Ryan Stokes’ Post

Surfing the web this morning and I find an old video. Two guys in a car having some summer fun. Stepping into cars with total strangers and managing in a stressful situation teaches some mad skills about evaluating the present and strategizing next step(s)…quickly. Nothing artificial here, just old fashioned brain power at work. Peter, and others on here, are some of my best friends today because of these experiences. Realistically, there will likely never be a need for getaway driver in the telecom world, but I know who to call if there is. https://lnkd.in/ebZ9p7gk

Just so you know, we do use 5G and IoT here in racing. A little behind the scenes shot.

It’s that time of year. The ChampCar 24-hour race is this weekend. Danger Racing is present and accounted for. Team is ready, car is ready, hopefully the track and other drivers are ready. This year we are part of the broadcast. Plus we have our own live stream from the car starting at 11am on Saturday (race starts at noon). Tune in and see if we can pull it off this year. Here is the ChampCar stream https://lnkd.in/gQXDGhAt Here is Team Danger feed. https://lnkd.in/gs2TuyTi

1987 just wanted to say hello.

Not necessarily eye opening, but more of a confirmation of what you already knew. But I thought I would add a twist to drive the point home. In high school, I was lucky enough to be part of FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America). For those unfamiliar with the program, it was an effort to teach high school students practical skills and concepts into “how a company operates”. Sorta made famous in the film Risky Business, Tom decided to run a brothel instead of doing paper-towel holders or fire logs. My team wasn’t quite as ambitious, we did the fire logs. Fire logs are pretty simple to manufacture…mix sawdust and wax, put it in a mold, then package it for sale. This is what stood out for me…the biggest component sawdust, was free. As in, it’s a waste product of the wood process. The mill gave it to us just to get rid of it. Let’s apply this to a barrel of oil. Refining 45 gallons of crude oil produces mostly gasoline and diesel, along with jet, hydrocarbons, lubes and some asphalt. About 4% (2 gallons) falls into the hydrocarbon category. This is what is used to make plastics in whatever form we consume them. In other words, it’s a byproduct that will be there no matter what you do. It’s basically free as well. The point…how can a recycling program with all the inherent costs and logistics compete with a super low-cost byproduct used a raw material? It can’t, and won’t, ever! Even if you could efficiently recycle some portion of the waste stream, what would you do with the by-product still being produced with each barrel of oil. I want to be a good steward for the planet, but that does not generate profit. Some will say that electric vehicles will reduce the number of barrels per day, I’m not convinced of that yet. And just like a typical human, we’ve already obliterated the potential benefit of EVs…9,000 pound vehicles that can go 0-60 in 3 seconds. My guess is we are being short sided and trading one problem for a potentially much greater problem. Save that conversation for another day. Anyhow, evidently there were 50 trackers inserted in the plastic bag bins. 46 ended up in landfills, 4 ended up overseas somewhere. Hopefully not a surprise for anyone. Just need some smart people to solve the riddle. https://lnkd.in/e2-VuYce

Those are oyster farms in the background…just confirming I’m actually doing work while in southern France. Sean seems happy…maybe it’s the apple juice. George can approve my expense report now.

If you’re a card carrying member of the forgotten generation - GenX that is - then I won’t need to explain…you had a pair of Birdwells. We 80’s kids can at least lay claim to MTV, Members Only, a bunch of great music, and some Birdies. I was out with friends and Birdwells came up, and lo-and-behold, they are still making shorts in California. Recieved 4 pair in the mail today. No affiliation with the company, just passing along for my fellow GenXs who would like to step back in time. For all others, grab a pair and we’ll let you watch some MTV with us.

If you went thru it, you already know it was a hard program. There’s no such thing as falling behind, and I’m not sure about the 45-hour week…perhaps part of the “marketing” slide in the pitch deck. The graduate rate was a little lower in the 80s, but good to see more students are getting through and they are working on the mental health side of the program.

Heard there would be a lot of cool car stuff at CES, so I came out to try and find if there might be something interesting to add as a new race car for 2023. Found it!!! Obviously a lot of horsepower and torque on tap, but inherently has tons of body roll in the corners. Went ahead and ordered some coilovers for the suspension, should be fine after that. Bonus, they already have my numbers on the door.