Money on the hoof
Three times this week someone has knocked on the front door asking for money. First it was a random delivery driver who required a signature and charge, but the card machine conveniently didn’t work so cash was needed. Luckily I had a 20€ note. Then the lovely chap who checks on the municipal water channels turned up asking for the 55€ annual fee – only in cash. He looked askance when I told him I certainly didn’t have that much dosh on me. So he agreed to come back the following day by which time I’d be able to get out to the local ATM in the town. This was followed by a local tradesman wanting cash. This is always a complete pain in the rump because I have to schlep into town on foot (never any parking these days) to get cash when I should be working at my desk (earning money in order to pay tax!).
To be honest, I get a little weary with the cash economy up in my neck of the woods. Many people still work on the black while the rest of us mugs pay oodles of tax. The only time it’s to one’s advantage is if you pay a tradesman’s bill in cash which therefore doesn’t carry the exorbitant IVA cost too. These days this is a rarity though.
If you work out that the average manual labourer or cleaner in Soller charges at least €20 per hour (tax free) or indeed more to wealthy second home owners, their weekly income isn’t too shabby if they work an eight-hour day, six days a week. That could average 4,000€ per month income completely tax-free. In the summer, most of these workers are working flat out in the heat and earn a lot more if working for a holiday home or yacht company, such is the demand. Meanwhile, I work a minimum of six days per week all year doing stuff that I enjoy immensely but it’s very full on and often stressful. I juggle multiple plates at all times at all hours. First there’s the joyous part: plotting, crafting and writing books, then the interesting yet adrenalin gulp of having to get journalistic articles done to deadlines, and finally, there’s media training and consultancy which can take me all over the world. I most certainly am not in a cash economy sort of job and as a freelancer and business owner, I pay handsomely in tax terms for the privilege.
So, yes, of course I understand that I have to pay for cash for an odd job needing doing and luckily have some fantastically skilled and trustworthy people I can call on who don’t rip me off, but as a general rule, I feel the system is definitely stacked against us. We are the dolts who keep the snapping jaws of the tax machine rumbling along to the benefit of all – including those that don’t contribute a jot.
Amazon boycott
A lot of author contacts have been lamenting the fact that their income has dipped hugely since the Amazon boycott instigated by the People’s Union of the USA this month. I have my books distributed to UK bookshops and they are available in print and eBook form across many other channels so fortunately I haven’t been affected. However, I really feel for those self-published authors who purely make their income from books sold on the site. I also feel for small tradespeople that rely on this income to live.
Is it fair that they should suffer because an advocacy group in the USA wants to punish Jeff Bezos and make a point about DEI and corporate greed? These naïve, well-meaning fools think Bezos is going to roll over, hold his head in his hands and cry but no, people, he won’t. He is a billionaire who could literally cope with amazon going off-grid for a very long time. In fact, he could in the future he possibly get bored with it, pass it on for billions and go and retire to Mars. For the likes of Bezos, the People’s Union of the USA, has as much impact on his business as a small gnat nibbling at his flipflop.
Talking of which, all these deluded poor folks who are celebrating the sales drop in Tesla cars should also get real. Do they really think it will hit Elon Musk where it hurts? Has he not got enough other businesses already plus billions in the bank not to care? Yes, siree. It may slightly dent his ego should they continue to fall but Elon can always walk away and throw the car keys over his shoulder when he gets bored.
Tit for Tat
There’s been a furore about Britain’s plan to charge visitors from the EU £10 to enter the UK but in fairness, can you blame it? Britons will soon be charged 7€ for the privilege of travelling over here, so it’s simply playground politics of tit for tat. Personally, I think both ETIAS and EES are both a nonsense and should be disbanded as they’ll cause endless headaches for travellers and will entail loads of unnecessary red tape and admin, but then politicians the world over aren’t known for their commonsense, are they?
Trump defectors
Yawn, yawn. A stream of Hollywood actors are apparently defecting to Europe following the appointment of Donald Trump and many have tearfully threatened to leave X since it was acquired by Elon Musk. For these poor, fragile souls with bursting bank balances, countless staff and lackies carrying their luggage, I have some alarming news: no one cares.