We've just returned from two weeks at the Adirondack camp owned by my wife and her siblings. It's on an island in the middle of a lake, reachable only by boat.
It's the definition of peaceful. The only TV is off-the-air. We're so far from the TV stations that even a big pre-amplified antenna brings in only one or two stations, which vary with atmospheric conditions. If you can watch the NBC Nightly News today, tomorrow NBC might be too weak to see, but CBS is now watchable. Usually, but not always, there is at least one watchable channel.
Cable doesn't come anywhere near the island, and satellite TV requires a clear view of the southern sky. When you're surrounded on all sides by 75-foot pines, you don't get a clear view of ANY sky!
We have all the latest conveniences: electricity, landline phone service, running hot and cold water, indoor plumbing, a reasonably modern kitchen and propane heat for those cold mornings. What we don't have is WiFi or, in fact, any access to the internet, and this makes it hell-on-earth for teenagers.
When teenagers arrive for a visit, they immediately turn to their cell phones and explode in shock. No bars! In panic, they run around the island looking for a "hot spot" where they can get a bar or two and reconnect with (their) civilization. Cell phone service has improved this year, and they can get weak signals, but not enough to support internet access.
Their next concern is how to get back to the internet and Facebook. "It's simple," we say, "just get in the boat, cross the lake to the mainland, get in a car and drive 12 miles north to the Old Forge Library where their is 24/7 WiFi access in their parking lot." Too young to drive? That's a problem!
Now we're back home, and taking a couple of days to deal with a two-week accumulation of mail and grass. Our rain gauge shows we received 5 inches of rain since we left, and our neighbor says most of it came in a single night!
During our time away, I ventured north to the library parking lot several times. It's an interesting place. The lot is filled with cars, and the cars have people using laptops, cell phones or iPods to pick up their email and browse the web. The rustic benches under the trees are filled with people using laptops. Every so often, someone actually goes into the library looking for an ancient artifact called a "book." I understand that this is a very exciting event for the librarian!
Anyway, we're back, so your inbox will again be filled with messages whose subject line begins with "WNY retirees." My first project will concern the coming attack on the NYS teacher pension system. How do I know it's coming? Because the governor said so. "Reform" of the public employee pension system is the one thing he identified as being sorry he couldn't get through the last legislative session, and it's his highest priority for the coming session.
Every attempt will be made to switch from a conventional "defined benefit" pension system to a 401-k-like "defined contribution" system. Here's the problem: a "defined contribution" system costs twice as much to provide the same benefit to the retiree as a "defined benefit" system. Can you see where this is going?
We'll start the discussion in the next day or so.
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