24/7 Chat About Anything

[Morgana]

Oh, man, be safe! and keep your getaway back handy and gas in the tank!
Fingers crossed.

 

[wayne49]

Morgana,
The reason for the LLC and professional liability insurance is establish that you are an independent contractor, as opposed to an employee. Employee status would create extra paperwork, liability, and taxes for the "employer".

I was an independent IT contractor for a few years, and I used an umbrella corporation (not the Umbrella Corp. of Racoon City) to handle the contracts, payroll, sickcare insurance, 401K, etc. More lucrative than being an employee.

 

[Morgana]

Morgana,
The reason for the LLC and professional liability insurance is establish that you are an independent contractor, as opposed to an employee. Employee status would create extra paperwork, liability, and taxes for the "employer".

I was an independent IT contractor for a few years, ... More lucrative than being an employee.

Thanks for the explanation, wayne49, but in fact an LLC distinguishes you from other types of independent business entities, not from employees. I've been freelancing for 14 years as a sole proprietor. You don't need an LLC to be an independent contractor.

The need for these legal papers varies hugely from one type of work to another; there's no one blanket answer. In my case, the reason for the LLC and liability insurance = purely because the client wants it and the client seems worth it.

Some freelancers earn more; some in-house staff earn more. In my line of work (copyediting), pay in both tracks goes from very poor to very good.

 

[NctryBen]

Morgana... my take on the LLC is for instance you did get sued, they couldn’t go after you for your personal things like your house, car or whatever. Liability insurance is huge also for that. The sucky thing is there are people that will go after your liability just because they feel they can and if they just lie a little they have a chance of winning.
I hope it’s cooling down for everyone... thunderstorms are forecasted here tomorrow... I got sucked into another week working. But I will officially be retired from fire/ responder service on Wednesday. Getting there..:

 

[travelaround]

Hello - the smoke is thick in my town tonight. The nearest fire is about 6 miles from here as the crow flies, but 14 miles on the river highway. It is called the China2 fire because it is near China Peak. Also near Fort Goff.

The much larger, more concerning McKinney Fire is more than 50 miles east of me. The map I posted earlier - I should have said - is an evacuation map, not an actual map of where the fire is right now.

The Klamath River Community Center burned last night along with nearby homes... but Quigley's Market was saved, which is a good thing for their community. A forest town without a market is almost nothing... like Horse Creek - it used to have a market, and now it is... almost nothing. Hard to tell there was ever a town there.

What's more shocking is that the western edge of Yreka is evacuated including the big senior citizen mobile home park, and Fairchild Medical Center, our hospital has been evacuated, along with other neighborhoods. The rest of Yreka west of I-5 is under an evacuation warning.

I'm staying indoors due to the smoke and heat. I'm not feeling healthy enough to pack my van. I can only wait here and hope that we'll be safe this time.

 

[Morgana]

my take on the LLC is for instance you did get sued, they couldn’t go after you for your personal things like your house, car or whatever. Liability insurance is huge also for that.

Ben, exactly. I was worried about the contract -- I've been asked before to sign off on some crazy liability language (basically, "although this is a large group in which every single member has the power to override you, you agree to let us blame you for anything that goes wrong") -- and you would not believe how often educated people in prestigious organizations have said to me "it's just a formality, we'd never actually do that, just sign it". UH, NO.
I worried that they might think all this liability protection was a good excuse to use the creepy contract language. But their contract was really decent. And in almost plain English. These might turn out to be good 'uns.

I got sucked into another week working. But I will officially be retired from fire/ responder service on Wednesday

Man, there needs to be a party.

 

[Morgana]

I'm not feeling healthy enough to pack my van. I can only wait here and hope that we'll be safe this time.

PLEASE get somebody to do it for you then. At least the basics. Including making sure your vehicle is ready to go. I know it's a lousy feeling but for safety's sake, push through! You've got people around, right?

 

[maki2]

Seniors in a triple digit heat wave should not try to "push through". Worry and stress can be as dangerous as physical labor. Trying to get others such as her family that has young children to get everything done for your own self can make one feel guilty and that too creates mental stress. Better to grab the essential evacuation documents, clothes and the van itself and just leave rather than overdoing it with stress and labor.

If she wants or needs it as a result of getting burned out again the nomad community will rally around her and get the van liveable including providing some materials. The caravans will start up again in Pahrump in October as well as the HOWA van build session. There will be many skilled and generous people there who would come to her aid including myself and others who know Linda through this thread. I am not wealthy in dollars but I am handy.

Now I had better get back to focusing on my list of task for the day while I have some solar input. The monsoon rains limit the number of solar hours in the day to mostly before 11am. So I have to get some task done in the morning including charging up my drill motors and little hand vacuum. Not complaining about the weather, it is in the 70s today! Soggy afternoons are much easier to live with than triple digit heat. The people I camp with were inside much of yesterday afternoon but the rain stopped around 6pm and then we all came out and enjoyed each other's company for a while.

 

[Morgana]

Nobody was suggesting a major project -- just enough to be able to help oneself quickly if a life-threatening event occurs -- and I absolutely do stand by that.

I sincerely hope that everyone who is within the forecasted range of these fires, plus a nice fat margin of error, is ready to bug out on short notice -- preferably with enough supplies (e.g. medicines) to take care of themselves until they can access services.

Also that however you get emergency notices -- phone, internet, radio -- is fully functioning, preferably with a backup method.

I am glad that there are resources for the long term but the first concern still needs to be staying safe right now.

That just seems like basic common sense to me.

 

[user 423]

TA is a smart lady and I'm sure she'll figure it out.

Stay safe.

 

[NctryBen]

Wow TA... see reports. I’d consider going just to get out of the smoke. Big thunderstorm rolling my way right now. I just couldn’t imagine being in such a fire concern area. But your much better able to know what your in for and such having gone through what you have. I understand what everyone is saying for advice here for TA... I’ll bet there is no one monitoring those fires as she is. Maki had a good point though. Should it come down to it grab what you can and go... And she’s right in saying there would be people rallying to help her if needed. But man, enough already with the fires!
Yep Morgana... they let me choose the flavor of cake for Wednesday night. So Doug (abnorm), I’ll have a good reason to not be in chat Wednesday. Haha!
Gonna sit out this storm in my new to me rig... it may not be as hot here, but humidity is a bit much. Scrubbed my toy hauler section floor this afternoon. Very grateful the stains were not permanent. I have the perfect rug for there. Hmmm, now to start loading tools to bring... what should I bring?? Haha! This spring I officially turned over 600,000 miles on my truck. So I am saving for an upgrade down the road here.

 

[jacqueg]

TA - I guessI'm paranoid, but I think you should get out NOW. Trying to flee on those narrow mountain roads when everyone else is also fleeing ... well, it's very bad news.

I am currently camping on someone's private property very close to the ocean. Air is clean and temperature is cool. I'm sure the owner would welcome you, PM me if you are interested. You can always go back when the fire is under control.

 

[maki2]

nctryBen bring lots of that maple syrup. You can trade it for anything else you might have forgotten.

 

[abnorm]

Uncle Ben's ?

 

[travelaround]

Thanks for all the caring, concern and advice everyone. That place near the ocean sounds so tempting Jacqueg. Today the tribe is inspecting my trailer for the first time since I moved into it. Tomorrow I'm supposed to get new rear brake shoes. So far there's no evacuation warning for my town, but I don't know why. That fire seems close. As soon as the inspection is over I'll take more things out to the van. The triple digit heatwave is over.

 

[SLB_SA]

Last year Rohner Park in Fortuna was used as an evacuation location; people were camping there for several days. I have driven on those roads (SR 3, SR 96, SR 36, US 199, SR 299, etc) off and on for ... 50 years; those are not roads you want to be driving on in a fire zone. Happy Camp is quite isolated; the recommendations to leave are well intended and wise.

 

[maki2]

Happy Camp is a fairly small town, less than a thousand residents. Evacuation does not mean a mass of humanity on what would currently be the 2 escape routes heading out of the, one south, the other north to Oregon neither road heads towards the coast of California or Oregon. Looking at the map definitely the easiest way to Happy Camp is from Yreka but that route is where the fire is.

Yep going shopping for shoes and clothes when living in Happy Camp is not at all convenient other than by mail order. Nor is getting materials for a van build or a house either. But from the photos I have seen it sure is a lovely area of the country.

 

[NctryBen]

wow, what a beautiful night here. Very little humidity and barely 70 degrees. I’m so tired I don’t know if I can sleep. I had one task to do yesterday evening. Get a couple dozen eggs from my buddy Troy. There was a guy pulled off the main highway overheating. That was eight... got home about eleven. Feels good when you can help someone, but I got maybe an hour sleep Saturday night ( my pain issues went through the roof). So last night I had a short sleep when I really needed it. So I’m cooking some butter garlic chops, baby red taters and hit the hay!
I’ve got a group of kids working summer help. Never have I been so happy working with a group of kids. I’m trying to give them some kinda fun jobs to do. They just go for it.
Kira and I moved our beds into our new rig. Plugged in for now... but I’m going to try moving away from my power and see how that goes. I’m hoping to have a little better system in this rig.

 

[maki2]

Ben...Do we get to see photos of the outside of your new rig?

 

[jacqueg]

Thanks for all the caring, concern and advice everyone. That place near the ocean sounds so tempting Jacqueg. Today the tribe is inspecting my trailer for the first time since I moved into it. Tomorrow I'm supposed to get new rear brake shoes. So far there's no evacuation warning for my town, but I don't know why. That fire seems close. As soon as the inspection is over I'll take more things out to the van. The triple digit heatwave is over.

Just let me know.