Hi Bob,

Have you ever thought of moving out to the CA ranch and telecommuting during the winter months? Then all you have to worry about are the mudslides after the fire season. I used to live out in SoCal and the best part of the Christmas season was being able to go outside in shorts and a t-shirt. This was compared to upstate NY where it was often below zero.

Mike

 

The name derives from how the tax works in businesses. A typical business buys in various things and creates products. There better be an overall increase in monetary value i.e. more is charged for the output than the input (you're making a loss otherwise!). That difference is the "added value" and is the thing that is taxed.

Yeah, I figured you'd understand the "tax" part (Mark Twain sure did if I have the right person in mind). BTW, I think they're working on a cure for death.

 

So are you only taxed on the "added value" portion of your payment, i.e. the profit an item generates for the firm, or on the entire cost of the good or service.. in which case it's just a fancy name for a sales tax

George

 

This morning I finally got around to dealing with the two foot high wall of ice left by the snowplowers. I drove my Audi over it to crush it. End of problem. The Jag is now free to roam again, but I am leery to leave a cleared parking spot.

Mike

 

In detail it's a bit more complex than I posted but you are only charging it on the part of the output price you added (as a business you take off the input tax which approximates to taking off the input price). Does a sales tax do that?

If you really want details I can point you at the web sites but there are hundreds or thousands of pages in the VAT manual.......

 

UGH....

So I get into work this morning and check the weather forecast:

PRECIPITATION TYPES: SNOW FROM LATE THIS EVENING INTO TUESDAY, MIXING WITH AND CHANGING TO SLEET ON TUESDAY AFTERNOON. FREEZING RAIN ON TUESDAY NIGHT CHANGING TO RAIN ON WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON IN ALL BUT THE COLDEST LOCATIONS OF THE POCONO REGION AND FAR NORTHERN NEW JERSEY.

* ACCUMULATIONS: THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR 2 TO 6 INCHES OF SNOW WITH ISOLATED HIGHER AMOUNTS FROM TONIGHT INTO TUESDAY. ICE ACCUMULATIONS OF ONE QUARTER TO ONE HALF INCH ARE POSSIBLE FROM TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY. THE GREATEST ICE ACCUMULATIONS SHOULD BE IN THE POCONOS AND IN FAR NORTHERN NEW JERSEY.

* TIMING: THE SNOW SHOULD OVERSPREAD THE REGION BETWEEN 900 PM THIS EVENING AND 200 AM TUESDAY. ANY ACCUMULATING SNOW SHOULD END BY LATE TUESDAY AFTERNOON. THE GREATEST POTENTIAL FOR ANY ICE ACCUMULATION IS FROM TUESDAY EVENING THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.


Wonderful.... Last time they said we were gonna get 6" we got 18" because the temperature stayed cold enough to keep it all snow....

Guess it never ends lol...

Take care,

George

 

George,

We will be getting snow flurries for most of tonight with ice starting around 3:00AM. That should make for a delightful commute. At least both my cars have full tanks.

Mike

 

Uh yeah, that's gonna suck.... Seems like every different news outlet has a different take on this storm. Some claim we're going to get nothing. Others are predicting another snowpocalypse. I guess it's a game of wait and see..

Take care,

George

 

Looks like this just keeps getting better:

... WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 11 PM THIS EVENING TO 4 PM EST WEDNESDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR A WINTRY MIX OF PRECIPITATION, ESPECIALLY ICE... WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 11 PM THIS EVENING TO 4 PM EST WEDNESDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.

* PRECIPITATION TYPES: SNOW TONIGHT WILL MIX WITH SOME SLEET AND OR FREEZING RAIN ON TUESDAY DAY. A WINTRY MIX OF SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN IS EXPECTED TUESDAY NIGHT AND THEN TRANSITION TO ALL FREEZING RAIN WEDNESDAY MORNING AND POSSIBLY PLAIN RAIN DURING THE DAY ON WEDNESDAY BEFORE ENDING.

* ACCUMULATIONS: CONFIDENCE IS LOW AS TO ACCUMULATION AS THEY ARE PRECIPITATION TYPE DEPENDENT. BEST ESTIMATE IS FOR 2 TO 4 INCHES OF SNOW AND SLEET. OF GREATER IMPORTANCE ONE THIRD TO TWO THIRDS OF AN INCH OF ICE IS LIKELY TO ACCUMULATE ON TREES AND WIRES AS WELL AS UNTREATED ROADWAYS.

* TIMING: THE PRECIPITATION SHOULD OVERSPREAD THE REGION CLOSE TO MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. THERE WILL BE A LULL IN THE PRECIPITATION INTENSITY DURING TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING BEFORE HEAVIER PRECIPITATION MOVES BACK IN OVERNIGHT TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY MORNING. PRECIPITATION SHOULD TAPER OFF WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.

* IMPACTS: TRAVEL WILL BECOME DIFFICULT IN THE REGION FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON DUE TO SNOW AND THEN ICE. ICE WILL ACCUMULATE ON TREE LIMBS AND UTILITY WIRES FROM TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY. WIDESPREAD POWER OUTAGES ARE POSSIBLE. THE TUESDAY MORNING COMMUTE WILL BE IMPACTED BY SNOW. THE TUESDAY EVENING COMMUTE SHOULD BE EASIER BECAUSE OF THE EXPECTED LULL IN THE PRECIPITATION INTENSITY. THE WEDNESDAY MORNING COMMUTE WILL BE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT DUE TO THE ICE. THIS EVENT SHOULD BE OVER BY THE TIME OF THE WEDNESDAY EVENING COMMUTE.

UGH this is going to be fun...

Take care,

George

 

George - we got the ice this morning. Pretty nasty. It's heading your way. You might end up with just rain though hopefully. It's a little closer to rain than snow at this point, but that varies widely here depending on elevation.

Another good day to telecommute if you can....

 

We are getting a mix of everything. My driveway had a layer of ice in it, but it seemed like it was drizzling but the drizzle seemed to be coming down as liquid. Made it to work ok, we'll see how the afternoon goes.

Personally I hate telecommuting, I get nothing done and I feel like I worked twice as hard.

Take care,

George

 

Biggest drawback there is no "real" internet access. My wife is working. I'm retired and unemployable in my "field" at this point in time anyway.

There's almost no work of any sort in California where my ranch is located.
Even Sacramento and Stockton are very bleak. "Turn out the lights the party is over" ...

I did a fair amount of telecommuting in my day even at 9600 baud over dial-up modems. Can you imagine that? It works sometimes in some situations. I eventually had a HP minicomputer in my garage based office. But you still feel cut off from the client. Face time is important if you want to remain relevant and employed ...

 

Now everyone can kvetch about the GD weather. 2" of ice here this am.

If my STR was in a prettier setting I think I'd place a couple of martini glasses on the hood with a bottle of Grey Goose plus a pair of chairs in front and the following caption:

"Traction control for when it gets really nasty"

Bob S.

 

Hi Bob,

It's pretty much "party is over" time in CA right now. I've thought about moving back but even if I found a job in my field I'd have to take about a $40K pay cut for most likely a contract job. They have plenty of 3 to 6 month gigs, but going from job to job isn't for me. I'll take the salary, the multi-year stability and crappy weather.

Mike

 

Current Weather Updated: Wed, Feb. 2, 2011, 10:00 EST

Quebec, QC

7°F
Light snow

• Feels Like: -15°F
• Wind: NE 33km/h
• Wind gusts: 46km/h
• Sunrise: 7:16
• Sunset: 17:01

• Relative Humidity: 92%
• Pressure: 101.65 kPa
• Visibility: 0.8 km
• Ceiling: 300 ft

 

Break out the bathing suits!