Random Chat, Thoughts, Posts, and/or Rants Thread

[Antifragile]

Anyone dealt with a patological narcissist as of late? I was unaware and got in some business “colaboration” with one, really it has been a horrible experience. It really seems like these people feel they are right in manipulating you with guilt and stuff. Even worst at first everything is great and they promise the world and so and almost deliver on it, but then after you are comited they show their true colors and the endless bullshit begin. They suck the joy out of your life like harry potter dementors or something. You know, that type of "people that you can't share good news with" cause they have to tell you about their own much better good news or how your news aren't really that good anyway, just sick people. Empatic people should be much more aware of this tipes of borderline psicopatic personalities, you can even be related by blood to them such as my case. Boy I'm happy my eyes are open thought. My quality of life is about to improve significantly after adressing this I hope.

Yes. I had a potential investor like that. We met, he was excellent all around, showered me with compliments and basically manipulated the meetings but I wasn't fully attune to this yet. I am no spring chicken by now, so there had been this this nagging feeling I couldn't shake that something wasn't quite right.

One meeting turned into 10, all excellent. Except the time to fund my deals was closing in fast and I I wasn't getting a firm commitment. I've danced with a few titans in the past and know that ignoring gut feelings is a bad idea. Instead, test assumptions!

This guy was supposed to invest with me mid-8 figures! Let that sink in for a moment. We are talking this deal for me being the largest deal I've ever put together by a factor of 5x from my 2nd largest. I wanted it really very much to come together and I was clinging to hope. Except for my gut feeling...

I called the next meeting and did the unthinkable, I forced commitment. It was a "shit or get off the pot" moment and all hell broke loose. How did I do it? I had my lawyers draft all the paperwork and come in with papers to sign. The guy blew up, like a powder keg on fire. There was name calling, pressure tactics, you name it - it was there. The weirdest meeting I've had in my business life - ever. Bottom line, he said that my structure doesn't work for him to the point of him walking away unless I reduced my company's compensation. I said "thank you for letting me know, this part of compensation is how I make my profits, it has been disclosed from day 1 and is not negotiable. It is also industry standard. I am glad we cleared it now while I still have other options, as my deadlines are pressing me to pick an investor". To which he said "I don't want you to have other options, I want you to deal with me"

I realized that I managed to disrupt his flow and let me show his true colours. The meeting was long, and in the end I said I'd get back to him. Two days later I wrote him a note rejecting his investment. He then went behind me to my other investors trying to collude! To my face he apologized for his behaviour and concurrently told me I was not a man of my word for not honouring him as investor because he thought he had a deal. He was even willing now to accept my terms. I still said "not this time, maybe in the future, thank you". I was polite and measured at all times.

The reason I kept saying "No" was because of the personality type. I now knew this individual would F*ck me the moment he had an opportunity. Trust was gone. These kinds of people cannot be controlled by legal paperwork or anything for that matter. They are to be avoided.

Fast forward to 6 months later... and life is better. Serendipitously I found a family office who took his spot and has even deeper pockets. Life has a way or working itself out, just listen to your gut.

 

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[Matt Sun]

We are talking this deal for me being the largest deal I've ever put together by a factor of 5x from my 2nd largest. I wanted it really very much to come together and I was clinging to hope. Except for my gut feeling...

To which he said "I don't want you to have other options, I want you to deal with me"

That sounds like the real thing. At first it will be so great for everybody and he will help you improve your life so much. In the end they carve a position where they have leverage and control over you. Such as you not dealing with anybody else, total dependence on them is what they want.
Happy to hear you dodge that. Same as you I want this person out of my life ASP. Perhaps many business parternship faliures could be avoided with more awareness of the narcisisst type and the evil tricks.

 

[GPM]

What does everyone use as a password manager? I am currently using LastPass and have it on like 3 computers and a phone. However, renewal is coming up and it has been bothering me for a while I. I want to switch to something else before I pay for another year.

 

[Rabby]

What does everyone use as a password manager? I am currently using LastPass and have it on like 3 computers and a phone. However, renewal is coming up and it has been bothering me for a while I. I want to switch to something else before I pay for another year.

I like 1password

 

[loop101]

I see a lot of half-built houses for sale. I don't know if that is intentional, or the original buyer (or builder) ran out of money. Usually the exterior is complete, but the interior is not. Here is one in Maine.

187 Bailey Rd, Industry, ME 04938 | realtor.com®

See home details and neighborhood info of this 2 bed, 1 bath, 960 sqft. single family home located at 187 Bailey Rd, Industry, ME 04938.

www.realtor.com

 

[MitchC]

I made some a while ago while trying some keto and turns out it's actually really easy (thought it was very complicated for some reason), just use some egg, lemon juice and oil, other ingredients if you want.. Supposedly olive oil isn't the best for it as you need an oil with a more neutral flavour... You could use a more processed olive oil and I guess that would still be a lot healthier than what you get in the store, but something like avocado oil might be better; although then it's a lot more expensive so depends what you're looking for.

I think most of your post is spot on and the post about the vegan stuff might actually be helpful to some (I'll admit that was me a few years ago thinking oh it's not meat so It's healthier), but do find it's interesting how there seems to be some kind of cock swinging competition about what foods you put into your body ,even here where people seem very smart and successful mostly. From the vegans' point of view I can kind of see how it can be hard to separate the health aspects from something that you feel so strongly about from a moral perspective, leading to some crazy statements sometimes like eating any animal foods will immediately lead to cancer, but it's funny to see the other side as well where people feel they have to defend themselves against what people who don't eat meat might think (?) and claim veganism must be extremely unhealthy because of some highly processed foods or something.
Idk, I'm interested in this stuff and just started learning about it not too long ago myself but think for health it must be better to include animal foods, at least in theory as you could just include however much or little as is optimal, but think both could easily be very healthy. Eating vegan, it might be easier to run into some deficiencies, but at the same time you'll be more likely to eat more vegetables and there will be more crap you'll be avoiding.

The point was simply exactly what you said, it’s easy to get caught in the trap of thinking because something is vegan it’s healthy and good for the environment, but if you take a step back and dig a little deeper, a lot of it is the total opposite.

It’s not me defending myself against what they might think, or saying it’s unhealthy to be vegan, maybe it came across that way because I singled out vegans, but that’s only because I know they already care about their diet and environment but are often being led astray by the food industry. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being vegan.

It wasn’t meant to be a cockswinging competition either, I would assume most people on this forum are interested in being healthier and can afford to eat better, so I think it’s something worth talking about. But I guess conversations about diet are almost on par with politics these days. Eating organic natural food shouldn’t be all that controversial of an idea though.

 

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[Actionfaker]

The point was simply exactly what you said, it’s easy to get caught in the trap of thinking because something is vegan it’s healthy and good for the environment, but if you take a step back and dig a little deeper, a lot of it is the total opposite.

It’s not me defending myself against what they might think, or saying it’s unhealthy to be vegan, maybe it came across that way because I singled out vegans, but that’s only because I know they already care about their diet and environment but are often being led astray by the food industry. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being vegan.

It wasn’t meant to be a cockswinging competition either, I would assume most people on this forum are interested in being healthier and can afford to eat better, so I think it’s something worth talking about. But I guess conversations about diet are almost on par with politics these days. Eating organic natural food shouldn’t be all that controversial of an idea though.

Yeah fair enough, guess we're on the same page then. Like I said, I thought your post was excellent but the part about the vegan stuff didn't seem very accurate, as if a vegan were to tell a meat eater that they just had a look at how a meat lover's pizza was made/sourced and therefore concluded eating meat is very unhealthy. Don't know, maybe I misread it.

You're right about this mismarketing I think. Here they have this nutriscore and it seems like often whole organic foods get a C or something while things which are full of processed unhealthy stuff get an A.

 

[eramart]

Yes. I had a potential investor like that. We met, he was excellent all around, showered me with compliments and basically manipulated the meetings but I wasn't fully attune to this yet. I am no spring chicken by now, so there had been this this nagging feeling I couldn't shake that something wasn't quite right.

One meeting turned into 10, all excellent. Except the time to fund my deals was closing in fast and I I wasn't getting a firm commitment. I've danced with a few titans in the past and know that ignoring gut feelings is a bad idea. Instead, test assumptions!

This guy was supposed to invest with me mid-8 figures! Let that sink in for a moment. We are talking this deal for me being the largest deal I've ever put together by a factor of 5x from my 2nd largest. I wanted it really very much to come together and I was clinging to hope. Except for my gut feeling...

I called the next meeting and did the unthinkable, I forced commitment. It was a "shit or get off the pot" moment and all hell broke loose. How did I do it? I had my lawyers draft all the paperwork and come in with papers to sign. The guy blew up, like a powder keg on fire. There was name calling, pressure tactics, you name it - it was there. The weirdest meeting I've had in my business life - ever. Bottom line, he said that my structure doesn't work for him to the point of him walking away unless I reduced my company's compensation. I said "thank you for letting me know, this part of compensation is how I make my profits, it has been disclosed from day 1 and is not negotiable. It is also industry standard. I am glad we cleared it now while I still have other options, as my deadlines are pressing me to pick an investor". To which he said "I don't want you to have other options, I want you to deal with me"

I realized that I managed to disrupt his flow and let me show his true colours. The meeting was long, and in the end I said I'd get back to him. Two days later I wrote him a note rejecting his investment. He then went behind me to my other investors trying to collude! To my face he apologized for his behaviour and concurrently told me I was not a man of my word for not honouring him as investor because he thought he had a deal. He was even willing now to accept my terms. I still said "not this time, maybe in the future, thank you". I was polite and measured at all times.

The reason I kept saying "No" was because of the personality type. I now knew this individual would F*ck me the moment he had an opportunity. Trust was gone. These kinds of people cannot be controlled by legal paperwork or anything for that matter. They are to be avoided.

Fast forward to 6 months later... and life is better. Serendipitously I found a family office who took his spot and has even deeper pockets. Life has a way or working itself out, just listen to your gut.

Add to that corruption and strongarm tactics, and it can become very scary.

 

[MTF]

Neal.fun

Games, visualizations, interactives and other weird stuff.

neal.fun

What a cool website with mostly interesting science stuff but not only. Super well made. My favorite pages:

Universe Forecast

What does the future look like?

neal.fun

The Deep Sea

Scroll down the deep sea in this interactive page.

neal.fun

The Size of Space

Explore the scale of the universe

neal.fun

 

[Kak]

What does everyone use as a password manager? I am currently using LastPass and have it on like 3 computers and a phone. However, renewal is coming up and it has been bothering me for a while I. I want to switch to something else before I pay for another year.

I’m looking at Bitwarden next. I have read good things about them.

I’m also wondering about learning to use the one built into Apple devices. I think they call it “keychain.” (I know that’s not an option for you.)

I have had a lot of the others, I have never been particularly fond of any of them.

 

[Guest-5ty5s4]

I'm sure everyone has noticed the crazy self-storage hype in the last couple of years. I've been following a guy on FB who has quietly been building self storage buildings for clients all across America. Truly a sight to see. Really selling shovels in a gold rush... He's doing the hard part, serving other entrepreneurs/investors, and I imagine making a mint in the process.

Blue collar steel construction... Not for the faint of heart. Not your grandma's business.

 

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[MoneyDoc]

I'm sure everyone has noticed the crazy self-storage hype in the last couple of years. I've been following a guy on FB who has quietly been building self storage buildings for clients all across America. Truly a sight to see. Really selling shovels in a gold rush... He's doing the hard part, serving other entrepreneurs/investors, and I imagine making a mint in the process.

Blue collar steel construction... Not for the faint of heart. Not your grandma's business.

I love self storage and have always been intrigued by the development of these facilities. It has been something I'm constantly looking into.

If I were to do it, I would spin the model a bit. I would do "self storage" for businesses... take my problem I'm facing. I can't find a warehouse unit that isn't going to cost me $5000+/month just for the rent with a mandatory 2 year lease. I also don't need that big of a warehouse with 10+ docks. I currently use self storage for inventory but these units are more tailored for personal storage.

Why not "mini warehouses" for businesses with the same model as self storage? Separate units, a bit bigger, some more added options, like some units with a drive-in door, maybe a few entrance units with a dock, on-site pallet jacks, clean well finished units, temperature controlled, etc.

 

[Kak]

I love self storage and have always been intrigued by the development of these facilities. It has been something I'm constantly looking into.

If I were to do it, I would spin the model a bit. I would do "self storage" for businesses... take my problem I'm facing. I can't find a warehouse unit that isn't going to cost me $5000+/month just for the rent with a mandatory 2 year lease. I also don't need that big of a warehouse with 10+ docks. I currently use self storage for inventory but these units are more tailored for personal storage.

Why not "mini warehouses" for businesses with the same model as self storage? Separate units, a bit bigger, some more added options, like some units with a drive-in door, maybe a few entrance units with a dock, on-site pallet jacks, clean well finished units, temperature controlled, etc.

I second this. I have a need for this as well.

Medium sized climate controlled warehouses for people who don’t need a giant a$$ distribution center.

 

[Guest-5ty5s4]

I love self storage and have always been intrigued by the development of these facilities. It has been something I'm constantly looking into.

If I were to do it, I would spin the model a bit. I would do "self storage" for businesses... take my problem I'm facing. I can't find a warehouse unit that isn't going to cost me $5000+/month just for the rent with a mandatory 2 year lease. I also don't need that big of a warehouse with 10+ docks. I currently use self storage for inventory but these units are more tailored for personal storage.

Why not "mini warehouses" for businesses with the same model as self storage? Separate units, a bit bigger, some more added options, like some units with a drive-in door, maybe a few entrance units with a dock, on-site pallet jacks, clean well finished units, temperature controlled, etc.

I second this. I have a need for this as well.

Medium sized climate controlled warehouses for people who don’t need a giant a$$ distribution center.

I'm about to help a dude out. Look up Chris Ramsey on Twitter. He has this thing he calls "Contractor Garages," and it's exactly this.

Great model, great asset class / property type. I want to do it too, just need the funding. Bit tied up atm.

 

[MTF]

Self-storage is such a uniquely weird American concept. Elsewhere people just throw away or donate stuff they don't need instead of keeping it forever who knows why.

 

[Guest-5ty5s4]

Self-storage is such a uniquely weird American concept. Elsewhere people just throw away or donate stuff they don't need instead of keeping it forever who knows why.

Furniture? Vehicles? Are people elsewhere just poor and don't own things?

Sometimes you have to move and don't have space readily available

-- then again, the storage usually costs more than buying those things new. The sentiment is often the reason for the storage.

 

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[Antifragile]

I love self storage and have always been intrigued by the development of these facilities. It has been something I'm constantly looking into.

If I were to do it, I would spin the model a bit. I would do "self storage" for businesses... take my problem I'm facing. I can't find a warehouse unit that isn't going to cost me $5000+/month just for the rent with a mandatory 2 year lease. I also don't need that big of a warehouse with 10+ docks. I currently use self storage for inventory but these units are more tailored for personal storage.

Why not "mini warehouses" for businesses with the same model as self storage? Separate units, a bit bigger, some more added options, like some units with a drive-in door, maybe a few entrance units with a dock, on-site pallet jacks, clean well finished units, temperature controlled, etc.

This is being done in Vancouver right now. They call it "vertical industrial" because it's multi-story industrial. But reality is the units are only 1,000 square feet and sure feel more like self-storage than old industrial warehousing. I have not yet pulled the trigger on developing this type of an asset. I am letting people prove the concept first. Majority of businesses that are buying our warehouses demand that there is a way to "drive into it". Larger businesses require dock loading, but smaller businesses are fine with grade loading.

Regardless, the lease pricing for industrial warehouse outside of the city core is now $20 per square foot - think Chilliwack area, which is 100kms from downtown! For the $5K/mo you get a 3,000 sq ft unit in Chilliwack. And if you wanted to buy, it'd set you back over $500 psf.

Vertical industrial - is close to the downtown core (like South Vancouver area by the airport) and goes for over $700 PSF. That's over $700k for your 1,000 sq ft unit!

 

[Kak]

Furniture? Vehicles? Are people elsewhere just poor and don't own things?

Sometimes you have to move and don't have space readily available

-- then again, the storage usually costs more than buying those things new. The sentiment is often the reason for the storage.

I’m the opposite of a minimalist. I have lots of stuff.

I have already have a large two story home that’s two small for just me, my wife, and son. I often wonder how people do it with an apartment and think that’s normal.

We have had 3, large, V8 cars most of our married life.

My golf, gun, podcast, grilling and tool hobbies alone are enough to take up a small apartment.

@MTF s head is going to spin when he reads the next sentence…

If we have another kid, we want at least 6000 square feet.

 

[MTF]

Furniture? Vehicles? Are people elsewhere just poor and don't own things?

Sometimes you have to move and don't have space readily available

-- then again, the storage usually costs more than buying those things new. The sentiment is often the reason for the storage.

When you move, you move with all of your stuff to the new place. If you don't have space for something, you either store it in the basement (if you have one), keep it at your parents' place (some young people do that if their parents have a house) or you get rid of it.

Vehicles - that's a new one for me. Why would you keep a vehicle in self-storage? If you're driving it, then you park it in front of your place. If it's a seasonal thing then you pay for a parking space or a proper garage.

In the entire country of 38 million people where I live I think I only once saw a self-storage place in one big city. And that was a really weird sight.

Other than that I'm pretty sure that all of my family and friends would laugh at the idea of paying for a place to store your junk instead of getting rid of the stuff.

Are people elsewhere just poor and don't own things?

From my observation, at least comparing Europe to the US, it's mind-blowing how much more shit Americans have. It's not that people elsewhere are poor. It's that there's much less consumerism, at least in the form of buying stuff you never or very rarely use.

This is one of the big differences between the US and Europe. People don't live in huge houses, they don't own multiple vehicles, and they don't have countless articles of clothing they never wear and gear they never use.

 

[Kak]

When you move, you move with all of your stuff to the new place. If you don't have space for something, you either store it in the basement (if you have one), keep it at your parents' place (some young people do that if their parents have a house) or you get rid of it.

Vehicles - that's a new one for me. Why would you keep a vehicle in self-storage? If you're driving it, then you park it in front of your place. If it's a seasonal thing then you pay for a parking space or a proper garage.

In the entire country of 38 million people where I live I think I only once saw a self-storage place in one big city. And that was a really weird sight.

Other than that I'm pretty sure that all of my family and friends would laugh at the idea of paying for a place to store your junk instead of getting rid of the stuff.



From my observation, at least comparing Europe to the US, it's mind-blowing how much more shit Americans have. It's not that people elsewhere are poor. It's that there's much less consumerism, at least in the form of buying stuff you never or very rarely use.

This is one of the big differences between the US and Europe. People don't live in huge houses, they don't own multiple vehicles, and they don't have countless articles of clothing they never wear and gear they never use.

This to me says there’s opportunity in the future. Poland is too poor right now for it, but once they catch up with Murica, they’ll want some storage.

 

[Guest-5ty5s4]

When you move, you move with all of your stuff to the new place. If you don't have space for something, you either store it in the basement (if you have one), keep it at your parents' place (some young people do that if their parents have a house) or you get rid of it.

Vehicles - that's a new one for me. Why would you keep a vehicle in self-storage? If you're driving it, then you park it in front of your place. If it's a seasonal thing then you pay for a parking space or a proper garage.

In the entire country of 38 million people where I live I think I only once saw a self-storage place in one big city. And that was a really weird sight.

Other than that I'm pretty sure that all of my family and friends would laugh at the idea of paying for a place to store your junk instead of getting rid of the stuff.



From my observation, at least comparing Europe to the US, it's mind-blowing how much more shit Americans have. It's not that people elsewhere are poor. It's that there's much less consumerism, at least in the form of buying stuff you never or very rarely use.

This is one of the big differences between the US and Europe. People don't live in huge houses, they don't own multiple vehicles, and they don't have countless articles of clothing they never wear and gear they never use.

I agree about the consumerism. Many Americans are dumb with their spending.

I disagree about the huge houses.

Europe is OLD. The buildings are old. The streets are old. They were built for walking and horses, not cars and trucks.

Everything is way more populated and overbuilt because it's been there for centuries.

Another good reason for storage is when your grandparent dies and you don't have space for their stuff, but don't want to throw it away or sell it.

 

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[MTF]

This to me says there’s opportunity in the future. Poland is too poor right now for it, but once they catch up with Murica, they’ll want some storage.

Lol I highly doubt it.

As for the wealth, your head is going to spin when you read the next sentence but I actually feel like Poland is in many aspects richer than the US. I only spent a few weeks in total in the US but so many aspects of life in the US are things that would be deemed "third-world" in Poland. There's a lot of sparkling new infrastructure in Poland while many places in the US look as if they were built in the 60s and never changed since then.

 

[Kak]

they don't have countless articles of clothing they never wear and gear they never use.

Hahaha oh boy.

Our closet is not much smaller than my entire RV, and it’s full. I have probably 40 pairs of shoes. 20 suits I haven’t worn in a year. Too many shirt and shorts to count. At least 15 pairs of good jeans and 5 pairs of shitty jeans.

I still feel poor. I need more stuff.

 

[Kak]

Lol I highly doubt it.

As for the wealth, your head is going to spin when you read the next sentence but I actually feel like Poland is in many aspects richer than the US. I only spent a few weeks in total in the US but so many aspects of life in the US are things that would be deemed "third-world" in Poland. There's a lot of sparkling new infrastructure in Poland while many places in the US look as if they were built in the 60s and never changed since then.

This is my head not spinning at all! I believe it.

I see it all the time driving around. There’s a ton of poor garbage places here. We subsidize it here!

 

[Guest-5ty5s4]

Lol I highly doubt it.

As for the wealth, your head is going to spin when you read the next sentence but I actually feel like Poland is in many aspects richer than the US. I only spent a few weeks in total in the US but so many aspects of life in the US are things that would be deemed "third-world" in Poland. There's a lot of sparkling new infrastructure in Poland while many places in the US look as if they were built in the 60s and never changed since then.

You realize there are 50 separate states in the US, right? It's not "America." It's the States. Also sounds like you are describing government-owned infrastructure, not exactly a measure of wealth. Look at the people and the businesses.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I thought about her recently as well and saw that she logged in recently but it would be nice to hear from you, @WJK.

+1 .. likewise for @jon.a - another older person with a lot of wisdom to share.

I love self storage and have always been intrigued by the development of these facilities. It has been something I'm constantly looking into.

If I were to do it, I would spin the model a bit. I would do "self storage" for businesses... take my problem I'm facing. I can't find a warehouse unit that isn't going to cost me $5000+/month just for the rent with a mandatory 2 year lease. I also don't need that big of a warehouse with 10+ docks. I currently use self storage for inventory but these units are more tailored for personal storage.

Why not "mini warehouses" for businesses with the same model as self storage? Separate units, a bit bigger, some more added options, like some units with a drive-in door, maybe a few entrance units with a dock, on-site pallet jacks, clean well finished units, temperature controlled, etc.

I can see this being a big growth industry, especially with a lot of Amazon entrepreneurs who need warehouse space, but not necessarily their own standalone building.

 

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[Kak]

You realize there are 50 separate states in the US, right? It's not "America." It's the States. Also sounds like you are describing government-owned infrastructure, not exactly a measure of wealth. Look at the people and the businesses.

Bro, let me send you a map of Houston.

 

[MTF]

I agree about the consumerism. Many Americans are dumb with their spending.

I disagree about the huge houses.

Europe is OLD. The buildings are old. The streets are old. They were built for walking and horses, not cars and trucks.

Everything is way more populated and overbuilt because it's been there for centuries.

I think you may have in mind places like Andalusia where it's almost impossible even for a small car to pass through in many small towns. But that's mostly limited to southern Europe. They built cities like that to have more shade and cooler temperatures.

In the countryside there's a lot of space. It's not as much as in the US but still, it's not overbuilt or crazily populated. But overall, people just don't build and don't want such huge houses.

I even had a conversation with my physical therapist today who has a house of about 2,150 sq feet (for a family of 4) and he said that if were building a new house today he'd build a house of just 1,300 sq feet as his current one is too big and he doesn't use the entire house.

You realize there are 50 separate states in the US, right? It's not "America." It's the States.

Yes my experience is only about spending a couple of weeks in total in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Hawaii. It doesn't reflect the entire country as I haven't been everywhere.

Also sounds like you are describing government-owned infrastructure, not exactly a measure of wealth. Look at the people and the businesses.

In addition to highways and stuff I'm also describing things like:

• Contactless/mobile payments everywhere for a long, long time. In the US at the airport I couldn't pay with a card I used all over the world including some seriously poor and exotic countries like Kyrgyzstan and Morocco.
• Super new public transportation, including buses, trams, and trains. This isn't always government-owned as sometimes it's a joint public/private corporation.
• Lightning fast and extremely developed e-commerce industry. For example, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of so-called parcel lockers where you can get your stuff delivered instead of waiting for the delivery guy at home. You can even open it remotely for someone else.
• 4G and now 5G available in all cities plus fiber optic. In the US I frequently didn't even have 3G (that was a few years ago with a T-Mobile SIM card, maybe it's changed since then).
• Very, very few homeless people. In the US I saw so many homeless people and homeless encampments (completely mind-blowing) that I felt uncomfortable on many occasions.
• Supermarkets at every corner. Even though I had known about it before I was still shocked how far you have to drive in many places in the US to get to a supermarket.
• Walkable/bicycle-friendly cities with easy access within walking distance to whatever you need (pharmacy, restaurant, supermarket, barbershop, etc.). Very rare in the US overall as far as I know, normal pretty much anywhere in Europe.

I remember how I was once on a bus shuttle at the Chicago airport from one terminal to another and two guys (Americans) were talking that the (old) bus looked as if from Eastern Europe. My thought was "Lol you have no idea what you're talking about." (Poland is Central Europe but most of Eastern Europe has new buses now, not the stereotypical Soviet-made buses from the 50s).

Of course, the United States is a huge country. It's hard to make it grow consistently in all regions like you can in a smaller country. Still, just wanted to provide an outsider's perspective as I find the topic of differences between countries fascinating and the US is even more of a special case.

 

[MTF]

+1 .. likewise for @jon.a - another older gentlemen with a lot of wisdom to share.

I also liked posts by @Carol Jones. It's been a while since she's been on the forum.

 

[Kak]

Super new public transportation, including buses, trams, and trains. This isn't always government-owned as sometimes it's a joint public/private corporation.

Ok, public transportation = the sewage plant. Gross. Is that even safe?

Lightning fast and extremely developed e-commerce industry. For example, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of so-called parcel lockers where you can get your stuff delivered instead of waiting for the delivery guy at home. You can even open it remotely for someone else.

Agreed, must be nice to have such an easy way to acquire more stuff.

4G and now 5G available in all cities plus fiber optic. In the US I frequently didn't even have 3G (that was a few years ago with a T-Mobile SIM card, maybe it's changed since then).

Lol, it hasn’t.

We had people actively fighting an OPTIONAL fiber installation in our neighborhood. Thankfully “it passed.” But fiber is physical infrastructure and the rest of the world has gone bad a$$ wireless. I still have trouble making phone calls sometimes.

Very, very few homeless people. In the US I saw so many homeless people and homeless encampments (completely mind-blowing) that I felt uncomfortable on many occasions.

“If you subsidize something you get more of it” Ron Paul. We pay people to be homeless degenerates in America. They are the modern vote slaves.