Half a day is spent on collecting and analyzing the confidence vote. The results of the confidence vote have no impact on the plan except as a baseline for the next PI.
Calling it a "grift" may be harsh, but "Havana syndrome" as a result of some kind of Cuban sonic super-weapon that happens to have the same noise as some local crickets was definitely an enormous stretch. That plenty of people played along with it to the extent that bills were passed allocating funding for the treatment of these people might not be a grift but it's certainly something extremely peculiar. With US healthcare in the state that it is, I get that some people might need to be creative to get treated so I can't exactly blame anyone (nor get mad since I don't pay US taxes).
My guess is more of a mass hysteria situation combined with politicians that are exceptionally credible toward anything the military says than a conscious grifting.
When Mt Saint Helens erupted there was an account from a survivor who raced away at 100mph, passing a car traveling at 80mph and seeing the slower car disappear into the ash cloud with little chance of surviving. Even in in the most extreme events your proposed limit is adequate.
Well, I wouldn't even though I'm also a remote developer working in SE Asia for a company on the other side of the world. However, if it helps you do what you need to do, then it's absolutely worth it. Time zone issues are killer. I can't tell you the number of meetings I've missed because Japan doesn't participate in the daylight savings time dance. Google calendar is a bit better than before, but the UX is still actually pretty uncomfortable when you are trying to think, "What time is that for me and what time is that for them". (Incidentally, there is a new feature in Slack where when someone messages you it tells you what time it is for them -- this has helped me a couple of times).
I hate calendar apps generally, so like I said, I'm not going to pay for one. But I can definitely see paying a measly $50 if it comes with UX that helps out.
Having said that, I found the article a bit heavy on app recommendations and light on actually useful tips for working remotely (especially remotely in a very remote timezone).
Google GSuite is about $15 per user per month for Enterprise, and most users only really use Gmail, Calendar, and maybe Drive. That's more than $50 a year for a calendar.
