How a Family of 3 Lives on $25,000 in Corona, Queens – The New York Times
As an Uber driver in New York City, Anup Baniya works long hours behind the wheel of his S.U.V., navigating snarled traffic. The passengers he ferries across the city may be surprised to learn how little he earns. Mr. Baniya, an immigrant from Nepal, brings home roughly $25,000 each year after paying for his vehicle and other business expenses. His wife, Sonu Khadka, stays home with their 7-month-old son, Ivaan. There is little money left at the end of each week.
Cold, blustery April morning 🌬️
I am a little on the fence but I think I’ll ride in. While I put fares onto my phone to use on the bus now that my card is expired, I think I’d rather ride and burn some calories from Easter dinner and it’s not that cold, being it’s the second week of April.
Driving Old Smokey yesterday was nice, 🛻 those SuperDuties drive really nice. I also took Big Red out for a little drive around the yard, just to see if he would start up and run, started up with no issue. People are asking again when I plan to sell, it’s a matter of first getting a truck cap and my gear moved over. I plan to order the cap this weekend, after studying my options this week. 📶 Pulled the CB Radio, seems like it will mount easily with the bolts on the center dashboard counsole with no issues, and it doesn’t block my vision much. Still need to figure out the upfitter switch wiring, where to run the antenna wire, and order a CB antenna mount that will fit SuperDuty and also an ampflied PA speaker to mount under the hoot when I install the antenna.
Pay week this week, which is good 😀 because it’s been an expensive past few weeks. And the cap is another major expense, but after that it should be fairly small for a while. Not planning to drive Old Smokey much until I get a cap and head out camping, both due to gas prices ⛽ and to keep it new as long as possible. Honestly I’m not expected to get the cap until May or June but I’ll have to order and pay for it next weekend. Going to be cold and maybe snow 🌨️ showers to start out the week, but very spring like by Friday. 🌸 Going to hike or ride in the Pine Bush next weekend when I go to Ruth’s to order the cap and also do some thrifting for work clothes. Got to be frugal somewhere. 👚
It was nice visiting the family for Easter. 🐰 Mom got me a smokey the bear 🐻 stuffed animal to stick in the back glass on my truck. He’s cute. Ham for dinner. It was fun driving the big truck, it rides so nicely on the open road. Gas milage wasn’t great with the hills, but I’m sure it would be better on the open highway. It is a big block. I guess it doesn’t matter, I got the truck to drive recreationally, it wouldn’t be a great commuter vehicle regardless. The remote start from anywhere in the world from my phone is fantastic, especially as I leave it parked so much and want to give the engine time to circulate fluids before driving. Nice to step into a car that is already warmed up and outputing heat or air conditioning. The key chain also has remote start, which is good for when I’m in the woods without cell service 📱 or if Ford decides to discontinue the Ford Pass app or starts to charge for it. I doubt they will, as long as 5G cell service remains avaliable, as they get a lot of valuable information on customers and how they use their products for marketing purposes – and selling repairs at dealerships. But you know time marches on, the OnStar on my Chevy Silverado even if they service had been paid up would have stopped working several years ago when 3G cell service went away.
Back to work on this Monday morning. 🏢 Should otherwise be a pretty ordinary week, keep plugging away at the database update, 💾 and all the usual crap that happens around that office, including enjoying all that flavored coffee ☕ as it was only a one cup day in the office. Listening to more of Ezra Klein’s Abundance audio book on Libby, as I ride in. 🚌 Al’so need to call CDTA World Headquarters and have them move the $16.50 on my now expired CDTA Navigator Card 💳 to the phone app, but I also plan to get another card, as in many ways they are far more convenient to use, and aren’t likely to fail like the phone app, but the phone app will work fine for now until I can get another card. Next weekend should very spring like!
Short Bed
Everyone tells me my truck bed is too short. It isn’t; at 6′ 8″, it’s actually longer than “Big Red” and plenty comfortable to sleep in. The bed only looks small because it’s sitting on a one-ton chassis, which typically sports a long bed and a quad cab. While a long bed might be nice, I don’t miss the headache of parking or turning a truck that size.
This specific configuration is perfect for the backcountry. The one-ton straight axle is nearly impossible to knock out of alignment, which is exactly why the Forest Service and DEC rely on them. The shorter wheelbase also makes it much easier to navigate tight forest roads and small campsites. Plus, the higher cab height allows me to use a streamlined, flat-roof camper shell without hitting my head. To top it off, the 410-amp dual alternators can handle a heavy electrical load and extra batteries without breaking a sweat.
Northville To West Stoney Creek – NPT
The first wilderness part of the Northville Placid Trail is remarkably steep for this part of Adirondacks, climbing 700 feet over a ridge on the first mile, then dropping down 100 feet to Mud Lake over a half mile, then over the next four miles you lose about 550 feet elevation until you reach West Stoney Creek and the lean-to.
https://andyarthur.org/shaker-mountain
https://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/100874.html
The PetsBoro™ BunnyPal, etc. 🐰
“This cute and realistic bunny robot toy is perfect for Easter.“
That’s what the advertising seen on my blog and other websites like New York Times wants to let me know about. It’s a cheap, likely Chinese-made with slave labor, robot toy controlled by an inexpensive microcontrollers and DC brushed motors designed to give a child a few hours of joy before quickly tossed into a garbage can, crushed and hauled to the local garbage heap on the outskirts of town. Found based on scam advertising sites you can pay upwards of $60 for a toy that can be found on AliExpress for about $4.50 in bulk.
Many parents might think this is a wonderful gift compared to giving a live rabbit to a child. At least in popular press, it is reported that animal shelters are flooded with unwanted pet rabbits after the Easter holiday. The press also reports extensively on how children and their parents are burdened to feed, water, and empty manure out of the rabbit’s cage for years after the gift of a live rabbit, as if it’s their moral obligation to keep the pet alive.
This is a prime example of what is wrong with society today.
The truth is domestic rabbits are prolific breeders, they are not endangered species. They are easily dispatched by dislocation of the neck or a blow to skull. They provide quality meat that is extremely low fat and nutritious and are easy to gut and dress. The carcass can be fed to chickens or pigs or buried and quickly will rot away, providing valuable nutrition to the soil. Compared to being a lump of toxic chemicals and plastic, it will not harm the environment while providing a meal.
But instead, too people have this cute, radical animals rights notion about livestock and nature that they would rather buy a polluting plastic rabbit robot then something they can kill and cook.
How would the media today cover the trial of Jesus Christ if it happened today?
If Jesus Christ was brought up on trial today for the crime of treason, I often wonder how would the media cover the trial. Would he be portrayed as an angry mad-man, leader of an angry cult that committing unthinkable crimes against the state? Somebody declared a menace to God and man, most deserving of his painful death on cross? I am sure the District Attorney would be featured in a press conference, discussing how long-sought after justice was finally served against Jesus Christ — and that his death on the cross would deliver long-needed closure for the victims.
The television would also bring on voices of people who were victimized by Jesus Christ, for his acts of treason, organizing people against the lawful orders of the state. They might briefly mention his work on behalf of the common man, but argue that the way he went around confronting the Alderman and the rich power brokers, isn’t the way forward. The media would attach all of the bad actions of his followers to Jesus Christ, the violence, the hatred, all of which Jesus was not responsible for as the leader of the common man against the rich.