Category: Fourre-tout

I find that most men would rather have their bellies opened for five hundred dollars than have a tooth pulled for five. ~Martin H. Fischer (1879–1962)

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Minor surgery is an operation performed on somebody else.
Sure!

Nobody (at least me) relishes to have some remodeling done on his or her anatomy, but recently almost within a week’s span I had to submit to medical practitioners to have a tooth yanked out and my pacemaker replaced.

Strangely enough, the tooth pulling business was more traumatic than the cardiac procedure.

I don’t know about you, but the only person authorized to explore the inside of my mouth is ME. Anybody else (including dentists) is not welcome. But with an abscessed tooth tormenting me, I had to make an exception and allow an outsider to sully the sanctity of my mouth.

So I went to my dentist who said categorically that tooth number 14 had to come out. I had no better option, so va bene.

Before proceeding with his ghastly task, he had the charity to numb my gums with a few shots of “curare” that he specially buys (I have been told) from the Macusi Indians of Guyana. I absolutely abhor syringes. They always remind me of Mengele or a mad scientist about to inject a nasty substance into the helpless hero tied to a chair.

My slightly psychotic dentist likes to use a hammer. I don’t know if the American Dental Association condones this practice, but he does it anyway. And when he bangs on your tooth, your head resonates likes a giant bell.
But to my relief, the damn tooth finally came out. I made sure of it by having my tongue inspect a newly found gap on my upper jaw.

The pacemaker replacement was a totally different story. It was a very smooth and painless procedure.
After prepping me and asking me a bunch of very pointed questions, the operating team simply numbed the area below my left clavicle with some cream and went to work.
While feeling no pain, I was totally conscious during the entire procedure and could hear everything that the operating personnel was saying.
Unfortunately I didn’t catch any good financial tip, just some lame joke.

The operation took about thirty minutes and I could stand up and walk immediately after the surgery. Unlike the tooth pulling business, this procedure was totally devoid of trauma.

Next day though, I felt some discomfort in the pacemaker area. I guess that the body has to check and accept that foreign object.

OK, it seems that I am all set for another decade. I certainly hope to far outlast a newly minted carny messiah.

Alain

Jobs are disappearing from every sector of the economy, from engineering to health care workers, forcing hundreds of thousands of families into unemployment and low-paying jobs. Jerry Costello

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 It is difficult to believe it, but I worked 35 years for the same company. I am (sigh) a dinosaur, and everybody knows what happened to dinosaurs.
Today, due to rapid technological innovations, many jobs are on the path to extinction.

As a young adult entering the labor market, you might want to think very carefully (much more carefully than yesteryear) about your professional path, for many contemporary jobs will soon disappear.
Before engaging in any professional activity, you need to read the writings on the (wailing) wall and draw the conclusions. And if you are observant the writings are everywhere, in bold characters.

If you did not realize it, your foes are robots. They are here, they are queer and they want your job. As far are salaries and social benefits are concerned they are very accommodating and can be trained in a matter of minutes.
Their only concern is medical care. They want to be assured of quick and reliable organ transplants when needed, and employers regardless of the cost are more than willing to oblige. They know that a robot is far more reliable and much less demanding than its whining human counterpart and they will treat it with greater care and respect.

The only task that robots cannot handle (yet) is creativity. But don’t bet the farm on that. I venture to say that books and movie scripts will soon be handled by made up androids.

Blue-collar workers have the most to lose in this tectonic struggle. They voted for Donald Trump to save or resurrect their jobs, but there is very little that the Donald can tweet in this matter.
Robots have a very strong lobby that knows which strings to pull to get satisfaction.

One of the most obvious endangered professions is that of postal worker.
With the advent of e-mail and messaging, the demand for postal workers is in a death spiral and many mail carriers might indeed go “postal” when their job vanishes.
If you are still young and working in this sector, it might be a good idea to think about a career change.

Similarly, if you are a travel agent, your glory days are numbered. With digital devices doing the footwork for you, any schlemiel can now organize his travels in a matter of minutes.

If you are driving a cab, start looking for another way to make a living. Self-driving cars are here and they are more agreeable and reliable than most cabbies.

So, if you still have time on your side, evaluate your line of work and if you can, attach yourself to a more resilient profession (like fireman or politician) as soon as possible.

Blessed are the young for they shall inherit the national debt. Herbert Hoover

Alain