Day: September 19, 2020💾

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Do I like my career

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Do I like my career?

The day after Columbus Day marks twelve years at my job doing communication coordination and running political campaigns for democratic candidates, mostly in upstate. I work hard at my job, put in long hours, try to build good relationships and plans for my clients. Over the years for my loyalty and hard work I’ve been promoted, earned more money and given more challenging opportunities. I like the work, creating good quality products and implementing plans often with successful results. I don’t think I would have stayed as long as I have if I didn’t think I was able to make a difference and advance my agency’s mission.

But anybody who reads this blog knows I’m pretty conservative, even if I’m a Democrat and do also believe in many progressive policies that can have a real life impact on people’s lives. I certainly don’t always agree with the political positions of my clients but I’m not there to advance my own opinions – I’m there to look at the polling and the evidence and give them the best possible advice based on concrete evidence. Politics these days often seems to be all encompassing. You can’t believe something with it impacting all parts of your life. But that’s not why I’m a professional – I’m there to advance the mission of the agency – not whatever personal beliefs I may have on a subject. Sometimes it’s tough to be objective, I’ll concede so I’ll rely on the collective wisdom of my colleagues and always go back to what the polling is saying and what other people in similar positions say.

I work for money not for changing the world. I work to advance the mission of my agency and put my clients interest first. Money is more than an appropriation to my bank account every two weeks, it’s a means and a way to live the life I want. It’s a way to pay for my experiences in the wilderness and for a better life in the future. Whether it’s fuel for my truck, food on the table, supplies or money to buy stocks, bonds and certificates of deposit that will eventually pay for land and my off grid property work pays for all of it. Saving takes time but each paycheck I get closer to a better future. And what’s best for my agency is ultimately best for my career advancement.

Spider Plant New View

One of the things I struggle to understand is why the law makes eviction the preferred way for landlords and tenants to settle debts relating to unpaid rent

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One of the things I struggle to understand is why the law makes eviction the preferred way for landlords and tenants to settle debts relating to unpaid rent. While courts have the ability to order payment plans, in many cases that is not the default option and requires intervention with a lawyer by the tenant’s part and agreement by the landlord, and in most states can’t happen until an eviction proceeding is brought.

When you think about it, an eviction is a rather bad way to settle an unpaid debt. Essentially by evicting a person or a business, both sides are losers. After an eviction, landlords loose the ability to collect back rent, while tenants lose their home or business location. An eviction is a clean-slate action – while a renter’s credit and rental history is dinged for seven years – they aren’t held responsible in most cases for making up the unpaid rent.

In some countries, debt is handled differently. Tenants who are facing economic hardship, like job loss due to the pandemic aren’t forever precluded from paying back their owed rent – as most will eventually obtain meaningful employment or have access to retirement savings or social security. The law could be changed to allow for landlords to seek garnishment of future wages or seizure of bank assets, rather then going through an eviction process and forcing a family or business to move out.

While this would potentially lead to landlords having to wait longer to get paid back rent, the flip side is such a policy would be a lot more humane and allow those having economic trouble to stay in their homes. The rent wouldn’t be lost or written off, instead it would be paid back over time like any other ordinary loan. The government could underwrite these loans, using it’s extraordinary powers to ensure they are collected from tenants – by withholding tax refunds, seizing bank accounts or garnishing wages. Tenants wouldn’t loose their home – they’d just loose future earnings.

A great part of the American tradition is the ability to walk away from a debt when economic conditions sour. The idea is that people who get themselves in trouble economically, shouldn’t have it holding back their future. Bankruptcy law in particular allows individuals and businesses to walk away from most debts, when they aren’t able to pay – with both sides loosing a bit. But bankruptcy is something done by a creditor, not a lender.

Map: Cat Hollow State Forest

September 19, 2020 Morning

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Good morning! Happy Saturday. Finally the weekend! Four weeks to Northern Zone Regular Season 🦌. Sunny and 38 degrees in Delmar, NY. 🌞 There is a north-northwest breeze at 5 mph. 🍃.

Cold start to the morning, ❄ although maybe not cold for snow. Went to the bathroom 🚽 and had a cold cup of coffee ☕. In a little bit I’ll make some fresh coffee and corn bread pancakes 🥞 and then shower 🚿 and head out to Black Swamp to do some wild observation.

Today will be sunny 🌞, with a high of 59 degrees at 3pm. 12 degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around October 17th. North wind 5 to 8 mph. Definitely want a long sleeve shirt 🧥 today. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. The high last year was 72 degrees. The record high of 90 was set in 1946.

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:50 pm with sun having an altitude of 48.6° from the due south horizon (-22.2° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 5.3 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 6:22 pm with the sun in the west (266°). 📸 The sunset is in the west (273°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 6:59 pm after setting for 2 minutes and 54 seconds with dusk around 7:25 pm, which is one minute and 48 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At dusk you’ll see the Waxing Crescent 🌒 Moon in the west-southwest (248°) at an altitude of 11° from the horizon, 226,319 miles away. 🚀 The best time to look at the stars is after 8:00 pm. At sunset, look for clear skies 🌄 and temperatures around 55 degrees. There will be a north breeze at 6 mph. Today will have 12 hours and 17 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 53 seconds over yesterday.

Most of the afternoon I’ll probably spend at the Albany Pine Bush. 🌲🌲🦆🐸🐦🦋🐛 It should be a nice afternoon and I’ll try to post some pictures while I’m out and about. Next weekend I’m hoping to get to the Adirondacks, probably in the area around Spectulator – so I can get to library Wi-Fi as necessary 💻 for work.

Tonight will be mostly clear 🌃, with a low of 36 degrees at 3am. 14 degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around October 27th. North wind around 6 mph. Chilly! In 2019, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 42 degrees. The record low of 30 occurred back in 1979.

This evening I’m hoping to install the replacement battery 🔋 in my laptop. 💻 The old one isn’t holding a charge for any length of time and replacements shouldn’t be too hard although it does require disassembly of the laptop.

Looking ahead, there are 4 weeks until Northern Zone Regular Season 🦌 when the sun will be setting at 6:09 pm with dusk at 6:37 pm. On that day in 2019, we had rain and temperatures between 52 and 46 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 59 degrees. We hit a record high of 85 back in 1947.

Wakely and Payne Mountains

Thematic Map: Untitled [Expires June 17 2026]
SVGZ Graphic: NOAA Temperature Outlook [Expires June 17 2026]