Podcasts about sioux city

[00:00:42] This day in Iowa weather history: a late freeze in 1928 brought 32°F lows to Decorah and frost across the state [00:01:22] Weekend forecast: a break from the heat is coming, but severe weather is likely — enhanced risk (3 of 5) for much of Iowa, with 3–5 inches of rain possible in the southern third of the state [00:03:15] Climate outlook 6–10 days (June 15–19): 60–70% chance of below-normal temperatures for northern Iowa [00:04:24] Climate outlook 8–14 days (June 17–23): continued slight chance of below-normal temps; slightly wetter conditions expected; slight risk of heavy precipitation for eastern Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri [00:06:22] Past week recap: eastern Iowa saw 3½ inches above-normal rainfall; statewide temperatures ran 4–10 degrees above normal [00:07:49] Extreme data points of the week: high of 95°F at Sioux City; 5.9 inches of rain in Russell (Lucas County); dew points hitting 79°F at Osceola [00:09:57] Weather explainer: what is the boundary layer, and why doesn't the overnight low always drop to the dew point? [00:11:00] Specialty crop update: tomato trellising, weed control, and irrigation underway; poor strawberry yields reported statewide [00:12:31] Pest and disease alerts: growth regulator spray drift reports continue (report to IDALS if you see it); bacterial canker detected in a Kalona greenhouse tomato high tunnel; spider mites active in high tunnels [00:14:28] Meteorological spring recap: 7th warmest spring on record at 52°F average; near-normal precipitation; 51 tornadoes reported vs. a climatological average of 38 Summary generated by Claude.ai

Timing is everything and every outcome in history is the result of timing. This hour SIMON talks to Hollywood film director ANTHONY MARAS about his new movie 'PRESSURE' and how the success of D-Day all came down to timing of weather. And later, SIMON talks to Sioux City native, & 4th Congressional District candidate, CHRIS MCGOWAN, about how the timing is just right for his anticipated win this fall to hold the seat for the GOP that is currently held by Congressman RANDY FEENSTRA.

Robert Plant to perform concert at Sioux City's Orpheum Theatre.

Residents in Sioux City protested outside city hall on Monday to show their support for the Warming Shelter.

Dry conditions across the Missouri River Basin are continuing to reduce runoff and raise concerns about water supplies and navigation later this year. The Army Corps of Engineers reports May runoff above Sioux City, Iowa, totaled just 1.6 million acre-feet, or 46 percent of average. NAFB News ServiceSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New housing in Sioux City & Biden keynotes South Dakota Democrats event.

Jebediah Hibbs joins Sioux City School Board via appointment to fill vacancy.

It's officially Horse Latitudes season. Chad Leistikow and Scott Dochterman dive into Iowa's latest scheduling news, discuss the pressure on Tyler Barnes as Iowa football's biggest recruiting weekend arrives, and debate whether it's time to feel sorry for Iowa State fans after a brutal offseason. Plus, they rank the best Iowa games from the past year to rewatch during the summer and break down the latest efforts to reshape college sports.

[00:00:30] This day in Iowa weather history: the devastating 1860 tornado outbreak across central and eastern Iowa that killed at least 134 people and left 2,500 homeless [00:02:44] Weekly weather forecast: rain chances Thursday and Friday, ¾"–1.5" possible; highs in the 80s, lows in the 60s [00:03:35] 8–14 day outlook (June 10–16): above-normal temperatures, slightly wetter conditions; slight risk of hazardous temperatures June 10–11 [00:04:08] One-month outlook for June: leaning slightly above-normal temps; equal chances for precipitation [00:05:57] Last week's weather recap: generally dry across Iowa with spotty pop-up showers; a downburst near Jefferson caused local damage; Missouri Valley led the state with 4.1" of rain [00:08:53] Rapid onset drought risk warning for parts of eastern and northeastern Iowa [00:09:37] Last week's temperature extremes: high of 95°F at Sioux City; lows of 47°F at multiple stations [00:09:56] Data quality spotlight: investigating a suspicious 25°F low temperature reading [00:11:15] Specialty crop update: leafhopper and hopper burn emerging in potatoes; Colorado potato beetle populations ramping up [00:13:11] Managing thrips in flowers and onions; overview of organic and conventional control options including Captiva Prime as a novel tank mix [00:15:48] Pesticide rotation strategies to prevent resistance in thrips and Colorado potato beetles [00:17:59] Aster leafhopper and aster yellows: MSU infectivity alert now at 4%; crops to watch include garlic, flowers, and lettuce [00:18:50] Strawberry pests: thrips damage and tarnished plant bug as the primary cause of cat-faced fruit [00:19:22] Garlic scape management: timing of removal, yield impacts, and research exploring mowing as an option for large scale removal [00:22:01] Upcoming event: Controlled Environments Short Course in Ames, Iowa in three weeks summary generated using Claude.ai

[00:00:52] On this day in Iowa weather history: 6.5 inches of rain fell in 2½ hours in Wesley, Kossuth County on May 25–26, 1991, damaging 80% of homes [00:01:22] Week-ahead forecast: Sunny skies, temperatures in the 80s, quiet storm track — little to no precipitation expected [00:02:01] 8-to-14-day outlook (valid June 2–8): Below-normal precipitation and above-normal temperatures likely across Iowa [00:02:59] Climate normals reminder: Average highs low-to-mid 70s, overnight lows in the 50s, ~1¼–1½ inches of rain per week [00:03:24] No weather hazards identified for the Midwest in the 8-to-14-day period [00:03:31] Past week recap: Northwest Iowa received up to 3 inches of rain; eastern and northeastern Iowa remained dry [00:03:59] Observed extremes since last episode: High of 95°F at Sioux City; low of 25°F at Northwood (pending verification); wettest station was Sanborn (2.49"); zero rainfall reported across much of eastern Iowa [00:05:07] Specialty crop update: Iowa Valley RC&D dealing with a mower PTO breakdown ahead of cover crop termination [00:05:58] Heated tomato greenhouse success: John Schrock (Bloomfield) reports 4 weeks of harvest, selling 1,000 lbs at $3/lb at the Southern Iowa Produce Auction [00:06:37] Seed germination alert: Candy Bell grape tomato variety reporting widespread germination failures — contact your seed supplier for a possible refund [00:07:20] FSMA update: FDA inspectors are visiting farms in person (not just calling) to verify qualified exempt status — growers report the process is straightforward and educational Summary generated by claude.ai

This week Tom & Zeus break down the Creatures Of The Night 40th Anniversary Super Deluxe Box Set Disc 5, "Bonus Live Performances & Bonus Creatures Tour Sound Effects." The KISS album Creatures Of The Night was released in 1982 and although not a success upon its release, has become a classic KISS album and worthy of the Super Deluxe Box Treatment. Disc 5 of the Box set is 12 live performances from the Creatures Of The Night tour from four different concerts (Rockford, IL & Sioux City, IA & Pine Bluff, Arkansas & Houston, TX) and 7 special effect tracks. This is SIOL's 13th live album review. The guy's discuss the album SIOL style and breakdown the album, the tracks and of course Paul Stanley's outrageous stage banter as well. They list their top 5 favorite tracks and rank the cover and the album against the 12 live albums by KISS that were previously reviewed. So tune in everyone and grab Paul's C@!K or like Paul, we're gonna tell you to F#$K OFF! To Purchase KISS' “Creatures Of The Night (40th Anniversary) Super Deluxe Box Set” on Amazon Click Below:   ⁠⁠Creatures Of The Night (40th Anniversary) Super Deluxe Box Set⁠⁠   To Purchase Shout It Out Loudcast's KISS Book “Raise Your Glasses: A Celebration Of 50 Years of KISS Songs By Celebrities, Musicians & Fans Please Click Below:   ⁠⁠Raise Your Glasses Book⁠⁠   For all things Shout It Out Loudcast check out our amazing website by clicking below:   ⁠⁠www.ShoutItOutLoudcast.com⁠⁠   Interested in more Shout It Out Loudcast content?  Care to help us out?  Come join us on Patreon by clicking below:   ⁠⁠SIOL Patreon⁠⁠   Get all your Shout It Out Loudcast Merchandise by clicking below:   ⁠⁠Shout It Out Loudcast Merchandise at AMAZON⁠⁠   Shop At Our Amazon Store by clicking below: ⁠⁠Shout It Out Loudcast Amazon Store⁠⁠   Please Email us comments or suggestions by clicking below: ⁠⁠ShoutItOutLoudcast@Gmail.com⁠⁠   Please subscribe to us and give us a 5 Star (Child) review on the following places below: ⁠⁠iTunes⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Podchaser⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Stitcher⁠⁠ ⁠⁠iHeart Radio⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Spotify ⁠⁠   Please follow us and like our social media pages clicking below: ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Facebook Page⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Facebook Group Page Shout It Out Loudcasters⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠   Proud Member of the Pantheon Podcast click below to see the website: ⁠⁠Pantheon Podcast Network⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sioux City Councilman Bertrand proposes $2,500 permit for Food Truck Fridays businesses.

As another year of the popular Food Truck Fridays endeavor approaches, a Sioux City Councilman is wondering if some money from it could be directed to the city.The Sioux City Council on Monday approved closing downtown streets to carry out the food trucks initiative. Councilman Rick Bertand said some thought should be given to the program directing money to the city revenues.No decision was made in the meeting.This year the events will run for three months, from June 5 through August 28.Construction near Pearl Street Park necessitated the change in location this year. The area will be bounded by Jackson Street, Jones Street, Fourth Street and the Discovery Parking Ramp.Food Truck Fridays began in 2015, and trucks will be ready to serve a wide variety of cuisine from late morning until 1:30 p.mA press release said the quality-of-life initiative over 11 years has morphed into a regional destination event.

This week on the Black. Girl. Iowa. podcast, Emili sits down with community leader, advocate, and changemaker Monique Scarlett for a powerful conversation about Black history, civic engagement, and building bridges in Northwest Iowa. Born and raised in Sioux City, Monique shares what it was like growing up as one of the few Black children in her school during the 1960s and 70s, navigating racism at a young age while learning the importance of resilience, faith, and community. She reflects on the rich but often overlooked history of Black Iowans in Sioux City and the importance of preserving those stories for future generations. The conversation also explores Monique's leadership journey — from serving on the Sioux City School Board to becoming president of the Sioux City NAACP and founding Unity in Community, an organization focused on strengthening relationships between citizens and law enforcement through accountability, education, and dialogue. Throughout the episode, Monique shares wisdom on:The importance of civic engagementBuilding community in spaces where you feel unseenWhy Black women must continue speaking up and taking actionThe role faith plays in leadership and perseveranceCreating accountability instead of simply complaining about systemsWhy preserving Black history in Iowa matters now more than everOne of the most impactful moments of the episode comes when Monique reminds listeners:“A vision without execution is just another hallucination.” This episode is honest, empowering, emotional, and deeply rooted in the belief that change happens when ordinary people decide to show up for their communities.Growing up Black in Sioux CityRacism, resilience, and finding communityBlack history in Northwest IowaLeadership and public serviceUnity in Community and rebuilding trustAccountability and civic actionFaith, perseverance, and purposeA lightning round with Monique ScarlettUnity in Community Sioux City (Facebook)Sioux City NAACPTEDx Talk: “”Be sure to also check out Monique's powerful TEDx Talk, Tap Into the Power of One⁠, where she speaks about leadership, impact, and creating change in your community.Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Pandora, and YouTube.Website: Black. Girl. Iowa.Substack: @blackgirliowaEtsy Shop: Black Girl Iowa Shop#BlackGirlIowa #BlackWomenLead #IowaPodcast #BlackHistory #CommunityLeadership

South Sioux City park with add storm safe room for $1 million.

Susan Hyde In 1978, the women's tennis team at California State University, Northridge was rocked by a grisly murder borne out of jealousy. Susan Hyde and her partner of several years, Janis Hasse, lived and worked together on campus, but Hasse's relationship with 21, Loni Andersen, carried on even though Hasse lived with Hyde. When Hyde was out of town, Hasse and Andersen would get together. Finally, Hasse ended the affair, and though Andersen seemed to move on, she was silently plotting and planning to get back together with Hasse, but it would all end in murder. Robert Evans In 1986, Robert Evans went missing until his body was found beaten, battered, and bruised. His killer would be a young man who had developed a penchant for cruising gay men and robbing them; in this case, a victim stood between him and what he wanted. The trial's ending might surprise you. Fred Pletka In 1977, the nude bodies of Robert Schmeckpeper and James King were found in their Sioux City trailer, setting off a case that would spiral into a brutal trial and a disturbing legal defense. Fred Pletka was eventually convicted, but the way the crime was framed says as much about the era's prejudice as it does about the murders themselves. The Black Cat On New Year's Eve 1966, undercover LAPD officers raided the Black Cat bar in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, triggering one of the earliest LGBTQ civil rights protests in U.S. history. There was another bar raided on the same night as the Black Cat, two patrons were arrested bring the total to 16. The protest against police violence across Los Angeles was one of the first protests where LGBTQ+ folks joined in common cause with members of the African American and Latino communities, also protesting violence at the hands of police. To watch any of these episode check out the YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/@queerpanic 

SDSU is set to host the Siouxland Feedlot Forum this June in Sioux City, Nebraska. NAFB News ServiceSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Sioux City School Board extended the interim superintendent's contract on Thursday.

[00:00:38] This day in Iowa weather history — a rare late-season snowfall in Des Moines on May 13th, 1918 [00:01:24] Short-term forecast — warm and active week ahead, with storm chances building through days 4–6 and 1.5–2" of rainfall possible for much of the state [00:02:58] Temperature outlook — 60s early in the week rising to the upper 80s by Friday through Sunday [00:04:06] Long-term temperature outlook (6–14 days) — continued warmer than normal signal through May 26th [00:05:06] Long-term precipitation outlook — slight elevated chance May 18–22, tapering to near-normal (approximately 1"/week) through May 26th [00:06:06] Past week in review — dry, cool, and quiet; statewide average precipitation just 0.03"; Sioux City the week's high (87°F) and low (22°F) [00:08:20] Specialty crop spotlight — why now is the right time to plant tomatoes [00:08:50] Pest watch — Colorado potato beetle management strategies, including organic and physical removal methods [00:11:27] Pest watch continued — aphids and thrips in high tunnels [00:11:56] Farm observation — herbicide drift damage (2,4-D/Dicamba) identified in a high tunnel; what to look for [00:13:39] Farm observation continued — potyvirus identified in a tunnel tomato plant; management and spread risk via aphids [00:14:35] Pre-rain field tasks — cultivating, planting, irrigating, and uncovering warm-season crops [00:15:06] Upcoming event — University of Minnesota weed control cultivation field day at Featherstone Farm, Rushford, MN, May 27th, 9am–3:30pm (free, registration required) [00:15:58] Pivot Points podcast — new Season 2 episodes on farmers and civic engagement Podcast Summary generated using claude.ai

The Sioux City School Board on Monday signed off on a plan to discontinue specialty statuses for five of six elementary schools.

As the Sioux City School Board continues to consider candidates to fill the open superintendent position, people used the public comment portion of Monday's meeting to share opinions on the topic.

The post Jason Addington – General Manager, Sioux City Marina appeared first on KSCJ 1360.

An important link in the Sioux City metro recreation trails is slated to be completed, with a pedestrian bridge over the Big Sioux River.

This week Tom & Zeus break down the Creatures Of The Night 40th Anniversary Super Deluxe Box Set Disc 5, "Bonus Live Performances & Bonus Creatures Tour Sound Effects." The KISS album Creatures Of The Night was released in 1982 and although not a success upon its release, has become a classic KISS album and worthy of the Super Deluxe Box Treatment. Disc 5 of the Box set is 12 live performances from the Creatures Of The Night tour from four different concerts (Rockford, IL & Sioux City, IA & Pine Bluff, Arkansas & Houston, TX) and 7 special effect tracks. This is SIOL's 13th live album review. The guy's discuss the album SIOL style and breakdown the album, the tracks and of course Paul Stanley's outrageous stage banter as well. They list their top 5 favorite tracks and rank the cover and the album against the 12 live albums by KISS that were previously reviewed. So tune in everyone and grab Paul's C@!K or like Paul, we're gonna tell you to F#$K OFF! To Purchase KISS' “Creatures Of The Night (40th Anniversary) Super Deluxe Box Set” on Amazon Click Below:   ⁠Creatures Of The Night (40th Anniversary) Super Deluxe Box Set⁠   To Purchase Shout It Out Loudcast's KISS Book “Raise Your Glasses: A Celebration Of 50 Years of KISS Songs By Celebrities, Musicians & Fans Please Click Below:   ⁠Raise Your Glasses Book⁠   For all things Shout It Out Loudcast check out our amazing website by clicking below:   ⁠www.ShoutItOutLoudcast.com⁠   Interested in more Shout It Out Loudcast content?  Care to help us out?  Come join us on Patreon by clicking below:   ⁠SIOL Patreon⁠   Get all your Shout It Out Loudcast Merchandise by clicking below:   ⁠Shout It Out Loudcast Merchandise at AMAZON⁠   Shop At Our Amazon Store by clicking below: ⁠Shout It Out Loudcast Amazon Store⁠   Please Email us comments or suggestions by clicking below: ⁠ShoutItOutLoudcast@Gmail.com⁠   Please subscribe to us and give us a 5 Star (Child) review on the following places below: ⁠iTunes⁠ ⁠Podchaser⁠ ⁠Stitcher⁠ ⁠iHeart Radio⁠ ⁠Spotify ⁠   Please follow us and like our social media pages clicking below: ⁠Twitter⁠ ⁠Facebook Page⁠ ⁠Facebook Group Page Shout It Out Loudcasters⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠ ⁠YouTube⁠   Proud Member of the Pantheon Podcast click below to see the website: ⁠Pantheon Podcast Network⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AVM Burst in the Brain: A Recovery Story of Patience, Aphasia, and Finding Your Way Back Jennifer Tomscha was 39, driving her three-and-a-half-year-old daughter home from preschool, when an AVM burst in her brain. She felt a wash of dizziness first. Then her vision started collapsing on the right side. She pulled onto a narrow verge on the highway between Greytown and Carterton in New Zealand, tried to reach her husband, got no answer, and dialled 111 instead. When the dispatcher asked what was wrong, she said something she still can’t fully explain: “I think I’m having a stroke.” She didn’t know yet that she had two arteriovenous malformations in her left frontal lobe — one discrete, one diffuse. She didn’t know that within hours she’d be helicoptered to Wellington Hospital for an emergency craniotomy, or that the following Monday a neurosurgeon named Dr. Woon would spend thirty hours trying to remove both malformations from her brain. She just knew something was wrong, and that her daughter was in the back seat, and that she couldn’t keep driving. That moment — pulling over, self-diagnosing, refusing the urge to simply lie down and rest — may be the reason she’s alive. What happens when an AVM bursts in the brain An arteriovenous malformation is a tangle of abnormal blood vessels that connects arteries directly to veins, bypassing the capillary network that normally regulates blood flow. Most people with an AVM never know they have one. But when an AVM bursts in the brain, blood floods into surrounding tissue at high pressure, and the consequences are almost always severe: haemorrhagic stroke, seizures, sudden neurological deficits, and in many cases, death. Jennifer’s first surgery controlled the bleeding. The second, five days later, was supposed to remove both malformations. It didn’t go as planned. The surgical team discovered that blood flow to the first AVM was feeding the second one, causing the brain around it to swell. Dr. Woon had to make an impossible decision in the middle of the operation: let her die, or remove a portion of healthy brain tissue along with the malformation. He chose to keep her alive. The surgery took thirty hours. When it was finally over, he called her husband and said, “Well, you’ll be lucky if she talks.” The six weeks she can’t remember Jennifer has no memories of the first six weeks after her AVM burst. She was in a medically induced coma for the surgery, then in intensive care, then transferred to rehabilitation. Everything she knows about that period has been told to her by other people. When her memory started returning, she found herself in a rehabilitation ward in Masterton, using adult nappies, unable to sit up in bed. The front of her skull had been removed and wouldn’t be replaced for months. She wore a protective helmet whenever she walked. And yet — she insists — she felt fine. [Quote block — mid-article] “I kept saying, ‘I’m okay, I’m fine. You guys should just take it easy around me.’ But of course, I wasn’t really fine.” — Jennifer Tomscha The honest recognition of what had happened to her didn’t come for almost two years. It took that long for her brain to have enough capacity to think about her brain. The myth of the one-year recovery window Most stroke survivors are told, either directly or by implication, that the first year matters most. That after twelve months, improvements slow. That after two years, you’ve plateaued. Jennifer’s experience — and the experience of nearly every long-term survivor interviewed on this podcast — contradicts that narrative. Four years after her AVM burst, she is still discovering what recovery means. Her academic writing, once her profession as the Director of the Writing Program at NYU Shanghai, doesn’t flow the way it used to. She can’t recall songs from memory anymore, or sing the ones she used to sing. Her aphasia shows up most at night, when she’s tired. She still takes an afternoon nap most days. But she’s also finishing a PhD. She can read as well as she ever could. She’s speaking, articulately, in a podcast interview eighty minutes long. And the parts of recovery she thought had stopped improving are, quietly, still improving. What Jennifer wants other survivors to know Her advice, offered near the end of the conversation, is short and unsparing: “You can rest, and that’s okay. You can be as slow as you want to be, and that’s also okay. But don’t give up. Just keep going — at whatever pace feels right.” It’s a rejection of both the productivity culture that tells survivors to push harder and the clinical culture that tells them to accept their limits. Recovery, for Jennifer, isn’t a race against a deadline. It’s a long, patient process of finding out what comes back and learning to live fully with whatever doesn’t. Bill’s book and community If Jennifer’s story resonates with you, Bill Gasiamis’s book — The Unexpected Way That A Stroke Became The Best Thing That Happened To — explores the same territory: the slow, unexpected, sometimes beautiful work of rebuilding a life after a brain event. Get the book here Readers who want to support the podcast and connect with the community of survivors it serves can do so at Patreon. Support on Patreon 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. Jennifer Tomscha: An AVM Burst in Her Brain at 39, and the Four-Year Climb Back to Herself She self-diagnosed her own stroke while driving with her daughter. Four years on, she’s still discovering what recovery really means. Highlights: 00:00 Introduction and Background 10:00 Reflections on the Experience 18:00 Long-term Effects and Adaptations 26:45 Identity and Self-Perception Post-Stroke 38:48 The Long Game of Recovery 51:07 The Journey of Recovery 01:03:42 The Evolution of the Podcast Transcript: Introduction and Background: AVM Burst in the Brain Jennifer Tomscha (00:00) Dr. Woon was my neurosurgeon. And he just said, I’ll never do another surgery like that ever again. it was really long. And I think he definitely had made me worse. Like they had taken out. too much of my normal brain. when he called my husband after the surgery was over, Dr. Woon said like, well, you’ll be lucky if she talks. he was just so discouraged from how the AVM surgery went. when I finally talked to him on Zoom. was so you And I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, of course I can. He was like, will you show me? and I walked up and down the room and he was like laughing so hard at my being able to walk. He was like so enthusiastic about it. Bill Gasiamis (00:44) Welcome back everybody. I am Bill Gassiomas and my guest today is Jennifer Tomche. In March, 2022, Jennifer was 39 years old living in New Zealand, finishing the first year of a PhD program when something happened to her brain that changed everything. What followed was a medical emergency unlike anything I’ve heard described on this podcast and a recovery story that quietly dismantles one of the most damaging myths in stroke survivor community. That after a certain point, the window for improvement closes. Jennifer is four years out from what happened to her. She still takes an afternoon nap every day. She still notices the edges of what her brain can and can’t do. And she is also finishing a PhD, raising two children and speaking with a clarity and warmth that will stop you in your tracks. This is a conversation about what it actually means to play the long game and why might be the most important thing any survivor can do. Before we get into it, if this podcast has been part of your recovery journey, I’d love for you to check out my book, The Unexpected Way That a Stroke Became the Best Thing That Happened, at recoveryafterstroke.com/book. And a genuine thank you to everyone supporting this work on Patreon. If you wanted to support the show, you can go to patreon.com/recoveryafterstroke. really helps me keep the conversation going. Let’s get into it. Bill Gasiamis (02:12) Jennifer Tomscha welcome to the podcast. Jennifer Tomscha (02:14) Thank you. I’m glad to be here. Bill Gasiamis (02:17) It’s lovely to have a local with me. Usually all my guests are from the United States or Canada or the United Kingdom. You’re just a hop, skip and a jump away in New Zealand. Jennifer Tomscha (02:20) Yeah. Mm hmm. Yep. Yep. I’m American originally, but we moved here in 2020. So ⁓ we I’m grew up in Iowa. And then and then I after but we were living in Shanghai for us for almost seven years, my husband and I were living in Shanghai and I was teaching at New York University, Shanghai and then when COVID happened in China. Bill Gasiamis (02:35) Where are we from in America? Jennifer Tomscha (02:54) they told us to leave the country because it was where it started. So, and we had two kids, so my husband didn’t want to go back to the United States. And so my sister lives in New Zealand. So we moved here and then we just stayed here. mm-hmm. So, yeah. Bill Gasiamis (03:11) So in China, was it just a request? Was it a directive? What was the situation? Jennifer Tomscha (03:18) From New York University, they said if you weren’t a Chinese national citizen, they strongly urged us to leave because they just didn’t know how they were gonna manage it. everyone, mean, in China, they had had SARS in the early 2000s, so they had already had it. And so right away, everyone had their masks on. They were ready to… go and I was like, I want to get out of here. So we went to New Zealand and they also had a lockdown, but it was just for a month and then everyone could wander around because the virus was not here. we just stayed and I got into this PhD program. So that’s why we’re still in New Zealand. Bill Gasiamis (04:00) Wow. That kind of brings us to the first question I ask most people these days is what was life like before stroke? So there was a little bit of stuff going on. was, work in China. There was a bit of, ⁓ travel from the United States to China. was children, but daily life. What, what was that like before the stroke? Jennifer Tomscha (04:21) When I saw my stroke happened in March of 2022 and at that time I had been in my PhD program for about a year. And I was just finishing up my research proposal. And so I was doing that during the day and my kids were both at, I have an older son who was in second grade year two. And then I have a daughter who was in preschool. And so my days were I dropped them off at their schools and then I would work for a little while. And then I would. go and get them. So, and then they would come home and we would do all the other stuff in parenting. And my husband at that time was working at the library. So he had, he was at the libraries from nine to five every day. So he was at work. And that’s what, that’s what we were doing. Yeah. When I had my stroke. I was busy trying to finish up this research proposal. And then, yeah. Bill Gasiamis (05:14) 39 years old at the time as well. Jennifer Tomscha (05:16) Yes, was 39. Bill Gasiamis (05:18) any signs, any kind of inkling that something was not right. Jennifer Tomscha (05:23) I didn’t, weirdly, so I’m trying to think about, my whole life I’ve had this thing where if, especially at just certain points if I hit my, this is maybe nothing to do with anything, but if I hit my elbow or my wrist, then I would pass out. And sometimes I would have like a little seizure while I was passing out. So wasn’t just like a regular fainting, it was like a seizure. And I had some of those in high school and I actually went to the, hospital for those at one point and I think they didn’t know what that was and they just did an EEG. I don’t even think we had an MRI where I lived. So I didn’t really know and then that sort of passed. But I was feeling when I have a daily journal that I was writing and when I go back and read that daily journal, the whole, for a couple months ahead of time, I was like, I just feel kind of weird. I don’t feel great. I feel like a little bit sick and I don’t know what’s wrong with me. And at that time they were allowing COVID to enter New Zealand. They were putting it in. So I was like, I think I might have COVID, but I took a bunch of tests. They were all negative. And then my stroke happened on Tuesday, but the Friday before I was so sick. And then that weekend I was really sick too. And then I got, like, I kind of felt like I woke up, I felt really nauseous. And then I felt better on Monday and Tuesday. And Tuesday was when my stroke happened. So I think that was all, it was all, think, my body reacting to, I was probably bleeding in my head at that time or something. mm-hmm. Bill Gasiamis (06:57) I got it. And we’re to have to go back and talk about how it was that when you got hit on your, on your wrist and your elbow, how hard was the hit? Jennifer Tomscha (07:05) I don’t know. Not super hard, I just, I don’t know what, I actually don’t know, and maybe it’s nothing to do with it. You know, maybe it’s something else in my body that I am prone to fainting. But I don’t know, I don’t really know why that, and maybe it wasn’t anything like that. But I had one day when I was 16 and I passed out three times and that did seem kind of funny. And I went to the doctor and I passed out while I was at the doctor’s office. So they were like, there’s nothing wrong with you. So they put me to the hospital. They did the EG. stayed the night. And then they were like, there’s nothing wrong with you. So that was it. But I think if nowadays they probably would have done an MRI, maybe, and they would have seen that I had my AVM and my whole life would have been different because I wouldn’t have done all the stuff that I’ve done now. Like my mom was like, if we had known you had had an AVM, you would have gone to school. in Sioux City, you know, or we would have done something to keep you nearby because we would be worried about you. Instead, I was just like, doing whatever I wanted to, which is good. Bill Gasiamis (08:14) Laze, but that’s kind of good. But also I get the preventative thing. One of the, my former guests had a daughter who had an AVM and I think she was five when she passed away from a bleed in the brain because of an AVM. That’s horrific. And one of the, it’s actually worth listening to that episode and it’s worth me interrupting this right now to jump on and find that episode so that I can share it with people. And this particular lady has made it her life’s mission to raise money, get an MRI machine and do preventative scans for people in case they have an AVM or some other undiagnosed neurological condition. I think it’s Gina. Gina Keely. OK, it’s. And her ⁓ foundation is now called the Paige Keeley Foundation, it’s the most heartbreaking story. It’s episode 141 and I’ll have the link in the show notes and I’ll have it in the YouTube description. So for anyone listening, jump back and have a look at that. And also maybe even consider supporting the foundation because the story is heartbreaking and the efforts that this lady is going to ensure that this doesn’t happen to other people is just amazing. So. I wanted to, I raised that because I had a, in 2011, no, no, in 2010, about 18 months before my actual AVM bled, I had a really terrible negative episode, nauseous, room spinning, like all the signs of stroke, but completely missed the, completely missed Jennifer Tomscha (09:47) Mm. Bill Gasiamis (09:55) the AVM when I went and actually had an MRI. So yeah, I went to the hospital, gave them my, rundown of what was happening to me and they were so switched on and they got me in and they did all the tests, but they didn’t find anything because they didn’t know what they were looking for. And there was no obvious sign of bleeding. So they didn’t dig deeper. And I have a friend of mine who is a radiographer who actually did my MRIs Jennifer Tomscha (09:58) ⁓ really? Mm. Reflections on the Experience Bill Gasiamis (10:22) when I was in hospital being treated after my AVM burst in 2012. And he said to me, the preventative stuff is very difficult because if you don’t specifically know what you’re testing for, you don’t know how to set up the machine and how many slices that it needs to take and at what resolution. So that when you deliver that to the radiologist and they’re looking at it, can they see an AVM and then pass that on? Jennifer Tomscha (10:37) Mmm Bill Gasiamis (10:49) that information onto the neurologist. They might even miss it, even though they’re doing MRI. But what Jena is doing, it sounds like they’re specifically going after aneurysms, AVMs, other malformations, and therefore they have kind of this better opportunity to find it. So if somebody is considering getting a preventative scan of their brain, you have to be very specific. Jennifer Tomscha (10:53) Bye. Bill Gasiamis (11:14) with the team of doctors, radiographers, neurologists, as to what you want them to look for and make sure that they adjust the scan so that it’s fit for purpose. Jennifer Tomscha (11:25) That’s interesting. That’s really interesting. Bill Gasiamis (11:26) Yeah. So what was the day of the stroke like? Was it, you said you’re feeling better on that Tuesday. Jennifer Tomscha (11:34) Mm-hmm. I had a good day. I have like lots of notes from my research proposal and I went to pick up. I don’t know why I did it this way actually. I went, my daughter’s preschool is in our town, Greytown, and I went and picked up her first and then I went to get my son. His school is a Montessori school. It’s in one town north. And so I went and got her and we were driving in the car and when I turned onto the highway that connects Greytown and Carterton, I just felt like a wash of dizziness and I started losing sight, I think, in my right eye. And it’s seven kilometers from Graytown to Carterton. And right before we got into Carterton, I pulled over onto the side of the highway. I tried, so by that time I think I had lost most of the sight in my one, my right eye. And so it wasn’t very long actually. And so I tried to call my husband, he didn’t answer. And then I just called 111 and I was like, I don’t know why I was like, I think I’m having a stroke, but I don’t know why I even thought that actually. Do know what I mean? I just, was like, something is wrong with me. And so my daughter was fussing in the back and, I don’t really remember anything after that. I don’t remember the paramedics coming. I don’t remember talking to anyone. but so when they, I think the police came first and then Then the paramedics came and they said I was nauseous, but talking a little bit. But then they moved me into the ambulance and, I started, choking and, or something, and they had to intubate me in the ambulance. And then they took me in. I was helicoptered off to Wellington hospital. So. Bill Gasiamis (13:12) How did you feel about it? I know you did the right things. You nailed it. But how did you feel? What were you thinking? I was completely oblivious to the risk I was at or in. Jennifer Tomscha (13:14) Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I don’t know. just, let’s see, I think… I think when I was losing my vision, that was hard. I mean, I’m really lucky. There was a little ⁓ path on the side of the road right before you enter Carterton. So I pulled over there so I could still control the car. You know what I mean? I wasn’t so bad. And I could dial 111 on my phone. I could still think about those things. But it wasn’t very long after I dialed 111 and talked to those people that I’d that my memory is gone. So I think, I mean, I have spent a lot of time trying to like go back and figure out like, what was it? What could I have done early? know, like I was really lucky I was in the car, because honestly, because if I was at home, I might’ve like laid down and taken a nap and not called anybody actually, or called Dan and half have not answered. So then I could just see myself. Bill Gasiamis (14:14) you Jennifer Tomscha (14:22) It was actually really lucky that I was in the car with my daughter because it made me, I mean, I couldn’t keep driving very well. And so it made me pull over and it made me, I’d have to do something because I wasn’t in town. So I had to like figure out how I was going to manage the situation. And so I was really lucky actually that I was in the car and that I was in a public space where I was easy to find and like I could, so I felt like really lucky that all that happened. in that time period, but also that soul that my daughter was with me because it made me, I had this like parental responsibility that I had to, I couldn’t keep driving with her in the car. Like I just, I knew I had to do something and quickly. I feel like, I feel really lucky that that was the situation that I was in because I could see a different day where I didn’t go get the kids at that time. And I maybe would have tried to take a nap and it would have been totally different. So you know what I mean. Bill Gasiamis (15:19) It’s such a common thing for people to go, oh, I’m not feeling well. I think I’ll just go lay down and have a rest and see if I can just get over it, sleep through it or whatever. yeah. And then it just leads to even more and more trouble or problems. The fact that you said, I think I’m having a stroke, right? That is so cool and bizarre and amazing. Jennifer Tomscha (15:29) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. The guy was like, why? And I was like, well, I’m losing my sight. I was like, I mean, I don’t know how it was. I was like, why do you think you’re having a stroke? I was like, I don’t know. But there was something wrong. You know what I mean. Bill Gasiamis (15:52) Yeah, that’s such a good question for me. Why do you think I’m going to strike? I don’t know, but I just came up with it. What? That was enough though. Like that was such a response from you to say, I think I’m having a stroke. It’s very, very rare that people get there, but the fact that you got there kind of gave, gave them also like an understanding of how to attend the site and what to do. Jennifer Tomscha (16:01) Mm. Bill Gasiamis (16:18) And that saves time as well. That saves a ton of time. Jennifer Tomscha (16:21) Right. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Bill Gasiamis (16:23) and gets them, even though you may have been wrong, right? Gets them looking in the direction because they’re already got that in their mind. And then, well, let’s look at that first and then let’s suss it out. She might be completely wrong. But I walked into the hospital after my, while I was having the third blade and said, I’m having a brain hemorrhage or something like that. And I was in the hospital upright, standing, looking normal and Jennifer Tomscha (16:27) Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s true. That’s ⁓ Mm-hmm. Bill Gasiamis (16:51) They were looking at me like, okay, what are you on? This guy, this guy must be on something because it doesn’t look like he’s having a stroke. And then I had to try and convince them, but I wasn’t giving them my contact details. So they weren’t able to bring up my record. And all they were saying was just give us your name, give us your name. We’ll put it in the system. We’ll have a look. And eventually they got it out of me and, ⁓ and I was right. But yeah, such a good thing. Jennifer Tomscha (16:54) Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, uh-huh. no. Hmm. you Bill Gasiamis (17:21) I love those little bits and pieces that go well together because you often hear I often hear the bits and pieces that didn’t go well and and it turned out differently and how old was your daughter at the time? Yeah, wow. Jennifer Tomscha (17:30) Mm-hmm. She was three and a half. And so she was still in the backseat, know, backwards in her car seat. And then we stopped and she was like, why are we stopping or whatever in her three and a half year old voice? And I was like, I just had to make a couple of phone, you know, I don’t know what I said to her. And then I think when the police came, she was asleep. Like she fell asleep back in the car. then, and then. It’s just, I, I’ll, so then for the next six weeks I don’t have any memories of anything. So all, all of the information has been given to me by other people. But, so, yeah. Long-term Effects and Adaptations Bill Gasiamis (18:04) So was quite a large blade after all of that. Jennifer Tomscha (18:06) Yeah, it was large. They took me, so I flew in the helicopter from Masterton to Wellington and I think they, by then my sister had gotten to the hospital and they, yeah, I think they said, yeah, they did an emergency, is it craniac? Or what’s the? Bill Gasiamis (18:25) Craniotomy, Jennifer Tomscha (18:26) Yeah, they did an emergency cradionomy and they saw that I was bleeding. And then they saw that I had this large left frontal or frontal lobe AVM. So, and then they said that at that moment they couldn’t tackle that AVM. So they, controlled the bleeding and then they, and they left my skull out and then, yeah. And then, then they, they talked to the neurosurgeon and He, that was a Tuesday and he said, why don’t you, I was in a coma, just keep her in a medical coma. And then Monday they would do the, the, the surgery to get rid of the AVM. Bill Gasiamis (19:05) And then that surgery happened. Jennifer Tomscha (19:07) That happened and it was, had my, actually had two AVMs. One was really discreet and they could see all the endings of it. And the other one was diffuse. I don’t really understand it, but, the neurosurgeon said there was like parts of regular brain in and around the AVM. I don’t really understand how that happens, but, ⁓ so they started in the morning and they did, they got rid of the one AVM. They were taking it out. And then something about the blood vessels that had some of they had been putting blood into that AVM. They then started feeding into the other AVM. So then that AVM made my brain sort of swell where that AVM was. And so the neurosurgeons had to decide if, mean, basically it was like, let me die. because they couldn’t do anything about it, or they would get rid of that AVM and they would just take out the brain that was, the normal brain that was in the regular AVM. So they took, they decided not to let me die, thank goodness, and they decided to do that. so, but it was really long surgery, it was 30 hours, I think they just didn’t, yeah, it was really long. And… And I think Dr. Woon was my neurosurgeon. And he just said, when he went and sewed my head back together, he didn’t think I was listening, but I was in the other room and I could hear him after I had my skull put back in. And he was like, I’ll never do another surgery like that ever again. it was too, it was really long. And I think he definitely thought that he had made me worse. Like they had taken out. too much of my normal brain. when he called my husband after the surgery was over, like they didn’t call him. Dan, my husband was waiting for the whole 30 hours and they only called him one time at like 11 o’clock that night. And they were like, we’re finishing up. But then they had all this other stuff happen. So they didn’t actually call him again until noon the next day. And Dr. Woon said like, well, you’ll be lucky if she talks. Because we had to take out. he was just so discouraged from how the AVM surgery went. And so, yeah. Bill Gasiamis (21:24) Dr. Woon needs to give himself way more credit. Jennifer Tomscha (21:27) I know, I know, I also think that. I also think that, I mean, it’s, I mean, neurosurgeons, they’re, it’s amazing that you could, I’ve just, it’d be so weird if your job was to cut people up and go into their brains and try and fix something in that organ, which is so mysterious, do you know? Like, yeah, so. Bill Gasiamis (21:48) Wow. 30 hours. So he also is thinking in his career, he’s probably never going to come across another 30 hour surgery. Yeah. Well, only if it’s necessary to make somebody better, but yeah, we definitely want to avoid that if we can for every human on the planet and for Dr. Woon, but I just, I’m just completely in awe of these people. I bumped into my surgeon last year. Jennifer Tomscha (21:57) I hope not. mean, I hope, you know, yeah, I don’t think, yeah. Right. Mm-hmm. Bill Gasiamis (22:15) because I had another MRI, because I had another bout of headaches and all that kind of stuff. still, you know, it hasn’t ended. I still go through all these things. And I mean, I mean kind of, I get emotional when I’m around her and when I’m in the room with her. If she told me to jump off a cliff because there is something positive down there and I would do it. If she said, if she said punch a hole through that wall, I would do it. Like I would do whatever she said because Jennifer Tomscha (22:20) no. Yes. Yeah. Bill Gasiamis (22:44) I just cannot get over the, know, when, you know, when you make a decision, some people, my phone is weird. I’ve never done this before, but you have a piece of fabric and it’s got some lines on it. And you know, if you cut it wrong, that you can’t use that piece of fabric for that pair of trousers anymore. You’ve got to use it for something else. Like that’s a pretty mild problem to happen. Like you cut wrong, you go in the wrong place. You pop that aside and. You’re useful. If you do that to a human, there’s no going back. And you’ve got to make that decision every single time you walk into the operating theater. And imagine his family. Like, I feel like we need to reach out to his family and say, is there anything we need to make up for? I know we had your husband for 30 hours, but like, how can we support your family now that he’s done that for my family? Jennifer Tomscha (23:40) Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bill Gasiamis (23:40) Do you know, like it’s so interesting that these people have been able to get to that level of capability. Jennifer Tomscha (23:49) Yes. Bill Gasiamis (23:50) with humans and helping people stay alive and be here with their family, be a mom, be a wife, be a daughter, be a member of the community. Jennifer Tomscha (23:51) Mm-hmm. Yep. Yep, exactly. It’s just, it’s amazing. It’s just so, and I’m so grateful to him and he had another neurosurgeon working with him and yeah, it did, I mean, yeah, it’s amazing. I always think though, I’m trying to think about like, did, why, if he cut out those parts of my brain, why weren’t they, why? I mean, I have some things I can’t do that I could do before. Like I can’t, this is so weird. I can’t recall songs very well and I can’t sing songs from memory, like at all. Like that part of my brain is done, which is fine, but I used to sing a lot. but I think because if the AVM is there when you’re in your, if it’s there when you’re in your mom’s womb, like if you’re, when you’re developing. It’s probable that my brain was like, there’s a little issue here in this brain. We’ll move some of the stuff away from, don’t you think that would be, yeah, because I just think like, I think where my AVMs were, my brain was like, we’re gonna move, we’re not gonna put stuff by those AVMs because yeah, because your brain is really adaptable. Like that’s one of the things that I’ve been reading since I had my stroke. Bill Gasiamis (24:59) Wow. Yeah, I’ve never thought about that. Why not? That makes sense, Jennifer. Because it’s… Yeah. Jennifer Tomscha (25:18) My mom’s like, your brain is so adaptable and flexible and it can do different things. You just have to try doing things, you know, and failing. Bill Gasiamis (25:26) And the blood flow is not right. So you imagine with blood flow not being right, then the brain’s not developing correctly in that spot anyway. And it’s just developing where there is blood flow. Jennifer Tomscha (25:37) Yes, exactly. Exactly. I just I feel like that makes sense to me. And that’s why if you’re the neurosurgeon, I mean, you really don’t know. Like Dr. Woon didn’t know what was there. But I just feel like maybe my brain when it was developing was like, well, this isn’t a good spot and this other spot isn’t a good spot. So we’ll just do everything in a different place. And the brain is really you can really do that. I think your brains are really plastic in the way that they can order themselves. And so I So it’s still all Dr. Woon. I’m just so grateful to him and everything that he did. Because honestly, I feel like I come from the States. I don’t know that a neurosurgeon, I just don’t know how long a neurosurgeon would have, they might be like, I’m done, I can’t do this anymore. I just don’t really know. It just all depends on the doctor and who sees you and everything. So I just felt so lucky to have been here. Bill Gasiamis (26:30) Imagine doing a 30 hour shift on any day for anything. Jennifer Tomscha (26:34) No. And the thing about neurosurgery is like you’re in, I mean you’re doing like, you’re in a microscope or whatever doing that little and you’re tying off a little blood vein and I don’t know, it’s nuts, it’s so nuts. mm-hmm. Bill Gasiamis (26:39) them. Identity and Self-Perception Post-Stroke Yeah. And they talk about, you know, how dangerous it is to drive when you’re off a take when you haven’t slept, when all those things. And these guys are going for 30 hours and they’re doing the most intricate, life altering surgery and it all goes perfectly well. So how wrapped was he when he realized how well it went. Jennifer Tomscha (27:09) I didn’t talk to him until June, so that was at the end of March. And then I was in the ICU for a while. then they moved me to Masterton and I did rehab. And then I went to this last clinic, this ABI, this brain clinic for people who had brain injuries. And that’s when I finally talked to him on Zoom. And he was like, so can you walk? And I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, of course I can. He was like, will you show me? and I walked up and down the room and he was like laughing so hard at my being able to walk. He was like so enthusiastic about it. I was, you know, I mean, we can talk about this too. was, everyone was like, when I finally have my memory back, I was in Masterton and I was using a diaper. I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t step in bed, but I remember being, actually, ⁓ I remember being like, I’m fine. I’m fine. Everyone is just fussing over me. But of course, they were right too. Do you know what I mean? But I was like, I’m okay. Everyone needs to just like, let me just relax around me. And everyone was like, everything I did, they would be like, you know, I couldn’t feed myself. And then, you know, there’s all this stuff. And I was like, I’m really okay. You guys should just. take, like, I’m fine. I kept saying that, like, I’m okay, I’m fine. You guys are all. But of course, I wasn’t really fine, but I felt like, Bill Gasiamis (28:36) It sounds like you weren’t physically there yet, but you were emotionally and mentally fine. Like it sounds like you were on the, you kind of knew that things were going to turn out or. Jennifer Tomscha (28:48) I think so. I think, or maybe, I always think like maybe you can only manage so much. like at that time I had my front part of my skull was gone because it had been taken out when they did both my surgeries. And so I had to wear like a rugby helmet or whatever when I walked. But otherwise I would sit in my room and it looked terrible. It’s just so terrible. but I just didn’t really recognize that. Like I didn’t, wasn’t, I couldn’t do all the things at once. So I think I was just thinking about like, and finally at the middle of May, my mom and sister, I still had my like long hair in the back and short in the front. So my sister was gonna cut the long hair in the back. And I saw myself in a mirror and I was like, that doesn’t look very good. You know, like I wasn’t, I don’t feel like I was totally aware. I wasn’t, my brain wasn’t. totally back in it. It’s a long time to recover and I feel like my brain only gave me, I don’t know, I felt like I couldn’t think about my own brain, maybe for like a year or something, really think about it in a second order way. Bill Gasiamis (29:59) allow yourself to kind of observe your state, your brain condition. Jennifer Tomscha (30:02) Yes. Yes, I think I was like, it was like that my it was like maybe in October of the next year, October of 2023, where I was like, Oh, I can think about my brain and what it is in a way that I couldn’t. Because I don’t know, you have to go through, you just have to relearn a lot of stuff. But I didn’t like I’m lucky, like, it didn’t affect my reading, so I could read right away. I’m not a very good writer, like, I don’t have good handwriting anyway, and my handwriting still maybe isn’t as good as it was before I had my stroke, but, yeah. I feel like, felt like, the actual healing was a longer process than I thought it was going to be, especially right when I first woke up, because I was like, I’m fine, but I wasn’t really fine, actually. Do you know what I mean? Bill Gasiamis (30:55) 100%, they can make doctors and neurosurgeons do a 30 hour surgery, find that part, fix it, ta-da-da-da-da, do all those things, but they can’t make a helmet for God’s sake look half decent after they’ve taken your skull out. Like as if it’s bad enough, have skull missing and then they put this terrible looking thing over your head. Jennifer Tomscha (31:11) No. It’s true. It’s true. It’s true. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah. Bill Gasiamis (31:22) And I know for women like hair is a big deal and become. Jennifer Tomscha (31:27) It was really, I have always liked my hair and it was, I had short hair for about a year and a half maybe, you know, and I started growing out more and that was a little bit hard. I felt like that’s really vain, but I was like, man, I just did not like that short hair. Cause it’s not very, I don’t know. I just, wanted my old hair back. So I was lucky that it came back though. You know, everything, it’s not cancer. It’s a different thing. So you have a different, you know. Bill Gasiamis (31:51) I never would have told you that your hair didn’t look good, but my favorite hair is brunette curly hair. Yeah. My wife is a brunette naturally and she has curls in her hair and she straightens it all the time. I haven’t seen her brunette curly hair for 30 years. Jennifer Tomscha (31:57) Thank you. ⁓ yeah. no. Bill Gasiamis (32:13) I’m like, woman, that’s what I like. Like that’s my thing. you stop straightening your hair, but I can’t get it to stop. ⁓ Jennifer Tomscha (32:20) Yeah, that’s fine. Everyone has to do what they want with their hair and everything. you know, that’s something that one thing I think about my stroke is you just got to go live your life. Like you can’t and you’ve done that beautifully. You know what I mean? Like this podcast is amazing. it’s just like, you just got to go do what feels good for you at the time and what you want to do and just do it. and stop saying no, or you know what I mean. Bill Gasiamis (32:49) I’m trying. am. know exactly what you mean. One of the biggest things is identity is a big, big thing. And I don’t talk about me so much. I’ll talk about what happened to me, my stroke journey, but I don’t really give people a look behind the curtain. You know, sort of really understand what’s going on. This is just all a facade. And one of the challenges that I have is this painting company that I started 20 years ago was the main source of income. And it stopped abruptly seven years in when I became. Jennifer Tomscha (33:02) Hmm. Mm-hmm. Great. Bill Gasiamis (33:17) and it sort of still kept bubbling along. And then I got back to it in 2019 because my clients were still calling me and I was well enough after seven years of going through stroke and all the stuff of surgery, learning to walk again and all that. I was good enough to sort of get back into it. And of course in 2019, I only had six months and then we were in lockdown. And then in lockdown, we had two years of lockdown in Melbourne, and then I’m trying to keep that thing going again. And then there was this massive influx of work after lockdown because everyone’s going, I’ve been looking at these walls for two years. They look terrible. Let’s get them painted. They had spare money because they hadn’t spent anything for two years. And that was like, let’s do this and let’s do that. And there was this massive amount of work for about 18 months. And then that was done. It was gone. And it’s been a steady decline since as soon as Trump opened his mouth and did something in Iran and said what he said, and he plummeted like we’ve got no work. And I’m okay to have no work because I’ve been there before and we’ve managed our affairs so that we’re okay. But I can’t employ people right now at all. That’s gone. And getting people back and starting that again is going to be extremely difficult because the curve Jennifer Tomscha (34:27) Yeah. Mmm. Hmm. Bill Gasiamis (34:36) is not it’s not going to be a sharp dip and then it’s going to be a big spike of work and demand and all that kind of stuff. this podcast has been my saving grace every time I’ve needed to occupy myself with a project and make it so that I’m not thinking about me. The podcast was there. I did. I did an interview. It got me over the line. But now the biggest void that’s going to occur is not that I’m going to Jennifer Tomscha (34:47) Mm-hmm. Bill Gasiamis (35:05) potentially not have work in this field and after shut it down, which is gonna be fine if I do that, I’m okay with that. I’ll kind of pass it on to my younger son who’s looking to do some work in a similar space. I’ll give him the phone number and he’ll be able to take those types of inquiries and then he’ll do it on his own, like very small, the way I started at the beginning. And is that I’m gonna have all the time in the world. Jennifer Tomscha (35:23) Mm. Bill Gasiamis (35:29) on my hands to do the thing that I’ve been avoiding doing because I had this business that relied on me and the thing was to do public speaking. Right. And to actually do it the way that I’ve wanted to do it for more than a decade, which was to talk about the topics that I want to talk about, which no one’s talking about post-traumatic growth, overcoming trauma, how that’s applicable in organizations. Jennifer Tomscha (35:38) yeah, yeah, Mmm. Bill Gasiamis (35:56) how to treat people better in an organization so they have less mental health issues, so they have less physical issues, so they’re sick less, so they enjoy their work, so they’re not hating their life. And now I’m going to have all the time in the world to do it. And I’m shitting myself. That’s the biggest issue, right? So that’s a little bit of a look behind the curtain. I am loving this. This is an amazing thing. And I do remember when I first started it, I was concerned about what people would say about me. You’re going to sound dumb, Bill. You you’re not going to, you know, what authority do you have? All those kinds of things, they were coming up in my head. And then when I wrote the book, the same thing, I wrote my first book, The Unexpected Way That a Strike Became the Best Thing That Happened to Me. Everyone has said, don’t write that book. Don’t write that. Jennifer Tomscha (36:27) Mm. Bill Gasiamis (36:39) Don’t let that be your title. It’s bizarre, it’s weird, like it’s strange, it’s too long and all these things. So I did it. And of course, the first time I spoke about it on YouTube, one of the first comments was a negative comment on my YouTube channel. It’s like, ⁓ okay. My God, that’s a kick in the guts. Jennifer Tomscha (36:44) really? ⁓ yeah. Bill Gasiamis (37:03) So those little kicks in the guts that I’ve had along the way have been few and far between, but they’re the ones that seem to persist the most. And they stay in that part of your head, which says, you know, that public speaking gig, you’re probably going to do the first one and they’re going to say you were terrible. And then you’re to feel all sad at 52 about, you know, yourself and all these things. Jennifer Tomscha (37:15) Yeah. you Bill Gasiamis (37:29) how you’re going to overcome that emotionally and mentally and all this kind of stuff. It’s like, Bill, relax. You’re gonna have time to build your new career at 52. You’re gonna have time to do it. So that’s like, all right. I find myself getting pushed into a corner and only then responding with, all right, all right, I better step up again. I better do this again. Jennifer Tomscha (37:33) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Bill Gasiamis (37:58) Very strange, re-imagining yourself and recreating yourself after stroke is a huge thing because you’re also doing it with a stroke brain. Whereas before I had no excuses, I was doing it still. Like the pattern is the same. The stroke brain part of it is an obstacle that I wish I didn’t have, but somehow this stroke brain part has made me do things I’ve never done before. Jennifer Tomscha (38:14) You The Long Game of Recovery Bill Gasiamis (38:27) a podcast, a book. You know, I was a tradie. I was like, I didn’t study. didn’t read. In my, by the time I got to the age of 37, honestly, Jennifer, I reckon I’d read maybe seven books. And they were about this criminal underworld figure in Melbourne who had this, who had this career and of being like really terrible and somehow. He was the thing that I was interested in reading about. Like that’s the only thing that captured my imagination. Everything else, everything else I picked up from listening to podcasts or watching shows on TV and that kind of stuff. So I wanna just, I wanna make people understand that the battles that you’re fighting, I’m fighting, it’s real. Like you’re not doing it alone. Everyone’s fighting this. How do I reimagine myself? Jennifer Tomscha (38:56) Bye! Bill Gasiamis (39:20) after stroke, you know, I don’t tell people I’m an author. Still, this book has been out for three years. I’ve had amazing reviews. I’ve had a couple of, you know, negative reviews and that’s okay. I’m not, I’m not an intellectual. I haven’t, I’ve never studied how to write literature, any of that stuff. And it’s sold about seven or 800 copies just through the podcast. Jennifer Tomscha (39:21) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That’s pretty good. That’s actually quite a bit, I feel like. It’s quite a bit, actually. Mm-hmm. Bill Gasiamis (39:47) I feel like to like I don’t promote it. I don’t tell anyone about it just in the podcast. And it’s like, I still don’t say I’ve authored a book. Nobody knows. Jennifer Tomscha (39:56) You should say it. mean, I do think the what are you going to do after you have a stroke? How are you going to do it? It’s all very strange and scary, I think. And like, yeah, I, I totally get your feeling about it. And it’s just really tricky to know what is the You know, for me, I feel like I was in middle of my PhD, so I took 22 months or 20 months off of doing the PhD just to rest. And then I went back in and it was, it is still, it was really hard. I like, wasn’t very good at figuring out how to write in the academic way. Which was my position. I was director of the writing program at NYU Shanghai. So I was like, that was my thing. And it was very hard to figure out how to return to do the critical work of my thesis. was just, it’s just, I don’t know, my brain just couldn’t figure out how to do it right. It was really interesting. was like, the sentences I was writing weren’t as good. They probably still aren’t as good. You know, like when I look at what I was writing before I had my stroke, which is part of my thesis, and then the stuff I wrote after my stroke, I feel like I can tell a little bit of a difference in the fluency of my writing, for sure. So, yeah. And I just, so… Yeah, I don’t know. It’s tricky. It’s tricky to figure out. But I was really lucky, actually. I think the PhD was helpful because… I could just go at it on my own time and I could just take however much time I needed. And I, I had a deadline. but it was good to just, it was actually like a really good place to start to work my brain again, to be like, okay, I have to, I’m going to write on this author and what she thinks about character. And I’m just going to, and I have these other texts that I’m interested in and I have to figure out how I’m going to. Represent them in my own work. And so it was really good to do all that. It was a good stepping stone for me I think actually to get back into it and to see What I could and couldn’t do very well, like I feel like I’m a really good reader. I’m a really good Critic and I’m not so good at ⁓ writing down what I think anymore as well So I’m just I really have to work on and I don’t know how you get it back like Bill Gasiamis (42:26) articulating Jennifer Tomscha (42:28) Yeah, articulating what I mean and yeah, I feel like I can’t, I can’t say things as artfully or as proficiently as I used to. So I don’t know, this woman who is getting her PhD at Vic too, she’s like, she studies how people learn to read. And she was like, if you’re having problems with academic writing, you should get a, and I still haven’t done this, you should get an academic book and you should listen to it because a lot of learning to read is listening to how sentences sound. She was like, so you should listen to an academic book and that will help you think about how those sentences work and how they’re maybe different from like, I write fiction. So fiction is one thing and then this is a different way of writing. So she said that was one thing that she thought I should do to help. develop my proficiency in academic writing, which was really interesting. So. Bill Gasiamis (43:25) Yeah, it’s a different approach. You know, it’s coming from the auditory, you know, system and therefore the auditory digital system. Therefore you go in and you you, you pick up nuances that you wouldn’t have known were there if you’ve never heard an academic speak or if you’ve never read an academic document in that way. So you might read it. Jennifer Tomscha (43:28) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Bill Gasiamis (43:51) to get something out of it. Like, okay, what is this academic saying about this topic? But that’s not paying attention to the structure of how it’s written. That’s a different filter. Jennifer Tomscha (43:55) Mm-hmm. No, exactly. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Exactly. So I thought that was an interesting way to think about, like, how I could get better at that thing. That was, like, a really important thing for me. That, for some reason, it did just get a little bit, I don’t know, stunted? Or I don’t know what happened, you know? Or I just haven’t been in academia as much. So you know what I mean? So, yeah. Bill Gasiamis (44:17) Yeah. Yeah, 100%. The skill is not as refined or, or practiced as your other skills. So it’s not the thing that you’re the best at. and you’re getting better at it. The thing about it is also, may I add you’re only four years out from all the drama that you had with your brain. So there’s a lot of healing to happen that is going to improve. That’s going to get better and better. And in four or five years from now, you will have Jennifer Tomscha (44:29) Mm-hmm. Bill Gasiamis (44:49) turn the corner again, you’ll see that there’s more and more improvement. It’s really important for people to hear this, who are three, two, one, five, six years in, there’s still heaps of healing and recovery to come. So it’ll happen. Jennifer Tomscha (45:07) Yeah, that was something that my husband and I, in my first year after my stroke, he would be like, go to the gym. And he did. He, I went to the gym and I, had me lift weights and he wanted me to like exercise. And he was like, what are you doing to improve your mind and your body over this first year? And I was like, I’m, I’m again, I was like, I’m fine. I’m really fine. And, and, ⁓ he thought I wasn’t doing enough. Like he wanted me to just go at it with this intensity. I don’t know. was an, cause I was like, I am going at it with my own sort of intensity, but he wanted me to be more aggressive than I wanted to or something. You know what I mean? He wanted me to be like, he wanted to see me really working at it and like sweating or doing, you know what I mean? And I was like, I don’t wanna, I don’t know. Bill Gasiamis (45:59) He wanted it to be more masculine. Jennifer Tomscha (46:01) Yeah, I guess. And he’s not very masculine guy. I mean, he’s a masculine guy, but he’s like, he was just he just wanted to see me sweating it out or doing the really see my focus. And I just yeah. And that has been an issue because he’s like, yeah, he’s just like, are you going to work again? I was like, yes, I’ll work. I just don’t know what I’ll do. And I don’t know if I could do a full eight hour day right now. I still take a nap every day in the afternoon. So But yeah, it’s just, don’t, yeah, so. Bill Gasiamis (46:34) It’s easy for a caregiver to say that because they haven’t had a stroke. Thank God. Thank God. ⁓ Jennifer Tomscha (46:40) No, I know. Thank goodness. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Actually, I mean, I feel really bad for Dan and my mom and my sister. Like, it’s actually worse to be the caregiver in some ways because you just, you don’t go through it. So you, you don’t really know what it’s like. Bill Gasiamis (46:55) I and you, and if you’ve got an imagination, a wild imagination, you could turn it into something completely way worse than what it is. And if you’re ignorant, which most family members and caregivers are, let’s face it. And that’s okay. Then you do the other thing. You play it down and you assume she should be going harder than that or Jennifer Tomscha (47:11) Yeah. Mm-hmm. Bill Gasiamis (47:19) If I was, if it was me, I’d be doing that. But your brain has actually been injured and in that space, perhaps where motivation is for some people. And there is no way that you can make that person more motivated by willing them on or telling them to go to the gym or whatever. That could actually be missing the motivation part. So there’s a whole bunch of things that caregivers and family members miss. And it’s for me, it’s when I’m surrounded, when, when the people that are around me are Jennifer Tomscha (47:33) Mm-hmm. Bill Gasiamis (47:46) ⁓ people who don’t want to engage deeply in those types of troubles, life and all that kind of stuff. they’re great people. They’re just like, emotionally they don’t go deep, right? They love it that there’s ambiguity around like what’s wrong with me. Cause they look at me, I look right. And then they just go, everything’s fine. He looks amazing. I feel better now. And when I’m around him, I can just talk about dumb stuff. Jennifer Tomscha (48:07) Mmm, yeah, yeah. Bill Gasiamis (48:14) And we can talk about things that are not important and everything’s fine. And it’s kind of like head in the sand. It’s a, you know, one step, one emotional step removed from the actual goings on. And it kind of also helps me strangely enough, because then I don’t have to deal with their inability to handle actual life and the real things that are going on. Jennifer Tomscha (48:39) Mm. Yeah. Bill Gasiamis (48:43) that can just be living in La La Land and I don’t have to deal with that level of complexity. So it’s kind of, they’re both situations are helping me in a way. Whereas at the beginning I was taking that negatively. The thing I do, the thing I would like to do is challenge caregivers to listen to the podcast, especially of the spouse who I’ve interviewed. Jennifer Tomscha (48:50) Yeah. Yeah, that’s true. Bill Gasiamis (49:09) You know, and then a couple more after that to get an insight so that they’re not guessing or second guessing or think they know better, et cetera. No doubt about it. they, know, they know some things about us that they can see that we’re not doing a pattern in behavior that we’re avoiding. Perhaps they know that part and all that type of thing. But we’ll say, we’re also dealing with a messed up brain. So have a bit of a kind of a Q Jennifer Tomscha (49:13) Hmm. Right, right. Bill Gasiamis (49:36) be curious about where that person’s coming from, not how you’re feeling about where they’re coming from. And that’s what family members and caregivers do. They make it about them. And I had to say a few times to people in my circles, like, it’s not about you. Jennifer Tomscha (49:43) Right. Ha Tomscha Tomscha! Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Bill Gasiamis (49:56) It’s actually really about me. cannot walk and I can’t use my left hand. It’s not about you. Like I know you woke up with a numb leg one day because you slept on it wrong, but it’s not the same. Jennifer Tomscha (50:05) Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s funny. Yeah. Bill Gasiamis (50:14) My wife was dragging my foot in the wheelchair. It had fallen off the, you know, the rest where your leg, your feet sit. It had fallen off and I hadn’t noticed. This is like day three or day four after brain surgery. And it was dragging underneath the footrest. And she noticed that the wheelchair wasn’t moving and she was shoving it until we realized. Jennifer Tomscha (50:22) higher. Bill Gasiamis (50:40) My foot was stuck underneath the rest and we had a laugh. that kind of like, that’s one of those, if those people were there and they saw that, they would realize like, it’s not about your numb leg when you slept on it weird one night. take your stuff and just, you know, park it for now. So it’s interesting. That’s kind of why I think I do this podcast. I think it’s for those Jennifer Tomscha (50:44) Yeah, yeah, Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. The Journey of Recovery Bill Gasiamis (51:08) people if they, I’ve never told them that they should jump on, but if they, for example, get curious one day and they want to know what it’s like to be in Bill’s head, pick one of the 400 episodes. Just have a listen. Jennifer Tomscha (51:09) Mmm. I have a question for you. you, this is something that, so you think you could just, you can keep improving from your stroke. There’s not like a deadline. There’s not like a couple of years or any. Bill Gasiamis (51:36) One of the things I learned from my wife and my brother, my brother is my biggest nemesis. You he’s older and he’s the most loving guy. He’s the most supportive guy, but he has a weird way of doing it. Just, you know, we’re different characters, right? So he just is a bit different in the way. one, one of the things my brother said was that I picked up, I reckon it was five, six years ago is he’s in it for the long game. Jennifer Tomscha (52:03) Hmm. Bill Gasiamis (52:04) When I was young, I had 20 jobs in 10 years. He said two jobs in 40 years or 30 in 30 years. So he just chips away, works away, works away, works away. This is an analogy, right? But also a true story. My wife started her, her, her master’s in psychology. She only started that a few years ago, but the whole. Jennifer Tomscha (52:08) Hmm. Hmm. Bill Gasiamis (52:28) journey to get to the Masters of Psych started in I think late 2011 or early 2011, about a year before I ended up in hospital. She is just now finishing the last part of her Masters degree and she found a job literally a week ago in her field two days a week. Jennifer Tomscha (52:35) Mm. Mmm. ⁓ Bill Gasiamis (52:56) to work as a provisional psychologist so that she can get the 1500 hours of work in the field before she actually gets her actual full psychology license. And I’m like, dude, I get it. So what you’re telling me is that if you just start and never stop, you’re gonna see some kind of progress. And I apply that to… Jennifer Tomscha (53:08) Right. That’s amazing. Mmm. Mm-hmm. Bill Gasiamis (53:27) stroke recovery. I know that people are dealing with far more deficits that perhaps you and I show visibly and that their hand may not specifically work the way that it always that they wanted it to work or that the way that it worked before. But that doesn’t mean the brain’s not continuously continuously healing that part of the brain might be gone. But as far as healing the parts around the brain that are still there, that’s continuing. Jennifer Tomscha (53:28) Uh-huh. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Bill Gasiamis (53:58) And if, and, and one of the questions that I have for people is like, is what I’m doing supporting my recovery or is it hindering my recovery? Because I’ve met stroke survivors who have gone back to the smokes, who have gone back to alcohol. And if you’re doing things that are getting in the way of recovery, then you’re not allowing the brain to continuously do what it does best, which is overcome challenges, rewire. Jennifer Tomscha (54:05) Mmm. Bill Gasiamis (54:25) find new ways around, know, develop new neural pathways and adapt. And that’s kind of where I think it’s at adaption, right? And the great thing about understanding these days about neurodiversity and understanding what somebody with ADHD goes through is the one skill they’re really, really good at is adaption. Jennifer Tomscha (54:31) Mm-hmm. Mm, that’s interesting. Yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. Bill Gasiamis (54:49) because and people with dyslexia. my God, like some of the biggest, most wealthy billionaires on the planet had dyslexia. Richard Branson is a classic example of that. Yeah. And they adapt. They find a way to somehow overcome the normal world and be weird in the way that they see letters and what letters do and how they move on a page and all that kind of stuff because their brain adapts and they can just continuously improve their adaption strategy. Jennifer Tomscha (54:57) really? didn’t know that. Mm-hmm. Bill Gasiamis (55:17) to get to a point where no one knows that they have this condition. So that’s what I’m really passionate about. That’s why the podcast exists. I’ve interviewed in my 400 episodes, I’ve certainly interviewed stroke survivors who I’ve had improvement 10, 11, 12, 13 years post stroke, got a finger movement back. Yeah, got sensation back, something rewired. So yeah. Jennifer Tomscha (55:19) Right. Mm-hmm. really? That’s amazing. Yeah, becau

Today on the IC-DISC Show we're talking with John, Clive, and Kelly Hess from CompuCycle in Houston. John started in the metals business in South Africa back in 1966, came to the US in 1986 to run a brass and copper distribution company, and spun off a small scrap division that eventually became CompuCycle. Clive joined in 1996 fresh out of U of H. Kelly came aboard in 2013 from the nonprofit world and now runs the company as CEO. Three decades later they're processing 40,000 pounds a day and hold more certifications than any other electronics recycler in Texas. In this conversation, the Hess family talks about the moment the Basel Accord shut down their entire plastics market overnight, why they think scrap metal companies handling electronics is now a liability risk for corporate customers, and how they built their own plastic washing line to solve a problem the rest of the industry was still struggling with. Kelly also shares a partnership they've built with Pearland ISD that turns scrap dismantling into job training for autistic students ages 18 to 22. Whether you're in recycling or not, the Hess family's thinking on running a multigenerational business, earning certifications most competitors won't bother with, and treating customer problems as a moat instead of a cost is worth your time.     SHOW HIGHLIGHTS How John Hess went from manufacturing copper ingot in South Africa in 1966 to building Houston's largest electronics recycler Why being R2 certified isn't enough, and what Compu-Cycle did after watching certified downstreams still send material to landfills The day the Basel Accord shut down their entire plastics market overnight, and how they engineered their way out Why scrap metal companies handling electronics has become a liability risk for their corporate customers The partnership with Pearland ISD that turns scrap dismantling into job training for autistic students What changed when Kelly came in from the nonprofit world and the family started hiring people smarter than themselves   Contact Details LinkedIn - Gordon Driscoll LINKS Show NotesBe a Guest About IC-DISC AllianceAbout CompuCycle   John HessAbout John Kelly HessAbout Kelly Clive HessAbout Clive TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dave: Well good morning. So this is my first time. I've had three guests on the podcast at one time. We have John Hess, we have Kelly Hess, and we have Clive Hess. So where are you all, calling into from today? what part of the world are you all in? Where now? John: We, I'm a responder. We're in Houston, Texas. Dave: Okay. And so am I. So that's, that is good. what I wanna talk about, and the reason we're doing the three person interview is the company Compus Cycle has been in business a little over 30 years, is that right? Kelly: 30 years to this? 2026 is our 30th anniversary, so we're really excited. Dave: That is awesome. and so what I wanna do, I want to go to the far origin of comp cycle, which really starts with John. So what I'd like to do is just start off with a little background on John and his entrance and experience in the scrap metal industry. So John, where are you? What part of the world do you hail from? John: Originally South Africa and have been in the metal business all my life. started in, at the age of 23 in 1966. Go back a long way. Dave: Okay. And, and then you're in the metals business, Ferris, non Ferris, John: right? we, I was, we were ingot manufacturers. We manufactured copper and aluminum based ingot for the foundry industry. And, got into the. Computer business, way back in about 1975 when we imported a, a machine for stripping cables and Okay. This machine also had the capability of shredding,computers of the old mainframe computers. Of course, there were no PCs at that time. Yes, of course. So that was my introduction to computers. Dave: Okay. So you're,you're getting into the computer, so we're talking if I'm doing my math right, that was about 50 years ago that you're involved in the shredding, chopping cable, shredding mainframe computer components. Is that about right? John: That's about right. Yep. Dave: Okay. And then how did we get from there to Compu cycle? John: Well, in 19. In 1966, I was offered an opportunity to come to, sorry, I'm getting myself messed up. It was 1986 that I had an opportunity to come to the United States to manage a company that distributed bras and copper bars and rods. Dave: okay. John: And we, while whilst there, I started a scrap division and that scrap division eventually became Compus Cycle. Okay. Right. Dave: Okay. So did, so was Compus Cycle like a literal spinoff from that company or was, did the idea come to you while you were there and you started a completely separate company? John: Well, we started it as a spinoff of that original company and, after a few years of running that business, I decided to leave the parent business and, get comp cycle going on its own. comp cycle started in the 1990s, as, A computer processing facility. Dave: Okay. And what does the name mean? John: What, what would the, what does the name mean? Dave: Yeah, I'm guessing it, it's like computer recycling that they John: kinda, yeah, computer cycle. we were largely in the scrap processing business at that time, but occasionally found product that was resalable and. okay. We actually repaired that and resold it. and that is how comp cycle began its existence, and it become a whole lot more sophisticated, over the years. Dave: Okay. Now, when you launched it, were Clive and Kelly involved at that time? John: Clive became involved. Clive, I can't remember the year. When was it? Dave: Yeah. Clive: I was involved, Kelly in 1996, I believe I was involved. Yes. And Kelly became involved in 2013. Was it 2013? Kelly: It's in 14 years. Believe it or not. Clive: Yeah, Kelly: 14 years. Dave: yeah, Kelly couldn't have, obviously Kelly couldn't have been involved from the beginning because she would've been in elementary school 30 years ago. Kelly: Well, no, I was that when he said, John said 50 years. I was like, okay, well that's exactly my whole life livelihood. And then, but yeah, no, Clive, I think, funny enough, we were dating when you were involved in Compu Cycle, but It was great though because Clive graduated. Well, you tell your story. You graduated from U of H and then jumped in. Clive: Yeah, I graduated, got involved and, we were, as my dad mentioned, primarily doing electronic scrap. and it evolved. it was really interesting. Back then there were very few companies doing what we were doing. And so not really knowing how to do what we were doing, we could survive and, we, we were scrapping mostly for the metal and precious metal recovery. Okay. Dave: And Clive: evolved into harvesting components, reselling the components, and then the refurbishing of equipment. On a very basic level, reselling it. And,as mentioned today, we are far more sophisticated than what we used to be 30 or 25 years ago. so it, it's, it, it grew from a very small business into a, today we're, we are a very. nice mid-size company. In our industry, John: we like to think of ourselves as the most dominant computer processing facility in, certainly in Houston and probably in Texas. Dave: Okay, so Clive, when you joined. I'm guessing it was a cushy job. You're the boss's son. You probably just sat at a desk with your feet on the desk, smoking a cigar all day, I'm guessing. Is that, was that about right? Is that kind of how it worked out? Clive: I would love to agree. family businesses are very unique, Dave, and, it, it, I'm very blessed. I'm very grateful for what I have. but it, that, I wish that was the case. No, we were certainly, yeah. Very involved and very entrenched. And, and,it's been a, it's been wonderful working with my dad and, it's been. more wonderful working with my wife. Kelly: He's just trying to be nice. That's a whole other podcast, Dave. Dave: Sure. Yeah. And obviously, and oh, and obviously I was joking with you, Clive, because usually the story is that when you're the boss's son, it's hard. Your life is harder because you're held to a different standard. Sometimes your dad has to go the opposite way and be even harder on you than the other employees. Clive: Yeah, he was actually,I will say,very easy with me. and,but it's, it, I was working for John: him getting clever aboard. Definitely took us to a higher level than we were when I was here on my own. And getting Kelly aboard gave us, a further injection to the extent that we've over the last 13 years since Kelly's arrival com cycle has matured enormously, it's become from simply another scrap, another computer scrapping business. To a sophisticated computer, refurbishing and scrapping as well. our scrap division has grown enormously with the addition of a shredding plant for computers and more recently a shredding plan for plastics, which, makes us unique in terms of having abilities that others simply do not have. Dave: Okay. No, that I get that. What, so I'm a chronological thinker. I'm an accountant. And so what I'd like to do is let's go back 30 years. You touched on it, John. Let's think about like the big milestones. So it, the company started in 96, if I'm doing my math right, in 1996. And what year did you join Clive? Clive: in 96 I was Dave: Okay, so the same time. Clive: Yeah. Dave: So as you think back, what was like maybe the first significant milestone? If we're thinking like in five year kind of impli or increments, like any major things that happened in those first five years that were, meaningful to where we got to today? Clive: If, gosh, going back 30 years, I can't go back three years, but,it's, bringing on. Large accounts. I think the first large account that I recall bringing on, would be Texas Children's Hospital. Okay. And,when we, that was a significant account that we brought on recycling the electronics, I think I, that would be a, certainly a milestone. and then going back to 2000,this is further ahead by 2010. We became the first certified electronics recycling company in Houston. And that was certainly a very large milestone because we were the only,for quite a few years, and that brought on additional accounts. what does takes life? Yeah. What Dave: I'm, I don't mean to interrupt. what does certified mean? Clive: So in, in our industry, there was no benchmark or there was no qualifications that one would have, one could have to identify themselves as a responsible electronics recycling company. Okay. And, corporations were familiar with the ISO certifications and Yeah. In 2008, the EPA. Stakeholders, created a certification called the R two, which stands for Responsible Recycling Practices Certification. Okay. And in order to achieve that, companies had to, follow a certain practices. Had to be certified just like companies who are ISO certified. Okay. We through the process of becoming certified, and it, it takes about, six months to a year to achieve that certification where you are, monitored. you have to recycle materials in a certain manner. you have to, adhere to the practices. You cannot just export products overseas anywhere to anybody without any, okay. Standards. And so we achieved that certification, which was,at that time extremely difficult, especially, a small company that did not have, Processes, policies, procedures that were documented in a sure professional manner. So that was, I think our, a very large step, moving in the right direction. and David, today we have the most certifications of any electronics recycling company in Texas. okay. So we, we have, I think seven certifications. Which would be the ISO 9,001, 14,001, 45,001, 27,001 certification. Then R two certification. E Steward certification, na AAA certification. so we have certifications, that, the scrap metal companies have zero. so scrap metal companies recycling electronics, is actually a. it is a,a liability risk, to corporations who may be sending the electronics to scrap metal companies for recycling because they don't adhere to any certifications. where we, we have seven that we have to adhere to. So when you're recycling with compute cycle,your products are handled in a very professional and, Very secured manner, especially today with where we are compared to back then. Dave: Yeah, I can, no, thank you for pointing that out. Because I can tell you, so I've been fortunate enough to be a, a donator of computers to your company through the years. I suspect I'm not your largest account. but of course my biggest concern was the confidentiality of the data. Okay. Because, I'm not a computer expert. I don't really know how to wipe a hard drive. And even if you wipe a hard drive, somebody who really knows what they're doing can still, I'm told, can still recover data some way. So I was looking for a way that I could just give you guys my laptop and be confident that data was never going to find a home elsewhere. Clive: Yeah. Dave: so is that the biggest concern of like your large corporate. providers or customers. Clive: Yeah, it's, and, let me just, one other milestone I'll say Okay. That I want to throw in was certainly, Kelly joining Comp Cycle. And, it's, over the years I've delegated, responsibilities or responsibilities have been removed from me and, Kelly is the CEO of comp cycle. And truly, Kelly is, an incredible leader of comp compute cycle. I'm, I, I always tell people that, and I've mentioned earlier that I'm truly, I'm blessed and, Kelly is phenomenal. And working with Kelly,is extremely rewarding for me, because of what we've accomplished. and we continue and we have the most amazing team at Compu Cycle. Company culture in this at Compute Cycle is extraordinary and it's because of Kelly and the team. So I think I'm gonna bow out now and I'm gonna pass. Okay. Kelly: Yeah. No, but hold on. Because they don't give themselves enough credit in the sense of where we've gotten to. where I came in about 2012 was our kids had, I came up from the nonprofit world. That was my life after graduation. And,I did a public relations psychology communications degree. Okay. Fell in love with nonprofit world and the fundraising of it and development directors of various different nonprofits. And, almost 25 years ago, October, Clive and I got married and Oh wow. Had, our two beautiful daughters. When I was working, I decided to stay home and raise the girls, but was doing some marketing and communications that really wasn't existent at the time for comp cycle while I was working at home. And, it was an amazing company for me because both John and Clive created this company that was really green before it was even cool to be green. And, wanted to really try to see how we could maximize what we were doing because the growth had been. Flat and we were, they were doing well, but we needed some type of growth in business development. So that's where I decided I was gonna come in for a couple years and try to just build clients, try to find new business. Okay. And we were, very blessed and lucky that we did, where we were able to get some very large accounts. And a lot of these accounts we were working with were saying, we don't understand why you're not a women-owned business. Okay. Like this there, obviously in this world, in this niche of the business we're doing, there's not a lot of women-owned businesses, okay. And what a growth possibility or opportunity it might be if you become women-owned. Okay? that is where it all started. And so 10 years ago I signed the dotted line and decided to see, okay, I'm really gonna see what we can do and build with Compus Cycle. but. I would definitely say yes, I've been able to grow the business with business development and accounts, but where the growth has really come is getting the right people on our team. It has been the strength of the,our management team. the actual managers of our company are, we have about a hundred employees right now. And Oh, wow. Yeah. And all of them are so dedicated. They're loyal. We've had some with great tenure with us, but it was really us realizing we had to start hiring people smarter than us. And that if we wanted to really grow, Dave: and Clive was the first one that made that hire. When he brought Kelly: Well, and then I've had to make, and then as a team, we've definitely hired a few more of those, which, has really been what has got us to this next level. and It's exciting to see, but I think what I'm most proud of with Compi Cycle as our company and what we've been able to create is, I am so proud to say when it comes if to looking for the most responsible, the most secure, the most sustainable and circular solution, you cannot do better than Compe Cycle. And we have such great differentiators of especially being here in Houston. I mean it when I say it, David, there is you. No reason why any company in Houston should not be using Comp Cycle. 'cause we are the only one that can truly show and guarantee responsible recycling because we're not only that recycler, most recyclers are sorters. They're going through the equipment. What can they reuse and what can they resell? Sure. And being a certified company, we are so proud to be dual certified with that R two and E Steward certification. But in my opinion, being certified is not enough because certified companies have to use certified downstreams. But being in the business for 30 years, we have unfortunately learned the hard way. And it's those Downstreams certified or not. Which is unfortunately where a lot of the landfill, the exporting and finding your three things on eBay happens. Okay? So we said as a team, no more, and we put in our processing facility next door and a multimillion dollar shredder where we're now, everything that comes to us, if we're not able to reuse and resell, which we're gonna give value back to our customer if we can resell it. But if not, it's gonna go next door to that processing plant and it's gonna turn directly into its raw materials. The steel, the plastic boards, aluminum, copper, and it goes directly to the mills smelters and refineries to be recycled. So that's like the biggest difference where, you know anyone, any company that uses us can sleep at night knowing that it's being done the right way and things aren't leading comfy cycle. And that is like what I am most proud of. And then we took it to the next level with putting in the plastics plant because epl, most electronics are made about 60% plastic and the EPL is dirty. So we created a sink float system where really the plastic gets about four different bath. And we're able to separate the plastic and then as well as separate it with an electrostatic machine that breaks. Its down to its A, B, S, and PS form. So we can create domestic solution now for the plastic. So that's where we Dave: got Kelly: the most circular. But what's really been amazing is us being able to see how Compi cycle is really that last piece of having an effective cybersecurity plan. If a company's gonna put all this money in protecting themselves from with the cybersecurity. But at the very end, they're not taking care of their equipment in the disposal, then it means nothing. So we've really tried to pose ourselves as like really the most critical, essential piece to the end of that plan because we wanna make sure things are done the right way. Dave: No, that. That is great. So by the way, I just wanted to clarify something with Clive. So one thing you and I share, Clive, is we both married way over our head and we're both married to rockstar wives. So when I say that. you married someone smarter than you. I can say that being that I'm in the same boat. So I'm just letting you know, I'm not really picking on you. I'm more, commiserating with you that we,we really, got way over our head with our spouse, selection. Clive: David. I agree. we certainly did. And, I, I have three women in my life and believeing me, they're all smarter than I. but I wanted to just, add on what Kelly mentioned. for me, my, my goal with Compute Cycle was to have a solution to our clients that was a completely secured solution. And where chain of custody remains with Compus Cycle. So when we, and we invite our clients, we've, we invite all prospective, clients to visit Compute Cycle. To see the process. To understand the process. once you see it, it's very easy to understand it and any questions that, or concerns that you may have. You mentioned earlier you wanted to make sure that if you drop off your product at Compute Cycle, you are mostly concerned about your data and how do you know? That it's gonna be handled correctly. So when we bring clients into our facility and our facilities, our access controlled facilities, we have security on site. So it is very secure. But when you go through the facility and we show you, we walk you through where it arrives and how it's processed. Any questions, concerns? we have companies that will audit us. We have their security departments, visiting compute cycle. we have cameras in our shreds where you can see the product being shredded. we, we show people how it's been done and it is absolutely a closed loop solution, which is exactly what I've always wanted. And we have that process today to offer to our clients, which is a major, we talk about, what would be the milestones, that is a milestone that we've actually achieved today where there is nobody. There's no other electronics processor in Houston. We are the third or fourth largest,city in the United States, and we are the exclusive processor in Houston. very proud of doing that. And in Texas, we're the exclusive electronics processor separating plastics into single polymer plastics. Okay, if clients are always concerned about data. Cybersecurity. We are the only electronics processor in Texas that's ISO 27,001 certified. so we can check the cybersecurity just through that certification. But we do these things because we wanna be a leader in the industry and we also want to protect our clients throughout the entire process. Dave: Yeah. So let's So by the way Kelly: Yeah. The right way. Dave: Oh yeah. How long has it been since you moved across the street to your current facility? Like three years ago, but I'm pretty sure it's been longer than that. Clive: 20, 20 18 we moved into. This facility and in 2019 we opened up the processing facility. Kelly: But I think it's important to note that in 2018, that facility was 40,000 square feet. When we moved here, it was 80,000 square feet, so we doubled our size and that next year we bought next door for our processing plant, which is now another 50,000 square feet. Yeah. So truly tripled our size. In one year. And so the good news is we have capacity, we to do more, which we'd love. In our processing plant, we do about 40,000 pounds a day of processing. Oh wow. But we could do 60. and I would love to get us to two shifts. we'd love to always get more customers and we'd love to be able to show prospects and customers to tour our facility. We're so proud of what we're doing and how we do it, and we're very transparent, so we encourage any prospect to schedule a tour with us. And something off also that we offer just more is less a community service, but also because it's the right thing to do is residents can bring their equipment to us five days a week and drop off, and we'll be happy to recycle it free of charge, destroy all their hard drives, so residents don't have to worry about their data. Dave: that is great. It sounds like I'm overdue for a tour because it's been, it was probably 2020 that I was last there. It was probably right after the Shrider got started. Yes. Certainly I've not seen the plastics recycling. So talk to me to the extent that you're comfortable discussing in general terms, because you made the comment that depending on the value you can extract from the machine, some of that value may go back to your customers. Can you gimme just a general sense, like let's take some company that. Recycles a thousand computers a year. What's the general process? Do they deliver 'em to you? Do they have a big container? Do you go pick 'em up? Like why don't we just start at the beginning? How does it work, Kelly? Kelly: Yeah, no, and I'll let Clive go into more of the pricing. He's the pricing guru for us. But really what you know, what's so great is that we can accept material. We have 3 24 foot box trucks driving. I call 'em my walking bill, driving billboards. They're going around the city all day long, picking up equipment. And so we bring stuff here directly to us, but also companies can ship things directly to us. Dave: Okay. Kelly: And or if there's locations outside of Houston and they want us to either white glove service to pack it and or we can ship it. We have our own logistics where we can bring and a arrange. So really from anywhere in the United States, we can handle collections. But what's the process really is once a customer is in our system, Clive or myself are the only ones that are able to develop a contract for that company, and it gives us the exact instructions of what they want. Some companies need everything destroyed. Some things will allow us to give value. So depending on the contract, we have specific instructions. But what we're also so proud of is all the data bearing devices come in and we put our own asset tag on that equipment. Okay. So we'll be able to track that equipment as it comes into Compu cycle and we can see exactly what happens to it, where it goes, where it is in the process. But our customers can also, so they can, oh wow. Serial number of a machine. They can be able to see exactly when it was recycled. This online portal holds our certificates of data destruction, certificate of recycling. So all of these things our customers can access at any time. But when it comes to value, usually our baseline is anything five years and younger, and that has this working condition. But I'm gonna let Clive take over at this point. Clive: Yeah, it's, so where we can. Refurbished product for reuse, we give value back to the customers. Okay? So typically if product's five years old or younger, we gotta give value back to the customers. We are gonna destroy the data. we sanitize the data using Department of Defense Compliance Software, our reporting, we will report the mate model, serial number, capacity, of the hard drive and include in the report. The parent's serial number that the drive,belongs to. So very detailed reporting, drives that fail the process. We physically shred. we have some clients, as Kelly mentioned, we have some clients where a hundred percent of the equipment coming in here has to be shredded. We have camera surveillance throughout the entire facility, so you can witness the,the process in person, or you can witness the process via camera. but where we can repurpose and reuse, we give value back. our sales channels, we sell to various verticals, depending on the age of the equipment. so we sell product domestically. We sell product internationally. we actually, have launched and we, David, I think we are the only company in our industry. we have online sales where our customers. Can actually witness the sale of their products and see the value that we actually are getting for their products. So we are Oh wow. Truly transparent, where our clients can see what the value of the product is. We have a lot of clients that ask us how do we know we getting the maximum value? So we now have a way for them to see what the value is, and then we are selling that on a revenue share basis. Where based on what we sell, they'll get X and we'll get Y. Okay. So we are trying to maximize the value, for our clients and whatever we cannot resell. We process through the shredding plans. Kelly: Ooh. I have to mention, I love also that one of our biggest buyers too is ISDs across the country. Dave: Oh, really? Kelly: Okay. We can buy three systems for the price of one, and we sell with warranties. So I'm so proud that we're able to provide school districts across the country with the affordable equipment for the students. Dave: No, I, I like that. So I'm curious,you're the only, computer recycling, client we have and so I'm more familiar with a traditional yard, so like a scenario where there's like a manufacturing facility. And they have like turnings and scrap metal that comes from the processing facility that's clean. Now, my understanding is that type of material, the recycler is actually paying for that material. Now, I would imagine in the computer world it might be different if a client wants everything destroyed. Are they, do they tend to pay you or are you still paying them because of the scrap value? Clive: it's both. so yes, we do give scrap value. but there, there are items where there is a cost for us to, it's not like a scrap metal company where you're bringing in clean aluminum, dirty aluminum, steel, copper, et cetera, et cetera. TVs for example, when we are processing TVs, inside the TVs, there's products that there's a cost for us to disposal. If it's the lamps, the glass, the panels where there is a cost for us to process and dispose of that. So if, a company just had cable and we brought in the cable, yes. We'll give them cable value, just like the scrap metal companies we'll pay for For that product. So it's a combination of both. that,and, depending on the volumes, we will price it that way. So we do have manufacturers, that need their products shredded and we will then,there's a cost for us to process and there's value that we give for that material too, and we will. we will, we'll share that, certainly the value with them as well. Kelly: And David too. What I think is so important is that we also provide incredible environmental scorecards and sustainability reports for our customers. Okay? So we're actually able to show them what has been diverted from landfill. What is the reduction of carbon footprint? And especially having that processor next door, we can actually break it even down to the actual metals of what, what it is that's been recycled. What's been reused, what has been resold, so we can provide all that data to them to make them be able to show their corporate sustainability departments what difference they're able to make by using a company like Comfy Cycle. Dave: Okay. So and so your customers, are they like across industries? I'm guessing you guess some oil companies as clients. Kelly: Healthcare. The healthcare and oil and gas here in Houston obviously are very heavy, but we handle companies of all sizes, all industries. And, what's Dave: the minimum size that it makes sense for them to have a conversation with you? do they need like, a hundred employees or thousand employees or Clive: Yeah, the, the, so companies can, they can deliver their product to us. Dave: Okay. Clive: or we can, so small companies,there, there are very small companies that will bring their product to country Cycle to. To be processed. Dave: like the way my company does it. Clive: Yeah. Dave: we just drop it off. We don't pay you anything. You don't pay us anything. You just take care of it. Clive: Correct. so yeah, it's, it really is any size, most importantly,is how we process the material. And that is not going to a landfill, that we are not exporting it, overseas to. any to a downstream that is, that, that is not to third world countries that cannot recycle the product correctly. we have to adhere to very strict regulations and, hence we open up our processing plants where we can shred into the raw materials. and so we are not exporting. Products overseas. We process, we processing it domestically. And what we do export is the raw material. So yes, we can, well, the steel we sell domestically, but the aluminum and the copper and the boards and the plastics, we can sell that domestically or we can sell internationally as the raw material. Dave: Okay. Clive: Yeah. Dave: So talk to me about the plastics recycling. Before you started doing that, was that product just going to the landfill? Clive: No, so the plastics industry, the plastics, the plastics were being shipped to Malaysia. the Malaysia is the largest plastics market for,I'm going to for low grade plastics material and John: Okay. Clive: In. appro approximately five years ago, the Basel Action Network. so the Basel Accord passed a law regarding recycling of plastics and certain low grade plastics, had to be,recycled in accordance with the Basel action. John: okay. Clive: Accord and really what that came down to with electronics, plastics is that you could not, Malaysia, which is, which ratified the Basel action Accord, was not allowed to import mixed e-waste plastics. Okay, because the United States has not ratified the Basel Action Network. It was not illegal to export other United States, but it was illegal for them to import into Malaysia. Okay? And so the Basel Action Network put a lot of emphasis on monitoring what was leaving the US and what was going into Malaysia. so it basically went from plastics. All the e scrap guys selling plastics to Malaysia, to, there's no market to sell the plastics. There's no value in the plastics, and what do you do? And that became a massive problem in our industry. Fortunately, we decided many because we were shredding electronics and were generating the plastics. We wanted to further process plastics and we wanted to extract the metals, excuse me, from the plastics. So we added on to our processing line, a plastic washing and sorting system so we could remove the metals, have clean plastics, and get more value for the plastics. And the timing was just, it was wonderful because we just happen to do this at the right time. So today we have a solution for the plastics. We can sell plastics domestically. Or we can sell plastics internationally. In order to sell it internationally, you have to separate the A, b, S and PS plastics, which we can do, or we can sell it domestically mixed. So we have a plastic solution. the plastics, I'm grateful. We not in the, we, we always tell our clients we're not in the plastics business. We don't want to be in the plastics business. we just happen to generate plastics. The plastics markets. at the moment are very depressed markets. Kelly: so I always say it's sustainability over profitability, but it's Dave: okay. Clive: Yeah. Sorry. and that's why we are very grateful. We are not in the plastics business, but it is a,today the virgin plastics actually,are it's the recycled plastics. The virgin plastics prices are so low right now that the recycled plastics is not a needed plastic. in Europe, they are mandated to use a certain percent of recycled plastics, the manufacturing of equipment that does not exist in the United States. So there's a much stronger demand for the plastics internationally than there is domestically. hence we can sell the plastics internationally. but it's a wonderful, it's wonderful that we can offer this to our clients. it has opened many more doors to compute cycle because clients who are concerned about the environments, who do want to do the right thing, who wanna make a difference and wanna make an impact. they are using compute cycle because of our capabilities. Dave: Okay. Clive: Yeah. Dave: Well, I, I just looked at the clock, man. Time flies when you're having fun. as we're rounding the home stretch, I just have a few more questions. so Kelly, so you and Clive and John have done a great job of explaining it. Why? Comp is uniquely positioned to serve companies, especially in Houston and Texas. but I'd like to flip the question. Can you share a customer story or two as far as what your customers tell you that they love about comp? Can you think of like a couple. A couple examples, like where somebody had a different solution that was problematic, then they found compus and Compus, really made a big difference. Can you think of a couple examples? And you don't need to mention the company's by name if it's Kelly: not Yeah,no. I think one of the things I'm most proud of with, Compus Cycle is that we are not a cookie cutter approach. We really create tailored solutions for all of our companies because working with companies of all sizes, all industries, all of the needs are different. So we've really been able to tailor solutions to what their needs are. But I really think what's amazing is John, Clive and myself, what pride we put into our customers. And they're able to see that as owners of the business, that we actually, how much we're involved and how much we care. I give every potential customer and customer my cell phone. If there is ever a concern, a problem, an issue that they're having, they can call me directly. We have a great sales team, but if they're not getting what they need or if there's a problem, I want to know so they can call me directly. And we really work on having the personal relationship with our customers of, and again, of all sizes. okay. Every customer we have means something to us. And I think like that's one of our great selling points, and something that's important to us. But I also think too that, we love to grow. We're all about continuous improvement. So we challenge our customers that if they have projects or different types of equipment, that they're not sure if it's something that we can process or do. Send us a picture. Tell us what your project is, let us see if we can do it. If we can grow our services, because that's what, how we grow as a company, and then we can offer more to our other customers. Okay. So we really challenge them to see what else can we do to help them. Clive: Yeah. I, Dave, let me add that, the feedback that I get from a lot of our customers is how responsive we are. If you email compute cycle within 24 hours, you'll have a response. you need something done, we get to it. they are amazed at how efficient we are at what we do. large corporations where typically they're waiting three or four or five days, we get back to them immediately and then their pain points. We had a client a week ago that, it's a very large client. They're international clients that needed a solution for, certain hard drives and certain devices,that are very,important devices that they do not want to leave their facility. They want to be able to, just wipe these devices individually themselves. we are very easy. They use our license, they wipe the device and they send the device to us. So we can electronically do that, where they can just log in through the portal, click a button, and it will erase the data from the device. Dave: oh Clive: wow. It's, we have solutions. We work with our clients to make their lives easy. We make their lives so simple. we have a team that does data center decommissioning. So we go on site, we decommission the data center Kelly: all over the Clive: country. We do that all over the country. Oh, wow. And it's a very experienced team. And the feedback that we get is. You guys can do it in a week. The last company that we used, it took them three weeks. So we are very efficient, and we are very transparent. I mentioned when we selling your product that you can see the value that we selling your product. It's just we are so good at what we do and when we can prove that to our clients. We never lose clients. once you come on board with Compus Cycle, the experience is unbelievable. And, we truly are the expert in our industry, because this is exactly what we do. And yes, we have much larger competitors, but we are very streamlined, we are very efficient, we are very nimble and we get things done very well. and so we are so excited 'cause we are growing. We really are growing within this industry and our capabilities are unbelievable and we continue to improve. right now, we focusing on data, we focusing on ai, we focusing on how do we become more efficient at what we doing. within these two facilities, we are processing the same amount of material, 50%. More efficient than where we were two years ago. So really Dave: That's Clive: amazing. we need to move into another facility today. Kelly: today we just need more equipment. Clive: Yeah. it's just incredible. So we continuously, we set goals and we continuously, achieve those goals. and,we're, we are growing and we're. Kelly: But really to be a family owned business, which we are, and what John, started for all of us is what is, what's amazing is that we still haven't lost that We can now do what all the big boys do and our processes and procedures and services, but we also are still very much. A family owned business in the sense of I hope our customers realize how much we care and that we're available to them and our team cares. And I just hope that says something that we haven't lost that. Clive: Yeah, we're not a mom and pop organization, but we are, we treat our clients with the same respect as we would like to be treated and we treat our employees. Like they are, family to us. we, and our facility is clean. Our facility is dust free, our facility is safe. Our employees have the the PPE that is required. we are always looking out for employees. I was actually at a facility yesterday. that I, yesterday I came home to Kelly and I said, I've never seen something so dusty. And disgusting and how they would allow the employees to be in that environment. When I left that facility for an hour, I was copying and it was just, it was awful. And we would, it's just not who we are. And this is an international company. I could not believe it. And we will never treat our employees. wow. in that regard. Dave: So it really sounds like the philosophy that your relationship with your customers is more than just a vendor, customer, that it's truly a partnership. Kelly: Absolutely. Dave: Right. and that you are, you work together, you're always, trying to improve things. And then it also sounds like the relationship with your employees is somewhat similar, that it's a partnership. Y'all are in this together and you play different roles, but everybody's important and, Does that kind of summarize that? Kelly: Yeah, no, we definitely know, see people for their strengths and and maximize them to what they're good at and what they have a passion for. And it's worked. It's an Dave: equation works. So I have one more question and it's for each of you this, so it's the same question to each of you and you can't copy one another's answers. Okay. Okay. I'm gonna start with John. So John, at this point. In your career, in the evolution of Compus Cycle, what do you enjoy the most as far as your role these days with the company and with Clive and Kelly? what brings you the most enjoyment? John: Okay. So I'm at the stage of my career, right at the end stage of my career. what I enjoy most. Is watching the success of Kelly and Clive, which I find so remarkable. And the, when I look at the company now and relate where it's at to where it was when, they came on board, the differences like chalk and cheese, the difference is massive. volumes of business that we doing. the relationship with employees, the relationship with customers, all of these things has metastasized into so much more than it used to be. Okay? So that is what I'm proud of, and that's what I enjoy most. Dave: Yeah, that, that answer doesn't surprise me. I. I see you more frequently, socially than I do Kelly and Clive, and I've always had that sense that pride, in just the how gratifying you found, you find that you started this thing and that Clive and Kelly have really just taken it to a whole new level. So that, that makes Kelly: sense. But don't let him pull you. He's here every single day. And a door is always open. And really a consultant of consultants when it comes in helping us with our scrap metal side still of the business and everything. So he's here every day. Dave: Well, that, that is great. I'll go to Clive next. So in your current capacity, what do you enjoy the most? What gives you the most satisfaction? Clive: Yeah. I, Dave, I enjoy. also watching the growth and the success of country cycle. But I think what's, I enjoy doing things that make me happy, where I used to have to do everything. I now can focus more on establishing partnerships, focus more on, working on the business,instead of the nitty gritty little things that I used to be so bogged down on. I don't have that anymore. So it's helping salespeople be successful. putting quotes together that are,very difficult, because of the experience that I have. So it's, it's that's,it's, that's what I enjoy. Yeah. Dave: Awesome. Kelly last stop Clive: and watching loves. Kelly: Yeah. So I have to say, I can this answer, I can finally give you confidently. 'cause I probably, if you asked me the last few years, I wouldn't be able to say so confidently. because now by having a sales team, I'm not always having to focus on finding the new business. And also being able to not be in the nitty gritty as much and be more at a higher view. But I have finally gotten my nonprofit life back and been able Oh John: yeah. Kelly: Yes. And combine both. So there's two things I have to tell you that we're doing that I'm just Dave: sure Kelly: beyond proud of. The first thing just happened recently and we've been trying for years to make this happen, but we have a partnership with Goodwill Houston. Dave: Oh, you do? Okay. Kelly: Yes. And so Goodwill Houston, you know their mission is to empower lives by work. And to employ people by work. And the way they do that is by having all of these donation centers, people donate and then they're able Put their money into the career development. Well, we wanted to be able to have a place where people could donate or to give their equipment. So when Goodwill accepts electronics, if they can't sell those electronics, we're gonna take them, and then we're gonna pay them for the scrap value. Oh Clive: wow. So Kelly: we're one responsibly handling all the stuff they can't sell. And two, be able to provide money back to them where they can put it into their programs. So I'm very proud that's a partnership we have here in Houston and that's developed just recently. And then we also have a partnership working right now with Pearland ISD that we're trying to now replicate within other ISDs. And I have to give Clive credit for this because he's the one that really created a training facility for individuals at school that are, That I No, that no. That have,the gift, like really the children that are on the spectrum of autism. So they have, from 18 to 22 years old at schools, those students that have somewhat graduated high school but still need time to develop, we've created a job track, a training facility where they're able to dismantle the equipment. Oh wow. John: We Kelly: to then pay, it's the equipment that they're dismantling is their school's equipment. We're then picking it up as scrap. We're paying them for that scrap so they can keep the program sustainable. As well as pay some of their students as interns. They're getting job training, which I can now bring over to Goodwill. Have them go into the job piece of work. Wow, that's amazing. Not only are we circular solution and recycling, but my goal is to create a circular solution and community impact. Dave: That is awesome. That is awesome. That's what Kelly: I'm excited about. Dave: That is awesome. Kelly: So it's doing things like that, that I'm really hope that as we grow, that we continue just how can we collaborate and make more impact in the community as well as the responsible sustainable recycling. Dave: No, that is awesome. Congratulations. Goodwill is my paternal grandmother worked at, Goodwill for like 40 years in, Sioux City, Iowa. Kelly: You're kidding. Dave: Nope. 'cause I know you're from Iowa, Kelly: right? You get my whole family, my mom's side. Yes. All, oh, the plow. Dave: Yeah. so Goodwill, they started a church at the Goodwill Facility. And anyway, so I'm a big fan of Goodwill, so I appreciate, I That's strange, that connection. John: Yes. Dave: so I can't tell you. So I want to thank you all for two things. One, I want to thank all three of you for taking the time to come on and tell the story. I really appreciate it. And secondly, more personally, I just wanna tell you how much I appreciate having had the chance to serve you all,on our services. the team always tells me that they always enjoy working with your team. And it's been fun to watch the, from our end to watch the progress of the company over time. So thank you for having that opportunity to be your partner in the tax services that we do. Kelly: No, we appreciate everything you do for us, David. Thank you. We enjoy working with you. Dave: Well, thank you. Well, you all have a great day and we'll talk soon. Kelly: Great. John: Thank you David. Kelly: Thank you. John: Bye. Special Guests: Clive Hess, John Hess, and Kelly Hess.

Join us as we delve into the world of sports cards, hobby insights, and collector stories with Dan, a passionate collector and promoter. Discover how content creation influences collecting habits, learn about recent hobby trends, and get exclusive behind-the-scenes from a card show in Sioux City.   Be sure to check out Brewer and Baker Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-brewer-and-the-baker-a-baseball-card-podcast/id1818901279     Check Out Our Other Content:  New Product Releases with Mrs. Doc - Every Wednesday Pack to the Future Podcast - Flagship - Livestream YouTube Thursday, Podcast Saturday PTTF Presents Sunday Night's Main Event - A Wrestling Card Podcast - Every Sunday

Keith Murphy and Andrew Downs hold it down while Andy attempts (and fails) to join from a boat in Mexico.

Artists Tommy Riefe and Lexa Walsh join me to discuss the New Museum expansion and show, New Humans: Memories of the Future curated by Massimiliano Gioni and Gary Carrion-Murayari. We discuss the success of the building itself and then move onto the show's major themes—the history of the human body as mediated by technology.    Additional Resources:  Tommy Riefe Lexa Walsh  The New Museum, New Humans: Memories of the Future Jeffrey Deitch, Post Human, 1992   Boris Groys, Art Power, 2008 Jason Farago, The New Museum Reopens Asking: “What is Human?”, 2026, The New York Times   Artist guests:  Tommy Riefe  Riefe earned his BFA in Art History and Sculpture from the University of Northern Iowa in 2014, and later received his MFA from the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis in 2017. He has been in numerous group exhibitions and has public sculptures in the collections of Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Ashburn, VA (2022) Fort Dodge, IA (2021) Lakewood, MN (2019), Iowa State University (2018), Minnesota State University (2018), Laneken, Belgium (2018), Cedar Falls, IA (2017) Rock Island, IL (2016), and Sioux City, IA (2016).   Lexa Walsh Lexa Walsh is an artist, cultural worker and experience maker.  With a background in both sculpture and social practice, Walsh makes site specific projects, exhibitions, publications and objects, using an array of materials including ceramics and textiles, employing social engagement, institutional critique, and radical hospitality to question hierarchies, power and value.   Walsh founded the experimental music and performance venue the Heinz Afterworld Lounge, and co-founded and conceived of the all women, all toy instrument ensemble Toychestra.  Walsh worked for many years as a curator and administrator at CESTA, an international art center in Czech republic, whose team created radical curatorial projects to foster cross-cultural understanding. She founded Oakland Stock & Soup for Social & Racial Justice, and the Bay Area Contemporary Art Archive. She is a graduate of Portland State Universitys Art & Social Practice MFA program and was Social Practice Artist in Residence in Portland Art Museums Education department. She was a recipient of Southern Exposures Alternative Exposure Award, the CEC Artslink Award, the Gunk Grant and was a de Young Artist Fellow. Walsh has participated in projects, exhibitions and performances at Apexart, di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, FOR-SITE, Grand Central Art Center, Kala Art Institute, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, NIAD, Oakland Museum of California, SFMOMA, Smack Mellon, Walker Art Center, Williams College Museum of Art, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and has done several international artist residencies, tours and projects in Europe and Asia.

Sioux City, Iowa angler Jakob Mackey is making headlines after landing a world record grass carp—and he joins us on this episode of Outdoor Adventures to tell the full story.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this day, 26 March 1915, police in Sioux City, Iowa, arrested 14 members of the revolutionary Industrial Workers of the World union for holding street meetings in an attempt to drive the union out of town. The IWW had begun a free speech fight to defend its right to organise. Members responded to a call and flocked to the town, holding street meetings to get arrested and flood the jails. When these 14 defendants were arrested, they refused to cooperate in court and jail, and when set to work on a rock pile they went on strike and set fires in their cells, and more militants kept arriving. By late April the police caved and agreed to free speech for the IWW. Learn more about the union and its free speech fights at this time in our podcast episode 6: https://workingclasshistory.com/2018/05/23/wch-e6-the-industrial-workers-of-the-world-in-the-us-1905-1918/Our work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory.See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/todayBrowse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/dateCheck out our Map of historical Stories: https://map.workingclasshistory.comCheck out books, posters, clothing and more in our online store, here: https://shop.workingclasshistory.comIf you enjoy this podcast, make sure to check out our flagship longform podcast, Working Class History

On Iowa Politics is a weekly news and analysis podcast that aims to recreate the kinds of conversations that happen when you get political reporters from across Iowa together after the day's deadlines have been met. Tackling anything from local to state to national, On Iowa Politics is your weekly dose of analysis and insight into the issues affecting Iowa.This week on the podcast: Iowa's U.S. Senate Democratic primary, more cancer in the Iowa Legislature, and our team's State of the Union reaction.This episode was hosted by the Gazette Des Moines Bureau Chief Erin Murphy. It features Gazette Deputy Bureau Chief Tom Barton, Lee Des Moines Bureau Chief Maya Marchel Hoff, Jared McNett of the Sioux City Journal and Gazette columnists Althea Cole and Todd Dorman.Read the articles mentioned in this episode:Former candidate Sage endorses Turek, criticizes Wahls in Iowa Democrats' U.S. Senate primaryhttps://www.thegazette.com/campaigns-elections/former-candidate-sage-endorses-turek-criticizes-wahls-in-iowa-democrats-u-s-senate-primary/Outside influence, division grows in Iowa U.S. Senate primaryhttps://www.thegazette.com/campaigns-elections/campaign-almanac-iowa-u-s-senate-primary-heats-up-as-gop-poll-and-democratic-divisions-collide/Sioux City state Sen. Catelin Drey says she has no signs of cancer after surgeryhttps://siouxcityjournal.com/news/local/article_0aa3e119-eb92-4810-b321-90238d06f319.htmlIowa state Sen. Dave Rowley announces tonsil cancer diagnosishttps://siouxcityjournal.com/news/state-regional/article_5f40bc2f-0eae-4dbc-8d4d-d4df682c4138.htmlIowa state Senate OKs use of SAVE to verify immigration statuses for public assistance, voter registrationhttps://qctimes.com/news/local/government-politics/article_f5f75baa-0fc6-41b1-b846-27744c8a1ac2.htmlThis episode was produced by Gazette Social Video Producer Bailey Cichon.

This week on Hoop Troop and Shooters Touch, we dive deep into girls postseason play with the Class 3A girls state tournament field officially set!3A Girls State Qualifiers:Mt. Vernon, Cherokee, Dubuque Wahlert, Williamsburg, Maquoketa, Mediapolis, Des Moines Christian, and Forest City.We break down what that bracket looks like, plus take a look at how the other girls classes are shaping up — especially the always competitive 4A class where multiple teams are still in the hunt for a banner.The big news on the boys side: Matt Baker, head boys coach at Woodward-Granger, joins us to help break down the 1A and 2A brackets. He talks about teams his squad faced, who he likes in each class, and even gives us his picks for the 3A and 4A championship matchups.We also spin the Hoop Troop Wheel of Death with random questions sprinkled throughout the episode, plus all your favorites:Tommy's Shoutout (and yes — he's getting FLOODED with Lunch League Legend suggestions!)Doug's Pick of the WeekAnd in case you missed it — Sioux City's food scene gets a shoutout too This one was fun and packed from start to finish. If you love Iowa high school basketball, brackets, predictions, and personality-driven segments, this is a can't-miss episode.Hoops in Iowa — let's go. Shooters shoot.

On this episode of Executive Dose, sponsored by Independent Pharmacy Cooperative (IPC), we tackle one of the most pressing challenges facing independent community pharmacies today: workforce shortages and talent management. Bill Drilling, owner and Pharmacist-in-Charge of Drilling Pharmacy in Sioux City, Iowa, shares four decades of real-world experience leading a landmark independent pharmacy and developing sustainable teams in a changing labor environment. Joined by Kelli Stovall, RPh, EMBA, Vice President of Clinical Programs and Pharmacy Services at IPC, the conversation explores practical strategies for recruiting, retaining, and empowering pharmacy talent while expanding clinical services and protecting margins. Together, they discuss how independent pharmacies can adapt their workforce models, invest in people, and build resilient operations that support both patient care and long-term business success. About our guests: William "Bill" Drilling is the owner and Pharmacist-in-Charge of Drilling Pharmacy in Sioux City, Iowa, a landmark independent pharmacy he has led for over 40 years. A second-generation owner, he is recognized for his expertise in pharmacy management, immunization programs, and serving on the Iowa Pharmacists Association Board. Kelli Stovall, RPh, EMBA, is the Vice President of Clinical Programs and Pharmacy Services at Independent Pharmacy Cooperative (IPC), where she leads initiatives to support independent pharmacy owners. With over two decades of experience, she focuses on enhancing clinical services, driving revenue-generating opportunities, and improving operational performance for community pharmacies. 

Our first ever Wealth Strategy Service Workshop held in Sioux City, Iowa August 7-8th. This event will teach you how to develop a strategy and detailed plan that transforms land into a living business that generates income, reduces taxes, and creates a legacy you can pass down for generations to come. This offering is an extremely undervalued event considering the price! You will learn about our step by step process and plan development phases that we walk clients through to set them up for success and create a legacy for your family . We have several highly professional guest speakers joining us for the event to educate you on business strategy, tax strategy, and wealth building! If you want to take your land ownership responsibility to the next level, join us August 7-8th 2026!

Our first ever Wealth Strategy Service Workshop held in Sioux City, Iowa August 7-8th. This event will teach you how to develop a strategy and detailed plan that transforms land into a living business that generates income, reduces taxes, and creates a legacy you can pass down for generations to come. This offering is an extremely undervalued event considering the price! You will learn about our step by step process and plan development phases that we walk clients through to set them up for success and create a legacy for your family . We have several highly professional guest speakers joining us for the event to educate you on business strategy, tax strategy, and wealth building! If you want to take your land ownership responsibility to the next level, join us August 7-8th 2026!