Warranty Irony

[yogi]

One of those DIY set ups I ran across had either nine or twelve monitors, I forget which, so that the person sitting in front of them was totally immersed in what was gong on. The chair was one of those mesh material things and the controls were all on the arm rests. The chair tilted so that it almost was horizontal too, and the monitors were arranged to curve so that you had a good view even if reclining. My first thoughts as I looked at that were the same as yours. How did he manage to spread the output of his computer over 9-12 screens? It's not all that uncommon to see such a thing, but there is some technology I don't know about going on there. I guess video servers are not the same as data servers, or something.

[Kellemora]

I have two monitors on the Silver Yogi. The one inside my desk if from the VGA port through the KVM, the other is running off the HDMI or whatever port on the MoBo. Wasn't sure if it would work, but it works great, and I can either mirror the monitors so they both show the same thing, or use them like a single wide screen. I tried it the latter way, but then had to go searching for my mouse all the time. I still use it as a single large screen when I'm editing and rewriting though.

I've seen 6 port video cards in the computer store, but all of them are over 250 bucks, some as high as 600 bucks.

I got to thinking about the guy with 12 monitor and I seem to recall he said he was using two USB Graphic Adapters to power them. I thought about that about an hour or so after I sent the message and was on to doing something else.

[yogi]

It's been a while but I am fairly certain the Silver Yogi has two sets of video processing chips; one each for VGA and HDMI. I am surprised to learn they can both be used at the same time. If that nVidia card didn't trash the motherboard connector, you would have three (or more) ports. The laptop I've been having all that nVidia problem with supplies graphics to the built in monitor as does the Intel chips on the mobo. It seems to be either/or and not both. The unused channel gets disabled on the fly. There is also an HDMI port on the motherboard so that I probably could have an external monitor going along side the native display. Now that I think about it, I am certain the ASUS tower for my desktop has the same arrangement.

$250 for a single channel graphics card is not that unusual. Some of the newest technology put out by nVidia goes for nearly a grand per card. I'll be getting one of those at the same time I get one of those 24 core µP's from Intel.

[Kellemora]

When I was having a computer built for me awhile back, like three computers ago. They almost put a MoBo in the box that did not have graphics on it at all. I'm glad I caught that before giving the go ahead for them to use it.
Then they said if I go with a MoBo with graphics, I have to buy a more expensive CPU that powers graphics.
Not worded that way of course.
I felt the guy was pulling the wool over my eyes, so instead of going with the expensive Intel set-up he was pushing, I went instead with AMD which was my favorite anyhow.
I've never gone back to that guy, and went with my older guy much further out, simply because of the way he does business.

The new guy only sells computer packages for fixed prices. My old guy charges for the components used, plus a small assembly and testing fee. This is one reason why he always come up so cheap on my computers. I never took the cheapest BioStar MoBo board, nor the cheapest Asus MoBo, always went with one at least two grades up. Same with the CPU, never the cheapest, but one almost double in price, but not as expensive as the super good ones.
I didn't know about bus speeds, so usually went by the CPU speed, and RAM chip board speeds.
I've never been disappointed by anything he built for me.
I will say the Silver Yogi does outshine all of those older computers I used to use, even without the fancy graphics card.
I've never had it bog down regardless of what I was doing with it.

I have done some of my FarmTown game on a high-speed gaming computer that cost well over 5 grand that belongs to my step-son. FarmTown is about the most extensive game I play, and honestly I saw no difference in how it played. But it's not like those streaming shoot-em-up war games he plays, which does take a fast computer and special handheld console to play the game properly.

On another note: Had a chance to talk to the IT guy across and down the street from my by a house. He's really secretive about what he does inside. But I did learn he is running local servers for several business the last time we talked.
My main question was if he knew someone local who wouldn't charge much to do simple things, like install more RAM or swap out a power supply for me, without going all the way out Kingston pike to my guy out there.
He said he did, but they would cost a lot more than my taking my boxes out to my regular guy.

Dig this, I noticed a GREEN cable running into his house. I know this is a fiber optic cable and we don't have fiber optics here. So I asked him how the heck did he get fiber optic when we don't have it here. All he said was that is my personal line, I own it and paid for it to be run from Chapman Highway to my house. Wasn't cheap either, he added.
So, I figure, he must be making mighty good money running those servers in his house. Plus whatever it is he does for all these companies that he is out and about hundreds of times a day, hi hi.

[yogi]

You would be surprised at how little I know about building computers. I know the theory and probably could get any software to work, eventually, but I can't tell you off the top of my head what is a good mobo or the best processor. I'd have to do some look-see at reviews from other people and make up my mind from that. If you wanted me to build an AMD based PC I could do it, but either you would have to supply the specs or I would have to spend a lot of time researching what is current. Most of the PC guys you deal with know that stuff off the top of their head. Replacing pieces, such as memory or power supplies would be a no-brainer. I did that for a living at one time. Unfortunately, I live further away from you than does your favorite tech. However, I'm sure I can match or beat his price, excluding shipping. LOL

All the fiber optic cables I ever saw are orange. I don't know if that is some kind of standard or not, but the color certainly has no baring on performance. There's a place in Chesterfield where I can buy cable if I had something to connect it to. Owning my own line isn't a big deal. It's the connection to the switch that gets expensive. I never saw it written in our HOA covenant, but I'm pretty sure they frown upon anybody running a business from their own home. Not to mention O'Fallon having zoning restrictions as well. l'd guess your neighbor is keeping a low profile because his operation isn't exactly within the limits of your local ordinances. Either that, or he works for the Russians. Have you notices any unusual accent when you talk to this guy?

[Kellemora]

Well, I run a business from my home and have all the years I lived here.
I do stay under the radar because we do have some rules about doing work from home, if it is done in the home.

The main rule is that you cannot have clients coming to your home. Such as if you were doing retail out of your house.
But they usually don't say anything about perhaps four or five clients per month coming and going.
Many people now work from home, either on computers, or for making phone calls.
Writing, doing artwork, etc. has never been disallowed for doing in your home, provided you do not turn your home into a studio for customers to come view your work.

Because I do blend ingredients and package a liquid product, technically that is considered industrial I imagine, which is not allowed in residential homes at all. But because I only have around six shipments per year, I've not been caught yet.

But there is something a little bit more serious. My LLC is in Missouri, where it was formed, and now is active because I have a Registered Agent in Missouri. If I conduct business here in Tennessee, I have to have a business license as a foreign entity doing business in the state. Now this license is cheaper than having an LLC in TN, but still expensive. In MO an LLC is cheap and a once in a lifetime charge to get. Big difference between the two states.
To prevent doing business in this state without a license, all orders came through my St. Louis based ISP e-mail account. And all billing went out through them too. In other words, all financial transactions were made in Missouri.
The fact I packaged and shipped from here, may or may not be consequential, since I did not sell any products in this state.

Then I hit a snag, and decided not to worry about it. When my St. Louis ISP closed down, I switched my e-mail to Comcast.
Since Comcast is everywhere, I assume technically me e-mail is everywhere also. In other words, not necessarily sent from a particular state. The bank I used in Creve Coeur grew and changed hands many times. Even so, my registered bank is the one in Creve Coeur, MO, although I can use any satellite bank I chose, and we have a dozen near me down here. So even though I may get a check in my mailbox here, and deposit it in a local bank, the actual transaction is shown as at my St. Louis branch. So I think I'm still clear of any wrongdoing.

Back in St. Louis, if you ran an office from your home, no biggie as far as your equipment being taxed. You buy a computer you use for business and work, it is still your personal computer. You could also buy one exclusively for your work and take the depreciation on it on your taxes.
It doesn't work that way down here. If you are using a computer for work purposes, even if it is your personal computer, it is considered a business machine and taxed accordingly, as is any other machine or item you use for business.
This is the main reason my Office is in a detached building, which happens to be my garage, but my office is nicer than most folks master bedrooms. Everything here in the office is for business purposes, and I do not mix stuff for personal use with stuff for home use. Not even the reams of paper I buy. I keep several reams down at the house as personal, and several up here in the office for business. If I bring a personal ream of paper up here to the office to do some personal printing on, it is marked HOME USE.
Speaking of which, you know the new HP printer that doesn't work right. It sits up here in my office taking up space, but has a label stuck to the front, HOME USE ONLY. I did this so I don't have to figure toner usage for home use printing, it still has toner in it, hi hi.

I know this is getting long, but I would like to touch on one other thing.
I pay Rent on the Storage Sheds, and on my Office.
I had this Office and the two Storage Sheds BEFORE we owned this property.
The original owner is who established how much I should pay in rent for the use of this part of his garage, for the storage sheds, and for my share of the utilities. He figured if I paid 1/7th of the utility bills it would be a more than fair amount.
After he passed away, his wife still owned everything, so I paid her.
After she passed away, it all became my wife's and her sister's property.
I bought out her sister's share of the property, so my frau is now the sole owner.
I saw no reason to change what I was paying, only to whom I was paying it to.
Since the combined amount never crossed the 600 dollar mark, not even close, the former owners never had to worry about paying income tax on the meager amount they got from rents.
And since the frau was retired when she took over the property, and we do show it on our income tax forms each year, she's never been stuck paying tax on that little bit of income.
BUT, it is a valid and legal business deduction! I checked with an attorney to make sure too, since we are married.
Her name is not on the LLC, and my name is not on the Deed to the property. So we are good to go.

[yogi]

I'd have to think really hard to determine the exact location of your place of business. LOL The point of being explicit boils down to taxation. Everybody want's their fair share of your business money. While I'm not very familiar with any of this I would instinctively say that the place of incorporation, your LLC, is the location of your business. You have branches it other states and must be obligated to those other states for any earnings derived therein. You're not entirely a virtual business, as your e-mail address would imply. There is your office headquarters which is tangible while that incorporation site and e-mail site is not. It's tricky and I'm glad you got some legal advice to support your contentions. What you and Deb are doing sounds legal to me, but then, I'm not trying to get any tax money from you. Besides, what can they do to you? Your meager profits can't pay the taxman anyway. They'll put you in jail for tax evasion, sure, but then you get free room and board plus meals. Can't be all bad.

[Kellemora]

An LLC is a pass-through company. This basically means whatever profits I draw from the company are taxed as my income.
But the company itself is still allowed all of its legal deductions for materials and consumables, and equipment repairs, etc.

Using an aka or dba as self-employed opens a whole different can of worms. There is not much you can deduct as a business expense because you are not a business entity. About the only thing you can deduct are the raw materials to make the product, if you sell a product. But the tools you use are personal tools and cannot be deducted as a business expense.
A painter can deduct the cans of paint, because technically the customer is buying the paint, but they cannot deduct their paint brushes. Disposable rollers yes, but these too are often charged to the customer. So all of what you make is considered income, with very few allowable deductions.
Much better to be an LLC! Even in states where they charge a bundle annually.

[yogi]

I've read a few things about LLC's and have a limited understanding of how they operate. In my mind, however, I was simply trying to determine where on the face of this earth is your company located. That location might have tax repercussions. The complication of taking orders in one state and fulfilling them in another is something your company and the taxing bodies of the world have to work out. Operating across state lines, as your company is, might be a legal complication. I'm thinking that the place where you incorporated, or became an LLC, is the actual location, on paper anyway.

The IRS knows how to calculate taxable income and I'm sure they were more than happy to help you understand it all. LOL I never really thought about it but DBA's are not legal entities, not corporations in other words. That's why they don't get the same tax deductions. It's a process more so than a business entity. I think politicians invented it just to be able to collect the fees associated with filing your name.

[Kellemora]

When I filed for my LLC, which was done through an attorney of course, the Missouri fee was like 107 dollars one-time-charge. Here in Tennessee it is like 150 dollars to file plus an additional 135 dollars annual fee, the annual fee is naturally paid annually.
Missouri had series LLC's where TN does not have series LLC's. You have to get a separate LLC here for each name you operate under.

As I said earlier, an LLC is a pass-through corporation or partnership, depends on how you set it up.
Now here is the sticky part by operating out of state.
Missouri has personal and corporate income tax. Tennessee has no personal income tax, but they do have corporate.
If all business is conducted in the state of Missouri, it only seems logical that it would owe state income tax.
Except, being a pass through corporation, the corporation itself has no taxable income. That's the beauty of LLC!
Now the Federal Government wants their share of the taxes, so whatever the LLC passes through to the owners, that money is taxable at whatever tax bracket the payee must pay. Doesn't matter what state the payee lives in.
Here is the best part, the payee is an individual person who pays their tax under their social security number.
What the LLC pays to the payee as a person is Individual Personal Income. Where the person resides at the time of payment is what state gets to collect state tax. Since I live in TN, and TN has no personal income tax, I owe no state tax. It's treated about the same way as investment income.
My LLC's only presence in MO is via a Registered Agent. There is no physical office, and no physical manufacturing plant, in Missouri. Ergo, no inventory is sent to Missouri for use in the making of the product, and no finished products are shipped out of Missouri, but there is a catch-22 here too. I cannot sell or distribute my product in either MO or TN, because that would open up a whole different can of worms. For years, all of my product was shipped to California, but now I ship directly to two distributors in Nevada, so we don't cross the California border, and nearby Georgia. California has some strange laws which are best to avoid if at all possible.

I should note there was a 3-1/2 year span of time where Missouri did collect income tax from me, after I moved to TN.
Remember, I used to live in MO for a dozen of my companies years of operation. So had to pay income tax on what the LLC paid me. There were several equipment items that were used for depreciation on those taxes. So I still had to pay taxes to MO on those items until the depreciation ran out. MO law requires certain items go by a depreciation schedule.
Where TN lets us take the cost of an item as an expense. Caveat here too. You can only take so much in a given year, so most companies stick to depreciation. But the equipment I buy is not all that expensive, so if I take it as an expense all in one year, I'm perhaps out only about 100 bucks for the second year, and 20 bucks for the third year. So for me it's worth it just to say, I'll take the loss instead of all the added bookwork.

[yogi]

After thinking about it a little, the location of your company has no relevance in an LLC situation. Each state has their own ideas, but the Federal IRS only sees income. They don't care where it comes from, legal or otherwise. The question on my mind now is how does Tennessee exist without personal income tax? LOL I guess the corporations are paying through the nose, or there are a lot of other taxes that nobody else has. Tennessee is not the poorest state in the union, but even if it were the cost of running it is not trivial. I can understand why people want to move there.

[Kellemora]

The state gets their taxes in many other ways.
They tried to add an income tax, and since it was voted down, they upped the sales tax by 2% making it 9.275%
Doing that actually netted them more than if the income tax passed, due to the number of people who would not be taxed on their income.
Contrary to what they want you to believe, our real estate taxes here are more than double of what mine were living in Creve Coeur, MO. And to add insult to injury, we are taxed TWICE, once by the county and once by the city, for the same services.
Although true for most states, we are taxed on nearly everything, and much higher than many other states.

I do know Saint Louis County has the highest Personal Property Tax probably in the entire country. But they don't apply PPT to everything as some states do.
One of the frau's cousins lives in North Carolina where they have PPT on riding lawn mowers.
That's one of the few things not taxed yearly here, hi hi.
Here in TN they SAY they do not have PPT, but that is only because they call it by another name. Here it is called Wheel Tax. It is $15.00 for every tire that touches the ground, so on a 4-wheel vehicle it is $60.00, plus $3.50 office fee.
If you have a dual-wheel pickup truck, the tax is $90.00, plus the $3.50 office fee, IF it is NOT used for Commercial purposes. Then of course we have the License Plate which is another tax and based on a few factors about the vehicle.

They also have a Tax which applies to the purchase or rental of anything within an airport zone. Even a hamburger at McDonald's has a very high tax rate if they are within the airport zone, which covers a HUGE area.

Almost everything that is taxed by the city or county has a state tax included with it. In other words, if they collect a tax on anything, the state gets a percentage of that too.

[yogi]

I'm in St Charles county but I think the taxes here are equivilant to where you lived near St Louis. Compared to Illinois the real estate tax is at least 50% less, but there is no personal property tax in Illinois. Apparently only cars and boats get the PPT here and that depends on age and the number of miles on the car. I paid $102 for an annual sticker on the car in Illinois, plus whatever the village wanted. Down here it's something like $35. Given that Illinois had no PPT, it was a better deal for car owners up there. Also the air pollution testing that had to be done up north was "free." and down here it's something like $70. To be fair they test more than the exhaust fumes in Missouri, and I understand they are trying to eliminate that testing requirement. All in all the cost of living here in O'Fallon is about 20% less than living in a Chicago suburb. Then again, the cost of running a government here isn't like what it is near Chicago.

[Kellemora]

The St. Louis County PPT on my 97 Blazer was over $600.00 per year for the first 5 years, then it started going down a little. Down here the PPT aka Wheel Tax is $60.00 on a 4-wheel vehicle. This did not include the license plate in either state.

I don't think I paid over 30 bucks for both the safety and emissions tests when I lived there.
They don't have any such tests down here.
But if your car is smoking, either black or white smoke, the cops will nail you, and you have to have it fixed.

[yogi]

I have two cars dating back to 2009. The Toyota has over 100k miles on it while the Saturn is just over 80k. I'm being assessed about $200 for what they say s collectively worth around $3,000. I've been paying this for three years and it has stayed pretty close to the same each year. Throw in the cost of the safety test and these cars seem to be costing me more to own in Missouri than in Illinois. The mitigating factor is that the price of a gallon of gasoline is about 50 less here in OfFallon than up near Chicago. The insurance is identical, which doesn't make sense because the traffic density down here is about half what it was in Illinois. So, overall, the annual cost of ownership is less due to the lower gas prices.

[Kellemora]

I had four 1977 series 6 Chevy LUV's aka Isuzu Mikado small pick-up trucks I bought all at the same time.
I sold the two most used about three years later, both only had about 75k miles on them, never a repair bill.
The other two only had about 30 to 40k on them and I used them both for work, depending upon the job I was doing.
I sold the one with the higher mileage about 60k by them to another contractor, and kept the other one until it was well over 200k miles. Amazing for a 4 banger as hard as I drive them. The only thing replaced was the fuel pump and it turned out the original fuel pump was OK, just a clogged filter. But we didn't it had a filter in it until after it was replaced. Back then a new fuel pump was only around 20 bucks if that, I'm thinking 14 bucks plus another 25 to have it installed.
I did change the carburetor although it didn't need changing, I just happen to come across a Weber downdraft racing carburetor for it and swapped them out.
I really loved that little truck, but it was becoming an eyesore in the neighborhood the way I had it rigged out.
I simply gave it away to someone who needed something dependable, and this truck sure was.

OK, about the taxes. When they were new, my PPT was only about 150 on each, which I took as a business deduction.
Later on, when I only had one left, and it was now around 10 years old, the taxes were only about 75 bucks.
When I had the 4 LUV's, a Van, and 2 cars, I bought Fleet Insurance for four drivers, then cut that back to two drivers, both over 25 years old, which made a big difference in the cost. Only around 300 bucks every six months for two drivers.
Then when I got rid of one more vehicle, I couldn't have fleet insurance anymore, so cut all the way back to one Van for me, and one car for the frau. Then I our insurance went way up to 300 bucks every six months for each of us.
My insurance rates did not drop down to around 150 bucks every six months until we no longer drove so many miles per day.
Ruth started working at St. John's less than 7 miles away, and I was working from home, not out and about.

[yogi]

The semi-annual insurance premium for the cars has been hovering around $300 for many years. lt didn't change at all when we moved down here. That means I'm paying about $1200 a year for automobile insurance. I'm guessing I have more riders on my policy than you do on yours. LOL

[Kellemora]

I carry full-coverage on my wife's 2002 Blazer, only because we often rent cars to travel back home or to go on local trips.
If you have full-coverage on your newest model vehicle, the insurance covers rental vehicles.
On my old 97 Blazer I only have liability, but at two tiers higher than required here.

We also have a state controlled insurance binder all insurance companies must offer.
It is only the lowest liability policy but for dirt cheap, something like 9 bucks a month for a compact car, 12 bucks for a mid-range car, and 16 for a full-size car, van, or suv.
Me and you would probably consider certain cars as full-sized cars, such as a Ford LTD. But what we would normally think of as a full-size car, is really only a mid-range size car to the insurance companies.
All the big muscle cars we had in the 50's to 70s were all only mid-size cars. Back then, a Mustang or Camaro was a small-size car, but not considered a compact car, like a VW or Toyota.

I checked into that super cheap insurance and I really wouldn't want it. Not at the price of other cars these days. You only have 25k of liability, so if you hit a 36k car, you are stuck paying the difference.

When I worked at MRTC we did not have to have car insurance, because the company provided each of us with a 500k dollar surety bond, placed in our name as our insurance coverage. Missouri allowed surety bonds in lieu of insurance at that time. They still may. It was part of their financial responsibility law I think. We had a card we carried in our glove box similar to the insurance card to show proof of financial responsibility.

[yogi]

When I win the lottery I'll get myself a surety bond. LOL There was such a provision in Illinois too but I don't recall the minimum financial responsibility you had to prove. I'm thinking it was something like $25K. Could be wrong about that. $12 a month for car insurance sounds like a pretty good deal. You are right about the cost of new cars, but unless you total the victim of the crash that's not what the claim in going to be. And even then they don't value the car at retail cost when it is totaled. Most fender benders come in at less than a few grand. I can almost deal with that out of pocket. The medical liabilities, however, are a whole different discussion.

[Kellemora]

Uncle Jim was broadsided on the drivers side door.
He was hit so hard, the door itself was pushed into the car mangling his left arm, which was later amputated due to unstoppable infections, and his left leg was literally crushed both above and below the knee against the steering column.

The person who hit him was doing like 80 mph in a 45 mph zone, and although he did have insurance, it was only like 50k/100k the 100k for bodily injury.
Although that was the extent of the insurance policy, the insurance company itself extend that to 250k, why I don't know.
And my uncles own insurance company came up with another 400k, the combined was not enough to cover his total medical costs for the first 6 months. He had numerous injuries from this accident, but most of them healed up over time.
His leg would never heal well enough to support his weight, and without his left arm, he could no longer do the job he worked at for years. Plus due to infections in his arm before they finally amputated, he was sick as a dog for close to two years.
His insurance company filed the suit against the other driver, which is how i think the extra 150k came into play. But although they could sue the driver, he was basically judgement proof. He owned nothing, but still lived high on the hog.
My uncle on the other hand not only lost his car, he also lost his house, since he couldn't work at a job paying enough to keep it. They moved in with his wife's family while he was in rehab, and after he did return to work, and with her working, they managed to get a small condo.
He had so many internal complications from his injuries, he only lived about seven or eight more years.
Although sad, it was probably a good thing, because all the years he worked for A&P as a butcher, he built up quite a pension and had an excellent life insurance policy through them also, so his widow was well cared for after his death.