jaredude

[jaredude]

The Competitor

In life, what is a competitor? Really, a competitor is a friend and the stronger they are, the better you must be. When a competitor goes out of business, that's not good for your business. It might seem like it at first, but even if you take its customers, you won't get them all. And then you have additional marketing and advertising burdens because your competitor is no longer brining attention to your industry. In sports, it always amazes me when fans at a game shout that the other team sucks. If the other team sucks and you beat them, is that really an accomplishment? I can dominate a 4 year old at basketball, but that doesn't really make me great, does it? If I beat Michael Jordan though... Without a true challenge from a powerful competitor, you really don't achieve greatness. A powerful competitor can come in many forms: difficult economic times, cancer, a company with greater financial resources, a test in school on a subject matter that is not intuitively easy for you, or any other severe challenge to where you are at the exact moment. In all cases (even with cancer), it isn't about beating your competitor. It's about giving it a shot in the first place, being a legitimate competitor and source of passion to give your full effort to life itself. Even when you lose, others win because of who you were, the inspiration you were, in the face of certain loss.

[jaredude]

Millions of animals are killed (polite term is euthanized) every year because a good home can't be found our good people can't find a pet to adopt. Overstock.com has put together a consolidated database of pets available for adoption around the US. If you love animals, this is a worthwhile website to checkout and share: https://pets.overstock.com

[jaredude]

Black bear is always a stop whenever I'm in a town that has one #faveeats #greatfood #greatservice #nomnomnom

[jaredude]

At the Great Salt Lake

[jaredude]

Vehicular Peace & Quite

It's always strange driving a car other than the one I normally drive. Every car handles a little different, performs a little different. However, things are vastly different having driven an electric car for the last 5 month!

"Traditional" (ICE) cars are extremely loud, not matter what year make and model. You're sitting at a stoplight, and they are making noise. You accelerate, they make even more noise. The only time an ICE is the same noise level as an EV is when it's turned off.

Sure, some cars are louder than others. A compact is going to be much louder than a Mercedes E-class or BMW 7 or any Lexus, but every ICE is louder than any electric car. Then there's the vibration from the engine. Again, more noticeable in a compact than a luxury car, but it's completely absent in an EV. Of course, there's also the exhaust smell from an ICE when you're parking in a parking lot that is only secondhand with driving an EV.

This car rental I have on my current business trip is sure making me appreciate my EV and EVs in general.

[jaredude]

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE INANIMATE OBJECT?

The almighty pen!

[jaredude]

That's an eclectic combination #slc

[jaredude]

Killer termites in downtown #slc

[jaredude]

Church in the foreground, temple in the background #slc

[jaredude]

Not a bad view #slc

[jaredude]

This is a dangerous parking lot

[jaredude]

They make a good point

[jaredude]

Renting an economy car in SLC means you pay more taxes than the actual car cost.

[jaredude]

Thankfully no propellers

[jaredude]

Chargers everywhere in the remote terminals at LAX

[jaredude]

The remote terminals at LAX are kinda nice. Thankfully I'm not on that propeller plane with the backfiring engine.