#126. Comic Books, Real Estate, and Vinyl: A Humboldt Life | Don Chin

Scott Hammond: Ladies and gentlemen, friends and neighbors, it's Scott Hammond with the 100% Humboldt podcast. Welcome. With my new best friend, Don Chin.

Scott Hammond: Hi, Don.

Don Chin: Hey, Scotty.

Scott Hammond: What's going on?

Don Chin: I'm doing well. How are you?

Scott Hammond: It's good to see you. I'm doing well. I haven't seen you since yesterday.

Scott Hammond: Or Monday.

Don Chin: Right, I saw you twice this week.

Scott Hammond: That's right. We did a Zoom, and then we did a live.

Don Chin: Yeah, live in my playroom.

Scott Hammond: That's right, that's right. We'll talk about vinyl in a minute. Don't skip forward to the vinyl records now.

Scott Hammond: Hey, um, tell us the Don Chin story.

Don Chin: The Don Chin story. Well, since this is 100% Humboldt, I am 100% Humboldt grown. Um, I was born here in Eureka in 1963.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Don Chin: My parents are Ben and Mary Chin. My father, uh, he passed about, um, seven plus years ago.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: But, uh, a lot of people know him from Chin's Cafe, being a restaurateur.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: Um, one of the first Chinese people to come back to Humboldt after they expelled them in the late 1800s. And so they've got a mural over by Coast Central Bank of him-

Scott Hammond: Right

Don Chin: … when he was a veteran. Um, lived a ripe old age. I think he almost made it to 100.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Don Chin: And, uh, so my mom is still living, and she lives close to my old stomping grounds here in Myrtletown.

Scott Hammond: Wow. Yeah, we're not far away.

Don Chin: No.

Scott Hammond: Here in ours.

Don Chin: No, I could've walked here.

Scott Hammond: You could crawl here. We're, uh, yeah, we're in, uh, the historic, uh, Myrtletown district of Eureka.

Don Chin: Yes.

Scott Hammond: Which is right over here on my prop- You see my prop map?

Don Chin: Yes.

Scott Hammond: I'll get you one of those 'cause you're a Humboldt County realtor.

Don Chin: I am.

Scott Hammond: And we get to talk about that.

Don Chin: I s-

Scott Hammond: You should get a Metsker, uh, map courtesy of your new best friend.

Don Chin: That's pretty cool. I like that.

Scott Hammond: They're really nice, yeah. I- it's really trippy when you sit there and stare at it. I- what a weirdo, right?

Don Chin: You listen to Pink Floyd and stare at it or?

Scott Hammond: You could. I- Hadn't thought of that. But that's a great idea. So you, you went to grade school. Tell us about your schooling through Eureka, and then did you go to Humboldt State?

Don Chin: Yes. Actually, I grew up in Myrtletown, so Worthington was my elementary school.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: And so I started there. Um, I was smallest guy in my class.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: I think my mom started me before I was… I think I was, like, not even… I might not have been, like, in my late fours when I started.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Don Chin: So not even five. So being small, um, that was kind of a challenge.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Don Chin: And being Asian, that was kind of a challenge 'cause there weren't too many Asian kids in my class.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Don Chin: But, um, after that, I went to Zane Junior High School.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: And I graduated there, I think, in '78, and then I went to Eureka High.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: I graduated there in '81.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Don Chin: And then I went to Humboldt CR. Um, I even went to a place where you trained to be in– to work for airlines-

Scott Hammond: Oh, really?

Don Chin: … in my, yeah, in my youth. And I thought I might have been, like, wanted to be, like, a ticket agent.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: But, um, that wasn't for me, so.

Scott Hammond: What'd you study at Humboldt?

Don Chin: I went in wanting to be a film major, Scott. I was really influenced by, uh, uh, filmmakers like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas in my youth growing up and watching Star Wars. So I always thought, you know, what it would, what it would be like to maybe be a, a film director.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Don Chin: So I started making films with my classmates even when I was in elementary school and junior high, and that continued through high school.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: And I would send in my, my films, and some of them would do well in some small film festivals. And so I thought, "Well, why don't I make the jump and go to Humboldt as a film major?"

Scott Hammond: Cool, cool.

Don Chin: And then I found out that real actors are kind of weird, so they weren't, like, hanging out with my friends in high school.

Scott Hammond: Yes.

Don Chin: So, so I took a little diversion, and I went into journalism, but-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Don Chin: … more of a cartooning journalist.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: Um, and so that kind of fueled my comic book, uh, craving as well 'cause, uh, you know, comics is something that a lot of people know me for as well.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. You're getting ahead of yourself.

Don Chin: I know. It's like it's all-

Scott Hammond: I know

Don Chin: … it's all-

Scott Hammond: Real estate, comic books, vinyl.

Don Chin: I know. It's like we can s-

Scott Hammond: Plus the Tri-

Don Chin: … talk for four, four hours here

Scott Hammond: … Tri-City stuff. So I, I knew you from, uh, the Tri-City Weekly. Some of you locals will remember the Tri-City Weekly. It's a… Remember that thing called a-

Don Chin: Shopper

Scott Hammond: … newspaper?

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: It was on newsprint. And, uh, I did, uh, I did 20 years at the Tri-City.

Don Chin: Wow.

Scott Hammond: I know. '83.

Don Chin: That's a long time.

Scott Hammond: When I had hair.

Don Chin: Were you the longest tenured employee?

Scott Hammond: Um, I would say continuously except for Ron, the owner.

Don Chin: Okay.

Scott Hammond: I had to think about that for a sec. Gary was on and off, so he might have had some seniority, but he took off for a couple years to do the Lighthouse Ranch with Gospel Outreach out in Loleta.

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: As you know. I know.

Don Chin: Yeah, we met, we met, um- … my wife and I were doing pre-press-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: … for the Tri-City.

Scott Hammond: Describe what pre-press is 'cause I know you guys were part of Ron's team, but you actually had your own business too, right?

Don Chin: Yeah. Um, when you do comics, you kind of learn the, the process of how to do printing. It's, it's not– It was just starting to get into the digital realm back then-

Scott Hammond: Right

Don Chin: … like in the '80s and '90s.

Scott Hammond: Apple.

Don Chin: So yeah, Apple, Macintosh.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: So our comic books, we were doing, um, first we started with black and white comics, which doesn't require a lot of, uh, expensive equipment. But then when you start doing color-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … comics, which we started to do, it involves a lot more, um, computers, digital, uh, storage space. So we started to do, um, our production on comics using desktop publishing equipment-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Don Chin: … like Macintosh.

Scott Hammond: Cutting edge.

Don Chin: Yeah, pretty cutting edge for the day because, you know, before the '80s, there really weren't too many people doing stuff with computers and comics. It was all hand-drawn, hand-colored, hand-lettered, everything.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Don Chin: But then when computers came into play, people were starting to say, "Oh, I can make… You know, I have this huge range of colors I could use."

Scott Hammond: Right.

Don Chin: "I can do my lettering with a computer instead of having to cut it out with an X-Acto knife."

Scott Hammond: Imagine, imagine that, yeah.

Don Chin: Yeah. So my wife was really savvy, and she, um, she basically taught herself how to do-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … color separations, which- Everything that you have printed that's in color would need to be color separated.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Don Chin: And so my wife was doing some calculating. She's very, um, smart, and she said, "You know, if we did our own film-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … I could probably save you, like, $2,000 per project." And I'm going-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Don Chin: … "Well, that makes sense 'cause we're doing, like, several books a month."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: And we t- we kinda did the math and we saw that, um, if we bought this equipment for, like, 100,000, we could easily save that, like, in a, in a year.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Don Chin: So we bought that, and we had this huge setup in our house in Virginia when we lived there, and we were doing color separations. And when the comic b- book business kinda went, uh, belly up, we knew Ron.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Don Chin: And Ron said, "I need somebody that can do color separations."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: "So would you come, if you come back to Humboldt-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Don Chin: … would you maybe partner with us, and we'll have you set up a shop in our Tri-City building-

Scott Hammond: Perfect

Don Chin: … to do color separations?" And that's kinda how-

Scott Hammond: So maybe for a fancy Pearson's ad or something like that.

Don Chin: Right.

Scott Hammond: Front page.

Don Chin: Right.

Scott Hammond: That had multiple layers of color.

Don Chin: Yeah, 'cause I think before-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Don Chin: … Ron had to send out-

Scott Hammond: Probably had to job it out

Don Chin: … right, out of-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Don Chin: … out of the area.

Scott Hammond: Talking about Ron Pileggi. Hey, Ronnie.

Don Chin: Hey, Ron.

Scott Hammond: Tri-City Weekly, Lighthouse Ranch, all the g- all the guys and gals from a bygone era, right? Seems like-

Don Chin: It does

Scott Hammond: … a different life ago.

Don Chin: It does.

Scott Hammond: When there was a newspaper and no internet and just all the weirdos working together.

Scott Hammond: But we, uh, we take great pride in letting you know at the Time-Standard, you, uh, you, you pretty much got an ass whooping in terms of advertising and just a better product. Just saying, just for the record, I, I'd like to go on record as saying that, that, you know, it, it, and it felt good every year to outdo you in so many ways.

Don Chin: Well, our, our, I think-

Scott Hammond: Um, is that, is that arrogant, or is that just true?

Don Chin: Uh, graphically, Tri-City was just-

Scott Hammond: Oh

Don Chin: … a good-looking-

Scott Hammond: 40,000 copies, Garberville to Trinidad every week. And, you know, I meant to ask Ron the other night. I don't think he ever missed an, uh, an episode, a, uh, an edition. I, I think they always published continu- contiguously.

Don Chin: Like, 52 weeks-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: … out of the year.

Scott Hammond: Well, and, and 40 years or however long it was till Time-Standard bought it, bought it and-

Don Chin: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … sunk it.

Don Chin: That was fun.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: We missed Ron.

Scott Hammond: Good run. Good guy to work for. My dad called him a prince of a guy.

Don Chin: Very nice guy.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Took care of me and, and my wife and nine kids and on one income in Humboldt. And you know, my son goes, "Dad, you couldn't do that today." I go, "Mikey, I…" He goes, "Dad." I go, "You're right. There's probably no way." If you're just joining me, my new best friend Don Chin from, uh, born and bred in Eureka, and, uh, CR and then Humboldt. And so what took you to, guys to Virginia?

Don Chin: Well, we were doing comics, um, pretty much full time, and a lot of the distributors that we were using back in those days-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Don Chin: … were over there. And we were just finding, like, you know, we'd lived in Humboldt most of our life.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: So we kinda wanted to just kinda see what life in another part of the country would be like.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: And one of my main artists named Bill, he was from Virginia Beach.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Don Chin: And we kinda, you know, we used to watch The 700 Club with Pat Robertson and-

Scott Hammond: Right

Don Chin: … that's all we knew about Virginia Beach was Bill Mausk and, and The 700 Club, and we thought, "Yeah, that sounds-

Scott Hammond: Check it out. Yeah

Don Chin: … like interesting." And we, we live on the coast, west coast, but we never lived on the east coast.

Scott Hammond: Is that Bob Jones University there too? There's a couple of super conservative Christian universities.

Don Chin: It may be, but-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: … Regent was the one that-

Scott Hammond: Regent, that's where Tom Stansbury went.

Don Chin: Right.

Scott Hammond: Hey, Tom.

Don Chin: Hey, Tom.

Scott Hammond: We, um-

Don Chin: Another Tri-City-

Scott Hammond: Yeah. So during that period, I had a Pat Robertson sticker, bumper sticker for president-

Don Chin: I heard

Scott Hammond: … on my car. My politics have changed just a little. And I was driving through Arcata, and man, I got the whole, the sig- the hand signals.

Don Chin: Wow.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, just, "Hey, how dare you fly your flag, bro?"

Don Chin: Yeah. Well, he'd always pray away the hurricanes, so we, we always tried to stay on, on his good side.

Scott Hammond: Hey, Pat. Thanks for the prayers. He's dead now, right? Did he die?

Don Chin: He died, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Well, you might argue he's very much alive.

Don Chin: That's true.

Scott Hammond: Anyway, maybe more than ever. So say we all. So, uh, so you guys came back from Virginia Beach back to Eureka Beach.

Don Chin: Yeah. We lived there for about three years, and we were starting to get a little homesick, and then there were some family members that had passed.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Don Chin: So we, we kinda felt like- … you know, maybe we should go back to Humboldt. And the comic book business is, was kinda starting to fizzle out.

Scott Hammond: But you got sorta famous in that time period or right after with, uh, tell us about the, the hamsters.

Don Chin: The, the black belt hamsters.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: Um, well, I was going to Humboldt State, and the Tur- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had just started to come out.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Don Chin: I think they debuted in 1984.

Scott Hammond: They were a big deal.

Don Chin: They were a big deal, but they started out just a couple of guys from the Boston area.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: And they just borrowed some money, and they got this weird concept comic book published, and before long, it just started to catch on-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … and stores were buying it. And I was running a computer store while I was going to Humboldt in the-

Scott Hammond: That's right

Don Chin: … in the mid-'80s.

Scott Hammond: That's right. What-

Don Chin: I think you used to sell a- you or Jeff Kessenich used to sell ads in it.

Scott Hammond: Both, yeah. Where was the store?

Don Chin: This was called Comic Castle.

Scott Hammond: Was it downtown?

Don Chin: Imperial Square, like, right-

Scott Hammond: Yeah, you had a little store.

Don Chin: Yeah, it was second story of Imperial Square where, uh, yeah, it used to be Tomaso's.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Don Chin: But there's still offices up there.

Scott Hammond: And John Sullivan was your number one c-

Don Chin: John Sullivan

Scott Hammond: … customer.

Don Chin: One of our graphic artists at Tri-City.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Don Chin: Super nice guy.

Scott Hammond: Great guy. Hi, John.

Don Chin: Hi, John. Um, yeah, so basically, uh, I, I had a Mad Magazine kind of mental, uh, that was the way I was built to do satires. I felt like that was my, my niche as a writer, creator.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: And so, uh, I just kinda thought, "Well, this Ninja Turtles thing is so absurd, I wonder if I took it one step further, how will, how, how might it be received?"

Scott Hammond: Right.

Don Chin: And so I just came up with this Crazy concept of adolescent radioactive black belt hamsters

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: I d- doodled them during a, a college lecture, and I took it to my friend, Parsonovich, who was the best artist I knew that lived here locally.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: And I said, "I think I can come up with a story, you know, about these characters. Would you be interested in drawing it on spec? You know, I won't- I'll pay you when we get paid." And he didn't really have anything else to do, so he did it.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Don Chin: And we shopped it around, and eventually it got picked up by a, a publisher out of, uh, Guerneville, California, believe it or not.

Scott Hammond: Guerneville.

Don Chin: Guerneville. Eclipse Comics.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Don Chin: And they, they decided, "Yeah, we'll give it a shot," and they got orders over, like 75,000 copies.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Don Chin: And it was by a couple guys no one had, had ever heard about before, so.

Scott Hammond: That's… Wow.

Don Chin: Yeah, and then-

Scott Hammond: That's really cool

Don Chin: … and then it started just snowballing after that. We were… They said, "You know, I know you just wanted to do one issue, but it sold so well. Would you consider-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … making it a series?" So I did, and eventually it sold over half a million copies and-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Don Chin: … wound up on Jeopardy! and just-

Scott Hammond: That's cool

Don Chin: … kind of a weird cult comic book.

Scott Hammond: So Je- it was a Jeopardy! question?

Don Chin: It was a Jeopardy! question.

Scott Hammond: That's cool.

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Huh. Do you have that episode recorded?

Don Chin: I do. It's on YouTube. If you look up-

Scott Hammond: I'll look-

Don Chin: … Jeopardy! black belt hamsters, you can find the little-

Scott Hammond: I'll look for that. That's pretty cool

Don Chin: … the little short.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. So, so what crashed the comic book industry?

Don Chin: Um-

Scott Hammond: The web or?

Don Chin: Greed.

Scott Hammond: Greed?

Don Chin: Greed.

Scott Hammond: Worse than g- greed.

Don Chin: Well, see, what happened was after I did the hamsters, it kinda opened up the floodgates for everybody-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Don Chin: … and their brother that wanted to do another Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle comic book.

Don Chin: So-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: … after the hamsters came out, there must have been, like, another 10 funny animal action-

Scott Hammond: Oh, really? Okay

Don Chin: … yeah. Even Marvel tried to do one with, like, thermonuclear pachyderms-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Don Chin: … or, or something like that.

Scott Hammond: That's-

Don Chin: Um-

Scott Hammond: That's good

Don Chin: … so, so the market started getting flooded with all these independent creators, like myself.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: And it was kinda challenging the big two, which were Marvel and DC.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: And, uh, so there just started to become a glut.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Don Chin: So there's too many speculators, not enough sales, and the dealers were just having to buy everything-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … thinking that this could be the next Turtles.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: And unfortunately, um, the dealers bought too much and they had too much inventory.

Scott Hammond: They can't do, yeah

Don Chin: And they couldn't get rid of it.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: So then every- the domino effect happened. We started seeing stores close.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Don Chin: Distributors closed. They couldn't pay the publishers, and so we were one of those publishers.

Scott Hammond: Oh, man.

Don Chin: So it just kinda-

Scott Hammond: I hate that.

Don Chin: Yeah, but we were doing really well for a while. We were selling, like… Uh, you know, we were, our market share was just as good as Archie or Mad Magazine-

Scott Hammond: Crazy

Don Chin: … for, for a small company.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. So we, uh, had my book published, and I had it in Borders Books down here in Eureka.

Don Chin: Sweet.

Scott Hammond: And then they crashed.

Don Chin: Oh, man.

Scott Hammond: Couldn't get my books back. Dang it.

Don Chin: Oh.

Scott Hammond: Or all the money they must have collected, millions. Yeah. Publishing, it's, uh, it's a thing.

Don Chin: It is a thing. It's, it's, it's quite, um, it's quite enjoyable when it goes well, but, you know, it's, it's hard. It's hard work.

Scott Hammond: We'll make a segue to real estate after I say welcome, friends, to the 100% Humboldt podcast. I'm your host, Scott Hammond, and you're lucky to have, uh- … my new best friend, Don Chin, here. And, uh, tell… So you must have transitioned somewhere in there into real estate.

Don Chin: Yes. Yeah. So let's, let's-

Scott Hammond: 'Cause you're, you're definitely a, a real estate icon-

Don Chin: Thank you

Scott Hammond: … in Humboldt.

Don Chin: So what happened was that while my wife was doing all this work for Ron at the Tri-City-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … um, I was just kinda thinking, "Well, you know, I, I know how to edit comic books. I know how to write comic books. I know how to publish them, but now there's no market."

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: "So, so what do I do?" And my wife said, you know, "You're, you're, you've got a natural sales ability."

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Don Chin: And I've always been kind of an entrepreneur.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Don Chin: And, um, I think she saw a classified ad. It might have been in the Tri-City, I'm not sure, but it said Coldwell Banker is looking for realtors.

Scott Hammond: Oh, how about that?

Don Chin: So I answered an ad to go work for Coldwell Banker Sellers in Arcata.

Scott Hammond: Oh, Craig Anderson.

Don Chin: Yeah. And they-

Scott Hammond: Hey, Craig

Don Chin: … Greg, Betty Dobkin, and they basically said, "If you, um, if you sign up with us, and you do your education online, and you pass your test, you pretty much automatically have a job, you know, with us."

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Don Chin: And, um, it was straight commission.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Sure.

Don Chin: So it was like feast or famine the first couple, couple years.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: And so I, I just kinda got my feet wet in real estate. That was back in 1998. Um, they gave me the Realtor Rookie of the Year award back then-

Scott Hammond: That's cool

Don Chin: … which was nice.

Scott Hammond: What year was that?

Don Chin: '98.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Don Chin: So I've been doing this for almost 20, 28 years.

Scott Hammond: Almost 30.

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Whew.

Don Chin: So I've been selling real estate, mainly residential real estate-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … here, Eureka, Arcata, McKinleyville.

Scott Hammond: I would say you're good at, known for integrity and just making it easy.

Don Chin: Thank you.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: Our friend Charles McCann is, is one of my role models. I like-

Scott Hammond: What a great man

Don Chin: … him a lot.

Scott Hammond: We rented from his parents when we first married in Arcata.

Don Chin: Oh, really?

Scott Hammond: Yeah, they called it the Honeymoon Suite. It was 250 bucks a month. Top floor of a Vic- Victorian.

Don Chin: Oh.

Scott Hammond: Oh, they were great. Chet and Esther McCann.

Scott Hammond: What-

Don Chin: Is this in Arcata?

Scott Hammond: It's in Arcata. S- uh, something in K Street, right by the Vets Hall.

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I think he-

Don Chin: He's a great guy.

Scott Hammond: He's a great guy, man. I love, love that family and, yeah, go back a ways with them. And so how did you transition out of Arcata back to Eureka? Did you go to work for community after that or?

Don Chin: Um, about four years with, uh, with Coldwell Banker, I, I was kinda just thinking, you know, maybe I could go to some place where I wasn't having to pay a franchise fee.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Don Chin: 'Cause when you work for one of these big name brand offices-

Scott Hammond: Right

Don Chin: … they will charge you a franchise fee and normally take a cut of your commission.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Don Chin: And so, um, you know, I was raising a family and I just thought if I could cut- … costs. I could p- probably make more and take home more if I worked for somebody else, so.

Scott Hammond: Imagine that.

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: So I shopped around, and I found out that Community Realty was a, a local independent-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … brokerage, and they-

Scott Hammond: Still are

Don Chin: … yeah, they're still here. And they basically said, "If you come work for us, you don't have to pay us anything other than a desk fee."

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Don Chin: And I thought, well, that makes sense, so.

Scott Hammond: That's Brian Dunlap?

Don Chin: Brian Dunlap is the current owner, but, uh, Joyce West and Tom Bronchetti-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … were the ones that hired me.

Don Chin: And so-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Don Chin: … I've worked with them since 2002.

Scott Hammond: So you're still there?

Don Chin: I'm still at Community.

Scott Hammond: Oh, wow. That's going back. Hey, Brian.

Don Chin: Yeah. Hi, B. Hi, Brian.

Scott Hammond: I, I like Brian. He's cute.

Don Chin: He's probably golfing or flying his plane somewhere.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Maybe, maybe he's flying his plane to go golfing.

Don Chin: Probably.

Scott Hammond: Or are you golfing to fly the plane?

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Don Chin: It's a business expense.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. That's right. You write it off. It's a write-off, Jerry. So, yeah, um, uh, real estate in Humboldt County, let's talk about that. Um, maybe past, present, future, just a real quick, uh, overview. Is it a good time to buy a place in, in that county?

Don Chin: In Humboldt County. I would say i- it's definitely more of a buyer's market right now.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: And, um, it's not quite… To me, it hasn't been quite as busy, uh, as it has been this year than it was in previous years.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: But, um, I'm still plenty busy. I have probably about eight or nine listings currently.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Don Chin: Um-

Scott Hammond: In a down economy.

Don Chin: In a down economy, but I'm noticing that when th- things were hot, they would just kinda stay on the market for maybe a week, and you might expect to get multiple offers.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: But now I'm seeing that homes, even the ones that are kind of priced for first-time home buyers, those are still taking quite a bit longer than they used to-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … to sell. And I'm not sure it's because of the interest rates or-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Don Chin: … um, the economy, but I've, I've just kinda seen that, um, every once in a while you'll get one that you price right in the pocket, and it'll go, like, within a week.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: But there's some that I've had that are, you know, just kinda staying on the market, and I'm telling sellers, "You just have to be patient," 'cause it's-

Scott Hammond: What's the best rate right now for a 30-year fixed?

Don Chin: Gosh, I haven't… I didn't look today, Scott.

Don Chin: But-

Scott Hammond: Or roughly

Don Chin: … I would probably say-

Scott Hammond: Six?

Don Chin: … yeah, six or under six. Coast Central actually has a really good-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … rate, uh, local.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: So if you're looking to shop around, um-

Scott Hammond: Coast Central. Sam Sin, my good friend, is the, uh-

Don Chin: Right.

Scott Hammond: Hey, Sam. Good job on, uh- … winning, uh, North Coast Journal, uh, Mortgage Guy of the Year.

Don Chin: Oh, really?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: I just met him at a function maybe th- two or three months ago.

Scott Hammond: He's a great guy. He worked for me at, uh, State Farm, and, uh, uh, in my office downtown, which is in Eureka, by the way.

Don Chin: Yes.

Don Chin: Eureka.

Scott Hammond: Um, yeah, can't say enough nice things about Sam. Good g- good man. Knows how to hustle.

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So, uh, tell us about real estate going forward. Is it, is… Like, obviously housing has come up a lot in the podcast in terms of, uh, the shortage. Um, is it… Do we have a big inventory now? What are you, what are you seeing for the future with your, uh, future glasses?

Don Chin: Um, yeah, I think, uh, Charles, in f- in fact, Charles, who we just talked about, he has a monthly newsletter-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … that he puts out that kind of is a snapshot of his, um… He's been keeping track of, like, real estate trends in Humboldt for, like, the last 20 years.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: He'd be a great guest for you to have on as well, I think.

Don Chin: But-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: … but what he does is he, he takes our MLS, and he'll parse out pending, solds, actives.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: And he's got a running chart that, like I said, is over 20 years.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Don Chin: So it kinda shows you what the medium home price is-

Scott Hammond: Interesting

Don Chin: … how long, how many days on the market. So I would definitely say you can sign up for this newsletter for free-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … and Charles will send it to you each month.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: And it tells you kinda, like, how the market is, is headed.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: So I think right now the medium home price is probably somewhere in the, the mid to low 400s-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … for a house, like-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Don Chin: … you know, three bedroom, two bath.

Don Chin: But, um, you know, I would personally love to have starter homes 'cause I think they're a lot easier to sell.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Wish there was a lot more of those.

Don Chin: Right.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. It's certainly shifted. Um, so let's talk about… So you're entrepreneurial, and you hustle, and you do side hustles, and you sell j- San Francisco Giants baseball stuff, and you have an eBay store, right?

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: What about?

Don Chin: I've had a eBay collectible store since, like, in the '90s.

Scott Hammond: What's, what's that about? What do you sell, and what's your, what's your d- most chief-

Don Chin: Well-

Scott Hammond: … mem- memory, the biggest sale, the-

Don Chin: I'm, I've been kind of a hoarder my life, my, uh, Scott, so you know I'm already, uh, big into comics.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: So I had a store, and I had thousands of books.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: That's why I opened this comic book store is 'cause I had too much of my own personal comic book- … collection.

Scott Hammond: Is that true for vinyl now too with albums?

Don Chin: It's true for vinyl. Um-

Scott Hammond: We'll talk about that. We'll get to that

Don Chin: … I'm a big baseball card, football, basketball card collector, so, uh, I, I went into eBay thinking, 'cause my wife was probably saying, "You know, you have all, all these cards. Are you ever gonna do anything-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: … with them?"

Scott Hammond: They just sit here.

Don Chin: Yeah. And I'm going, "Well, you know, I could sell them, and as hard as it would be," but so I started to delve into eBay.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: And so, uh, I think we've done, gosh, probably over 20,000 eBay sales-

Scott Hammond: Wow. That's a lot

Don Chin: … since, since we started.

Scott Hammond: So cards are… People, like, will complete collections, right? So they'll need five cards to get the Topps 1982-

Don Chin: Yeah, yeah

Scott Hammond: … lineup.

Don Chin: That's, that's kinda what I started with, was, like, the baseball cards and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … whatever I thought was a popular player. But then my wife said, "You know, you put a lot of work into just listing one card. Wouldn't it be better if we found something that you could buy wholesale, or we could buy wholesale, and then you can just put in one auction and have multiple … items available-

Scott Hammond: Uh

Don Chin: … and not have to redo an auction or-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Don Chin: … so she looked into this, and my wife Laura is very, very brilliant, and she found a distributor to sell these collectibles like, um, music boxes and, uh, plates with Marilyn Monroe or Elvis Presley-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … Thomas Kinkade. So for quite a while there, we were just kind of supporting ourself, um, when things were slow in real estate-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … by selling collectibles online.

Don Chin: So-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Don Chin: … over the years, it's kinda went from trading cards to these music boxes and so forth, and now we're not really doing that so much. So now I'm mainly selling vinyl.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: And actually, it's kinda weird 'cause now digital trading cards are kind of a, a thing. And so-

Scott Hammond: They're different, yeah

Don Chin: … I sell digital baseball cards. Um, people, uh, they try to wrap their heads around it. It's, it's almost like a-

Scott Hammond: Is it a file?

Don Chin: It's like an NFT, you know?

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Don Chin: It's like a… There's a trading card app that Topps has called Topps Bunt, B-U-N-T.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Don Chin: And you can go to the App Store, and you can download it for free, but in order to buy packs that are more highly sought after, you have to pay money.

Scott Hammond: Of course.

Don Chin: So it's almost like collecting, um… Like on my phone, I have probably about 400,000 cards on my phone-

Scott Hammond: Hmm. Wow

Don Chin: … that I can access, and if someone wanted to offer me money for one of those cards, I have a eBay listing that says, "If you look at my account, you can make an offer on a card, and I'll quote you."

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Don Chin: And so that's kind of how I sold… I've– Honestly, I had a guy that bought probably about $10,000 worth of Aaron Judge-

Scott Hammond: Crazy

Don Chin: … digital cards just this year from me.

Scott Hammond: The Bitcoin of-

Don Chin: Y- yeah

Scott Hammond: … of baseball cards.

Don Chin: Yeah, it's crazy.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Don Chin: But, but the thing is that if Topps ever wanted to stop the app-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … you have to realize it's a game.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: You don't physically have the cards. So if they decided to end the app-

Scott Hammond: Like-

Don Chin: … there goes your investment.

Don Chin: So-

Scott Hammond: They go belly up and-

Don Chin: So it's kind of a, you know… It, it's been going on-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Don Chin: … since like 2012.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Don Chin: But I don't– I think it's still going strong.

Scott Hammond: I've heard of this. Heard of the… But you actually have Giants baseba- baseball stuff, right?

Scott Hammond: Like-

Don Chin: Yes, a big collector of Giants. Uh, my dad made, grew me up as a baseball fan and listened to the radio.

Scott Hammond: Tell us about how the Giants are doing this year, Don.

Don Chin: Do you really wanna know?

Scott Hammond: Tell, tell it.

Scott Hammond: Uh.

Don Chin: Uh, they're doing not as good as the Padres. That's, that's your team, right?

Scott Hammond: And not as good as the Dodgers.

Don Chin: No. The Dodgers-

Scott Hammond: And the Padres are not even… Yeah.

Don Chin: Dodgers are kinda slumping right now.

Scott Hammond: Are they? Good.

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That's good to know.

Don Chin: They're humbling. Even they got Tarik Skubal, they, they lost.

Scott Hammond: Really?

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: You should get Aaron Judge.

Don Chin: I wish we coulda got Aaron Judge.

Don Chin: That was-

Scott Hammond: Oh, man

Don Chin: … that's the whole-

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Wow

Don Chin: … that's a sore s- that's a sore subject for Giants fans.

Scott Hammond: He was for sale, and they, uh… Who got him? He's still in New York, right?

Don Chin: The Yankees.

Scott Hammond: He's still there.

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. S- sore subject. I won't go there with you. Hey, let's do the quiz. Do you wanna win one of these really cool, uh… I know, uh, we've– Laura probably likes, uh, chocolate.

Don Chin: She does like chocolate.

Scott Hammond: Do you know, um-

Don Chin: Dark chocolate

Scott Hammond: … I know a woman in my life that loves chocolate too, loves this chocolate.

Don Chin: Mm. Dick Taylor.

Scott Hammond: So yeah, don't get carried away yet.

Don Chin: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Easy now.

Don Chin: I don't think I've had the vanilla milk chocolate.

Scott Hammond: It's g- it's, oh, it's delicious.

Don Chin: I like-

Scott Hammond: Anything they touch is delicious.

Don Chin: Yes.

Scott Hammond: I gotta get my pr- my prop going over here. Ladies and gentlemen, the, uh-

Don Chin: The quiz. Oh, no

Scott Hammond: … the quiz. If you're just joining me, it's Don Chin. He's gonna join us in our, um, 100% Humboldt quiz for all the marbles and-

Don Chin: Oh, boy

Scott Hammond: … would you like a digital milk chocolate bar?

Don Chin: Mm. No.

Scott Hammond: It doesn't taste that great.

Don Chin: That's not gonna go over.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, no, this is the real one. Okay, first question. If you could live one day in history and you could be there for that day, Don Chin, what day would you pick to live in and, and be a-

Don Chin: Oh, man

Scott Hammond: … be part of?

Don Chin: That's a really g- It's almost a tie, Scott, 'cause I was thinking, you know, a lot of people would probably like to go back when Jesus was walking the Earth-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … you know, and see Him perform miracles.

Scott Hammond: So like a mir- a good miracle day for Jesus?

Don Chin: Yeah, that would be-

Scott Hammond: That'd be cool

Don Chin: … I d- I don't think I could handle the crucifixion, but-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: … a good miracle would be… I mean, the crucifixion was very important, but-

Scott Hammond: Maybe He fed the 5,000, then He walked on the water that night, right? Uh, they went across the-

Don Chin: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … the lake.

Don Chin: That would be– I mean, just seeing Him heal people would've been cool.

Scott Hammond: That'd be awesome.

Don Chin: Yeah. Um, but I also was just thinking in a more practical view, just to go back and relive the day that I got married to my wife to really appreciate that.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: 'Cause I think I was not… I was just kinda scatterbrained that day, and I wasn't-

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah

Don Chin: … really-

Scott Hammond: The fog.

Don Chin: Yeah. And-

Scott Hammond: Yeah, you don't even remember the cake or anything.

Don Chin: So-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: … but she's been with me through thick and thin, so I-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: … I, I think just savoring that, even though we have it on VHS tape-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … yeah, it's not-

Scott Hammond: Just to redo it.

Don Chin: Right.

Scott Hammond: And be present.

Don Chin: Exactly.

Scott Hammond: And that's the hardest thing in a wedding. That w- that was my answer too, was I got asked the question today. I go, "Probably my marriage day."

Don Chin: Oh, really?

Scott Hammond: And the honeymoon, the whole thing. Yeah, just it was great.

Don Chin: Good.

Scott Hammond: Anyway, hey, good answer.

Don Chin: Thank you.

Scott Hammond: Number two, what's, uh, life-giving and life-draining for you?

Don Chin: Oh, man. Life-giving and life-draining.

Don Chin: Um, I think serving others is life-giving. I mean, I'm part of a, uh, I've been in different churches off and on but, um, currently in a rotary group as yourself.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: Southwest Rotary Group, and, uh, I like doing community projects that benefit people, like playgrounds and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … um, you know, we're doing lots of events that help people, like with Humboldt Search and Rescue, uh, their dogs, you know, the dog team and-

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah, they're great

Don Chin: … and things like that. Um-

Scott Hammond: I had her on the show. She was amazing.

Don Chin: Yeah, Meals on Wheels is, I think, our current Martinis by the Bay fundraiser.

Scott Hammond: I was gonna mention Martinis by the Bay is coming up.

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: It's coming up in just- I think later this month

Scott Hammond: One might argue that's a community service.

Don Chin: I don't drink, but I do, I do know that it does bank a lot of money and, and, uh, people have a good time.

Scott Hammond: And drinkers are often generous people.

Don Chin: They-

Scott Hammond: Just saying.

Don Chin: Yeah, they can be.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, they can. With enough drinks-

Don Chin: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … they can get really generous.

Don Chin: Yeah. Um, you said what's the most life draining?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: Um, probably just, uh, regret over some of my decisions in life.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Don Chin: You know?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: Just, just thinking like, you know, before God what kind of person I was and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … and, um, but, you know, I, I don't wanna live in shame and regret. That's-

Scott Hammond: Right on

Don Chin: … that's, that's what I think a lot of people find themselves in.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: And, and I've kind of developed- … a lot more maturity in my later years-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … in my faith walk.

Scott Hammond: Nor does God want us to live in shame and-

Don Chin: Absolutely

Scott Hammond: … that, um, shame and blame weird space. Uh, okay, n- question number three. So far you're doing okay. Question number three, um, what are your best lessons you've learned from life from defeat or failure?

Don Chin: Ah. That's a good one. Um, not to give up.

Scott Hammond: Ah.

Don Chin: Yeah, because a lot of the, uh… Like, for my comic books and for real estate, it, it was slow. 'Cause when I started real estate, I don't think I sold anything for, like, the first eight months.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Don Chin: So I was pretty discouraged and, you know, I was doing all the stuff that you're supposed to do when you're a realtor. But when it's, like, strictly commission, you're not making anything. So that's probably why I had eBay on the side, was just to-

Scott Hammond: To live

Don Chin: … to make something. And so, um, that was humbling because when the comic book business, uh, failed-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Don Chin: … uh, a lot of people went bankrupt. Even Marvel, I think, had to declare bankruptcy back then. And so while we were living large in the comics for quite a few years and selling a lot-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … we actually, um, got to the point where when our distributors couldn't pay us, we had to go bank- we had to file for bankruptcy.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Don Chin: And so here we were living in this beautiful house in Virginia, and next thing we know, I have to move back to Eureka and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … basically live with my parents.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Don Chin: And with my wife and with my daughter, and I'm going-

Scott Hammond: That's humbling.

Don Chin: Yeah, very humbling. And, you know, my wife was, like, burning the midnight oil working for Ron, trying to pay our bills, while I was thinking, you know, "What am I gonna do with my life?" But-

Scott Hammond: Right

Don Chin: … thankfully, the real estate job opened.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: Um, so that lesson, you know, not to give up even in the face of adversity. And, um, you know, with my writing, I really thought I could try to write for a big publisher.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Don Chin: Like, I wanted to write for Mad, I wanted to write for Marvel or DC.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: So I would send them these scripts, and they would give me these rejection letters. And so I thought, "Well, if they're not gonna publish me, then maybe I should go ahead and publish myself."

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Don Chin: And that's what happened with the Hamsters and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … with Overload Magazine, which is the first thing that I ever did back in 1979.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: And Dwayne Flatmo was one of our artists-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: … on that. Evan Mills was our graphic designer.

Scott Hammond: Evan Mills. What's up? What's up, Dwayne?

Don Chin: Hey, Evan.

Scott Hammond: And D-wayne.

Don Chin: D-wayne.

Scott Hammond: What a great guy.

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. He's been a guest. He's a great guy. Uh, last question. What's your biggest victory?

Don Chin: Biggest victory.

Don Chin: Um, I'd say my biggest victory is probably over a- addiction.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Good.

Don Chin: Yeah. I've, I've struggled with, uh, a lust issue-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … in my life, and it was really crippling, really hurtful-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Don Chin: … to a lot of people. And I've been… You know, I've been trying to be open with it, 'cause I think-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Don Chin: … that if people can see you bring these things out into the light-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: … then it offers them hope. 'Cause if you just kinda keep the secret to yourself-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: … you know, whether it's the bad secret or the secret to overcoming it- … that doesn't really help anybody.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: But I think when you can kinda say, you know, there's people out there that wanna help you, you have to just kinda step out-

Scott Hammond: That's good

Don Chin: … and make that step and, and, um… There's a community called Celebrate Recovery that I think-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: … is really good.

Scott Hammond: All over the world probably, yeah.

Don Chin: Yeah. And locally, uh, the Eureka Church and the Nazarene puts-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … puts one on every night-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Don Chin: … every Wednesday night.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. I know, um, Pierre's son, John, John Pierre.

Don Chin: Yeah, John.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Good guy.

Don Chin: Very good guy.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: And his wife, Missy-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: … who's also in mortgage, is a real estate, uh, broker.

Scott Hammond: What's up Baileys?

Don Chin: Yeah, hi Baileys.

Scott Hammond: Hi Baileys. Yeah, no, they're great. They're great. Well, congrats, you've done very well.

Scott Hammond: Hey, uh-

Don Chin: Wow, that's an hour already?

Scott Hammond: You… No, that's not …

Don Chin: Oh, it's not an hour? Darn.

Scott Hammond: No, we're just getting started here.

Don Chin: Oh, no.

Scott Hammond: This is for you, my friend.

Don Chin: Oh, thank you.

Scott Hammond: Enjoy that. Yeah, I think you, you certainly earned it.

Scott Hammond: So-

Don Chin: Do you ever, do you ever eat white chocolate? Is white chocolate not really chocolate?

Scott Hammond: No, it doesn't count.

Don Chin: No.

Scott Hammond: It's, it's facetiously and actually it's really, um… I thi- I th- I have had white chocolate. It's delicious, but-

Don Chin: It's good, but it's not really chocolate

Scott Hammond: … it, it ain't a chocolate experience. It's… I don't know. What's in white chocolate?

Scott Hammond: Just white milk? I don't know.

Don Chin: I don't think it has cocoa in it.

Scott Hammond: No. It's just, um-

Don Chin: It's just lo- it's just sweet and lard

Scott Hammond: … and that's all this, uh, this, these guys do is cacao and, um, and sugar.

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Although I think this has milk in it, 2% from, uh, what are they called? The, uh, A2 guys in…

Scott Hammond: Is-

Don Chin: Alexandre Family Farm

Scott Hammond: … Alexandre, yeah, yeah. They're huge. Smith River and Ferndale.

Don Chin: Thank you.

Scott Hammond: Which is right over… You're very welcome. Um, if you're just joining us, Don Chin, my new best friend. Can we talk about being Chinese for a minute?

Don Chin: Are you Chinese?

Scott Hammond: No. I, I don't think so. We did a twen- you know, 23andMe. That's an interesting thing, 'cause you can have the same family and- … they have different stuff.

Don Chin: Absolutely.

Scott Hammond: That's trippy, man.

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: There's some trippy DNA.

Don Chin: See, I always thought I was 100% Chinese.

Scott Hammond: I was told I was Black Norwegian. I don't know what that is.

Don Chin: Seriously?

Scott Hammond: There's black German-

Don Chin: Oh

Scott Hammond: … I think it's known as a thing.

Don Chin: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, but, um, so t- what was it like growing up Chinese in Eureka, and, uh, tell us about your, that, that journey, and I know your dad got, uh, uh, highly honored, and you were part of that, and-

Don Chin: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … he's an honorable man, and-

Don Chin: Um-

Scott Hammond: There's an alley, right? The Ben Chin Alley?

Don Chin: Uh, that's Charlie Moon Way.

Scott Hammond: Charlie Moon Way. Oh.

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: But there's-

Don Chin: But my dad is right over there by there.

Scott Hammond: Right. And-

Don Chin: And when, when they did the Charlie Moon Way, uh, uh, ribbon cutting, the Moon family, we were there, and they asked us to be, stand with them while they cut the ribbon.

Scott Hammond: That's cool.

Don Chin: So that was really, really cool.

Don Chin: Um-

Scott Hammond: He was quite a guy.

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: Charlie Moon, my dad, um, they probably would've liked to hang out together. But, uh, yeah, growing up in, growing up Chinese for me, um, I always felt, I always felt different.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Don Chin: You know?

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: 'Cause growing up there wasn't a whole lot of role models on s- on media other than, like, Bruce Lee.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Don Chin: Um, who was the other one that was pretty popular?

Don Chin: Sulu-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … from Star Trek.

Scott Hammond: Of course.

Don Chin: Um-

Scott Hammond: Commander Sulu.

Don Chin: C- yeah, Sulu.

Scott Hammond: Lieuten- was he Lieutenant Sulu?

Don Chin: That's a good que-

Scott Hammond: George Takei.

Don Chin: Yeah. I don't know. My wife is the Tre- Trekkie-

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh

Don Chin: … so she would know. But, um, I think just growing up, I felt, uh, I felt different and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … you know, there's definitely some times where I was teased-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Don Chin: … for being Chinese and, you know, the people with the, do the slanty eye things with their, with their, you know, fingers and-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Don Chin: … and make jokes about how they think Chinese people sound a- and stuff, and that was, that was kinda hurtful, you know?

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Don Chin: I felt, I think I grew up kinda feeling insecure.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: But I had a lot of friends that were, you know, not, were not Chinese, and they were accepting of me.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Don Chin: And, um, I grew up in a neighborhood where we, you know, just played like every other kid.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: You know, played Wiffle ball and football and go-karts and so I had a pretty normal upbringing.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: Um, but I think, uh, there were times where it was, it was hard being kinda different.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. No doubt, yeah, it'd be different. And those are the days, 'cause you and I are not too far in distance, where bullying was kind of accepted practice.

Scott Hammond: You know?

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: It's like I grew up in San Diego, a lot of Mexican, Mexican Americans, and, um, real melting pot in National City, where I'm from. And it was, um, yeah, it, again, one of the things we don't like to talk about, but it was pretty, it got pretty ugly here and there.

Don Chin: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: But it, but ult- ultimately it was very safe. I never got the tar knocked out of me too much.

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And so, um, yeah, just different experience there.

Don Chin: I, I, I look back and I think, you know, my parents really, they really worked hard to provide, you know, a, a nice home for my, my brothers-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … and my sisters, so I'm very appreciative. And I know working in the restaurant business, they worked seven days a week, and-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: … often 16 hours a day. So, um, they kind of instilled in me a hard work ethic as well.

Scott Hammond: That's cool. I've heard the only p- person that Ernie Pearson ever had to rent land from was your dad. 'Cause they're right next door-

Don Chin: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … on Broadway.

Don Chin: That's true. That's true.

Scott Hammond: Is the restaurant still up and running?

Don Chin: Chin's Cafe is still over there at 4200 Broadway.

Scott Hammond: Who owns it?

Don Chin: Uh, um, actually I think, uh, Paul and his wife. I don't know their last names by he- heart, but they, they actually had been leasing it for quite a while-

Scott Hammond: Oh

Don Chin: … from my family. And eventually my mom, uh, thought, you know, she's getting older, so she, she felt like it was time to sell that off.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Don Chin: So it's cl- it closed maybe three or four years ago.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: And actually, Pearson's bought it.

Scott Hammond: Oh, okay.

Don Chin: And then they subdivided the land, because a lot of that land that Chin's has with it-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … goes behind, uh, where parking lots could be used for Pearson's. And-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Don Chin: … that garden shop, that actually was my father's land. The whole-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: … the whole, uh, pond and all that.

Scott Hammond: So they acquired that?

Don Chin: Correct.

Scott Hammond: Gotcha. Were you the realtor?

Don Chin: Uh, I helped with the paperwork, but I, I didn't ask my mom-

Scott Hammond: That's cool

Don Chin: … for a commission.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Good- You're a good son. Atta, atta boy.

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That's great. So, uh, part- when we start to wrap up, we're gonna start talking about your legacy and what you wanna leave behind and how you see that. But before we do, I, I was thinking, um, do you have any vinyl here today for me?

Don Chin: Do I have some vinyl? Of course.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: Scott.

Scott Hammond: So I'll, I'll tell my story while you pull your vinyls.

Scott Hammond: So I, uh, grew up in the '70s rock and roll scene in San Diego, and Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, and went to both the Cal Jams in, uh, Ontario. Never did Woodstock, but, uh, had a, had a little vinyl collection, if you will. And, uh, eight months ago on my birthday, January 2nd, my family bought me this very cool stereo setup with, uh, Audio-Technica turntable, Onkyo receiver.

Don Chin: Sweet.

Scott Hammond: Four speakers, couple of Polk, really nice bookshelf. Remember Dave Bolherm that owned Arcada Audio?

Don Chin: Yeah, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Used to sell Polks.

Don Chin: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Really great. And y- of course, you start the collection with Dark Side of the Moon, and then it's, you're off to the races.

Don Chin: You know, I listened to that for the first time in the last year, and I wasn't blown away. I, I was expecting-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: … something more, but maybe you have to be under the influence.

Scott Hammond: Well- … maybe. Or something. They said that you could put that to, uh, is it Wizard of Oz?

Don Chin: Wizard of Oz?

Scott Hammond: Is it Wizard of Oz?

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: I've never done that, but-

Scott Hammond: It tracks. I, I don't… They didn't intend for that, but-

Don Chin: How fun

Scott Hammond: … yeah, Dark Side's, it was way ahead of its time. It was fun. So, um, so sometimes in my collecting, which is now an obsession, but nothing like you. You got a basement full.

Don Chin: I do. My wife's… Yeah, I, I broke my promise with my wife, so-

Scott Hammond: So how did you get into vinyl-

Don Chin: … I'm wicked

Scott Hammond: … by the way? Did you, uh, and how, how does it go, and how do you buy and sell, trade and-

Don Chin: I just kinda remember growing up, my d- my parents had that Sears console, the wooden one that everybody has-

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah

Don Chin: … that, with the, you know, it's got the speakers built in and the turntable.

Scott Hammond: Big base speakers that just-

Don Chin: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … yeah.

Don Chin: And my brother, um, I mean, my, my, my parents would buy me these records, and I just remember from a early age just a bunch of Disney records that kinda had-

Scott Hammond: Right

Don Chin: … the story, and you open up the album and you could m- you could kinda read a story along with it. So-

Scott Hammond: Those are cool

Don Chin: … that, that was kinda my introduction to vinyl. But my brother, who's, like, 10 years older than me, he was growing up and he, he was listening to stuff in the '60s. So he had, like, uh, Beatles and, uh, the Association-

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah

Don Chin: … um, groups like that. And-

Scott Hammond: The Stones

Don Chin: … so every once in a while he would, I would listen to those at my house, and that kinda got me introduced to vinyl. And then as I grew up in the, you know, in the '80s-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … I started collecting. In the '70s-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … you would get your singles down at Payless, you know-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: … the drugstore or whatever.

Scott Hammond: For 99 cents or 50 cents-

Don Chin: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … or whatever, yeah.

Don Chin: So that was always fun just collecting vinyl. But then when CDs and cassettes came out, I just saw my vinyl sitting there collecting dust, and I thought-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Don Chin: … "I don't know if I have any use for these. They're really bulky, and-"

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: … "they seem like they're kinda old."

Scott Hammond: And they're heavy.

Don Chin: They're heavy. And so I made that mistake that a, a lotta people my age did, and-

Scott Hammond: Oops

Don Chin: … I got rid of a lotta vinyl.

Scott Hammond: Talk about down to Salvation Army for free.

Don Chin: I don't even know where it is.

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So funny.

Don Chin: I probably traded it in to The Works or something.

Don Chin: But-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: … so I, I lost touch with vinyl, but then I saw it started making a comeback.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: And so maybe two years ago I just started saying, "Well, maybe I can buy some of the albums I had."

Scott Hammond: That recently, okay.

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So how did you, what, what triggered you to do that in terms of just entrepreneurial go, "I think there's money in this maybe"?

Don Chin: Um, I wasn't really looking to r- resell. It was just in my acquisition of the things that I w- I wanted to collect myself.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Don Chin: I saw that, "You know, this is a good deal. I should pick it up. Even though I might not listen to it-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: … it might be a good investment that I could flip on eBay."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: So then I found myself going to estate sales and yard sales, and then I started buying bigger and bigger collections. So-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: … that's kinda what I've done in the last year is I'm just-

Scott Hammond: And flipped them to, to pay the, for the habit.

Don Chin: Right. So I try to tell my wife that's, that's how I justify.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: But she said, "You know, I'll buy you these two really big record displays.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: Once you fill that up, then there, then there's no more." And I said, "Okay."

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Don Chin: But, but now-

Scott Hammond: Right

Don Chin: … now I, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Are they full? Or is there two more?

Don Chin: They're about 90% full.

Scott Hammond: That's funny. You must have some good vinyl. One day maybe I'll-

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: … get the tour.

Don Chin: I'll let you go into the inner sanctum.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Right now I'm getting the- … the old Rolling Stones wrinkled up stuff.

Scott Hammond: So-

Don Chin: Yeah, so this is one of eight… This is Scott's personal picks from my collection.

Scott Hammond: I can show it up there, right in the camera.

Don Chin: This is, you like The Stones.

Scott Hammond: That's a really good one. That's a g- that's, uh, Big Hits. That's a big album.

Don Chin: Yeah. Uh-

Scott Hammond: And then for you more modern guys-

Don Chin: Uh

Scott Hammond: … there's Prince.

Scott Hammond: Hoho, Purple Rain, baby.

Don Chin: Purple Rain. Nick, do you like, do you like the Purple Rain? Mm-hmm. Yeah, okay. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Oh, man, this guy, when he rips on guitar, he, um, I had no idea the musician he is-

Don Chin: I know

Scott Hammond: … was

Don Chin: … he's really good.

Scott Hammond: Uh, maybe still is. It's hard to say.

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Uh, but he was, uh, he was quite the guy.

Don Chin: Just a little guy on a motorcycle, too. He's, he's not-

Scott Hammond: Yeah, a little guy from Minnesota.

Scott Hammond: He was-

Don Chin: He's not very big.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, he was, uh, quite, really multi-talented. Quite-

Don Chin: Very.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: Yeah. So this is, uh-

Scott Hammond: Yeah, so-

Don Chin: … this is one. You don't have any Prince yet, huh?

Scott Hammond: I don't, no.

Don Chin: No.

Scott Hammond: This would be my first Prince.

Scott Hammond: Um-

Don Chin: Your Prince. You like the, you like the, uh-

Scott Hammond: The Windham Hill stuff

Don Chin: … the Windham Hill new age stuff.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, so this is Iris Deyne. I believe he's a piano player with oboe, and that's Russell. And so they have a label that started in Stanford in the '80s with a guy named Will Ackerman.

Don Chin: Oh, right. I've seen him.

Scott Hammond: And a lot of it's just this, they, they, it's not even, uh, it's eclectic. They thought it was folk, and then it was jazz, and they tried to get, bucket them, and they couldn't. So pretty much every record they've ever produced-

Don Chin: You've gotten a lot of Windham Hill from me. You're, you're my Windham Hill-

Scott Hammond: I'm the guy. That's-

Don Chin: You're the-

Scott Hammond: You can turn that on. It's like the Grateful Dead, and play it in the background, or Miles Davis or-

Don Chin: Right

Scott Hammond: … any sort of jazz. This one's a good record, this band. This is a double record set.

Don Chin: Dylan. Dylan and the Band, yeah.

Scott Hammond: This is Dylan with The Band, that's right. Who's D- who's Bob Dylan? Do, do you, do you know who I mean?

Don Chin: This is-

Scott Hammond: The Basement Tapes

Don Chin: … this is in great shape. I mean, look at this.

Scott Hammond: Is it?

Don Chin: I mean, this, this is one of those gatefold ones-

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah

Don Chin: … with the, uh… That's the, that's the thing I, I miss about vinyl is that-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: … when you have a CD and a cassette, y- they only give you, like, the little square, and you open it up-

Scott Hammond: Yes

Don Chin: … and, you know, there's no pizzazz or no wow factor.

Scott Hammond: No.

Don Chin: But when you get these, and they have posters sometimes, and, you know, picture books.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Let me, can I, let me, let me e- ex- uh, extrude some of the, uh, features, if I may.

Don Chin: Yes.

Scott Hammond: Number one, you have to sit down and listen to it. Y- I mean, you can run by the record player and throw something on, of course. But it's built to kinda hang out w- versus I'm listening to Sir- uh, you know, Alexa play Jethro Tull, whatever.

Don Chin: You have to put, it, it's almost like a ritual-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: … 'cause you, you actually have to get up and physically turn the record over you know?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: There's some exercise involved.

Scott Hammond: And I'm looking at this, and so this, Vinyl has its, um, its, uh, uh, digital, uh, library tool called Discogs-

Don Chin: Right

Scott Hammond: … as you know, and, uh, telling you nothing new, but this is cool. So this tells you the whole story about where this was recorded and who was, who was on the record. But Discogs has these printouts about who was there, how it went down, how it sells-

Don Chin: Wow

Scott Hammond: … what this is wholesale, what it is retail, what it is-

Don Chin: Right

Scott Hammond: … El Cheapo, um, mint condition. Um, so it's, it's really kind of an interesting curation of, um, and, you know, journey into the past. Speaking of which, uh, David Crosby, Graham Nash Those guys, uh, go way back. And so I, I think what's f- been fun for me is I've discovered what I really resonate with and what was really cool, and what I thought was cool.

Don Chin: Right.

Scott Hammond: And now it's Foghat.

Don Chin: Right.

Scott Hammond: Speaking of which, I bet you have some in there.

Don Chin: Uh-

Scott Hammond: We'll get to it. Um-

Don Chin: I think that was in the pile that you pa- you, you saved for another day.

Scott Hammond: Oh, okay. Good deal.

Don Chin: I gave you s- I gave you a free Eagles.

Scott Hammond: Oh, look at The Eagles. That's cool.

Don Chin: Greatest Eagles, Greatest Hits.

Scott Hammond: Who doesn't love The Eagles?

Don Chin: Yeah, they're great.

Scott Hammond: Oh, and then Ms.-

Don Chin: Uh, and there's another-

Scott Hammond: … uh, Stray Windham Hill

Don Chin: … another-

Scott Hammond: Shada Facts

Don Chin: … another… Yeah, these guys are really… Now, they, do they still, uh, are they still an existing label?

Scott Hammond: I don't think so. I don't know. I haven't heard, uh, anything. I mean, this is, these guys are 30 years ago, too.

Don Chin: Yeah. I think, yeah, I come ac- across them, and most of them you, you buy.

Scott Hammond: So are The Stones. They're still producing records, so.

Don Chin: Yeah, that's true.

Scott Hammond: Uh, Jimmy Buffett-

Don Chin: Jimmy

Scott Hammond: … that's one of his original records.

Don Chin: Yep.

Scott Hammond: Um-

Don Chin: Parrothead. Are you a Parrothead?

Scott Hammond: Not really.

Don Chin: No.

Scott Hammond: No, but he wrote that song, uh, that's on that record, um-

Don Chin: The hit?

Scott Hammond: Yeah, it's a really, uh… Come Monday-

Don Chin: Oh, yeah. Right

Scott Hammond: … it'll be all right.

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I've never sang on my podcast. You'll be holding me tight.

Don Chin: You're making me hungry for a cheeseburger in paradise.

Scott Hammond: I know, right?

Don Chin: Um, so Jimmy's great.

Scott Hammond: Oh, wait.

Don Chin: There's another… See, you, you, you, you're into Grateful Dead, and I, I actually-

Scott Hammond: So you're Grateful Dead people

Don Chin: … I'm, I'm not a big Grateful Dead fan, but I have listened to them.

Scott Hammond: So this is Humboldt, uh, right here, folks.

Don Chin: This is, this is a cool one called, uh-

Scott Hammond: Wake the F- Wake the Flood? Oh, Wake-

Don Chin: Yeah, Wake of the Flood. But this one I like a lot.

Scott Hammond: That's American Beauty, yeah.

Don Chin: This is, this is a cool one.

Scott Hammond: This is one of their classic ones. They, it's, it, the artwork's really v- pretty fabulous.

Don Chin: So I, I didn't even know this, but-

Scott Hammond: Did you get a poster in that?

Don Chin: Well, it folds out-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: … so it's this huge-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: … Skulls 'n Roses, is that the name of this one?

Scott Hammond: They call it that, but it's, I… No, it's not American Beauty. It is Skulls 'n Roses, you're right.

Don Chin: Yeah, Skulls 'n Roses, and then-

Scott Hammond: Yeah, the American Beauty's a whole nother record

Don Chin: … this print was in it. I don't know where it came from. I, I… Is it-

Scott Hammond: That's, uh, what's his name?

Don Chin: Rick Griffin?

Scott Hammond: Um, could be.

Don Chin: Could, I think it might be Griffin.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, he, he did a lot of their art-

Don Chin: So-

Scott Hammond: … for a lot of their stuff

Don Chin: … so there's that.

Scott Hammond: That's cool.

Don Chin: And then last but not least, uh-

Scott Hammond: Oh, wait

Don Chin: … a Janis Joplin that you wanted.

Scott Hammond: Kind of her, they're contemporaries, yeah. So yeah, there's, there's a lot to be said, uh, for the fun of the collection and the hunt and the curation and-

Don Chin: Exactly

Scott Hammond: … the hobby. So.

Don Chin: It's fun. And you've got a cleaner n- Do you got an ultrasonic cleaner now?

Don Chin: Or-

Scott Hammond: I don't

Don Chin: … no?

Scott Hammond: I bought a new one, though, on, on Amazon that's really cool. It's a spinner.

Don Chin: It's a spinner?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: You're-

Scott Hammond: Yeah, so

Don Chin: … it's amazing how much grime the records could-

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah

Don Chin: …

Scott Hammond: They sat around. Well, th- this one I tried it off on, on, on poor Nick. Um, this is The King is Gone by Rodney, um, what's his-

Don Chin: Rodney, Rodney McDowell?

Scott Hammond: Rodney McDowell. Not Rodney. That's, uh, was he-

Don Chin: Rodney McDowell was a actor.

Scott Hammond: Yes. But this guy's, uh, this had all kinds of water damage. It was, to your point, this was a disgusting record. It had schmutz all over it. And I, I put it in the cleaner, and you just saw this before the show. This thing is, like, sweet clean.

Don Chin: Very true. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I know.

Don Chin: I didn't know that. Yeah, it's, it's, uh, um, it's kinda my thing at night when my wife says, you know, "I'm, I'm going to, I'm going into our bedroom to watch my show, so you can go do your thing, Don." So-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: … she gives me, like, two hours, and I'll usually either play vi- video games for a little bit, or I'll go down and clean records and listen to records.

Scott Hammond: Work on your, uh, curation. Uh-

Don Chin: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … yeah, the, the kid's inheritance.

Don Chin: So.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, no, I, I, I think it's super cool. I, um… It'd be interesting one day to do a, um, a, uh, a record podcast, I'm sure they're done, where you just take an artist and talk for an hour about Janis Joplin and have guests.

Scott Hammond: But, uh, that's not this show quite yet.

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: But it's, it is fun. Um-

Don Chin: See, now, uh, you're a little older than me, 'cause a lot of these groups, I mean, I am, I'm familiar with them, but I didn't really listen to-

Scott Hammond: It's interesting, 'cause you're th- we're three or four years apart, but you were, lot, you loved a lot of '80s stuff, right?

Don Chin: Yeah, I was more of a new wave, like The Cars and, um-

Scott Hammond: Elvis Costell-

Don Chin: … Boston

Scott Hammond: … Costello.

Don Chin: Yeah, classic rock.

Scott Hammond: Van Halen.

Don Chin: Uh, yeah, I liked some Van Halen.

Scott Hammond: How about Bruce Springsteen?

Don Chin: Springsteen was okay.

Scott Hammond: Hall & Oates?

Don Chin: Hall & Oates, big Hall & Oates fan.

Scott Hammond: Cyndi Lauper and all those-

Don Chin: Cyndi, Billy Joel.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: Uh, Todd Rundgren was, like, one of my favorites.

Scott Hammond: He's quite a producer.

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: He's done a lot of s- lot of musical stuff.

Scott Hammond: He's cool.

Don Chin: Yeah. And we listened to a lot of Christian music as well.

Scott Hammond: Right, right, and that was the beginning of Christian music when it wasn't too schlocky and-

Don Chin: Petra and-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: … Sweet Comfort Band.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah, no, that's, that, you're going back. I found, you know, um, my, my other, um, uh, drug dealer in, um-

Don Chin: Drug dealer. Shh

Scott Hammond: … black, they call it black crack in, uh, Florida. Robert sent me a, um, a guy named Benny Hester.

Don Chin: He's great. I have a Benny Hester.

Scott Hammond: Benny Hester, dude.

Don Chin: I know.

Scott Hammond: My brother-in-law, Scott, turned me onto that guy when he… S- Scott was six, seven, 16. He goes, "You gotta hear this guy." He had a cassette, Benny Hester. I go, "Dude, that guy's amazing. He's got this whole worship thing. They're out of Costa Mesa, probably Calvary Chapel guys."

Don Chin: And God, and God Ran is his biggest-

Scott Hammond: Okay, I wonder if that's on this record.

Don Chin: Yeah, it's really touch… I mean, I listened to it just the other, maybe a few months ago and it's-

Scott Hammond: He had a lot of early Bruce Cockburn. He was, definitely had a, a Christian bent, and Bob Dylan had his Christian moment, and, um, amongst others. And wow, now you got Third Day, and, you know, and even they're old now, so.

Don Chin: Right.

Scott Hammond: Um-

Don Chin: DC Talk.

Scott Hammond: DC-

Don Chin: Just listened to them.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: Um, yeah, it's still-

Scott Hammond: I like Brandon Lake.

Don Chin: Brandon Lake is very talented.

Scott Hammond: Brandon Lake's super cool. I'd love to see him.

Don Chin: Forrest Frank I like a lot.

Scott Hammond: Okay. We're gonna go see Whiskey Myers in a week. Uh, I don't, I don't pretend they're Christian, but they have a lot of God-adjacent, uh, messaging, so it's cool.

Scott Hammond: Like-

Don Chin: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … like U2.

Don Chin: Nice.

Scott Hammond: And U2.

Don Chin: And U2, my brother.

Scott Hammond: And no, U2. So let's talk about your legacy and, and cap this off here. So what are they gonna say? What would you like us to say at your celebration of life, and, uh, what would you like to be known for? Uh, maybe an engrave, a little engraving on the-

Don Chin: Oh, man

Scott Hammond: … tombstone. What do you think it's gonna say?

Don Chin: Wow. Um- I've– I, I would just hope that people, uh, that I brought light to the world and made people laugh.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Don Chin: Um, that, that I realized that the source of my, uh, strength is dying to myself and surrendering-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Don Chin: … to a higher power.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: Um, yeah, I just, you know, I have t- a couple grandsons, and I try to pass on things that I enjoy, whether it be music or-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: … love of, of certain movies and so forth. Um, and they are big Star Wars nerds just like me.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: Uh, we went and watched The Odyssey the other night and-

Scott Hammond: It was good?

Don Chin: It was really good. Quite intense.

Scott Hammond: Yeah?

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Did you see it at Broadway Cinema?

Don Chin: I saw it in the Broadway Thea- Theater, and they had a bunch of port- porta potties out in the parking lot because the, the bathroom's still being remodeled.

Scott Hammond: Oh, man. Yeah, they had a big blowup of some sort.

Don Chin: I think a fire started in-

Scott Hammond: Remember when that was Pay N Pak Home Improvement stuff?

Don Chin: Oh, you're right.

Scott Hammond: Way back.

Don Chin: It was.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Don Chin: I knew the Phillips that owned that, that bought it and, um-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … part of my eBay venture was I, I connected with them, and they would give me, um, movie posters to sell-

Scott Hammond: Oh, that's cool

Don Chin: … on eBay. So I would give them a cut and at one time they had– they took me to the Arcada Theater because they owned the Arcada.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: And they had this huge room full of nothing but like 35 millimeter trailers from, like movies from the '50s-

Scott Hammond: Whoa

Don Chin: … on up. And I looked them up on eBay, and they were selling for a lot.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Don Chin: But I think over time there was some kind of copyright thing-

Scott Hammond: Infringement

Don Chin: … where the studios didn't want-

Scott Hammond: The Phillips. I've– I think I know-

Don Chin: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … who that was.

Don Chin: Uh, Lu- Luanna and her husband, um-

Scott Hammond: Because then it became-

Don Chin: Michael maybe or-

Scott Hammond: … MTC, maybe Minor Theater Corporation, but-

Don Chin: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … huh, go figure.

Don Chin: Yeah. So I've, I've kind of rubbed elbows with different people through the real estate, collecting, eBay, comics.

Scott Hammond: Sure. You're a jack of all trades.

Scott Hammond: Many trades.

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Of all trades.

Don Chin: Yeah. I'm a, I'm a, I'm a odd cat.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. So you're evading the question though. What are we gonna say here?

Don Chin: Oh, what else are you gonna say?

Scott Hammond: What else would, would you have us-

Don Chin: Um-

Scott Hammond: Would you like to be– would you fancy people might say?

Don Chin: Um-

Scott Hammond: Or would you like them to say?

Don Chin: That I, that I love, that I loved people. I hope that I made them feel loved and appreciated.

Scott Hammond: Awesome.

Don Chin: Um, that, uh, you know, I was a, I was a good son.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Don Chin: Hopefully a good father, a good, good grandpa, a good husband.

Scott Hammond: That's good.

Don Chin: Um, and, uh, you know, it's, it's nice that I have some comics that are out there and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … hopefully, you know, after I go, people will still be able to, to read them and enjoy them just like-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Don Chin: … I do with like Mad Magazine and-

Scott Hammond: Right

Don Chin: … things like that.

Scott Hammond: Right. It's funny. It, it occurs to me that what we're gonna be remembered for is probably not what we think. You know, gosh, he had a killer selection of records. Man, this guy had good music taste. He's so cool. And, you know, all these bald head ponytail guys. Or maybe the grandkid goes, "You know, Grandpa, he was really amazing. Turned me on to… He found joy in X, Y, and Z, and me too, and now I love Jesus too just like he did." And so, you know, that, that whole, um, kind of the stuff we don't see coming and we don't suspect the impact that we have. But you know, men of our age now, it's like I'm, I'm– and women. I, I pour into people now. I try to make that-

Don Chin: You do

Scott Hammond: … I try to make that, that, um, lean in and, and make, be present and make that effort, especially with kids and grandkids. You know, to sit there and go, "Okay, my son is 22. He's preaching about politics, and I'm not in agreeance, and I'm just listening." You know, and Joni does a beautiful job of that.

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: What's up, Micah? You doing okay? And I go, "Oh, he's just connecting the dots." He's experimenting with a worldview and a mindset and a perspective that isn't mine and doesn't need to be, and I don't need to sell him on mine. I'm not sure what mine is every day. Mine's shifting-

Don Chin: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … at all times. So, uh, but not everything shifts in my… You know, there's solid too, but I don't need to go change his mind. I just need to be with his mind and hang out and be a good dad.

Don Chin: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I hear that in you.

Don Chin: Thank you, my friend.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Any parting shots? How do we get a hold of Don, Don Chin?

Don Chin: Um-

Scott Hammond: Um, shout out

Don Chin: … you can, you can reach me on, uh, I'm on all social media mainly.

Don Chin: Um-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Don Chin: … if you wanna see what I'm up to, I'm on Facebook. Uh, my real estate page, it's donchin.net.

Don Chin: Um, I'm on Instagram, X.

Scott Hammond: Community Realty.

Don Chin: Communityrealty-

Scott Hammond: Beautiful

Don Chin: … .net. Yeah. So.

Scott Hammond: I appreciate you being here.

Don Chin: Thank you, man.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, thank you.

Don Chin: It's been a pleasure.

Scott Hammond: Yep. And if you're just joining us, you're way too late for the show. Uh, Scott Hammond, 100% Humboldt. We're on all the podcast platforms. Uh, we're on, uh, LoCO. We're on Redheaded Blackbelt. We're on Hu- uh, Humboldt, uh, Access Humboldt TV and YouTube. So like us, love us, join us, and thank you for coming.

Don Chin: Yeah. Thank you.