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We should make Washington DC, Puerto Rico, and Guam states. That would give us 53, which is a prime number. Then we truly would be one nation, indivisible.
That would make them prime real estate.
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Yes, I would take my real estate license naked.
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Sharoth is showing of his Prime realestate.
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Sharoth is showing of his Prime realestate.
You are right. I do have a "prime" number showing.
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Sharoth is showing of his Prime realestate.You are right. I do have a "prime" number showing.
You know to sum of the problem the longer we keep this going the more exponentially awkward it gets.
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You know to sum of the problem the longer we keep this going the more exponentially awkward it gets.Sharoth is showing of his Prime realestate.You are right. I do have a "prime" number showing.
Well,
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My daughter's birthday is in one week!
It's amazing how much she's changed in a year. Amazing how much she's changed me, too.
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If you hadn't said the last part I was going to say it.
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My daughter's birthday is in one week!
It's amazing how much she's changed in a year. Amazing how much she's changed me, too.
Happy week-before-her birthday!
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I'm almost afraid to ask, but in what ways has his daughter changed you, Vid?
Darn it gran! That is not what I meant!
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I'm almost afraid to ask, but in what ways has his daughter changed you, Vid?
Hope for the future?
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So its like a fungus?You know to sum of the problem the longer we keep this going the more exponentially awkward it gets.Sharoth is showing of his Prime realestate.You are right. I do have a "prime" number showing.Well,
** spoiler omitted **
Or a wart?
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The problem with the weather being sunny and above freezing is the bike path was literally bustling with people.
This is not a problem.
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In the continuing saga of, "Who wants the schools open anyway, and why?", Impus Minor's teachers were interested in finding out how many kids were planning on returning to the classroom when the schools reopen for hybrid learning on April 5.
The answer?
0% of the kids surveyed were in favor of coming back to school for some sort of convoluted hybrid learning.
I don't blame them; last year's transition to remote learning was appalling, and the chances of the school district successfully implementing a new form of learning is a similar 0%. So the kids' opinions are, "We've survived this remote **** for a year now; don't change things just to make parents and politicians happy."
As usual, this generation of kids does indeed give me hope for the future. They've got a lot of sense.
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This map of the US was used in a Sri Lanka TV broadcast.
I think they understand us
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I got shot!
First dose of Pfizer, second shot on the 24th.
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The 2018 tax "cut" capped those deductions at $10,000, meaning that the feds are charging me for an additional $12,000 in income that I never see because it's going to the state. So the "cut" was a significant increase for most California and New York homeowners.
I have no idea how or why it's legal to tax me on my taxes, but since there haven't been any class action suits (and we ARE California), it must somehow be legal.
Still makes me cranky.
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A civics lesson and a tax lesson.
Civics lesson
"I never get to see"
a)That's true of any payments you make that are automatically deducted by your employer.
People usually ask their employer to deduct health insurance, retirement savings, and government taxes and pay them on their behalf before giving them the remainder.
b)Your state taxes are used to provide you with various benefits that is is difficult, if not impossible, for an individual to provide for themselves. f you fly into airports, drive on roads, hike in state recreational areas, and use public beaches, you're seeing your tax dollars at work.
Tax lesson
"capped those deductions"
A tax deduction is the federal government's way of encouraging specific economic behavior.
Depending on your own expenditures, you can get deductions for child care, health care, housing costs, etc. One of the things the federal government lets you deduct is taxes paid to the state(s) you live in.
If you want to keep *all* of that money, move to Texas where there is no state income tax. Or Florida, or Alaska, Nevada, South Dakota, Washington, or Wyoming
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I got shot!
First dose of Pfizer, second shot on the 24th.
Alright.
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If you want to keep *all* of that money, move to Texas where there is no state income tax.
Speaking as a Texan, the lack of income tax is balanced by a high sales tax and a high property tax.
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Washington also has a huge sales tax.
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Tennessee: also no state income tax.
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There's no sales tax in Silent Hill.
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There's no sales tax in Silent Hill.
With all the fog how would you know.
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Yeah, state governments get their money, no matter what. If you don't pay income tax, you almost always have both state and local (sometimes several different levels of local) sales taxes.
It's actually a type of bait-and-switch deal. But it's so much less visible than a yearly tax return. IIRC, you used to be able to deduct your sales taxes from your federal income, but that was eliminated when they increased the standard deduction.
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If you want to keep *all* of that money, move to Texas where there is no state income tax.Speaking as a Texan, the lack of income tax is balanced by a high sales tax and a high property tax.
Moving back to Texas from California, I was surprised that our sales tax here is actually lower than what I paid in the Bay Area. But, yes, the property taxes are outrageous. We're going to be paying over 5k a year on my MiL's house, even more once the repairs start in earnest.
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Or a wart?So its like a fungus?You know to sum of the problem the longer we keep this going the more exponentially awkward it gets.Sharoth is showing of his Prime realestate.You are right. I do have a "prime" number showing.Well,
Spoiler:It will grow on you.
Maybe he has goose barnacles?
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There's no sales tax in Silent Hill.
There's no sales tax in Sad Hill either.
{puffs on stolen cigarillo} There is property tax, but the plots are small. I feel a man like you can manage it.
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My spoilered objection was pretty straightforward: For my 40+ year taxpaying life, money you could demonstrably proved you'd paid to a local or state government was deductible:
- My Albany business license
- My DMV registration fees
- My state income tax
- My state property tax
- Any other state or local government fees
(I did like the little blurb on the audit website that pointed out that federal taxes are never deductible.)
The 2018 tax act fairly explicitly targeted California and New York for significant tax increases (my federal taxes went up about 15%, and Shiro's went up about 25%) by selectively capping some of those deductions.
I hate the shell games they play with taxes in the first place. Giving up on the chicanery and just saying, "Yeah, we're in power and we hate YOU," was even worse.
As a side note, the argument in favor of doing away with the sales tax deduction was reasonable: Unless you expect everyone in the country to save every receipt from every purchase, you have to take people's word on how much sales tax they paid. And taking people's word where money is concerned is a terrible, terrible thing (as is sales tax in general, but I digress).
But that would be easy and kill off a multi-billion-dollar tax preparation industry, so it's not going to happen.
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Speaking of tax amusement, Shiro and I were arguing about Denmark being consistently ranked one of the best countries in the world in which to live, and he pointed out their whopping 55.89% income tax rate.
To which I pointed out that a top-tier Californian is paying 35% federal, 9% state, 6.2% social security, 1.45% medicare, plus a 8+% sales tax (it varies by county) and 1.2% property tax.
It's not far off, and I'll openly admit that Danes are getting much better bang for their buck than Californians.
EDIT: The variance by county in California's a constant source of amusement and pain. If I walk to the Safeway in Albany, I pay 9.75%. If I walk in the opposite direction to the corner store in Kensington, I pay 8.25%.
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I'm just glad we live where we do.
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Why, yes, I did want to spend 45 minutes on hold with tech support to be told that it is a global issue, no idea when it will be fixed, no way to work around it, and "If your manager gives you trouble over your work not getting done, just tell them it was because of a global issue." Fun.
Also, of course I want to wash, dry, fold, and put away 7 loads of laundry because 2nd shift couldn't be bothered to do anything. That's my favorite!
(To be clear, there is a lot of sarcasm in those two statements.)
Really? I couldn't tell.
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In case anyone is thinking of trying to steal it, I'll make it easy for you.
** spoiler omitted **
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Sharoth is showing of his Prime realestate.You are right. I do have a "prime" number showing.
I didn't know fractions could be prime!
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They can pay special attention to the last two "digits". In fact, I have another digit for them...In case anyone is thinking of trying to steal it, I'll make it easy for you.
** spoiler omitted **
I really want to make a mobile game take on among us where one person is you and everyone else has to find the room party elements and then make it back to the room, avoiding you all the while.
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I bought an old record of wasp noises on eBay. When I went to play it, I was mad! It didn't sound anything like wasps! Then I realized I had it on the Bee side.
Sad to say, I would happily listen to an LP of wasp noises.
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Flaky Lead Contractor finally showed up yesterday, and claimed that they're "almost" done. I suggested the end of next week and he said, "Oh, that's a very generous estimate."
We do finally have a working toilet, but General Contractor's attitude was, "I'm not working in a dirty bathroom," so it's still pristine.
Considering GC still has to attach the sink, do another wall of tile, put in all the trim, and finish the shower fixtures I'm thinking end of next week isn't particularly generous at all.
Time will tell.
(And yes, I'll post pics when they're done.)