Gator

I spitballed the 60K figure based on the cost of pensions divided by the number of retirees. It could be more or less, but I do know that there was only a single pensioner taking home >$300K (and he'd worked forever) and only 7 folks taking home more than $200K. Nobody is getting rich, for sure. Since I'm not in the public sector, in truth I know jack about how it works. I see Brian chimed in; I wonder if maybe our resident officers might?

Based on the pension numbers that I saw reported for NYS policemen, the average works out to ~$60K a year. That's average - so there must be a significant portion who make less than that. IMHO it would be tight living on a pension of that size, particularly if it's taxed and you have a family with kids getting toward college age. And I don't know how it adjusts for inflation...if you retire at 42, you hopefully have lots of living left. No wonder so many cops retire to second careers. All in all, and doubly-so given the current climate, I bet they earn every penny of that pension.

Why does somebody always have to go there? Sigh. I was talking to a young recruit this morning who seemed to know a bit about the subject, and my impression was that the 25 year retirement pension in effect now, as has been true for years, has retirement income pegged to the final three years of service, so there's good incentive to stay on.. Nevertheless, Gov. Hochul has continuously opposed a reduction to 20 years, which would make ecos equitable with other law enforcement, and the optics of this aren't great. It sounds like the cost to the state would be minimal, if 8 million dollars is minimal lol. But in the words of the person I was talking to, "I'm in at 22, out at 47, and I'm doing what I love". You have to respect that.

Any chance there's some way to corroborate? I can't find anything supportive online, and while I obviously appreciate what you're saying, it's tough to go in guns-a-blazing without solid premise. Thanks!

I use Pline on my spinning rods for crappie and walleye, but agree that the higher tensile strength material doesn't seem to perform as effectively as Seaguar.

Yup, that's a good 'un. Not that I'm an expert, but my top pike(s) have been 17 lb, and that looks bigger to me. Scotty had something on upstream a few days ago that ripped him a new one but didn't fight like a silver. I wonder if it could have been a similar or even the same fish.

You had to go there. Not untrue though.

As a hard core scientist, I can tell you that God did a great job when he planned this whole existence thing out lol. It all makes sense, if you ask the right questions. Crazy cool.

There's a lot of pooh-poohing about this, but I think it's cool as $hit. I mean, just the history of eclipses and the mythology surrounding them is enough for me to want to see one. IMHO, it compares favorably to looking at a bunch of rocks in Mexico that some Mayans once used as a temple or sitting on your couch Sunday afternoon watching some guy try to knock a small white ball into a hole (both of which I've done and enjoyed lol). And the whole four minute thing makes it better. You don't have to waste a day driving somewhere, dealing with bad food and dudes hawking selfie sticks, you just need to go outside and look up. IMHO, the value you place on experience isn't inherent, it's subjective and reflects what it means to you. Even if you don't personally care much, there are folks who are just out of their minds about this eclipse. And good for them! Heck, most folks don't see the value in freezing your a$$ off to catch a three pound brown in March...

The big difference here is that you only need to look up to see the eclipse. I'm skeptical that it's going to be as bad as they say. But what do I know? I'm a Yankee, but I'm not from Connecticut and I've never been in King Author's court.

And maybe don't take a picture of the eclipse with your phone. I'm told that you should use a solar filter or risk damage. This is secondhand intel.

That sucks. At least you know you likely killed him clean since he was so close in that thicket. We found a deadhead from a buck one of our guys lost last year during bow, and it was similarly very close to where the meager blood trail ran out, but we thoroughly covered the area where it was eventually found...and so I think it expired later. How much later? Not too long, I hope. The best you can do is try to take as ethical a shot as possible and do everything to retrieve the animal. But just like in life, sometimes **** happens.