Things I have been doing this morning:
- Singing along to P. Ramlee. Bujang lapok (‘Old bachelor’):
Jalan yang mana hai tolonglah tunjuk
Jalan lurus, ai, jalan belok-belok
Aku dah penat, terbatuk-batuk
Bau asem Hai ketiak siapa busukShow me the way I should take
The straight road, ai, the winding road
I’m tired, coughing
What a stink, whose armpit smells(Poor M, having to listen to my caterwauling)
- Playing. On my Flickr profile, just added Peter Temple as one of my favourite authors. Clicking on the link within the profile to find out if there are any Flickr users who are also Peter Temple enthusiasts finds three others – all in Melbourne!
- Chatting, gtalk. I love how I can talk to people on the other side of the country and people halfway around the other side of the world!
- Reading: Jobs of the Future. Jobs that won’t exist in twenty years: film processor, cd shop manager, union organiser (they quote Alvin Toffler who says that unions will continue to become irrelevant: “The labor movement has not come to terms with the knowledge economy at all”), encyclopedia writer, miner (biomining advances, e.g. the use of Thiobacillus ferooxidans to extract metal from ore), call centre representative (more automation!)… Thankfully, librarians weren’t included in this list. Alvin Toffler adds that “Most jobs are going to change. They’ll survive, but they’ll change.” (Am also reading A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink, at the moment.)
- Lazing around. Lying on the bed tickling Baubles the Cat under her chin.
Might go in to the city for lunch. Going back to work next week is going to be sheer hell, I suspect!
Categories: navel-gazing
2 Comments
I have to say that I pretty much disagree with every single one of their ‘jobs that won’t exist in 20 years’ spiel.
I agree that the check-out chick will most likely be gone, but they’ll only be replaced by extra security personnel to stop people walking out without paying.
Film processor will go, but I said that 5 years ago. Most labs are shutting down. The city has lost 3 in the last year that I know of.
The rest is pretty much a pipedream. 50-100 years maybe, but definitely not 20.
Of course it would be a right-wing wet dream if union organisers disappeared. However within 20 years the child labour market in India will be fully unionised =).
Yes Skribe, I’d love to be around in 100 years’ time just to see how things have changed. I suspect they will be different, but in ways we can’t even imagine at the moment!