Camping on Forest Road 279A
Green Mountain National Forest
North of Harmon
Half a year of remote work 💻
Half a year of remote work 💻
This weekend marks six months or half a year of remote work with the pandemic smoldering all around us. Definitely been a big change in all parts of life, some good some bad. I do miss the routine of taking the bus to work and going downtown each day but in some ways it’s been kind of nice.
The other day I actually ended up going downtown to a meeting. Things seemed so alien being down in the city, with folks wearing masks and crowds much thinned out from an ordinary weekday. It would have been a lot easier to take a bus but I still feel weird riding the bus with the pandemic still around. Even with a mask it’s a risk and honestly I’m nowhere near wanting to die from a stupid respiratory infection.
Remote work has allowed me to travel, to see and go places and take longer weekends than I would had I been working downtown. But life is hardly a cake, days when I travel I find I really have to make work the top priority, been extra responsive and hard working as I work with clients. Even at home it’s a challenge as I don’t have home internet so I find myself running to Wi-Fi hot spots for the endless Zoom Meetings and those silly software updates the laptop demands.
I don’t miss the commutes or the backed up traffic on Interstate 787. I don’t miss having to get up early or rushing to get out the door to the bus. I do somewhat miss the time around the water cooler and certainly the view from my old office, although that’s kind of a moot point now with the windowless office at my new job. Hunting season might be fun if I can hunt before working remotely at nine.
Honestly, I think they are right when they say the old rules were dumb. The virus is shaking things up, showing that a lot more things can be done remotely. Remote work is useful in a variety of situations and offers new job possibilities and ways to earn a living when I eventually own my off-grid property. The changes have been difficult at many levels but necessary and I think ultimately it will lead to a better society.
Quiet on Branch Pond
Eight weeks out
Some further thoughts about the presidential race 8⃣ weeks out …
Donald Trump is incompetent and probably quite corrupt. He’s a buffoon but that’s hardly news to anyone. He’s the Trumpster. People like the man a lot, especially hillbilly hicks I idolize that shovel pig and horse manure, burn their own trash out back and own all the guns I wish to own myself someday. Backwoods Pennsylvania where shit is real.
Joe Biden is biding his time, for like it or not it’s his own time. Trump’s incompetence is finally coming to a roost. With all of Biden’s experience in Washington DC as decades of being a member of the nation’s most exclusive club, the US Senate, he’s certain to be a power broker. That certainly concerns me, and I do hope if he’s elected president that the senate remains in GOP hands and remains a brake on progress that could harm those communities not represented by the Democratic Coalition. A Biden presidency might be good at chopping down the deficit if the Republicans say no to everything and Biden says no to more defense spending.
Third party candidates are more of an interest to me. I have reservations about Howie Hawkens from decades ago when he was very actively pushing the restrictions on open burning that I don’t like. But I do like the idea of more citizens involvement in democracy and I do think the Green Party comes from an honestly good place. It’s a good protest vote. It’s not like me, the humble boy from the sticks voting in the presidential election in New York is going to change anything, so I might as while protest. I voted Green in 2016.
The there is Jo Jorgensen the Libertarian Candidate. She seems kind of cool even if I think she’s nuts on many things. I don’t think we can frack or drill our way to sustainably. Climate change is real, it’s caused by billions of people. But it’s not like she’s going to get elected so any one position of hers doesn’t matter. She certainly would be a good protest vote, especially on the second amendment and police reform – and just more generally getting the government off our backs. I did vote for that colorful but less than memorable libertarian who ran for governor in 2018.
So gawd I don’t know. I do know my absentee ballot will arrive in a few weeks and I have choices and I’m no real fan of Trump and the Republican Party but I’m willing to keep an open mind. 🤯
Canned hamburgers 🥫
Make those holiday barbecues just a little bit easier with Swift's! 😉Edit – click on image to see entire ad. :-)Image via: https://www.grayflannelsuit.net/blog/labor-day-enjoy-canned-hamburger
Posted by Vintage Roadside on Monday, September 7, 2020
One thing that really bothers me is that government agencies are tax exempt. 🏛️
One thing that really bothers me is that government agencies are tax exempt. 🏛️
I don’t like the idea that government doesn’t pay its fair share of taxes – if there were more taxes on government then there would be a greater incentive to economize and would help level the playing field with the private sector. I think it makes sense to assess on government all of the same taxes that any private sector entity pays.
Taxes on government could also raise an enormous amount of revenue – in most communities government is one of the most wealthy institutions often ranking in the billions in income and spending each year. Governments have massive payrolls, land holdings, buildings, bridges and property. It would greatly increase fairness by taxing these most successful of entries.
Taxing government is just like taxing power plants or railroads. While it’s true that power plants and railroads benefit all, and we all pay into them, we tax them because they are source of wealth and because it’s a way to encourage economy and efficient use of resources.
Government agencies do pay payroll taxes nowadays but not sales tax, property taxes, franchise or corporate income taxes. I think they should like any other corporation. If they have to cut services it sell property to cover their tax bills then so be it. At the same time, many agencies would benefit by increased revenue by other agencies paying them tax. I think government paying taxes would be a more effective and efficient government.