Sequester Friday

March 1, 2013

Sequester Friday

Filed under: Whatever — pjsauter @ 6:10 am

Welcome to March, and the first day of the “Sequester.” Assuming you’re not a government employee or contractor, you won’t really be noticing anything different for a while. I don’t really see anything much happening to end it until March 27th when the Republicans decide to let the government run out of money and shut down rather than eliminate the tax break on corporate jets. Who knows what’ll happen after that, but I figure one way or another, some kind of bad shit will trickle down on me.

We’re also officially popeless, which I know is hard on everybody, but hopefully the College of Cardinals can order some pizza, wings, and young boys and get bust electing a new pope by St. Patrick’s Day. Somebody who hates gay people, doesn’t think women should be priests, and things sex should only be for procreation (unless you’re a priest, in which case anything goes and he’s got your back).

So I finally became one of the cool kids when I got my iPhone the other day. It’s not an iPhone 5, just a measly 4s but it’s a lot better than the Blackberry I had before that. I must admit, it’s very pretty (at least until you touch it – it’s definitely a fingerprint magnet, and not just the screen but that nice shiny back and the silver apple on the back.

Of course, now my BB charging stands have no use, and I had order a new charging stand and case, but that’s the price of progress, I guess. So far, iOS is OK. I think I prefer Android a bit, but it’s close. There aren’t really too many differences. Getting the free Google and Roku apps was kind of a pain, because I had to deal with both the Apple app store and iTunes for some reason. But once I got through the initial double registration hoops they made me jump through, it was OK (Google Play is easier to use, as is the Amazon app store).

I played with Siri a little bit, but she seems pretty humorless. I think she needs an emotion chip or something.

Oh well, since I don’t work at Yahoo, I guess I’d better get back to working from home – at least as long as they let me.

Have a good Friday (so to speak).

Comments (8)

Oldest Comment

8 Comments

I am amazed at how much play the Yahoo telecommuting story is getting. That’s good though. There was an interesting discussion on KQED the other morning. Apparently this Yahoo head fancies being the next Carly Fiorina or Meg Whitman. As is usually the case, she will not be the one who suffers from her edict and has a ton of bucks to ease her way. I have a theory that many ‘bosses’ who don’t trust their employees to have a work ethic to do their jobs are in fact slackers themselves who think everybody is just like them.

Our local med school UCSF will be hit with significant losses of research money from this sequester but just wait until the howling starts from the military-industrial complex when their funding starts dissipating or congress critters inconvenienced at the airport trying to get out of DC.

pj, you should probably trick out that new iPhone with a a little protection. The cases and screen protectors are probably more reasonable for the 4s if you stay out of the Apple Store and look on line. One thing I notice having my lowly 3G hand-me-down is that the apps are often not supported for the earlier iOS and sometimes when you update it kills one you had that worked and the new version is incompatible. I lost my Shazam and MLB apps to this.

pjsauter Reply:
March 1st, 2013 at 2:23 pm
Oh, I already ordered a cheap case and screen protector and a cheap charg/sync dock. Just got it today. Amazon, about $25 for everything, including free 2-day shipping. I would never get near the Apple store for anything. The only reason they call them “geniuses” is as compared to the clientele.

vernon Reply:
March 1st, 2013 at 2:35 pm

Comment by vernon — March 1, 2013 @ 10:15 am

Oops.

White House Embraces ‘Jedi Mind Meld’ Meme: ‘These Cuts Aren’t The Solutions Americans Are Looking For’

pjsauter Reply:
March 2nd, 2013 at 5:16 am

Comment by vernon — March 1, 2013 @ 4:52 pm

I the geniuses at the Genius Bar, in defense of those chaps and chappettes (yes, if you compare them to me they are indeed smarter in their field).
For maps, I use the google version on my iPhone – much better.
I just got this for ze iPad and LOVE it; great for the uber-ergonomically challenged like moi.
So I had to rent a car today to go to KS. Car rental guy insisted I try their frack-mobile. I asked if there’d be problems finding cng…..nawww, no problem. WRONG. Had to ditch the car in KS and pick up a regular fossil fuel model to get home. That cng car smelled on occasions, too.

pjsauter Reply:
March 2nd, 2013 at 5:19 pm
We had a resident who fancied himself a computer guru, and also worked as a “genius” on the side. I don’t know if he was a genius as a doctor, but as a techie? Not so much.

Comment by OKat — March 1, 2013 @ 8:31 pm

RE: How Will Sequestration Affect SSA?

Sequestration’s mandatory budget cuts are scheduled to take effect on Friday, March 1, 2013. The press has reported that “Social Security will not be affected.” This is not completely accurate. It is true that the payment of benefits will not be affected. However, the sequestration cuts will affect all other aspects of SSA, including the day-to-day operations of the Agency, by reducing SSA’s administrative budget.

According to the SSA Fact Sheet on the effect of sequestration on SSA’s operations, field office and hearing office operations will be impacted, although the timing is not clear. SSA estimated that sequestration will result in longer waits in field offices (average of 30 minutes) and for the 800-number. Pending levels of initial disability claims would rise by over 140,000 claims and would have to wait about two weeks longer for an initial decision. Sequestration would result in the loss of over 5,000 more SSA employees.

At the hearing level, claimants will have to wait nearly a month longer for a hearing decision and the progress in reducing the hearings backlog would be eroded. While SSA will try to prioritize reductions to avoid furloughs, they still remain possible. With each furlough day, ODAR would not be able to hold 3,000 hearings.
h/t NOSSCR

They’re already working on reduced hours……

Comment by OKat — March 1, 2013 @ 8:34 pm

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Morning Seditionists

March 1, 2013