Podcasts about Cuz

Hour 2: Mike Florio (@ProFootballTalk) and Charean Williams (@NFLCharean) discuss latest news in the NFL including San Francisco 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk posting a 2nd social media video being critical of the team. (00:30) Brandon Aiyuk on 49ers: "You know why they're really mad, though? Cuz they're stupid" (11:10) Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy on his comfort level now compared to last year: “Those reps being distributed are something that’s outside of my control. The only thing that I’m focusing on is that next rep, and keep it as simple as that.” (21:00) Vikings QB Kyler Murray on difficulty of learning new offense while splitting reps: “Me already being behind, not getting the amount of reps that, you know, you would typically want a guy to get. That’s probably the toughest part.” (26:45) Bengals restructure QB Joe Burrow's contract (31:00) Browns HC Todd Monken on QBs Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson: “I’m not going to name a No. 1 ... I just don’t see it after the way Shedeur’s played and Deshaun’s played, they’ve both played well enough to earn the right to compete to start.” (37:40) Rams LT Alaric Jackson arrested for felony domestic violence (40:00) Browns G Joel Bitonio announces retirement after 12 seasonsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're back sticking our toes into the conspiracy world this week! And boy do we got a good one to tell you about this week! So....Stevie Wonder isn't really blind! This has been a viral conspiracy since before the internet was invented by Al Gore. And this isn't just some off the cuff rumor that someone made up either. Hundreds, if not thousands, of celebrities have shared their stories of Stevie performing feats that only able sighted people could pull off. We're talking, driving, walking through street traffic, face timing Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, watching live basketball games, taking pictures of Michael Jackson, and landing some of the sweetest looking Cherie Amors in the world.  How does he do it? Cuz. HE. CAN.SEE! As always follow us on the stuff Merch Store- http://tee.pub/lic/doEoXMI_oPI Patreon- https://www.patreon.com/Artandjacobdoamerica Website- https://artandjacobdoamerica.com/ Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/artandjacobdoamerica Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/artandjacobdoamerica/  

Forget range anxiety. The electric vehicle market is evolving fast. Host Trevor Freeman welcomes back Plug'n Drive CEO Cara Clairman to unpack Canada's new EV policies. They discuss the surge in used EV sales and the truth about public charging stations. Plus, learn how low-cost salt-based batteries could disrupt the global auto industry. Discover what these massive shifts mean for transportation and the future of energy. Listen to the full episode today. Related links  Plug'n Drive: https://www.plugndrive.ca/ Cara Clairman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cara-clairman-84967318/ thinkenergy episode 71 (EV-olving Transportation): https://thinkenergypodcast.com/episodes/ev-olving-transportation/ Geotab: https://www.geotab.com/  Trevor Freeman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevor-freeman-p-eng-8b612114  Hydro Ottawa: https://hydroottawa.com/en      To subscribe using Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thinkenergy/id1465129405  To subscribe using Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7wFz7rdR8Gq3f2WOafjxpl  To subscribe on Libsyn: http://thinkenergy.libsyn.com/  --- Subscribe so you don't miss a video: https://www.youtube.com/@thinkenergypod Follow along on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thinkenergypod/  Stay in the know on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinkenergypod Keep up with the posts on X: https://twitter.com/thinkenergypod --- Transcript: [00:00] Trevor Freeman: Welcome to Think Energy, a podcast that dives into the fast-changing world of energy through conversations with industry leaders, innovators, and people on the front lines of the energy transition. Join me, Trevor Freeman, as I explore the traditional, unconventional, and up-and-coming facets of the energy industry. If you have any thoughts, feedback, or ideas for topics we should cover, please reach out to us at thinkenergy@hydroottawa.com. Hi everyone and welcome back. So, any discussion about the energy transition or our efforts to reduce emissions to mitigate the impact of climate change or even just the ongoing adoption of what once might have been considered futuristic technology, inevitably will include electric vehicles, or EVs as we're going to refer to them today. Transportation is one of the major interactions with energy, especially fossil fuel-based energy that most of us have. Heating being the other one. For the average Canadian, how they move around, going to work, going to school, shopping, recreation, etc., very often involves getting into a vehicle which up until maybe 10 years ago, would almost 100% for sure have been a fossil fuel burning vehicle with a few very small exceptions. Today, while the majority of vehicles are still internal combustion engines, there is at least a noteworthy percentage of electric vehicles out there. We probably all know someone who owns an EV, or know someone who knows someone who owns an EV. EVs aren't actually all that new. The first EV showed up in the late 1800s, believe it or not, and at that point and into the early 1900s, it really could have gone either way between electric-powered vehicles and internal combustion vehicles. As we know, internal combustion vehicles definitely won out, and the bulk of the 20th century was all about internal combustion vehicles, and still today that's the dominant method of transportation. But, there is some alternate reality out there where EVs just always were the transportation method of choice. Imagine what the world would look like if that was the case here. But alas, that is not the reality we're living in. The more recent modern EV era kind of sputtered a little bit in the mid-1990s, there was a bit of an attempt, it didn't really pan out, but really got going around let's say 2008-2009, and it's been a steady crawl forward ever since. But, if you are listening to this podcast, chances are you already know all this and you've likely either skipped forward or are listening to me on two times the speed just to get through this to the important stuff, which is EV policy. You never knew you were so excited about policy. So, most of us, including governments, inherently know that the move to EVs is a good thing. It's good for the climate, it's good for consumers, they're kind of better vehicles. But, societal changes don't just happen, and they certainly don't happen fast. So, there has been a suite of policy approaches over the past couple of years or many years to help us get there and help us get there a little bit quicker. In the past year, Canada's EV policy has changed quite a bit. Availability mandates are out, and incentives are back in. Tariffs on Chinese-manufactured vehicles are mostly out, so things are definitely changing. And to help us understand these changes and what they mean, and also just to check in on the state of EVs here in 2026, I'm really excited to have Cara Clairman back on the show. Cara is the President and CEO of Plug'n Drive, a non-profit that strives to accelerate the deployment of electric vehicles to maximize their environmental and economic benefits. And they do this by engaging with Canadians to help dispel myths and fears and uncertainties around EVs using approaches like their EV Discovery Centre, mobile EV education trailer, and their EVs Are for Everyone tour. And this is really about bringing the EV to the individual, to the person, letting them test drive it, touch it, feel it, ask questions of experts. Now, Cara has actually been on the show a number of years ago where she talked to my predecessor, Dan, about the back story of Plug'n Drive a little bit. So, if you're interested in the organization, I encourage you to go back and listen to that episode. We're not going to get into too much of that here today. Cara is a fantastic individual. She's got more than 25 years of experience working in the environmental and sustainability fields, including at Ontario Power Generation where she was OPG's environmental lawyer and later in the role of Vice President of Sustainable Development. Cara was the 2017 recipient of the Women in Renewable Energy's Woman of the Year award, and the 2021 winner of the Al Cormier EV Leadership Award from Electric Mobility Canada. And as you will hear, she is a big fan of EVs, and she thinks you should be, too. Cara Clairman, welcome to the show. [05:01] Cara Clairman: Thank you so much, Trevor. I'm pleased to be here. [05:03] Trevor Freeman: So, this isn't actually your first time on the show, Cara. It's the first time you and I have spoken on this podcast, but you were on our show with my predecessor, Dan, nearly 5 years ago now, and you talked then about how you took Plug'n Drive from just an idea during your time at OPG, to really a national non-profit that's now celebrating its 15th anniversary. And for our listeners, if you're curious about the back story on Plug'n Drive, definitely dig back in the archives and listen to that episode. But, a lot has changed in 15 years, and a lot has changed even in the 4 and a half years since you were last on Think Energy. EVs have gone from kind of this niche idea you'd maybe see one or two around here and there, to, you know, maybe not quite ubiquitous and they're not everywhere, but it seems like they're going in that direction. They're a lot more commonplace. Everybody knows somebody with an EV, or you see them around most times you're out and about. Um, and they are also a very much talked about cornerstone of our national policy. It's an often-talked-about tool for decarbonization. We're going to dive into some of the specifics throughout our conversation, but just looking at the work that you and Plug'n Drive are doing from your EV Discovery Centre to your EVs Are for Everyone tour, how has your mission shifted? Are you moving from convincing people that EVs are a real thing that worked to helping navigate how to get one, what's the complex web of, you know, incentives, etc. What's the difference in your mission now? [06:36] Cara Clairman: Well honestly, I feel like it's really uh the same in a lot of ways. The big difference, as you pointed out, is that we don't really have to explain what an EV is or that it's a decent car. You know, there's some sort of what I would call EV 101 that most people already know now. And like you said, most people have known somebody, or they've at least heard of it. But I would say there's still a high percentage of Canadians that have never ridden or driven one. Uh, and so that's an experience that we find is really the key, like getting the butts in the seats is really the key to helping people get over the hump. And uh, that's sort of the experience that we focus on. We really try to pair a test drive with every event that we do and encourage people to drive so that they can see the benefits go far beyond just the savings and the environmental benefits, that they're just really super fun cars to drive, and if you're a person that likes a quiet, peppy drive, this is the car for you. [07:51] Trevor Freeman: Yeah. Are people coming to your events knowing, "I'm going down the EV path, I'm going to buy one, I need to check this out," or they're coming in kind of thinking, "What are these people doing here at this event or in this parking lot?" Like what draws people to your events? [08:05] Cara Clairman: More more of the former and less of the latter as time goes on, but it depends on the event we're at. So, if it's just they've made an appointment to come see us, which often is the case, we have an appointment system, uh, then they know a little bit, and they're thinking about it, and they want to try it. Uh, if we're just at a festival or fair, which we do, you know, we just are at some event, and they didn't come specifically to see us, uh, then we still meet a lot of people who are like, "What is this?" you know, uh, and so they're earlier in their journey. But what we find is that they need the awareness building, and then they might, you know, make the move a few years down the road, so it still helps them. It's just they're at a different step. [08:50] Trevor Freeman: Yeah, for sure. No, that makes sense. Okay, so what I really want to dive into here today with you is kind of the shifting landscape, or maybe it's already a shifted landscape, um, regarding EV policy, some of the shifts that we've seen even in the last year or two. Um, so recently, you know, we're here in Canada, the federal government repealed the EV availability standard. So, this was the standard that said we want 100% of cars sold in Canada to be zero-emission by the year 2035. [09:27] Cara Clairman: Right. [09:28] Trevor Freeman: And we're moving towards more of an incentive-based strategy. So, a demand-side push rather than an incentive uh sorry, a supply-side push. Does this transition make sense for the average Canadian? Does it risk slowing down the momentum we've built? Kind of where do you stand on on this shift in our approach to EVs? [09:49] Cara Clairman: Right. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed that they repealed what we call a ZEV mandate or ZEV requirement. We were hoping instead of sort of throwing the baby out with the bath water, they would just make the ZEV requirement maybe less onerous and extend the time or something like that, because the benefit of a ZEV mandate um is that it does require dealers to have the vehicles on the lots. And so it actually increases choice, it increases availability, and that's why you hear some people calling it a ZEV availability standard. Trying to explain it to Canadians because it got a bit garbled in the news where it was like, "We're not going to be able to choose a gas car. You're going to be required to buy an EV." Well, that was way down the road. And uh, what it really did in the early years was make sure dealers would have some. And uh, so that's unfortunate, but, you know, got to move on. So, uh, now we're we brought back uh the Feds brought back the rebate, and sales shot up. So, that's good news. And, you know, hopefully, the dealer networks will make the cars available uh in Ontario. The big challenge is that there's still a ZEV availability standard or ZEV mandate in Quebec and British Columbia, which means they get the cars first. And, you know, you do hear, "Oh, this thing doesn't work. This thing is no good." Well, then why do they get the cars and we don't? You know, so it does work. And so, unfortunately, like if you happen to be listening from Quebec or BC, you'll get more choices than we will here in Ontario, and I I, you know, I hope that that, you know, with the demand-side push that, you know, there'll be more showing up. [11:51] Trevor Freeman: Yeah, and we've been through periods where even if you wanted to get uh an EV, even if you wanted if you kind of could afford it, you'd decided this is the right option for me budget-wise, [12:03] Cara Clairman: Yes. [12:04] Trevor Freeman: you're waiting 10 months, or you can't get the option you want and and so [12:08] Cara Clairman: Right. You have to be more tolerant of color or features or whatever. We probably will experience some of that. It's very brand dependent. Like, some brands are very available all across Canada, some aren't. Uh, so it's really quite varied. Um, but um the good news is right now um availability's decent, and there's actually lots available on the used market, and maybe we'll talk about that a little bit later to give people comfort around used, because it's really a great option for people to think about. [12:49] Trevor Freeman: Yeah, absolutely. Let's definitely uh put a pin in that and get back to it. The other big shift I I want to touch on is um or at least it's a big shift that's getting a lot of attention, is the reduction of the previously 100% tariff on Chinese-made EVs down to only a little over 6% now, which effectively opens the doors to Canadians to um have access to these vehicles, so they can be sold in Canada. How do you see this impacting you know, availability and adoption of EVs? Is this going to be a game changer? Are we going to see those kinds of sub-$30,000 EVs on the market? Or is this kind of, you know, one small shift in the market? [13:31] Cara Clairman: Well, the one thing it has done is created tons of curiosity and interest. You know, everybody wants to know about it, everyone wants to see one. Um, there are EV spies, as you may know, everywhere, like EV enthusiasts who are watch, and, you know, we saw some news report that there were a few Chinese EVs on a lot, you know, north of Toronto somewhere, and people are like, "Oh, what brand is this?" and But unfortunately, we don't know uh really the answer to this question that you're asking yet. Um, we're told that the first Chinese EVs will be here in the last quarter of 2026. Uh, and we don't even know yet if they might be brands we already have, you know. They could be Teslas, they could be Volvos or Polestars. Which we already have. [14:22] Trevor Freeman: Yeah. [14:23] Cara Clairman: So, uh, we're hoping we'll see some low cost, you know, BYD or Geelys or whatever else, you know, but we don't know. Yeah. And uh, and it will be exciting to watch, and, you know, we're watching and trying to find out when the first vehicles are going to be available or shown, but nobody knows the answer yet. [14:48] Trevor Freeman: Are you getting like when you interact with people that are in the EV market, are you getting more questions about that? Are people kind of excited about this? Yeah, okay. That's good. [14:56] Cara Clairman: Yes. And it's a mixed bag. You know, some people are very wary about it. Um, and what I try to say is look, we already have you know, these phones. You know, so I'm not worried about the whole security and that someone's going to be watching you know, that part of it I really think is a bit of a red herring. We've already gone there, you know, so so and people's information is out there. You know, I mean, so that's not a big concern to me. Um, I think uh the quality we don't have to worry about. Uh, these cars are widely available in Europe, in uh Mexico, and in South America, and they're good. [15:47] Trevor Freeman: Yeah. [15:48] Cara Clairman: So, we don't have to worry about that. It's just going to be Canadians, you know, be willing to give them a try, and we'll see. Most people say that they would, so we'll see. [15:59] Trevor Freeman: And I guess the, you know, it's either you're trying that car or hopefully the presence of these cars, hopefully a little bit cheaper is also influencing what other manufacturers are doing and realizing, "I've got to compete in that marketplace." [16:11] Cara Clairman: Right, exactly, Trevor. Remember, I mean, you might be too young to remember when the Japanese cars first came to Canada in the 80s. And everyone had these exact same concerns. And you know, what it did was it made the American brands improve. And so, you know, I'm hopeful, and just to remember, these are coming in a very low quantity initially. They're not going to change the market in these next couple of years. If, you know, they open up the door more widely, you know, that's a different thing. But for now, it's a really tiny percentage. It's like less than 50,000 cars, and it's something like 3% of the Canadian auto market, so it's tiny. [17:01] Trevor Freeman: Yeah. Got you. So, the the new uh or the the renewed incentive that the federal government's brought in Electric Vehicle Affordability Program, um which is providing an incentive for electric vehicles or zero-emission vehicles, um there's a strict $50,000 price cap for any imports, meaning some of those higher-end EVs that are made elsewhere won't qualify for this. Is is $50,000 the right price point? I look at just the price of vehicles in general these days, it's definitely trending up, way higher than I would prefer it to be. Is that the right price point given what's available? Is there enough availability under that price point? Um, and you know, does this affect the kind of conversation that you're having with potential buyers? [17:56] Cara Clairman: Right now, there's not a lot available under that price point. I mean, I think it is encouraging certain brands to bring a version that is below the price point. Uh, and it has increased sales, so there obviously are some that, you know, qualify. Uh, the truth is, gas or electric, it's hard to find vehicles under that price point. Um, so yeah, would I have liked it to have been a little more generous? Sure. Uh, but it is helping, and I do see some automakers shifting prices. I mean, I don't know if you saw that Tesla now has brought out a car that fits just under there. Mhm. So it does do that, and uh it does just encourage people to look. And then maybe they'll buy a used EV. Yeah. You know, so it does sort of open the door, it encourages people to have a conversation, to look around, uh it sparks interest, which is a good thing. [19:04] Trevor Freeman: Yeah, and I mean, Ford is looking at how do we come out with a $30,000 truck, and that would qualify for this. [19:11] Cara Clairman: And the Bolt qualifies, the new Bolt, and it's a great car, and the new Leaf, uh, you know, is coming under there. So, there are good cars under there. I mean, Canadians do love their trucks and SUVs, and unfortunately, those do not make it. [19:30] Trevor Freeman: I know. Yeah, you're totally right. Um, so obviously Canadian manufactured EVs are exempt from that price cap. [19:38] Cara Clairman: Yes. [19:39] Trevor Freeman: Are you seeing a game of kind of buy local versus get an incentive? Um, you know, how does this come into play? Is that part of the conversation? [19:51] Cara Clairman: Well, right now, buying local is just about impossible. Yeah. I mean, there's there's literally two vehicles that are made partially in Canada, and, you know, we've heard a bunch of announcements recently that Canadian manufacturing of EVs has either been postponed or gone off the rails altogether, which is really unfortunate, cuz I was really looking forward to being able to buy a Canadian-made EV. Uh, you know, these plans change, they could come back, you don't know. Uh, but right now, it doesn't look that easy to buy a Canadian-made EV. I mean, there's basically the Pacifica and the Dodge Dart. Mhm. You know, that's it uh right now. Uh, and you know, Toyota's going to make some RAV4s, which will be great. Um, you know, Honda just announced they're not going ahead with their plans, um so it's really unfortunate. The thing that I try to remind people is manufacturing is one thing, and EV adoption in a way is completely separate from that, Yeah. because we manufacture cars primarily for the US market. I mean, Canada's almost an afterthought. And so, that's the reason this is happening, it's because of tariffs, it's because of bu- you know, America First policies, it's because of, you know, US politics. And uh, it's really unfortunate for the Canadian auto industry, but it doesn't mean EV adoption won't continue to really grow. It just means we're going to be buying cars that aren't made here. [21:39] Trevor Freeman: Yeah. Well, and that's kind of the next place I want to go with this conversation is our own manufacturing industry, as you've just pointed out, is so tied in with the United States um manufacturing industry and Mexico. That's actually where I grew up in Windsor. My family is an auto family. My first job was kind of in the auto industry. Um, and the intricacies and and interties between those two industries are very, very tight. But, we're at this stage where we seem to be, not seem to be, we definitely are, moving in different directions policy-wise, especially when it comes to EV policy and trade policy in general. Um, that creates challenges and friction. We're trying to build maybe more of a manufacturing base here. The US is trying to pull that back. And that pull is strong. Yeah. It is, yeah. [22:34] Cara Clairman: I mean, they have the population. I mean, we can't fight that very well, and, you know, we'll time will tell. I mean, Trump won't be there forever, but a lot of the damage will have been done. And I know there's a lot of folks really working hard on maintaining the automaker footprint we have here. It's a huge challenge. [22:54] Trevor Freeman: Mhm. Yeah, is there a way to kind of thread that needle for pushing EV adoption? You know, we're kind of falling behind adoption rates that we've seen elsewhere, Europe, Asia, etc. Pushing that while still bolstering our own manufacturing base, trying to maintain these ties with our largest trading partner? Like how how do you I have to admit I'm not an expert on the industrial side, like on the commercial and manufacturing side of things, but from people that are, what I hear is, you know, we may have to let the Chinese, Indian, uh, Vietnamese uh, manufacturers come in and manufacture here in Canada instead of the brands we're used to being manufactured here. And that's something that could happen. That's something that would sort of replace I mean, the ones that are a real problem are the American-made the American brands, you know. They're really feeling the pull to manufacture in the US. Uh, so time will tell. Uh, you know, we may just be making different cars than we were making before. I hope we'll still be making them. [24:14] Trevor Freeman: Yeah, well and there's I mean, you can kind of see the government trying to do exactly what you said, entice companies to do some part of manufacturing here. They've got this tradeable import credit system where, "Hey, if you invest in manufacturing in our country, you get credits to sort of buy your way through our import market. It can offset some of the tariffs that might be in place." You know, that's a mechanism to do exactly what you're saying we might see. [24:41] Cara Clairman: Right. And some of those brands don't mind sending their vehicles anywhere from Canada. You know, they're not as focused on the fact that Canada has what's considered quite a small market, um given our population size. Uh, and I think in the future, well maybe the tariffs are going to change if the American if American politics changes. Yeah. You know, so I do think that's possible, um like I said, some of the damage will have been done if you know, if GM moves production to Detroit or wherever else, you know, they're not going to move back. But um you know, time will tell. I mean, I do think we'll have some manufacturing still in Canada and hopefully more than what it looks like right now. [25:31] Trevor Freeman: Yeah, I mean it'll be interesting to see. As you say, these policies may not be in place forever, but some of the reaction that is going to happen now in terms of do I move my manufacturing base back to the US, that will persist, and you're not going to make two moves, you're going to kind of make a one time tough one. [25:46] Cara Clairman: No, and especially if it creates some job uh you know, a bunch of jobs in the US, the next US president, even if they're Democrat and they get rid of tariffs and stuff, they're not going to move it back. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. [25:57] Trevor Freeman: Okay, so um let's let's kind of zoom back in a little bit here. So, Plug'n Drive, um you've been doing these uh EVs Are for Everyone tours, um kind of as we talked about earlier, giving people access that might not otherwise have access to to understand, try out EVs. And you've been doing this kind of across the board, including in smaller communities. Is there something that you hear differently in a small town, a rural area, compared to a big urban center, you know, Toronto, Ottawa, etc. Oh definitely. [26:30] Cara Clairman: Well, the big thing is they don't have access, as you said. So in a smaller community, they might only have a handful of dealers, and those dealers may or may not carry EVs. And so they really don't get a chance to try them, and trying, as I mentioned at the off the top, is the key to buying. Yeah. And uh, whatever preconceived notion you might have had, you know, it kind of melts away once you get behind the wheel, even just the reality of like, "Oh, this is a great car." You know? And and so, whatever that experience, or whatever they thought it might be, it's it's gone. And uh, and so, it's a really important uh part of the process. And so, that's the main thing in a smaller community, they don't have that. Now, the other thing that we noticed is how far people drive. Now, people do drive farther in a smaller community, but what has surprised us is they don't drive as far as they think. Hmm, interesting. Yeah. And most of us actually don't drive as far as we think. Yeah. We might sit in traffic and stuff, even like us, you know, in big cities. Um, but we don't actually go that many kilometers, or not as many as we think. Um, and they don't either. And, you know, what they do is they, you know, into town, back and forth, for soccer, you know, same as anyone. Yeah. You know, so for for for sports or whatever for their kids, and then shopping or see Grandma or whatever. Um, and then once in a while, a long trip. And that is a thing that weighs heavily on Canadian minds is the road trip. Yeah. We are really obsessed with the road trip, and it's a one-off trip. And this is the thing we can't seem to shake loose, which is, you know, "What am I going to do if I need to drive to" and you fill in the X. Yeah. It could be across Canada, which hardly anyone does, or it could be like my trip to Algonquin, or my trip to Maine, or, you know, not right now, trip to uh, PEI let's say. Um, whatever. It's like, that one-off trip is so important to people, and we try to say, "Okay, yeah, that's more challenging in an EV. It can totally be done now, but it's still harder, and we sort of say try to think about your car for the 98-99%, not the 1% of trips." I might have even said this 5 years ago. Like, it's still a thing that we can't seem to, you know, stop people from fixating on, and we sort of say, "You know, with all the money you're going to save, you can" and we should talk about the savings because people do not understand that. Uh, all the money you're going to save, you can rent a car, or do something else, or what I do, once every 2 years, is swap with my brother-in-law who's got a minivan. Mhm. You know, and you can solve that problem for a one-time trip. Don't make that that's a bad way to choose a car anyway, gas or electric. Yeah. You know, because you're going to spend a lot more on gas hauling around a bigger, heavier car. Uh, so, even if you're not ready, it's a bad idea. [30:04] Trevor Freeman: So, in terms of So, availability of charging is one of them, and there's that road trip idea for sure. There's also, I mean, we hear, and me working at the utility, as people are trying to put chargers in, we hear this a lot. People's preferred charging location is at home. We know that, that's where people want to charge, they want to plug in at home. Yes. Not everybody has a driveway or a garage, not everybody can install a charger at home. So, one of the things the federal government has been doing over the last little while is trying to increase access to public charging. Yes. Where are we at with our sort of public charging infrastructure? Is the network kind of built out to handle those road trips, or to handle that kind of, you know, someone who lives in a multi-res building, a condo, an apartment that can't charge at home? Where are we on that front? [31:18] Cara Clairman: Okay. I would say, as a very early adopter, you know, I had my first EV in 2011, so, you know, from my perspective, the network's amazing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There was one supercharger, or like, fast, I mean, it was a slow fast charger, uh, in all of Ontario at that time. I mean, so now, there's more than 40,000 chargers across Canada. Uh, there's, you know, about a quarter of those are fast chargers at highway stops and convenient places. If you live in urban suburban Canada, and you commute, it's basically solved. Like, it's so good. I'm- and then, I'm sure someone will listen and say, "Well, for me, it's not." Okay. There- there's still gaps. Is it perfect? No. But it's really quite good, and you just have to go to PlugShare or ChargeHub and take a look, and you'll be shocked at how many chargers there are. I mean, there are a lot. [32:27] Trevor Freeman: For our listeners, PlugShare and ChargeHub are both kinds of resources that map out all the chargers, the status, is it broken, is it fixed, here's what it costs, it's really great resources. [32:39] Cara Clairman: Yes, everything. All the information you need. And all EV drivers will have that app on their phone. Mhm. Uh, then where it is challenging, you know, we got to acknowledge, even like an EV enthusiast like me, got to acknowledge, it's not perfect. Where the big challenges still exist is multi-unit residential, still challenging, and rural remote. Mhm. Still challenging. So, not so much for people who live rural remote, who want to, let's say, drive to town or drive to somewhere, to the city. That's okay. It's if you want to take a really long trip into rural, let's say, from Ottawa to Thunder Bay or Toronto to, you know, Winnipeg. That's still a challenging drive. It's doable, but it's hard. Um, if you're a commuter, which, you know, most of us are, you know, and you can charge at home, I mean, it's done. It's great. I mean, for someone like me, it's fantastic. I mean, I drive about 80 kilometers uh every week, and it's a snap, you know. No problem. Most of the cars have 400-500 kilometers range. I don't even think about it, even on like a minus 30 day. Where where I do think there's the most work that needs to be done is on the MURBs, multi unit residential. And some of the funding that the Feds have put forward for chargers is going into multi-unit, which is great. Mhm. Uh, condos will get done. Condos are getting done. Uh, where it's hard is apartment buildings. I mean, they're so there you need to search for public charging near you. Mhm. And if you're in Quebec, you're probably going to find it pretty easily, BC, it's getting better. Uh, Ontario is still a bit rough, and the Maritimes and the Prairies, super rough. [34:39] Trevor Freeman: Yeah, we do, Hydro Ottawa actually was a recipient of federal funding to install public chargers. We did a lot of public chargers uh public access chargers in multi-unit residential, you know. It's so important, as you said. Everyone wants to charge at home. Exactly, yeah. And, it's the cheapest, it's and we haven't talked about super low night time prices, and being able to plug in overnight and, you know, right now with high gas prices, people are looking into it. It makes a difference. Well, let's talk about the price then, that's kind of the next barrier, is "Ah, it's too expensive, I can't get into it." Um, tell us about the economics around owning an EV. [35:16] Cara Clairman: So, this is a challenge because people see the higher stick- sticker price, and they say, "Oh, EVs are too expensive." Well, they aren't doing the math, and we are trying to, you try to help, we're trying to help. There's other groups trying to help. We have a great calculator on our website to show the total cost of ownership, and to explain that yes, you pay a little bit more upfront, and the $5,000 rebate if you can get it drops that down to about $5K on average. 5k extra, that's the premium, yeah. 5k extra. Yep. Now, you would make that back in 2 to 3 years easily depending on how much you drive, because electricity is like 1/5 the price of gas, and even maybe more like 1/6 now that gas prices have gone up. Mhm. So, if you're paying $2 a liter, um which I hear, is what, you know, We're not far off, yeah. I don't know, I don't buy gas. Yeah. But, uh, $2 a liter, I'm paying the equivalent of, on time of use, of uh, 28¢, and now on ultra-low, 14¢. Um, I mean, a l- per liter equivalent. For the same driving range, yeah. For the same driving. And so, can you imagine that I can fully charge a 500-kilometer car for like 2 bucks overnight. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, you just can't believe how cheap it is. And if and so if we can get people to sort of understand the pay now to save later, which is hard for people. Yep. And if they lease, it's easier to understand because then they're not sort of shoveling out that money upfront necessarily. Mhm. It's a winner, you know, economically, you know, leaving aside the environmental and health benefits. Mhm. Uh, and so, we really try to help We have a great tool on our website that shows all this called Find Your EV Match, and you can compare any of your own, like all the historic gas cars, like any car that you own is in there. So, let's say you want to compare a 19 99 or a 2015 Civic to a Leaf or a Bolt, or whatever car you're thinking of, uh, you can do the comparison, and it will show you the savings month by month. Mhm. And then it will show you when your kind of hit that crossover and you're in the money. Yeah. And then you basically feel like you're earning money. [37:51] Trevor Freeman: Yeah. I will say, as also, as an EV driver, when I I have two vehicles, one's still a gas car and one's uh an EV, when I have to fill up the gas car, I'm I'm always I compare it to my EV that I don't have to fill up, it's it's night and day when it comes to the cost. It's absolutely night and day. [38:09] Cara Clairman: I mean, it's and also the maintenance. So, there's just no maintenance. I mean, obviously there's a little tiny bit. There's brakes, eventually, even that gets delayed because of the generative braking, Longer, yeah. and, you know, windshield wipers and tires, which you do anyway. I mean, I've now had a Leaf, a Bolt, a Model 3, and an Ioniq 5. Okay, and I have literally never had to do any maintenance except brakes, Mhm on any of them. Yeah, that's amazing. And, they've all been the first gen, right? Like my Leaf was the very first gen Leaf, my Bolt was a first gen Bolt 2017, and uh the Ioniq I think was the second year, which is what I drive now. Yeah. And uh, just nothing. And so, it just to me like, I'm almost like, "I can't believe everybody's not doing it! It's so cheap." Now, I understand some people, if you drive 250 kilometers each way and you, you know, I get it. It's not so simple for everyone. You live in a MURB, but if you live in a single-family home, it's a slam dunk. [39:27] Trevor Freeman: Yeah. So, we've kind of covered charging availability, we've talked about the cost implications. There's a battery performance question of is this battery going to be around for 10 years, the life of the car? [39:39] Cara Clairman: Yes. Especially when used, people are worried about it. [39:41] Trevor Freeman: Yeah, is the range going to get me there, and that kind of ties into charging? Where are we at? Have we seen that technology change in the 15 years that you've been in this space? Where are we at with that? [39:51] Cara Clairman: Yeah. In the early years, I always wanted to be honest, right, because it doesn't help to be overly glowing, and then, you know, people are disappointed, you got to be forthright with people where there are pluses and where there are the minuses. In the early years, of course, the range was really low, and so that was a challenge for people who had to drive long distances. Now the range of the EV is great, that's not an issue for most people anymore. Battery life, people used to say, "Well, how long will the battery last?" And the truthful answer 15 years ago was we don't know, Mhm because there was no information. I mean, Yeah, we hadn't done it. We thought we knew because the Prius had a similar type of battery, as a hybrid, and we thought it should be similar, and those are doing well. Well, now we have 15 years of information, and the batteries are lasting so well. Now, you hear in the news the odd story about a battery crapping out, and it really is anecdotal, and so you can't pay attention to it. Um, it's a lemon situation, right, and that's going to happen, right, there are going to be lemons, just like in a gas car. [41:03] Trevor Freeman: Exactly, yeah. You have to get your engine replaced randomly if you have a lemon, it happens. [41:07] Cara Clairman: Yes, it happens. But the data will tell you, and Geotab has some really good data on their website where they studied how long are these batteries lasting, like 15 years later, and it looks like, for the most part, they're going to outlast the body of the car. Like, 20 years, no problem. So, this idea that you would have to replace a battery is really unrealistic, like, most of us will never have to do that. And no one keeps their car for 20 years, or very few people keep their car for 20 years. No, it's a 10 year window, and if you're like most Canadians, 7 to 10 years, uh, you're not going to be replacing the battery. That's not going to happen. And most of them, uh, sort of a typical battery loss, battery degradation over time is 1 and a half to 2% a year. Hm. So, you're going to see some declines, so let's say at year 5, you should be down no more than 10%, and uh uh, so when you look at a used vehicle, you can do a test on the battery and see how it's doing, something called a State of Health check on the battery. It's a test that any dealer can do, like any service center can do. And you can be confident that it's fine. [42:33] Trevor Freeman: Mhm. So, let's say you brought up used vehicles a couple times here. Let's talk about that as an option for people wanting to get into the EV space maybe a bit more affordably. Yes. Like is the supply out there? Are there a bunch of these sitting around waiting to be scooped up? Yes. Great, now let's talk about it. [42:49] Cara Clairman: Yeah, that's a great news story. So, there's there's um a lot of supply, uh, there's, you know, if you think about it, all the vehicles that come off lease or whatever, you know, even there's now 2023s, you know, available, there're there's a lot of availability. And so, you know, you just go on your favorite, you know, auto trader type magazine, and you will see, uh online, there's tons of availability, and uh, you know, what I say to people if they're worried about battery life, they do that State of Health check on the battery. If you're buying it privately, uh, you can ask. Uh, it's only about a hundred bucks, I think it's worth it. Uh, the other thing you could do, if you just can't figure that out or you don't want to figure that out, is just trickle charge the battery overnight and see, you know, what does it say, how many kilometers uh range you have, and compare that to what the manual says it should have. That's sort of a rule of thumb type of test, it's not as good as the actual test, but it'll give you a good idea. So so the, you know, people should not be afraid of a used EV. And uh, also, if you are really concerned, most of them have, you know, the 8 to 10 year warranty on the battery. And so, if you are really concerned, just make sure you're still in in warranty. Yeah. Uh, you know, don't go older than 8 years, and also check, you know, because sometimes there's a kilometer limit and a year limit, so it's like 8 years or 180,000 kilometers, or you know, they're all a bit different, but um check it, and uh that's a great way of sort of if you still have a year or two left on the on the warranty, then you're sort of safe. Yeah. to see like see how it see how it does. And price point wise, these are coming in at like a reasonable for a used vehicle, a reasonable price point. Totally reasonable, you can get an EVs in the 20s, in the well you can get the oldest ones even lower than that, in like, um, apparently my 2017 Bolt, which we still keep and use, we love it, uh, would only be worth like, I don't know, $12 or $15,000. So, they're cheap, and this one got the battery fixed. I always say to people, the Bolt had a recall on the batteries, 2017 to 2019. And most of them got the battery fixed, so, and then the warranty goes back to year 1. Mhm. So, you basically can get a used Bolt that's almost like a new car because it got a new battery put in, and so those are like gems to find, yeah. Uh, so, they're, you know, that's why we're hanging on to ours, it's great. That's great. [45:41] Trevor Freeman: Okay, Cara, we're getting close to the end of our conversation here. So, uh you know, you've been at this for a while, 15 years of Plug'n Drive, um obviously an EV enthusiast on top of that. What's your general feeling about where we're at right now in 2026? Is it where you thought we would be, maybe looking back a few years ago? Is it, you know, we've got a long road to climb here, where are you? What are you thinking here? [46:08] Cara Clairman: Well, I do tend to be an optimist, but I was probably a little overly optimistic about how fast the transition would happen, and we have had some bumps in the road. Uh, but I would characterize all the stuff that's happened in the last year or two as bumps in the road to eventually everyone having an EV. I mean, I do think it's inevitable still, and I think most of even the, you know, automakers would say it's inevitable. The cars are better, mhm they last better, they perform better, and even without all the environmental and health benefits, they have a lot of other econ- economic benefits. Uh, so I do think it's inevitable. It has been slower than I expected. Mhm. Uh, but, um, I'm still really optimistic about the future, uh, and I think Canadians are going to embrace EVs maybe sooner than than some folks, and and I think all what's happened with with Trump and also this war and all these things has actually got more people asking questions about EVs than ever before, so he accidentally actually spurred on the interest in EVs, which is funny. [47:26] Trevor Freeman: Yeah, and I think we've seen that over over the years, these sort of starts and fits, and no doubt there will be another maybe slow down, but I I tend to agree, we're we're angling in that direction, and there's really no pulling back now. I would, so my oldest is 13, and I remember probably 5, 6, maybe 7 years ago, thinking, "You know, wow, by the time uh he's driving, he may never drive an ICE vehicle, because it'll just all be EVs." So, we haven't quite gotten there, [47:56] Cara Clairman: Yeah, my kids are in their 20s, and they both learned on electric, and they both have never driven a gas car, because we don't have one. Yeah, yeah, that's great. And so I am hopeful, and BC and Quebec have already passed what I would call the tipping point, mhm and so I do think that it's happening, and it's exciting, and it's also a great industry for young people to get into, so um there's lots of lots of pluses. [48:24] Trevor Freeman: Yeah, it's funny on this show, this comes up a lot, and I think all the things that we talked about from utility space to all the energy transition things, EVs being one of them, distributed energy resources, right like if you're a young person looking of what do I get into, what's the thing that I focus on, my goodness, we've got a whole range of things that are are on the cusp, I think of of really taking off, so EVs being one of them. [48:48] Cara Clairman: Electricity, energy, there's a lot of exciting stuff happening in decarbonization, and it's a great field for young people. [48:55] Trevor Freeman: Yeah, absolutely. Okay, so we always end our interviews with a series of questions to our guests, Cara, so I'm going to throw a few at you here. Um, what's a book that you've read that you think everybody should read? Ah. Uh, so professional or personal? Well, you can go either direction. I'll even give you two if you want to do one of each. [49:15] Cara Clairman: Okay. So, professional, uh, I read a book called, I think it's called, We're All in Sales. And it really helped me when I was starting Plug'n Drive. It sort of helps you get over this like, "Ugh, sales." Yeah. Which I think a lot of people have because they don't want to have to ask for money or you know, pitch for money or whatever. And it made you re- It was just helpful in that it talks about how, I mean, we're all in sales in one way or another. I mean, you have to sell yourself, you have to sell your ideas, you have to sell something. Some of us were more direct than others, but it helped me. Mhm. Um, um, and then, for women who are entering the workforce, uh, I read a book called The Feminine Mistake. And it's a play on The Feminine Mystique, which was a huge book in the 60s. Yeah. And, I found it really helpful as a working mom, and have little kids, and it's hard. It's a really hard phase. And that book really really helped me. Um, and then personal, uh, I just read uh a book that I really enjoyed, um, uh, it's actually just been made into a movie with uh, Sally Field, called Remarkably Bright Creatures. It's about an octopus, and it's from the octopus's point of view. [50:47] Trevor Freeman: Oh, very cool. I just saw a trailer for this movie, actually. Finding it. [50:50] Cara Clairman: Yeah. So read the book before you watch the show, Okay. because books are always better than the movie, and more in depth and everything. So it's a great book, especially if you love the ocean and mhm sea creatures and octo- pi? Octopuses? are so smart and it was just really adorable. It was a really fun book to read. It's not like it's great, it's written really well, but it's not hard to access, it's not, you know, it's it's great. [51:21] Trevor Freeman: Yeah. No, that's a good one, that's a good recommendation. Um, so kind of the same question, but um, you know, for a movie or a show, is there something you've watched recently that really has stood out to you that you kind of think everyone should take a look at? [51:32] Cara Clairman: I went back and watched This Is Spinal Tap, Nice. That's awesome. which I hadn't watched. And my husband had never seen it. Oh, gods. And I was like, "What?" Cuz you know, because of everything that happened with Rob Reiner, we went back and we watched it. Still hilarious. Oh yeah, so good. It really stood the test of time, so funny. [51:53] Trevor Freeman: I've got This has come up before with other guests, I've got a list of you know, those movies that were so great for me as whatever, a teenager, that I'm waiting for my kids, ridiculous though. I mean, I have to warn you, ridiculous. I'm waiting for my kids to get old enough that I can bring them into this or that one, and that's on the list for sure. So we'll crank it up to 11 here. Um, so if someone offers you a free round trip anywhere in the world, where would you go? [52:20] Cara Clairman: Oh wow. Uh, I actually just got back from Morocco, and it was so fantastic. Oh, gods. It was so beautiful. Um, but I've never been anywhere in Asia, I'd love to go to Japan. Mhm. I've never been there, and South Korea, because also they're very advanced in terms of technology and stuff, and I there's so many neat things, like autonomous vans and things that they're already using there, and vehicle-to-grid, and all this stuff, and at the base, I'm an electricity nerd, so I I would love to go there. [52:55] Trevor Freeman: Yeah. Uh, who's someone that you admire? [52:58] Cara Clairman: Oh my gosh, there's so many people I admire. Um, Louise Arbour. Um, our new, for our listeners, our new Canadian, uh, Governor General, yeah. New GG. That's awesome. She is fantastic. What a role model for women. She became a judge from being a professor. Mhm. Um, she ascended in a way that not very many people have. She worked internationally, she's, and, uh, she's also a really nice person, a really good person. Yeah. And, uh, an accessible person, what I would say is that she's not at all arrogant, she's funny, she's nice to talk to. I had the privilege of working with her when I was a student. Oh, very cool. And, uh, she's just amazing, and I watch her with, she's inspiring. [53:57] Trevor Freeman: Yeah, that's uh I I agree, I've been reading obviously about her because she's in the news right now, and for our listeners, that's our new uh Governor General, and if you're not from Canada, you can look up what a Governor General does for us here in Canada. Um, very, very exciting. Um, yeah, I agree. Um, last question, Cara. What's something about the energy sector or its future that you're particularly excited about? [54:21] Cara Clairman: Oh my gosh, well, you know, aside from all the stuff we've just been talking about, Yeah. um, actually, I saw a YouTube video about batteries uh just the other day, a Chinese battery maker. And what they're doing in batteries is really exciting with salt, you know, salt based batteries that are going to be so cheap. Mhm. And they basically have it, like it's not this futuristic thing, it's a salt-based battery that costs like a fraction, and so the cheapest EVs will get made with those, and that's going to be a game changer. Yeah. That's pretty cool. [55:05] Trevor Freeman: It is exciting to think about. Now that we're really focusing on EVs and letting sort of just that normal technological improvement iterative process happen, Right. how quickly we might see some of these barriers that we just talked about get solved. [55:19] Cara Clairman: Yeah, they're putting their new technology into drones, into like air taxis and all this stuff, mhm. It's now, it's not sort of this Jetson's futuristic thing, it's like really happening, so that's pretty exciting. [55:40] Trevor Freeman: Yeah, now the energy transition is here, we say it all the time on this show. It's here. It's here. When people say EVs are the future, I say no, they're right now. Exactly, yeah, exactly. Um, Cara, it's been great chatting with you, thank you so much for making the time this morning. I really appreciate your insight into what's happening. [55:56] Cara Clairman: Yeah, my pleasure, my pleasure, nice to talk to you too. [55:58] Trevor Freeman: Yeah, hopefully uh we'll talk again in a few years and be talking about how fast it's moved. [56:02] Cara Clairman: I hope so. [56:03] Trevor Freeman: Awesome. Thanks so much. Take care. Okay, you too. Okay, bye. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of the Think Energy podcast. Don't forget to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, and it would be great if you could leave us a review, it really helps to spread the word. As always, we would love to hear from you, whether it's feedback, comments, or an idea for a show or a guest. You can always reach us at thinkenergy@hydroottawa.com.

What's that behind you? Well, it's not Iggy Pop. We'll give you two ends of the spectrum as far as how one might react to this film. Polarizing? Yes. Worth seeing on the big screen? Sure. Cuz support Horror. Watch the visual episode on Youtube: https://youtu.be/zv77-K_KdBMCheck out The Horror Vision on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehorrorvision/Join our exclusive Facebook Horror Fan Community: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/18LsUmWw5n/Check out our merch! https://the-horror-vision.creator-spring.com

Cuz, Big sis is here to help us navigate questions around Mind & Spirit connection. Show notes: Big Sis tells you about Her Spiritual Lifehttps://youtu.be/9LPOBEzC32s?si=GruIcts4US-nAzUbMore Internet Witches got Questionshttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe_q7nNxJyze7dMtGrceqhMdyXy-84e8k Wendy Mata:https://www.llewellyn.com/author.php?author_id=7301&srsltid=AfmBOopcmM6HVM0gdtyxJnoirm4xT-xC1dN-f0r3PMfR5N8Pu3AYfQW8 Urns hold spirits she says: https://www.tiktok.com/@indrasbotanica/video/7369076618909797678?q=spirit%20attached%20to%20ashes&t=1778374990026“You never leave” from Religion for Breakfast (what your brain goes through when you leave a religion)https://youtu.be/cmXiATStkCo?si=i_nhywIR4-MGB7d4

Call me Snake. Okay, well, that's too cool for me, so just make it Ryan. Either way, this 739th episode gets into the night life and action frenzy that is John Carpenter's Escape From New York. Kurt Russell was already establishing himself as something more than just a Disney kid, then his signature role here cemented it. The eclectic Van Cleef/Borgnine/Harry Dean supporting cast surrounding Russell is effective, but the production design, cinematography, music and other technicals in this dystopian sci-fi bleakness are the drawing card. Carpenter was cynical, yet so underrated in his time...even compared to a top-of-his-game Spielberg in that same era. Now, is Escape From New York funny? Maybe not (partly since it feels like this could actually happen), but it IS fun. So, even though everybody thinks you're dead, burst into the open-air prison that is Manhattan and save the president and his precious cassette tape. Cuz the name's Ellis. Subscribe to Have You Ever Seen in your app. Rate the show, write a pithy review. Look for me on Letterboxd (RyanHYES) and fire off an email (haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com). Socials? I'm @moviefiend51 on Twitter and ryan-ellis on Bluesky.

I told a small, self-deprecating… white lie.To get out of committing to volunteering for a new project.My bad.You see? I had history with this person. Co-founder of an advocacy nonprofit. Small. Neurodivergency-affirming. Big ideas. Little organization.“I'm not sure I'm the right guy for your project. I just can't seem to do something… this big… anymore.” I just want to gracefully bow out. Yet not hurt feelings. Or challenge them.I plough on gamely, “Maybe we can chat once in a while…?”“Sure you can! I know you can do it!” That zeal of a new convert to pop psychology. Rapid-fire words ricocheting out of my headset. “You just have imposter syndrome. I know. Because I do too! I have this book you could read…”I tried to be gentle. “My friend, I don't have a syndrome of any kind. I'm just telling the truth. No need for diagnosis.”It went rapidly downhill from there.Let's say, I felt immediate… unease.While we were talking. But I didn't know why. Yet.But like a persistent smell neurodivergent-dot-me can never ignore… that feeling lingered. Building as I replay the conversation over and over. Then it takes days to recover. Before I can work on my projects again.Because what I experienced? Some label “benevolent ableism.” I call it soft-core discrimination. Trying to look like… kindness.I'll never know their motivation. I won't risk the pain of asking.You see? “Kind” words can do real damage.All you really gotta do to cause pain? Simply speak in the grammar of help… then act out the logic of condescension.That's it.Some research supports this… catch-22. Patronizing support? It's one of the most common, damaging, and invisible acts one human can perpetrate on another disabled human. That I know.Cuz it's deniable. So at best, socially dangerous to challenge. A lot like an unwanted, ambiguous… intimate… gesture. From an acquaintance. And queasiness has only gotten worse for me with every ambiguous human interchange.The weapon and pain metaphors I use in the performance piece? Intentional.Cuz the escalation you may experience?These. Are. My. Reality.This ain't about an additional diagnosis. Or a personality flaw. It is about me being autistic-as-fuck me.Yeah. I may be a tad more sensitive to condescension than the Average Bear. Just like I need sunglasses. Even on many cloudy days.Which ought to be actually advocated for. Not patronized. By an advocate. Or employer. Or loved one.Cuz this is not something I can self-help-guru my way out of. Or be trained to control through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.Like I need one more thought to exhaustingly monitor. Monitoring that could never “cure” my sensory issue with smells. Or my freaking balance problems. Least of all my condescension trauma…So, the only guiding principle I must remember when I navigate social or professional waters…“I must honor my limits. Or they will disable me.”One last thing…I wrote this about my real experiences as an autistic professional. In a world unkind to difference.But my guess? Folks from any “disadvantaged” background may see themselves in it.Let's build on that kinship. Maybe make a change. Together.IntroContent Note: Contain”IntroContent Note: Contain”IntroContent Note: Contains descriptions of everyday condescension… and opinions. That may resonate uncomfortably for autistic, neurodivergent, and… other people.The Cruelest Knife Leaves No ScarYou never feel the cruelest knife Poison-tipped with a pat on the head A smugly… gentle… smile Words so softly, warmly… said.He only said… “You're flourishing. Even with autism. Good on you.”Judgment is like napalm Dropped benignly… safely… from on high Burning invisibly… under my skin.She casually said… “You got imposter syndrome. I got this book…?”Or some radiant dirty bomb Parachuting slyly… tenderly… Silently melting my guts inside.The manual simply read… “Neurodivergents think outside the box. That makes them perfect… for certain tasks.”Leaving a foul smell in the air Mustard gas masquerading… Like piercing gas-station incense Labelled... blindingly, “Stay Calm.”Stealth Weapons of Mass Humiliation Or casual toxic caring Preening in plain sight Don't breed even sullen gratitude Just resentment. Rebellion. Sometimes? The worship of tyrants. You never feel the cruelest knife No, Not right away. A slice so sharp it leaves no scar So weird… that instant shapes my life.More autistic lived experience: If this resonated for you, I share more pieces like this on AutisticAF Out Loud.Readings for Your Deeper DiveNot exhaustive. Just sources that made me think.Benevolent Ableism* “Consequences of Confronting Patronizing Help for People with Disabilities” Harvard Kennedy School Government and Applied Psychology Lab · January 2023https://gap.hks.harvard.edu/consequences-confronting-patronizing-help-people-disabilities-do-target-gender-and-disability-type* “Misguided Gestures of a Condescending Kindness” Radical Accessible Communities · July 2013https://radicalaccessiblecommunities.wordpress.com/2013/07/10/misguided-gestures-of-a-condescending-kindness/Ableist Microaggressions* “Ableist Hostility Disguised as Friendliness” Real Social Skills · January 2016https://realsocialskills.org/2016/01/08/ableist-hostility-disguised-as-friendliness/* “Ableist-Microaggressions Towards People with Disabilities” REDIS / CEDID · n.d.https://redis.cedid.es/index.php/redis/article/download/1161/568/Discriminatory Gaslighting vs. Imposter Syndrome* “Imposter Syndrome, Or Something Else? Historian Talks Discriminatory Gaslighting” NPR · May 2021https://www.npr.org/2021/05/09/995172973/imposter-syndrome-or-something-else-historian-talks-discriminatory-gaslighting* “Imposter Syndrome in Neurodiversity” The Rowan Well · December 2024https://www.therowanwell.co.uk/blog/imposter-syndrome-in-neurodiversityPerformative Allyship & Movement Co-optation* “Performative Neurodiversity – the Appropriation and Watering Down of a Human Rights Movement for Profit” Therapist Neurodiversity Collective · May 2024https://therapistndc.org/performative-neurodiversity-the-appropriation-and-watering-down-of-a-human-rights-movement-for-profit/* “Performative Allyship Within Capitalist Systems” Neurodiverging · January 2024https://www.neurodiverging.com/performative-allyship-within-capitalist-systems/Autistic Identity, Masking & Ableism (Research)* “Understanding Autistic Identity Contingencies” PubMed Central · December 2025https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12804416/* “The Division Between Neurodiversity Advocates and The Rest of the World” Neuroclastic · January 2026https://neuroclastic.com/nd-nt/Counterpoint / Complicating Perspectives* “Make Neurodiversity Boring” Boston Review · June 2025https://www.bostonreview.net/forum/the-future-of-neurodiversity/make-neurodiversity-boring/* “The Definitional Problems at the Heart of the Neurodiversity Movement” STAT News · November 2025https://www.statnews.com/2025/11/24/neurodiversity-movement-neurotypical-definitional-problems/Weapon Metaphor & Language (Supporting Context)* “The Metaphor as Weapon” Harvard Political Review · February 2015https://harvardpolitics.com/metaphor-weapon/* “Weaponizing Words: War Metaphors and Public…” UIN Malang e-Journal · June 2025https://ejournal.uin-malang.ac.id/index.php/humbud/article/view/32376Connect:* Drop a comment… How do you experience… condescension?* How have you answered it?* Hit the “subscribe” box for new releasesGet the Chapbook:Press enter or click to view image in full sizeevery clock is a handgun pointed at my head, art, poetry, and raw neurodivergent truth. Thirteen pieces. One autistic life, unfiltered. Available on AmazonSubscribe to AutisticAF Out Loud… free or paid… and get the full PDF in your inbox. On me. #AutisticAF Out Loud Newsletter: One Voice. Raw. Real. Fiercely Autistic.I'm an autistic poet and spoken word performer, diagnosed at 63. Now in my 70s. I've been publishing AutisticAF Out Loud since 2019… work that refuses to be packaged.My spoken word piece , every clock is a handgun pointed at my head, was published in Wordgathering, a journal of disability poetry & literature. In 2022, I spoke at the UN World Autism Acceptance Day about my illustration work rooted in autism & ADHD.I live in a rural Indiana trailer… across the courtyard from my wife's trailer… with my 2 dogs & cat. Occasionally I shave… to face Walmart.The algorithms hate me. I must be doing something right.#SpokenWord #AutismAcceptance #AutisticPoetry#AutisticAF Out Loud Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. Click below to receive new posts… free. To support my ongoing work, consider a paid subscription.Support AutisticAF.me with a one-time tip here: Paypal · Ko-Fi · Facebook Pay “Johnny Knapp Âû”https://ko-fi.com/autisticaf This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit johnnyprofaneknapp.substack.com/subscribe

As far as angels go, this one appears to be willing to lend its wings to the devil. ...Cuz it's like the "throne" class of angels? Yeah idk I was hoping it would sound cool, but I think it's a bit too tryhard. But doesn't that just mean Michael Trinity would appreciate it? That boy was one hell of an edgelord. You can find a video version of this podcast for free on Scanline Media's Patreon! If you want to find us on Bluesky, Dylan is lowpolyrobot.bsky.social and Six is six.scanlinemedia.com. Our opening theme is the Hangar Theme from Gundam Breaker 3, and our ending theme for this episode is Resumption from Gundam Breaker 4. Our podcast art is a fantastic piece of work from Twitter artist @fenfelt. Want to see a list of every unit we've covered from every episode, including variants and tangents? It's right here. The Scanline Media Discord can be found here! Units discussed: GNW-002 Gundam Throne Zwei GNW-20000 Arche Gundam GNW-20000/J Jagd Arche Gundam GNW-004X Gundam Throne Vier AGP-X1/DA Dubious Arche Gundam

Cuz, All your dreams can come true if you ask the man at the crossroad. Just know that the price may be more than you are willing to part with. Leave me an email at : CoCoconjure@gmail.comFollow CoCo Conjure on Ticktock and InstagramShow notes: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-Johnson-American-musicianhttps://www.robertjohnsonbluesfoundation.org/biography/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd60nI4sa9A&list=RDYd60nI4sa9A&start_radio=1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEht5PbNWN4&list=RDoEht5PbNWN4&start_radio=1

This week, historian Mills Kelly's love affair with the Appalachian trail started when he was a boy scout. He was 12. Also, central Appalachia is known for exporting coal, but it's losing people, too.  And, Cuz's Uptown Barbeque in southwestern Virginia fuses Asian ideas with Appalachian comfort food, like cheesy egg rolls.You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia. 

A hilarious story from Mattman about growing up with other boys back in the day Do you remember the blood in fried chicken back in the day? Well where the hell did it go? Cuz it ain't there now Headlines

We're sure you can relate to this sensation. You finish reading a comic, and as you close the back cover, you look over your shoulder. Has the creator responsible for this book been living in your home? Have they been watching you when you weren't looking? Cuz this comic seems made specifically for you. That's certainly how we feel about Kevin Alvir and his latest graphic novel, Lisa Cheese and Ghost Guitar: The Rock God Complex, out now from Top Shelf Productions. This second book in his Lisa Cheese and Ghost Guitar series sees Alvir upping his game. He's perfectly smashed the indie comics world with the superhero fantasy. As we state on the back of the book, in the pull-quote we're most proud of, “What if Jack Kirby tabled at @SPXComics? You'd get Lisa Cheese and Ghost Guitar!” If you understand that statement, you're already in. You should put this book in your hands immediately. Kevin Alvir masterfully blends the mundane with the extraordinary. His characters are struggling, but they're fighting the good fight, and they will overcome their internal and external battles. In this week's podcast, we discuss with the cartoonist how he leveled up for his sequel, the power of unhinged, righteous anger, and how reading and creating comics help you sort your stuff out. Every character in Lisa Cheese and Ghost Guitar: The Rock God Complex is searching for something: from guitar strings to vampire teeth to self-respect. What they eventually find carves a path for the reader to follow. It's a beautiful, affirming, human story with cybernetic unicorns, ghost guitarists, demons, and naysayers. Continue the conversation with Kevin Alvir by following him on Instagram and BlueSky. This Week's Sponsors Everyone loves to talk and debate about comics, but few people get to see what it's actually like behind the scenes. Now, IDW Publishing is changing that with the launch of IDW Studios. The first monthly show is CreatorxCreator, a free-flowing, fun, and honest chat between two comic book creators as they discuss their craft, process, inspiration, and what life is really like as a creative. The second monthly show, Superlatives, brings IDW's knowledgeable and spirited editors head-to-head to debate each of these categories, with another editor stepping in as the moderator to pick the winner once the pros have made their arguments. The Future is Calling! 2000 AD is the Galaxy's Greatest Comic, with new issues published every single week! Every 32-page issue of 2000 AD brings you the best in sci-fi and horror, featuring characters like Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, and more. Get a print subscription to 2000 AD and it'll arrive to your mailbox every week - and your first issue is free! Or subscribe digitally, and you can download DRM-free copies of each issue for only $9 a month. That's 128 pages of incredible comics every month for less than $10! Head to 2000AD.com and click on ‘subscribe' now – or download the 2000 AD app and start reading today! Other Relevant Links to This Week's Episode: Subscribe to the Comic Book Couples Counseling YouTube Channel Watch The Stacks, Comic Creators Name Their Favorite Comics Help Send Chris Hacker to SDCC GoFundMe Previously on CBCC: Kevin Alvir on Lisa Cheese and Ghost Guitar Book 1 Comic Book Club: Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees at Meanwhile...Coffee in Herndon, Virginia, on 5/3 at 3:30 PM Final Round of Plugs (PHEW): Support the Podcast by Joining OUR PATREON COMMUNITY. And, of course, follow Comic Book Couples Counseling on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Bluesky @CBCCPodcast, and you can follow hosts Brad Gullickson @MouthDork & Lisa Gullickson @sidewalksiren. Send us your Words of Affirmation by leaving us a 5-star Review on Apple Podcasts. Continue your conversation with CBCC by hopping over to our website, where we have reviews, essays, and numerous interviews with comic book creators. Podcast logo by Jesse Lonergan and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.

Cuz, Sometimes your call for spiritual life is thunderous. Sometimes the lightening bolt misses. Most of the time... it creeps up on you like a rolling spring shower. Show notes: Clifton H. Johnson's collection of ex-slave narratives called “God Struck Me Dead”https://www.amazon.com/God-Struck-Me-Dead-Ex-Slaves/dp/1610970470 Langston Hughes “The Big Sea” https://www.amazon.com/Big-Sea-Autobiography-American-Century/dp/0809015498

Cuz, My crash out was heavy this week. So we gonna talk about Phillis Wheatly's unwoke poetry from her youth. The Poetry Foundation:https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/phillis-wheatleySmithsonian Natural Portrait Gallery: https://npg.si.edu/blog/phillis-wheatley-her-life-poetry-and-legacypoems on Various Subjects Religions and moral : https://www.nyswritersinstitute.org/post/a-selection-of-poems-by-phillis-wheatley-petersBoston public LibraryPhillis Wheatley: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKvyjbIhnZ4https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/phillis-wheatley

Cuz sweeps kill

Cuz,Competition and Vengeance could lead you to hurting a Heffa. Stories from Mules and Men and Hoodoo In America by Zora Neale Hurston

CUZ!!!break out your to do lists and get your reusable bags. We are going to the Botanica! Send comments, questions, or something you think is interesting to Cococonjure@gmail.com.

Our Wrestling Podcast Unscripted Episode 171: NXT Stand and Deliver Preview - La Knight kills iShowSpeed - Fans harass WWE Stars - Kendal Grey - Memes and more! This week on Unscripted, the boys discuss: - La Knight and iShowSpeed - NXT Stand And Deliver Preview - Fans harassing Wrestlers in person - Meltzer and Cuz agree on something - Wrestling Memes - Historical Wrestling - Krule gets stabbed at indy show - and more X: @owp2019 Instagram: @owp2019 Meta: www.facebook.com/ourwrestlingpodcast Twitch: www.twitch.tv/ourwrestlingpodcast Rumble: rumble.com/c/c-7660138 Youtube(sucks): www.youtube.com/channel/UCTcCUQMd…iew... #wwe #worldscolllide #aaa #nxt #wwenxt #smackdown #moneyinthebank #wwemitb #mtb #MARIAHMAY #MARIAHMAYNXT #blakemonroe #johncena #cenapipebomb #Johncenapromo #smackdown #britishbulldogs #britishbulldog #brocklesnar #ajlee #ajleereturns #wweraw #wrestlepalooza #aew #aewallout #wwewrestlepalooza #espn #wweonespn #zackryder #zackryderreturns #johncenasfinalmatch #SNME #WWESNME #CENA #CENAFINALMATCH #royalrumble #royalrumbleriyadh #royalrumble2026 #aew #andrade #ofmodels #wrestlemania42 #wweraw #codyrhodes Disclaimer - Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for fair use; for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

Long-Term Effects of Brainstem Stroke: The Hidden Deficits No One Talks About Ty Hawkins was taking engagement photos with his wife the same day he was admitted to the ICU. That sentence alone captures something essential about brainstem stroke, and about the particular cruelty of its long-term effects. On the outside, Ty looked like a young man in love, celebrating a milestone. On the inside, his vision was blurring, his balance was failing, and one side of his face had begun to droop. By nightfall, he was in the hospital being told they had found a mass on his brain. That was June 2019. Ty was in his mid-twenties, working in sales at Verizon, playing competitive basketball, and building a life with the woman he was about to marry. The stroke caused by a bleed from a cavernous malformation in his brainstem carried a 25% survival rate. Of those who survived, only 10% made a significant recovery. Ty is now approaching year seven. He returned to work. He speaks publicly. He shares his story with a global audience that finds him through social media and reaches out to tell him he helped them keep going. And every single day, he still wakes up managing deficits that most people around him cannot see. What the Brainstem Controls — And Why Its Damage Lingers The brainstem is not a dramatic structure in the way the cortex is. It doesn't govern language, memory, or personality in ways that are immediately visible to an observer. What it governs is more fundamental: breathing, heart rate, digestion, balance, coordination, and the relay of sensory signals between the brain and the body. When a bleed occurs in the brainstem, as it did for Ty through a cavernous malformation, a cluster of abnormally formed blood vessels, the damage disrupts those foundational systems. The effects can be wide-ranging, deeply personal, and stubbornly persistent. They can also be almost entirely invisible to anyone who isn't living inside that body. For Ty, the long-term effects of his brainstem stroke include ataxia, double vision, gastroparesis, CRPS, and left-sided numbness and weakness. None of these are visible when he walks into a room. All of them shape his daily experience in ways that most people, including many in the medical system, never fully appreciate. Gastroparesis After Stroke: The Deficit Nobody Mentions Of all the long-term effects Ty lives with, gastroparesis is perhaps the least discussed in stroke recovery conversations and one of the most disruptive to daily life. Gastroparesis is a condition in which the stomach empties too slowly or incompletely, caused by disrupted communication between the brain and the vagus nerve. For Ty, this means the digestive signals that most people take for granted, hunger, fullness, and discomfort, are unreliable. He can eat three bites and feel as though he has finished a six-course meal. He can go hours without a hunger signal and needs to eat by clock rather than by sensation. When his nervous system is overwhelmed, his digestive system slows or stalls entirely. Gastroparesis after stroke is not a fringe experience. The brainstem governs the vagus nerve, which in turn governs gut motility. A brainstem stroke can interrupt that pathway in ways that create persistent digestive dysfunction, yet it rarely features in the standard conversations about stroke recovery. Survivors can spend years not understanding why their digestion is erratic, not connecting it back to the stroke, and not receiving targeted support. Ty found that movement and routine helped regulate his system. A morning sauna, regular exercise, and starting the day with warm tea and light fruit rather than a heavy meal gave his digestive system conditions in which it could function more predictably. These are not medical solutions, they are adaptive strategies built through seven years of learning his own body. CRPS and Ataxia: When the Nervous System Won't Stand Down “My daily pain level is a four or five. Someone not used to chronic pain would call it an eight or a nine.” — Ty Hawkins Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) was misdiagnosed in Ty for several years as neuropathy. It presents as the brain becoming stuck in a fight-or-flight pain loop, sending persistent, amplified pain signals in response to stimuli that should not be painful at all. For Ty, this means clothing fabric can register as pain. Cold bed sheets can spike his discomfort through the roof. Water on his skin can hurt. Ataxia compounds this by disrupting muscle coordination when his nervous system becomes overwhelmed. His gait changes. His shoulder shakes when lifting overhead. Coordination that was once automatic, honed through years of competitive basketball, becomes unreliable when fatigue, overstimulation, or stress tips his nervous system past a threshold. Both conditions are neurological in origin. Both are invisible to the outside observer. Both require constant, conscious management. The Athletic Mindset as Recovery Infrastructure What gave Ty the internal architecture to manage all of this? He credits his coaches. Years of athletic training being pushed past comfort, being held to a standard of effort regardless of natural talent, learning that showing up and doing the work was non-negotiable, built in Ty a psychological framework that translated directly into rehabilitation. In the inpatient facility, he was wheeling himself to therapy sessions before the nurses came to collect him. After the first week, they stopped coming. They knew he would already be there. As the doctors noted during his rehabilitation: he was recovering faster than expected, and they attributed it directly to his athletic background. Not his talent. His work ethic. The Emotional Cost of Looking Fine Perhaps the most underappreciated long-term effect of Ty's brainstem stroke is the one least visible of all: the emotional toll of presenting as healthy while carrying a daily invisible burden. For years, Ty's type-A, athletic identity kept him moving forward, but it also kept him from fully acknowledging what he was carrying. It took until years three or four before he genuinely engaged with psychotherapy. Once he did, the progress he experienced was significant. He now starts every Monday with a therapy session. The shift that mattered most was learning to honour how he actually felt rather than how he wanted to feel. For male survivors in particular, the cultural conditioning to tough it out is deeply ingrained and actively harmful in the context of long-term stroke recovery. Emotional suppression does not make the load lighter. It makes it invisible to everyone, including the person carrying it. Recovery Has No Expiry Date Ty's most direct message to survivors is straightforward: don't limit your recovery to the first year. The brain does not set a deadline on neuroplasticity. He is approaching year seven and still noticing improvements. The triumph of this story is not that Ty is symptom-free. The triumph is that he has built a life of genuine meaning and contribution around an ongoing physical reality without pretending that reality doesn't exist. He's reached people on every continent with a message that is simple, honest, and badly needed: You can survive the statistics. You can carry the hidden weight. And you can keep getting better years after everyone else assumes the story is over. If you are navigating your own stroke recovery early or years in, Bill's book is a practical and honest companion for the journey: recoveryafterstroke.com/book And if the Recovery After Stroke community has been part of your path, consider supporting the show on Patreon: patreon.com/recoveryafterstroke This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Please consult your doctor before making any changes to your health or recovery plan. Ty Hawkins: Six Years After a Brainstem Stroke, Still Fighting the Battles You Can't See He survived a 25% chance brainstem stroke. Nearly 7 years on, Ty Hawkins reveals the hidden deficits that never made the headlines until now. Instagram Facebook LinkedIn Highlights: 00:00 Introduction: Long-Term Effects of Brainstem Stroke 05:54 The Day of the Stroke 11:35 Hospital Experience and Diagnosis 15:44 Mindset and Recovery 21:46 Therapy and Rehabilitation 24:25 Long-Term Effects of Brainstem Stroke 32:58 The Importance of Exercise in Recovery 38:21 Living with CRPS: A Daily Challenge 50:29 Emotional Resilience and Mental Health 01:01:28 Lessons Learned: Recovery Insights for Stroke Survivors Transcript: Introduction: Long-Term Effects of Brainstem Stroke Ty Hawkins (00:00) as I’m sleep. have a dream and It’s just I’m in a dark place and I just hear a voice and it says do you trust me and? I said well Absolutely, it said okay. Well, we have to go and I immediately wake up and I tap my wife and I say hey we should go to the hospital now and Then I go to the hospital so by day I’m taking engagement photos and by night. I’m in ICU immediately taken to the for a CAT scan and chest x-rays. Bill Gasiamis (00:30) Before we get into today’s conversation, I wanna take a moment to acknowledge something that I think a lot of people in this community quietly live with. The feeling that your looks finished to everyone else, but you know the real story. You’re still managing things every single day that nobody around you can see. If that’s you, this episode is going to hit home. My guest today is Ty Hawkins. Ty had a brainstem stroke in June, 2019. caused by a cavernous malformation, a bleed that carries a 25 % survival rate. He made it, he went back to work, he plays basketball, he looks great, and he is still nearly seven years later managing gastroparesis, CRPS, ataxia, and daily chronic pain that he rates at four or five, which he says most people would call an eight or nine. This is a triumphant story, not because every deficit is gone, but because Ty built a life of purpose and meaning around the ones that stayed. We’ll get into all of that in just a moment. Now turn2.ai is your AI health sidekick that keeps you up to date with personalized stroke recovery information each week. There are literally over 800 new things published every week on stroke. Turn2 searches everything new from the past week and sends you what’s most relevant, research, patient discussions. expert comments, trials and events. You can try for free and get 10 % off by scanning the QR code on the screen or clicking the link in the description below. And if you haven’t picked up a copy of my book yet, it’s available now at recoveryafterstroke.com/book. And now let’s get into the conversation Ty. Bill Gasiamis (02:13) Ty Hawkins, welcome to the podcast. Ty Hawkins (02:15) Thank you for having me. Bill Gasiamis (02:17) Thank you for being here. This is the second time we’ve tried to connect and have you on the show. Last time, if I recall correctly, you won an award or you graduated from somewhere. Ty Hawkins (02:30) I believe I had one either had a speaking engagement or I won an award where I wasn’t able to attend our our interview Bill Gasiamis (02:42) Yeah, what was the award? Do you recall? Ty Hawkins (02:47) That was a few years back. I don’t really recall offhand. I know there was a lot going on with me mentally at that time too. So I don’t really recall what it was. drawing a blank right now on that one. Bill Gasiamis (03:01) Yeah, fair enough. I do remember it was at least 12, maybe 18 months ago that we tried to connect. But that’s cool that you’re here now, man. Thanks for reaching out again. I was just going to ask like, what was your life like before the stroke? What were you up to? What was your regular day like? Ty Hawkins (03:21) So for me what I was up to both prior to my stroke I was really locked in and focused on my career. So I graduated college or university in 2015 and I was well into my career with Verizon here in the States and So my my day-to-day look pretty much like work and I was spending a lot of time just playing basketball because I played in college. So I was trying to, you know, ⁓ still keep up with the athletic side of me while getting my career off the ground. Bill Gasiamis (04:01) What kind of work did you do for Verizon? Ty Hawkins (04:05) So his Verizon, was at that time while I’m still in sales currently, but at that time I had just started my sales role and immediate like right prior to I was a sales manager, prior immediately prior to my stroke. Bill Gasiamis (04:21) huh. What was it like the day of the stroke? Or actually just before you answer that question, was there any signs that you were unwell, that there was potentially something looming, you know, anything give it away before the stroke that now you think that was probably a sign? Ty Hawkins (04:40) Absolutely. So looking back and now having the education and the awareness of stroke, know I remember just having numbness in my left foot ⁓ that started and felt like a little pebble in my left shoe. And I would take my shoe off and shake it out and nothing came out. And I had no idea that it was actually like the feeling in my foot. and it started to move up my leg and eventually ⁓ from my foot up to my shin, actually I felt pins and needles ⁓ and my foot was actually numb and I experienced a lot of headaches ⁓ immediately prior to the stroke. So for weeks I was having, I would have little headaches that I just thought was stress related from work. Bill Gasiamis (05:38) to the, what you just explained about your foot. That’s exactly what happened to me. My left, my big left toe went numb and then my entire left leg went numb, but it took me a week to get to the hospital. By then my entire left side had gone numb. So how long was it before you decided to do something about your numb foot and shin? The Day of the Stroke Ty Hawkins (05:54) Mm-hmm. So ⁓ it may have been a few weeks, honestly. So I just pushed through and thought it was because of work and just stress related to work. it took about a week or so till it actually moved, till actually my leg went numb. And I remember one day vividly my wife tickled my foot, my feet, I was ticklish. And she went to tickle my, she tickled, tickle my feet and I jumped when she tickled the right foot but I didn’t budge at all when she tickled the left foot and so that was a sign I still pushed through and I went to play basketball and I took a shot that it was routine for me and I missed very bad and there were guys at the gym I thought I had vertigo maybe some something in her ear and the guys at the gym like hey man Something seems off with you. I want you to get checked out before we play again in a few weeks. And so I decided to make an appointment to see my neurologist or not neurologist, my primary care physician. And I went through a routine checkup and everything kind of cleared. And so I had a decision to make that I want to tell her what was going on with my body though my vitals were good. And so I told her and she ran some tests like poked poked my foot and just was touching my leg with different ⁓ textures and eyes open eyes closed and I can only I only knew that she was touching me if I could see her. So when I closed my eyes and she touched me, I didn’t I had no idea. And so she sent me to for MRI and before or not for MRI, she sent me to a neurologist. And the neurologist scheduled me for MRI for the next week and I was in the hospital the very next day. Bill Gasiamis (08:04) Wow, man. You had a brainstem stroke from a cavernous malformation. I had a stroke caused by a arteriovenous malformation, which is very similar kind of issue with the way that the blood vessels have formed. My one popped and then started to bleed like really, really slowly. It sounds like yours did something similar. So Ty Hawkins (08:17) AVM, correct? Bill Gasiamis (08:33) you’re going through this for a couple of weeks, you go and see the neurologist and the next day you’re in hospital, how dramatically did it escalate between the neurologist appointment and the next day? Ty Hawkins (08:44) ⁓ So it escalated very very fast so the next day I woke up and it was that my engagement photo shoot so what a day right and Bill Gasiamis (08:57) Wow. Ty Hawkins (08:58) I’ll go to the bank I take a five-minute drive from my house to the bank and what happened on my way back is just off I couldn’t explain what was going on I just had an all feeling so I told my wife I wasn’t able to drive to any of the other appointments that I had that day prior to our shoot and on the way to our photo shoot so things progress by minute by minute hour by hour So I started the day she noticed a facial droop and we had no ideas of the sign She looked at me. She said are you okay? Cuz your face and I looked in the mirror and it was it was slight but So didn’t really think much of it and I was excited for our shoot So I just pushed through and on our way the photo shoot location was at our University where we met and that’s about 40 minute drive from our house so as we’re progressing through the drive my vision starts to get blurry and I can’t I can barely make out the vehicles that are around us I can only make out the color and the color of the license plate so I know that something’s there but it’s so blurry that I can’t even couldn’t tell you what kind of what kind of vehicle it was we actually get to the location for the shoot I get out the car and I can barely stand upright so ⁓ I Remembered trying to move and I was just so all balance and and dizzy and We did the shoot somehow some some way I made it through the shoot and I remember changing my clothes and ⁓ As I look back now I went into the bathroom to change my clothes and I was alone and I could I kept Tilted to the right while was trying to put my clothes on and my shoes and as I think back I’m so lucky I’ll say I’m so blessed to have made it out of that bathroom you know I’m back to the group and We finished the shoot and I go we drop home So my wife says do you want to go to the hospital or I said no, I won’t go home and I just want to rest ⁓ so She goes and picks us up some food. I’m at home. I remember taking maybe two, three bites of the food and just feeling so nauseous. Like, man, I can’t even, I’m not even hungry anymore. And so I say, I’m gonna go and take a nap. If I wake up and I feel the same as I do now, we can go to the hospital. And this is where the story really gets. Hospital Experience and Diagnosis It’s going because in my dream or as I’m sleep. have a dream and It’s just I’m in a dark place and I just hear a voice and it says do you trust me and? I said well Absolutely, it said okay. Well, we have to go and I immediately wake up and I tap my wife and I say hey we should go to the hospital now and Then I go to the hospital so by day I’m taking engagement photos and by night. I’m in ICU immediately taken to the back with them saying whatever the stroke they felt that the stroke code was or what they call it in the hospital. And I was immediately taken back for a CAT scan and chest x-rays. Bill Gasiamis (12:31) Wow, man, that is a crazy story. ⁓ Firstly, how did the photos turn out? Ty Hawkins (12:39) photos they turned out good I would say in spite of the circumstances but if you look at the photos in as you know as well as we understand stroke you can look at my face and see the the facial droop in my top lip so as I’m trying to smile you my smile wasn’t wasn’t aligned it was it droops slightly so the right side of my face was impacted so I had a juke going to the right But I would say they turned out well despite the circumstances for what the circumstances were Bill Gasiamis (13:17) All things considered. Yeah. That is unbelievable. This dream like who now this is going to get trippy. I know like who was that in your dream that gave you that information. Ty Hawkins (13:30) So for me, at that time, I mean even now, I say it was God for me, speaking to me and letting me know that I needed to get to the hospital. And then at the hospital, when the doctor came in to give the news that they found what they thought was a mass on my brain, I remember hearing seeing a figure in the corner of my room and hearing that same voice say remember that I’m going to protect you and so from there you know I just tied it that that was God with me through through the stroke Bill Gasiamis (14:12) I love it that that was God with you, man. Why not? That is amazing. And that the person or that spirit or the being was in the room with you as well. Reassuring you. Wow. Ty Hawkins (14:22) Yes. Yeah, it was was crazy. remember so it’s time almost simultaneous the the doctor was coming in to give the news and he was The door was off-center to my left. So I see he he came in and The figure was in the corner to the right So as he comes in my wife is looking like he has bad he looks like he has a face of bad news so he mentions that there’s They found a mess and Simultaneously, heard me remember I’m going to protect you so as the doctor leaves I look at my wife and I say I don’t know how to explain this but I’m going to be okay and You know as destroyed as she was You know, that’s what I could say to her I couldn’t really explain it in that moment But I told her and ⁓ I knew that I was going to be fine Bill Gasiamis (15:25) Wow, man. So I had some moments when they gave me the news. I was at the hospital alone. It was probably 11 p.m. at night. It was a Saturday night. No, it was a Friday night. I’d sent my wife and the kids home because I didn’t want them to wait for hours and hours to find out the news, go home and rest and look after the kids. They were young teenagers, both of them at the time. And I was… Mindset and Recovery I got the news it was there’s a mass on your brain or a shadow on your brain that appeared in the scan. It could be a brain bleed. It could be a tumor and that tumor could be benign. It could be cancerous. That’s the way they broke the news. And I remember being kind of like, ⁓ okay, whatever. And I was so. I was so nonchalant about it. He says to me, do you have any questions? And I said, no, not at this stage. And I left it at that. And I basically just took the news, went to bed, had a bit of a sleep because the next morning I was going to wake my wife, her to come to hospital. I had to tell her the news and I did that. She came. And after I told her the look on her face was the first time that I kind of got a little bit scared. And then I had to ring. my client and tell my client I’m not coming into work today ⁓ because I’m in hospital and there’s something wrong with my brain I don’t know what it is and I start crying. But even through all of the drama, the three brain bleeds over two and a half years, brain surgery, walking, even through all of that and all the problems that it caused us, me, my family, my work, it never crossed my mind that I wouldn’t get through this or wouldn’t get over it or beyond it. Now I am still dealing with it. I still have a podcast that I have to do. because if I don’t do, I don’t get my therapy every week. But do you know, I’m moving through it, beyond it, overcoming it. I never believed for one moment that it would be the thing that stops me, defines me, even though I’ve had dark days, dark weeks, dark months, I always expected that it would shift and something would come out from the other side. I don’t know whether… ⁓ I would ⁓ allocate that to God or something else, but I truly deeply believe that like it was within me and maybe it was kind of God like type of experience, but I love how you’re in technically like the worst day of your life health wise, it could go one way or another and you’re just thinking I’m going to tell my wife everything is going to be fine and ⁓ We’ll just get through this. I think that is something that sort of set the foundation for how you were going to approach the whole entire recovery after that, this experience that you had. Ty Hawkins (18:40) Yes, I think that definitely set the tone. Having that experience and not… I never felt in danger. I knew that the journey, this process, wasn’t going to be easy. But I never felt that I was in danger. That my life was in jeopardy. the diagnosis and the statistics that show if you have a bleed in your brain stem that the percentage of survival is 25. So that’s one in four people that based on statistics that experience what I do one in four people survive. And then of those that do survive, they say that 10 % just make a significant recovery. And I never felt. that I was battling against those statistics each day that from the moment I got the news it was a cool calm collected call my mom, my brother and that’s what my wife did and you know I just tried to stay as composed as possible ⁓ because I never felt in danger and I didn’t want them to worry too much ⁓ you know I knew it was going to be be difficult because I went from One day running up and down the basketball court to being bedridden and barely could function. I couldn’t write. I lost the perception on size of writing. I couldn’t walk. ⁓ I forgot how to walk, though my body forgot how to walk. I could mentally think, hey, I want to take these steps and get up out of bed, but I needed help. So I spent a week in the hospital. I spent three weeks in an inpatient rehab facility. So as I mentioned It was the day of our engagement shoot so our wedding was set for three months later And that’s all I could really think about was I have to get ready for this wedding I have to get ready for our wedding. I have to get ready for our wedding. So every day I woke up ⁓ You know my athletic mind is up for the challenge ⁓ You know, God told me that I was going to be okay. And I knew that I had to show up and do the work when I was taught on the basketball court and just in life, you just have you show up and you, you, you battle back against adversity. And I decided that yes, like you, didn’t want this to define me. I didn’t feel that this was going to be the end of, of my life. ⁓ I knew that it was going to be a chapter that I would never forget, but I knew that I was up for the challenge. Therapy and Rehabilitation Bill Gasiamis (21:40) I love that athletic mindset, right? Your coach probably drilled you for years, know, like get up, get going, keep going, keep moving, push through, overcome, ⁓ try harder, you know, be more strategic, whatever, like the whole athletic mindset applied to stroke recovery. I reckon it’s such a massive, ⁓ like it’s such a massive benefit to have that going into a diversity, like recovering from a significant health. ⁓ situation because I know that there are players on the field who are not the best players but they are the most impactful because they do the most work and they get given labels like he’s a natural or ⁓ he’s gifted or stuff like that and it’s like dude I couldn’t I couldn’t walk straight when I was a young kid. The only reason why I appear gifted or natural is because I work all day every day. You classic Michael Jordan ⁓ kind of approach where Jordan talks about being ⁓ always training, always shooting hoops, always ⁓ on the basketball court more than anybody, even though he was Ty Hawkins (22:52) you Bill Gasiamis (23:00) Appearing to be kind of naturally gifted because of his body shape because of his athleticism because of his height But it meant nothing if he didn’t do the work every single day Ty Hawkins (23:12) Yes, yes, and even you know from a spiritual perspective There’s the saying that faith without works is is dead And so for me I had the faith and I knew that I needed that there was work work required of me I think even after ⁓ my experience of so as I mentioned I spent three weeks in the inpatient facility once I understood the magnitude and how much my Long-Term Effects of Brainstem Stroke mindset really helped me through. I reached out to a lot of my coaches and you don’t understand when you’re young how they’re, man they’re pushing me so hard, they’re pushing me so hard and I’m like well I’m glad that they pushed me this hard because because of that I felt prepared for the adversity that I faced in June of 2019 so you know I remember reaching out and just saying thank you for being as hard on me as you were because it helped me through this. Who would have known that years later that discipline that you were, that I thought as a young adult would, you know, thinking that you’re just being tough on me and it’s really building characters, building a mindset. And I grew to appreciate that as I started to reflect back on, you know, on my journey because a lot of the doctors said, You’re I feel that you’re recovering so fast because you were an athlete in I wasn’t just an athlete I worked hard my I took pride in like you said that Michael being in the gym and Just really working hard. It was one thing I said hey You might be better than me, but it’s one thing that you’re not gonna you might have more talent than me But you’re not going to outwork me and you know, that was my mindset Bill Gasiamis (25:03) Hmm. Ty Hawkins (25:06) with recovery, it’s every day. Once I understood what therapies that I would have to do. ⁓ So I remember in the inpatient facility, my first week there, the nurses would come clip my schedule to my wheelchair and they would come get me for therapy. After the first week, they would come clip my schedule to the wheelchair and they’d never, they wouldn’t come to get me because they knew that I was going to be wheeling myself down the hallway to get to whatever session, OT, occupational therapy, physical therapy, or speech therapy that I knew what time I needed to be there and I was going to be there because I was determined to get better. Bill Gasiamis (25:52) I to ask for permission to walk back to the therapy room ⁓ on my own because they were afraid I was going to fall and it was fair enough because my left side wasn’t really working well after about two and a half, three weeks I was on my feet but I still was quite unstable and they said, look, we’re not gonna let you walk alone. We’ll come, but we won’t help you like we have been helping you. We’ll just watch you walk. I was like, yes, do that. I felt safe, but also I had the ability to just get myself there. They had handrails down the hallway and everything that I could hold onto. But of course I went near them, tried not to hold on, held on when I needed to. I did everything I could to be on my feet on my own so I can get the brain getting used to being on this weird left side of my body, which is numb, tingly. and not receiving information that the foot was on the ground. Like the brain wasn’t being told your foot’s on the ground, man, you know, like step or tension muscle or do the stride or whatever. So I remember going through that and I remember complaining because I was spending too much time in my bed. And I was like, guys, like, what am I doing here? This is boring. And I need to get into a session. I need to do something. And they were, well, You know, we have to have lunch and we have to have other things that we attend to after I write reports on you and all that kind of stuff. You can’t be eight hours a day just in the gym or in the therapy room or whatever. And I’m like, ⁓ okay. I didn’t realize there was other technical things that happened in the background that wasn’t that was related to me, but not the as part of the physical stuff. So in, so instead what I did is I Ty Hawkins (27:38) Thanks, Ted. physical, yes. Bill Gasiamis (27:49) imagined myself exercising, I imagined myself walking, I imagined what it would look like when I was on my feet, etc. Because it rewires the same part of your brain as if you’re actually doing it. So I thought, right, if you’re not going to be with me, ⁓ taking me for the actual therapy, I’m going to imagine myself doing the therapy. Ty Hawkins (28:11) No, I was the same so For me, I didn’t so I couldn’t really Walk in the big the first the first week I spent a lot of a lot of the duration of my three weeks I spent in the in a wheelchair there, but I was able to in The first week I needed a lot of help moving from the bed to the wheelchair But after a while I could get myself out of bed into the wheelchair, will to therapy. That’s why they didn’t come because I wasn’t necessarily walking. But when I did walk, I would have a walker and they would use, somebody would be with me. And I was the same way. I’m like, man, I’m in bed a lot. I’m only in therapy for an hour and a half each session. neural fatigue really, could appreciate my breaks because I was so, that hour took a lot out of me. But as my body reacclimated to the workload that it was receiving, ⁓ I was able to stay awake a lot better and my mom would then take me outside to do extra things. We would play toss for my hand. ⁓ She would toss the tennis ball. It would help me walk outside a little bit. Bill Gasiamis (29:11) Yeah, same. Ty Hawkins (29:37) But just, you would help, RMOF would help as much as they could for me to get extra, ⁓ some extra time and extra movement in outside of just the hour and a half that I was in the therapy session. Bill Gasiamis (29:52) Yeah, I love that. My parents came along as well. said to my wife and everyone came past and I spent time outside with them, you know, having some time in the sun, a meal, a coffee, something like that. That was really helpful. I think you and I also both benefited from the fact that the bleeds, although really serious, were not catastrophic bleeds and we had a lot of time to react. to our situation that we found ourselves in. I took seven days, you took weeks. And I think that was just pure, utter luck that the bleed was a little small enough to start impacting us in a very small way that we thought was not significant and not at risk of our health. And also we both benefit from looking like we haven’t had a stroke. No one can tell that you would have or I’ve had a stroke, but you are. Ty Hawkins (30:23) Please hit. Yes. Bill Gasiamis (30:47) also still though like me living with deficits right and you’ve got a few of them let me just read out the list you’ve got left-sided numbness and tingling which i have and weakness which i have but you’ve also got ⁓ a taxia which you’ll tell me about in a minute double vision ⁓ you’re going to also tell me about gastroparesis and crps so for someone that is so upbeat Ty Hawkins (30:51) Yes. Bill Gasiamis (31:16) looks like you do ⁓ like you haven’t had a strike, etc. You are experiencing some ongoing deficits years out. So first, tell me a little bit about a taxia. What’s that? Ty Hawkins (31:24) Yes. So ataxia is, impacts the muscle coordination. So when my nervous system gets overwhelmed, it almost scrambles my coordination. So sometimes it’ll impact my gait specifically. It really like impacts. Again my left side so I was impacted in the brain stem right side of face left side of body So it impacts a lot of and I’m left side dominant. So as I’m trying to lift weights or play basketball ⁓ I’ll have a I’ll feel what someone miscoordinated and so my coordination isn’t ⁓ Isn’t smooth once I get overwhelmed or My nervous system isn’t sending the signals properly then it impacts my running so then ⁓ doesn’t send the signals for all the muscles to fire in the proper chain and then it impacts Yeah, like my shoulder so we’re trying to like lift things overhead ⁓ then it’ll get shaky ⁓ But yeah, it’s pretty much just a lack of coordination for like to simplify things The Importance of Exercise in Recovery Bill Gasiamis (32:52) Okay, cool. Interesting. So I have a very minor version of that. My left side, probably not as coordinated as my right side anyway, because I’m right side dominant. But now my left side is just a little bit out, you know, and when I get tired, my balance goes off. And ⁓ I find myself leaning in one direction. I lean into the doorway, you know, when I’m really tired, getting out of bed in the morning, I need to make sure that my foot is on the ground so I don’t lose my balance. that kind of stuff. So tell me about gastroparesis. That’s one I haven’t come across a lot. Ty Hawkins (33:27) So, ⁓ just from having the brain stem is in control ⁓ of a lot of your, not basic functions, but your essential functions. So breathing, heart rate, digestion. So what gastroparesis is, is there’s ⁓ a lack of communication between my brain and the vagus nerve. which will then lead to my digestive system either pausing or moving slow, moving a lot more slowly. And so what that can lead to is a lot of stomach discomfort where I can have three bites of food and feel like I had a six or six course meal. ⁓ you know, and then when that system isn’t functioning properly, it leads to issues with like my skin and things like that. But Gastroparesis from my understanding is just either like a slowdown or paralysis of your digestive system. Bill Gasiamis (34:33) I hear you. Unexpected, ⁓ unexpected side effect of a stroke, right? People hear stroke, they, they know it’s associated to the head, but gastrointestinal issues become a massive problem for some people after stroke because the two are linked. And, you know, you can heal your brain by healing your gut. And when I say heal your brain, you can improve how it functions by healing your gut. ⁓ And like if you stop eating the standard American diet, standard Australian diet, same thing. If you stop eating that, you improve the gut conditions and that improves your brain, but also your other organs. But here you’ve got like a neurological disconnect sometimes when you’re overwhelmed by the vagus nerve that stops the standard basic functioning of your gut digestion. Like I imagine Ty Hawkins (35:29) Yes. Bill Gasiamis (35:31) you have a meal and it takes longer to digest or and therefore it causes discomfort therefore you are you avoiding food because of that? Ty Hawkins (35:41) Some days some days ⁓ You know and that it this one really my wife it’s you need to have you need to eat you need to have your meals and Like I’m not really hungry. It’s ⁓ is a lot of times I’m confused because I have such a discomfort in my stomach that I don’t know if I’m full or if is discomfort from you know, just just everything neurologically So I’ll have to try and guess like hey ⁓ Am I am I fool what did I eat yesterday? What did I have today already? So some days I found myself avoiding food Just because I think that if I do I’ll give my system time to either catch up or slow down ⁓ So simply put I do as I’m thinking about it. I do avoid foods at times Bill Gasiamis (36:35) Hmm. Yeah, it makes sense that you would. And I met a guy many years ago, we’re talking about maybe 10 years ago, who had a similar thing to you, but a little more dramatic in that he didn’t get hunger messages at all. So he had to eat only when other people were eating as a reminder that it’s time to eat. if he didn’t do that, he wouldn’t ever get the message that you have to eat. You haven’t eaten for four days or five days. Ty Hawkins (37:15) I’ll get you know I think that sometimes that that may happen where I’m just not getting the signal and but I’m aware that hey I know I need to eat I’m aware that maybe it’s been a day or I have a workout coming up that I know I need to eat for and sometimes it can just be I can have a banana and It feels like I had a full a steak dinner with potatoes and a vegetable and like wow just from a banana and a glass of water and then some days my appetite is normal where I think once I find you know my routine I found a routine of sitting in a sauna and working out and ⁓ eating regimen so in the morning I would have I’ll have a cup of warm tea Living with CRPS: A Daily Challenge And if I’m not overly hungry or have a gym session, I’ll just have some fruit like a fruit salad and I’ll feel light and my digestive system appreciates that. And then ⁓ my body responds well to the heat. So I’ll try to sit in the sauna or exercise to get myself to sweat. And that seems to help my systems kind of stay in syncing and rhythm. So when I do that, my appetite is pretty normal, but when I find myself either overwhelmed, just neurologically or from the stresses of the day, then systems just start to go out of whack. Bill Gasiamis (38:55) I hear you. Exercise is so important. Like doesn’t matter what condition you’re in after stroke, you got to find a way to move your body as much as possible. And it causes so many positive cascades in your body that you, the bang for buck by exercising that your brain and body gets, it’s just unmeasurable. You cannot measure it. It’s so, so important. ⁓ And I love that you experienced direct benefits that you’re aware of. when you exercise. Ty Hawkins (39:27) Yes, and that’s that’s the physical benefits and it’s also been very Beneficial mentally to mentally emotionally because a lot of people don’t Really when you hear a stroke and you think a recovery is just hey the physical recovery and hey you look great tie and like I Do look great, but internally some days I don’t and mentally some days I don’t but I know that When I get, when I go to the gym and I work out, my mood is, it’s night and day when I don’t and when I do. And so I committed to, ⁓ working out as much, even if it’s just going outside for a in the neighborhood, getting outside, fresh air, it’s, have to move my body because if I don’t, that’s when things, you know, physically, mentally, and emotionally just start to break down. Bill Gasiamis (40:23) Yeah, we are meant to be moving. We’re moving creatures, you we’re meant to be moving, not sitting down too much, you know, driving desk work, all that kind of stuff is not normal. And we’re to be doing the, the physical version of getting somewhere like walking somewhere or, you know, running or, riding a bike. And if you can’t get on a bike, get a one of those sit down three wheeler bikes. If you need a walker, walk with a walker. you know, whatever the situation is, find a way around it because exercising is hard, not exercising is hard, but like far harder. Ty Hawkins (41:11) Yes, yes, I just I made a video about that and I posted it Maybe two days ago about the gym and I woke up I was a little tired and I still got up and I went to the gym and after I said that same thing that Though I got the hard work done. The work was hard, but not moving is hard too. It may not be immediately hard but it’s hard on your body not moving it adds up over time and ⁓ it’s what kept me I think not I think I know it’s what kept me the movement that I did early on paid off you know the doctors every session it was a lot of movement ⁓ and even now I’m just conscious of I may reach in the cabinet to get a cup but I’m You know extending my arm more more than the one time to get the cup because that’s that’s therapy You know a lot of people have this ⁓ Miss conception that therapy is just that one hour in the therapy environment I try to find everything to be therapy Reaching for a cup reaching for a plate eating ⁓ You know the steps that I take around the house ⁓ even just dancing you know I’m not I don’t have the, I have a little rhythm, but I’m not the best dancer, but music and moving my body just as I feel was something that was very, you know, beneficial for me. And it took me back to think when we were children and we’re kids, we just have these, what we think as adults is random movements. We’re folding ourselves like pretzels and spinning in circles. And it’s like, hey, this is what, body is meant to be freely moving and we kind of lose track of that once we get to work or school sit at a desk for eight hours sit in a vehicle for long long drives and you know so on and so forth then we forget that we take for granted you know moving the ability to move our bodies until you know our bodies show us like hey you know this is the repercussions sometimes of you not moving your body. Bill Gasiamis (43:34) I love that. That’s a beautiful way to wrap that up is by saying the repercussions of not moving your body. It’s exactly what it is. They occur. Your hips get tight, your joints change in their ability to handle stress. Your bones get ⁓ thinner. You know, like so many things change in a negative way. You got to move even if you’re doing a real, you know, if you have a real challenging stroke experience and stroke. ⁓ deficits, you just got to move as much as you can. I love I love that ⁓ that approach. So you also are now dealing with CRPS. Now I’ve heard of that before, but describe that and what it’s like for you. Ty Hawkins (44:18) ⁓ So it was misdiagnosed for some years as just neuropathy Which is the numbness and tingling on my left side? So if I if you were to look at me and draw a straight line down My right side feels What do you know the ⁓ normal person would feel you know? ⁓ It’s just freely flowing it feels normal right and my left side is just You know, constant daily pain. You know, I feel something, ⁓ whether it’s in, you know, my leg, my arm, ⁓ you know, ⁓ it can be even having clothes on like this jacket right now is sending signals to my brain that ⁓ my arm is in pain and I’m not in pain clearly, but my brain is sending signals that me having this jacket on this material brushing up against my arm. ⁓ It’s painful water hitting my skin painful and my paint but That you know depending on the temperature you know if they’re cool at the bed sheets are cold of Pain level rises through the roof. ⁓ Yeah, it hurts But you know a lot of you know my mindset Bill Gasiamis (45:23) What about the big shades? What about big shades? Yeah. Ty Hawkins (45:44) I don’t know. just I don’t complain about it and it’s like hey, you know, this is what I have to deal with So it’s constant like times. I feel it deep within my abdomen. I’ll feel it in my shoulder ⁓ You know, but CRPS it attacks ⁓ It’s essentially your brain just signaling that it is your brain stuck in a fight-or-flight cycle and it’s constantly Signaling that there’s some it’s a threat or some kind of pain is happening. So From putting the sneaker on, it’s really been attacking, as of lately, my left ankle and my left foot. certain shoes, I can feel the pain deep in the bones in my foot. And then sometimes I’ll just feel like ⁓ a very deep ache in my shoulder. Or if the temperature gets cold enough, it’ll feel like somebody’s just grabbing, know, just has a hold on my rib cage. and ⁓ you know so that’s Lightly to put CRPS what I think for me because I’m so used to the pain now is that my I always say daily I have a pain level of ⁓ four four to five where somebody that’s not used to chronic pain would say it’s eight or a nine and ⁓ Some days it’s frustrating Some days it’s tiring, know, the sensation varies. It’s a numbness and tingling to a deep bone-jarring ache to almost a burning sensation at times, like depending on how much I’m moving. Like, so if I were to move with this jacket right now, as I move my arm, then there’s a deep pain in my tricep and then a very deep pain from the wrist to my fingertips. And sometimes it’ll make me, like people, I’ll stand and I’ll just be squeezing my hands and people may think that I’m just, you know, just holding my hands, but I’m trying to let my body know that it’s okay. So I’m, you know, massaging or rubbing and ⁓ sometimes that helps or sometimes I just have to, you know, take a nap or close off other sensors to calm the brain down. Bill Gasiamis (48:11) my wife gets in trouble when she touches my left hand and she’s being gentle. If she’s being gentle, it’s like, dude, do not do that. She’s like, what do you mean? I’m being gentle. being rough. Don’t just be gentle with it. It hurts too much. It’s hurting now. And I’m in an enclosed room with no wind, no anything, but my left arm feels like it’s cold. Ty Hawkins (48:16) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Bill Gasiamis (48:38) freezing while my right side is perfectly fine. You know, it’s a very mild, beautiful day outside. ⁓ the wind, when I go outside, if I’m wearing shorts and a t-shirt, the wind makes it hurt. And if I go to the beach, I have to wear, ⁓ what we call runners, trainers, joggers in the water because the little pebbles of sand, they feel like they’re, I just stepped on like a thousand pins. Ty Hawkins (49:01) Mm-hmm. Bill Gasiamis (49:07) or something, it’s just ridiculous. And then I sleep on my left side so that I can, like you do with your hand, you just squeeze it to just let it know like it’s okay. I sleep on my left side so the sheets don’t rub on my left side and I don’t get woken up by my sheets in the middle of the night. That’s how I kind of get around it. And I would say that my pain is around a three to a four, mostly. Ty Hawkins (49:08) you Go. Emotional Resilience and Mental Health Bill Gasiamis (49:37) kind of closer to a three. And when we go for a long walk, sometimes I’ll go for a long walk with my wife. If we’re visiting a city that we’ve never been to before, we love to see the city on foot the whole time. And we might be walking for four, five, six hours through the whole day after, you know, stopping for a coffee or something to eat or whatever. And my left side will be going, we are not doing this anymore. We’re completely done. And I will have to have a conversation in my head with my left side and say, you’re coming along for the ride because you are overreacting. The right side is perfectly fine, which means that I haven’t done anything to hurt my body. haven’t over exerted ourselves. So you’re just overreacting. Be quiet and let’s get on with it. And believe it or not, man, that works. That quietens things down. and then we just get on with the job of walking and seeing what we need to see. Ty Hawkins (50:38) Yes, yes, so the two things my wife, ⁓ so she likes to pick at my skin sometimes whether she sees a little pimple or something and I’m like, please not today. It’s days that I can tolerate it, but it’s days where, and in the beginning she didn’t understand. I didn’t either and I’m like, am I just overreacting? I’m like, no, this really hurts. And so as I started to understand my diagnosis, I explained it to her and she’s been. Bill Gasiamis (50:49) you Ty Hawkins (51:07) you know more aware and I’ll let her know if it’s like hey I’m fine today it’s good so you’re good to go and two I remember ⁓ she loves Disney so we went to Disney World for her birthday and that’s a lot of walking a lot of people so ⁓ and when I get overstimulated then sometimes I get a little irritable So we’re walking and then, you know, I’m like, have to control my emotions. And then like you have a conversation with myself, like, Hey, my right side is not tired at all. My right side, we can go, we can go. And I’m like, Hey, we are, ⁓ we are okay. We’re, we are totally fine. This is a walk in the park. It’s a lot of people. Yes, but we are okay. We are safe and I wouldn’t do, I let my body know it’s nothing that I’m not putting you in any harm’s way. We’re just walking. And we may have to slow the pace down a little bit. But then as I get back in rhythm, then I found myself, okay, we’re back. We’re back to speed. And I really think that, like you say, it’s you having that mindset and then telling yourself. So day two in Disney, day one, I didn’t know what to expect. But day two is like, hey, we’re having this pep talk before we even go outside. We’re not, we’re cooperating today. We’re going for a walk and it’s going to be a long day. So. let’s go and as long as I have comfortable shoes and I think you know and I walk take breaks and able to sit down at times and you know my body then it’s like starts to trust in a lot that he’s going to take care of me so you know I have those conversations too in those same experiences. Bill Gasiamis (52:58) I relate to that so much, man. I get stuck. You know that feeling that you get in your hand? I get it in the ball of my left foot. It just becomes really, really tight. Like it feels, it doesn’t close up or anything, but it becomes really, really tight. And I can’t do anything to… undo it, you know, so I’ve got to like sit there, massage it, massage it, just try and get the tendons and all of that stuff to move into work. That’s kind of like the only way that I can, that I can get through it, but I have to get regular massages. get a massage every once every about 10 days on my left side to loosen everything up. Otherwise it just puts my right side out as well, because then it starts impacting the other side of my body. Ty Hawkins (53:35) Mm-hmm. Yeah, because you start to overcompensate. Yeah, I do the same while I start going for those kind of weird here’s movement, movement recovery. So I do a lot of things to move my body stretch recovery and things like that. I actually have an appointment tomorrow afternoon to do that. Bill Gasiamis (53:45) Hmm. Yeah, it’s so important. ⁓ Little, little things that kind of help you get through the next 10 days or two weeks or whatever it is, make such a difference if you can make it to a massage or if you can get your body look at that. It really helps. I find it helps me mentally more than anything because it eases all of those ⁓ discomforts and then my brain can just feel a little bit relaxed, you know, for a few days. Ty Hawkins (54:20) Yes. Bill Gasiamis (54:28) four days, 10 days, whatever it is, you whatever I get out of it. ⁓ And some days I feel like, man, need to see that. I need to see somebody right now. And I can’t get an appointment, but then by the time I get to the next day, it’s settled. Ty Hawkins (54:38) Mm-hmm. Yes. Bill Gasiamis (54:45) So sometimes the cycle requires me to just sort of stop, rest and not push through and just allow it to settle down. Ty Hawkins (54:54) No, yeah, I definitely think that allowing some days for the body to just rest and you know kind of catch up and recover does does the brain and body very well? ⁓ You know, I think I know for myself I was so Engulfed in I have to do something every day every day and keep my body moving that I wasn’t allowing it to rest in I remember even on the basketball court, had a day off from practice. it’s, I have to allow my body time to rest and also my brain. you know, when we’re constantly thinking how can I improve, that’s actually putting, you know, some stress on our brain. ⁓ You know, that I started to learn to try to limit and just say, hey, I’m taking a day off. I don’t even want to. think about what I may have to do. I just want to be here in the moment. I just want to enjoy a movie today or just spend time with the family and not think about anything recovery related. Bill Gasiamis (56:00) Yeah, it’s so important to you. You need time out, man. I hear you. ⁓ So you’re you’re being a few through a few tests and you’ve had some challenges to overcome. You’ve made it through your generally very positive, upbeat, glass half full kind of guy. But there probably was some dark times and difficult moments. How did you? Like how did you deal with them? How do you kind of navigate when it gets really tough and challenging emotionally and mentally? Ty Hawkins (56:34) Before I used to just try to keep myself busy at first not realizing that that was almost making it worse in a sense because I was never dealing with the emotion of What I experienced I never allowed myself allowed myself to fully understand and feel it until recently and so recently I started Started talk therapy psychotherapy. ⁓ that’s been tremendous. And then also just really taking time to reflect, I’ll do yoga, I’ll meditate, and you know, I’ll just get more vulnerable about my story I share with people, and I think that allows me to make it through just being honest with myself. I think that the type A athletic mind that I have, it was like, hey, you’re fine, you’re fine, you’re fine, you’re okay, and I never allowed myself to say, you’re not okay. Once I did I think that was when I started to see more progress because I was honoring how I truly felt versus how I wanted to feel And it was hey some days I told my just recently maybe maybe two days ago. So my mom, know was it was a rough day and I was like hey this sucks mom and She was like, know, yes you you have to honor and it’s okay to say that that it It does suck, but know it’s you show gratitude that you’re still alive to experience have the experience of life But understand you know you have to honor how you feel in the moment, and it’s for me. I’m able to Shift quicker out of those moments now because it’s like hey I honor it this sucks may have a little cry then immediately after it better then have a little laugh and like hey, okay, you know so I just Understand that there’s the range of emotions in its waves. So instead of going against the tide I just roll with the waves these days and you know is if I’m sad I just sit with it in the moment I talk to whoever I need to talk to and you know, let them know hey today is a bit harder of a day rather than you’re okay. You’re okay. You’re strong and I eliminated that ego and just honored how I feel because I think especially as men, we’re we’re taught to, you know, just tough it out, get up and dust it off. And it’s like, hey, we’re human at the end of the day and we all have So I think it’s better to honor your emotions. You know, we all have them for a reason, ⁓ you know, so it’s okay to cry. It’s okay to feel sad, you know, and work through that and you’ll eventually, hopefully we’ll see happiness, enjoy on the other side. Bill Gasiamis (59:30) Yeah, there is always a, what’s it like a reward on the other side of the hard time. Like you might not know when you’re going through the hard time, but it always leads to a positive outcome on the other side. You just got to give a time to get there. You know, got to just go through the ride and I’m similar to you talk therapy, man. Well, what a difference that’s made in my life. It just is so tremendous that you find somebody by the way, who you like to go and talk to. ⁓ So you might have to try a couple of different therapists, but like it is next level. You go there, you could talk about anything you want. Nobody’s judging you. You know, don’t have to share that with your loved ones. You can just be yourself and a different version of yourself in that room. that again, it just takes more weight off your shoulders. It creates more lightness. So I’m fully behind that. Ty Hawkins (1:00:26) Yes, yes, it’s been, it’s made a tremendous difference for me and I see, you know, this is, moving into year seven and early on I refused to go to therapy and, ⁓ you know, I think it wasn’t, it wasn’t until year three or four that I really decided to see, really dig in and understand therapy and realize that, it’s not just, I talk about the stroke less and less now. and just about life. It helps me every Monday. It’s a great start to my week. Bill Gasiamis (1:01:03) Man amazing start to your week. Well done. I love it that it’s every Monday Your where are you doing this recording from now, where are you? Lessons Learned: Recovery Insights for Stroke Survivors Ty Hawkins (1:01:14) Actually, I’m actually at work. ⁓ so I was able to return to work. ⁓ Fortunately, so I’m back with with Verizon ⁓ You know Emma in my sales role, so I was able to return to my career and In addition to my career being able to speak and do things like that. But currently I’m at work We’re getting ready to close up shop soon But they gave me the time because they they are very accommodating and understanding how important this is to me and they support me here on my journey. Bill Gasiamis (1:01:48) Wow. This episode is not sponsored by Verizon, but thank you Verizon for allowing this to happen, man. Yeah. We love it. All right. I really appreciate that. ⁓ sounds like the stroke incident has shaped your life in a meaningful way. Ty Hawkins (1:02:08) Yes, yes it has. would say I was a very selfish person before and I don’t mean that like ⁓ in a bad context. was I just thought about myself and my goals and not how my life could impact others. And after the stroke, just being, you know, given this story and seeing how I had no idea that me sharing that I had a stroke and My recovery would lead to a social media following and people looking to me for, you know, hope and inspiration that it was like, wow, you know, I’m actually am somebody that can impact. now it’s, you know, I live to help others. That’s why I continue to share almost seven years later and stay in touch with, with people and help try to provide resources that, you know, You know, just be a resource for people that go through this or loved ones, you know, to anybody who goes through this or any adversity, just to show, my story is a testament that, you know, adversity does hit, but you can make it through. You know, it starts with a mindset and a great community. And, you know, I’m very proud of my story and, know, where I am now and the person that I have become despite, you know, that unfortunate circumstance and event. Bill Gasiamis (1:03:37) Yeah, I’m with you, man. I love what you said about like, how you you’re impacting, you know, you’re aware of how you can impact people, we impact people all the time, negative, positive, whatever it is all the time, you may as well focus the needle towards positive. If you become aware of it, you know, it’s way better. You get much more reward than just being about yourself. I mean, what a Ty Hawkins (1:03:54) Yes. Bill Gasiamis (1:04:03) And I was the same, like we all kind of start there. You know, it’s about how do I succeed? How do I make the next dollar? How do I do this? How do I do that? And then at some point you shift. And for me, the catalyst was the strokes for you. It seems like it was the same thing. And the reward that I never thought I would get from shifting the needle towards helping other people has been way, way greater than anything I ever ⁓ focused on before. because it’s more of a global reward. It’s less of a focused, narrow reward, which is, know, money, car, house, you know, vacation. It’s now. a feedback loop from other people and I get messages on the podcast every single day on YouTube, emails, people going this episode really has made a difference to my life or I loved hearing that story from that person, know, the comments make it so worth doing. It is amazing. Ty Hawkins (1:05:03) Yes, yes, yeah, for me the message is hey, you know, your story helped me make it through or it helps me you serve as the inspiration and I don’t do it for that but it just helps. You know, it’s just good, a good feeling knowing that, you know, this isn’t in vain and that I’m able to impact people, especially in places that I’ve never

Helloooo my friend. In this episode, I give you a mantra that you can use whenever your mind starts to spiral and worry about all the things. Cuz believe meee...I've been there many times. I hope this mantra can be a tool in your toolbox for whenever you need it. I personally use this mantra whenever I find my mind starting to spiral and it just helps to ground me rather than letting my mind continue to spiral. And if you're in this type of season, number one pleaseeee get the support you need and I hope this episode can resonate with you. Love, Randi@randi.paulos

Welcome back to Binge Buddies: Off the (Chain)Saw. Episode 7 drops us into Texas Chainsaw 3D — the sequel that boldly ignores most of the franchise, picks up after the 1974 original, and asks the timeless question: what if Leatherface… had property rights? Bryan, Zombie Dog, Joel, and Ryan break down the legacy sequel that brought the family back, handed out some baffling timeline math, and delivered one of the most infamous lines in horror history: “Do your thing, cuz.” Yes. That happened. In a movie. In theaters. On purpose. We're talking surprise inheritances, carnival-set chaos, wildly confused character motivations, and the strange attempt to turn a chainsaw-wielding cannibal into something almost resembling an anti-hero. Is it misunderstood fun? Is it tonal whiplash in 3D glasses? Is it a meme that accidentally became a movie? Grab your chainsaw. And maybe a calculator for the timeline. Cuz… it's time.

Firstly, Is Mr Brightside a sport song? Great to have you back listeners. We're loving the comments and feedback, and we're also loving the little army of Problemistas we're growing here. So this week, what do you do when you don't want to bang your partner anymore?Not all men are created equally. Some men don't ejaculate when they orgasm. What do you think? True or false? Is the "Guy-Dry-Gasm" a real thing? Are you sick of the dating scene? We hear from a lovely lady who's disappointed with the men on offer. She's struggling to maintain a feel of hope! So we offer great advice to, solve problems, and discuss penis sizes and orgasmns, what more could you want?#GuyDryGasm is the hashtag mission of the week. Tag Alex and Jeff on social and use that "hashy", let's make silly stuff go viral. Cuz why not.Record your questions here: https://www.therapyjeff.comKeep up with Alex at https://alexandramoskovichpsychotherapy.comJeff's TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@therapyjeffJeff's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therapyjeffListen to more podcasts like this: https://wavepodcastnetwork.comHead to https://www.factormeals.com/solved50off and use code solved50off to get 50 percent off and free breakfast for a year!Get 15% off OneSkin with the code SOLVED at https://www.oneskin.co/SOLVED #oneskinpodDISCLAIMER: The insights shared in this podcast are for educational and entertainment purposes only, and should not be seen as a substitute for professional therapy. The guidance is general in nature, and does not equate to the personalized care provided by a licensed therapist. The callers are not therapy clients.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey PRIDE fam! In this week's episode the hosts cover a wide range of topics including recent celebrity news, international travel experiences, and a detailed discussion on the BAFTA incident involving racial slurs and Tourette syndrome. Do you want the tea? Cuz we KNOW you want the tea!

3855 – March 6, 2026 – It’s Time We PULLED THE PLUG on Congress! – Who needs a SLUSH FUND? Congress needs a SLUSH FUND! A BIG ONE. MILLIONS of dollars’ worth. WHO PAYS for it? YOU pay for it! WHY can’t we FIND OUT who has USED IT? CUZ it’s a BIG ole deep dark SECRET! So…. MYOB! Much ... The post It’s Time We PULLED THE PLUG on Congress! appeared first on CSC Talk Radio.

**THIS EPISODE CONTAINS FULL SPOILERS**More like "No Other NOMINATIONS," am I right?!?! Cuz it didn't get any Oscar noms! Get it?... this thing on? On this episode of the Film is Lit podcast, we dive into the latest film from one of our all-time favorite directors, Park Chan-wook, the razor-sharp black comedy thriller “No Other Choice.” It's a dark, shocking story about just how far one man will go after being laid off. And speaking of shocking, we did not expect the novel it's based on, “The Ax” by the legendary Donald E. Westlake, to completely knock us out. It quietly became one of the best books we've ever read. It's that good. So the big question: does Park Chan-wook's twisted vision live up to the cold-blooded brilliance of Westlake's novel? Or is the film its own beast entirely? Listen and find out.#NoOtherChoice #ParkChanWook #LeeByunghun #TheAx #DonaldEWestlake #BlackComedy #Thriller #FilmIsLit #SonYejin #booktoscreen #moviereview #FilmisLitpod #OscarSnub #bookreviewpodcast

One of our listeners says he was given no choice but to LIE right to his date’s face… Cuz if he was Truthful about why he REALLY had to suddenly leave... she’d probably never talk to him again.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of our listeners says he was given no choice but to LIE right to his date’s face… Cuz if he was Truthful about why he REALLY had to suddenly leave... she’d probably never talk to him again.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of our listeners says he was given no choice but to LIE right to his date’s face… Cuz if he was Truthful about why he REALLY had to suddenly leave... she’d probably never talk to him again.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Vance Morris - Deliver Service Now Institute On the Customer Experience: "Every detail in your business is either enhancing or detracting from the experience. There is no middle ground." Many businesses focus on customer acquisition, but not all businesses focus on customer retention.  Some businesses just have a hard time figuring out what to do beyond being nice to retain customers. Vance Morris has taken his Disney work experience, along with his other life experiences and created a coaching platform to teach business leaders how to retain customers.  He does this by teaching these entrepreneurs how to build their brand by expanding the positive perceptions their customers have of their business, by giving these customers wonderful experinces as they do business.  Helping their customers feel something almost magical. Vance reveals the power and profitability of focusing on the customer experience. You'll hear how small details can set your business miles ahead of the competition, why customer retention often beats new lead generation, and how “Disney-fying” your business can create raving, repeat customers. Plus, Vance Morris discusses creative, actionable low-cost ideas to wow your clients, and explains why any business, from the boring financial services to routine oil changes, can become a premium brand with the right approach. Listen as Vance explains how you can make doing business with you something clients actually look forward to. Enjoy! Visit Vance at: https://vancemorris.com/ Also at: https://wow52ways.com/   Podcast Overview: 00:00 "Customer Retention and Experience" 06:21 "Franchise Search After Corporate Exit" 09:15 "Flexible Franchise and Challenges" 11:13 "Contract Dispute Leads to Exit" 16:15 Grassroots Marketing Success Steps 18:55 "Recruiting College Students Effectively" 21:35 "Importance of Personal Thank You" 26:39 Mold Removal and Home Renewal 27:46 "Fogging Walls with Pencil Holes" 32:55 Networking Leads to Unexpected Opportunities 34:15 Disney's Lesson: Attention to Detail 37:22 Kwik Trip vs. BP Station 41:35 Chick-fil-A Ownership Model Explained 46:12 "Building Fanatical Brand Loyalty" 48:42 Differentiation Through Office Experience 51:36 "Transforming Financial Advisor Client Experience" 54:29 Professional Technician Standards Sponsors: Live Video chat with our customers here with LiveSwitch: https://join.liveswitch.com/gfj3m6hnmguz Some videos have been recorded with Riverside: https://www.riverside.fm/?utm_campaign=campaign_5&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=rewardful&via=james-kademan Podcast Transcription: Vance Morris [00:00:00]: So now she can charge whatever price she wants to charge, but she still was just a dentist. I said, we've gotta niche down. So I said, who do you like working with? She said, oh, I love working with the kids. I said, okay, great. Let's just have you be a pediatric dentist. So now you work with them from, you know, 2 to 18. And after that, they— you don't talk to them. And I said, okay, great. Vance Morris [00:00:20]: Now you specialize. So you're gonna get a little bit more, um, elasticity in your pricing. You'll be able to charge more cuz you're a specialist. I said, but you need, you need something from your personality to really make this work. I said, what's your favorite movie? And she says, Peter Pan. Great. So you're going to be the pirate dentist. So she dresses up like Captain Hook. James Kademan [00:00:40]: You have found Authentic Business Adventures, the business program that brings you the struggle stories and triumphant successes of business owners across the land. Downloadable audio episodes can be found on the podcast link found at drawincustomers.com. We are locally underwritten by the Bank of Sun Prairie, Calls on Call Extraordinary Answering Service, The Bold Business Book, and LiveSwitch. Today we're welcoming slash preparing to learn from Vance Morris of Deliver Service Now Institute. So Vance, how is it going today? Vance Morris [00:01:09]: It is fantastic, James. Hopefully we'll drop a couple of golden nuggets today. James Kademan [00:01:14]: That's, uh, that's the goal here. So why don't we start with what is the— oh my gosh, what was it? Deliver Service Institute? Deliver Service Now Institute? Vance Morris [00:01:21]: Yep. James Kademan [00:01:22]: All right. What is that? What is that? Vance Morris [00:01:24]: That's a great question. It is a place where, um, I teach business owners, entrepreneurs, uh, really about customer retention. Cause there's a lot of gurus out there that are, you know, can give you, you know, 10,000 leads by Monday afternoon and, you know, you know, flakebook ads, Google, all that stuff. There's not a lot of folks focusing on retention. Um, and then of course, in order to have retention, you've gotta have great customer experiences. So those are the two areas that I really focus on. Um, you know, showing businesses how to— word I've been using a while is Disney-fy. So taking all of the boring mundane things that we have to do day in and day out in the business, uh, finding a way to create an experience out of them. Vance Morris [00:02:12]: So that we become memorable, uh, we're top of mind, um, and, uh, you know, people are doing that, uh, word-of-mouth marketing for us. James Kademan [00:02:22]: Nice. So tell me, how do you get involved in this? Vance Morris [00:02:26]: That's a great question. Um, well, here in Maryland, I have, uh, 3 home service businesses, so I'm, I'm not one of those consultants that have never done anything. James Kademan [00:02:36]: I read a few books, right? Vance Morris [00:02:38]: You know, yeah, you know, I went to consulting school, I got the little, you know, thing. No, it's not, not who I am. So I own 3 home service businesses here in Maryland, mold remediation company, Oriental rug washing facility, and a traditional carpet cleaning company. All very sexy businesses, I will tell you. James Kademan [00:02:56]: Yeah, super duper. Well, they're based on dirt and— Yeah, right. Vance Morris [00:03:00]: Dirt and all the good stuff. James Kademan [00:03:01]: Right. Vance Morris [00:03:03]: So, you know, I— when I started those businesses, I've had them now for 19 years. Um, I knew that I was going to be aiming for an affluent client. I didn't want to be, you know, scrubbing down and dirty rentals and things like that. I wanted to, you know, really have a premium service just like Disney, uh, for affluent clients. And so from day one, that is the direction that I went with my marketing, with the service, with the experiences. Um, after a few years, um, people started asking me, you know, Vance, you don't look like you're working too hard. Um, What's your secret? How do you do it? Um, so I said, well, it's really simple. This is actually the first thing I learned. Vance Morris [00:03:44]: I worked for Disney for 10 years. First thing I learned there was that Disney runs on systems. They got marketing systems, operation systems. You wanna learn— you wanna change a tire on a bus, they got a system for that. Carry a tray in a restaurant, they got a system for that. So all I really did was take all of that, put it into those businesses. Um,, and 7 years ago I actually was able to hire, uh, a GM and fast forward to today, I spend about 90 minutes a week on, on those 3 businesses. James Kademan [00:04:16]: Very cool. Very cool. And how do you— let's just take these one by one, cuz I imagine you didn't start all 3 of those businesses at the same time. Vance Morris [00:04:25]: Did not. James Kademan [00:04:26]: Nope. And I would imagine carpet cleaning came first. Vance Morris [00:04:29]: It did. All right. Yes. Um, and actually I, I, uh, started with a franchise. Um, you know, because I— it had a great proven concept. You know, I was new to business ownership. I'd been in, you know, corporate muckety-muck for 20-plus years. And so I needed something that had a system behind it. Vance Morris [00:04:51]: So I was with the franchise system for about 15 years and then jettisoned it and went out on my own. Along the way, you know, people— I hated walking into people's homes And stepping over things that I could be cleaning, but I didn't know how. When tile floors, wood floors, Oriental rugs. Uh, so I was like, well, might as well add Oriental rug washing. Nobody is doing it in our area. Um, and so we added that service. It was great. I already had a built-in customer base. Vance Morris [00:05:23]: All I had to do was go to them and market that service and boom, we were up and running. Um, and then about, uh, 6 years ago we added the mold company. Again, we had the existing customer base. I mean, I got 10,000 names in my database. Just had to market to them and say, hey, uh, we are now in the mold business. If you like this for cleaning, you'll love us for mold. Well, not love us, but you know what I mean? James Kademan [00:05:47]: Yeah, right. Nobody's in a good mood when they have mold. Vance Morris [00:05:50]: Nobody's in a good mood for that. James Kademan [00:05:52]: So tell me a story with, uh, franchise. Let's back up. I mean, we're talking a long time ago, so yeah, way back when machine here. How did you choose which carpet cleaning franchise to use or to join? Because there's hundreds, probably thousands of them. And that's a, that's a big, that's a big ask to figure out what you're gonna do. Cuz the equipment's expensive. The capital outlay's pretty intense. It is. James Kademan [00:06:16]: The theories and the marketing and all that kind of stuff. Some are well known, some are not. Tell me about that. Vance Morris [00:06:21]: So yeah, I worked with a, um, I didn't know these things existed, but I worked with a franchise headhunter, um, after I left corporate, uh, world. And, you know,

Hey PRIDE Fam! In this episode, the hosts delve into various pressing topics, including the hypocrisy of media figures, the mysterious disappearance of Savannah Guthrie's mother, and the potential conspiracy theories surrounding it. They also discuss the upcoming Winter Olympics, the latest in reality TV, and the highlights from the Grammy Awards, showcasing the intersection of pop culture and social commentary. Do you want the tea? Cuz we know you want the tea!

Still driven to matter. Desperately. Almost 73. And I can't unwind… busted springs, broken dancer in a jewel box. This piece isn't an answer. It's an accusation. And underneath? A terrified question I can't stop asking.Is listening more your thing? Hit the headphone icon

We conclude our latest relapse by watching the remaining three episodes of this 3rd Doctor serial “The Sea Devils” featuring... well, you know... the Sea Devils! Whilst the said titular Sea Devils finally start to wreak havoc, it turns out (surprise?) the Master is just using them to achieve his nefarious ends. Until the Sea Devils flip the script (surprise!) on the Master and use him to achieve their nefarious ends! Plus the Doctor and Jo are there too until the story ends abruptly! Like this description. Just like that. Damn... why can't I just stop? Just ask Steve. Cuz he'll enable me. Thanks Steve!

If you're drawn to the raw experience born of neurodivergence, disability, trauma… or just honest storytelling that doesn't sanitize the hard parts… Maybe this one's for you. With full transcript, video, original artwork.Family leaves marks on you. Some visible, some not. Hell, just breathing-while-autistic… in the adult world… does a number.“Couldn't you at least make it, Profano?” says my wife-to-be. Adding, “Who wants to be called ‘Profane??'”Conversations about changing my last name… I mean, who knew it was supposed to be a “couples conversation”?Not this smartass, but-naive-as-hell, 58-year-old autist. Not sitting on someone else's couch. That we happen to be surfing in a backwoods Greene County, Indiana cabin.Um. I guess, my bad. But…I was busy reeling from losing my fourth or fifth career, estrangement from my family of origin, a forced 700-mile relocation… by bus… to Indiana,my new relationship with my future wife and family,joblessness, and homelessness…in under 6 months.And I never did the whole unspoken-rule thing well. Ya know, auDHD? So really not on my best game that day.I'm not ashamed. I'm not broken…“I gotta make a br-break,” I start sputtering. “They'll tell themselves stories. They'll make up shit. M-Make me a demon.”“They?” Her eyebrow arches. The eyebrow that raised 7 kids.This is 2011. I don't have enough words in that moment to tell her who “they” are. Pretty much every relationship, teacher, job, and cause I'd walked out of. In my already long, getting-longer-fast life.“I'm not ashamed. I'm not broken. I don't have a fucking clue where I'm headed. But this is who I am. I gotta own… my self.” I kinda hear myself say that. Out loud. Catches me up short.Then, after a thoughtful beat, I mutter, “Right in their faces.”My wife has a bit to say. About changing her name to “Profane.” I have a bit too much to say in my dig-in-my-heels response. We had some wild moments back then…After a few months, I went the stagename route, Johnny Profane. Kept the potential marriage alive through compromise. But still managed to keep the “in their faces” intact.Cuz family… and the life after… leave marks on you. Some visible. Some not.I choose to wear them in plain sight…Shamelessly.I choose to wear them in plain sight…Shamelessly.This piece is what it means to me to live without apology. I got some things right, got some things wrong. And somehow kept stumbling forward anyways.​This piece draws from real moments… scaling Mount Marcy the night Elvis died in 1977,leaving family behind 34 years later, complicated relationships that never quite resolve.I was finally diagnosed autistic at 63. It's been almost 10 years. So I wrote this.Full Text Transcript.So I call this one, Shameless.Watch the 3+ minute performance (headphones recommended):Content Note: language, family estrangement, ableism, trauma, homelessness + opinions & experiences of one autistic elder.ShamelessLive long enoughYa get a lot right,Get a lot wrong.Get to knowWell enoughYa can't be a saintLurking in shadow…Living life perfectlyShameless.Shameless?Oh let me beShameless…No sun setsOn a painless life,So no moon shinesOn a stainless wife.Oh let me be… comeShameless.Scaling Mount MarcyThat night as Elvis died,Got branded a MountebankAs my sister grew colder.Stalking Death ValleySame sister… now dead… to meSame stars… chill my shouldersNow living life perfectlyShameless…Shameless.Oh let me beShameless…No peak capsAn aimless life,And no grave ever filledBy a blameless knife.Oh let me be… comeShameless.No mask hidesThe pain in life,So no words canExplain my fight.So, let me Be… come…Shameless.FadeoutI hate it. I love that one…That's the whole thing, isn't it. Living with both at once.CHAPTERS:0:00 — Introduction0:11 — Shameless (the poem begins)MORE SPOKEN WORD:I share more pieces like this at AutisticAF Out Loud on Substack: https://johnnyprofaneknapp.substack.com/p/spoken-word-poetryGET THE CHAPBOOK:“every clock is a handgun pointed at my head” — art and poetry collection available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/every-clock-handgun-pointed-head-ebook/dp/B0FNLHC6SYABOUT THIS WORKJohnny (Knapp) Profane Âû spoke at the UN World Autism Acceptance Day in 2022 about his illustrations rooted in neurodivergence. Published in Wordgathering (journal of disability poetry & literature), Neuroclastic, and Thinking Person's Guide to Autism. In a former life, founding publisher of Unix World magazine. Living in rural Indiana in a trailer across the courtyard from his wife. With his 2 dogs, cat, and an unwavering commitment to raising hell, autistic style.​#SpokenWord #DisabilityPoetry #AutisticPoet #NeurodivergentArt #FamilyTrauma #AutisticAF #PoetryPerformance #MentalHealthAwareness #ActuallyAutistic #RawPoetryConnect:* Drop a comment — What does family life look like for you?* Hit the “follow” bell for new releases#AutisticAF Out Loud Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. Click for a free subscription to receive new posts… and a free PDF of my Amazon chapbook of poetry. To support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Support AutisticAF.me here: Paypal · Ko-Fi · Facebook Pay “Johnny Knapp Âû”https://ko-fi.com/autisticaf This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit johnnyprofaneknapp.substack.com/subscribe

Full Text TranscriptSomeone said an average writer “borrows.” The other kinds, both kinds... steal out right.Bowie, Robert Johnson, Marvin Gaye. I owe you guys one for this. Believe I'll Ch-Ch-Change… My Shirt.Sunlight cracks my window, Gotta be midday. Kick myself a pathway Just to pee into the bowl. Like a peek into that deepest hole, Zombie in the Mirror won't let me look away — Same filthy shirt as yesterday, Body and soul. I Gotta Change. They say, “Ya gotta ch-ch-change. New day's a-coming. Cuz that same old, It's getting fucking old.” They say, “Shed that old skin For one of truest gold…” I. Gotta. Change. Believe I'll ch-ch-change My… Shirt. Karma's a bitch dog, in heat. She prowls my old mind, Sleeps beside me every night… Feasting on defeats. No stone blocks this empty tomb But I can't leave her behind... Memories of the darkest kind Blind my way outta this room... T H A T change I can not make— Faced all the strange this heart can take… I gotta change… I gotta change… I gotta change… I. Gotta. Change. Believe I'll ch-ch-change My… Shirt. Break it down… I believe, I believe, I'll go back home. I believe, I believe, I'll go back home. You can't mistreat me here, babe, But you can when I get home… Waitress smiles, checkout jokes… shoplifting contact with little hope casual chic in the cubicle hoarding freak in the domicile Molestation devastation Frustration infestation losing jobs taking jabs Meltdown, shutdown… losing your shit Choose the label for your best fit Can't see the forest For the leaves, That's what's brought me To my knees… New day's never coming. And that same old, Got fucking older. I yearn to shed that old skin I crave that shiny gold… I. Gotta. Change. Believe I'll ch-ch-change My… Shirt.Man I feel the drama today. Hope you guys can handle it.Massive shoutout to artists I stole quotes from… David Jones, known to the world as David Bowie for “Changes,” that he released in 1972. And to blues genius Robert Johnson for “Dust My Broom,” released in 1937. And as always to Marvin Gaye, for his soul… invisible but always there.* More Live Autistic Spoken Word BioJohnny (Knapp) Profane Âû is an auDHD spoken word poet, blogger, podcaster… sometime cosplaying Pretend Rock Star.Diagnosed autistic at 63, he's published AutisticAF Out Loud since 2019… a raw, fiercely neurodivergent voice.His spoken word piece, “every clock is a handgun pointed at my head,” appeared in Wordgathering, a journal of disability poetry & literature. In 2022, he spoke at the UN World Autism Acceptance Day on his illustrations rooted in neurodivergence. Neuroclastic, Thinking Person's Guide to Autism, and other sites have featured his work since 2019. In an earlier life, he was founding publisher of Unix World magazine in 1984.Johnny lives in a rural Indiana trailer… next to his wife's trailer… with his dogs & cat. Occasionally he shaves… to face Walmart.“I'm autistic. Born 1953.I was not a product of a vaccine.I was not born to be pitied.I was born to raise Hell.Autistic style.I'm not out to inspire you.I'm out to give youan experience..of a life.”“every clock is a handgun pointed at my head,” art & poetry collection. available on Amazon.Connect:* Share your burnout experiences below* Hit the bell for new releases#AutisticAF Out Loud Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. Click below to receive new posts & free PDF of full Amazon collection… free. To support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit johnnyprofaneknapp.substack.com/subscribe

AI agents can do our work. OK, sweet. But they can also do.... a lot of bad. Yikes.

Why wasn't 2025 the year of the agents?

Did God give you a message, a book, or an idea to steward…but you “never have time” to actually do it? Chances are you're feeling a little regret about not getting it done last year… and perhaps less-than-hopeful that it will happen this year. Today we're gonna change all that. Cuz the truth is: YOU. HAVE. TIME. In today's honest and hope-filled conversation, I'm joined by Daria White Osah, multi-genre author and the mentor behind the No Time Writer Method. She's helped over 300 authors write more than 100,000 words—not because they suddenly had more time, but because they learned how to take it back.We're talking about the real challenges authors and entrepreneurs face—perfectionism, procrastination, and all the distractions that keep you from opening the laptop—and the deeper heart-work underneath it all: deciding your voice matters, communicating your priorities, and creating a personalized plan that fits your actual life.If you've been sitting on your God-given dream, this conversation will give you the clarity, conviction, and strategy to start stacking finished chapters or completed projects…even in a full season.CEO Focus is where we turn your God-size-Idea into a 12 Week Growth Map Plan with Weekly Accountability to get ‘er done. Cuz DONE is where Completion meets Momentum. Learn more and get started here: redeemhertime.com/focusAnd if you want to keep going as a writer, connect with Daria and step into a community of writers who are doing it too inside her Ambitious Authors + Writers Facebook Group.

Cuz we all need to start this way!

Text Our Show HostsPlease Help Us - Support TOPS Bunker as Low as 3$ mo. Click Here...!!!So, Tonight, we're talking about…Regrets and Disappointments of 2025And 2025 didn't pull any punches.It tested our focus… drained our energy…And for a lot of us with prepared lifestyles, it exposed a hard truth that we don't like hearing…We knew better, but we didn't always DO better.Not because we didn't care. But because life got loud and busy.We talked about expanding skills, strengthening community, and creating plans. We watched the world wobble, felt that familiar pressure in our gut… and still, some of the most important work got pushed off to “later or even never.” Our pantries went unrotated. Training stayed theoretical. Hard conversations never happened. And some of that motivation that we felt in the mornings… went quiet by the end of day.If you're feeling accountable… We are too… but that's good.Cuz that's a great place to start.Missed opportunities hurt. Not because we failed, but because deep down, we knew we could have done better.And that sting? That's not shame. That's your instincts reminding you to get back on track.It's the uncomfortable truth that readiness doesn't fade all at once… it erodes, quietly, one excuse at a time.But all is not lost…Awareness is where real course correction begins.Let's talk about that…TOPS Bunker WebsiteRefuge Medical Website - Use Code TOPSBUNKER10 at CheckoutPlease Visit Our Affiliate Links to Find Great Preparedness Products:Nanticoke Atlatl w/3 Six Foot DartsSling Shot - Handmade Premium Quality PowerfulSteel Shot - 3" Chrome Steel Balls Sling-Shot AmmoNedFoss Throwing Axe Tomahawks - Set of 3Gerber Gear Gater Machete with SheathPurple Dragon Japanese Bushcraft Machete w/ Wooden SheathPurple Dragon Japanese Splitting Hatchet Premium w/SheathSupport the show

It is a Christmas miracle! A new episode! This week, Cuz, Nick, and The Gorehound talk about some of their fondness Christmas memories and other related holiday topics. Also, somehow, the Bears/Packers rivalry.

Wanna be wealthy and deeply feminine in 2026? This episode gives you the exact blueprint.I break down the three seasons of feminine healing, the emotional patterns driving female ambition, and the identity shifts required for sustainable wealth, healthy relationships, and effortless magnetism.Inside this episode, we dive into:Why you're a high-achieving womanThe 3 feminine transformation seasonsHow to enter your soft CEO Era2023–2025 - my inner growth recapMy monk mode protocol for 2026How to create wealth without hustleThe real emotional work behind feminine leadershipFoundations to become THE MAGNETIC WOMAN—If you're an ambitious woman ready to make more money, heal deeper, embody your feminine, and step into your next level… This episode is your roadmap.Cuz here's the truth, babe: wealth and femininity are not opposites — they amplify each other when your identity, nervous system, and lifestyle align. Because wealth isn't created through hustle anymore. Not for women like us. Not for women with ambition, depth, softness, and standards.2026 belongs to the women who lead with identity, nervous system capacity, emotional intelligence, and feminine magnetism.So today, I'm taking you through the exact inner work, outer work, and identity shifts I've made over the last 4 years — the ones that are setting me up for my biggest and softest year yet. So babe, grab your cacao or matcha, and a journal because you're going to want to implement these strategies so you can enter 2026 as a feminine baddie! —READY TO STEP INTO YOUR NEXT CHAPTER IN 2026?CLAIM YOUR SPECIAL – MY BIRTHDAY GIFT TO YOUDOWNLOAD MY BRAND NEW FREE GUIDE ON THIS PAGEReady to become The Magnetic Woman who attracts effortlessly in 2026 & save $$$ as an early bird? CLAIM YOUR SPOT IN MY BRAND NEW, EXCLUSIVE MASTERMIND EXPERIENCE HERE! —In this episode, I discuss: 01:10 - Intro to the episode - how to become wealthy and feminine in 202608:15 - A little life update - recent lessons, insights, realizations I embody now21:15 - Misconceptions about manifestation, alignment, and feminine energy29:00 - How to be magnetic and attract good things, even when life is life-ing31:15 - An uncomfortable truth: our drives get shaped during our childhood 36:00 - My turning point: explosive growth, burnout, and betrayal38:40 - The 3 seasons of feminine healing 43:25 - My monk mode protocol Similar Episode: Episode 148 - How to stop self-sabotaging and step into your power: boundaries, flow & nervous system healingConnect with Laura: Laura's Website: https://www.lauraherde.com/Laura's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laura.herde/Laura's 1-1 Coaching: https://www.lauraherde.com/application-1-1Laura's Coaching Certification Course: https://www.instagram.com/embodiedcoachacademy/>> EMAIL ME TO CONNECT/ FOR QUESTIONS: hello@lauraherde.com>> FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM: @laura.herde Feel free to share this episode with your bestie, and tag us on IG when you listen so we can repost you!Make sure to be subscribed to UNFUCK YOUR LIFE, we publish episodes every single Tuesday.Thank you so much for tuning in, love xx

Its getting uncomfortable...Cuz we are talking Cringe in Movies.

Cuz! Aunt Caroline is a mystery. One thing for sure, two things for certain, she and her playing cards put Newport AK on the map! Sources for Aunt Caroline Dyehttps://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/media/caroline-dye-gravestone-8094/https://www.conjuredoctors.com/aunt-caroline-dye.htmlhttps://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/aunt-caroline-dye-14/https://arktimes.com/entertainment/arkansongs/2005/06/30/aunt-caroline-dye https://home.lyon.edu/wolfcollection/auntdye.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aunt_Caroline_Dyehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneteenth https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/migrations/great-migration https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GqPYrDbYe8&list=RD5GqPYrDbYe8&start_radio=1

Cuz the longer you wait....the harder it is!Registration is OPEN!Sign up for updates on the retreat home and news letters right here!

Look, I got excited and THOUGHT it was episode 175, but no, it's 173. We're getting ever closer to 200 Episodes....I mean COME ON folks it's been a journey. One that we've been on, together. Thank you for your service.FIRST UP - the return of BG 55, which is a mixture of YAY and OH MAN we have some ISSUES. Cuz if we were rushing the opposing QB with frequency and success, maybe Brandon coulda stayed retired. Let's see what we get, although we know we get his mouth at least! But we spend a lot more time admiring the perfect passer rating of one Jalen Hurts...and the return of some smart, if still uneven, offensive play. Big D also got the job done - let's see what spark we get when are back home for GIANTS week.Next - it's the Sixers Season Preview! Embiid, George, Maxey, Edgecombe, McCain...do we dare get excited? With JoJo losing weight and seemingly in the best headspace we've seen in years...all things are possible. PG 13 might even suit up. Heck it ALL BEGINS TONIGHT when the Sixers visit the Celtics.Email: hoagiemouthpod@gmail.comIG: @hoagiemouthpod

Issue #720: Mothman's MilkshakeDownload Directly From iTunesNOW on SPOTIFY!It's the Fall of John, people! John has the conn as Bob and Joey do their best to rein in the man's chaos energy. Lots of comics this week, including further thoughts on Spectators, Fantastic Four reflections, and the end of DWJ's Transformer's run. Also, did you see that Mandalorian and Grogu trailer? ‘Cuz we did!Comics talked this week:Transformer #23-24, Red Hood #1, Thor #1, The Undead Iron Fist #1, Exquisite Corpses, Runaways #4, Spectators, Fantastic Four #2-3, and Phoenix #15. The Comic Book Podcast is brought to you by Talking Comics (www.talkingcomicbooks.com). The podcast is hosted by Steve Seigh, Bob Reyer, Joey Braccino, Aaron Amos, John Burkle, and Bronwyn Kelly-Seigh who weekly dissect everything comics-related, from breaking news to new releases. Our Instagram handle is @TalkingComicsPodcast and you can email us at podcast@talkingcomicbooks.com.

You know how, after they retire, some older guys go out and get, like, part-time jobs at the United Way or Ace Hardware or some shit? Not necessarily because they need the money — they just need to keep themselves busy, and maybe they like talking to people about paint colors and nail sizes and the best brands of epoxy spackle. Is that what Dana White is doing with boxing? Dana was at the big boxing match on Saturday, sitting at ringside next to Turki Alalshikh and Mark Wahlberg. After Terence Crawford whooped up on Canelo Alvarez, Dana wrapped the Ring Magazine belt around Crawford's waist. Aside from that, we're not totally sure what his job was there. So, as TKO reportedly plots its takeover of the sweet science, is Dana effectively using boxing like some guys join the country club? Does he want to fade out of the UFC, kick back and spend a few hours a day destroying the Muhammad Ali Act and looking for young, white, Irish fighters to promote? Cuz those are the vibes. Meanwhile, at Dana's real job, they put on an event the same night, where Diego Lopes knocked all kinds of blood out of Jean Silva's head during UFC Noche. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We revisit the best of the 'Cuz's Conundrums' segment from season 2! Host: Cousin Sal Producers: Michael Szokoli, Joel Solomon, Jack Wilson, Sirushi Witte, Jonathan Frias, Drew Van Steenbergen, Felipe Guilhermino, Oscar De La Luz, Chris Wohlers The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming, please visit theringer.com/RG to learn more about the resources and helplines available, and listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sarah went camping with her family and it was predictably calamitous in the best way possible. We hear why kids don't ride bikes anymore, parents are chauffeurs, and why it matters. We talk about how much camp meant to Sarah growing up and then as a counselor, and we lament that tragedy in Texas at the Christian camp. Sarah explains why customer service is so bad now, why you shouldn't accept it, and what you can do about it. Plus, she describes a genius way we can band together and combat the "sludge" of customer service quagmires.0:29 - Sarah's planning something romantic.5:12 - The Rice family's calamitous camping trip.16:51 - Article: Kids are missing out on things we used to do all the time. 28:58 - Wes Bergmann told Sarah....30:42 - Susie and Sarah discuss the tragic Texas floods. 38:13 - They do it on purpose! Those infuriating customer service calls that cut you off. 48:55 - Don't get on Susie's bad side! Cuz she'll........Brain Candy Podcast Website - https://thebraincandypodcast.com/Brain Candy Podcast Book Recommendations - https://thebraincandypodcast.com/books/Brain Candy Podcast Merchandise - https://thebraincandypodcast.com/candy-store/Brain Candy Podcast Candy Club - https://thebraincandypodcast.com/product/candy-club/Brain Candy Podcast Sponsor Codes - https://thebraincandypodcast.com/support-us/Brain Candy Podcast Social Media & Platforms:Brain Candy Podcast LIVE Interactive Trivia Nights - https://www.youtube.com/@BrainCandyPodcast/streamsBrain Candy Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/braincandypodcastHost Susie Meister Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susiemeisterHost Sarah Rice Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imsarahriceBrain Candy Podcast on X: https://www.x.com/braincandypodBrain Candy Podcast Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/braincandy (JOIN FREE - TONS OF REALITY TV CONTENT)Brain Candy Flag Of Approval: https://gravityhaus.com/Shout out to writer Chris Colin for this fantastic Atlantic article about intentional dropped calls.Sponsors:For 50% off your order, head to https://www.dailylook.com and use code BRAINCANDYCancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster at https://rocketmoney.com/braincandy today.Get 25% off your first month of Ritual when you visit https://ritual.com/braincandy & add Essential Protein today.For 15% off your order and a special gift, head to https://pacagen.com/braincandy and use code BRAINCANDYSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Where do you keep your deodorant? If the answer is something reasonable like bathroom or gym bag… this episode might sound odd. Cuz we keep our deodorant in the kitchen. Today on childproof we're playing a little This or That. Did you grow up in an ingredient house or a snack house? What about now? Was your family a “everyone in their rooms” group or were you a “everyone hangs out in communal spaces” fam? Gwenna and Tori discuss how they grew up, how they keep their houses, the preference their families have developed, and how they make sure their spaces are working for them.What were things like in your childhood home versus how things are for you now? We want to hear from you, email us: childproofmail@gmail.comBecome a member for preshow bonus contentFind our new podcasts:BibliophageFounded