#256 - Tinter Battles World Championships

This week, we are officially "Tint Boys" broadcasting straight from a transformed warehouse in Glendale, California, for the global Tinter Battles window tinting championships. We immerse ourselves into the intense, WWE-style subculture of competitive window tinting, complete with pre-competition online trash-talking, NASCAR-style matching team jerseys, and heavyweight champion belts. We hit the competition floor to interview Cody from Tex Window Tinting about his mid-competition broken squeegee, lending his toolbelt to a friend whose luggage was lost, and his high-tech "Tint Buster" backpack. We also catch up with Carlos, the CEO of Tinter Battles, who explains how he combined his musical performance background with his tinting career to give these hardworking professionals the rockstar platform they deserve. After watching the intense flat glass and Paint Protective Film (PPF) heats, we officially give ourselves tinting nicknames: "Squeege.E" and "Mikey No Bubbles," and definitively declare that window tinting is a sport that belongs on ESPN. Taking a break from the competition, we did some LA exploring, starting with a trip to Ace Hardware for the last pack of Pokémon cards before finally experiencing the famous grocery store, Erewhon. Despite expecting $20 grapes, we were surprised to find the produce prices pretty normal—though the $165 branded hoodies and $100 lotions definitely lived up to the hype. After consulting with the in-store sommelier for some wine, we proudly embraced our new status as "Erewhon girlies". Later, we retreated to the hotel to order some Panda Express and had a gaming session where Mike quickly grasped the mechanics of Fortnite, even while Erin got targeted and eliminated twice in a single round. To round out our West Coast trip, we engaged in some "business business" by visiting the studio of the GroupChat podcast. We recap the incredibly pristine bathrooms and share what it was like to sit in and watch the two brothers record their tech and finance show. While Erin felt a little out of her depth listening to the highly educated business banter, we loved getting a behind-the-scenes look at how another successful podcast operates.