There’s a new author in town. Once started out as a YA (young adult) book writer – with two complete three book series (plus a yet to be published Christmas book)… she is branching out for the older crowd (still PG rated).
If you are into ghosts or psychic type metaphysics – you should check out Kimberlee Dodge. You can find her on Amazon by clicking: https://tinyurl.com/4j4tv2bk
Start your journey with The Ghost of Forlorn Lane and see what “The J Club” was up to, (before) they were the J Club.
Jack likes order and simplicity. Only his life is rarely ever simple. Jack’s mind has always been bombarded with other people’s intrusive thoughts. Not even the infamous Grandma Rosa could help him silence the voices in his head.
In a bold move that takes him nine hundred miles from home, Jack defies his parents and secretly enrolls in The Para-Northern Conservatory to get a handle on his gifts, instead of heading off to Dartmouth College, where his father has mapped out his life. However, upon arriving in New Hampshire, Jack finds himself homeless and desperate in quick order.
An innocent offer to rent a room is all it takes to spark a series of unexpected events that leave Jack shaken. On his first night in the boardinghouse, Jack is treated to the tale of the mysterious Blue Lady that allegedly haunts his room… but it’s clear from the start that whatever is happening is not a figment of anyone’s imagination. As the activity in the house increases, so does the danger to all who live at 9 Maple Square.
Coming in April!
Check out information about her other works by visiting:
Bluetooth is everywhere, but how dangerous is it really? Learn about Bluetooth attacks, pairing scams, tracking risks, malicious devices, BlueBorne-style vulnerabilities, fake accessories, Bluetooth tracking, and the settings you should change to secure your phone, laptop and car.
Walk into a restaurant, hospital, hotel, airport, supermarket, call centre, bank, delivery hub, or customer-service office today, and there is a good chance you will notice something before anything else: there simply aren’t enough people to do all the work. Across many countries, service-sector workers are increasingly being asked to do more with fewer colleagues, longer hours, and greater expectations from customers and employers. The result is an uncomfortable contradiction. The modern economy depends heavily on services, yet many of the people who keep those services running are exhausted, understaffed, and increasingly stretched to their limits. This is not merely a workplace problem. It is becoming a structural problem for economies and societies.
The service economy has expanded enormously over the past few decades. Healthcare, hospitality, retail, logistics, tourism, education, financial services, technology support, food delivery, transportation, and countless other industries now employ millions of people. But growth in demand has not always been matched by growth in the workforce. An ageing population in many developed countries is reducing the pool of available workers. Younger generations are often reluctant to enter jobs that offer relatively low wages, irregular schedules, limited security, and few opportunities for advancement. Migration has helped fill some gaps, but immigration policies and geopolitical conditions can make labour mobility unpredictable. At the same time, customers expect services to be faster, cheaper, more personalized, and available around the clock. Someone has to absorb that pressure. Increasingly, it is the existing workforce.
Understaffing doesn’t simply mean that employees have more tasks on their desks. It changes the nature of work itself. A restaurant employee may serve more tables while simultaneously handling online orders and cleaning. A nurse may care for more patients than is ideal. A retail worker may operate a checkout, restock shelves, answer customer questions, and manage online orders during the same shift. A customer-service representative may handle an endless queue of increasingly frustrated customers. Eventually, something gives. Sometimes it is the quality of service. Sometimes it is the employee’s physical health. Sometimes it is their mental well-being. And sometimes it is the decision to leave the job altogether. That creates a vicious cycle. Understaffing causes burnout. Burnout causes resignations. Resignations create greater understaffing. The remaining employees then carry an even heavier burden.
Technology was supposed to make service work easier. Automation, artificial intelligence, self-checkout systems, scheduling software, chatbots, digital payments, robotic systems, and sophisticated management platforms have undoubtedly increased productivity in many areas. Yet technological progress has not necessarily translated into less pressure for workers. Instead, companies can sometimes use technology to increase expectations. If an automated system makes a process faster, customers may begin expecting the faster experience everywhere. If AI allows customer inquiries to be handled instantly, tolerance for waiting can decline. If delivery platforms optimize routes and reduce delivery times, workers may face increasingly aggressive performance targets. Technology can therefore become both a solution and a source of additional pressure. The question should not simply be, “How much more work can technology help us accomplish?” It should also be, “How much unnecessary human pressure can technology remove?” That distinction matters.
One of the strangest features of modern economies is that some of the most essential jobs are among the least valued economically. Cleaners, delivery workers, hospitality employees, retail assistants, security personnel, warehouse workers, support staff, and many others keep societies functioning every day. Yet many of these occupations struggle with relatively low wages, uncertain schedules, limited benefits, and weak career progression. The pandemic briefly changed the public perception of such workers. Suddenly, people recognized them as essential. But recognition alone does not pay rent, provide retirement security, or create a sustainable career. If societies genuinely depend on these workers, their compensation and working conditions must reflect their importance.
There is another uncomfortable part of the conversation: consumer expectations. We increasingly want everything immediately. Food should arrive quickly. Packages should arrive tomorrow. Customer support should respond instantly. Hotels should provide flawless service. Restaurants should operate at full capacity. Stores should remain open late. Transportation should be frequent and inexpensive. But every service has a human cost somewhere in the system. A cheap meal may depend on an underpaid kitchen worker. A rapid delivery may depend on a driver working under intense time pressure. A 24-hour service may require someone to work through the night. Convenience is rarely cost-free. Perhaps consumers need to rediscover a little patience. Not every delay represents incompetence. Sometimes it simply means there aren’t enough people.
The solution cannot be reduced to telling workers to “work harder” or encouraging companies to recruit more aggressively. Businesses need to rethink staffing models, wages, scheduling, training, career development, and workplace culture. Governments need policies that address demographic changes, worker mobility, childcare, affordable housing, vocational education, and labour protections. Artificial intelligence and automation can help, but they should augment workers rather than simply become excuses to eliminate jobs while increasing workloads for those who remain. There is also a strong case for redesigning service jobs themselves. A job that pays fairly, provides predictable schedules, offers training, and creates a realistic path toward advancement is much easier to fill than a job that offers little beyond exhaustion.
The future may ultimately force us to reconsider what we mean by productivity. A company that serves more customers but burns through employees every year may look productive on a spreadsheet. In reality, it could be consuming its own workforce. Sustainable productivity should include worker retention, health, stability, and quality of service. The service economy cannot function indefinitely by running people at maximum capacity. There is a simple lesson hidden beneath all the economic statistics: services are delivered by human beings. We can build better software, smarter machines, faster logistics networks, and more sophisticated artificial intelligence. But until technology can completely replace the human element in every service we depend upon, people will remain the infrastructure of the service economy. And infrastructure that is constantly overloaded eventually breaks.
The growing staffing crisis should therefore not be viewed merely as a shortage of workers. It is a warning that the way we organize, value, and consume services may no longer be sustainable. Perhaps the future of work isn’t about making people work harder. Perhaps it is about building a world where technology carries more of the burden, while human beings are given the time, dignity, and space to do their best work.
A stolen phone number can become a gateway to your email, banking, social media and cryptocurrency accounts. Learn how SIM swapping, eSIM fraud, number porting and SMS interception work, the warning signs, what to do if your number suddenly stops working, and how to protect yourself.
The best content I know comes from this substack. I can’t recommend it highly enough. “Capital Has Outsourced Its Reproduction to the State’s Monopoly on Violence” “How to Explain It to a Six-Year-Old Imagine a candy shop. The government has made a rule that says everyone has to buy candy from this one shop. No […]
*** Check out the video – after clicking the link below http://fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/patrick-jordan-annette-weaponized-ticks-lyme-disease-the-medical-machine/242105 A conspiracy around ticks and Lyme disease has been suspected for some time, but the magnitude of Patrick & Annette’s findings suggested an unprecedented scope. While investigating Annie’s health conditions both she and Patrick discovered a Continuum where many pharmaceutical drugs are immunosuppressive, […]
You don’t need to be naturally flexible, incredibly strong, or able to twist yourself into complicated poses to enjoy yoga. Whether you’re completely new to it or already spend plenty of time on a yoga mat, the practice can be a simple way to combine movement, breathing, relaxation, and mindfulness. Here are 20 reasons you […]
OpenAI has started showing ads inside ChatGPT for users in India. If you’re on the Free plan or the ₹399/month Go plan, you may already be seeing sponsored content pop up under your chat responses. Here’s a complete breakdown of what’s happening, why OpenAI made this move, and what it actually looks like for everyday…
Fake browser notifications can make your computer look infected, display fake virus warnings, impersonate Microsoft or antivirus companies, and trick you into installing malware or calling scammers. Learn how browser notification scams work and how to remove them.
You probably don’t think of your calendar as a cybersecurity tool. You think of it as a place for: But there’s a problem. Your calendar can receive information from other people and external services. And attackers can abuse that trust. Imagine waking up and seeing: ⚠️ URGENT: Your Microsoft 365 account will be suspended today […]
Public USB charging stations may expose your phone to data theft and malicious connections. Learn what juice jacking is, how malicious charging attacks work, whether someone can hack your phone through a USB cable, warning signs, and how to safely charge your phone in airports, hotels, cafés and public places.
George Carlin told us about this corona panic years ago *** sure – I’ve posted this before – people need to see this again, because it didn’t sink in the first time.
Daily writing prompt In what ways does hard work make you feel fulfilled? View all responses Actually hard work does not make me feel fulfilled, rather, the opposite. 303 more words
Quick answer: AI-driven cyberattacks have jumped roughly 72% year-over-year, and the two fastest-growing weapons in that surge are deepfakes (fake voices, faces, and video used to impersonate real people) and AI-generated malware (malicious code that rewrites itself to dodge antivirus tools). Together they’ve already caused breaches costing millions – including a single video call that…
AI deepfakes can now imitate faces, voices and even live video calls. Learn how real-time deepfake scams work, warning signs, how to verify someone’s identity and how to protect yourself from AI impersonation.
For anyone building a business, brand, or personal platform, The Magician is one of the most powerful archetypes for understanding marketing, not as manipulation, but as intentional communication.
When you look at the world today, it’s like looking at a madhouse. The world is more connected than ever through the miracle of electronic devices. People, at least in the West, of course, there are exceptions, are living longer, eating better, living in homes, and driving the latest cars. We have iPhones/Android phones, social media, AI, etc.
This society has become greedier and greedier. We are all encouraged to work ourselves to the bone so we can keep our kids happy, to get the latest this or that, to buy a product endorsed by some superstar. We all walk about like zombies. We whizz around like ants, thinking it is a purpose, when in fact, it is no purpose. We think we are happy living this life, but deep down, many are not. Many just wish to run away and unplug, and go back to some idyllic life. Many of us dream of living off-grid, living in nature, as in the programmes presented by English adventurer Ben Fogle. Yes, folks, even to go back to nature and live sustainably, we need cold, hard cash. Even living off-grid requires hard graft, and while some take to it, others can’t hack it. Modern life has made us soft.
We are building tech that could replace us. Yes, it’s a good thing that it could liberate humans from being wage slaves. But we need something like a Universal Basic Income to free humans. So we can be more spiritual, more creative, do things that make us happy, as long as it does not harm ourselves or others. We should spend more time in nature, look at the night sky, spend time with our pets, with other species, and be with like- minded people. If we were able to do this, I’m sure there would be less mental illness and perhaps even physical illness. People on TV, social media, and our health providers all tell us we should eat and drink healthier. That’s well-meaning and all well and good, but have you seen the price of healthy food? If you are on a good salary, buying this food is no problem. However, many on budgets just about keeping their heads above water, healthy food is a rarity or non-existent. Thus such folk can only afford to buy crap processed food. And we wonder why there is obesity? Or illnesses caused by eating the wrong food.
By Ashley Hayes Young people like Hayden Panettiere don’t just die of heart attacks. To that end, watch the important documentary Died Suddenly and draw your own conclusions. Here’s a link: https://subsplash.com/u/-RT4DVC/media/embed/d/ydg2hxh?info=0 For more information, please research the important testimony and multiple videos of Dr. Carrie Madej and former Chief Scientist at Pfizer, Dr. Michael […]
Originally posted on John W. Whitehead, Constitutional Attorney: “The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary.”—H.L. Mencken We’ve been down this road many times before. If the government is consistent about any one…
Originally posted on RIELPOLITIK: Source – trueactivist.com – “…Because milk is very mucus-forming in the human body, it is believed to contribute to allergies, ear infections, Type 1 diabetes, anemia, and even constipation. In addition, the food may contribute to various types of cancers as consumption of the product increases the body’s level of insulin-like…
If only my mother was still here. You see, she died (on this day) a few years ago. I didn’t take the time to tell her how much I loved her. Now she is gone, and all the things I never told her, she will never know.
PliscaPlace 
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