[speaker001:] Okay, um, do you have any pets now?
[speaker002:] Well, we don't right now, no. We've, uh, I grew up
[speaker001:] [Baby talking].
[speaker002:] with, uh, with pets. My folks and I always had a dog and a cat,
[speaker001:] [Baby talking].
[speaker002:] some,
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] birds, but, uh, right now we don't have anything.
[speaker001:] Oh, okay. Um, that,
[speaker002:] What about you?
[speaker001:] a matter of choice, or compulsion?
[speaker002:] Well, we've just, uh, it seems like,
[speaker001:] [Baby talking].
[speaker002:] we've always been at a place [baby talking] where we'd have to go away for the summer or something and, uh, it was,
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] never convenient to have anything. we were thinking about getting a dog if we get into a house.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] Uh, someplace where there, you know, we can take care of it and everything. We've got,
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] some children who would just really, uh, enjoy having an animal, you know, a dog, I think and,
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] What about you all?
[speaker001:] Well, right now [breathing] I'm a student, and campus housing does not even allow thinking about that [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] Oh, no.
[speaker001:] No, we almost got chased out of here for feeding a stray cat.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] Is that right?
[speaker001:] Yeah. They're very strict about it.
[speaker002:] But you like, uh, you like pets and things?
[speaker001:] Oh, I love animals.
[speaker002:] [Faint] Oh, yeah.
[speaker001:] I was raised, [breathing] our house when I, when I was growing up there was almost never, uh, at least one cat in the house.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] It was al-, almost always at least one cat, sometimes, you know, like fifteen or twenty. But, uh, always cats in the house.
[speaker002:] Oh, yeah. We, we,
[speaker001:] Oh.
[speaker002:] enjoyed them. We like, we like pets, but, uh, you know, you've got to deal with, uh, taking care of them and, and feeding them and everything like that.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] And our kids are, we've got some children and they're not, not used to it, you know, on a daily basis. They, they, uh,
[speaker001:] How old are your kids?
[speaker002:] Oh, from fourteen down to seven.
[speaker001:] Okay.
[speaker002:] You sound like you've got some small ones in the background.
[speaker001:] One.
[speaker002:] Is that right?
[speaker001:] Our first. He's about te-, eleven weeks now.
[speaker002:] Oh, great.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] Congratulations.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] Where are you from?
[speaker001:] Uh, originally?
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] West Virginia.
[speaker002:] Okay.
[speaker001:] Um, I don't know how familiar you are with that area of the country but,
[speaker002:] I've been to Charleston.
[speaker001:] Charleston, West Virginia?
[speaker002:] Yes, uh-huh.
[speaker001:] Okay, that's pretty much the south end of the state, or the southern quarter of the state, anyway? [NOISE].
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] Okay, in the north end of the state, you've got that little narrow strip of West Virginia going up between Ohio and Pennsylvania [NOISE].
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] Right at the base of that northern peninsula
[speaker002:] Uh-huh [faint].
[speaker001:] is my hometown.
[speaker002:] Well, that's, yeah, that's interesting. So it's really up north in the country, really,.
[speaker001:] Yeah,
[speaker002:] I guess so.
[speaker001:] yeah. It's, well, um, my parents' house is like three miles south of where the Mason-Dixon Line would have hit the Ohio River had it
[speaker002:] Gosh.
[speaker001:] continued that far.
[speaker002:] I see.
[speaker001:] So,
[speaker002:] It's pretty nice country up there?
[speaker001:] Oh, it's beautiful.
[speaker002:] Hills, or what?
[speaker001:] Uh, well, from my neck of the woods, it's hilly.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] Um, you know, uh, maybe three hundred, four hundred feet elevation, uh,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh [faint].
[speaker001:] type variations from the valleys up to the hills, the hilltops.
[speaker002:] Is it farmland?
[speaker001:] Um, not a lot of farmland there. Mostly it's, uh, I mean, you know, there's, you know, individuals with their own, own f-, uh, growing their own food. Uh, most of the agriculture, it's more in the way of, uh, sheep and cattle.
[speaker002:] Oh, yes.
[speaker001:] And even that's, you know, small time mostly.
[speaker002:] Sure.
[speaker001:] Uh, the biggest chunk of what's going on there is, is, uh, industry.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] It's coal mines and chemical plants and power plants.
[speaker002:] Okay.
[speaker001:] Uh, aluminum plants. There's like two aluminum plants.
[speaker002:] What are you, [throat clearing] what are you studying there at Heidelberg?
[speaker001:] Computer engineering.
[speaker002:] [Faint] Oh, yeah. What year?
[speaker001:] Uh, just finished up my fourth semester.
[speaker002:] Well, great.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] Yeah. I hope that works out well.
[speaker001:] Yeah, it's a big change.
[speaker002:] [Faint] Yeah.
[speaker001:] I spent,
[speaker002:] What's,
[speaker001:] twenty years as a mechanic so,
[speaker002:] Oh, did you?
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] Well, you've got some experience behind you in the work force.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] Yeah. Are you, uh, shooting for a bachelor's now, or a master's, or what?
[speaker001:] I'm working on a bachelor's degree.
[speaker002:] Oh, okay, good.
[speaker001:] I'm working on a bachelor's degree. It'll be compu-,
[speaker002:] Hope it's a good program there.
[speaker001:] Pardon?
[speaker002:] Hope it's a good program there.
[speaker001:] Uh, it seems to me, from what I've been able to find out.
[speaker002:] Yeah, good.
[speaker001:] That's considered a pretty good program. It's nice and small, which means, you know, if you don't get the class this semester, then you've got to wait or three or four s-, you know, anywhere from two to four semesters to get,
[speaker002:] Huh [faint].
[speaker001:] it again. But, uh, i-, it's worth it once you get it.
[speaker002:] Well, yes, that's good. And probably a good, uh, student teacher ratio and things.
[speaker001:] Oh, yeah, yeah.
[speaker002:] Yeah [faint].
[speaker001:] Most the class are pretty small.
[speaker002:] Good.
[speaker001:] That works out real well.
[speaker002:] Well, I, I was wondering what, if you all were to get a pet, like if you were to move into an apartment or a house somewhere, what would you get?
[speaker001:] Uh, well, um, first off we'd probably wind up with a, a cat or maybe a puppy.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] I, I, I'm partial towards the larger dogs.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] Um, our last, we've, we've had a couple of cats before we moved on campus.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] Uh, had a hamster or two, and they, they got,
[speaker002:] A hamster.
[speaker001:] to be a lot of fun.
[speaker002:] Oh, yeah.
[speaker001:] Uh, it's amazing how much character,