Michael Robert Dyet's Blog, page 24

Fighting Back Against Zero Gravity in the Bubble

Hmmm, does this sound
familiar?

I
don’t know why, but I’m soooo tired. I’m dragging my butt to get through the
day.

It is a common lament
these days. I am officially anointing it as Lockdown
Languor. If that does not work for you, perhaps Pandemic Punch Drunk works. It is an oxymoron, but true, that doing
nothing can be exhausting. (One could ask: Is it the effort it takes to not ask
why that is sapping our energy? But that’s another story.)

How do we combat this
mental drain? I am testing three strategies.

Strategy
1: Facebook Quota

I am limiting myself to
a 5 minute scan of Facebook per day. Facebook is no longer a social networking
site. It has become a forum for the airing of grievances and venting repressed
frustrations from things unspoken. The vast majority of posts relate to two topics:
1) Donald Trump (pro and con)  2) The
pandemic and the related restrictions (pro and con).

Some social media
platforms have banished Trump from their sites. But unless Facebook changes its
algorithms to filter out Trump references, it will still be for all intents and
purposes Trumpbook. Even when he
officially vacates the White House, he will keep himself a social media
obsession. It is what he does best.

Strategy
2: The Canadian Game

I am planning to wholeheartedly
embrace the new NHL season as a step toward the return to normal we all crave.
The World Juniors Hockey Tournament
over the holidays was a welcome reprieve in that regard. The commentators’
constant references to the special pandemic precautions notwithstanding, it got
my head in a better space for a few hours.

I realize there will be
no fans in the arenas as was the case for the Big Bubble Playoffs earlier this
year. But I can get used to that. I really need to see something bucking the
trend and getting back on track even if it is in a pared down capacity.

Strategy
3: Conversational Blinders

I will not participate
in conversations about the big three watercooler topics: Trump, politics (of
all sorts, but American in particular) and the pandemic. There are other things
to talk about. We just have to make the effort.

So, if we happen to pass
in the street as our bubbles overlap (as unlikely as that is given the current
restrictions), please do not attempt to engage me about those topics. If you
have nothing else on your mind, just give me a friendly, social distanced wave
and keep walking. I apologize in advance if that sounds rude or antisocial. There
are times when silence is simply better.

We are living a zero
gravity existence in our bubbles and I am tired of it. I am putting my feet
back on the ground.

~ 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

New Year’s Resolutions from the Lockdown Zone

Hmmm, what has 2020
taught us that we can use to shape our resolutions for 2021?

It feels strange to make
New Year’s resolutions after a year when everything was turned upside down and
we had so little control over our lives. We spent much of the year playing
defence and looking over our shoulder for an unseen foe. In terms of public
opinion, it was a polarizing year when pro
and con were more diametrically
opposed than ever.

All of that is bleeding
into 2021 which made its debut in the midst of a lockdown here. We rang in the
New Year not with glasses raised in unison, but without fanfare in our bubbles.
Many were not in the mood or even able to celebrate after being beaten down by
circumstances. Putting 2020 in our rear view mirror is not merely a matter of
turning the calendar.

So what resolutions can
we realistically make for the year ahead? A good place to start is to be more
grateful for the things we too often take for granted.

At the risk of stating
the incredibly obvious, resolving to be thankful for good health is at the top
of the list for those of us fortunate enough to have sidestepped COVID-19. Everything
else takes a back seat when our health is comprised.

We can also resolve to
be more grateful for the dedication of our front line workers – police,
firefighters, EMS, nurses and doctors. They did not have the option to work at
home or social distance. Front line
took on a whole new meaning as they willingly put themselves in harm’s way on a
daily basis to protect us.

On a more personal
level, we should reflect on how we can live more intentionally. Happiness and
success are rarely achieved by playing the waiting game.

We can resolve to live
more courageously. I do not mean acting recklessly or without regard for
others. I do mean taking responsibility for our life and choosing the course
that fulfills our destiny even if that means going against the flow. The road
less chosen has many more bumps but also many more rewards.

On a related note, we
can resolve to think for ourselves and not take everything we hear at face
value. In this age of digital communications and ubiquitous social media,
information is cheap and easily taken hostage. Asking questions and going
deeper is not just a good idea. It is a responsibility we all share.

And finally, we can take
to heart the big lesson of 2020: life is unpredictable with no free passes. We
can resolve to make the most of the time we are given and give the most when it
matters the most. Every day matters when tomorrow is not guaranteed.

It has been said that
courage is water flowing over a rock slowly but surely cutting a valley through
it. I see that as a good way to look at 2020 and a good philosophy for the year
ahead.

~  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.

My Brain Version 1.0: Too Late for a Software Update?

Hmmm, have I waited too
long to update my overtaxed, original issue brain?

I have arrived at the conclusion
that my brain software is dangerously antiquated and in need of an emergency
update. The neurons are still firing but the sequence does not match the new
technology math of 2020.

My brain was educated
and programmed in the era when electric typewriters were leading edge technology
and telephones were squat, black boxes with rotary dials. There are days when I
feel like a caveman transported forward in time as I try to navigate the do-it-yourself
or die tryingonline applications
that are an integral part of my job.

I have not yet mastered
the proper use of laptop touchpads. At least once a day, I accidentally drag
and drop a file into the wrong folder or drag and drop a folder into another
folder without realizing it. My constant lament is: Where did that bleeping folder go?

I have an ongoing battle
with my TV remote. The damn thing has at least 45 individual buttons of which I
need only 5 and understand less than 10. At least once a week, I accidentally
hit one of the 35 surplus buttons by accident. This leads to another repeated
lament: Which g-damn button did I push
when I accidentally sat on the remote?

I have figured out the Aspect Ratio button by trial and error.
The other 34 remain a mystery to me on a par with Who built Stonehenge?

New
and improved in
technology terms makes me cringe. Version
7.2! I’m still trying to master Version 3.5! And no, I don’t want to be
automatically updated to the 7.2. (Oh wait, 7.3 just became available.) I’m
sticking with 3.5 until it self-destructs or they find Jimmy Hoffa’s body –
whichever comes first.

My brain still prefers
the finish one job before moving on to
the next methodology. It grudgingly allows for a reasonable amount of
multi-tasking, but goes into meltdown when there are more plates spinning than
I can count in the High School French I barely remember.

All of the above are now
daily occurrences. But the real grind-to-a-halt moment occurs when basic
operating principles are unhinged. When faced with a new task, my brain wants
to see the 2 + 2 = 4 equation behind it. It allows for some ambiguity –
accepting that 2 + 2 = 5 when certain complex interactions are involved.

But I hit a wall when
the equation is 2 + 2 = 7 because the new technology operates 2-1/2 times
faster which makes it (theoretically) possible to do 9 hours of work in a 7
hour day which speeds up the rotation of the earth as it tries to keep up which
in turn makes the impossible plausible and arguably possible in the new math of
the digital age.

The reality is that my
brain is still operating on Version 1.0 – the version I was born with 62 years
ago. In metaphorical terms, that is the equivalent of the rotary dial, black
box telephone that my brain still remembers with wistful nostalgia.

Alas, it is too late for
a brain software update. There is just not enough random operating memory
available in the 100 billion neurons that do not fire as reliably as they once
did.

~  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.

The Legend of Themis-by-the-Sea and the Sacred Covenant: A Cautionary Tale for Current Times

Hmmm, are there
consequences to breaking the rules you are supposed to honour?

Once upon a time in a
land not so very far away, King Hamartia the Benevolent ruled over the kingdom
of Themis-by-the-Sea – a place of great beauty and peace, free of war, famine
or poverty.

King Hamartia’s greatest
desire was for a son or daughter to be an heir to the throne. But the King and
his wife had been unable to have children. King Hamartia prayed every night for
the simple blessing of a child.

One night an angel
appeared to King Hamartia in a dream with a declaration: Hamartia, establish a covenant of trust with your subjects and your
prayers will be answered.

King Hamartia acted on
the declaration the very next morning. He let it be known throughout the
kingdom that every man and woman had the right to choose their own path in life
and make their own judgements of conscience so long as such were within the
confines and spirit of The Ten
Commandments.

The king’s obedience was
rewarded as his wife soon thereafter bore a son. They named this son Barrington
after the king’s personal physician and confidante.

Prince Barrington was
cherished by all and embodied the spirit of the sacred covenant. Themis-by-the-Sea
was blessed and became a land where all lived in harmony. Each woman and man
lived their life according to the gifts with which they were born and supported
one another unconditionally in times of need.

But there is no time or
place without its trials. A thousand leagues north of Themis-by-the-Sea a
dragon lived in a lair in a rock wall. The dragon slumbered for years at a
time. Every ten years, it would awaken and launch an attack on
Themis-by-the-Sea.

King Hamartia had
constructed a 30 foot high stone wall across the northern boundary of the kingdom
and established a Watch Tower 500 leagues north. When word came from the Watch
Tower that the time had arrived for the dragon to awaken, the subjects of the
kingdom would gather at the wall to defend their land. The dragon was always
driven back to its lair.

However, as time passed,
the officers of the Watch Post observed that the dragon did not slumber
continuously as had been believed. It would awaken at times, leave its lair and
roam the countryside in that region. The officers send word to King Hamartia
with the news.

King Hamartia was
distressed at the report. He called together his counsel of advisers to discuss
the matter. The advisers, while united in conviction that protective measures
needed to be undertaken, were at odds in their view of how far-reaching these
measures should be.

After reflecting for
many days on the matter, King Hamartia the Benevolent made his decision. He
issued a decree that every man and woman in the kingdom must set aside their
homes and their trades for a week each month to stand guard on the wall. Prince
Barrington, now a young man, was troubled by the decree and spoke to his father.

“Father, I fear that
your decree violates our sacred covenant with the people.”

“My son,” the king
responded. “The greater good must prevail.”

Prince Barrington
observed discord spreading amongst the kingdom as the decree circulated through
the land. The harmony brought about by the sacred covenant began to fracture.

After many sleepless
nights struggling for guidance, the prince had a vision. When he awoke, he
secured a suit of armour from the caste storeroom, slipped away under the cover
of darkness, took his personal horse and rode north. He slipped past the Watch
Tower unnoticed.

Prince Barrington
arrived at the dragon’s lair at dawn. The dragon emerged and a great battle
ensued. Barrington and the dragon fought unceasingly throughout the day in a
seesaw battle. As sunset approached, Barrington was weak and wounded with
little strength left.

But, as the sun
descended below the horizon, his opportunity came. The dragon paused a moment
exposing its underbelly. Barrington stepped forward and thrust his sword into
the heart of the beast. The dragon fell dead at his feet. Exhausted and near
death, he mounted his horse and made his way back to the Watch Tower.

Meanwhile, protests had
arisen in the kingdom over the king’s decree. King Hamartia acknowledged the
discontent, but would not repeal his decree. Then officers from the Watch Tower
arrived at Themis-by-the-Sea with Prince Barrington and sent word to the king.
King Hamartia raced to Barrington’s bedside.

“My son, what have you
done?”

“Father, for the good of
the kingdom and the harmony of our subjects, I risked my life and slayed the
dragon.”

News spread quickly
throughout the kingdom that Barrington had slayed the dragon. Gradually but
steadily, sentiment turned against the king. He had acted with the best of intentions.
But the weakening of the sacred covenant was his undoing.

When Prince Barrington
had recovered from his injuries, King Harmatia abdicated the throne and
Barrington took his place. Harmony and peace returned to Themis-by-the-Sea.

The new ruler became known
as King Barrington the Great, Dragon Slayer and champion of the sacred covenant.

~  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.

Oxbows in the River and the Circle of Life

Hmmm, where will this
bend in the river take us?

There is a Sharp-shinned Hawk hanging around the
townhouse complex where I live. It has stalked out a spot where one of the
residents had put up a small bird feeder. The feeder attracts Sparrows, Finches
and Mourning Doves which the hawk would like to have for lunch.

Sharp-shinned
Hawks are woodland
birds which are not normally found in urban areas. But their expert flight
skills serve them well here. The resident one takes off in a graceful arc and swoop
every time I walk by.

I hope the Sharp-Shinned sticks around for at least
for a few weeks. It is a welcome distraction in this lockdown period when my
entertainment options are limited to sappy, Hallmark, happily-ever-after
Christmas movies and the 25 metre sprint of the FedEx guy from his truck to the
porch and back again.

To make matters worse, I
have to mute the television every time a feminine product commercial plays.
There really should be a 15 second warning before these commercials play. That
way the male of the species could dash out of the room, down the stairs and
curl up behind the furnace in the foetal position.

But I digress.

Every time I see a Sharp-shinned Hawk, my mind recalls a
day at Point Pelee in mid-May a number of years back. I saw a quick flash of
movement out of the corner of my eye and turned in time to see a Sharp-Shinned dart through branches in a
thicket. The short, plaintive squeak I heard confirmed that the Hawk had
snagged a small bird in mid-flight.

It was the circle of
life in action. The song bird gave its life so the Sharp-Shinned could feed and live on. The removal of that one
songbird in the population left a breeding territory available for another
songbird to nest, raise its young and perpetuate its species. The delicate
balance of the ecosystem was preserved.

I do not feel balance in
our own ecosystem right now. The normal ebb and flow of life has been
interrupted. Doors that normally swing freely are locked. Entire malls are
shuttered.

But life does not stop
happening. It is rather like dropping a large boulder into a river. The flow
backs up briefly.  But eventually the
river finds a way around the obstruction. It forms what is known as an oxbow –
a bend in the river that changes its path.

I do not know where this
oxbow in our lives is going to take us. I confess I am a bit worried about that.

But seeing the Sharp-shinned Hawk on my daily walk
gives me comfort. We are both in unfamiliar territory. But the circle of life
endures.

~ 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.

Six Off-the-Wall Ways to Avoid Lockdown Meltdown

Hmmm, are you fit to be
tied with the lockdown?

This second lockdown of
2020 is making it difficult to keep ourselves occupied. As a service to all my
readers, I offer six activities to help you endure the long days without going
stir crazy.

FEDEX
DELIVERY BINGO

Create homemade bingo
cards with your neighbour’s addresses. Use Pot
of Gold chocolates as markers and mark your card every time a FedEx
delivery is made to a neighbour’s residence. Score a bonus marker if the FedEx
guy slips and falls on his ass as she sprints back to his truck. And, of
course, you get to eat the chocolates if you win.

LAST
LEAF LOTTERY

No, I am not talking
about the Toronto Maple Leafs and the odds that they will bow out in the first
round of the playoffs again when hockey returns. Create a lottery around the
last orphan leaf hanging on to the Maple tree in your yard and when it will
finally let go. Winner gets to wash down the last slice of day old pizza with a
mug of Vodka.

DRIVEWAY
ICE CAPADES

Sneak out at midnight on
one of these below freezing nights and flood your neighbour’s driveway. Pull a
chair up to the window in the morning with your coffee. Have a belly laugh as
the first person out of the house does impromptu pirouettes, backflips and face
plants. Be sure to duck out of sight if the irate victim looks your way.

BINGE
TV WATCHING

A tried and true method
to effectively kill time. Cue up classic movie franchises like The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and Harry Potter for a pandemic marathon of the battle of good versus
evil. But brain-rotting Reality TV is off limits. And absolutely nothing with Ken Jeong! Is there a more annoying man
on the face of the planet?

COMFORT
FOOD ORGY

Face it: We’ve all lost
the battle already. Our pre-COVID pants will not even squeeze over our hips
now. So stock up on potato chips, chocolate, licorice and M&Ms. Make sure
the bowl is never empty. Coat the contents with Maple Syrup for an extra sugar
high.

RANDOM
ACTS OF SNOW SCULPTURE

When your neighbour is
out, make snow sculptures on his lawn in sexually suggestive shapes. When your
neighbour arrives home, blame it on the other neighbour who never returned the
ladder he borrowed two years ago. A two-for-one score that never gets old.

We are in this
metaphorical prison together. If we all play by the same devious rules, we will
get paroled at the same time and on the same terms when the sun rises on the
other side of the lockdown. Who’s in?

~ 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

Staring at Lockdown but Keeping the Faith

Hmmm, how can we pull
together the loose threads in the face of another lockdown?

It has been difficult to
get into the Christmas spirit this year. The November weather has been
unusually mild some days. But that is not really the problem. The cold weather
and the snowstorms will come in time. That much is a certainty.

Things just seem to be
out of rhythm this year for obvious reasons. We feel stuck in time as if the
battery ran down on the clock of life and no one can find a replacement
battery. It is on back order from the factory but no one can tell us when it
will arrive.

This is an illusion, of
course. Time is marching on as relentlessly as ever. But the machine of
everyday life has been taken offline – particularly here in Peel Region where
we have been put on notice that we are going into lockdown again as of Monday.

One weekend to enjoy our
limited freedom before the locks go on the doors again.

As I write this post,
the Johnny Depp version of Willy Wonka
and the Chocolate Factory is playing on television. The golden ticket
winners and their parents have entered the chocolate factory and left the
outside world behind. It is a strange, make-believe world where the rules are
different and no one is allowed inside except by invitation.

Sound eerily familiar?
So often fiction imitates life, or in this instance, foreshadows it. We are
searching for a Willy Wonka who holds the carefully guarded key to the door.

By the way, the annoying
little girl with the adult sized ego has just chewed a stick of Willy’s
experimental gum against his advice and swollen up to the size of a 400 pound
blueberry. There is a metaphor in there somewhere, but I do not have time to
unravel it. The Oompa-Loompas have broken into a song and dance routine again.

Sorry for wondering off
topic. The truth is I am not really sure where this post is going. More and
more, in these unsettling times, I find that I have to surrender to the
creative flow and trust where it takes me. Instinct is more useful than reason
in the current circumstances.

Let me try and tie the
loose threads of this post together.

Christmas is just over a
month away. The spirit of the season has not yet taken hold because we are
struggling to find our way through a frustrating time where the rules keep
changing, our lives are squeezed into small spaces and the clock of life is
stalled.

So what to do? Pause,
take a breath and channel Willy Wonka who sees the world through his own lens.
Christmas will come and the true meaning of it will shine through. No pandemic
or lockdown can stop that from happening.

We may be waiting for
the new battery for the clock for some time yet. But that does not mean that
life is at a standstill.

Keep the faith and keep
moving forward. This too shall pass.

~  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.

Trapped in Google Verification Code Purgatory

Dear Google:

In 2016, you shelled out
$1.65 billion to buy YouTube and
added it to your monolithic holdings. In the process, you inherited an implied
contract with me as a YouTube user.
That contract comes with certain expectations of customer service. Therein lays
the problem.

Earlier this week, I
tried to log into my employer’s YouTube account.
Since I had not logged on in some time, it required me to undergo a
verification process. You would think that would be straightforward. But you
would be wrong. Oh, so very, very wrong.

At 1:05 pm, I received
an e-mail with a Google Verification Code to use to show that Google could
reach me at the specified e-mail address. I dutifully entered the code.

At 1:07 pm, I received
another e-mail with another Google Verification Code. Stupid, bleeping system! I just entered a code! But okay, I’ll do it
again.

At 1:08 pm, I received a
“Welcome Back to Your Account” e-mail advising that the account had been
successfully recovered. Really? I wasn’t aware that it was lost. Alas, the
account, apparently rescued from internet oblivion, was not cooperative. It now
would not accept my password. Stupid,
bleepity-bleep system! What the bleep is wrong with you?!

The only way forward at
this point was to reset my password. I dutifully followed the Change Your
Password process.

At 1:10 pm, I received
an e-mail indicating that a text message had been sent to the telephone number
on record with yet another verification code. Stupid, bleeping, bleepity-bleep system! You sent just sent a text message
to a corporate telephone number!

The only way forward at
this point seemed to be to change the telephone number. So I followed the
process and changed the telephone number to my personal cell phone. A text
message arrived with yet another verification
code which I angrily hammered into the keyboard.

All good now, right? Oh,
hell no! Your AI system decided that what was called for was to set up a new YouTube channel for me. AI, my ass! And
the final indignity, when I tried once again to log into my employer’s YouTube account, it again refused my
password!

You
stupid, bleeping, bleepity-bleep, expletive, bleepity-bleep, expletive bleeping
system!

At this point, I had no
choice but to give up and ask someone else to access the account and retrieve
the statistics I needed.

Google, I realize that
in metaphorical terms, where the Internet is the ocean, I am a mere Krill the
size of a single pixel and you are the granddaddy of all Blue Whales. So my
rant, as I languish in verification code purgatory, will make scarcely a ripple
in your world.

But one day, one fateful
day, all us pissed off end users will rise up in a mob, storm the Google office
and kick your virtual ass. There is no verification code secure enough to stop
us!

~  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.

Dark Tunnels, Carnival Barkers and the High Road

Hmmm, how do we move
forward in the face of uncertainty?

Normally at this time of
year, being the sort of person who loathes winter, I would be hunkering down to
ride out the long, cold months ahead. Instead, because the weather was
uncharacteristically sunny and warm, I went for a hike. It was an easy
decision.

The unpredictable
weather reflects the state of affairs in the world right now. We are living in strange times is
shaping up to be the catch phrase for 2020. We struggle to find our way through
the pandemic and adjust to how our lives have been restricted and reshaped.

As difficult as it is to
navigate our daily lives, I would argue that the uncertainty of what lies ahead
is what is really troubling us. What will the world look like on the other
side?

There are those who
claim to be able to resolve our uncertainty. These prognosticators are telling
us to prepare for the new normal and
sketching out their vision of what that will be. But the truth is no one really
knows for sure.

Case in point. In my
job, managing our association’s trade show exhibits program is my
responsibility. That challenge took on a new level of complexity when all live
events were shut down. Event Managers have been frantically converting their
events to virtual formats and pitching them to me while singing the praises of
the new technology they’ve harnessed.

It is rather bewildering
to decipher all the new options. I have done my best although it requires
reprogramming my change adverse mind. I think I have gotten over that hurdle.
But here is my typical conversation with these Event Managers.

“Sponsorship
Option 3 sounds interesting. How will it work?”

“Well,
we haven’t quite figured that out yet. But it’s going to be great! Sign up and
we’ll get you the details as soon as possible.”

Does that sound familiar
? I am betting it does. It is what we are facing on pretty much every front. It
is rather like standing at the entrance to several dark tunnels all of which
lead somewhere we have never been before. There are carnival barkers in front
of each tunnel beckoning us to enter.

Our options: Turn back
on the better the devil you know
principle. Stand at the entrance frozen in uncertainty. Pick the carnival
barker who seems to be the least self-serving. We have to choose one option.
But which one? The consequences of choosing wrong are frightening.

My advice? Forget about
the tunnels and ignore the barkers. Take the high road that goes above all the
tunnels. Yes, the high road is a
metaphor and requires you to think for yourself.  You still will not know for certain where it
will take you. But you will be charting your own path.

It is your future. Get
there on your own path and in your own time.

~ 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.

Learning from the Mad Hatter in the Year of COVID-19

Hmmm, should we step
through the looking-glass to redeem 2020?

Today is Halloween. But
there will be few trick-or-treaters at our door this year. Halloween is all but
officially cancelled in the year of COVID-19.

Daylight Savings Time
ends this weekend. We fall back and gain an hour. But we will be at loose ends
trying to figure out what to do with that hour with the restrictions in place.

Coincidentally, Facebook changed its layout this week.
Normally that annoys me to no end. But it hardly seems worth a second thought
in the current situation.

And then, right on cue, Alice Through the Looking-Glass graced
the television screen last night. Absolem
as a blue butterfly came beckoning for Alice. Alice obediently followed through
the looking-glass, stepped through a magical portal and fell into Wonderland
again.

But a pall has fallen
over Wonderland. The Mad Hatter is just not himself. Tweedle Dee and Tweedle
Dum, the White Rabbit, Princess Mirana and the Cheshire Cat are quite
concerned. Meanwhile, the Red Queen
is scheming for a way to take advantage of the situation.

Alice meets the
personification of Time and asks to turn back time to save Hatter’s lost family. Denied this request, she absconds with the Chronosphere– a glowing, spinning, metallic sphere
that allows a person to travel the Ocean of Time to the past.

The first three events
above are real life. The fourth, of course, is fantasy. But Alice Through the Looking-Glass seems
the more relevant to me at this moment.

Six months ago we fell
through the COVID-19 rabbit hole and landed in a Wonderland of shuttered stores
and social bubbles. We obediently closed our doors to flatten the curve. Tea
parties cancelled until further notice. Multi-coloured face masks the new
fashion trend. Working from home became the norm if you are fortunate enough to
be still employed.

2020 is very much Alice Through the Looking-Glass come to
life. Fantasy crossing the border of fiction and becoming reality. Our most
fervent desire is to engage the Chronosphere, turn back time and head off the
COVID-19 Jabberwocky before it takes
hold.

I am getting carried
away with this metaphor. But it seems so apt I cannot help myself. Confession:
I have always identified with the Mad
Hatter – an eccentric sort who goes his own way and finds meaning in what
others consider absurd. And the rebellious but loyal Alice is my kind of
friend.

We are in a strange year
in the unfathomable Ocean of Time. But there is much to be learned for the days
that lay ahead from the Mad Hatter, his
motley but loyal social circle and Alice’s determination to put things right
despite the odds against her.

~ 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