Confession: Sometimes when an interview is going nowhere or the answers seem canned or rehearsed, I'll throw out a super random question to liven things up. One that is fun sometimes is "if you were an animal what kind of animal would you be?" 

Now, there's some obvious psychology behind this one. For example, if someone said "I'd be a sloth! I love to be lazy!" I might think differently of them, but for the most part I just like hearing about people's favorite animals. A very middle-of-the-road answer is always a dog..and then people proceed to tell me about their dog and show pictures. It helps them break out a bit.

But the more I thought about it, I would love to have an employee like my dog. He is always in a happy mood, always ready for an adventure, and loyal beyond words. I don't have to beat around the bush when he's in trouble - in fact he knows with one sideways glance from me. He greets me with a smile whenever he sees me and (surprisingly) has a better handshake than a lot of candidates I come across. If you were to emulate your dog, what kind of employee would you be? Or deeper yet perhaps - If you your dog were like you, would you still want them as a dog? 

During my time at the Outdoor Retailer Show, I had the pleasure to meet the owner and three representatives of RuckJack. Their booth was stationed right across ours, so after a couple of conversations, I got the opportunity to know a bit about each one of them. 

The first is married and father to a North Carolina student. Soon he will be hitting the road to meet up with his wife in Montana. The second is an engineer with two USC degrees who fairly recently left his LADWP job because he wasn't happy working in a cubicle. The third is a Florida resident that enjoys yoga, paddle boarding, and on special occasions, hiking 9 miles in flip flops. Lastly, the fourth gentleman is the owner and co-creator of RuckJack, whom after quitting his iTunes job, unexpectedly packed up a few of his things and traveled the country with his friend. Interestingly enough, it was during his time in the road that he and friend came up with the idea of RuckJack. 

I chose to mention these four men because I couldn't help but think of them as I began to write today's loop, which involves the topic of road trips. These four men are currently on their way to Las Vegas for yet another trade show. On their way there, they'll be stopping at the Grand Canyon and a few other places I, unfortunately, can't remember. They're a great example on how road trips can sometimes be planned or unplanned, tailored for pleasure or for business (or both), and how even though they can be controlled, they can still lead you towards an unforeseen direction. 

Today's loop doesn't end here, for though I would like to continue, I've realized that it might be a bit too long if I did. I still have a bit more to say about road trips, so please tune in next Tuesday for the conclusion of this two-part loop. Oh and if you're wondering what the image below depicts, it's a picture of an inflatable alien I gave these four men as a memento of the time they spend across SlideBelts...looks like he got squeezed out and had no other choice but to ride out the vehicle.