottage occupied by the Ainslie's neighbors. I took off my hat, coat, tie, splashed some cold water over my face, then strolled over towards the mainage. Their cottage looked exactly like the one occupied by the Ainslie's, except that the low drooping branches of a huge cottonwood shut it off from view of the rest of the buildings. I knocked and waited. There wasn't any response. So after a moment, I tried the lodge. It opened. I went in. Anybody home? If anyone was home, they weren't admitting it. Standing in a corner near the bedroom door was a rifle. I crossed the room quickly, picked it up, opened the breach and sniffed. The gun had been fired recently and it was a 30-30 special. Drop that gun. Wait a minute. You must be Ted Maynard. Never mind who I am. Drop that gun, I said. Sure, okay. Don't go getting any ideas with that revolver you're holding until you find out who I am. Ted, who's this? I don't know. Some stumble bum thought he could get away with my rifle. Why don't you plug him? If you've found him trying to steal something, you've a right to. Take it easy. I'm Chuck Morgan. My secretary and I are staying with your friends, the Ainslie's. Who told you there are friends? They did. Well, aren't you? How could you possibly live in a remote spot like this and not be friends with the only neighbors you have for miles? Try it sometime and you'll find out, especially with two jerks like those Ainslie's. Well, Ted, what are you going to do about it? I don't know. I'm going to check with Jim and Betty Ainslie to find out if he's telling the truth, that's for sure. Let's flag down number nine and turn him over to the conductor for the sheriff at Vegas. Maybe the heat was giving me hallucinations, but it seemed to me that these two were creating a situation out of thin air for no apparent reason. They were nervous, on edge, desperate, but more important, they were scared and trying to cover it up. Maybe that's a good idea. Hand me that rope, Jane. Crazy though it seemed, they were planning to go ahead with their plan. Well, I hadn't driven the way up here to be trussed up and dumped aboard a train on some phony charge of robbery. All right, why are you... Let go of my wrist! Let's talk this over and see if we can add up the score. What are you going to do?  You won't get away with it this time. You were seen coming up here, you know? Yes, I know. Seen by someone with a 30-30 special who plugged a hole in one of my tires. You can't prove that. Can't prove what? That it was a 30-30 special. I cannot only prove it. I can identify the gun it came from. I have the bullet in my pocket. Then...then if you can do that... Hey, hey, what's going on here? Thought I heard a commotion. You did. Your friends here accused me of trying to steal a rifle that belonged to them and threatened to flag down number nine and turned me over to the conductor. Oh, forget it, Mr. Morgan. Ted and Jane are just jumpy. Look, come on back to the house. Maybe you'll have dinner ready in a few minutes. We'll have time for a couple of drinks. Yes, but what about this? Give Ted back his cap pistol and forget the whole thing. Later on this evening, he'll be over crying on your shoulder asking about news of the outside. Now, don't worry about it, Mr. Morgan. Everything's going to be all right. Maybe everything was all right as far as Germainzley was concerned. But it wasn't all right for me. There's something cock-eyed about this setup. It had brought four people in a dead man.  Who was he? What had he been doing out here in this remote settlement? And what connection did he have with these four people? Questions. Lots of questions. And so far, only one answer. I was sure the man had been murdered. I could prove it. But I couldn't prove who committed the murder and who the murdered man was. It wasn't even a corpse to make things easier. The night fell, and it became cooler. We sat in the Ainsley's kitchen and ate dinner by the light of two oil lamps. Then I noticed a picture of Jim Ainsley on the wall dressed in a naval uniform and remarked about it. Were you in the Navy Gym? There was a picture up there. Oh, the one on the bookhead? Yeah. That's my brother, Mike. Most people make the same mistake. Well, you do look a lot alike. Is he in the service now? No. He was killed in action off Korea. Oh, that's tough. That was tough losing, Mike. That's all the family I had. We lived in Chicago. That's where I met Betty. She'd come on from LA with some kind of convention. You were married in Chicago? That's right. I had this chance to come out here, and Betty liked being near home, so I grabbed it. On our first weekend off, we're going to go to LA. Jim's ever met my folks. Oh, here's Ted and Jane. Hi, kids. Come on in. Hi, everyone. Say, Mr. Morgan, Jane and I want to apologize for our actions this afternoon. In case you must think we're pretty stupid, boy, hello. We really wouldn't have put you aboard that train even though you have submitted. See, Mr. Morgan, what'd I tell you? How about a cup of coffee, kids? Oh, by the way, this is Carol Curtis, Mr. Morgan's secretary. I don't believe you've met her. How do you do? How do you do? Now, how about the coffee? Oh, swallows. I like them. Smells good to me. Me too. Well, now I had to answer. This crazy pattern was beginning to straighten itself out. I knew who the dead man was and who had murdered him and why. All I had to do was prove it. The plan had already begun taking shape in my mind. I had to get back to Los Angeles and I had to get back there fast because it was in Los Angeles that I could start the machine going and would bring one of these poor people up to the bar of justice charged with murder. The conclusion of Stand By for Crime. Carol and I got back to Los Angeles shortly after 10 p.m. I left her to her apartment and drove over to KOP. Pappy Mansfield, owner and manager of the station, was still in his office. I told him where I'd been and what I wanted him to do. He wasn't much impressed. Oh, you're out of your mind, Chuck.   Okay, Pappy, so you don't believe me. Then you don't mind if I sell the story elsewhere. Story? What story? You haven't got any story. I will have before the night's over if you'll give me some cooperation. Well, I tell you, Chuck, it's unreasonable. You can't prove there's been a murder without a body? Yes, I can if the murderer confesses to his crime. Well, how about it? No. Okay. Then I'll peddle my wares somewhere else. Not while you're on my payroll, you don't. Then, as of now, I'm off your payroll. I quit. Hey, Chuck. Yeah? Come back here. I thought you'd see it my way. Oh, you did? Well, get this, smart boy. I'll make your telephone call for you, but the name of this radio station isn't going to be mentioned unless you come up with a real... Pappy and I have been through this sort of thing before. It was old routine. I threatened to quit or he threatened to fire me and then we'd agree to go along together. So I knew I could depend upon him and it was a comforting feeling. I got the information I wanted from the morgue in the KLP newsroom and then headed back for the desert. It was after two o'clock in the morning when I reached Squalling Indian. There was a light and she mainsless cottage. Otherwise, the place looked deserted. How's you, Mr. Morgan? It's me, Jim. You can't think you weren't coming. Come on inside. Right. Yeah, where's Miss Curtis? She hadn't enough to stay in town. You wife in bed? I has. And the maids? Well, they stayed till about midnight hoping you'd be back. Ted said if he heard your car, he'd be over. Gosh, Mr. Morgan, what's it all about? Well, I got the information I wanted. Oh, hello, Ted. Come on in. Mr. Morgan just got back. Yeah. I heard his car. So you brought your rifle along, Ted, expecting trouble? I intend to be prepared if there is any. Well, you can put the P-shooter away. You won't have any use for it. I'm keeping it. Suit yourself. That's funny. Must be trouble along the road someplace. Hello, Squalling Indian. That's right. Oh, Morgan. Yeah, he's here. It's for you, Mr. Morgan. Oh, thanks. Hello. Oh, hello, Pappy. What? I don't know. I suppose I could go up there and take a few measurements. Sure, sure. Glad to. Call you back. Right. Okay. So long. That was Pappy Mansfield, owner and manager of Station KLP. Oh, wait a minute. How could he be calling on that phone? It isn't even connected with outside lines. Pappy Mansfield, my friend, can do anything, if he thinks it's important enough. Well, gosh, Mr. Morgan, what's so important? What's he want you to do? I'm going up to the cut and take a few measurements. I think the information I'll be able to phone back to Pappy will be all that's needed to sew up this case. On what case? Oh, look, Mr. Morgan, want me to go with you? I could run you up on my scooter. No, you two stay here. There might be another phone call. I won't be gone long. So I started alone, walking up the tracks. There was a crescent moon hanging on the horizon. This and a sky full of stars shed faint light, bringing out and grotesque relief the shape of the giant cactus in the yucca trees. Up ahead, the cut loomed vaguely, a slit on a ridge that gave a backbone to the desert where it slipped down into the salt sink. A cold wind looped through the cut and penetrated the thinness of my jacket. Once, I looked back. I saw that the lights in Jim Ainsley's cottage had been extinguished. Well, this was it. Either I had a crazy theory or I was going to turn up some of the best news stories of the year. I didn't expect the thing to happen when it did. I expected it to come from another direction and in another form. I reached the bottom slope of the embankment that formed the cut and turned off the tracks. When I heard a sound like the clanking of stone against metal, I whirled. There was a quick step behind me. Something switched through the air and then... All the stars in that beautiful sky crashed around my head and the crescent moon shot out of its orbit and left the world to darkness and to me. I don't know how long I'll lay there, but after a while, the moon got back into position and the stars returned to their velvet canopy one by one. I watched them for a while, thinking how beautiful they were, wishing the Carol Curtis were in hand to enjoy their splendor too. Then it occurred to me that it was strange I didn't have to turn my head upward to see these stars. The answer was simple. I was already looking up. I was lying on my back. I tried to move and found I couldn't. That answer was just as simple. My hands and feet were tied. Worse than that. They were tied to the railroad track. No, it wasn't a bad movie. It wasn't a corny novel of 50 years ago. It was real. It was happening to me. Chuck Morgan, wise guy news commentator. And now came the payoff. The climax to this lousy drama. The train, the streamliner rushing across the desert at 90 miles an hour. It's headlights stabbing into the sky. It's a personal whistle blasting out. Shattering the desert stillness into a nightmare of sound. This couldn't be happening. I was watching one of those movies that used to give me goosebumps when I was a kid. In a minute the audience would see that the train was on another track. I could feel the vibration of the onrushing demon in the rails. I saw it frantically. The raw edge of the rail flange began to rub the rope thin. I worked wildly, jerking my wrist back and forth forgetting in this concentration for the moment the train forgetting it until a beam of light flashed into my face. A red beam. I looked up. The signal tower, a hundred yards down the track and turned red suddenly. The streamliner was slowing down coming to a stop. Suddenly the ropes around my wrist parted. I untied my ankle, stood up, chafing my wrists. The streamliner's headlights showed me, the man standing at the foot of the embankment. He had a rifle in the crook of his arm.   Hello, Ainsley. I didn't think you'd come up with anything so corny as tying me to the rails. Why didn't you drill me with the rifle you stole from Ted Maynard and call it a day? Because I don't like corpses hanging around. They talk too much. Oh, of course. I should have remembered.  Gladly. Anything to stall for time until the train crew gets up here? The train crew ain't coming up here. She only stopped because I got the signals crossed. You'll be underway again in a minute. I'm not too good at this sort of thing. Naturally not. You're better at signaling from the deck of a battleship. So you do know, huh? Yes. I've known for quite a while. You're Jim Ainsley's twin brother, Mike. You were married to Betty before you went to Korea. After you were reported missing, Betty married Jim.  It was Jim who was hit by the streamliner last week. Hello, Pappy. Oh, no, Jim Ainsley, but it always works out. Take my gun. Yeah, give me my gun. Are you all right? Glamber push. Take a look at those stars. Aren't they beautiful? Probably a guest it was Pappy Mansfield who was responsible for the streamliner stopping and squalling in then. Not the fact that Ainsley lost up the signals. Pappy never did trust me when he thought I was getting myself into a jam. Carol and I had left squalling in then in a cold light of an early dawn heading for the main highway.  Let's begin at the beginning, Chuckie Boy. What made you suspicious in the first place? Well, either fact that Jim or rather Mike Ainsley said he recognized my voice. Didn't he? No, how could he? He lived in Chicago all his life. My voice couldn't reach that far. Betty had heard me in LA but her husband picked her up too quickly on it. Oh, but how did you know that Jim was Mike? Well, Jim or Mike offered to help us bring in our gear from the car. The word gear in place of luggage is strictly a Navy term. And then there was the picture of the sailor boy in the wall. That's right. Which Mike called a bulkhead. Navy again. Well, well, well.  Ted Maynard. You see, Ted and Jane knew or at least suspected that Jim was a murderer. They were scared stiff. They knew if the Ainsleys realized their suspicions, the same thing would happen to them would happen to Jim. Well, how about Betty? Betty had to go along with the gag too. Although, I think she did it by choice. She really loved her first husband, huh? Hmm, that's right. So when Ted saw us heading this way, he shot a hole in our tire, hoping we'd find out he did it and have him arrested and taken away from there. Glamour, Puss. You have an astute mind. Oops. Here we are. Back on the main highway. But, Chuck, why are you turning right? LA's back that way. Glamour, Puss. Las Vegas is this way. You're still going to have a chance to wear that black strapless tapeter with a golden embroidery. Oh, Chuck. What's wrong? What's the matter? I left it in LA.