Robots, Economy, Connecting With Others

Economic news came out a few weeks ago with a drop in the unemployment rate by .1%.  It is now 7.2% unemployment for the entire U.S. while California is still 8.9%-9% and holding.  One of the issues that have been popping up more and more lately is the use of robots, software and automation to replace workers.  As software and robots get better and cheaper, many jobs will simply get replaced.  So much so that a recent report stated that half the jobs in the U.S. would get replaced by software eventually.  Many people on various forums stated that people will adapt and have compared the current automation we face now with the mechanization of farming a century ago.  But I have to disagree, people back then had the choice of jumping from one manual labor job to another, from working on a farm to working in a factory.  Now we are switching to an intellect and service based economy, and not everyone can adapt as fast.  Many people will be left behind.  Even worst off are the third world countries that have yet to industrialize.  As robotics get cheaper, there is simply no reason for developed countries to outsource their work to poorer, cheaper countries.  The days of paying some guy in the third world $5 a day working 16 hours a day seven days a week will be over in the coming years.

I already saw this coming a while ago, which is why I'm so hell bent on applying for a computer science masters program.  Whether I can actually finish it is another matter, and even if I do, the software development/IT field will be flooded 4-5 years from now.  Would I be able to find a job if I do finish it?  The future is so unclear.

Meanwhile, back in the present, I finished up the last required workshop for my accounting program.  This time, it was about interviews and relating to people.  Apparently the presenter was doing a telephone interview earlier with a potential hire and once they didn't have a connection, she simply lost interest about hiring the person.  Dear God, I hope not all interviewers are like this.  Hiring a person simply based on their ability to connect with you is such bullshit.  I hope I will be social enough to connect with others by the time I graduate with my masters otherwise I'm screwed.  I have to get rid of my INTJ vibe/bitchy resting face because I sense some of the folks in my class are spooked by me.

On another economic note, apparently there's too many pharmacy school graduates:

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/region/2013/10/27/Pharmacy-schools-turning-out-too-many-grads/stories/201310270094

Not sure if I should be happy that I didn't continue my pre-pharm route from UCSD or kick myself for wasting all that time going insane completing the organic chemistry classes.

Note to self:  Soften up body language, connect with others.

Dude We're Classmates

There hasn't been much to write about recently since everyday is pretty much the same old, same old.  My job is going well and my supervisor went on vacation for a month so it's kind of a relief to not have someone breathing down my neck.  One of my student coworkers apparently signed up for the same class I did and told me we're classmates.  He's a nice guy and all, but did he really have to do that?  Even though it's kind of annoying, I wasn't anxious when he told me.  If this happened several years ago, I would have been dreading it till the day class began.  Guess my psychological programming is holding out well.  I've been getting along decently with the faculty who work there though there is one woman who acts kind of weird around me.  Her name is Bernice, a Japanese woman in her late 40s to mid 50s, and I swear she keeps trying to get my attention or something.  Her body language around me is simply weird and I don't know how to describe it.  Really odd.

On another note, this whole government shutdown thing has me worried.  Though a budget will most likely be passed at the last minute, I have to wonder what would happen if it doesn't.  If it doesn't pass, the economic implications would be so enormous and devastating, I wouldn't be even able to comprehend it.  Everything that I and everyone else have worked for would be meaningless if it doesn't pass.  I hope we don't get screwed.