Friday, December 22, 2017

Weekend Reading: The Coming Out of the Whirlwind Edition

So... I have verbally accepted a job offer. The paperwork should arrive soon, but given the fact that most people are taking time off right about now, I might not get it signed and formalized until after Christmas. Still, it is a done deal, so I can tell people about it.

I will try to write a little more after Christmas about the job (a good fit work-wise, paying a little less than the last new job but with more flexibility and in a better location for me) and the weird experience of the last few weeks. For now, I'll just say, wow, that was a whirlwind experience. My December involved: starting a new job, losing that job along with all my colleagues, interviewing for a new new job, and getting that job. My head is spinning a bit.

But, let's get to the links!

In self-promo: if you're looking for a last minute gift, may I suggest an ebook gift card? I sell a printable gift card for all the Annorlunda Books via GumRoad. You select "Gift Card" as the purchase option, and download the gift card file instead of the ebook files. You print and fold the gift card into a cute little card with the book cover image on the front and instructions for how to get the ebook inside. You wrap up the card in a nice box and there's your gift!

Here's the blog version of a thread I did on who'd like each of the Annorlunda Books as a gift.

And now for the other links:

Josh Marshall's take on the new tax bill rings true to me. I honestly don't know what will happen to my taxes beyond knowing that this is certainly not a simplifying "reform" for me. I have tried a bit to figure it out, but I think I'll just have to wait and see. I think that because we are itemizers that live in a high tax state and have a pretty big mortgage, we'll end up paying more overall. But we'll never know unless we take the trouble to figure out our 2018 taxes under the old and the new rules, because of the change in my job situation.

We'll be OK, though, so my concerns are less for my own personal finances and more for the fact that we're already hearing talk of cutting Medicare and Social Security to "fix" the deficit that just got ballooned in the tax bill. I'm also worried for what the loss of the individual mandate will do to health insurance markets. I am feeling like I made the right decision when I decided to go back to having a "regular" job and the benefits from it.

A Mother Jones story about the hacking of climate scientists that looks a lot like the hacking around our election.

Rebecca Hamilton on the limits of "naming and shaming" and why some survivors of sexual assault and harassment choose not to publicly name the guilty.

This is a good post about the difficulties around discussing what actually happens to women.

Dean Winslow on how speaking his mind about our gun situation cost him a government position. For what its worth, I share his opinion that we should allow people to own and shoot weapons like the AR-15, but only at a gun range. I wish we could take up discussion of a sensible idea like this in our Congress. Instead, voicing an opinion that our current situation is ridiculous got Winslow's nomination put on indefinite hold.

Here's something I want to read but haven't had time to read yet.

Well, those are all downers. Sorry. Go read some nice fiction to feel better! Here's one of the stories recommended in the Inbox Stories that came out on Monday. It is sweet and happy and will make you smile.

Funny... AND a bunny!




And here's another bunny:


That's all for this week. Have a wonderful Christmas, if you celebrate! Enjoy the end of "Christmas songs in every store" season if you don't!

6 comments:

  1. Congratulations!!!!����

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  2. Congrats on the new job!

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  3. Congratulations on getting your new job.

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  4. Socal dendrite7:53 PM

    Wow - congratulations!

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  5. EarthSciProf8:50 PM

    Congrats on the new job! That's fantastic

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  6. Oh wow! I am so, so impressed by you! Congrats on the new job!

    ReplyDelete

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