Dis ability

Dis ability to write, that I have, is going to produce a life lesson story about disability... 

here I go! 

Today, I am going to talk about disability from the perspective of a sufferer who applied for disability benefits and was denied.

So, my particular struggles are heavily knee and lower back related. Genetics plays part of the role of disabilities, for sure. Work type plays part of the role of disabilities, for sure. Childbirth can be a problem, that, at times. has lingering weaknesses to overcome. Accidents are always a major setback, if injury results.

Now, here is the very difficult news for many people who don't really know how the 'system of government' works for 'workers.'

I applied for disability in 2021. Physical jobs, in my past, had expunged many jobs from my list of possibilities, for applying. 

Many jobs are quite often misrepresented and sometimes we accept them for a very short day or two but quickly realize that the fit is not quite right. Yes?

So, what would I like to disclose today so that people who apply for disability are not set up for great disappointment?

Here in Canada, if the rules have not changed as of 2021, the reason I was denied disability, I was told by the person I spoke to on the phone, was that I had not put in enough 'money' into the government coffers to... be eligible for disability. 

Basic lesson regarding this problem... 

Either you have to work 40- 50 years putting money into the government coffers in order to draw from your investment...

or you would be well- advised to save all the money you can... from all the work you have ever done... for your well- deserved time off when your knees and back will not perform as a youth.

So, the best advice I ever received, from a woman working at a bank, was this...

always pay yourself first so that, 

if you ever get denied disability, 

when you need it, 

as I  did...

you will have a little saved for those difficult days!

What is the lesson learned?

Invest in yourself... for I am a good investment and you are a good investment. 

How do I prove that you or I are a good investment? 

Here's a simple example I'll encourage you to extrapolate for every situation in your personal life.

Invest in your breakfast; that will allow you to work until first break or lunchtime. 

Invest in your lunch; that will allow you to work until second break or quitting time.

Invest in your dinner; that will have magnificent results for your next days' activities or work.

 

Here is my B- log

 

What is a log? Well, the photo, above, has pieces of a log, a real log. You know, a tree log. 

What am I punning on when  I say, 'This is my B- log?' You won't often find my opinions of day to day living to stray far from my foundational Beliefs.

This is my blog, a conversational communique where I relay my thoughts. By using tangible items I have purchased, or made, I make my world of commerce meet my world of beliefs. 

On the inside 'jacket' cover of my novel, The Orchard Walk, I wrote the line, 'The sacrifices made by... have become obscured and entangled in the vintage of commerce.' 

I truly feel that the current generation has become confused regarding the meaning of 'commerce.' When I combine two definitions of commerce, "the activity of buying and selling with social dealings between people," I believe there must be a high regard for people and products and pricing if one is to fulfill this definition. 

I will communicate a story from a local businessman about something he purchased for a very good price! Because it was an overseas purchase, 'said businessman' had no way of knowing if the seller was honest. He sent the money anyway, hoping for the best. 

What happened?

He didn't get the product. 

I call this sowing to the wind. Sometimes you just reap a whirlwind because confusion is a whirlwind. Confusion messes with your head and obscures your vision, entangling thoughts and making strong decisions impossible.

One reason people have become very confused about commerce is the inability to test the integrity of a seller or buyer in a face to face social environment, like things were in the old days. 

Why do people buy what they buy? 

The first and easiest answer is need.

Statistics say that the largest two items most households will ever purchase are... a house and a vehicle.

I have owned a few vehicles and the reason for buying them has always been need. A few unfortunate accidents required me to replace my vehicles. One thing I do not appreciate in the world of vehicles and commerce is this... punning or joking or outright lying.

Where I live, the insurance company uses a term, your vehicle was written off to inform the owner that an accident has caused too much damage and the insurance company will not repair your vehicle even though you would prefer that to any lesser settlement.

Unfortunately, that was my experience this last year. Now, we all know that it is the job of a reputable company to make sure the paperwork anyone is required to sign, in this situation, is attended to properly. So, when hiring for positions that require good management to carry out these duties, make sure these people don't pun while you are signing, saying, "Boy, I sure hope I didn't write off two vehicles just now." 

Those are words nobody would say in a reputable business but it happened to me. Because I have not heard from the owner of the business, whom I would be willing to listen to if there were a problem... I think I can safely assume that nothing untoward actually took place but, I ask you, dear reader,...

Would you put in a complaint so the owner is aware of his managers' mistake?

Where can you find El's Kitchen

The signage I had made for me, El's, is the beginning name of my myriad attempts to make a living from my personal talents. So, El, being the first two letters of my first name seemed to be the best way to identify myself. So, today, I am attempting to clarify my 'El's Kitchen' picture book on 'Pinterest' as one of my interests in life. So, here is a picture book of the last few years of my baking and cooking.

The reason for my photos today is to verify that I cook from scratch all the time. Having raised three boys to men, I had a lot of practice and, these days, I would only cook for loved ones.

My rhubarb crumble is something that I only make in summer.

This cake was shared... 

I love homemade dollar chips... and a homemade hamburger... I was eating alone that day.

I made these for someone who loved cherry tarts.

Pumpkin pies... 

Sugar cookies... always a favourite.

This is a sample of how I buy in summer... farmer's markets and grocery stores...

Now, the cooking in these photos was all done by myself... the writer... in a few kitchens from places I have lived in.

Today, AI is wrong about...

 So, my previous blog entry was about AI and the trials and tribulations of this computerized wizardry. Why use a term like wizardry? Well, how often was the comedic wizard of comic strip fame or is that comedic infamy... correct? If you, who have often read of that egotistical drunkard, may recall the wizard was most often concocting potions of powder keg disasters. 

For the novice who has not read comic strips for a while... a simple meaning of Id is ego. We will not go into a Freudian explanation of interrelated terms of ego. 

The purpose of this blog, today, is to prove, and warn, each individual who is concerned about their reputation, that AI will be wrong about many things.

So, I put my novel name, El Dueck, into the search engine and what kind of strange connections did AI make about me and people I'm not related to at all.

Well, if you search for El Dueck, Pinterest, you should come up with the correct person but I may be the only verifier of the myriad photos I have on that website because I am the only person who can recall doing all that work... because I did that work... is that id coming to the fore or is that just the plain truth?

So, the 'online presence' category is correct, today. Will it be for the next 15 years? I don't know.

Now, the 'project mentions' is all wrong because I have no idea who that 'Dueck' is... I don't care how many dots you put in a row.

The 'general quilting' category is also all wrong because I have no idea who those people are either. 

So, what can we deduce from this little 'test' of the AI programming 'wizard?' Did the wizard have too much to drink or is the newfound AI overrated and a little dangerous, perhaps?

Allow me to ask you a few questions for the sake of safety. If you had a very common surname, adopted by way too many people,... would you want to be associated with all of them? 

Simple answer... of course not! What if there be a criminal in the bunch? Woah! Do not include me then! What if there be a liar in the bunch? Woah! Do not associate me with that one, or two, or thirty... or five hundred.

Now, to prove a point here... if you are not sure yet what the point is... I will simply warn you that the point I am trying to make is a case for or against 'mistaken identity.'

What are the dangers of mistaken identity?

Well, about twelve years ago or maybe fifteen years ago, I was in a hospital and a screen with the names of recent patients scrolled. Factually. What I mean by that is, the people whose names were on the list had all needed a little medical help that week. So, what was so shocking about this list of peoples' names? 

Three names were identical... first and last names exactly the same.

Now, this was not random. How can we be almost completely sure that, in this 'hospital' situation, that the names of these individuals were correct but, they were, definitely, not the same three people?

Answer- When needing medical help, I would not want my files all mixed up with another person of a 'similar' name or even an identical name because... each persons' medical history is very individual and must, in this type of  situation, be precisely correct, for the safety of patient and health administrators.

So, today, I feel I have proven that AI is not perfect at anything. At times, the connections it makes with you and a person with a similar name may be harmless but at other times, it may be very dangerous.

My best advice to all who use the internet... always use your own intelligence while using the artificial intelligence on the internet because the responsibility of verifying and cross- referencing will always lie with humans, 

you and I.

.............How

 ... can you tell if writing is original or AI generated?

Syntax... that's syntax... 

I've been meaning to write about AI generated information for quite some time. Now, the reason for this is... how can any of us, colloquially speaking, of course,... tell what information on the internet is real, or fake? What I mean by real or fake is... was it written by a human that is capable of thought and action to relay information that is helpful and sincere?

As a writer, I need to ask myself... why do I write? For me, this is a very easy answer. I write, in personal journals, to clarify thoughts, determine relevancy of information for the application of knowledge to my own intellectual growth and the need to relay information on topics that I find necessary to cement truth in our sand- shifting world.

There are many reasons to relay information. If someone is trying to sell you something, the method of persuasion might be... a writ of relevancy on whatever they are trying to sell you. For instance, if trying to sell a health product, a person might attempt to write about many health topics ranging form exercise to food. If you can draw people in with snappy articles, you might get an audience... a repeat audience... which increases your chances that a person may start to trust your website enough to... some day... buy something.

My concern, these days, is that writers remain true to their own style in structure and content. What is the reason for this? Well, trust. If I can't trust anything that is written, how can I put any validity towards articles written?

Let me give you a simple cross reference example... let's say you're watching a movie in a language you don't understand. You can either believe that the transcript is accurate or... if you watch a movie with subtitles you do understand, one will quickly realize that subtitles are sometimes correct, sometimes not.

I believe many people use AI to polish their on- line articles so they sound... mmm, smarter or more current or more relevant.

Now, back to verification of writer authenticity... why is it important to trust your writing style instead of trusting AI? I believe the day is coming when people would rather read an article by someone they know is actually writing it instead of relying on a universal system, like a computer program, which is too widely used.

University papers are likely scrutinized to root out paid for writers. I mean, really, why go to school at all if you're just going to buy a paper someone else wrote?

There are some areas that remain highly sensitive to verification... historical record is one. Read the historical information of Biblical books and you will find that, over hundreds of years, consensus of authorship has been studied to determine which authors wrote each book. The reason for this is that it is more authentic to be able to place a person, in time, to a region, or a place or occupation and writings are matched to style for authorship verification.

So, next time you think about using AI... don't... and just write from your own practiced style. It might be appreciated for its authenticity,

Coming soon... food and ways to stretch your cooking abilities for a healthy lifestyle. 

Blanketed

 

Time to Write

 

Possibly,... The Orchard Walk II

    "The frozen prairies thawed with the warm sun turning puddles into small glimpses of glass, the only assurance that the world would soon not look so dirty. This was to be the first spring rain. God had a way of cleaning up the grey of winter. Since moving to this faraway land life had been one uncomfortable change after another. All the idyllic ideas of a peaceful life in the country had been soundly thrashed by crime, violence, and a string of tragic events that were hard to explain in earthly terms.

    The words of a preacher rang in her ears as she thought about the loss of lives. Every loss was a change for someone, and not just small changes but very big changes indeed.

    Although no priest of white collar, confessions came anyway, to Simmy.

    The basic lesson seemed to be... anything we take from someone else, when maybe we shouldn't, causes loss to another. A illicit affair, sudden death, and then children would go through life without a father. To take what belongs to another, especially in relationship, is no small thing... especially not to God. Of this, Simmy was quite sure.

    Undoubtedly, the need to forgive touches every life."