When the law clerk found out that she was going to be the victim of a layoff, she was pissed. She decided, not having any choice, that she would accede to their wishes, but she was a rascal at heart and was not going to go off quietly into the night. She was bound and determined to leave a bit of chaos trailing behind her departure.
Her last day was two weeks hence, and she planned to continue to maintain her friendly demeanor. She was quite tech savvy and on her final day with the firm, she hacked into the server and changed everyone’s network passwords. And sure enough, the day after she left, chaos did, indeed, ensue.
Apparently one of the senior partners suspected, given the timing of her departure, that she was behind the damage to all of the firm’s precious electronic data. He called her and, without accusing her directly, but knowing she was a technical whiz kid, asked her if she would be willing to troubleshoot the computer glitch. He promised to reinstate her if she would offer to help the firm out.
She said she would if they would put it in writing that her job would be secure for at least two more years and if her salary was bumped up by 25 percent.
She was back at work the next day. Harmony and order at the firm were restored.
Written for these daily prompts: The Daily Spur (clerk), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (layoff), Your Daily Word Prompt (accede), Ragtag Daily Prompt (rascal), E.M.’s random Word Prompt (trailing), Word of the Day Challenge (friendly), and My Vivid Blog (password.
The idea behind Who Won the Week is to give you the opportunity to select who (or what) you think “won” this past week. Your selection can be anyone or anything — politicians, celebrities, athletes, authors, bloggers, your friends or family members, books, movies, TV shows, businesses, organizations, whatever.
If you want to participate, write your own post designating who you think won the week and why you think they deserve your nod. Then link back to this post and tag you post with FWWTW.
In my continuing effort to avoid politics, this week’s Who Won the Week winner is Paul Bishop. Bishop, a 63-year-old British man, misplaced his teeth at a popular Spanish party resort in 2011 while on holiday. He fell ill while drinking cider and had to vomit into a bin.
Bishop said, “I had downed the rest of my cider and it decided to come back up. The bin was the closest thing to me. When we headed to the next bar, my friend then turned round to me and asked where my teeth were.”
Amazingly, eleven years later, Paul’s dentures were found in landfill. Spanish authorities used DNA records to eventually track him to his home in Greater Manchester. Bishop was left open-mouthed after Spanish authorities returned the false teeth he lost on that boozy night out more than a decade ago.
So congratulations Paul. Thanks to DNA testing, you’ve got your choppers back.
What about you? Who (or what) do you think won the week?
And lest you think I’ve got totally apolitical, I leave you with this:
It’s time once again for E.M. Kingston’s The Sunday Ramble. Her prompt is based upon a certain topic about which she asks five questions. We are invited to ramble on about that topic however we wish. Today’s topic is “Technology and The Future.”
1. Are there any applications on your mobile device, tablets, etc. that you cannot live without?
WordPress, texting app, gmail, Google. camera app, weather, banking app, newsfeed, Kindle, Amazon, solitaire, and more. I live on my iPhone.
2. Do you prefer Apple or Android?
Apple. I’ve never owned an Android device.
3. Windows OS or MacOS?
Windows, although I hardly use my laptop anymore. So the OS I use most often is Apple’s iOS for the iPhone.
4. What do you wish that you would have placed in a time capsule 15+ years ago to have access to now?
Hmm. That would haven been 2007, right? My “smartphone” device back then was a BlackBerry. It was a marvelous device in its day, but I’m not sure that I’d need or want to have access to it today. Or much of anything else from 2007 for that matter.
5. When you think of the what the world will look like 50 years from now, what does that future look like through your eyes?
To be honest, I have my doubts that the human race will still be around 50 years hence. Between how we’re destroying the environment on our home planet, diseases and viruses that keep cropping up, wars being waged by megalomaniacs or in the name of God and religion, and societal norms collapsing, I’m afraid the end is near.
For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday theme words of Automated, Mechanical, Modern, and Robotic were suggested by Melanie B Cee of Sparks From a Combustible Mind. I have a feeling that I won’t be the only one this week going with the Styx song, “Mr. Roboto.”
“Mr.Roboto” was written by Dennis DeYoung of the band Styx, and recorded on the Styx album Kilroy Was Here. The song reached number 3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in April 1983. The Japanese lyrics at the beginning of the song translate in English to Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto / Until the day we meet again / Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto / I want to know your secret.
Kilroy Was Here was a concept album that is a commentary on censorship. “Kilroy” is the main character of the album, a famous rock star who is sent to prison for “rock and roll misfits” by the anti-rock-and-roll group the Majority for Musical Morality. In prison, workers have been replaced by robots, called Robotos, who perform menial jobs. Kilroy escapes the prison by overpowering a Roboto prison guard and hiding inside its emptied-out metal shell. This song is about his escape from jail. The story makes a statement about the dehumanizing of the working class.
In the early ’80s, the First Assembly Church of God in Ankeny, Iowa, made news by burning albums with what they considered “Satanic influences.” Styx was one of their targets because of the band’s name, Styx, which in Greek mythology, is a river that runs through hell. This got DeYoung thinking about censorship, which formed the central concept of the song. Later, he saw a documentary on robots put to work in factories. DeYoung had been to Japan with the band and was intrigued by the Japanese culture. He merged these concepts of censorship, robotics, and Japan into “Mr. Roboto,” the story of a human/robot hybrid who is called upon to save the world.
For their 1983 tour based upon the album, a short Kilroy film was shown at the beginning of every concert. The film ends in a scene where DeYoung’s character takes off his robot helmet and reveals himself to the authorities, at which point the band continued the scene live on stage, with the song “Mr. Roboto” playing, rock opera style.
DeYoung said that he was surprised when it went over so well in concert. “The audience would yell ‘Kilroy,’ like they’re out of their minds at the end of the song when I play it, and I still don’t know why, because I guarantee you, 75% of them have no idea what Kilroy is doing in there,” he told Songfacts.
Here are the lyrics to Mr. Roboto
Domo arigato misuta Robotto Mata au hi made Domo arigato misuta Robotto Himitsu wo shiritai
You’re wondering who I am-machine or mannequin With parts made in Japan, I am the modern man
I’ve got a secret I’ve been hiding under my skin My heart is human, my blood is boiling, my brain I.B.M. So if you see me acting strangely, don’t be surprised I’m just a man who needed someone, and somewhere to hide To keep me alive, just keep me alive Somewhere to hide to keep me alive
I’m not a robot without emotions, I’m not what you see I’ve come to help you with your problems, so we can be free I’m not a hero, I’m not a savior, forget what you know I’m just a man whose circumstances went beyond his control Beyond my control, we all need control I need control, we all need control
I am the modern man, who hides behind a mask So no one else can see my true identity
Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, domo, domo Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, domo, domo Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto
Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto For doing the jobs nobody wants to And thank you very much, Mr. Roboto For helping me escape to where I needed to Thank you, thank you, thank you I want to thank you, please, thank you, oh yeah
The problem’s plain to see, too much technology Machines to save our lives. Machines dehumanize.
The time has come at last To throw away this mask Now everyone can see My true identity I’m Kilroy! Kilroy! Kilroy! Kilroy!
It’s February 20, 2022. Welcome to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (U.S.).
Today’s word is “layoff.”
Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.
Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Please check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.
And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. You will marvel at their creativity.
This, That, and the Other 