u/SalesAficionado

I know a lot of people are struggling to find a job, and I don’t want to downplay how frustrating that can be. But after years in sales, one piece of advice I’d give is to learn to be likable, build relationships, and make the effort to maintain them.

This is probably obvious to a lot of us with sales experience, but it’s a good reminder.

Be reliable and show interest in others. It goes a long way, and people remember those things long after you’ve left a company.

The old saying, “It’s who you know, not what you know,” feels increasingly relevant with AI, bullshit ATS systems, and shitty recruiters. I’m not saying skills don’t matter, but having someone who knows you and your work, and is willing to vouch for you, is gold. Sometimes, that means having your name in the hat before they even post the job opening.

I think those relationships will become even more valuable in the years ahead.

And maintaining them doesn’t have to be complicated. Call an old boss once a year to wish them a Merry Christmas and see how they’re doing. Check in with a former colleague and ask about their kids. Congratulate someone on a promotion.

Just don’t wait until you need a job to reach out. Keep in touch while you’re employed and things are going well, too. Offer help when you can, make an introduction, or just have a conversation without asking for anything.

People you’ve worked with change jobs, move into leadership, and hear about opportunities. Someone you worked with five years ago might be the person who opens a door for you tomorrow.

I also think starting conversations with strangers is underrated. Talk to the person sitting next to you on a plane, if they’re up for it. You don’t have to turn it into a sales pitch or look for something to gain. Sometimes it’s just a good conversation.

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk

Hey guys,

I'm looking at a VX110 being sold for 3K with trailer. Only thing that worries me is that the compression is around 210 PSI on all cylinders. Seems pretty high to me no?

Thank you,

The outcome was probably decided from the get go. There was nothing you could have done to change it. Sure, maybe you could have suppressed your needs, made yourself smaller, and lived a completely independent life just to make sure you never triggered them.

But is that really how you want to live? Constantly hypervigilant, afraid that one wrong word or one difficult conversation could lead to sudden abandonment?

Your love cannot fix them. Loving them harder is not going to undo a defense mechanism that was built for survival. Your love was never the problem.

Talking about the future, working through problems, communicating your needs, these are normal relationship behaviors.

This is how people build healthy, long term relationships. This is one of the reasons people get into relationships in the first place. There is an implicit contract: I am here for you, and you are here for me. We face this cold universe together. We are a team.

They were never going to stay. They cannot. They do not know how to.

It was never about you.

What was about you was what you were willing to tolerate, regardless of their trauma or attachment style. Why would you accept this in your life? Someone who leaves at the slightest sign of discomfort.

Someone who gaslights you. Someone who rewrites history to avoid shame and guilt. Someone who will do almost anything to avoid accountability. Someone who simply does not have the tools to repair a relationship after conflict.

Is this really going to be your meal at the grand table of life? Poisonous crumbs because you have convinced yourself that your mere presence somehow disturbs their peace?

Do you not want people who celebrate you? People who are happy that you are there?

And no, they are probably not going to magically change for the next person. You are torturing yourself by imagining that.

Changing deeply ingrained defense mechanisms usually takes years of self awareness, deliberate work, and often therapy. A new relationship does not automatically fix any of that.

You did not lose the love of your life. You lost someone who was incapable of building the kind of healthy relationship you wanted.

Someone who, underneath it all, is still running from the things they do not know how to face.

A professional marathon runner.

Let them run.

I’m looking at buying my first boat and my biggest hesitation right now is whether I’m going to buy a 16 footer, love it for a few months, and then immediately want something bigger.

I live in South Florida and I’d mostly be using it around Biscayne Bay, Miami, sandbars, the Keys, snorkeling, some fishing, etc. Most of the time it would just be me or me and one other person, maybe 3 people once in a while.

I’ve been looking at boats in the 15-17ft range because they’re easy to tow, easy to launch by myself, cheaper to run, and just seem a lot less complicated for a first boat.

The other big thing is that I really can’t go much bigger right now because of my tow vehicle. I have a Jeep TJ, so towing capacity is pretty limited. Once I start looking at 19-20ft boats, I’m basically getting into territory where I’d need to buy another vehicle too, and I’m not trying to do that right now.

One of my good friends lives in the Keys and has owned 3 boats over the years. He keeps telling me not to waste my time with a 16ft boat and that I should get at least a 20 footer. According to him, anything smaller is going to feel cramped, beat me up when it gets a little choppy, and I’m going to end up miserable and selling it anyway.

Basically he’s warning me about the famous two-foot-itis lol.

And that’s what I’m worried about. I don’t want to spend decent money on a nice 16ft boat, put money into it, get everything set up the way I like it, and then 6 months later be thinking, “damn, I should’ve just waited until I could tow a 20 footer.”

At the same time, I feel like this logic never really ends. You buy the 16 and want an 18. Buy the 18 and want a 20. Buy the 20 and start looking at 22s and 24s.

So for the people here who actually started with a 15-17ft boat, did you stay happy with it for a while or did two-foot-itis hit pretty quickly?

Especially curious about people boating in South Florida or the Keys. Is 20ft really that much of a sweet spot, or is my friend just looking at it from the perspective of someone who’s already owned several boats?

I know a 16 footer can do what I want in decent weather. I’m more wondering if I’ll actually be happy with one for a few years, or if I’m better off waiting until I can upgrade the tow vehicle and go straight to something around 20ft.

The AC is blowing warm air. The AC clutch keeps going on and off every 5 seconds. The low side is at 120PSI and the high side at 100 PSI. This doesn't change when I turn on the car and put the AC on high. Also the car vibrate when the AC is on. I guess the AC has failed internally and it's putting a drag on the engine.

Again, the low pressure DO NOT DROP when the AC clutch engages every 5 seconds. It's stuck at 120PSI

The AC is blowing warm air. The AC clutch keeps going on and off every 5 seconds. The low side is at 120PSI and the high side at 100 PSI. This doesn't change when I turn on the car and put the AC on high. Also the car vibrate when the AC is on. I guess the AC has failed internally and it's putting a drag on the engine.

Looking for advice on a strange issue with my 2005 Jeep Wrangler TJ 4.0L, manual transmission, with approximately 77,000 miles.

I’ve replaced or checked quite a few things while trying to diagnose it:

-o2 sensors

-New fuel pump

-Fuel injectors

-Spark plugs and coil rail

-MAP sensor

-IAC valve

-EVAP purge valve

-CPS/crankshaft position sensor

-Coolant temperature sensor

-PCM (from WranglerFix)

-Intake manifold gasket, although I’m not completely confident that I installed it perfectly

-OPDA

A mechanic also performed a smoke test and did not find any vacuum leaks.

I’m still dealing with an intermittent vibration and strange fuel-trim behavior.

The Jeep generally drives fine and has no check-engine light. A vibration mostly happens when the engine is fully warmed up, especially after accelerating and then coming to a stop.

For example, when I accelerate up the slope into my garage, press the brake and put the transmission in neutral, the fuel trims suddenly go very negative—sometimes around -16% to -17%. As the trims gradually return toward zero or positive, the vibration slowly disappears.

The fuel trims also go significantly negative under acceleration. While driving, my long-term fuel trim is usually around -16%, and the short-term trim can also drop to approximately -16%.

At idle, the short-term trim is normally closer to 0, but can go randomly in the negative.

Once the Jeep is fully warmed up, I also sometimes feel a hesitation during acceleration, especially when shifting from first to second and then from second to third. It feels like the engine hesitates or briefly struggles when I get back on the throttle after changing gears. This is much less noticeable when the engine is cold. Other things I’ve noticed:

-The vibration rarely happens when the engine is cold.

-Turning on the A/C makes the vibration noticeably worse.

-The hesitation becomes more noticeable after driving in traffic and getting everything fully hot.

-Disconnecting the EVAP purge line and capping the intake side seems to reduce how often the vibration happens.

It drives normally at highway speeds and generally feels fine once cruising.

I have no misfire codes or check-engine light.

I'm honestly clueless of what it can be.

Hi guys! I'm thinking of buying my first jetski. I'm very mechanically inclined, so I'll do the maintenance myself. I'm based in South Florida, so it will be mostly in salt water and used to explore the Keys, snorkeling etc.

I know Yamaha is great from a reliability standpoint, but I'm loosing deck space compared to the Explorer Pro. However, the Yamaha also looks better in my opinion and is also slightly better on fuel. But the Explorer Pro has a larger fuel tank.

Any opinion?

Thank you,

I already have a TJ, works perfectly fine. I'm looking to get an LJ. I'm wondering if that would redundant. These would be my only cars. I'm a forever bachelor, no kids. It's this or a new Miata. But Jeep are more rugged and traffic is everywhere these days. Can't enjoy driving the Miata in Miami.

I wonder if this is safe on my NP231. I can't use my car because I installed a SYE and the rear drive shaft I ordered from Tom Wood is only coming tomorrow. I need some grocery tho. Worth going to the grocery story without a rear drive shaft on 4HI? Or am going to blow something up.