The New Coffee Room

I think this thread was just a test to see who's sick enough to open it, given the headline.

Hmm, see pm!

@jon-nyc said in Piano Party 7/27. Klaus is coming to visit:

Weird German guy at my gym today.

@Klaus Seem in good shape and all, but do you even cycle bro?

@jon-nyc said in Piano Party 7/27. Klaus is coming to visit:

Klaus is in customs. Hopefully they don’t deport him.

Seems he cleared customs; but once they hear his playing, all bets are off.

Congrats and enjoy! Still a few minutes to practice up a piece, take a flight to Jon’s and show off your chops!

On a much smaller scale...Years ago the a/c compressor went out on our minvan. It seized up, causing the most god-awful noise when the engine was running--whether the a/c was in use or not. Replacing wasn't worth the cost...and even taking it out was gonna be a chore. We were able to buy a shorter serpentine belt and just bypassed the damn thing. Traded it in, in the fall...

RIP to your mother in law. It's fortunate she had family that was able to care for her/look out for her during those years. It's difficult to think about what happens for those who have no people on their side able to help.

@LuFins-Dad Yes. I will have all pizzas now delivered to my shop up the street, and tip myself 1000% every time, making all future income tax free. This feels like a rock solid plan.

@mark Two of my (adult) kids have bought cars this way from them this year. So far, both very positive experiences.

I tried....We live a couple doors over on the opposite side of a one lane tunnel. Most of the time, it just a car or two, but occasionally gets backed up so it's a couple minute wait each way. Plus, I'm a fucking cheapskate fiscally responsible enough to just drive over myself.

Our house is just out of range for delivery from our favorite local pizza place...and I refuse to pay the premium for DoorDash. I can't wait to buy a self driving car, so I deliver pizza to myself. Maybe I'll even get sign up as a dasher, so I can get paid to have pizza delivered to me.

@Axtremus said in Pretty sure I couldn’t do this.:

I tried dead hanging again. This time I lasted around 34 seconds, maybe. Still not sure whether it's the arms or the grip that gave out first. Well, both tries need an asterisk because I had to lift my legs throughout -- the metal frame I hung from is too low from the ground; my feet would be on the ground if I didn't lift my legs while hanging from said metal frame.

I have a pull-up/dip bar/etc stand at my shop...But same issue. Have to lift my feet up a bit when going down/hanging. The good news is Grok says that way is "noticeably harder" so give yourself extra credit!

One thing that's I really like about the pull up stand is it's the perfect height to hang wet moving blankets on. Felt neat to use it for something close to its intended purpose (about 70 seconds) but I've gotten my nickels worth in dry blankets, so the rest is gravy.

I'm still running, though a little less and a little slower this year. @89th Registration for Grandmas marathon opens in October....Race isn't until June. Plenty of time to prep. (except for having no time)

@LuFins-Dad said in Now *that’s* some ground clearance:

Pretty sure the tie rods are going to need replaced.

Probably nothing would make him happier than "having" to work on the Jeep some more. Some people enjoy the work more than what the work enables them to do.

Next door neighbors at my shop are an aerospace machine shop. Their 'hobby' is buying tiny little cars, and dropping big fukkin engines in them. Then they head out to the cul de sac in our industrial park, and do donuts until something breaks. Repeat process.

Seems Karla has been essentially managing the business herself. Therefore, her wages over the last couple years are a reasonable determinant of what constitutes the "fair wages" that she'd have to pay herself, before taking the rest as distributions/or whatever. You can do that math on if the anticipated profit from the business makes it worth the paperwork costs and headaches of filling as an S-Corp make it worthwhile.

Personally, I'm still just a sole proprietor. (not even an LLC) At first, it was because I didn't have any assets to protect...After looking into it further though, LLC protections don't hold up to protect personal assets in the type of protection I feel would be most likely to be beneficial to me. (if I had multiple business though...that could change)

With respect to the service providers... I would very much encourage you to err on the side of making them w2 employees. Go ahead and look up IRS rules on employees vs 1099...I think you'd agree. Forget about how Uber and Door dash can call their people "independent contractors" Compared to other situations I've seen them rule on, that's complete bullshit, they just happen to be big enough to have some influence.

It really is quite easy anyway. I use Squares Payroll app. It's like $50/month, plus $5/per employee. Super easy to use, you can usually get workers comp insurance through it (and pay weekly) it generates all the important year end reports, etc. I run payroll for my employees in less than 2 minutes. I also use it for paying the couple subs I use. (an occasional tuner, and a person or two to help when there's work 'overflow')

It's just very important that you classify people correctly...If there was ever an injury, or if a relationship ends poorly--the company can be found liable, and you may become responsible for paying for an injury out of pocket, and/or having to pay an employees back social security and Medicare witholdings. The later just happened to a friend of mine, costing them thousands.

Maybe use the occasion of new ownership as the impetus for the change.

Yeah, I don't know how they ever got past safety regulations. Pulling up to an intersection, where you may have to make a quick go/no go decision, and the fukkin engine shuts off just as you're about hit the gas. The "feature" is easy enough to turn off, but has to be done each and every time you start the car. meh

@jon-nyc Is it really finances that contribute to low birth rates? (I mean other than at the margins)

On average, people with lower incomes (and can least afford it) tend to have higher birth rates. On average--and despite how people may answer on surveys...people who want kids have kids whether or not they can afford a baby sitter.

@LuFins-Dad Look on the bright side. To have near universal childcare, it'd be more like 4 years early on, and then four years after high school. So an extra 8 total.

Maybe he thought no one would see it since it was posted on Truth Social. It does seem to be slightly more secure than Signal

Do you have a card or two kept exclusively in a digital wallet? Curious if you’ve noticed if either those or Apple Pay, Venmo (or whatever the fuck the hip cool payment methods of today are) seem less susceptible.

Happy birthday George—hope all is well!

If they don’t already have one in the works, I’d be surprised if they could come up with one in that short a timeframe. Unlikely they do, as there’s typically a multi years long hype as design takes it’s sweet ass time to become a product.

Still, if it would actually have the functions of a truck, (not like the silly toy Cyberdork) I’d consider one.

In my truck..almost always. It’s important to see side to side when backing out, and on a larger vehicle, that doesn’t happen until you’re already blocking the aisle. The only exception is angled spots, which only inconsiderate morons back into.

As for our other cars…it depends.