mdyetmetaphor.com

Hmmm, is your job about to sink beneath the rising AI tide?

Oh, how I long for the good old days when we only had to worry about being replaced by a machine or a computer. Now we have to add Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) to the list of threats to our job security.

In my case, it is not an issue any longer as I will be officially retired as of March 31^st. I was able to hold onto my job and the salary it brings with it long enough to finish my working career despite the non-human entities trying to supplant me.

Before I delve deeper into this issue, let me state that I have an issue with the term itself. It falls into the same category as vegetarian lasagna. My point of view: If there is no meat in it, you cannot call it lasagna. Similarly, if it is artificial, you cannot call it intelligence. The experts will no doubt disagree with me on that point.

If you are still in the workforce, the news is not good. An article I just read reported that in a survey of 3,000 managers: a) 65% admitted that they would be happy to replace employees with AI tools if the work was comparable b) nearly 70% said it would benefit their business financially if they were able to replace employees with AI tools.

These are alarming statistics. If you are wondering if your job is at risk, the roles that supposedly could be replaced with AI include: web development, financial advisor, sales, public relations, human resources, graphic designers, marketing, administrative.

How ironic that web development is on the list. If you are working in that particular field, the job description for the person in the next cubicle may well be: Make the people around you obsolete.

The ethical question of whether we should allow machines, computers and AI to replace real, talking and breathing human beings would appear to be on the brink of becoming mute. The replacement value system is along the lines of: Because we can, we should as soon as humanly (pun intended) possible. How the displaced workers will earn a living seems to be relegated to the not my problem category.

An equally frightening consideration is how the cyber crime underground community must be salivating at the prospects. Imagine the dollar figure a ransomware pirate could demand once his or her program locks out the AI program that a worker-free company is now relying on. I am thinking six figures at a minimum. Add a few zeros for Fortune 500 companies.

Generative AI is a rising tide that arguably has no banks to contain it. If you are thinking of retiring early, now might be a good time before the shrinking island you are on slips beneath the tide for good.

~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once

Tags:   AI · artificial intelligence · metaphor · Michael Robert DyetComments Off on AI: The Rising Tide

Hmmm, how little they ask and how very much they offer in return.

I do not talk much about my fascination with butterflies. Most people understand birdwatching which I enjoyed for many years until my chronic back problem forced me to give it up. But when you confess that you chase the smaller winged wonders, you tend to get the “Oh, that’s interesting” response coupled with a furrowed brow.

For the record, I do not use a butterfly net as some afficionados of this pastime do. So I am one step removed from the nature geek gamboling through meadows sweeping his net at anything that takes flight. I use binoculars which leaves casual observers free to assume I am watching birds – a misconception I am happy to leave unchallenged.

Why am I fascinated with these delicate creatures of glorious summer? It stems at a high level from my general love of nature in all its forms. But there are specific reasons why these winged wonders fascinate me.

The simplest of the reasons is that many of them are quite visually stunning like the Baltimore Checkerspot above. I still remember the day I first spotted one. My heart fluttered (pun intended) and I was desperate to get a photograph of it. Beauty inspires me particularly when it is fleeting as butterflies are by their very nature.

Learning to identify these diminutive and often look-alike creatures is an intriguing challenge. There are some butterflies that are unmistakable on sight. But often I must apply a combination of field marks, habitat, season, geography and even behaviour to make an I.D.  Case in point: Tiny Skippers like the Crossline Skipper above.

But if I am being completely honest, the main reason I am drawn to this pastime is because it is a reprieve from the increasingly fractious and often inexplicable affairs of the human race.

Butterflies have no hidden agenda, no axe to grind, no prejudices and no selfish desires. They do not compete to see who can acquire more wealth or power, expect more of me than I can offer or enter into conflict for reasons that made no sense to me. All they ask is that I appreciate their simple elegance and do my best to protect the fragile environments in which they live.

The Butterfly Effect metaphor – that a butterfly flapping its wings can have an impact thousands of miles away – demonstrates that little, insignificant events can lead to significant results over time. But for me it means simply that the sight of one of these winged wonders can bring me peace of mind and spirit I often cannot find anywhere else.

~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Diet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week

Tags:   Baltimore Checkerspot · butterflies · Butterfly Effect · Crossline Skipper · Great-spanged Fritillary · metaphor · Michael Robert DyetNo Comments.

Hmmm, are we in a Catch 22 scenario when it comes to computer chips?

In anticipation of my retirement at the end of March, I decided to give myself a retirement gift. I ordered a DSLR camera, with an 18 – 135 mm lens, from the Henry’s website on February 18. Delivery was specified as four to eight weeks which meant it should arrive by mid-April. Perfect timing, right? Well, not so much.

Three months later the camera is still on backorder. The delay is a result of the shortage of computer chips for electronic devices and automobiles. I did a bit of Google research to try and get a sense a better sense of the problem.

The problem dates all the way back to 2019 when the U.S. placed restrictions on the export of American technology, including computer chips, to some Chinese firms. Chinese manufacturers responded to that blacklist by stockpiling semiconductors needed for computer chips.

Them along came the COVID-19 lockdowns when demand for work-from-home technology increased exponentially. Manufacturers had to compete for semiconductor capacity in Asian foundries. Downstream operations in Asia, in particular Malaysia, were impacted by COVID-19 creating further bottlenecks in the supply chain.

And then in early 2021, a couple of dozen machines were destroyed in a fire at a semi-conductor plant in Japan that makes about one in three microcontroller chips. Around the same time, power shortages caused by an extreme cold snap in Texas forced Samsung, Infineon Technologies and NXP semiconductors to temporarily halt chip manufacturing.

Other supply chain issues factor into the mix: labour shortages, ocean freight bottlenecks, increasing inflation, global port congestion, warehouse shortage, financial sanctions in Russia closing off transport routes, climate crisis regulations enacted to reduce emissions along global supply chains.

In summary, the not-so-short answer to the chip shortage is a combination of pandemic shutdowns, geopolitics, increased demand, supply chain issues and plain old bad luck. In effect, a perfect storm of circumstances.

But I believe there is another more insidious issue involved.

Whenever there is a shortage of a particular item, the unit price for that item skyrockets. Profit margins for the suppliers of that item get fatter. In theory, the unit price should come back down when the shortage ends. But the suppliers rather like the higher profit margin so they stockpile the item and release it in dribs and drabs to prolong the shortage.

So it is a Catch 22 situation. The shortage causes higher demand which causes higher prices which encourages the suppliers to hold back inventory which perpetuates the shortage.

The short answer as to when I can expect to receive my camera is Your guess is as a good as mine. I am a victim of the Catch 22 scenario. I may have to fly to Malaysia, meet a black market dealer in a back alley and hope they do not knock me in the head and run when I hand over my hard earned money.

~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Tags:   catch 22 · computer chips · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · supply chain problemsNo Comments.

Hmmm, if you treat me like I am a dime-a-dozen, you can kiss my business goodbye.

Shoppers Drug Mart is the latest retain chain to drive a stake into the heart of customer service. By all appearances they have joined the ranks of the “as much profit as possible while providing as little service as possible” corporations.

I dropped into a Shoppers outlet this week to pick up a couple of items. When I got to the front of the store, I discovered there was only one full-service checkout and I could only use it if I was willing to pay in cash. If I wanted to pay by debit or credit card, I had no choice but to use one of the self-service kiosks.

The message this sends to me is: We want your business but only if we do not have to work hard to get it. We prefer not to interact with you in any way. Get what you want, self-serve yourself to pay and get out. You are a transaction to us, not a customer.

I always harken back to a story told by a course instructor – I will call him Sam – a few years back when I encounter this type of situation. Sam wanted to attach something to the front door of his house. He knew he needed a special type of drill bit to drill a hole in the door. But he did not know specifically what type of bit to purchase.

Sam went to a Big Box store and explained to the teenage clerk what he needed. The clerk responded “That’s aisle 10” and walked away. Sam found his way to aisle 10 where there were several rows of drill bits. But he had no idea which one to buy.

Sam left the Big Box store and drove to the local hardware store. He explained to the friendly staff person – I will call him Joe – what he needed to do. Joe walked him to proper aisle and gave him the exact drill bit needed for the purpose.

Sam’s takeaway: Joe knew that it was not the drill bit I needed. I needed the hole in the door. Joe gave me the hole in the door.

I have no doubt that the “Serve yourself and get out” model – aka The Death of Customer Service – will continue to prevail in the big chain stores. They see us as a dime-a-dozen. Faceless nobodies with disposable income to be pried loose.

The big chain store’s vision is the automated store with no staff needed. Technology replaces customer service as it is much more cost efficient. No staff equals bigger profits. Patrons must be conditioned to interact with technology rather than with people.

I, however, whenever possible will patronize the local, owner-operated store where I am treated as a customer. Nice to see you. Yes, I can help you with that. Is there anything else you need? Thanks so much and have a nice day. I am willing to pay a little extra for service with a smile rather than be processed as a dime-a-dozen nobody.

~  Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Tags:   customer service · dime a dozen · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · self serve checkout · Shoppers Drug MartNo Comments.

Hmmm, how blessed we were by the musical gifts of Canadian icon Gordon Lightfoot.

In all honesty, I am not a big music aficionado. I did not collect many records or cassette tapes (yes, I am that old) and I have only a few CDs. I have attended a grand total of two music concerts in my 65 years.

It is not that I do not like music. As a writer, I am more drawn to the written word. The recording artists that do appeal to me are the ones who pen poetic lyrics or, in particular, story songs. No one occupied that niche more eloquently than Gordon Lightfoot who passed away this week.

Lightfoot had an impressive musical resume. Sixteen Juno awards. Four ASCAP awards for songwriting. Five Grammy Award nominations. Canadian Male Recording Artist of the decade for the 1970’s. Induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Canada’s Walk of Fame.

There was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run
When the wild majestic mountains stood alone against the sun
Long before the white man and long before the wheel
When the green dark forest was too silent to be real

I have friend who is a performer and did Lightfoot songs in his act early in his career. I have a vivid memory of him performing at The Olde Hide House Restaurant in Acton some 40+ years ago. He was performing Lightfoot’s Canadian Railroad Trilogy (opening lyrics above) when the sound of a train horn filtered in from a nearby railroad – a moment of perfect synchronicity.

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they called Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald (opening lyrics above) is my favourite Lightfoot song. It memorialized a piece of Canadian history that many would otherwise never have known about. Lightfoot captured and celebrated the Canadian identity better than any other musical artist. He truly earned the title of Canada’s Greatest Songwriter.

If you could read my mind, love
What a tale my thoughts could tell
Just like an old time movie
‘Bout a ghost from a wishing well

Classic lyrics from Lightfoot’s songs – such as the opening lines from If You Could Read My Mind provided above – are embedded in my memory. In retrospect, I wish I had taken the opportunity to see him perform in person.

From all Canadians, thanks Gordon for making the world and our lives better through your music. No doubt you have now been inducted into Heaven’s Music Hall of Fame.

~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week

Tags:   Canadian Railroad Trilogy · Gordon Lightfoot · If You Could Read My Mind · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · Wreck of the Edmund FitzgeraldNo Comments.

Hmmm, how many ways are there to embroider the truth in the world of politics?

I must start this post by declaring that I have to keep my source confidential. The individual who provided me with a copy of the Politician’s Super-Secret Tactical Handbook – let’s call him/her Deep Goat – did so at great personal risk. I had to promise the memorize the document and then destroy it to leave no paper trail.

Here are just a few of the tactics outlined in this never-before-seen, 800 page document.

How to Make Promises You Never Intend to Keep

Proclaim the promise with great enthusiasm and mock sincerity. Speak in broad terms and avoid specifics. Talk at length about the intent and how this action is long overdue. Do not talk about actual logistics. Furrow your brow and wave your hands a lot for maximum effect.

Remember that these promises do not need to be original. In fact, it is better if they are recycled as this makes it easier to deny that it was your promise when you break it.

How to Justify Breaking Promises You Never Intended to Keep

Choose the most expedient of the big three excuses:

#1: The mess left behind by the previous government was much worse than expected. You have to mothball your promise to focus on cleaning up their egregious mistakes and poor planning.

#2: You made the promise in absolute good faith. Unfortunately, the situation has changed in ways you could not have predicted a year ago when you made the promise.

#3: You were egregiously misquoted. The issue is something you promised to look into which you are in the process of doing and have engaged a consultancy for the purpose.

How to Make the Announcement of a Major Financial Handout

Make the announcement on-site at a business that stands to directly benefit from the handout. Arrange for 6 to 10 individuals in work gear to be standing behind you as you speak. These individuals need to be coached in looking proud but slightly uncomfortable.

Proudly proclaim the outrageous subsidy your government is providing is a carefully considered investment that will ensure the province / country will be the epicenter of the industry worldwide for decades to come. End with the obligatory, best buddies handshake with the CEO of the company receiving the handout whose other hand is deep in the public pocket.

The wealth of the tactics outlined in the Politician’s Super-Secret Tactical Handbook are methods for embroidering the truth with false, misleading or open-ended details. It is a fine art developed over centuries.

Stay tuned for more excerpts from the Playbook including How to Answer a Question Without Actually Answering the Question.

~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Tags:   broken promises · financial handouts · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · politiciansNo Comments.

Hmmm, what is this strange beast called inflation and how can we wrap our minds around it?

As I write this post, 155,000 members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada are on strike. A deal does not seem to be likely in the short term. Trudeau is too busy patting himself on the back for the deal with Umicore to build a new battery materials facility in the province.

The primary issue at stake is a pay increase that keeps up with inflation. (I will circle back to that nebulous term.) PSAC has drawn a line in the sand. The federal government says: Sorry, no can do. 3% annually is the best we can do. There does not appear to be a middle ground.

How each of us reacts a strike of this nature depends heavily on how directly we are impacted. It is a given that income tax refunds will be delayed. But the federal government refuses to extend the tax filing deadline. They can be late delivering on their obligations but not the rest of us. Can you say double standard?

In my case, having just retired, the strike potentially affects my first Old Age Security (OAS) and Canada Pension Plan (CPP) payments. Revenue Canada is already running late. I have received confirmation of the amount of my OAS. No word yet on the exact amount of my CPP. It has been in the processing queue for over six months. The strike may delay it further.

The process of applying for my OAS and CPP was exasperating in itself. Security questions up the wazoo and multiple codes I had to wait to receive by e-mail, text or in one case snail mail. Yes, snail mail. Each code had to arrive before I could proceed to the next step. I worked through my full repertoire of four letter words several times as I slogged through the process.

I am personally not in any hardship position where delays in my benefit payments are concerned. I have ample savings and my company pension has already kicked in. My biggest concern is having to get on the phone and wait on hold for hours, once the strike ends, to inquire about the status of my CPP payment.

There are retired people who are living from one benefit cheque to the next with nothing to spare. There are people on various forms of social assistance for whom their monthly benefit cheque does not come close to a livable figure at the best of times. From my perspective, Revenue Canada should pay them first. I can wait.

The background issue in this matter is the runaway beast called inflation which few of us really understand. In simple terms, it is the rate at which prices for goods and services rise and/or the rate of which purchasing power drops. But I am certain that this explanation is really just the tiny part of the economic iceberg that is above water.

I cannot help but wonder if inflation is in fact an artificial construct created at some point along the way which the powers that be can blow up or deflate like a balloon as they see fit and as it benefits them. Yes, I know that sounds paranoid and reeks of conspiracy theory. I would be happy to be disavowed of this suspicion. Feel free to educate me on the matter.

~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Tags:   inflation · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · PSAC strike · Public Service Alliance of CanadaComments Off on The Inflation Iceberg: What Lies Below the Water?

Hmmm, what better way to launch my retirement boat than to admire the first breath of spring?

I am now two weeks into retirement. You probably want to ask: Do you miss work? My answer: An emphatic no. Not at all. Not one bit. I do miss the people I worked with but two plus years of working from home eased that transition.

Mother Nature has smiled on me this week with a stretch of early April summer-like weather. A reward, it would seem, for hanging in and crossing the finish line. I have seized on the opportunity to get an early start on my retirement nature ramblings.

You may not associate butterflies with early April. But there are a few that spend the winter in adult form burrowed under the leaf litter in a state of diapause – a period of suspended development in response to adverse conditions. They emerge on the first warm days getting a head start on the season.

If you are a betting person, you can safely place your money on Mourning Cloaks being the first butterfly of the season. I have always thought that they are poorly named. There is nothing mournful about their rich brown cloak with the blue spot-band and corn yellow edges.

Right on the heels of the appearance of Mourning Cloaks come Compton Tortoiseshells. They are easy to overlook when their wings are closed displaying the dead leaf pattern of the outer wing. But when they spread their wings to showcase the tortoiseshell pattern of brown, black and yellow, you cannot help but take notice of them and their burst of colour.

The first wildflowers pushing up through the blanket of last autumn’s fallen leaves are a reliable harbinger of spring. I am not a wildflower expert so I do not know the name of this blue beauty. But that does not stop me from stopping to admire and be inspired by it.

I have heard it said that embracing retirement is akin to setting the mainsails on your new boat. These snapshots of spring are helping me to hoist the sales and launch into my days of leisure.

~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week

Tags:   Comptons Tortoiseshell · hoist the mainsail. · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · Mourning Cloak · retirementComments Off on Retirement: Hoisting the Mainsails

Hmmm, once the political chess game begins does it ever really end?

I have for the most part avoided wading into the continuous circle of controversy around Donald Trump. I did pen one post in the lead-up to his election as president primarily to purge my mind of the irritation. I am choosing to do so again for the same purpose.

If you have been living under a rock and have not heard, Trump has been indicted on 34 felony criminal changes of falsifying business records. Prosecutors allege he undermined the integrity of the 2016 election through hush money payments relating to extramarital affairs.

I would like to issue four warnings about the Trump indictment.

Warning #1: Do not expect the trial to start anytime soon. Trump’s legal team has until August 8 to file motions. The prosecution will then respond by September 8. The next in-person hearing is scheduled for December 8. The earliest the trial could start is January 2024. But it is a safe bet that his legal team will get that date pushed forward several times.

Warning #2: Do not expect the trial to be quick. The principal defense tactic is such cases is stall, stall and stall again. The wheels of justice grind slowly at the best of times. Trumps high-priced legal team is quite capable of slowing the process down to a crawl to frustrate all involved until they just want it to end whatever the outcome.

Warning #3: Do not expect a definitive outcome. Trump’s lawyers will employ every legal trick in their repertoire to muddy the waters and bury the truth beneath layers of rhetoric. In the end, there will be no verdict of guilty or innocent. After endless posturing on both sides, they will arrive at a slap-on-the-wrist agreement to make the whole thing go away.

Warning #4: Do not expect the indictment to hamper Trump’s bid for another term in the Oval Office. Based on what little I have read, polling suggests that the Manhattan allegations have made Trump even more popular with his base. His selection as the Republican contender in the next year’s presidential race is all but assured.

Donald Trump is the ultimate polarizing figure. There is no middle ground where public sentiment is concerned. You either idolize him or despise him. Either way he stays forever in the public eye which is always his end game.

The real indictment in the whole affair lands on the political and justice systems that permit and enable this circus to happen. It must be said that this is not unique to the United States. Canada is less inclined to public spectacle but equally inclined to play the never-ending chess game of politics where the rules are made up as you go along.

Now that I have had my say on the matter, I will step away and watch from a distance. The media will no doubt provide you with hourly updates as the chess game unfolds.

~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Tags:   Donald Trump · Manhattan allegations · metaphor · Michael Robert DyetComments Off on Trump Indictment: The Never-Ending Chess Game

Hmmm, can I get a hallelujah for finishing the marathon?

I am not referring to the gospel hymn by that name although some of the sentiment applies. I am declaring that I am now officially retired from the workforce. The reality is slowly taking form and substance for me. The fear that I will wake up tomorrow and find out it was only a dream is fading away.

It has been a long and winding road to get here. Taking into account part-time, after school jobs and summer jobs in my college and university years, I have been in the workforce in some manner for close to 50 years. A bit of context: The remuneration for my first part-time job was $1.45 per hour.

A quick rundown of the various jobs I have held: grocery store clerk, general labourer (several times), timekeeper (twice), supervisor of student workers (twice), paint factory assembly line worker (two months), reporter-photographer and the gambit of positions in the marketing profession – coordinator, specialist, supervisor, team lead and manager.

In my early days in the workforce, multi-tasking meant handling two or three projects at a time. At the end, it meant keeping so many plates spinning that your brain is in overdrive mode from the start of the work day to the end of it.

I have witnessed, and struggled to keep pace with, the relentless march of technology. When I started out, there were no computers, no digital world and no cell phones. Yes, the dark ages. Electric typewriters and Pong on a TV screen were the technological marvels.

I recall when desktop computers first appeared in the workplace. We had one large, clunky one that was shared by everyone. We had to book time to use it. I remember attending a training session on this new thing call The Internet and thinking: I am never going to be able to adapt to this thing.  But miraculously, I did.

There was a time when new versions of software programs came along every few years and there was time to figure out their intricacies. As the end of my work life was on the horizon, wave after wave of new tech – each generation more temperamental and buggy than the last – bombarded me every few months. Adapting was a sink or swim equation to hold onto my job.

My body and my brain have paid a price over the years. Years of sitting at a desk seven or eight hours a day wore out my back which now requires a chiropractic treatment every week. I have two sets of eyeglasses – one for computer use and another for everything else. My brain was strained to the limit adapting to unrelenting change.

I have fought the good fight, survived (if barely) the thundering, high-speed train of technology, reinvented myself several times and dodged countless bullets. My work life was a marathon race and I stumbled across the finish line with precious little gas left in the tank.

But finally, at long last, I am free. Hallelujah, I made it!

~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Tags:   metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · retirementComments Off on Hallelujah I Am Free