Francois McKinnon: Welcome to the Miami PI Chronicles podcast. I’m your host, Francois McKinnon, from McKinnon Investigative Team.
Oscar Santamaria: And I’m Oscar Santamaria of Optimum Investigations. We created this podcast with the goal to educate, inform, and entertain aspiring, beginner, and seasoned professionals in the investigative field. With over 60 years of combined experience, we offer invaluable insights and lessons learned. While we may not have all the answers, our knowledge can certainly benefit anyone interested in this dynamic profession.
Francois McKinnon: So sit back, listen, and enjoy these episodes. Please don’t forget to like, share, and follow. Hey Francois, welcome to episode number 20. I can’t believe we’re at 20 already. It’s awesome, isn’t it?
Oscar Santamaria: Yeah, I can’t believe it either. Time has flown by. Indeed. So I heard you had a couple of book signings this week. How did those things go?
Francois McKinnon: Yeah, it went great, man. It was so nice. We had a lot of people that showed up. I wanted to thank everyone who came out to the book signing. It was really nice. Our friends, George, Marlene, Angie, Mike, and a bunch of other people that just came out. We were at the Panacea Coffee Company as well as the Frog Level Brewing Company. Really cool places, really nice. One last Thursday at the Frog Level Brewing Company, it was freezing, man. It started to snow. So people showed up anyways. I thought it was brilliant and it was very nice of them.
Oscar Santamaria: How many people were there?
Francois McKinnon: Also, we had about 30 that came at two different places, even on that freezing night. So it turned out to be a nice event. We’re also doing a new book signing that’s going to take place Wednesday, December 11th at the Scotsman’s Public House in Waynesville. What a great place, man. I’m Scottish and it’s a Scottish place. It’s cool as hell. So I’m looking forward to that. It’s going to be between 5 and 8. We want to invite anybody from Waynesville or Asheville to come down and hang out with us. That’s pretty much what we did at this book signing. We pretty much had a bunch of people come over. We drank, we talked, we had fun. So it turned out very good.
Oscar Santamaria: Looks like you’re becoming quite famous down there in your little niche of the world.
Francois McKinnon: Very small world, part of the world, but a really good group of people. They’re hard workers, they’re nice, they’re kind. After the Hurricane Helen that went through here, I’ll tell you what, their spirits are up. My daughter Isabella is visiting right now and we were driving around Maggie Valley area and Waynesville. And all of the mess from the hurricane, it’s all been cleaned up already. I mean, these people were on the ball. So thank you to everybody in Eyewood County. And we hope that everyone in Asheville recuperates and get back to normal as soon as possible.
Oscar Santamaria: Well, that’s great. I’m glad to hear that. I thought it was going to take a while to get that cleanup going. I know that North Carolina is very rural. It’s not like the big cities where they have all these sanitation trucks that come in on a schedule. It’s a little bit different, a little different world down there. So it’s good to hear that things are getting back to normal.
Francois McKinnon: Yeah, I know. And how was your week?
Oscar Santamaria: My week was good. My week was good. You know, I’m looking forward to the Thanksgiving holidays. You know, it’s bittersweet. I’ve had a couple of losses in the last couple of years. And, you know, I lost my mom. And then a year later, I lost my brother. And, you know, it’s still hard to get over. The holidays are the hardest part because you would always see them there. And now those are two empty chairs. But, you know, life goes on. There’s been a few additions to the family since then also. So, you know, you’ve got to be grateful, you know, for what you have.
Francois McKinnon: Oh, yeah.
Oscar Santamaria: You know, and I live a life of gratitude. I’m very grateful. You know, there’s a lot that I don’t have. But there’s so many things that I do have. And, you know, according to my calculations, even though I failed high school math, I think I’m doing, I think that we’re doing better than about, if there’s 7 billion people in this world, I think we can safely say that we’re probably better off than, you know, 5 to 5.5 billion of those people. You know, there’s a lot of places in this world that aren’t fun to live in. They’re war-torn. They’re poverty-stricken. And we’re living in a great country. You know, we have a roof over our head. We have food to eat. And you’ve got to remember there’s people out there that don’t have that. And if there’s anybody out there struggling with depression or whatever, just realize that there’s people that would trade places with you in a minute.
Francois McKinnon: And also, more importantly, there’s a lot of people feeling with depression during these times of the year, but it’s important for them to reach out and seek help from family, friends, or whatever. A lot of times these things don’t go up. They go unseen because people don’t discuss it. They keep it inside, and then they blow up. So if you’re having any kind of issues like this, please reach out to a friend or a professional, anybody that can help you out.
Oscar Santamaria: Yeah, so, you know, again, just try to focus on what you do have and not what you don’t have because what you do have, there’s so many people out there that wish that they had it. So that’s my advice to you. So moving on, Francois, what about you? Do you have any plans for this Thanksgiving?
Francois McKinnon: This Thanksgiving, we’re going to be spending it with our daughter here at home. And then we’re invited to our neighbors, Marie and David’s house, where we’re going to have a second Thanksgiving. And unfortunately, Isabella flies out very early the next morning. So I have to take her to Asheville around 4.30 in the morning. And then I’ll probably see you in Miami from the job. So I look forward to that. And I’ll tell you, the weather’s been cold as hell here. So it’s been a lot. But I’ll tell you what, like you said, we’re grateful for everything we have. And we should be. I remember years ago, I was in Dominican Republic. And little children were playing with a soccer ball in the morning. And they kicked it towards us. We were waiting for some kind of meaning to open up. And the ball came our way, and we kicked it. They were all smiling, like life is good. And they’re playing shoes in the street. And you look at them being happy just because they’re playing soccer. I thought it was cool as hell. So let’s be grateful. I mean, this is episode 20. We’ve started in June 2024. And this is our 20th episode. So a lot of people have reached out to us. Specifically, when we’re late to post the show, they reach out to us. And then they say, hey, what happened? Where’s the show? So we’re going to try to be on schedule and post the shows every Monday from now on. Correct?
Oscar Santamaria: Yes, yes. That’s going to be a New Year’s resolution. How about that?
Francois McKinnon: Well, that’s in January.
Oscar Santamaria: Yeah, well, I mean, listen. We kind of messed it up for this year. But coming January, we’re going to try to be consistent with our shows and be there every Monday the way we’ve been doing it. And speaking of that, Francois, do you still do New Year’s resolutions? Do you still have goals? Or are we just too old for that kind of stuff?
Francois McKinnon: Well, I haven’t given up. But, no, I wouldn’t say New Year’s resolution. I try to better myself as I go and try to stick with stuff. And whenever it doesn’t work, instead of waiting for January, New Year’s Eve, I just keep on going and I try to make things better, try to make myself a better man and a better human, you know, which is hard all the time.
Oscar Santamaria: Yeah, it is hard. Nobody said life was easy. I still, whenever the year comes to a close, I still do the New Year’s resolutions. I do have big plans every year and hope to achieve them. I often fall short. But, you know, as long as you’re alive, you’ve got to have goals. You have to have dreams.
Francois McKinnon: I’ll tell you what, it’s been a pleasure doing these shows with you every week since June. People don’t know this, but we’ve worked so long together, and that’s so much fun. That some of the stories, unfortunately, we can’t tell. Even if we changed it, it wouldn’t be that funny. But some of the stories, the stuff we’ve done, I mean, when you do a job for one year on the same subjects, it kind of becomes boring to us. But to the regular person, they go, this is crazy, it’s so cool, you should talk about this and that. But the bottom line is that you and I had some good laughs off the air and it’s been fun doing this show.
Oscar Santamaria: It has been. Hopefully, who knows how long it will continue, but I’m having a good time so far. I hope people are getting entertained and are learning a few things along the way. But, you know, Francois, you should really try to get a couple of goals in your life. It’s a new year and it’s never too late. As long as you’re alive, always try to have something to strive for. Let’s take a pause. So, you know, Thanksgiving is coming on. Who does the cooking in your family?
Francois McKinnon: Well, Christina does. Well, for Thanksgiving, she does. But our oven is on the fritz this year. So we decided, because our daughter is here, that we would keep tradition and we ordered the already cooked turkey from, what is it called? Foods, Best Foods or whatever the hell it’s called. Whole Foods. Whole Foods. And we’ll pick it up and that will be prepared and then we just have to warm it up, which I’ll do on the barbecue. So technically, I’ll be cooking.
Oscar Santamaria: Is there anything that you must have for Thanksgiving to eat? You have to have it. Like you don’t care.
Francois McKinnon: I know that you must have something.
Oscar Santamaria: I do. Do you know what that is? Yeah, what is it?
Francois McKinnon: That’s cranberry sauce, right?
Oscar Santamaria: That’s it. You know what? I could care less about it the rest of the year. But if I’m having turkey and gravy and mashed potatoes, damn it, I need to have that cranberry sauce. That’s the only time I crave it, you know, only on Thanksgiving. But I have to have it. And if I don’t have it, I get a little sad. I mean, I’ll still eat the food. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not that sad. But, you know, I’m disappointed for sure.
Francois McKinnon: I remember my mom used to make plenty of turkeys all the time, you know, to feed all of us. And our best part was to, the next day, watch football with the big, thick turkey sandwich. And she would put mayonnaise, butter, salt, pepper, whatever is not good for you, she put it in there. Some lettuce. And we lived for that during the football game. It was great the next day.
Oscar Santamaria: No wonder you had a stent recently. Just kidding.
Francois McKinnon: My brother had two.
Oscar Santamaria: I know.
Francois McKinnon: Within two weeks. But you know what? I spoke to him yesterday. He went to practice a hockey at 65 years old.
Oscar Santamaria: That’s crazy.
Francois McKinnon: And he can play and he can kick people’s ass all day long.
Oscar Santamaria: Can you imagine what he could have done without the extra butter and all the other stuff your mom put in the food?
Francois McKinnon: Well, that was my mom. Because, like, my uncle used to be an investor. And he would say, you know, when your mom comes around, the price of butter goes sky high because of the demand. She wouldn’t put butter on anything. God bless her.
Oscar Santamaria: When was the last time you’ve all been together, like your mom and your brothers?
Francois McKinnon: Well, I’ll tell you what. It’s a good question. Something came up yesterday when Isabella came and she said, okay, we have a big family. I want to see family. So apparently now that the boss is back home, we’re going to be going to Canada and visit all of our family and friends in Montreal first. Then we’re going to go to Quebec City, where a lot of my family are, and nephews and nieces and aunts and stuff. And then my brother Richard has a place in Roberval, where we kind of grew up. And we grew up on the lake. My dad was a doctor. We had, like, boats and stuff. And he had some kind of an island called L’Ile du Coulon. And my daughter Isabella looked it up on Google Earth today, and she goes, is that it? I said, yeah, my God, they found it. So we were able to check this out. It was cool as hell. But we’re going to go back over there and spend probably four days camping and going fishing and water skiing and stuff. So that should be a lot of fun. My brother is insane. I’ll tell you what. If he ever asks you, do you want to go for a bike ride, say no. Immediately say no. Because you’re going to go for the ride of your life. You’re going to come back with two heart attacks.
Oscar Santamaria: Yeah, you know, I started bike riding, and it lasted about three days. And I gave up. I started going at night, and it was just way too dark. And I hit a low-hanging branch and knocked myself off.
Francois McKinnon: Did you?
Oscar Santamaria: I did, I did. I had these, like, low trees everywhere in my neighborhood. I mean, they’re beautiful. But, you know, I was just going in my light. It’s one of these that you have to charge with a USB, and it would run out. And you can’t see anything out there. Next thing you know, I’m here pedaling along, and bam, right in my head. So I did start going to the gym now, Francois. You’d be proud of me.
Francois McKinnon: Well, actually, we spoke about that, because three weeks ago, I believe I said you should start walking and exercising.
Oscar Santamaria: Yeah, I started doing that.
Francois McKinnon: Literally 19 hours in one day in the car. And then you spent 12 hours the next day, and you can’t move around. So you started walking. Then you tried the bicycling. But now you’ve been going back to the gym like you became a gym raccoon, a little raton, not a rat, not a gym rat, but a petite mouse.
Oscar Santamaria: Yeah. You know, I’ve actually gone several times, twice in one day. I think I did it. I did it like four times. You know, let’s see how long it’s going to last. I mean, I don’t know. I’m this guy.
Francois McKinnon: I’m going to push you, because as soon as I started pushing you, I slowed down. So it’s a lot easier for me to push you than actually doing it myself.
Oscar Santamaria: Maybe I caught your fire, and you caught my…
Francois McKinnon: Yeah, you sucked the fire right out of me, apparently.
Oscar Santamaria: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I must have bought a fire extinguisher, extinguished yours, and just, you know.
Francois McKinnon: Exactly. I took the easy way out. You do it, and I’m out.
Oscar Santamaria: Poured gas onto mine.
Francois McKinnon: No, but I’m going to start again. I’m going to start before the turkey, so I feel better about myself. And then Christmas comes around. Anyways, I look forward to going back to Florida and doing a big job with you. It’s going to be fun. And we have a lot to catch up on. And, I mean, we have a lot going on. You know, it’s been, like, really busy between the cases I have, the cases you have, and dealing with everything else. And the book, the book is going really well. You enjoyed it. People are enjoying it. I’m getting, like, emails and phone calls and stuff. So it’s kind of cool, because it’s a great story. It’s a real story. Paint a picture. A little fiction into it. Paint a picture of a book signing. Go ahead. What is that like? Are you sitting at a table? Do you have, like, I don’t know, like a poster?
Oscar Santamaria: Paint a picture for the audience.
Francois McKinnon: It’s like when you walk in an establishment, you have, like, a poster. It says, welcome to Peter Gray’s Many Faces signing event. And then people see the books there, so they come. And there’s couches and stuff. So we start talking with them, and they ask me about my background in investigations and intelligence. And we discuss about how the book came about. And the reality is the book came about, you know, I’m sure you heard that in your career. People always said, you should write a book. You should write a book. Well, guess what? During the pandemic, I was bored, and I wanted to stay positive. And I looked back to my old files, and I started going through cases, because I keep my notes all the time, you know, in the videos. So I started looking through cases, and I said, you know, maybe I should write about this particular case, because it’s kind of a case that grabbed me, you know. So I started writing it. And, I mean, it took a long time to put it into a book format, but it actually turned out pretty cool. So I’m very proud of myself, because I stuck to it. And now the funny part is that we’re at this place, and people are walking in with their own books. I’m going, what the hell is this? Somebody’s selling my books on the corner. They ordered it from Amazon, but they came to get it signed, you know. It was cool. The first time, you know, it happened, I went, what is that? What’s going on here? And they just want to chat, and they talk about the characters and stuff. It’s kind of fun, because, you know, these characters that you develop in a book, they become like your people. You’re, like, very protective of them, and they feel the same way. And they say, your next book, when is it coming out? First question, when’s the next book coming out? Are you going to use the same characters? What’s going to happen in the next story? Is it going to be international? Is it going to be, I mean, great question, but it’s so cool to interact with people that enjoy your writing. You know, I never experienced that. And you are probably the best report writer, investigative report writer, but that becomes quite boring, you know. And we wrote those for, what, 30 years, 30-plus years? So writing a fictitious book based on a real investigation I did, I think I hit it on mail. And you read the book, and you told me the same thing they tell. I said, wow, you didn’t wait around. You just got in there and started with a bang, and then the way the story develops, it talks about, I guess, everything else that comes in writing a book.
Oscar Santamaria: Nice. Two teams I could care less about, but thank you for that. Me too. I’ll be able to sleep better.
Francois McKinnon: And our Dolphins won today.
Oscar Santamaria: Yes, thank goodness. Thank goodness for that. I mean, they still have a losing record, but I think they’re in the hunt. You know, if they continue to win, who knows what can happen. We had two out for a while with yet another concussion. And once he left, we really tanked this. We lost, like, I don’t know, four or five in a row. Yeah, I know. That’s kind of sucked.
Francois McKinnon: But I think that mathematically, perhaps, they have a chance to do something.
Oscar Santamaria: No, they’re still in it. I mean, you know, I think that they, in the last couple of years, they added a couple of games to the season. So I think there’s, like, 16 or 17 now. So they have some time left. Maybe they can run the table and get into the playoffs as a wild card, but there’s some good teams out there right now. And I don’t know if they’ll make any noise even if they got in there.
Francois McKinnon: Our North Carolina Panthers almost beat KC today. Almost. Oh, no. So I thought that would take the smirk off Taylor Swift’s face if the Panthers beat them. They almost did it, by the way, last second.
Oscar Santamaria: Oh, that’s right. It was a field goal, right?
Francois McKinnon: Of course, my Wi-Fi crapped. So I didn’t see the last part. I’m going to see it later on tonight when we’re done with the show. But, I mean, they’re playing KC that are supposed to be the best team ever, which I believe they’re 9-1 now. Yeah, now they’re 10-1, but they almost lost against the Panthers, and the Panthers really played well. So adds off to our North Carolina Panthers and our Florida Panthers. See, I stay within the Panther area, whether it’s North Carolina or Florida.
Oscar Santamaria: You remind me a little bit of a Panther, a Canadian Panther with Detroit roots. I am so American it’s not even funny.
Francois McKinnon: Don’t call me Canadian. No insults. Although a lot of Canadians are lovely. And that’s that. Hey, by the way, Oscar, on the last show we were talking about retainer agreements and always make sure that you have something in writing as far as the cost, hourly, how much the budget is, as well as, more importantly, the turnaround. So you had a case like this. How did that work out? Because I thought you were on for like a day or two, and then you just went on.
Oscar Santamaria: Yeah, luckily for me, I did get paid in full. And, again, as I mentioned, it was probably not something that I would recommend people do. It was a new client, somebody that was referred from another client of mine. And, you know, I did trust them initially. I don’t make other PI companies sign retainer agreements and all that. I’m going on good faith. The thing is this was initially supposed to be a two-day case, eight hours a day, and it was supposed to be done in just a couple of days. I don’t have a problem with that. I had a problem when it was a double shift and it went on for over 10 days. And then you’re talking about a lot of money that you’ve got to pay out there because I couldn’t work all of that time. Of course not. I had to hire other people to work that case and other cases that I had around. And, you know, it ends up becoming a big expense, and I really didn’t get into turnaround time. I knew what my hourly rate was, but it turns out I got paid very quickly, and I’m glad that it worked out that way.
Francois McKinnon: But let’s stick to the rules of having some kind of a written agreement so nobody gets screwed. On this note, Oscar, I wanted to tell you a happy and wonderful Thanksgiving. Be happy with everything you have. To our listeners and our supporters, we want to thank you and wish you a happy Thanksgiving. And we’ll be back next Monday or Tuesday at the same time, and we love doing the show for you guys. I hope you enjoy it. Happy Thanksgiving, all.
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