On January 1rst I started writing my 3rd book, titled 2023.
Writing 30 minutes daily has kept me away from this blog, mainly because my book is a record of THIS year, so I’m writing about 2023 in the book, not on this platform.
In January I also started building my YouTube channel: The Uncle You Wish You Had.
It’s full of goofy shit, like this:
As of today my little YouTube channel has about 700 subscribers, and I need 1,000 subs to monetize…. so I’m trying to build my channel into another stream of income.
Please click SUBSCRIBE if you like me, even a little bit.
Thanks.
YouTube shorts are far more relevant an reach a wider audience than any other creative medium, so my energy is focused in that direction. Also, I’ve never made a dime off this blog…. where would YOU focus your energy?
This blog might get 50 views daily, while the YT channel can get 4,000 to 10,000 daily views!
I’m still selling solar, sales have been slower since the big rush this past summer when the general public thought they were losing the 26% tax credit. When Biden took the tax credit back up to 30% for the next decade it killed any sense of urgency in regards to the general public buying solar.
Oh yeah, I went to the Philippines !!!!!!!!!!
Now that I’m back I’m uploading videos about THAT trip, and all the interesting things that took place over there.
I hope you are having a wonderful April, I will publish my next book on January 1rst, 2024.
The song made me think of my girls, Grace and Claire.
Don’t know why, it just did.
I’ve been delving into classical lately, here is another great piece:
There is no downside to listening to classical music, for me it clears the mind, and you can listen while doing other things, like writing, riding a motorcycle, or BASE jumping off a 10 story building.
My buddy John is having surgery today, so I drove out to Morton Plant hospital to see him.
Stopped in the little hospital chapel to pray, took the pic above to remember the moment.
Kind of a rainy crappy Saturday to end 2022… on the radio they were talking about the megamillions lotto getting up to $750 million, so I bought three tickets:
I started thinking about all the stuff I would do if I won a gazillion dollars, charities I could donate to, people I could help, where I would live, etc…
And this gave rise to an interesting thought experiment: a massive amount of money gives us more choices, but in thinking about becoming a multimillionaire I realized that I have similar choices even if I just remain a modest middle class guy…
For instance :::
I decided to cancel my engagement to a lovely woman, because I realized I wanted a partner with different belief systems.
I’m willing to be single for awhile until I find the right woman.
I’ve been thinking about getting into some form of ministry, maybe even going to seminary.
I like doing consulting work / sales coaching… I like the challenge, the engagement, how it adds value to the lives of others.
I want to get really healthy in 2023, slim down, put on muscle, wear the skinny clothes in my closet.
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I don’t need to be a millionaire to do these things, they are all within reach at my current income.
In 2022 I spent more time volunteering than in any other year of my life… and I had the highest year of income in my life.
Go figure.
Olga and Vlada have been living with me since June, and I’m glad I could help them out during this season of our lives.
Just a year ago I knew nothing about Ukraine, I had rarely fired a gun, my life was different.
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My friend Marcus became a father in 2022:
That’s Apollo, he’s gonna become President of The United States someday.
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I’m glad I can be here for Olga and Vlada, they’ve had a rough time since they fled Kyiv (with Russian missiles falling on the city).
I’ve always thought that the best things in life are the odd surprises, those plot twists of life that no one could foresee.
In 2023 I’m going to keep putting good karma OUT THERE, and I hope there are more unexpected surprises!
And if I win the $700 gazillion dollar lottery?
I’m gonna disappear off the face of the earth and only 3 people will have my number!
My house now, with a red plug-in Volt and a grey gas-powered Acura.
By 2030 most households will have an older gas powered car and a newer EV.
This past week I test drove the Volkswagon ID4 and really liked it.
The all wheel drive model has a 250 mile range, and when I mentioned this to friends they always ask about roadtrips and running out of range.
Thing is… I only drive more than 200 miles in one day less than 1% of the time.
Tesla has a really large network of chargers for Tesla drivers, but other EV’s have to use 3rd party companies like Electrify America or ChargePoint to charge on the road.
Some car companies give you free charging for 2 years on the Electrify America network when you buy a new car.
There are not enough Electrify America chargers to make charging possible everywhere, but in the next 5 years more chargers will be built, especially when (in a recent survey) 36% of American drivers have said they have an interest in electric cars.
Meanwhile?
I think most folks will keep an older gas powered car for longer trips.
I have an 2015 Acura with a 3.5 liter V6…
My Chevy Volt uses gas as well, but if it was full electric I’d use the Acura for longer trips.
Here’s the thing… most EV drivers will recharge at home, in 6 years owning a Volt I’ve only charged it away from home a few times. Of course, I have a large solar array on my roof, so charging at home is effectively free.
How many times do you charge your cell phone away from home? Not that often, right?
Within the next five years more chargers will be built, and EV ranges will increase to 400+ miles.
Hotels will install more EV charge stations for overnight guests.
At Tampa Bay Solar we are marketing rooftop solar and EV charge stations to hotel owners right now.
Like any new technology there will be an adjustment, when cell phones came out in the 1990’s there were dead zones on major highways, but as cell phones became mainstream the cell carriers put up thousands of relay towers to cover most of the United States.
As EV sales become MORE common than gas powered cars we will see EV chargers at every business, in most parking lots, all over the United States.
OK… I gotta go buy food for my bigh Christmas Eve BASH tomorrow night….
Ben Alexander Solar Sales Consulting. 