08:10 – O’Reilly sent me the QC2 pass of the biology book yesterday, so I’m doing a detailed read-through to try to catch any remaining errors. If history is any guide, I’ll catch all but one of them. Then, when the printed copies of the book show up, I’ll flip open the book randomly to one page, where that one remaining error will jump out at me.
We’re just about ready to start final assembly on the first batch of biology kits. I’m creating the biology landing page and the biology kit ordering page now. Both of those will be live before the book hits the stores, which Amazon is now saying will be 2 May rather than 22 April. We’ll see.
According to an article in the newspaper this morning, North Carolina is about to get slightly larger, at the expense of South Carolina. Apparently, the border was set back in Colonial days, when surveyors marked the line specified by the King of England by cutting slashes in tree bark with hatchets. They apparently did a pretty decent job, but were slightly off in the area around Charlotte. The actual border, per the King’s specifications, has now been mapped with GPS, and it turns out that 93 property owners who thought all of their properties were in South Carolina now find that parts or all of their properties are in fact in North Carolina. One mini-mart owner is being forced to close down his business because North Carolina gas prices are about 30 cents a gallon higher than South Carolina prices, and because he made most of his profit by selling fireworks, which are illegal in North Carolina. Other property owners potentially face changes such as being in a different area code or having to change suppliers for electricity, natural gas, and even which school district their children will have to attend. The two state legislatures are cooperating to minimize the impact of such changes by grandfathering in the current status.
Good advice all for what to do with the passing of my aunt.
Yes, I found out that SS had been notified by the funeral home. No direct deposit will be issued on the 3rd of next month. That problem is solved.
The VA will be notified today. If additional money is sent that is not a problem as that goes into a guardian account over which I have authority. I can easily return that money.
The issue is the Miller Trust account. Her retirement from QWest goes into that account and it is too late to stop it. My only hope is to close the account or suspend the account so the ACH bounces. When that happens a paper check is issued. There is $0.62 left in the account and the state is the beneficiary. The state can have it. But I am not sending a check and if the state wants the money they can come get it. I will send them 6 dimes and 2 pennies in an envelope with signature delivery and return receipt. Yeh, it will cost me but more importantly it will annoy the state workers.
She is being cremated this morning. Pick up the ashes on Saturday.
IIRC, you’ll have to pay back the SS money she received on the 3rd of March. I think the beneficiary has to live the entire month to be entitled to it.
In Canada we also claw back any old age pensions after the beneficiary dies, but it is prorated so that if the person dies after the middle of the month, they presume the money is already spent. Which it normally is.
Bob wrote: “Then, when the printed copies of the book show up, I’ll flip open the book randomly to one page, where that one remaining error will jump out at me.”
This is a Truism of Printing! And the most important person at the clients will find it first! Never the secretary, always the Boss!
I remember one time, I’m driving home on my afternoon commute, and I’m parked at a light, and I hear a scraping noise, like something is being pushed by a car. Sure enough a car comes around the corner pushing a box that has been shoved under the front bumper. It’s labelled with the printing company I work for, and a book bindery shop we used was just around the corner. I can’t turn around and give chase, but I can start to investigate what is going on, by turning the corner and visiting the binder.
Turns out we had an annual report for Petro Canada being perfect bound at the bookbinders. The box fell off the back of a truck that wasn’t properly fastened close. No big deal. We make plenty of overs to still make the count, and on time. Annual reports have complex legal requirements about dates and quantities, but we’re okay on those. Whew!!
And the guy in the car, that had to pull over on a very busy street and pull the now tattered and torn box of annual reports from under his car?
The CFO of Petro Canada! Who was only visiting from their HQ in Calgary!
IIRC, you’ll have to pay back the SS money she received on the 3rd of March. I think the beneficiary has to live the entire month to be entitled to it.
I can’t. The money was paid to the nursing home as required by the state of TN. The feds will have to get the money from the state of TN. Should be interesting if what you say is true but I think otherwise. I think it is the next months payment that would have to be returned. The person has to be alive on the last day of the month to get the next month’s payment.
I quote this from the SS website: you must return the benefit received for the month of death or any later months. For example, if the person dies in July, you must return the benefit paid in August. My aunt will receive no payment in April so I don’t think it is an issue.
I have fought a battle before where the state said I had to do something that was against federal laws and the federal said I had to do something that was against state law. Not doing it the way the feds or state required would mean the loss of benefits to my aunt. So either way I did it was a violation. Nothing ever became of it but it does illustrate the stupidity of the entire system.
Yep. And it’s a Heisenerror, in that if you open the book randomly and then flip back two pages, the error will appear there but there won’t be one on the page you originally went to.
Hmm. Perhaps my experience differs from yours, having consulted many years in government offices, but I find that most of the bosses can be replaced by a block of cheese for a gain in productivity and morale.
While I did quite a bit of work for various governments, most of my experience is in the private sector. In all other aspects, I concur with the block of cheese substitution. In many cases, it would be an improvement in smell as well. However, when it comes to spotting other people’s mistakes, you will probably agree that in both sectors, those at the top likely got there by climbing over the people who screwed up first.
http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2012/03/facebook-says-it-may-sue-employers-who-demand-job-applicants-passwords.ars
Who’d be crazy enough to hand over their login names and passwords?
People desperate for a job?
Who’d be crazy enough to put embarrassing, career ending, unlawful, libelous and scandalous stuff on Facebook? Just about everyone that uses it, apparently.
I work at a large university and deal with college seniors all the time. Many of the students disable their Facebook accounts during their senior year when they start putting out their résumés.
People who are desperate for a job shouldn’t be on Facebook, or at least everything should be squeaky clean. But it’s still a gross invasion of privacy to ask for names and passwords. I wonder if the middle managers doing the job interviews would like it if senior management asked for the keys to their houses to make sure there’s nothing illicit there, like drugs, framed and autographed nude pictures of Nancy Pelosi, Barry Manilow CDs, etc.
Demanding the login information might be more of a personality test than a search for questionable material. “Excellent! He caved in one minute. This spineless weakling will do very well in our corporate culture.” vs “Alack! He shows signs of independent thought and willpower! He might challenge my authority if I make other irrational demands.”
LOL! I read on another website where someone had it the other way around. By not giving over their password, they would be a good security risk and protect the corporate secrets.
Your way rings truer!
“… make sure there’s nothing illicit there, like drugs, framed and autographed nude pictures of Nancy Pelosi, Barry Manilow CDs, etc.”
That should be a regular matter of policy anyway. This sort of thing needs to be rooted out in a most rigorous and stringent manner.
Actually, the only thing I really object to is the Nancy Pelosi photos. Drugs should be legal and available at cost, for many obvious reasons. Bary Manilow is one of the world’s greatest singer songwriters and so there should be no law against good taste in music.
But Nancy Pelosi? Nude photos of her are just too evil to contemplate.