65 thoughts on “March 20, 2024: All Things Being Equal”

  1. Had a conf. call with our financial advisors and the Railroad Retirement Board, and let's just say that by this time next year I'll be used to sleeping in.

    1. Hope it goes really well for you. I'll be retiring in about three months, and while I've enjoyed my time as a pastor I have to say I'm also looking forward to retirement.

        1. I suspect I'm the wrong generation for such a discussion. Or at least participate in a generation which will have a much larger segment of persons for whom retirement isn't really an option.

          Philosofette and I have been discussing lately whether this is ever really an option. I plan to just work forever. I think she's worried I won't live to forever, and therefore doesn't want to rely on me working as her retirement plan.

          1. There was a time I planned to work forever, too. However, as you get older you realize that age is not "just a number", no matter how many people try to say it is. It has real effects, both on you and your loved ones, and you have to deal with those effects.

            1. There's another local attorney who is hitting that point, and after previously indicating he might never retire, he'd just slow down, he has realized he wants to actually retire.

              I suspect that, in reality, that will be my life too, but I'm definitely not in the "stop working as soon as I can" camp.

              1. There are very few people that can work forever. I don't this generation is any worse off than other generations at this point in their lives.

                1. I don’t know about comparing the entire generations, but my silent-generation grandfather worked a blue collar union job at the spam company and had a pretty nice pension for retirement that I think would be pretty unusual these days.

                  1. Outside of gubmint, defined contribution pensions are largely a thing of the past. But Big Labor can still negotiate pretty decent retirement deals.

              2. my dad had no desire to retire, but for financial reasons he had to start collecting Social Security at 62, realized he could live off that income since he barely spends money, and went for it. I think some depression has crept in, but he has much more time to work on his physical health so he can be around for his grandkids longer

        2. I presume "retirement" means "being wheeled away from your desk directly to the morgue.

        3. So many people have told us to travel while we still can, and the last few years we've been taking that to heart. I always thought I'd just keep working as long as I like my work, and while I still like what I do, it's gotten more and more difficult to get things done (because dinosaur). More and more security is ratcheting down on our servers and the development tools we use, which I totally understand, but the training is lacking, and as workforce gets smaller and the push for more portability between departments, I'm losing interest in expanding my skills for just a limited timeframe.

          I REALLY hope that management seriously takes knowledge transfer to heart before I eventually exit.

          1. I may have told this story a few times before, here.

            At my next-to-last gig, we had a project focused on developing data transparency and sustainability in state agencies. My team was having a meeting with key staff in a unit responsible for a host of employment data. We asked them whether they had a data dictionary they would share with us (for archiving, if nothing else).

            Heads turned in the room toward a woman at the end of the table, saying "there's our data dictionary." She looked up and said "I'm retiring in two weeks."

            😬

    3. Congrats Rhu_Ru! Right now our plan, in the zooomx.2 household, is for us both to work another 10 years. That would put me at 65 years old and my wife at 63. Then, we would go down to working 6 months of the patio season somewhat part-time and going south in the colder months. I would probably mow grass at a local golf course while wintering down south. We would still own the joint, but hopefully have a strong GM and Chef to run it day to day. I could see staying in ownership until my health told me to stop. I am also getting a bit more serious about starting a consulting gig. While in Mexico this past week I was surrounded by owners of small mom and pop joints who peppered me with questions on the business. I think we have a story to tell, and could help people achieve their own dreams.

    5. Congrats on your well-deserved entry into the 3rd age!

      I retired last year in April, and to be honest, I'm much more mentally and physically healthier than when I was working (still working the spiritual side, not quite there yet).

      A financial friend of mine said re: retirement and travel: the 60's are Go-Go. The 70's are Go-Slo. The 80's are No-Go.

  2. I’ve been called to jury duty. Lots of folks hate on the idea of being on jury duty but I don’t really understand why. Sure, civic duty and all, but it’s fascinating to see the workings (and failures!) of our justice system up close and personal. Also, a break from routine should be good for everyone.

    1. I had to do a three-week case (medical malpractice) and at that point I can see how it starts to mess with your life. I had an understanding manager and it wasn’t an issue, but a lot of the other jurors were basically working evenings and weekends to keep up with their managers’ demands (fair or not.)

      2. Right, this my fear.

        I can't be sequestered for 6 months in a high profile murder case. I would gladly sit for two or three days for something.

      3. My mom was on a big, federal case a couple decades back. Jury got sequestered, so she got a few days in a nice hotel in the Cities. A highlight for her. 😃

        1. We didn’t get sequestered, but the attorneys started getting behind schedule, so we had our lunch break shortened. The silver lining there was that we had a chef on the jury and he was generous enough to bring us lunch a couple times. So that was probably the highlight for me.

        2. My dad was on a jury that was supposed to take a day and ended up going three or four days. He wasn't sequestered and so simply refused to talk about it each night. Once it finished we found it he (and another juror) were the reason it took so long.

    2. I got a notice for appearing in May. I had another notice in middle of 2020 that was first delayed and then marked as fulfilled without me needing to ever appear.

    3. I'm always fascinated to hear about juror's experiences. I've only ever done 1 jury trial (I had another one scheduled for June I was excited about, but it looks like it is settling on Monday), and though the experience was a ton of work, I very much just trusted my jury. That was going to be my intention for this next one too. But I've heard so many stories of jurors getting weird ideas into their heads that I love to hear about what is actually happened when it is done.

      1. I recently was on a panel hired by one of the sides in a "wrongful termination" case for a sheriff's deputy. Lots of money spent by that side to test out arguments in advance of trial

        As a group, we decided that both sides sucked

        1. I don’t know if I would say both sides sucked in the medical malpractice case I heard, but both sides were definitely miserable for the duration of the trial. Not that I ever really thought anyone was excited to be in court, but being there in person really brought home how awful it is.

      2. In my last trial, opposing counsel told the jury during closing argument that his client didn't believe any of the facts existed to show his client could prevail. (I believe his words were, "Never thought it. Never believed it.
        It ain't true.") His own client had already testified that his damages opinion was too high. And the jury returned a verdict for that full amount anyway. I might just really be terrible at my job!

    5. I've never been called, but my wife has a few times back when she was either pregnant or had a baby/toddler around so it absolutely was not in the cards to even do a short trial.

      1. Last time I was called, I was on medical leave for anxiety. Who knows whether they will call me again (or when).

        1. yeah, neither one of us has been called in the like 8 years since then. I'm in a spot now with an understanding manager so I could totally do it if asked.

        2. Somehow I’ve only been called once in 24 years of being a registered voter. Or maybe that’s normal, I’m not sure.

    6. Lots of folks hate on the idea of being on jury duty but I don’t really understand why.

      Lots of folks can't afford to be on a jury.

      2. In Seattle, King County pays jurors $10 per day and bus fare. This apparently has been unchanged since the 1950s. I understand the argument against paying jurors a large sum of money, but it seems wrong to pay out less for an entire day than what minimum wage is for an hour of work.

        1. We get $10 a day, and no bus fare. I'm also on the state payroll, so I am excluded from even getting that.

          Of course the tradeoff is that my state-funded employer has to keep paying me with no retribution for being gone. There have been crappy weeks at work where I wished I could have been sitting on a jury instead.

          1. Ha! It’s not lost on me that I’m privileged in that my employer doesn’t charge me pto / continues to pay me for jury duty.

            We’re at the end of the fiscal year and I’m trying to spend down my remaining budget - which is critical due to budget short fall next fy… - and I’ve welcomed the distraction of waiting in the jury lounge*.

            *lounge is generous. We’re in a baby blue and gray painted concrete bunker with no air circulation. Thank goodness it’s not August.

    7. I got called to be on a jury last year. Luckily it was only a 2 day trial, so it didn't mess with work too bad. I enjoyed the experience and wouldn't be opposed to it in the future.
      The judge made mention that they know that this is inconvenient, which I appreciated. The guy ended up being the father of a co-worker, so that was interesting (and I was kept on the jury even with that knowledge!)
      Shower thought: What if we had professional jurors?

    8. I’ve been called twice.

      The first time was in my first year in Arizona. There were codes for each batch of people, and you had to be ready to be called for jury duty although it might not actually happen. There were something like fifteen different codes. In the end, every single code was called on to actually appear except one - mine.

      The second time was at the tail end of my time in Arizona. The first date would have been my first day home in Minnesota. As relocation is a disqualification for duty, I snaked by a second time. To date I’ve never served.

    9. Most of the time around here, if you get jury duty you call in the night before to see if you need to go in. I think in my now 23 years in California I've had to call in 3 times, and only once needed to go in. That time my group was brought into the courtroom around 3 for selection after sitting in a waiting room all day, and we were told that the trial was expected to take 2-3 weeks. Judge asked if anyone had anything that would be a problem. I had a flight to visit family for Christmas in a few days, and I was surprised to learn that was enough to get me excused.

  3. Last week I went to see Nick Shoulders (on a school night!) at tipitina’s. I’d see him busking on Royal street years ago and it was great to see him “make” it off the street and onto one of the best rooms in New Orleans. This brand of country is gaining a lot of popularity with the punk crowd these days. If he comes to your town I highly recommend seeing him live. His whistle, bird noise, and yodel skills are the real deal.

  5. NYT:

    Superfans: In South Korea, a baseball game is a sustained sensory overload, with drummers, dancers and a different fight song for each player.

    This sounds like a challenge, Citizens.

    1. The live crowd experience for sporting events in different countries is off the charts compared to the U.S. Especially here in Minnesota where fans get chastised occasionally for standing up.

      1. I'm still angry that an usher told me to sit down during game 1 if the 2010 ALDS when I was cheering one Liriano got two strikes in a hitter.

      2. We were at the Frozen Four in St. Paul years ago, I seem to remember it was the Gophers vs. Harvard, and the people behind us kept complaining because we were standing up all the time. Granted part of the reason we were standing up was to see over the people in front of us who were standing up, but still it was a very exciting atmosphere and warranted standing and cheering. It was the final four for cripes sake! I just checked , it was the overtime loss to Harvard in the final in 1989.

      1. I got to go to the Tokyo Dome a few years back. Highly recommended, despite how similar the stadium was to the Metrodome.

    3. I watch the WBC every time it happens (other than last time (thanks MLB Network)) and the Korean fans are always a major highlight.

    1. Am I overly cynical that my first thought was the translator was the middle man taking the fall, and Shohei was actually involved in some way?

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