https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-02-01/clark-county-coroner-refuses-release-vegas-shooter-coroners-report-despite-court
“The shooter’s body was cremated Dec. 21. How can the autopsy report not be ‘finalized’ when the body was cremated more than five weeks ago?”
and
“The newly unsealed documents – which were unsealed by court order after journalists at the Las Vegas Review-Journal and other media sued – revealed that the FBI is seeking a “person of interest” named Douglas Haig. Haig’s name had not previously been connected to the shooting. What’s more, according to what’s been widely cited as his LinkedIn page, Haig had “DOD Top Secret clearance” and worked for top weapons manufacturers and specialized in Military Ammunition, as we pointed out.”
Biggest mass shooting in recent US history. Still more questions than answers, and now, verifiably unusual behavior on the part of the investigators.
Meanwhile in DC, more circus distracticus from the FBI, DOJ, and various other parties.
[this is where OFD chimes in that we need to get our own house in order, and focus inward for a while…(our being the USA)]
And this is where I remind everyone that we need to get OUR (meaning individually) houses in order.
No matter the truth or un-truths coming out of DC, weakness, division, infighting in the halls of government is NOT good for us on the world stage. Bad actors are looking to find their advantage in all this.
No matter the truth or un-truth coming out of Vegas, (and no Virginia, they didn’t cremate the body of “the shooter”, they cremated the body found at the scene) the fact that serious people can entertain the idea that this was a setup, or a covert op (gone right or wrong), and the appearance is of official coverup or incompetence, is further evidence of the crumbling of our social fabric. That isn’t good.
So keep stacking, keep meeting people, keep working on skills, keep teaching the next generation.
n
And the fight for Charlie goes on
http://www.bakersfield.com/news/grandson-says-charles-manson-s-spirit-is-in-heaven-wants/article_34e2ec70-06a0-11e8-bdd6-1b3bd6d58750.html
also the rat right is everywhere
http://www.bakersfield.com/news/second-pizza-joint-closed-in-january-due-to-rat-problem/article_c87b4bd8-06c5-11e8-a86c-13754a8f6b8f.html
Well put Nick.
We have to understand what we can influence and what we can’t and work on the things we can change.
Someone was asking about the links and avatars. For me, the problem is that I always forget to log in before posting – it’s perfectly possible to post, the only difference really being the lack of a link/avatar. I’ve made a point of it this time.
Once you’re logged in, you can control what appears next to your posts under your profile. Which leads me to look at my webpage, which leads me to realize that I haven’t updated it in years. I’ll getta round tuit, one of these days.
The problem with logging in is that it is not clear or intuitive, you have to go to the bottom of the page to find it. There needs to be an obvious link at the top of the page.
Added: even though logged in there is no access to a public profile of others or list of the others.
One more link just for all the Texans here
http://takimag.com/article/explicating_the_bible_of_texas_joe_bob_briggs
The problem with logging in is that you don’t need to log into this site to set your avatar. You need to log into WordPress.com with a WordPress account. The login on this site is for this site’s administrators and editors. I (and presumably many users here) have no need to log into this site to post.
There – I just logged into WordPress.com, found my WordPress site, and added it here so you fine folks can read my rants (if you so choose). I should do more of that.
And I should add, if you don’t HAVE a WordPress account, you should get one. It doesn’t hurt to have one. It lets you do other things.
The only thing this site uses to link to it (apparently) is the email address you use. If you were to use someone else’s email address, well – I don’t know what would happen. And I’m not really looking to find out.
Hey guys, I updated the “About” page in the link bar above.
I have mixed feelings about what to say or if I need to even say anything about myself, and why I’m posting instead of RBT.
If I did, it would probably just be a link from the signature on the about page, and would quote RBT from his original emails asking me if I wanted to contribute.
As I said, I have very mixed feelings, but I don’t want anyone to get confused or say WTF? about it either.
Any thoughts?
n
“Backblaze Hard Drive Stats for 2017”
https://www.backblaze.com/blog/hard-drive-stats-for-2017/
“At the end of Q4 2017 Backblaze was monitoring 91,305 hard drives used to store data.”
Yup, I’ll be staying with WDC for the 5 to 10 spinning drives that I buy each year.
Hey guys, I updated the “About” page in the link bar above.
One small mistake. RBT passed away in 2018, not 2017.
@lynn, good catch. Fixed.
I’m feeling a bit fuzzy in the brain today. Not enough sleep, and possibly the wife’s sickness transferred to me….
n
It’s the rats. They’re climbing on your bed during the night and breathing their putrid breath in your face as you sleep. Well, just ignore that and try to get a good night’s sleep tonight.
Two little rats in the garage traps today. Another score for the electronic zapper, and one regular mousetrap that I had hidden in a place they would jump to. SNAP! These guys are not that much bigger than mice. About 4 inches long with a tail a bit longer than that. Grey color fur.
When I was doing tv commercials in LA, we shot overnight on location for a Blade Runner inspired commercial. One of the locations was an alley downtown, and a rat bigger than an opossum ran right past me in the gutter. Maybe 3 ft from my face. F me! That kind of excitement I don’t need.
Currently 84F with a beautiful 53%RH and sunny blue sky. It’s actually HOT standing in the sun. Def want to get the garden in…
nick
Evil steve is evil!
Was thinking about that while trying to fall asleep last night. They don’t make much noise in the attic over the bedroom. They make a ton of noise over the couch in the living room, and in the attic over the covered back patio. Little bastages are having a roller derby up there.
n
It is generally acknowledged that I just plain suck.
Not seeing a lot of media coverage of this, spot checked a couple of outlets–
“Schools in flu mayhem as child death toll climbs: Campuses closed in 13 states to ‘disinfect’ classrooms after up to 30% of kids called out sick
Schools in at least 13 states closed during January due to the flu
In some states, crews are being brought in to disinfect classrooms and campuses while students stay home
This flu season has caused an estimated 39 pediatric deaths
Experts warn that the return of children to schools after the holidays fuels a surge in flu transmission
A number of young mothers have died of flu this season after keeping their sick children home from school to care for them ”
—
“Both Gunter ISD, and Bonham ISD districts in the Dallas, Texas area were closed for a week in January after as much as 30 percent of students called out sick, Dallas News reported.”
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5340933/Flu-mayhem-drives-school-closings-disinfect-rooms.html
n
http://www.weeklystandard.com/inside-a-public-school-social-justice-factory/article/2011402
And that there friends is one of many reasons we went with private school. It’s endemic across the nations public schools.
And that there friends is one of many reasons we went with private school. It’s endemic across the nations public schools.
I didn’t read the whole article, but, as Mr. OFD has said for ages: “The Commies won without firing a shot.” Publik skool is not a dumping ground for commie training.
Comrade Bernie!
Well, between that and the somali rape-fugies, the SJWs who used racial guilt to manipulate the white midwesterners of MNSP will get what they wanted….
All the colors of the rainbow, but mostly brown as whites flee in droves.
Then property values will fall, taxes collected will decrease, services will start to be affected, and the downward spiral will commence, finally ending in Detroit levels of poverty, crime, filth, and corruption. Quite an achievement, and quite speedy to.
n
Yes, that’s just what I needed, getting pissed off and homicidal again. Thanks, Jenny.
“It’s endemic across the nations public schools.”
And the irony is, they claimed to have done it to increase test scores. One thing you can be sure of, as whites and asians leave the schools, the schools’ average test scores will decrease.
If you measure a school’s success by students’ average test scores (as our district and many others do) the easiest way to get your scores up is get rid of your poor performers. Send them to ‘alternative’ schools. Subtly encourage them to drop out. Or require proof of citizenship. In our district, the resulting 30-60% decrease in the student body would be almost entirely in the lower half of scores. Class sizes would go down, teacher to student ratios would get better, temporary classrooms could be mothballed, new and refurbished schools could be built smaller, college acceptance rates would increase, pluses all around. Not gonna happen though.
The harder way to increase your test score average is to recruit and retain higher scoring white and asian kids. Our district seems to pursue this strategy, as we were heavily recruited by principals when we were ‘shopping’ for schools for our kids. There are subtle and not so subtle attempts in the neighborhood groups to encourage attendance at our local public schools. They aren’t quite “go to local school X, it’s not as bad as you might have heard” but they are close.
The hardest way to increase average test scores is to actually TEACH the kids to pass the test. This is very difficult if the kids are not prepared or capable, or you spend a lot of time on non-academic instruction.
Of course the very easiest way to increase scores is to simply CHEAT. School districts from Atlanta to Chicago have been caught doing just that.
Throughout any discussion of schools, if you don’t have kids in one, and haven’t been inside one in a decade or more, you have NO IDEA what is really going on. Your ideas about school are based on your own experiences or your kids’, and they are not valid any longer. If you are interested, there are lots of ways to spend time inside the schools, if you can pass the background check. What you see will be an eye opener.
nick
If anyone remembers when I was taking the Citizens Police Academy classes, I have a reunion meeting tonight. They are making refinements to the classes. Maybe I’ll get some more chances to role play for training- that would be really cool.
Meatspace baby!
n
@Nick …. D-Con !! Quit messing around with (messy) traps. Put out the D-Con. The rats eat it. They get very thirsty. They go outside to find water. They die somewhere else. End of story.
Also, will eliminate those dreams you’ve been having about rats feasting on you in the middle of the night.
School needs to be about the three R’s; Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic. Everything else is off the mission to educate young skulls full of mush.
I maintain that parents should have the option of a voucher from their State. If they choose, they can take that voucher anywhere to educate their child(ren). All public schools should be closed down or privatized. If parents do not want to educate their children, just another sign that they are a bad parent.
School needs to be about the three R’s; Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic. Everything else is off the mission to educate young skulls full of mush.
The $60 million high school football stadium in McAllen has fired a lot of imaginations around here. The district tried to sneak through a bond package last year with a Saturday morning (!) election, and one of the three bond issues would have covered a stadium and performing arts center (!!) at Round Rock High school.
The new high school football stadium in Katy cost over $70 million a couple of year ago.
http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/katy/news/article/Cost-of-Katy-ISD-football-stadium-garners-10420133.php
It’s only money.
Snicker.
The new high school football stadium in Katy cost over $70 million a couple of year ago.
Texas cities always find a way to p*ss away money.
Austin proper is rebuilding the coroner’s office downtown, converting the building into a large drunk tank to handle the crowds from 6th Street bacchanalia. Driving in for a meeting about a C++ gig this morning, I was a little surprised at how many bars have popped up since we last visited about a year ago. Even Ruth’s Chris’ gutted their restaurant to increase the bar floor space.
The company I talked to spends up to $1000/month per employee to give everyone in the office parking (40 people). Even Portland, with their anti-car attitude and vaunted light rail, only averages $400-500 for a space downtown monthly.
My experience is that just about the entire inner city of Austin is a bar. And that includes the capitol.
Yup, I’ll be staying with WDC for the 5 to 10 spinning drives that I buy each year.
The 2 TB WD Black I recently put into my primary desktop has been acting really twitchy. Lots of Windows file system checks at boot time, and the power down noise is scary.
I’ve got a bad feeling about this, Chewie.
To be fair, the system has been unstable since I upgraded the graphics card and Nvidia drivers turned to garbage at around the same time. I may put the old GT240 card back into the machine and leave it.
I’m a data geek. I built a spreadsheet that had every potential school, public and private, from the area. Looked at minutes of recess, music, computer lab, foreign language, walkable / bikeable, pupil ratio, overall school size, etc. many schools were 500 kids. That seemed big to me but I grew up in a podunk town.
One of the data I gathered was recess and lunch duration. I was shocked at how stingy most of the public schools were in this regard. One Kindergarten had a single 20 minute recess and a 20 minute block for lunch. For an over 6 hour day. For FIVE year olds.
Most schools frankly sucked at giving the children time to blow off steam and refresh. Virtually all of the schools offered music. The three Rs were more or less adequately addressed. All but two of the schools we looked at had Kindergarteners using computers for more hours per week than recess hours. That’s wrong. We are still studying how the blue light from digital devices changes our brain chemistry, and how the hypothalamus and adrenal systems are affected. I see zero benefit to stealing time from gross motor activities for fine motor control activities at that age. What really pissedme off was the public schools were proud that if a child were struggling in math they would have the kid spend more time on a computer to improve their math. Um, no.
Every single school had some agenda they were pushing. And the public schools, while not as bad as the link I posted, were clearly down on white males and old women. We saw perhaps three male teachers at all of the public schools we visited. The private schools were far more normal.
I’m not a fan of the voucher system. I don’t care if this is elitist, trigger warning, but private schools are better in part because the family has substantial financial skin in the game. I don’t want to have her school filled by folks who aren’t paying out of their own pocket. They won’t value the education as much and that’ll change the school dynamic.
The school we chose cost less than daycare did. I think it’s achievable for most families willing to make some sacrifices. She’s getting indoctrinated with Jesus, along with a healthy dose of respect and social mores. Sometimes chapel is a little hellfire damnation but it hasn’t phased her yet. The science is going to be weak compared to what I got as a teen but I can work around that. My plan was to inflict RBTs kits on her at an appropriate age… The socialism she would have received at a public school would have been far more insidious and difficult to balance.
Steve – I get kinda homicidal when I read about the success of SJW ruining schools. My solution is heads on pikes but apparently that’s not legal and will get me in a lot of trouble. Too bad because it would be cheap and pretty effective.
Steve – I get kinda homicidal when I read about the success of SJW ruining schools. My solution is heads on pikes but apparently that’s not legal and will get me in a lot of trouble. Too bad because it would be cheap and pretty effective.
That would solve a lot of problems. You might get more problems from that though (Hatfields and McCoys).
I’m not a fan of the voucher system. I don’t care if this is elitist, trigger warning, but private schools are better in part because the family has substantial financial skin in the game. I don’t want to have her school filled by folks who aren’t paying out of their own pocket. They won’t value the education as much and that’ll change the school dynamic.
BTW, here in Texas we are still trying out “Charter Schools”. They mostly seem to be doing well and are funded by some weird system of the State and local school district. One of my nephews graduated from one about six years ago and is slightly on the wrong side of the autistic line. They actually helped him to open up and look people in the face as he is talking to them.
I would venture that the average elementary school school here in the Houston metroplex has 800 to 1,200 kids in it. The Texas population is growing at 3 to 5% per year and we are having serious problems dealing with it.
“we are having serious problems dealing with it.”
which is where my “prove your citizenship” eliminates 30-60% of the student body. Problem solved.
Our “tiny” school is 450 kids. MY kids are in a ‘school within the school’. They will be with the same small group for their whole elementary and middle school time… if I don’t pull them. Tonite the 8 yo says “I don’t like Trump, he hates mexicans.” Well, no honey it is a whole lot more complicated than that.
“and performing arts center (!!)” this is because of state regs, every dime they spend on sports they need to spend a dime on the arts. Pays my bills so I’m not complaining.
“Most schools frankly sucked at giving the children time to blow off steam and refresh.” this and homework for the tykes are big issues. My wife got involved with the PTA, and then got on as their rep to the school board working group on health and welfare, so she could lobby for more free time and recess and less homework for the young kids.
My meeting was good, touched base with a couple of folks. Might have some training and volunteer opportunities coming up. Never hurts to have the right business cards in your wallet.
Boy, I need to get to sleep.
n
We pulled our kids from the local Catholic school when the bishop decided that all of the little schools had to come under central management. Then they required us to declare our allegiance for the 2017-18 academic year before they would tell us what tuition would be. I was avoiding central management when we started there. We high-tailed it to the local public school, which we’ve been watching since our eldest was in pre-school. They’re high on learning and low on social justice.
Interestingly enough, my kids have seen less SJW noise in the public school than they did in the private school. I’m not surprised, though. I know the school board members of the church, and I know the school board members in the district. The district leans more towards solid education, while the church had more social justice intent.
One thing I do, though, is spend time every night over dinner talking about school and what’s going on. Even at 10 & under, they get it. Dad’s paying attention and won’t tolerate “stuff”.
[snip] but private schools are better in part because the family has substantial financial skin in the game. [snip]
I disagree as to the underlying root cause. IMHO the reason private schools succeed is the parents give a damn about their kid’s education. It’s absolutely true the the financial commitment reflects this, but there *are* poor parents who care, too. (My parents were uneducated, albeit middle class, but they did care about my sister & I in this regard.) I’m thinking that I could do a 15 minute home inspection to weed out the parents who aren’t on board. Step 1: How many books are found in the house, especially in the kid’s room? Compare & contrast with the number & size of televisions in the house. Step 2: Are you willing to keep Jesus, Marx, politics, et al out of the classroom, and dedicate the entire school day (at least at the elementary level) to the three Rs?
Full disclosure: I don’t have any kids, so feel free to dismiss me as a crank / critic who’s never actually played the game.
As OFD would point out, the Catholic church was completely taken over by progressive leftists. Wherever you start from, Vatican II usually, but it must have been before then as well, they are thoroughly corrupted. Just look at the nonsense the Pope has been spouting.
So, no surprise that your Catholic school is full SJW, but I am surprised they haven’t taken over you public schools. I wonder what the average age of your administrators and teachers is. I’d bet there is a strong correlation between lower age and higher SJW.
nick
What is SJW?
Yes, @pcb_duffer is a crank. He’s also correct, IMO.
We have 1 TV in the house; add all the tablet & computer screens and we have a lot more. But they are dwarfed by the bookcases. Every one of them is allowed to stay up as late as they want after bedtime if they’re in bed & reading a book. We have great fun that way. (I care, as does my wife.)
There is some SJ crap going on in the public schools. But they’re not overrun.
Average age? Not sure. My favorite SB member right now is about 22 – a vet and pretty conservative. Solidly grounded.
We have great fun that way. (I care, as does my wife.)
And that is probably the biggest key to a child getting a good education. I sub at the school, am again today, and I see it all the time. Parents who don’t care have little anus orifices for youngsters. They kids don’t care, don’t do their work, can’t wait until they are 18 to leave school. Leave before 18 and you lose the driver’s license.
When these little cretins get out of school they will go on welfare. After all it works for their parents, why not for them. Parents have a couple of recent vintage vehicles, a boat, a couple of 4-wheelers, etc. Get all their medical paid by others, food paid by taxpayers, utilities off the backs of others, plus spending cash ripped from the pockets of others. Welfare for them is a career path.
SJW = lunatic = busybody = Social Justice Warrior
Used derogatorily by me and others on to the right of the left wing.
Used non-ironically by the SJWs themselves. It’s part of the narcissistic madness that convinces them that a selfie with a sign will cause issllammic terrorists to release the girls they’ve taken as sex slaves. It’s the madness that makes them all chime in with a hashtag campaign. “Hashtag warrior” is another snarky name for a subset of the SJW crowd.
n
“which is where my “prove your citizenship” eliminates 30-60% of the student body. Problem solved.”
Or if you are feeling civic minded and charitable, allow that 60% to attend, but the parents must provide the cost of tuition, and not be receiving any state or federal aid of any sort.
n
I was in kindergarten in the ’40s; consequently, I did not have a computer available from which to learn math. To this day I cannot add 45 + 2.
Oh, heck, 45+2 gives everyone problems, but there’s an easy mnemonic that maybe you haven’t heard of: Add the digits of 45, giving you 9. Then subtract the 2, giving you 7. Then you use the 2 again by squaring the 7, giving you 49. But squaring a number is like using it twice, so you have to subtract the 2 again to balance things out. And voila, you have your answer: 47.
To this day I cannot add 45 + 2
But I would wager you could calculate the result of the inverse reciprocal of the third root of the square in your head. You smart. (I don’t even know what I just said).
there’s an easy mnemonic that maybe you haven’t heard of
There you go, stating the obvious solution. Now explain 45-2.
@steve, that algorithm is actually more straightforward than some of the cr@p our daughter brought home. Her frustrated plea of “why can’t I just add them” almost brought on the RCOB in me.
n
Thanks.
Also, received a gift yesterday from Jim Cooley: a slide rule! On my way to mathematical super sufficiency!
Dad is going to keep it short and spare the details.
Our public schools are 80% non-white, 60% non-english speaking (at last count 8 different languages). Because of this all students receive free federally paid for breakfast and lunch (year round).
Our private schools have expanded exponentially the last few years. They have gotten creative with tuition so it is affordable. Parents who care and want their kids to learn are finding ways to afford the private schools. While it lasts, the private schools do have rigorous entry requirements, but the progs will, I’m sure, not allow that to continue.
The Tri-Cities area has one of the highest concentration of PhDs, scientists, and engineers in the country. Unfortunately we also have one of the highest concentrations of MS-13.
I find it interesting that the demographic changes that have occurred over the last 20+ years track with the flight of progs out of Californication. You might liken it to Ebola, we are infected with a human eating disease.
Situation here.
Guy that replaced me at my job about 1.5 years ago (hired two years ago) has encountered a serious problem that has left him unable to communicate. I don’t know the specific details but he will not be able to return to work for a considerable time.
The organization has asked me to return to be his temporary replacement until such time as he is determined unable to work and they hire a replacement, or he returns to work.
Should I demand a return to my old salary? Should I seek higher compensation? Those would both be full time options with benefits. Or should I just seek hourly, about $100.00 an hour, and work when needed? The money will not affect my social security as I am past full retirement age. It will affect the taxes as I would probably owe taxes on the SS income when I exceed $32K in income.
I really don’t want to go back to work full time but I would hate to see the organization suffer. The organization was good to me. The system they use for all their applications was written entirely by me as a web based application. Thus I know the system very well. Bringing someone else in cold would be a major issue as just understanding the system would be difficult.
But part of me wants to say screw it, I retired, I am done. The other part really enjoyed the work and would not mind doing it again. I did not so much like the job. I also liked the people, employees and volunteers. That disdain for the job may have been one of getting close to retirement. Knowing that I could walk if I desired and that the job is not permanent may reduce that disdain.
And on the other hand there have been some changes in the organization in terms of personnel that are largely the result of a consultant that may be an issue.
It will be a difficult decision.
I can’t really imagine going back to structured full time work.
I have a half day minimum whether I fix the problem in 10 minutes or 4 hours. I usually just bill in half day or full day (8 hrs-10 hrs) increments.
Are you basing your hourly rate on your full time salary? Did you 2x or 3x it first? Salaried employees cost a company 2 to 3 times their salary (depending on area) in benefits, overhead, etc. Freelance or contract consultants need to keep in mind expenses, mileage, new lappy, fat pipe for working from home, and that you are paying for both halves of your SS, plus your income tax, and your own health insurance, business insurance (you probably want errors and omissions so if you mess up, they don’t come after you for losses.) Most contract employees price themselves too low. And as an added bonus, a high hourly rate discourages frivolous call outs. They won’t value your time or work highly if you don’t.
The flip side of being an employee is they cover the insurance, health, SS tax, and overhead. They also then ‘call the tune.’
Knowing you can walk may make some of it more palatable for you but less for them. It also may make it harder to care, even with a strong work ethic.
I would not let any feeling for the organization color your decision. It has most certainly changed since you left, and your own perception of it has undoubtedly changed too. It’s much easier to see the negatives from a distance.
My 2c, but outside the 7 years I spent working for a manufacturer (which I basically treated as self employment anyway) I’ve spent the majority of several careers as some version of contract or freelance employee.
n
Also, received a gift yesterday from Jim Cooley: a slide rule! On my way to mathematical super sufficiency!
I like slide rules, but I have a serious HP calculator habit.
Heroin would be cheaper.
@Ray, if you go back go back as an employee so that you do not have to worry about all the tax paperwork that would have to be filed. Get at least your old rate and benefits.
Does anybody know why Jim Cooley let HardwareGuys2 expire and all that history be lost? There was still activity on that board when it just up and closed.
What happened to the original HWG? My path to TTGNET was PCHaiN to HWG to here 15 or so years ago.
@steve, that algorithm is actually more straightforward than some of the cr@p our daughter brought home. Her frustrated plea of “why can’t I just add them” almost brought on the RCOB in me.
It is the new math rounding and approximating crap. You and I were taught if it is below 0.5 then truncate off the decimals. If it is 0.5 or above, add 1. The new rules are incredibly complicated and useless. I don’t even understand the new approximation algorithms. Neither do the kids.
The organization has asked me to return to be his temporary replacement until such time as he is determined unable to work and they hire a replacement, or he returns to work.
I cannot remember, are you 65 yet ? If so, then it should not reduce your social security if I understand social security. Wait, I don’t understand social security.
I would not work more than 50% of the time. And, you get to pick the days or half-days that you work.
And you need a raise. A big raise 25 to 35%.
You will probably get to train another replacement.
Tree and leaf plots
WTF? Never do they say why you would want do this.
n
Tree and leaf plots
WTF? Never do they say why you would want do this.
Dude, you are on your own.
Ray, just take an hourly rate and do it by invoice from yourself. I used to carry E&O insurance but stopped after discussing it with a lawyer friend. My invoices have a long wordy disclaimer on them that basically says I don’t promise anything, I’m not responsible for any information produced by my work and liability is at most limited to amounts paid.
I cannot remember, are you 65 yet ? If so, then it should not reduce your social security if I understand social security.
I am turning 67 this month so social security would not get reduced. I am well beyond my full retirement age. It will affect the taxes on SS as I would rise above the 32K plateau for not taxing SS benefits.
You will probably get to train another replacement.
Exactly. I would hope it would only be for four to six months in duration. Enough time to bring someone else up to speed. The unknown is the length of time before they would hire someone. The job search may consume several months and would put me close to the end of the year.
And you need a raise. A big raise 25 to 35%.
That thought crossed my mind. I would have them by the gonads with the ball firmly in my court. When I left I was making $85K. May want to increase that to about $110K a year. I can always ask and see how they respond. May not take hold in the beginning but as changes start to build up or problems arise they may reconsider.
I would not work more than 50% of the time.
Probably more like 60% of the time, three days a week. Maybe Tuesday through Thursday. No half days as I would have a 29.7 mile commute each way. I would leave home at 6:30A and arrive about 7:00A and work until 3:30P. That would avoid most of the traffic. Those were the hours I worked originally. Thirty minutes later in the morning or the evening and my commute time almost doubles.
I will see what happens.
In any case Ray, it’s good to have choices.
And at this point in your life, it’s free money. Shore up your savings, plan to splurge, endow a chair at a university…..
n
added- fill you pantry!
Mr. Ray, I continue to be employed it IT after 44 years. I know what it feels like to be displaced and have also consulted concurrently with, or in between, full-time gigs. I assume this is a software development opportunity. The question I would ask is what is the time commitment that is expected of me? Most of the salaried positions I have or currently hold, require considerable unpaid overtime (because of imposed deadlines). If your opportunity is of that sort, I would definitely go in as a consultant, probably looking for $125 – $150 per hour. That way you control your time and get paid for every hour you are working. I am sure you will end up training someone, and then probably be used every time they get stuck with a problem. Remember, it’s all business and do not let your personal desire to help this company overrule a fair deal.
I know what it feels like to be displaced
Oh, I was not displaced. My leaving, retiring, was of my own choosing. I could have stayed on indefinitely if I so desired. After the death of my best friend of 28 years, who was 2 months older than me, I decided it was time to do things I enjoyed.
require considerable unpaid overtime
For the 14 years I worked in the organization there was no unpaid overtime. If I worked extra hours, such as the annual convention, I was given comparable time off at 1.5 times the time I worked. There was very little that was critical. Nothing that could not wait until the next day or even Monday.
We had a backup appliance that could stand in for any server in about 5 minutes and could run in that mode for months if necessary. This made a failed server not a big deal. Database was rock solid and going down on a night or weekend only affected the website which was not critical.
The web applications I designed were fairly robust as I did not want to have to deal with issues after hours. I had been developing software long enough to realize what needed to be done to be reliable. Simple, not cute, code.
I am sure you will end up training someone, and then probably be used every time they get stuck with a problem
I trained my replacement with an overlap of 4 months. This replacement is the one that is now having problems. It is a small organization and there is only one person in IT that does server support, database support, desktop support, web application development, phone system support (VOIP) and changes the batteries in the clocks.
it’s all business and do not let your personal desire to help this company
It’s an engineering honor society, Tau Beta Pi. Lot of good people that treated me well and I am still friends. Only 12 staff members and the rest are volunteers, several dozen. A little different than a regular company.
Besides, there is a certain amount of pride in keeping the code base that I developed working properly. That was the hardest thing to do when I left, turn over all my carefully crafted code to someone else.
Besides, there is a certain amount of pride in keeping the code base that I developed working properly. That was the hardest thing to do when I left, turn over all my carefully crafted code to someone else.
I will never retire. I plan on dying at my keyboard. Or in my sleep. Hopefully not in front of a train.
@Ray,
You have valid reasons to go back and valid reasons not to go back. Their job is to figure out how to bribe you so that suddenly the reasons you don’t want to go back suddenly seem to not matter any more.
You have valid reasons to go back and valid reasons not to go back. Their job is to figure out how to bribe you so that suddenly the reasons you don’t want to go back suddenly seem to not matter any more.
A strong reason to go back would to get away from the teenage girls and their phones.
A strong reason to go back would to get away from the teenage girls and their phones.
I just take their phone to eliminate half of the problem.
Took a phone today after warning the class I would do so. Person waited until after glass and started crying and begging. Told them to get out, three times. After that I took them to the office and explained to the principal what happened. Individual said they were not feeling well and wanted to check out for the day. Apparently momma came and picked them up. Momma proceeded to chew out the principal, the principal standing up for me. Second offense so student goes to alternative school for three days.
Yeh, I am an anal orifice but I enforce the rules.
Big issue the school district needs to deal with is texting on the Apple watches. Students are now using the watches in class and it is hard to catch. They will be texting answers to tests which will become a problem. I am hoping the SAT and ACT are banning all watches. They currently do with cell phones.