Objectively intelligent.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally Posted by Oliver_Wendell_Ramone

My tiny little beach house is under level 3 evacuation orders (LEAVE NOW!!). Don't know if it will last the day. Thankfully nobody using it at the moment.

I'm really sorry. Every photo I see looks more horrific than the last. Stay safe.

[Oliver_Wendell_Ramone]

Originally Posted by Replaced_Texan

I'm really sorry. Every photo I see looks more horrific than the last. Stay safe.

Thanks, all. Still hoping it doesn't get to us. But the coast is way dryer than usual, and the east winds are brutal. Supposed to die down by mid-day tomorrow.

Portland is smokey and windy, but appears safe for now.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Icky Thump

But now it's not just time-wasting, it has the potential to cause physical harm, for no real reason. Yeah, I was OK with getting up a little early to do the face time, driving in an hour and a half from a remote dep at 4:00 PM just to show my face,

So I do think people coming in is good. But definitely get some not wanting to. Our secretaries are in about 1 day every other week. Any given day about 1/4 of the attorneys are in. Mostly for meetings that are likely more productive in person. I agree with Sebby that my best thinking comes during a workout, but "our best" seldom comes over Zoom. But even when I was at a show face place, drive an hour and a half to show face at 5:30? Fuck no.

And I've had to chill people on the "should come in" emails. We regularly send out email saying if you are doing fine working from home, God Bless. This isn't just for safety; I also don't want to be sued for urging people into getting a disease. How can a PI firm
not get that risk?

but NOW, in a place with no protective protocols, it's a little bit of a grim proposition to head down to superspreader II there to do something you can adequately do at home.

So my place had 50 people working close together early March. Then we turned into the 3rd worst state in the country. Of our 50 I'm only aware of 2 (and they were fucking) that got it. Of course there could have been others that didn't know they had it. Funny, in early June several of us were speculating that we did have it (I remember being very tired in late February, etc), a mild "it" but "it." We all tested No for antibodies.

How bad did your place get hit?

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

How bad did your place get hit?

We have ~150 people, and not aware of a single person having caught it. We closed our offices in mid-March, before we were required to. We re-opened them in July, but our people just don't want to use them. Which is fine.

I miss the learning-by-osmosis about what's going on in the company that I get from sitting in the same office space with colleagues, but if they're not heading back to the office to work there, there's no point in my doing it, even if I did feel safe there.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

We have ~150 people, and not aware of a single person having caught it. We closed our offices in mid-March, before we were required to. We re-opened them in July, but our people just don't want to use them. Which is fine.

I miss the learning-by-osmosis about what's going on in the company that I get from sitting in the same office space with colleagues, but if they're not heading back to the office to work there, there's no point in my doing it, even if I did feel safe there.

the two people fucking would probably not have started fucking working remotely, so there is that too.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

the two people fucking would probably not have started fucking working remotely, so there is that too.

HR reports to me now, so I am supposed to frown on that sort of thing.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

HR reports to me now, so I am supposed to frown on that sort of thing.

in High School civics they said the workplace has three functions, and 1 was for couples, to you know, couple. that isn't ok anymore?

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

in High School civics they said the workplace has three functions, and 1 was for couples, to you know, couple. that isn't ok anymore?

Hey, things have changed since the 1950s.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally Posted by Replaced_Texan

We're supposedly working on a "one day a week" plan where we stagger back in once a week. No idea when this is supposed to start, but I imagine the next two weeks or so. I'm not adverse to the idea, just so I can get some affidavits signed on a regular basis without having to schedule three people to come in. But other than that, I have no real interest in a regular office time. I get so much more done here with my dogs instead.

If I know our country, we'll be back in lockdown by early October due to school and people being idiots. And we'll not try this ridiculousness for another few months.

Agreed. October is my prediction as well. No schooling. Teacher hired. Doing the pod thing with a few other families.

Spouse works in HC. Risk there is nearly zero due to already pre-Covid assiduous use of PPE. School risk? Near certainty of virus acquisition, as kids are most potent vector. No sense in taking that risk. Not out of personal fear of getting it (nobody I know who's had it recently has been hospitalized, and most have numerous co-morbidities). I just don't want spouse or I to be quarantined and lose business as a result. As you might guess, my view of the near term economic future is bleak, and I want to not only sustain but build businesses in this moment, to ensure most robustness before a deep correction (in more than the market) I think is coming.

He who survives this and survives it well is going to absorb much of the business from those who do not. I just wish I'd invested in R/E opportunities that were offered to me. But what sane person in 2019 would have bet on McMansions, and suburban residential R/E more generally, having a spectacular upside? Fucking title agents are making insane money right now. Title agents. Fuck me!

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally Posted by Adder

People say this, but it's nonsense. We wouldn't be voting by state any more. There's no reason to cater to "California" because there is no value in winning it as a state.

Yeah, as things stand right now, that means that Dems will campaign hard in cities and the GOP will campaign in smaller towns are rural areas, because that's where the marginal voter are for each of them. But that's kind of what happens now, whereas without voting by state, Dems might actually show up in Houston, San Antonio and Austin and Rs might actually show up in the Central Valley, Orange County or Northern California.

Elections would still be won on the margins, but instead of parochial issues, those margins would be on policy and substance. That's fair. Wyoming getting a veto over national policy is not.

You admit that it would be better. Why are you writing words?

No, we're effectively saying that people who choose to be more isolated have exactly as much say as those who choose to live together.

Well, I guess I have to say it, so I will. We can't really have true democracy because, as de Tocqueville said, the common person will vote himself the riches of the treasury until it is bankrupt.

Putting aside MMT, which one should as it is a scary concept, it seems we have that sort of voting going on right now via lobbyists. Corporations and oligarchs are voting themselves control. And look what we have. Fucking shitshow.

Is the answer giving the common minded man control? Is it false to say that he who herds together with everyone next door in all desiring the same thing aren't exactly the brilliant minds who'd be taking us into the future? Would they not merely lead us into a stagnant European welfare state? Granted, that is arguably better than what we have now, but that improvement is just trading one defective situation for another.

I have to believe there's a better answer. I also have to believe that, having met the common folk on the right and left, as have you and everyone else here, you realize a lot of these people probably should not have the right to vote.

The country works best when a good blend of elites (read, not the "elites" of media or academia who've never met a payroll or had any real metric applied to them and are therefore dangerous abstract thinkers), right and left, balanced, is the best way to run the country. But of course, at all times, giving the people the belief their vote significantly counts.

We have people running on "Hope," "Compassionate Conservatism," "MAGA," and now, "I'm Not Trump." And these people succeed. Are the last two decades not proof enough democracy here simply does not work?

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally Posted by Replaced_Texan

hey!!!

You're so purple in the future I think you'll be dictating left one year, right the next.

My state is in the same boat.

[Did you just call me Coltrane?]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

Wreck a knee in a violent skiing accident and get back to me on that, Viking.

Knee surgery at 17. Ambulance picked me up on the soccer field. I remind the kids that I was leading the team in scoring when that happened.

[Icky Thump]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

So I do think people coming in is good. But definitely get some not wanting to. Our secretaries are in about 1 day every other week. Any given day about 1/4 of the attorneys are in. Mostly for meetings that are likely more productive in person. I agree with Sebby that my best thinking comes during a workout, but "our best" seldom comes over Zoom. But even when I was at a show face place, drive an hour and a half to show face at 5:30? Fuck no.

Coming in is one thing, but understand that at my place coming in doesn't count unless someone is there and sees you. That was before and that is now. So if you worked 90 hours in a week and no one saw you:

And I've had to chill people on the "should come in" emails. We regularly send out email saying if you are doing fine working from home, God Bless. This isn't just for safety; I also don't want to be sued for urging people into getting a disease. How can a PI firm
not get that risk?

Dunno, especially when mask usage and ventilation is lacking.

So my place had 50 people working close together early March. Then we turned into the 3rd worst state in the country. Of our 50 I'm only aware of 2 (and they were fucking) that got it. Of course there could have been others that didn't know they had it. Funny, in early June several of us were speculating that we did have it (I remember being very tired in late February, etc), a mild "it" but "it." We all tested No for antibodies.

How bad did your place get hit?

They aren't candid with the information, but at least half of one floor where superspreader sat and coughed all got hit. So looking at a 40% hit rate for that floor. No one knows the seriousness of the cases, but thankfully, no one has died and they all seem pretty mild and resolved -- for now.

And they have told people who did get hit "Why are you worried, you have the antibodies, right?"

[Adder]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

Well, I guess I have to say it, so I will. We can't really have true democracy because, as de Tocqueville said, the common person will vote himself the riches of the treasury until it is bankrupt.

What about the electoral college inherently prevents that? Not something about your current understanding of the politics of sparsely-populated states, but something that comes directly from giving extra weight to the votes of people in those states? There's nothing. Because de Tocqueville was full of shit on this.

Putting aside MMT, which one should as it is a scary concept

One should put aside MMT, aside from the obvious observation that deficits and government debt to not matter in very low interest rate environments with no crowding out of private investment and no upward pressure on rates. There is a world where "we can't afford it" is a thing, but we haven't seen it since maybe the 1990s.

Would they not merely lead us into a stagnant European welfare state?

You mean happier, healthier, better cared for, and housed? Yes, give us a European welfare state. Yeah, they've been marginally poorer than us overall. It's worth it. Especially when that margin goes literally to a tiny handful of people.

I also have to believe that, having met the common folk on the right and left, as have you and everyone else here, you realize a lot of these people probably should not have the right to vote.

Nope. I'm an elitist prick, but I'm not that much of an elitist prick.

The country works best when a good blend of elites (read, not the "elites" of media or academia who've never met a payroll or had any real metric applied to them and are therefore dangerous abstract thinkers), right and left, balanced, is the best way to run the country.

That shit had some credibility, maybe, before the Gingrich revolution, but there are no such people on the right anymore.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Icky Thump

Coming in is one thing, but understand that at my place coming in doesn't count unless someone is there and sees you. That was before and that is now. So if you worked 90 hours in a week and no one saw you:

At my last Big Law you had to come in Saturday. There was one guy who I'd see come in, sit in his office for a minute, then pick up some news article or memo, walk all the way to the CEO's office. Talk to him for a minute, then he'd leave.

But my favorites were Randy and Mahesh. They had their own ways of letting people know how much they worked. Mahesh would tell you: "I worked to 9 last night." Randy was more subtle: "Yes, Mahesh did stay until 9. I saw when he left."

I told someone who stayed there after I left about Mahesh and Randy. About a year after I left he forwarded an email. Mahesh send an email firmwide one Monday: "I had a client meeting Sunday afternoon in the second floor big conference room. I left my pen. If anyone found a pen the room please let me know."

I was never so impressed.