JJBat150

I have a lot of co-workers that have re-located while tele-working; most are down-sizing getting ready for retirement. One benefit of being a federal employee is the locality pay. Folks are moving to areas with high locality pay but saving money due to no commuting costs. Locality pay also affects your pension computation...

I work for the Federal Government as a Supervisory IT Specialist- Have been able to telework ad-hoc the past 15 years or so but choose to work from a facility as much as possible. Was required (forced) to go 100% telework when the pandemic started. For us, telework / Work from Home (WFH) is normal - put a computer in front of me, and with the remote access technology, most IT work on systems can be done this way. As a higher-level supervisor, most of my day is spent on MS Teams doing scheduled tele-conferences and ad-hoc calls. I feel that I am just a productive from the home office as I would be in a facility. Most of my work is remote; my 5 subordinate employees are spread out across the East Coast, and we provide support Nation-wide, so calling folks on a phone / Teams Call is a normal thing, and we actually have very little face to face interaction with each other or the folks we support. Fully admit that I take a morning walk with the dog most every morning and walk the property, but it's usually 20-30 minutes; about the same amount of time I would be away from the desk if I took a walk at the facility. Working from home, I do find myself working some few extra hours, especially when dealing with the west coast, but it's still a good balance between home and work life. One thing engrained into us as feds and working for the taxpayer is that telework is authorized if it's a benefit to the agency, not the employee. Teleworking I am also required to work my normal tour of duty (40 Hrs/week) - not "flex" my time and work a few hours, do personal stuff, then work again for a few hours. Have also always been told that telework is not a replacement for childcare - basically if the kids had a snow day or the babysitter was a no-show, I wasn't allowed to ad-hoc telework to be at home to keep an eye on them. Granted the pandemic lightened up some of this. I hate it when I see people posting things on social media about "tough day working from home as a sit with my feet in the pool reading email". Stupid posts like this prolificated when the pandemic first hit, now I ignore them. This is my home office - it's not the kitchen table, the couch watching daytime talk shows, or sitting on the deck watching the family in the pool.... it's a dedicated work area.

Got an ugly fox running around the yard eating cherries - My guess is mange - other thoughts ?

"The course should take you no more than (5) five hours to complete." So for folks outside of Albany County, can we take it 3 times in order to meet the new 15 hour course for recertification of our permits ? Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk

8 AA batteries per camera - I've been using run of the mill Alkaline batteries with good resuls

Started a few years ago using the cell-links that use a ribbon cable to connect to the SD card of existing camera; ended up getting 4 of them and used on various model of cameras with relatively good results - biggest issue was 2 sets of batteries per camera (1 set in camera, 1 set in Cell-link device). The link device only allows still pics, no video from your current camera. Never had issues with cell signal - I'm in 8J with good coverage. Usually get notifications of pictures within a minute or 2 of them being tripped. Did have 1 camera that died, customer service made me jump through hoops (replace batteries, do a long format on a PC of the SD card, use another SD card, reboot, wait 24 hours for it to find a cell signal, stand on your head) before sending out a replacement device. Switched to the LINK-MICRO-LTE-V model that's self-contained and for 2 years been happy with them. Batteries were swapped out around 1st of the year, and a few cameras were still showing 20% battery life last few weeks. You get low-res photos via the app (either mobile app or website) and then have the option to download a high-res image. When you pull the SD card on the camera - all the images as saved as hi-res. I'm currently running 4 links and 6 full cameras - the plan to increase the # of photos is per camera, not per account. I usually pay monthly, and only bump up a plan if the camera is getting a lot of pictures. Free plan is 100 pic a month, and like 5 hi-res downloads. Basic is 250 ($4/month) Standard is 1000 ($7) and unlimited is $10. Here's examples of a low-res and high-res picture from the same camera...

Fully boosted. Tested positive 2X (14 months apart - last time was 3/22). Both times it was basically flu/cold symptoms for a few days. Slowed me down a bit physically, but no lasting issues.

Best comment to date on this forum

From the text of the bill - looks like semiautomatic rifles do not get recorded. The law was specifically updated to call out recording on the pistol permit, and NOT the semiautomatic permit. (The underline text is added to the law by this bill) The bill also says that the license is only needed to "to purchase or take possession of such a firearm when such transfer of ownership occurs on or after the effective date". So, it's not a carry permit, just a purchase permit. No matter how you slice and dice it, it's just a feel-good law that's only going to affect legal gun owners, and do little to curb the criminal violence. https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/bills/2021/s9458

Here's the actual text of the bill... basically it adds "take possession of a semiautomatic rifle" to every mention of a "licensed to carry or possess a pistol or revolver" - it's passing the creation and issuing of the new license to the County Sheriff / County Clerk (or whoever is technically licensing officer) with absolutely no requirements of what is required to obtain said license, other that "approved as to form by the superintendent of state police." Waiting for county Sheriffs and County Clerks to push back at the extra work that it's going to create. Or hopefully, they'll simply said "if you have a pistol permit already, it's now also considered a semiautomatic rifle license" Only good thing I see is that manufacturer, caliber, action and serial # isn't recorded like it is on a pistol permit. https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/bills/2021/s9458

This just came in the mail today. Rather than following my Governor and elected officials' suggestion, and use it to pay my property taxes, I will be investing it into precious metals like brass casings and copper plated bullets...

Haven't been out yet, but I suspect most gun shops are busier today than January 2013 right before the UNsafe act was pushed through....

we get the occasional large egg- surprisingly they are usually single yokes. Yesterday and today we collected these "jumbos" - expecting double yokes, will have to wait and see.

Every day is an adventure with backyard chickens....

There's more to the story... 2 recent blogs by this guy paint a less than rosy picture of Lonsberry. http://www.thekingofrochester.com/ Blog author is opinionated about Rochester media.

But the temporary reprieve from gasoline tax will save us.... Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk

That's one way to thin the herd. https://wpdh.com/wild-pig-fatally-struck-by-ambulance-in-hudson-valley-new-york/ Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk

Love the media spin on this... All the headlines I've seen about this are proclaiming that it's a done deal. This bill was approved by Congress, still need to go to a House Committee, then the full House, and finally President for signature. Classic example of how the media can steer the narrative. And for the record, this really won't affect the amount of time I spend hunting, fishing or any other outdoor activities.

My wife's drive to work this morning.... Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk

I run game camera year round. If I didn't, wouldn't get pics like this... Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk

Wow .... https://vincheck.info/check/report-summary.php?vin=1C4RJFN93MC819264 ESTIMATES Market Value: $88,205 - $116,457 Estimate Certainty: 99%

Never measured the height of a squirrel from nose to hind legs, but it looks like this guy ain't very happy about the recent snow.

15 years of mounting animals in your living room? Your wife is a keeper.

Use them all the time for ice fishing. The ones I've got have to be at least 40 years old, used them when I was a kid fishing with my father and grand father. The smell is what makes the experience... the memories it brings back are amazing.