JoB
Diana..
i contacted one of the ladies mentioned..
i suspect she wouldn’t want to be called a kid.. but from my perspective.. she qualifies… not just because i am quickly bumping up against ancient.. but because she is a student.
since moving here i have “hired” students who were trying to earn their contribution to a charitable program… and would do so again in a heartbeat if they weren’t fully scheduled until they leave…
i have “hired” friends and friends of friends and their kids for extra muscle… every time i moved or remodeled or put in a garden or… .
Unfortunately the resources I have used in the past are at least 3 hours travel time from here.. either by car or plane.
i would love to cultivate a new group of younger people to help me. My ambition is large and my strength limited but my increasing physical isolation limits contacts.
I don’t think you have any idea how many of us sit in our homes and wish our bodies could do what they used to.. or that we had someone we could call for a helping hand now and then … without concern for our safety… and without paying the added cost of a business service.
The thing is that there are some of us for whom the underground economy works very well. It’s generally cheaper.. and those who are paid cash generally work harder and take direction better because they are dependent upon your satisfaction for their pay… and it is easier to schedule last minute…
We won’t be expensing them to lower our tax burden … so paperwork isn’t so important to us.
The relationships we form with the people who spend time in our homes is what matters most… knowing who will show up and that we can count on the quality of their work and that we enjoy having them around is far more important.
My parents were practicing this form of living off the grid long before i was born.. and their parents before them. Many a child has financed an education and many a parent paid the cost of the expenses that exceeded their wages utilizing the underground economy.
and before you go there… I know and understand the ramifications for both the poor and our society of employing people who may or may not comply with licensing laws and/or taxes… I also know the risk i take when i employ someone who is unlicensed…
but i also know that most who choose the underground economy do so out of economic necessity… either because they can’t find a job that fits around the time constraints of school or starting a new business or because they can’t find a job at all or because the job they can find doesn’t support them.
i trust that every person i hire understands their own obligations under the law as they pertain to licensing and taxation… and have made the best choices for their own personal circumstances.
My guess is that anyone making enough cash money to meet their basic needs is soon going to find themselves with more work than they can handle and will soon find a need for the protection as well as the complications of business licensing.
in the meantime.. i am still working on setting up my own little list of resources and would appreciate emails from those who are able to work intermittently at a wide range of tasks.
the kids i hired who were working towards their charitable contributions laughed when i told them i was renting their bodies.. but we sure got a lot done in a short time.