Tag: driving

More on the gig economy

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WELL, GOOD: Federal Judge Squashes NLRB’s Attempt To Destroy Gig Economy.

Minneapolis Is About To Kill Ride-Sharing I hope they do. And that the backlash is EXTENSIVE. And covered.

THE WAR ON FREELANCERS WILL HURT EVERY FAMILY IN THIS LAND, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY:   Let’s talk about freelancing for a bit.

And it’s all in the service of the crazy kakistocrats in charge trying to shove everyone into unions.

Got my insurance re-upped so I can drive come summer. Probably not the WHOLE summer. Will depend on how late I work. HTHS’ last day in May 16th! I’ll likely take the 17th off then pick up other schools until Memorial Day. Last year I had enough banked to take the summer off. Looks like I may be a tad short this year but a week or a month of driving shouldn’t be too bad.

Ex Post Facto

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This link didn’t pop up for me until after the fact but I’ll throw it up now.

Route 66

I don’t really have a bucket list. I’ve had a crap-ton of opportunities and appreciated every one that I’ve taken, with damned few regrets (a la Sinatra and Elvis.) But if there is ONE thing I’d kinda like to do while I’m still able, it’s to drive the Mother Road in a nice, leisurely fashion in a classic American hunk of metal. It kinda must be done from Chicago to Santa Monica. For giggles a return trip from Silver Summit Utah to … well, home, along Route 40.

One week out. Two to be safe? Convertible? T-bird? I still have time. Probably four or five more years of planning. And $5,000 to spend.

Some odds and ends on the beginning of the month

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Since I might be driving this summer AND since I hear some of the crap that passes for economics edjumacation at the HS level these days, there’s this: PROGRESSIVISM: Seattle’s “living wage” fee meant to help delivery drivers is causing drivers to make less because people stopped placing orders

another take on the same story: The Value of Econ 101, example #10,191

Some movie stuff:

Shot: From The Passion of the Christ to Barbie. When did People Stop Behaving Themselves in Movie Theaters?

—Mark Judge, August 21st, 2023.

Chaser: Werner Herzog Watched 30 Minutes of Barbie and Asked: ‘Could It Be That the World of Barbie Is Sheer Hell?’

And then there’s this duet: My view of *Casablanca* (with spoilers, but you’ve seen it already?) which I read first and disagreed with even though I thought I understood where it was going. Then there was this response: Appreciating *Casablanca*. I’ll take Caplan over Cowen any day.

And speaking of movies I just watched my 9,600th one! An interesting little romp called Blood Fest. It’s a 5.4 on IMDB but I’d put it higher than that. Some interesting “takes.”

OK. I SAY I’m ready but I’m REALLY not sure.

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HIGHER EDUCATION IN AMERICA: ‘I am a Black woman in America. I am always in the right.’

How The Left Recruits Teenage Footsoldiers With The ‘School-To-Radicalism’ Pipeline

Some of us get it

and two more on the gig economy.

A New York City carjacker who stabbed the wrong Lyft driver tried to escape his would-be victim by jumping off a bridge. It didn’t end well.

New Rhode Island law nothing but a “screw you” to freelancers.

and we’ll finish up with the weather, since President Biden likes to talk about it so much.

Mainstream Media Pushes Bogus Claim Last Week Had “Hottest Days on Record”.

We’re pretty much through the season here, but still … Alarming deterioration of US National Weather Service tornado warnings.

WEIRDLY NOT WHAT YOU’VE BEEN SOLD:  What the IPCC Actually Says About Extreme Weather.

“A HOAX”: Steve Milloy Exposes Climate Fearmongering About Hot Weather.

  What NASA and the European Space Agency are admitting but the media are failing to report about our current heat wave.

Hot and Bothered About Heat Waves.

Climate and the Media: II

Enjoy the end of your long hot summer

Back to the highways and byways next week

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Unless I land a sweet, sweet summer school sub gig. I’ll do my usual out around 9 and be done by 4 or $100 whichever comes first. Or after a LOOONG trip. So wish me luck. In the meantime:

A ‘Congestion’ Charge on Just Ubers and Lyfts Won’t Improve Congestion

This is how great the economy is: HMM: https://twitter.com/Hedgeye/status/1654551629834625028

BLUE CITY BLUES: Uber will lease out entire office building in San Francisco. “Rumors that Uber was abandoning one of its new office buildings in Mission Bay have been circulating since 2021. This week, CoStar News finally confirmed it was true and that the entire building at 1725 Third Street is for lease.”

Related: No! Really!! The War on Tamales

Unrelated filler:

I’ve been assured by the best people and “Top Men” that this didn’t happen: Longtime Democratic Campaign Strategist Charged with Election Fraud.

THIS is why I need the break: WELCOME TO AMERICA’S GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS. #JustWalkAway:

An interesting read over at substack: Equity-toonz

Summer shrinkage for kids:

Quote of the Week (which I’ll likely use again): the main function of education is not to teach useful skills (or even useless skills), but to certify students’ employability. By and large, the reason our customers are on campus is to credibly show, or “signal,” their intelligence, work ethic, and sheer conformity. While we like to picture education as job training, it is largely a passport to the real training that happens on the job. — Bryan Caplan

Back on the road soon

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Got a NICE raise in the classroom last month so I’m looking at driving through a different lens. I’m not as driven to drive, you might say. But drive I will. At least a little. Thursday and Friday. And next week. But school starts back up 1/3 and it’s back to the classroom.

The Biden administration’s war on work (explained)

Team Biden is using the IRS to attack the gig economy.

Like Rail Workers, Truckers Are Also Feeling The Pain Of Predatory Systems

What’s Next for America’s Independent Workers?

Vox’s Words and Vox’s Actions

and to stretch this out a bit, a few Christmas movie posts:

10 Christmas Movies That Must Be Canceled By The End Of 2022

Film Review: A Christmas Story

NOT SO FAST, BUBALA: All the Evidence Needed To Enshrine ‘Die Hard’ As a Christmas Classic.

● You’re All Wrong, Die Hard Is A Hanukkah Movie.

● Yes, Virginia, ‘Die Hard’ is a Hanukkah Movie.

● ‘Die Hard’ is the Ultimate Hanukkah Movie.

● Differences Between Christmas And Hanukkah (With Tongue Firmly In Cheek). Includes The Answer To The “Die Hard” Conundrum.

Hitting the road soon

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Next week is my last as a building sub, then I’ll do a couple weeks of pickup work and in early June I’ll be driving again. I’ve followed NONE of the trends in bonuses so we’ll see how it goes but I’m optimistic. Doubt if I make what I’ve been getting in the classroom but I’ll make enough to keep everything paid. I figure five days a week driving until I hit $100 or 5 pm and we’ll see how that goes. Optimistic.

[Josh Blackman] I Can No Longer Rely On Uber

Never a problem for me. I just didn’t. No Mask, No Problem: Uber Drops Requirement

BASICECONOMICSBASICECONOMICSBASICECONOMICS. The Case for Uber Surge Pricing After a Mass Shooting

A few unrelated links:

YUP. Pretty sure this has something to do with the fact that the teachers’ unions refused to teach for two years during the pandemic. Teachers say kids fell behind dramatically during pandemic, lack basic skills

Life under the patriarchy:

I haven’t raced since ’15 but this is still spot on. Ageism in Running Races

and interesting review of a movie I liked based on a book by an author I don’t: From Book to Screen: The Mist

As if the playoffs weren’t hard enough: Planes, Buses, and COVID Tests: How the NHL Playoffs Are Spotlighting America’s Dumb Border Rules

and finally, in closing …. Words to think about… – Nobody Asked Me…

Why I just can NOT pull that trigger

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OK, there are several reasons but here’s a rundown regarding the BIGGIE: my livelihood.

Joe Biden And Kamala Harris Endorsed California Law Forcing Uber To Cut 200,000 Employees

#PROAct Gets Biden Support. Disastrous #AB5 for Nation

California Is Not A Tech State, It’s A Big Labor State, And The Two Are At War

California’s AB5 Is Such A Mess, ‘Pandemic Pods’ Might Not Even Be Safe

California’s Job-Killing A.B. 5 Scaled Back, but Only for Some Professions

State Policy Favoritism and Corruption

Inequality in the Sharing Economy.

They stab it with their steely knives ….

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Left wing politicians  are doing their best to KILL the gig economy. I’ve gotten away from my link-heavy aggregating but occasionally events dictate a return to tried-and-true methodologies.  So it is with the recent attacks of ride and room sharing apps.

California.  The worst of the bunch.  Passed a law to apply to ALL workers, then exempted pretty much everybody but rideshare drivers.

New York  Bitten again by the law of unintended consequences.  Most of the rides I give are pleasure trips.  But SO many are rides of necessity by working class folks who can’t afford a cab or other methods.

Colorado.   There’s a word for a political system under which people are allowed a veneer of property rights, but in which unaccountable government actually calls the shots.  Columbus is imposing a similar regime which I am opting out of, patiently awaiting the Constitutional challenges under the 1st, 4th, 9th, 10th and 14th Amendments.

Hawaii.  This one’s Federal but the Rep is Hawaiian.  It won’t go anywhere but the fact that it was even INTRODUCED is bad.

I cannot even begin to conceive of the tiny mind it takes to think that ANY of these are, on the whole, good, workable ideas.

 

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I’ve got the music (back) in me

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With apologies to the Kiki Dee Band.

A few months back I had a laptop accident. Ended up with a completely unrecoverable hard drive. That was bad. What was WORSE was that like a noob I hadn’t backed up my music. Docs and other stuff? Sure. But not my music. Over 3,500 tunes. Seven and a half days worth. Seventy playlists. Gone.

And so it was that a few weeks back I stumbled upon that which I THOUGHT might exist but couldn’t be sure. “The laptop before last.” And what to my wondering eyes should appear but my music. Four years untouched so some recent additions not included. And the playlists were “untweeked” but recoverable.

And so it is that my music has returned. My rideshare passengers are happy. After months of no comment on whatever radio station was playing in the background (usually classic rock, occasionally jazz) I’m getting 2-3 kudos every day on the eclectic mix. This makes me happy. Tips are up too. That makes me happy as well.

And it’s all been backed up to a reliable recoverable source.

Whew.