How is everyone doing in the federation? i have been pleasantly experimenting with Mastadon. I like it for the most part however I never was a Twitter / micro blog/tictoc ect user either.
Watching the drama enfold with twitter. definitely a lot of emotion, drama with some of that exodus, but at the same time business wise I cant see how the company will remain unscathed or profitable with some of its decisions. the positive side is the drastically increased user base, interest and participation or donations towards Open source and non-centralized social media. i cant help but thing this will have a positive impact there.
it made me really think about all the info, data and pictures I have on facebook. I have been looking into Hubzilla and friendica as replacements. Hubzilla looks more interesting and future proof. i don't see enough users to get a good feeling on good setups, and pages or what to shoot for, or usable on a realistic manner. groups, and Marketplace are more of my must haves, but i don't see that enacted in the fediverse. what are good strategies for migrating things over. where do you keep it all, i don't see that much data working well on small instances. should i rent a server and do my own thing? how does that look in reality?
I am hoping there is a few tax lawyers or at least tax informed peops out there in Mastadon land.
I have a unique tax puzzle/situation
Alaska resident, stationed in Virginia. Active Duty Military. retire in a few months, which in itself has a lot of tax implications I am not used to.
everything is set up to go to school using my MGIB. as long as I go to school full time I remain an Alaskan resident. I get to keep my vehicles registered in Alaska, and dont pay Virginia taxes. i can make a little extra income with a fed program, tax free but limited to 20 hours a week at Virginia min wage. first couple months and first year out is anticipated to be the most difficult financially, very much on my mind. I suspect I'm not calculating a lot things that will have inpacts.
Problem set 1 - if i work, or maybe even think about working, Virginia forces me to change residency, pay Virginia taxes on my military pension, and switch my vehicles over (which may or may not include use tax). it also means i cant get unemployment as I am not a Virginia resident, and wont be in Alaska.
Problem set 2 - I have a CDL i got through the military. a good deal i thought, so i did what was needed to submit everything, took my written tests...kinda been a pain honestly, real id was a nightmare. Virginia has some grey area stuff and I'm not so sure that Virginia wont make me switch it over even with full time school. there was some vague text in the law when i was looking into it. didn't get warm fuzzy answer that was solidly yes or no. part 2 of this is I was intending to go home to Alaska and work during the summers while in school. those jobs require an Alaska drivers license or CDL. if Virginia switches it over ill have to switch back and forth through out the year which is a pain. possibly dangerous as i wont have the stability or backing of the military/laws with that aspect so I'm a bit transitory. my home of record wont be usable anymore, family hasn't lived there in decades. wont have enough history in Virginia. May get stuck without anything switching license back and forth.
Problem set 3 - here is the 2020-2022 issue. remote work has become more prevalent. in theory if i work remotely i would pay taxes based on either my home state of Alaska, or the state the company is in. so technically i can get around some of these issues. i keep finding the little nagging voice in my mind that states simply haven't dealt with the problem enough yet and suspect Virginia may come after me later.
Really just looking for advice on how to not get a surprise bill for my left leg, lifetimes worth of wages or future of spring in surprise back taxes, while also not trying to lose my residency or get trapped in no win scenario. hints/tricks on setting this stuff up. i have seen things about several of these issues, but not combined like this. the first year of school/military separation is going to be rough, so i wont have a lot of leeway for a bunch of surprises. the remote work thing really twits things up even more but maybe a decent solution for part time work. I fear ill lose my mind if I don't do anything when not at school.
I have 4 months left. This year has blasted past. its already way to late to change my mind, I have approved retirement orders in hand with the end of march set solid. I still find I flit back and forth about becoming a civilian. its depressing, exciting, full of dread, full of future possibilities, sad, Loss, overly happy, proud, overly patriotic, exhausted, energized. somedays all of that at the same time.
I have to really force myself to keep to my plans. as I get closer to getting out, I keep wanting to change things up, in ways that don't even make sense. feels like I cant make up my mind on anything right now.
#alaska
#soldotna
#SoldotnaAk
#Kenai
#KenaiAk
#Seward
#SewardAk
#Homer
#HomerAk
#KenaiPeninsula
#Anchorage
#AncGov
#AlaskaTwitterMigration
#AlaskaMastodon
#AlaskaTwitter
#AllThingsAlaskan
#asatru
#iceland
#liveaboard
#sailing
#boatlife
#sailboat
#ODU
#Engineering
#MechanicalEngineering
#AerospaceEngineering
#AgriculturalEngineering
#permaculture
#SilvoPasture
#3dprinting
#solidworks
#veteran
#Navy
#NavyChief
#CPO
#GoatLocker
#democraticeconomy
#DIY
#robotics
Hello Mastadon!
A quick intro
- I am a Boatswain's Mate Chief Petty Officer, in the U.S. Navy. I am retiring this March after 23 years.
- going to school at ODU for mechanical engineering. Being a retiree veteran student is far harder than I thought, the info takes more to fix into my head.
- I primarily operate and train others with small boats, coastal warfare. That roles has changing into a systems engineering role with boat systems (AC & DC electrical, propulsion, fuel, plumbing, hydraulics, septic, hvac and refrigeration ect). I update install or repair theses systems and make stuff work together.
- currently I am in an executive level training and strategic planning role. Planning and running large scale global events and scenarios, simultaneously with multiple units. Not a lot of excitement but lots of spinning plates.
- I was born and raised in Alaska and I'm still very engaged in supporting and protecting my beautiful home state.
- very interested in agriculture and specificly within Alaska. The state produces 5% of its own food and everything is shipped in.
- I'm more into the design side of mechanical engineering, how things go together and effect the corresponding systems. Likely to expand into aeronautical engineering for that fulfilling impact type of stuff. I also have interests in agricultural engineering and robotics ect. I especially interested in how engineering can help us create a better society.
- I'm incredibly interested in #politics and protecting our democracy.
- I'm often found on my sailboat or on the water somehow. Fishing, kayaking, boating, doesn't matter. The water and lifestyle is in my blood, the Navy is just an enabler.
Have a good day
#introduction
#alaska
#veteran
#navy
#sailing
#boating
#outdoors
#engineering
#odu
#solidworks
#cad
#excel
#politics
#democracy
#asatrú
#agriculture
Mechanical Engineering student at Old Dominion University, Norfolk VA
Chief Petty Officer (BMC) Retired - U.S. Navy 31Mar2023
Systems Engineering, Project Management, Training, Strategic Planning @ U.S. Navy 10Mar2000-31Mar2023
Sailing is a way of life
Alaskan born & raised
#alaska
#soldotna
#SoldotnaAk
#Kenai
#KenaiAk
#Seward
#SewardAk
#Homer
#HomerAk
#KenaiPeninsula
#Anchorage
#AncGov
#AlaskaTwitterMigration
#AlaskaMastodon
#AlaskaTwitter
#AllThingsAlaskan
#asatru
#iceland
#liveaboard
#sailing
#boatlife
#sailboat
#ODU
#Engineering
#MechanicalEngineering
#AerospaceEngineering
#AgriculturalEngineering
#permaculture
#SilvoPasture
#3dprinting
#solidworks
#veteran
#Navy
#NavyChief
#CPO
#GoatLocker
#democraticeconomy
#DIY
#robotics