Making the leap … someday

|

Moving to my dream state is often a big challenge and a leap into the unknown, one that is fairly far off – I’m committed to New York – saving and investing, working hard in New York while I still have family locally.

But eventually I want to move. I want more freedom to own the guns I want, have fires, burn trash and not have to deal with silliness like plastic bag bans or whatever else the legislature dreams up in the coming years like banning trapping as happened in California. I like my big truck and I want my off grid cabin to be in a place with as much freedom as possible.

But the truth is it’s such a big jump into the unknown. Rural communities are more homogenized than ever before due to centrally produced television stations and social media but moving to a new town with no friends, no job, no place to stay is a big jump into the unknown. Honestly when I do it I will be a lot more financially stable but still its a big leap.

That said, careful planning can help to make the leap smaller. Places like West Virginia and rural Pennsylvania I know fairly well, especially in areas where I regularly camp. They’re a smaller leap. With the internet I can also research local opinions about an area and what folks are saying about it – along with state and local laws enforced or otherwise. I can take a trip out to other states, interview for jobs, and ultimately when I settle there rent for a year before committing to buy land and home as my off-grid property.

When I move I can make it a priority to be socially engaged, join civic organizations and volunteer to make new friends. Join my colleagues out at the bar and when I have my off grid property invite them out there for a bonfire and beers or allow them to hunt the land. Friendship is more important than having that perfect deer in the freezer. I’d probably stay away from politics as I don’t want to alienate potential code enforcement people I need to work with to make my off grid property a reality.

Honestly, I do like the break to something new. Too much of my identity is still tied up with my hometown and my jobs in Albany. While I do good work, when you’ve been around as long as I have there is still a lot of baggage around that’s hard to escape. There are memories and institutions I really would like to put away for good.

One Car

analysis suggests different districts wouldn’t have helped Dems much – City & State New York

|

Don’t blame the maps: analysis suggests different districts wouldn’t have helped Dems much – City & State New York

There’s more than enough blame to go around, after New York Democrats’ uniquely weak performance in the Congressional midterm elections. Among those taking heat: state Sen. Michael Gianaris, who oversaw the process that got Congressional maps favorable to Democrats thrown out, and replaced with less friendly?ones drawn by a special master.?

But a preliminary analysis of the results shows that the special master’s district maps probably did not play as much of a role in Democrats’ losses as some have assumed. The party may have held just one more seat if state legislators and the governor had settled for a less partisan map. And results were so poor for Democrats this year that even the Legislature’s aggressive lines wouldn’t have been a cure-all. Dems would have likely won just four out of the nine competitive seats – still losing all of Long Island.?

“The data makes clear that the problem on Election Day was a performance issue, not a district issue,” Gianaris, the deputy majority leader, told City & State after reviewing the analysis. “Under any alternative scenario of district lines, you’d have substantially the same results.”

Snow Tomorrow

|

I think tomorrow will be pretty with the snow, but use caution if you plan to be traveling.

Meta is dumb 👥 

|

Meta is dumb 👥 

There is all this talk about re branding Facebook as Meta and creating some kind of 3D virtual world. But does anybody really want to go through life wearing 3D glasses or some slow, bulky, data intensive interface?

People just want the information they need, without too much bulk or clutter or geegaws.

Why did Facebook originally replace MySpace? The interface was simple and uncluttered, unlike MySpace which allowed for a lot of clutter with users choosing their own pages colors and being able to lard them up with silly tunes, comic sans fonts and garish colors. Facebook with its clean white background, easy read text and fast loading made all the difference.