The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Oct 6, 2015 16:51:31 GMT -5
mollyanna58 - from your last sentence I'm assuming they will live in NJ. If the area is densely populated (like where I live) there may be Senior services that will drive to/from Dr.'s appts. Google your county/city "Agency on Aging". Hopefully you will get something like this site: www.ageguide.org/assistance.htmlThey have similar services where my Dad lives and it's much less populated. He goes to the Dining centers not because he can't afford to eat out, but because he likes the social aspect. It's lunch three days a week. Donations are accepted but not required and Dad pops in $5 a day and brings a dessert. Good luck to you.
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Oct 6, 2015 16:29:09 GMT -5
I think this article sums it up pretty well:
www.care.com/a/whats-wrong-with-hiring-my-senior-caregiver-as-an-independent-contractor-1301210113
Why Isn't My Senior Caregiver an Independent Contractor? Your caregiver is not an independent contractor because she follows instructions on how to care for your loved one. If your senior caregiver worked as an independent contractor, she would make all the decisions about bathing, medication and different exercises to do with your loved one without consulting you, your loved one or the doctor first. She would also be responsible for providing supplies, instead of using yours. Also, your caregiver works a regular schedule and is expected to take care of your parent or relative during the times you have specified. If she was an independent contractor, it wouldn't matter when she worked, just as long as the job was completed by a certain deadline
I know it's tempting to try to treat them as an independent contractor to save money (ie - the taxes) but you could run into trouble more than one way.
1. If they don't pay their proper taxes the IRS can come after the employer (you). 2. In some states they are entitled to benefits and other employee protections - are you familiar with those? 3. I'd check with your insurance agent about making sure your are properly insured (get an umbrella policy).
If you do handle the taxes correctly you'd likely be on a quarterly deposit schedule and would have to withhold Federal and State income, Social Security, and I'm pretty sure unemployment taxes as well.
Finally, if they don't work out you'd be in the position of trying to find someone again on your own vs getting a quick replacement from an agency.
We used an agency with my mom and grandma. I'm glad we did. The personnel management was taken care of and we didn't have to deal with individual drama if someone couldn't make it (the agency just sent another equally qualified person).
Just my two cents worth.
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Oct 6, 2015 16:15:29 GMT -5
Just got off the phone with the site manager again. They've officially hit the wall and bounced off it.
If they were manic-depressive, I'd say they were in a manic mood when we got done. Dayum, I don't remember being like that since mid-year finals Junior year in College.
Two companies down, one to go for them.
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Oct 6, 2015 16:10:54 GMT -5
Kinda? I'm the official family archivest.
I got a lot of old family photos from my mom's side. Dad's side was too poor to afford pictures. Organized those in a few photo albums.
Since DH and I got married, not so much so - every thing is digital. I REALLY want to fix that (we have backups upon backups).
It's kinda bittersweet because our family is getting smaller over the years, not bigger. That's one reason I avoid it.
What is the most you ever spent for your hobby?
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Oct 6, 2015 14:53:24 GMT -5
I think it's sad that there are adults out there that would behave like this. There's really nothing I can add to this.
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Oct 6, 2015 14:42:32 GMT -5
One of my dear friends in California collects several obscure types of succulent. She co-authored a book on the genus. Half of the photo credits are of her collection which I've flown out twice to help her re-pot.
Unfortunately I live in the frozen tundra and no longer have a greenhouse. Someday we hope to add a sunroom so maybe...
With the shorter days I feel my SAD kicking in. What do you do to cheer yourself up?
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Oct 6, 2015 14:21:06 GMT -5
Ok, mmhmm - spill it! You can't post about a life changing purchase like that and not give us the make and model (and hopefully cost if it's not too personal). I hate my home office chair. It's a corporate auction hand me down and the pneumatics don't work. I spend way too much time sitting on my ass not to be comfortable! I have a birthday in a few weeks, let's make it easy on DH... My new one is a DX Racer. It's a gaming chair. They're not pretty but they're really supportive and that's what I needed. I got one of the Formula series gaming chairs because I'm slender and under 5'9". They go by height and BMI when recommending the right chair for an individual. They're not horribly expensive. Mine was about $350 through Amazon. DAYUM! There's no way in hell I'm getting one of those before DH has one. Does yours look as wicked cool as the ones on the website?
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Oct 6, 2015 13:42:52 GMT -5
I use the budget plan. We have gas heat, water, and our dryer is gas. Our monthly gas bill averages to about $40. So for us that will be about $50 of savings.
No complaints about our gas bill. Our water/sewer/garbage runs about $60 a month. Electricity is what kills me - that's about $125 a month for three people.
Cable, Local and Long Distance, and High Speed internet run about $150 a month. Cell phones are another $120 a month for three with data usage.
So utilities run about $500 a month. Over half of that is entertainment/telecommunications. I feel like it's high but based on what some others have posted I guess it could be worse.
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Oct 6, 2015 13:24:59 GMT -5
Oh, I plan on seeing it allright. Usually I like to read the book before watching the movie but there's a month long waitlist at my library. I may have to suck it up and buy the book. Is the movie one that you should really watch on the big screen or do you think it will do ok if we rent it on DVD? Tough call. Since you aren't going to do 3D, and assuming you have a decent sized television, maybe DVD. But can you wait? Yea. I've been married over 20 years so I've learned a bit of patience.
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Oct 6, 2015 12:44:09 GMT -5
The PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 both have 128-bit pipelines. Many modern GPUs have 1024-bit pipelines. I'm not a gamer (well - vector graphic games doesn't count) but I'm not surprised by this. I've seen the rendering on some of the newer games and it's amazing. (heavy tech geek stuff edited out)
As I said to Sugilite, the main push to 64 bits in PCs was to get more than 4 GB of addressable memory, which was getting to be a problem since a modern OS plus hardware uses up at least 2 GB of that without any applications running. If you want blinding fast speed, the biggest bottleneck by far in modern PCs is hard drives. Buy yourself a high-bandwidth solid-state HD with write-through to a standard HD. I guarantee you you'll notice a huge performance increase there. The relatively major caveats are that SS HDs cost a fair bit, they're not sold retail except maybe at a few obscure electronics outlets, and you have to really know what you're doing in order to equip your rig. Ok, now you have my attention. DH actually put in a SS HD in my tablet so I'd have a smaller chance of hard drive failure (my tablet goes with me everywhere). I'm doing some research on what you wrote, but am still in the market for a new PC anyway as my tablet simply can't handle my graphics programs. I'll likely go with a desktop. I am so out of touch with hardware I don't even know what half the stuff means anymore. DH isn't too much better (he's more of a OS/systems interface kind of guy now). Your comment about prices is kinda funny. I googled SS HD and found a 6TB with a 128MB buffer (is that what gives a good write-through rate?) for $450. That's what I paid to upgrade my first computer's HD (286) from 20MB to 40MB about 26 years ago. I acknowledge this is one area where I should probably outsource stuff to an expert. However, based on my (and from your post) your observations I don't have high confidence levels in the level of expertise out there. So, if you have any suggestions for a new machine with the ability to hand huge graphics loads, let me know. In the meantime I'll start visiting the gaming sites as that should be a good place to start. I'd ask about monitors as well, but...
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Oct 6, 2015 12:23:50 GMT -5
Wow.
Ok, remember I mentioned earlier I had two indirect reports out with pneumonia?
Well the site manager of one of the locations asked me to call them. I get on the phone with them and their voice is shaking, you can tell they're exhausted, and the panic is tapping at the edge of their voice.
They can't figure some of my stuff out. I get them to send me the working file and they're practically tripping over themselves apologizing saying they spent hours trying to get it right. I calmly start walking them through how to troubleshoot and figure out the problem and we have everything fixed and in balance in about 10 minutes.
They have two more companies to perform the same process. I stress to call me if they have ANY problems and not to spin their wheels (we're in quarter end close and don't have time for that). I'm corporate. We're the safety net, that's what we're here for.
Honestly don't ever want to hear (or see) anyone that stressed out over their job. While helping them fix my file I noticed other areas that didn't seem right and checked with my counterparts that cover those calculations. Yep - I'm right - they need help with that as well.
I am SO grateful I have a good team under me (and yes - I think they know what I think of them). We have our moments, but we always have each other's backs.
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Oct 6, 2015 9:47:29 GMT -5
Ok, so what is it this year with the stupid colds/allergies/viruses? It's just the beginning of October. Enough of this already!!!
I've been doing so well for, like - years.
DH and DD are going out of town for a 4 day weekend. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing because at least DH does some coddeling.
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Post by The Captain on Oct 6, 2015 9:38:34 GMT -5
@hickle - Thanks!
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Oct 6, 2015 9:32:00 GMT -5
Quote it - full post - so that I know what you're referring to. Look it up if you are interested. Or not if you are not. Hickle - we do have a policy on the boards of requesting links to the source material when someone is attributing a quote directly to an individual. It's normally for copyright protection purposes but it's also reasonable and fair to ask for the source when you are attributing words to another poster. Because otherwise it's all too easy to claim people said something they never did, which IIRC correctly is something you personally take great exception to. Just saying.
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Oct 6, 2015 9:27:35 GMT -5
Thanks, ladies - I needed that. I'm pack to pounding the hot tea with lemon and honey. Stupid bronchitis. I finished the Z-pack yesterday and I'm still not clear. I don't even want coffee right now. That's a really bad sign.
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Oct 6, 2015 9:12:13 GMT -5
NancysSummerSip - my throat is so sore and dry right now, I really want your avatar dammit!
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Oct 6, 2015 8:46:15 GMT -5
To start up interest again...somehow I lost track of this thread. Thanks lexxy703 for mentioning it! Meow = yes Woof = no litter = yes
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Oct 6, 2015 8:39:41 GMT -5
This is how I learned it.....64 bits of information was better than 32 bits of information. It's faster, it's better, and well I just learned 64 was way better.....now 128 will rot my socks, lol It's only faster and better if software can make use of it. And at this point very little software can make use of it. The only real advantage circa 2015 is getting more than 4 GB of addressable memory, but that's not something anyone who's "conservative in [their] computer needs" (or anything close to it) should worry about. I'm really conservative in my computer needs, I don't do high end games, or graphic whatever. BUT I love speed, I'm a speed freak of sorts. Again, you're not getting it unless you're using applications specifically designed and optimized to use 64-bit processing, which at this point is very few. Even then, for your typical day-to-day computing the biggest speed bottleneck is going to be your hard drive and the speed of your Internet connection. The latest versions of some of the graphic software I use (Corel Draw and Paintshop Pro) have features that only run on 64-bit systems. I've seen them in action...but between the cost of the software (over $400 a pop) and the hardware (which you know better than me) I can't justify it for a hobby. In a way it's kinda sad/funny. I have some friends who make a living (somewhat) as artists who can't afford this stuff. It's wicked cool and if one manages to get the hardware I'll commission something so she can get the software. ALMOST makes me want to take some college level classes so I qualify for the student discount. Really makes me wonder what a 128-bit system would be able to handle.
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Oct 6, 2015 8:29:02 GMT -5
Ok, mmhmm - spill it! You can't post about a life changing purchase like that and not give us the make and model (and hopefully cost if it's not too personal). I hate my home office chair. It's a corporate auction hand me down and the pneumatics don't work. I spend way too much time sitting on my ass not to be comfortable! I have a birthday in a few weeks, let's make it easy on DH...
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Oct 5, 2015 15:37:29 GMT -5
luckyme - not that it sounds like it may matter, but you may want to have your DD do some research on spice. I'd never heard of the stuff and had to look it up. It's worse than MJ. More adverse reactions, psychosis, and deaths associated with it's use. Just because it won't show up on a test, doesn't mean it's safe. Not exactly the kind of thing for a young woman to be polluting her body with.
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Oct 5, 2015 13:16:10 GMT -5
I am so sorry you're going through this.
I saw this with a fair number of family friends. Other than don't enable her (which it doesn't sound like you're doing) make sure she knows there are certain expectations if she wants to continue living at home. I'm not sure family counseling is enough.
Unfortunately if someone wants to implode, there's little you can do to stop them. Easy for me to say, I know. Good luck.
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The Captain
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Blech
Oct 5, 2015 12:14:04 GMT -5
Post by The Captain on Oct 5, 2015 12:14:04 GMT -5
Ugg.
I ended up having to take off Thursday and Friday. Was on a conference call on thurs, but other than that didn't get out of bed. Thank goodness for modern technology.
Friday I finally dragged my ass to the doctor. Yep- Bronchitis and a sinus infection. I never do anything by halves. Thank god for the old Z-pack. Pretty much spent most of the weekend in bed as well.
One of my staff is out sick today and we are so far behind I can't even think about it. I hope we get caught up by Friday. We have a lot of people sick in the office right now.
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Oct 5, 2015 11:21:03 GMT -5
Ohhhh, NancysSummerSip - you don't like pumpkin or pecan pie...(sobs quietly in a corner). Fruitcake. It's an abomination. I have never had one that I like. It sounds like it should be so yummy (fruit, nuts and booze in a cake - sign me up!) but it's always a major disappointment. What do you love most about the fall season?
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Oct 5, 2015 9:41:17 GMT -5
Worth seeing anyway. I included that I did 3D just because some films aren't worth that extra expense. This one did but I recommend the movie for the laughs. Seriously, this film about a man attempting to survive being stranded on Mars is very funny. Oh, I plan on seeing it allright. Usually I like to read the book before watching the movie but there's a month long waitlist at my library. I may have to suck it up and buy the book. Is the movie one that you should really watch on the big screen or do you think it will do ok if we rent it on DVD?
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Oct 5, 2015 9:29:56 GMT -5
Can't do 3-D. Damn...
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Oct 5, 2015 8:44:02 GMT -5
Just finished "Ready Player One". (sings) It Was AWESOME!!!
Plowed through it in six hours. Stuck in bed for a few days so the timing of it coming from the Library was perfect.
I have "The Martian" on reserve, that's next.
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Oct 5, 2015 8:41:20 GMT -5
Nope, never. I have a stupid scalp/skin condition that nothing, and I mean nothing really helps. grrrr!
What is the best pumpkin carving you've ever done?
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Sept 30, 2015 15:49:15 GMT -5
The farmer's markets are a bit lacking in my area. I have a nice big old Italian produce store by me that I absolutely adore!
Name your Kryptonite and why.
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Sept 30, 2015 14:32:40 GMT -5
This is through the school? The majority of the schools around here have a no-cut policy. We just keep making enough teams until everyone gets to play at least a little bit. No, not everyone gets to play varsity, but we always find a spot for everyone. This is the policy of the schools that have ten kids per grade all the way through 300 kids per grade.
I'm sorry he's going through that. Are there club sports he can participate in this season?
On the other side of it, I am currently coaching middle school volleyball. I will not coach again. I had taken a five year break after coaching several different sports for over a decade. I cannot do it anymore. It's just not fun. There's no way to make everyone happy. I wish. DD's school has over 300 kids per grade. They had 12 slots each for the two volleyball teams. Over 80 girls tried out. The only ones who made the cut were mostly the ones who played on traveling teams since 5th grade. I'm shocked by how prevalent that is in our area. Between all the boys and girls sports that the gyms have to be scheduled for, the league can't cover more than two teams per school. At least that's what we are told. It's a whole different world from what I grew up in.
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Sept 30, 2015 14:25:15 GMT -5
Another one I haven't seen suggested here is "Ready Player One" Ernest Cline. Dystopian economics 80s pop culture Underdog story line Great book. Squeeee! I've been on the waitlist at my library for over three months now for this one. I just got the e-mail yesterday I'm next!!! DH is getting it for me tomorrow or Friday!!! He's got the e-book but I have to have paper.
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