I'd love input on this too. I went all in on Proton and it's aging like milk.

Looks pretty incredible to me!

No argument, when it comes to vehicles - bike > EV > ICE

I used to have a little chuckle when I drove my EV past people lining up at gas stations, now I full on Homer Simpson laugh.

You are absolutely correct!

I recommend you check out the Big Mac Index as it makes this stuff easier to understand.

The fact that $1CAD is worth less than $1USD or €1 doesn't mean much. It's just numbers printed on a screen/plastic/paper. What matters is what it buys.

The Big Mac Index was developed by The Economist to make this easier to understand. It calculates what what a Big Mac costs in each country against a common currency. It doesn't matter if $1USD = $1CAD or $1,000CAD. What matters is what that buys.

In 2022 - the year the graphic in the posted link corresponds to, a Big Mac cost $5.35 in the US and $5.17 in Canada when using the same (USD) currency. This implies that the effective difference in purchasing power is a paltry 3.5%.

If a burger is $5USD in the US and $7CAD in Canada, and the exchange rate is $1USD = $1.40CAD then those prices are the same.

I was just in Japan where I was paying 5000¥ for a fancy coffee - which was about $4.5CAD - roughly what I'd pay here in Canada.

Grifters gonna grift.

My partner and I don't have ANY tv's.

Neither of us are super into TV or film in a way that builds creativity or community (we don't critique the technical or artistic merits of pieces, and we aren't into anime or other genres where there's potential to build a community around a shared passion). When we turn on the TV, it's to turn off our brains. We decided to not build a shrine to turning off our brains.

We have a laptop with a good screen and speakers that we use when we want to watch something together.

I've never had use for it personally. It's good for securing the corner (and only the corner) of a tarp with a blown grommet. I can't think of much in the way of other uses. Makes for a super cool social media video though - I'm itching to try it out.