Michael Robert Dyet's Blog, page 19

My Toe-of-the Boot Cure for the Blue Monday Blues

Hmmm, could I get apatent on it and make myself filthy rich?

We are rounding thecorner to Blue Monday which is allegedlythe most depressing day of the year. It falls on the third Monday of Januarywhich is sneaking up on us.

There is somepseudoscience between the concept. A psychologist, whom I will not flatter by mentioning,came up with a formula that considers a number of factors including Januaryweather, debt levels after Christmas, broken New Year’s Resolutions andgenerally lower motivation levels. It is a reasonable, if not scientificallyvalid, idea.

BlueMonday has more validitythan usual this year. We are closing in on two years of living within the COVID-19pandemic and the myriad of restrictions that have our progressively shrunk theparameters of our lives to a maddeningly small circle.

It must be acknowledgedthat there are certain segments of the population which are exempt this year because of the pandemic, namely:

BigPharma corps who have approved COVID-19 VaccinesManufacturersof Rapid Antigen Test KitsManufacturersof N95 Face Masks

These industries are makingmoney hand over fist reeling in billions of dollars in sales. Their executivesare no doubt punch drunk with delight and collecting hefty bonuses that willset them up for early retirement with everything money can buy.

I will admit that I amfeeling the January blahs these days. I do not like winter to begin with. The pandemicmadness in which we are drowning only makes it worse. But I have come up with amethod to defeat the Blue Monday Blues. Give me the right toenthusiastically and unapologetically kick in the nether regions any bureaucratthat tries to tell me that:

I need a fourth vaccinebooster to fortify the inner force field I supposedly now have. Three jabs aremy limit and my line in the sand. Cross it at your peril.

The face mask that hasgotten me through this far is insufficient and needs to be replaced by a N95mask. I hate the one I have with a passion. Upgrading is not going to happen.

The vaccine certificate needsto become a permanent fixture for the safety of all. I intend to light thething on fire and dance on its ashes at the earliest possible opportunity.

I should consider addingthe soon-to-be approved vaccine pill to my arsenal of defences against COVID.Come near me with that little bugger and I will slap you silly.

There is a new COVIDvariant on the horizon that will shut down the spring and summer of 2022. Iwill take a running start to unleash an epic kick to said nether regions forthat person

So let us adopt Kick to the Nether Regions as the metaphoricalcure for the Blue Monday Blues andfor the pandemic madness. Now if I can just patent the idea I could make afortune.

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

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

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

Cradled in the Hand of Our Maker

Little Wood Satyr

Hmmm, how much do yousee in this simple photograph?

Normally I crop my nature photos before using them in this journal to zoom in on the subject I was trying to capture. But as I looked at this photograph I decided that it should stay in its current form because of the many levels of meaning that could be attributed to it.

It is important that the butterfly in the photo – a Little Wood Satyr – is very common. If you go looking for butterflies near a wooded area on a typical summer day, you will see many of these little brown gems fluttering around. Why is that important? It is so because we can take this Satyr to be to be representative of the common man or woman in our society.

At first glance, the photograph can be taken simply as a representation of the beauty and bounty of nature in the bloom of summer. If you are not inclined to look any deeper, that is perfectly alright with me. But if you ponder the photo for a minute or two, a variety of other symbolic interpretations come to mind.

It might make you reflect on how small each of us are in the scope of the world in which we live. We are each the equivalent of one word in an epic novel.

It might make youreflect that life can be perilous at times. Each of us is a fragile creature ina world where a chance gust of wind could knock us off the perch we occupy withdire repercussions if we do not have a safety net.

It might make youreflect that the world is so designed that each of us does in fact have asafety net. If we slide off the leaf on which we are placed, there is anotherone waiting to catch us.

It might make you reflectthat regardless of how small and delicate we are, we are each capable ofamazing things if we dare to go where opportunity leads us.

It might make you reflectthat each individual life has moments of light and moments of twilight –moments when we shine in bright sunlight and moments when we slip into theshadow and our light dims for a while.

It might make youreflect that each of us has a niche in life that is set out and predeterminedfor us. We need only find our way to the green bower in which we are meant tolive.

And there is one moreinterpretation that occurs to me.

We are all cradled inthe protective hand of God. This does not mean that we will never have hardtimes or never be ill or never lose something or someone that is dear to us. Itdoes not mean that we can be reckless because we are shielded from harm or fromthe consequences of our own actions.

It does mean that whateverhappens to us or around us, whatever shadows pass across the world withworrisome intent, we remain cradled in the hand of our Maker. And if we slip,lose our footing and slide out of that hand, it reappears below us to catch usand break our fall.

I need not name the metaphor for you. It is there in living colour for all to see.

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

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

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

Portraits of Perfection for the New Year

Hmmm, can we hasten thereturn to normal by turning our minds to simpler pleasures?

A ways back when we werefinding our way through an earlier wave of the pandemic, I decided to forgo anycommentaries in this space in favour of a BeautyCan be a Contagion series of posts to give our brains a reprieve. I hadhoped by the turn of the year into 2022 the pandemic would be just anunpleasant memory. Alas, that is not the case.

So I am returning tothat earlier series to welcome in the New Year and once again turn our minds tosimpler pleasures while Omicron factsand endless figures dominate the news.

Eastern Comma

This is not the most flatteringview of an Eastern Comma butterfly.If it had opened its wings, it would have revealed a striking pattern of earthyorange and brown with yellow, wingtip eyespots.

But this particularspecimen is newly emerged and the picture of perfection posed so elegantly onthe large, serrated leaf that cradles it. The white comma-shaped mark, thatgives this species its name, is as clear and distinct as I have ever witnessed.

Long Dash Skipper

Skipper butterflies are notoriously difficult to identify and photograph since they are about the size of a dime with very subtle markings. This Long Dash Skipper seemed to want to be photographed as it posed perfectly on a neutral background of sandy soil.

It too is newly emerged and showing off to fine affect its faint yellow spotband and often  indistinguishable yellow basal spot. I rarely come across a specimen this distinct allowing a definitive identification

Silver-spotted Skipper

Silver-spottedSkippers are quitecommon but no less striking than other butterflies. This specimen posed forperfect contrast on the puffball of a wildflower to show off its flashy markings.

It is also newly emergedand perched in just the right way to display both the gaudy, silver-white patchon the hindwing and the yellow-orange band on the inner wing for photographicpurposes.

Beauty can be acontagion too. No social distancing here. Get up close and personal. It isallowed.

Let us hope that thesenewly emerged, portraits of perfection help us ring in a New Year in which wefinally put the pandemic in our rear view mirror and get back to what life isreally all about.

Happy New Year to oneand all.

~  Now Available Onlinefrom Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites ofPassage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

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

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

Peace on Earth

Hmmm, will you grant methree simple wishes?

I have no axe to grindtoday. I have three simple wishes that I would ask all of you to take to heart.

Do not live as if theworld is on fire. Live as if it is spinning slowly and steadily as it hasalways has and always will.

Do not live as if anyonewith a different opinion than yours is your mortal enemy. Live as if it is themany and varied viewpoints that make society a rich and beautiful mosaic.

Do not live as if lifeis a non-stop race in which you must cross the finish line first. Live as if itis a slow stroll through a wildflower meadow where the only prize is a full heartand a soul in harmony with all others.

Live in a way thatbrings peace on earth for everyone in every corner of this world.

Merry Christmas.

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite 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 GoHmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions forsubscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructionspage in the right sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week.

A Paradigm Shift in the Battle to Defeat COVID

Hmmm, how will historyjudge our actions in the battle to defeat COVID?

Omicron: Here we go again.

My apologies if thatsounds like whining or bitching. It is a statement of fact albeit withemotional baggage attached. We thought that we were in the home stretch. Thenthe reset button was hit and we are right back where we started. It is likeviewing a lengthy online training program, which we begrudge having to endure,and having it crash forcing us to restart at the beginning.

Alberta Premier JasonKenney has been quoted as saying that Canadians have reached the outer limit ofwhat further public health restrictions they are willing to accept. Many wouldagree.

But I do not want to get bogged down up to the axle in the mud of the “Is it really all necessary?” debate. I want to take a step back and talk about the paradigm shift that has occurred. If you are not familiar with the term, a paradigm shift is a fundamental change that happens when the usual way of thinking about or doing something is replaced by a new and different way.

The paradigm shift I want to talk about is the evolution in the way we as a society (the royal we which always has a dissenting segment) chose to respond to a threat to our health and safety.

In times past (definedin this case as my lifetime), when a new illness arrived on the scene, weevaluated the threat objectively, took reasonable and necessary precautions andcarried on with our lives. We trusted that our bodies are equipped to protectus from illness and augmented that ability with a vaccine on a voluntary basis.

We were more concernedwith the continuity of life and the quality of it than with daily case counts.

Now the paradigm shift that took place when COVID arrived on the scene. We evaluated it nervously and built worst-case scenario models, attempted to erect a brick wall of precautions and put a large part of life on hold. We broke faith with our body’s ability to protect us and attempted to supplant that ability with a new vaccine with sanctions for those who opted out.

We became less concernedwith the continuity of life and the quality of it than with number crunchingand wrestling with the stubborn daily case counts.

Paradigm shifts in andof themselves are neither positive nor negative. They are simply the evidenceof a significant change. The decisions and motivations behind them, including therelative values assigned to individual rights and the greater good, are subjectto judgment. But I will leave you to draw your own conclusions on that front.

My job is to translatethe paradigm shift into a metaphor. So here it is. We shifted fromstrategically defending our borders to a declaration of war accepting thecasualties that come with it as necessary collateral damage.

In the end, it ishistory that will judge us (the royal us).

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

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

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

The Big Resignation: Vanishing Footprints in the Sand

Hmmm, is there a deepermotive at work that is hiding in the shadows?

In the midst of the coverageof the pandemic from every conceivable perspective, a new story made its wayinto the press in the past week. It has been dubbed The Big Resignation. You know it must be a big deal to be able tocompete with COVID for the headlines. Some of the facts and figures behind thestory, based on surveys and employment statistics:

More than four million people quit their jobs in April in the U.S. alone41% of workers are considering quitting or changing professions38% of workers planned to quit in the next six to twelve months

Although it is happeningin all sectors, it is particularly prevalent in service and retail jobs. In theAmerican retail sector, 650,000 workers quit their job in April alone.Apparently some of them left in favour of entry-level positions in other sectorsthat pay less but offer more benefits, potential for advancement and betterworking conditions.

The pandemic has clearlyresulted in a cultural shift. At face value, it seems that workers are arrivingat the conclusion that life is too short and too precarious to spend eighthours a day doing something just for the money or to endure poor treatment froman employer.

For those who do notneed the income, they are simply opting out. Others who still need a job areaiming higher and accepting the need to take a step backwards to move ahead.

I am one of the fortunate ones who work for an organization that treats its employees well and values their abilities. From that privileged position, I can afford to contemplate the phenomenon and attempt to dissect it. I wonder if there is not a deeper, not yet understood driver involved for some of these people – a collective discontent that has not defined itself yet.

I fear that a year from now some of those people who changed jobs will be thinking:

Why am I still not happy? Was my job really the source of my discontent? Or was it something else?

Maybe it was the factthat I had not seen anyone smile for going on two years because I could not seebeyond their face mask.

Maybe it was the fact that I had not had a real vacation in 18 months because travel was forbidden. And when it became permissible again, I stepped off the plane back home only to be treated like a leper or a criminal because the country I vacationed in got put on a watch list.

Maybe it was the factthat the rights I once thought were enshrined in the Charter of Rights andFreedoms suddenly became conditional based on the circumstances.

Maybe it was the factthat I lost my identity and became nothing more than a QR code.

Maybe it began the day I looked behind me to see my footprints and discovered they had been washed away because I was not supposed to be walking on the beach that day.

~  Now Available Onlinefrom Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites ofPassage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

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

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

Running on Empty: The Right (and the Fight) to Disconnect

Hmmm,who thought up 24/7 and why did we go along with the idea?

In caseyou have not heard, Ontario now has a Rightto Disconnect law. This law requires employers with 25 or more employees tocreate a written policy on the right to disconnect from calls and e-mailsoutside of regular work hours.

Yes,this is a good thing. However, being the analytical person that I am, mythoughts turn to the question: How did we arrive at a time and place where suchan idea is conceivable and is a law really the best solution?

At firstblush, the dizzying advancement of digital technology is the culprit. Handhelddigital devices have made us accessible at virtually anytime through e-mail orby telephone. More than a few of us are attached at the hip to our digitaldevice.

Well,not me, but I have always been odd. I did recently pass the threshold where Ihave the necessary technology since my employer has given all staff a Samsungphone.

I curse it regularly, but more because I have trouble figuring out how to operate the damn thing. Six months in, I still have not mastered the swipe motion to answer calls. There is something in the action that my fat, Baby Boomer fingers cannot master. But I digress.

The lines between work life and privatelife have blurred. But the fact that we are so digitally interconnected is really more of an enabler than the root of the problem. Ifwe are being honest with ourselves, there is something deeper going on. The ringsand beeps are like an itch that says:

Theoutside world is calling. There is something happening and if you disregard it,you may miss out on something and there may be consequences.

We have come to believe that what isgoing on around us is always and bydefinition happening to us. We thinkthat we are the centre of our universe and things will fall apart if we are not on all the time.

This is an illusion and a dangerous one.In most cases, the universe will do just fine without us. But if we depriveourselves of the right to tune out and recharge, we will all too often berunning with the needle sitting on empty.

We owe it ourselves to ignore the rings, musicalburps and vibrations after hours. Stick your device in a drawer under a pile ofdirty underwear to muffle the sound if necessary.

24/7: We are told that is a good thingand something to which to aspire. But is it? I may just start a petition tohave it excluded from our lexicon. Are you with me?

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

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

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

The Little Boy Who Cried Wolf: 2021 Remix

 Hmmm, is the little shepherd boy who cried Wolf! really the problem?

A little shepherd boyraised an alarm in the village. A pack ofwolves is in the area! The sheep are in mortal danger!

The village leaders werevery concerned. So they built a fortified fence around the sheep. The sheepwere frightened by the appearance of the fortified fence. The health of thesheep suffered because of their fright and the restrictions on their movement.

The pack of wolvesarrived. Being adaptable by nature, they slipped through the rails in thefence. They recognized by instinct the sheep which were most weakened andpreyed on them. The village leaders were dismayed but consoled themselves thatthey had done what was necessary.

A few months later, thelittle shepherd boy raised the alarm again.The pack of wolves is still in the area! The sheep are in mortal danger!

The village leaders werevery concerned. So they put extra railings in the fence and restricted thesheep to a small area of the field. The sheep were frightened by the appearanceof the more fortified fence. The health of the sheep suffered because of theirfright and the increased restrictions on their movement.

The pack of wolvesarrived. Being adaptable by nature, they jumped over the fortified fence. Theyrecognized by instinct the sheep which were most weakened and preyed on them.The village leaders were dismayed but consoled themselves that they had donewhat was necessary.

A few months later, thelittle shepherd boy raised the alarm again.The pack of wolves is still in the area! The sheep are in mortal danger!

The village leaders werevery concerned. So they made the fortified fence higher and restricted thesheep to the barnyard. The health of the sheep suffered because of their frightand their inability to leave the barnyard and graze.

The pack of wolvesarrived. Being adaptable by nature, they dug under the fortified fence. Theyrecognized by instinct the sheep which were most weakened and preyed on them.The village leaders were dismayed but consoled themselves that they had donewhat was necessary.

A few months later, thelittle shepherd boy raised the alarm again.The pack of wolves is still in the area! The sheep are in mortal danger!

The village leaders werevery concerned. So they put steel bars from the fence into the ground and keptthe sheep restricted to their pen in the barn. The health of the sheep sufferedbecause of their fright and their prolonged inability to leave the pen andgraze.

The pack of wolvesarrived. Being adaptable by nature, they pulled rails off the fence and chewedholes in the barn door. The confinement of the sheep in the pen made them easyprey. The village leaders were dismayed but consoled themselves that they haddone what was necessary.

A few months later, thelittle shepherd boy raised the alarm again.The pack of wolves is still in the area! The sheep are in mortal danger!

The village leaders werevery concerned. So they put a motion activated laser beam across the front ofthe pen and kept the sheep restricted to their pen in the barn. The health ofthe sheep suffered further because of their fright and their prolongedinability to leave the pen and graze.

The pack of wolvesarrived. Being adaptable by nature, they jumped over the laser beam. Theconfinement of the sheep in the pen made them easy prey once again. The villageleaders were dismayed but consoled themselves that they had done what wasnecessary.

A few months later, thelittle shepherd boy raised the alarm again.The pack of wolves is still in the area! The sheep are in mortal danger!

The village leaders werevery concerned. But a wise man from the north was in the village at the timeand gave them counsel.

“There have always been wolves. There will always be wolves. You cannot make them cease to be. It is in the nature of wolves to adapt to their environment. It is prudent to take precautions but there is no silver bullet.

“Sheep have naturalinstincts to protect themselves from wolves. If you leave them be, theirinstincts will activate at the necessary time. They will scatter when thewolves arrive making themselves more difficult to catch. But if you frightenthe sheep, their instincts will fail them. If you confine them to their pen,you make them much more vulnerable.

“The problem is not the little shepherd boy who cries Wolf! or the wolves themselves. The problem is you have made fear your God and you have disavowed the truth that sheep have survived for thousands of years by virtue of those natural abilities and instincts of which you have now deprived them.”

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

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

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

Time to Get Back to Keeping Time Again

Hmmm, is how we keep ourtime a privilege or a right?

We are now just over amonth away from Christmas. But it hardly seems possible. The warm and wetSeptember and October here delayed the usual signs of the passage of theseasons. We did not see fall colours until late October. The peak fall coloursdid not happen until early November. And even now, many of the trees are still stubbornlyholding onto their leaves.

At a time when we expectto start hearing snow blowers, the whine of leaf blowers still reach our earsmost days. But I contend that is not the main reason we feel out of step

In philosophical terms,time is an artificial construct. Albert Einstein once said that The only real reason for time is so thateverything doesn’t happen at once. We need to be able to situate ourselvesin time so our brain has a frame of reference.

But the way we measureor conceive of time has changed during the pandemic. As we were stuck insuccessive lockdowns and stay at home orders, it felt like time had stopped. Wefelt like Bill Murray living GroundhogDay over and over – except in our case it was COVID Day.

In those moments when wewere able to latch onto a sense of time, it was pandemic timelines that definedit. We got stuck measuring time in waves: the first wave, the second wave, thethird wave and now the fourth wave. We also fixed on the regulated stages ofreopening which marked the progression of time in frustrating stops and starts.

Am I the only one whohas to concentrate to remember which day of the week it is? I am pretty certainI am in good company in this respect. On more than a few occasions, I panickedbecause I saw a meeting in my work calendar for which I had not fully prepared.A moment later, I realized it was Tuesday, not Wednesday, so I had no reason topanic.

And yes, I will confessthere were a few occasions when I clicked on the Microsoft Teams meeting linkand sat there cursing everyone else who was late joining – only to realize thatI was 24 hours early.

Over the past 18 months,we have spent much of our time bidingtime as we waited for those in authority to give us permission to startliving again. The calendar became less authoritative than the bulletins issuedby Medical Officers of Health which all too often said in essence: Not yet, and we’re not sure when it will betime yet.

We stopped keeping trackof time because it did not have much meaning. But time did not stop. We justwasted the time we had waiting to be told we could start living again. BenjaminFranklin warned us that Lost time isnever found again. We should have heeded his advice.

I rather like themetaphor that time is a flowing river. Like water flowing under the bridge,once it’s gone, it’s gone. We cannot get it back. It’s time we that we diveback into the river and get back to keeping time.

We should not have letourselves be told that doing so is a privilege rather than a right.

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite 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 GoHmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions forsubscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructionspage in the right sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week.

An Old Guy and His Aging Laptop

Hmmm, which of us willreach obsolete status first?

It occurred to me todaythat my laptop and I have a lot in common. I never thought I would be likening myselfto a piece of technology. But the resemblances are now too obvious to ignore.

We have both been aroundthe block a few times and have battle scars to prove it. I have gray hair, asurgically chopped and reattached colon and wrinkles in places too numerous tomention. My laptop’s J key sticks, its’ E key is completely obscured and itstouch pad has something resembling a black hole on it.

My energy level is a palecomparison to what it once was and has clearly defined limits. My laptop’sbattery is dead, quite literally dead,meaning it cannot function without being plugged into a power source.

The pace at which I goabout my business has geared down several levels. Now and then I get a spurt ofenergy which makes me feel young again. But that is an illusion. My laptoptakes inordinately long to boot up and is painfully slow. Occasionally it has agood day and responds promptly. But that is just a tease.

My wonky back gripes atme every day, even though I treat it to weekly chiropractic treatments, and occasionallythreatens to lock up. My laptop feels aggrieved when overtaxed and periodicallyfreezes in the midst of routine functions.

New technology is thebane of my existence. I cannot keep up with it, avoid it when possible and achieveonly baseline competence when I must adapt to it.

My laptop does nothandle new versions of software well. YourOffice product is no longer supported has been displaying at the top of thescreen for quite some time. My laptop and I both willfully ignore it because weknow that neither one of us is up to the upgrade. We live in fear of the Important Updates are Pending notice.

I avoid going onlineuntil I have to because of all the threats that lie waiting there to strike:viruses, malware, ransomware and phishing e-mails. My laptop lives in mortalfear of these digital evils knowing full well that contracting one would be itsdemise.

I am 18 months out fromretirement, cannot wait to get there but regularly wonder if I will make it tothe finish line before I am put out to pasture. My laptop is long past itsexpiry date, longs for the day when it will be shut down forever and worriesthat the big crash will come first.

My laptop and I have alove-hate relationship. I am completely dependent upon it and begrudge the fact.I also regularly curse it out for operating poorly. It responds by operatingeven more slowly and sometimes takes ridiculously long to shut down just tospite me.

There will come a timewhen I have to retire my Pavilion g series. It will be a sad day when thathappens. We have woven many metaphors together and, notwithstanding ourconstant bickering, we are uncommonly fond of one another.

Of course, there is always the possibility that the old girl will beat the odds to outlive me and have the last laugh before she succumbs to digital senility.

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

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

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