she's very cute, and small. she was tiny when we got her, we thought she would keep growing, but she stopped around 9 lb.

@leslietownes My first cat, Mary (also black), ranged between six and seven pounds (as an adult). She was very petite. She lived until age 20 (a week from 21).

wow, cute!

my neighbor had a cat live to 20.

one time i cat-sat for a cat who was 18, and he kept bothering the human neighbor, who was 100 years old, by sneaking into his garage or house when a door was left open and then meowing to be left out. i thought, the two of these senior citizens deserve each other.

@leslietownes Hah!!

i just remembered we have to file taxes soon! i thought i was waiting on a W-2, but it turns out my office sent me the form a month ago.

@leslietownes Ahh... Oops!

tax software can be so romantic.

@leslietownes Hah!

no, software, i do not have any crypto transactions to report in 2021...

:D

half of the questions on this thing assume you have really bizarre finances.

@leslietownes How's the filing coming along?

almost done, just waiting on some stuff from day care. my wife put some amount of money set aside for child care toward day care, and we don't have their taxpayer identification number.

@leslietownes Ah, that makes sense to wait for!

it's gonna make maybe a $500 difference in our tax bill.

@leslietownes That's worth it.

I remember babysitting during a summer, when 15, while mother was going back to work half time. Apparently the husband was an accountant, and filled out paperwork for taxes and social security tax withholding. I'd never encountered that ever, while babysitting, which I more or less stopped when 16. But, he was likely pretty anal!!

I didn't earn enough to be taxed the following calendar year, so I that the withholding in tax back... But yikes!

wow.

Professional Day Care, or state licensed Day Care, is an entirely different matter, of course!

i've never heard of that for something like babysitting. tax withholding is something that a lot of small businesses do screw up. my sister has run into that a few times. they spend all of their money on payroll and there's nothing left to withhold, although they have that obligation.

thankfully it doesn't blow back to the individual employees.

@leslietownes Indeed. And I got what was withheld in tax, back. But I was a "paper girl" as well between 12-13, (year and a half), for the Milwaukee Journal, but there was never any tax forms involved!

I do worry about gig jobs requiring one to be a private contractor. Ala uber, lyft, air B&B, etc. and many other industries, jobs void of benefits, like health care, and so much more.

@quid I hope your Monday went well!

amwhy, it's funny about jobs and benefits. i can't tell if america will eventually tilt more toward jobs with benefits (or, could you imagine, a system where things like health care are not tied to employment) or go in the opposite direction, where everyone is on their own.

my wife has pretty good health care. the health care options at my job are significantly worse. but because i'm relatively healthy, i stay on my own health care instead of using hers (it would cost more to switch).

Employers would likely, by employee demand in the second or third scenario, require greater pay, if each employee is on their own in terms of retirement funding and/or health insurance. Corporations, on the other hand can contract employee health care, for their works, for less money they'd have to pay works for them to act as single individuals/families. At least at this point, in what some call, "The Great Resignation". But that is not about the Company doing the right thing;

If they don't see the bottom line, they won't budge.

my job doesn't do anything in the way of retirement funding. the theory behind it, if there is one, is that i'm paid enough to invest whatever i want in whatever i want. which is true, although it maybe deprives me of some tax benefits.

when i was in academia, retirement funding was a huge part of compensation.

my wife's job is pretty badly paid if you look at it on an hourly basis, until you account for what they contribute to her 401(k). then it is significantly better than working in retail.

@leslietownes For the most well compensated, that can work. But I think the logic is abused with Companies like uber, lyft, etc. Ditto, workers who need to work two part time jobs (because their employers don't want to pay benefits, totaling 60 hours a week, are hardly in a position to save, let alone adequately insure their children, let alone themself.

yes. i think the core problem with 'everybody can just buy what they want' is that there is no competence. it's insane to require everybody to be a medical records specialist, and an evaluator of providers of health care. that's a separate job.

people could be relied upon to choose the groceries that they want, because they have relevant understanding and experience. there's nothing comparable in health care.

@leslietownes Exactly!

particularly for expensive health care, which is when you really need it.