The Peter Principle has invaded my life. Yes, I've finally risen to the level of my own incompetence. That I've been there for the past six years, but am just now realizing my situation, is something to give us all pause.
It began with one serious error of my own making, but over the past two weeks the snags that dog me at every turn seem to come out of nowhere. In the newspaper business we call them gremlins. They are evil and conspire to turn us from competent professionals into fodder for the counsellor's couch.
Things like botched crossword puzzles, messed up photo captions, church page contributions under a headline talking about common sense that make no sense whatsoever are minor slip ups. Things happen. Carry on. But it's the frequency and the recent relentlessness that has me thinking someone else should be promoted to the level of their own incompetence and I should be put out to pasture.
And it isn't just the newspaper gremlins hounding me. Their computer cousins are also racing to join the cause of bringing me to my knees. The sports computer won't talk to the network, a valuable folder of materials for the weekly North Battleford Notables feature has simply vanished. Yes, I probably had a hand in the disappearance but I see the work of evil cyber gremlins behind activation of the delete process.
Thanks to the endless patience of Richard Hiebert and the help of a co-worker who had the materials saved in another location, another of the popular notables columns is featured in this edition.
It is my hope that by exposing the gremlins' evil deeds in print they will slink back into the slime, cyber and otherwise, from whence they have slithered and leave me alone for awhile. With my luck, my strategy will backfire and they'll just bring in reinforcements.
