07:31 – Only two groups of lab sessions left to re-write, one on forgeries, which I started yesterday, and one on forensic biology. I hope to have both of those finished by the end of next week, which’ll leave me a couple weeks to work on the front matter and on doing a final quick pass through the entire manuscript.
Thursday, 10 May 2012
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Reusable grocery bag carried nasty norovirus, scientists say
I’m sure many will remember that I “used” Ray as a middle man in my desire to get an Amazon Fire before they were sold in Canada. I’ve just received a notice from Amazon saying that I probably owe the State of Tennessee “use” tax. Since I’m not sure how they would go about collecting said tax, I would like to officially announce my new status of International Tax Scofflaw!
Does this make me an Anarchist? Do I have to learn how to make Molotov Cocktails?
I’m so proud to know BGrigg. -sniff- And to think, we knew him when he was just an everyday philanderer and card sharp.
OFD, I’ve been thinking of departing New York, mainly on account of its massive suckitude. Would you recommend Vermont, probably the Burlington area, for a programmer? If you’d prefer to discuss off-forum, my gmail account is steven.furlong.
I would like to officially announce my new status of International Tax Scofflaw!
I’m so proud to know BGrigg. -sniff- And to think, we knew him when he was just an everyday philanderer and card sharp.
I am checking now to see if TN has a bounty system and I can claim the reward. If so, you may also know him as “378931”.
Seriously, I you have to fear from TN. No sales tax is due from Amazon purchases from TN residents. After all, my official position is that Mr. Grigg purchased those devices for me as a gift. I just did not like his gift and sent them on to him as I did not want the items. Thanks anyway. The itemw were therefore used and there is no tax on due for whatever reason on used items.
And sometime in the next year or two Amazon will be collecting sales tax on items sold in TN. Amazon has a distribution center in the state and negotiated with the state over the sales tax collection issue.
And lest anyone think that TN does not have an income tax, think again. Our sales tax rate is $9.75% when you include the local portion (state 7%, local 2.25%). We do not have tax on ordinary income. But if you make more than $2500.00 in dividends and interest you pay tax on any amount over $2500.00 unless the dividends or interest were earned at a credit union or TN municipal bonds. I exceeded that by a lot because of bonds I have from other states. I had to change those bonds to TN municipal bonds to reduce my tax burden.
This is really stupid on the part of TN. People that are retired and relying on income from interest and dividends to help fund their retirement are getting penalized. But TN also taxes groceries which is really regressive to low income people.
Ray, can you get them to make it 3789301 instead? That way it can be sang along to the tune of “867-5309/Jenny” by Tommy Tutone. Appreciated.
In fact, and Amazon’s records will back us up, that is exactly how the purchase was made. A gift to Ray, the ungrateful so and so! At least he returned them to me, instead of selling them on Ebay. 😉
BC has a sorta tax on groceries. If I buy olive oil, potatoes and spices and mix it up myself, no tax. If I buy potatoes already prepared with olive oil and spices, I am taxed for the sin of being a lazy cook. And of course the grocery stores are selling more and more prepared and therefore taxable foods to the “busy”. All of which are inspected and approved for sale by the government that collects the tax. Neat, huh?
Ray, can you get them to make it 3789301 instead?
I suppose I could ask but I don’t think I have a lot of control over that. Trying to remember if I have relatives with such experience that I can ask.
A gift to Ray, the ungrateful so and so! At least he returned them to me
Yeh, and you even had to pay for shipping back to you. Now that is just flat out rude.
“OFD, I’ve been thinking of departing New York, mainly on account of its massive suckitude. Would you recommend Vermont, probably the Burlington area, for a programmer? ”
My longtime acquaintance Billy Beck lives near Ithaca and has always referred to NY as the Vampire State. Mrs. OFD was born in Georgetown, D.C., but was raised in Glens Falls and we both kinda like way upstate NY, the Adirondacks and points west to Batavia. But we live here and don’t get out much anymore to those places.
The Burlington/Colchester area is the locus for a lot of IT jobs, due to the population center, of course, and also to giants like IBM, GE, General Dynamics, state gummint, Goodrich, etc., etc. and UVM and other colleges there. I get email job listings all the time and also keep track of the industry here and so on, and will forward you anything germane offline once I know what your interests are and also am happy to point you to the sites that list them.
As for other considerations; there are fewer jobs here because there are fewer people; Boston’s population is more than the state’s. And the corridor between Montpeculiar and Burlap, and most of Chittenden Country where Burlap is located, the so-called Queen City, are flat farming areas that remind me a lot, because of the congestion, traffic, cookie-cutter McMansions, condo complexes, malls, etc., of northern NJ and eastern MA. A lot of transplant flatlanders from points south in the Megalopolis, and as might be imagined, lotsa Dems, libruls, and progs littering the landscape. This corridor and the college towns are where you find these people, and I have gotten so I can’t stand the sight or sound of them, but I’ve been here fifteen years now, *after* the previous lifetime in Maffachufetts.
Outside those areas, in central VT, the Northeast Kingdom, the farming and old New England mill towns, it is a different story. Much more conservative, but also live and live and let live. And neighbors might hate each other’s guts, but if one was jammed up, like nose-down with the tractor, or laid up crippled during a blizzard, the other would be right fucking there in a heartbeat to help, and then they go back to hating each other.
I could go on and on and on, being a long-winded cuss from way back, but will send you a little email to kick it off…
Bill wrote:
“Does this make me an Anarchist? Do I have to learn how to make Molotov Cocktails?”
Nah, it just makes you a crazy Cannuk and tax dodger. Just ignore it.
SteveF wrote:
“OFD, I’ve been thinking of departing New York, mainly on account of its massive suckitude. Would you recommend Vermont, probably the Burlington area, for a programmer? If you’d prefer to discuss off-forum, my gmail account is steven.furlong.”
I’d recommend escaping from NY ASAP, but I’d head south rather than north and stick to the coast. The weather and birdwatching is better.
Now I rather like NYC, but then I’ve always only been there for days at a time, and with my return ticket firmly clenched in my fist. I was last there in July 2011, during what was being billed as the hottest heat wave ever, and I can state that I have had showers with less humidity. I didn’t stray far from Manhattan, other than a day trip out to Coney Island so the kids could ride on the old roller coaster, and hot dogs at the original Nathan’s Famous.
Heading south and sticking to the coast means Megalopolis, from Portland, Maine to D.C., or what used to be known as the BosWash Corridor. No thanks. Been there, done that. Never again, even if they paid me a million bucks a day and 72 virgins each month.
And they can have what Taki always calls The Bagel. No thanks. If I never set foot there again it will be too soon.
Don’t go by me, of course; I hate cities, which to me is any conglomeration of homo sapiens allegedly sapiens greater than a coupla thousand or so. Plato had that right, at least.
I loved my time in Mass. (18 years). Maybe it’s changed a lot since I left in 2001, but taxes (except property) were doable, and sales tax was only 5% back then and if it went into your mouth (food and drugs) or you wore it, there was no sales tax. Here in Indianaland, even a drink that is not 100% juice is taxed. Although–as my dad used to say–Indiana is a great place to die, because they re-value all assets at the day of death, and you pay only the increase between the time of death and the day the asset(s) transfer to you. Save the family farm, don’t cha know (it is not saving the family farms, though).
Boston is a country city. Unlike places like Chicago, and even Indianapolis, Boston is like a quilt of populated areas among woods, forests, and open spaces that makes it seem much more rural. There is nothing you could want for, there–ethnic food of every variety, the education capital of the US, the ice cream capital of the US, culture out the wazoo, the most famous symphony in America located in the best-sounding music hall in the US (exact duplicate of the Leipzig Gewandhaus which was bombed to destruction during WWII), all Broadway shows ‘rehearsed’ in Boston before moving to Broadway, so you get to see it first. Great driving there, too. Stop signs and other traffic ‘rules’ are mere suggestions. I mean, really–who needs to stop at a 4-way stop when you are the only car and person in sight? VERY family-oriented area.
Lot of stupidity, too. Toll road still in effect, even though the bonds were repaid in 1979 and the tolls were supposed to be removed then; state income taxes continue if you move abroad. We had to move to Indiana for a few months before moving to Germany, then I had to make sure I did not return directly to Boston (still have not and likely won’t), or I would owe money I don’t have to Mass. And of course, super-rich Mitt Romney started mandatory health insurance that no one in my circumstances can afford–and the idiot is proud of that!
Plenty of IT jobs there. Check law offices. Good pay, benefits, lots of VPN work. And Patriot’s Day off (3rd Monday in April); always needed and enjoyed that additional holiday. Most law offices give the week between Xmas and New Year’s off, too. Actually, the whole of Boston is pretty liberal with that week. Lots of software development in the western suburbs, too. Best place I have ever lived, by far!
I’m not crazy at all about living in the country. Too far and too costly in these days to drive. Too dangerous, too. Next door neighbor (half-a-mile) to one of my rural country friends, a widow, was tied up, raped, and robbed and they did not find her until the next day. She lived, but not likely that would have happened were she living in the city. Also, at least a couple times a year, an individual needs emergency medical assistance in the country, and the ambulance cannot get there in time, and/or it does not have the equipment necessary to deal with the injury/sickness and the trip to the hospital is too long, with death the result. I love city living–just have to find a place for my earth-shelter house to make things more quiet.
Chuck, in the big cities, they would have slit her throat, then raped her.
When I retire I’d like to live in suburban Adelaide, but I’d also like a place out in the bush where I could have lots of space peace and quiet, and privacy. Country people are different, not as obnoxious as city people, on the whole. Not sure if I’ll be able to afford both though… 🙁
Never knew of anyone living anywhere near me or my friends in the city who had their throats slit or were raped. Too many people around. Lots of crime in the rural areas near Tiny Town. Another older gent near to my friend with the rape-robbery incident, came out of his barn to find 2 guys loading up the last of his ample gun collection from the house. He yelled out at them; then realized that was not a smart thing to do. One of the thieves turned the fellow’s own loaded shotgun at him and fired, but he was so far away that he did not get hit. The robbers jumped in their pickup and sped away.
Rural life ain’t safe or sound IMO—especially for older people. Give me a place in a decent neighborhood (yes there ARE some places in the big city where it is not wise to locate), anytime.
Big meth problem in this part of the US, however. Every week, the narcs shut down a meth lab somewhere within a 100 mile radius of me. Almost all of them are in the countryside.
To each his own. I am done with cities. (never lived in one anyway)
We are seeing the last bit of rainy foggy weather break up today, supposedly, and give us a grand weekend, so they say. A week of sun would be a good thing here; everything is waterlogged again.
Don’t forget yer moms this Sunday…(yeah, another Hallmark holiday, but woe unto you if you forget…)
re Mothers Day: Yah, call or send cards. Don’t take her out to lunch that day. Restaurants will be over-crowded, wait staff will be overworked and stressed, and so on. Take her out on Saturday or next weekend or something.
re meth labs: You know, there are constant, shrill cries about meth labs being set up on every farm and outside every rural town. Chuck’s claims aside, I haven’t heard of a whole lot of arrests. A fair number of raids which netted “equipment” but, strangely, not that many product seizures. Considering that a stainless steel cooking pot and a bottle of iodine (I think) can be “equipment”, I view the claims regarding the scope of the problem with just a bit of skepticism.
Unfortunately, when the long-time hospital for mental/Downs Syndrome cases closed down here about a decade ago, they built a whopping huge prison on the site. All the meth folks are sent here, along with sex offenders. Both the grapevine and the local newspaper keep folks apprised of who is being sent here. They had a riot in the prison a few years back, when the inmates tried to burn the place down. That made national TV—you may have seen it.
Have no idea about actual drug production, but Indiana has a pretty stiff program of going after anybody with a big enough cook pot and the right ingredients in their possession.
Couple of sex offenders are due to be released soon—several years ahead of schedule,—as they actually spent their time getting a college degree, which entitles them to the early release.
So if I already have a college degree I can jump right into being a sex offender now? Cool!
Good call on the Hallmark Holiday stuff, SteveF. I gotta pick up wassername at the airport tomorrow anyway, and MIL lives just six miles away so OFD, slick-ass operator that he is, kills three birds with one stone and comes off like a hero again by taking both of them to lunch and also bringing flowers. Watch and learn, youngsters, watch and learn.
Meth labs. We got ’em up here in the really rural areas of certain counties, and they also used to be prevalent in the strange and wonderful world of the northwest Rhode Island swamps, from which the term Swamp Yankee hails, in part. Back in the Bronze Age when OFD was a street cop in central Maffachufetts, we had special training on how to take these sites down, conducted by narco squad pros from the Boston PD. It was a blast. Literally. For one NJ state trooper who didn’t get the word. (someone always doesn’t get the word)
He went on a raid in rural NJ to a dumpy little house in the middle of nowhere and rang the doorbell. Bad call.
OFD, you don’t need a college diploma to be a sex offender. You need to be ordained. 😀
Mrs. OFD suggested strongly a few times a while back that I should go for being ordained as a deacon in the Church. I blew that one off real fast. I’m about as qualified to be a deacon as I am a nuclear physicist or transgendered Playboy centerfold, seeing as how we’re discussing sex offenses. (probably just a matter of time, more’s the pity, that there will be such a centerfold, too)
As for actual sex offenders, I dunno about VT here because I’ve never checked into it, but while I was down in Woostuh, Mass. a while back for a year or so, working there because there was nothing up here at the time, and being separated from family here, which sucked rocks, they had an online deal where you could look up all their info, along with their pictures. Amazing how many turned up in just one or two ‘hoods, and gotta say, the majority were not Caucasian, in a city that has a much smaller minority population than the average Northeast city. And African-Americans are the smallest of the minorities.
In any case, they were out and about, walking around, driving around, whatever, and I have no idea how much supervision or accountability is involved. I should probably check into the situation here…
…oh my…yep. We got one in this state. And in this town, two out of eleven registered offenders are “noncompliant” whatever that means. Interesting. And apparently around 2,000 or so for the whole state, and up here, MOSTLY Caucasian. Some real creepy-looking bastards, too, down there AND up here; you see these buggers walking around they come across by appearance alone as pervs.
Bill wrote:
“OFD, you don’t need a college diploma to be a sex offender. You need to be ordained. :D”
I know a few ordained people who, to my knowledge, aren’t sex offenders. The only child sex offender I know personally is a gay former computer science lecturer, who, as far as I know, is not religious.
Oh my, Greg, it was a joke. Of course not all ordained ministers are sex offenders. Many are happily married and enjoy normal sex lives. :rollseyes:
Yeah, I was been ironic. I know that not even you are so one-eyed to think that all ministers are pedos. You’re crazy, but not *that* crazy.
I don’t think any reasonable person believes that all priests, ministers, and other clergy are pedophiles. However, I think it’s very likely that pedophiles are disproportionately represented among clergy, scout leaders, elementary school staff, and so on for the simple reason that these are ideal jobs for pedophiles, giving them often unsupervised access to children. In the same way, gerontophiles/graeophiles are probably disproportionately represent among employees of nursing homes, home-health workers, and so on.
“One-eyed” may not have been the best selection in this discussion. It makes too many jokes too easy. “Did you hear about the one-eyed pocket preacher?” “There once was a minister who kept one eye on God and one on the children in his care. Then one girl’s father caught him.”
Oh, and I also believe that a significant percentage of RC priests who are hebephiles or ephebophiles (both of which I consider normal behavior despite their illegality) would not have become such were it not for the twisted rules of the RC church. Just as a lot of British boys have engaged in gay sex at public school because there were no girls available, I suspect that a lot of RC priests who have molested teenagers of either sex would have never done so if the RC church permitted priests to marry members of the same or opposite sex.
Of course, those who are pedophiles would have been so regardless, because they’re attracted only to pre-pubescent children.
SteveF wrote: “…then one boy’s father caught him.”
Fixed that for ya! 😉
Bob wrote: “Just as a lot of British boys have engaged in gay sex at public school because there were no girls available…”
Gives a whole new meaning to “stiff upper lip”, doesn’t it?