Meetings/Stepping down/ First Author event sales of the year - Motive

I just attended a meeting for retired Federal Employees. They are looking for volunteers, new members and those interested in advocating. I have now officially stepped down from all volunteer positions. I shall be enjoying life, writing and of course having fun as a priority. I have a full packed schedule regardless. My next book signing and selling my own books will be held from 11:00 to 1700 hrs (5pm). Saturday and Sunday 6 and 7 of Jun 26, with the Crime Writers of Canada. This will be hosted by Motive at Victoria University (on Uof T campus), 73 Crescent Park, Toronto.

Remember I always make myself available to sign/sell at bookstores and anywhere else.

If you are free come and visit me at table 9. I will be sharing with fellow writers. You are sure to meet many interesting people.

 

To Anonymous regarding Pedophiles

I had to remove your comments because first you did not identify yourself and second I would be liable if your accusations against this Psychiatrist is false.  I looked the person up with the Physicians and Surgeons and there is no complaint and the person is active.  You may contact the Physicans and Surgeons and file a complaint.   You may also report to the Police.  I believe that the Person is in Ontario.   I welcome comments but there are also laws against false accusations and there is a judicial process in place.  A person is considered innocent until proven guilty.  If you have a complaint please direct them to the proper authorities. 

Writer's Corner

 

     I was looking at some notes regarding a Sister’s in Crime webinar and realized I can barely read my writing.  Of course, it would be better if I typed, but memory is more reliable when we write.  Did you know that?  It has better retention.   I have returned to my writing but realize, I think, more than I write.  I’ll tell you more about how I do things another time.  Now back to the webinar.  The Host was sharing an experience.  Her rule of thumb is wait for 24 hours after an agent sends her a request.  She gave an example of yelling at the screen after receiving comments.  Later,  after reading it again, she realized she wasn’t being criticized but being asked for clarification.  I understand that.  When we receive feed back, we react by emotions.  After we wait, as the Host suggested, we have diffused the emotion and may react more analytically.  Of course,  I got a review so bad for Ominous my favourite that I am saving it.  I shall post it in the future and analyze it.  The reviewer (sole) never signed her name.  I consider that being a coward.  There was nothing concrete which I could have used.  Not only did she bash me but also my Editor who has been teaching writers for 30 years.  Yet, after that review, I stopped writing for some time, and listen to me out there.  Don’t let reviews get you down.  Take what is positive and recognize the rhetoric.  So, I too as the Host, would recommend that you wait for 24 hours before responding.  I have been asked to review books and have declined.  I know and recognize the heart and soul that goes into a book when written with passion.  I don’t want to say anything at all that would hurt a writer who has taken the time - to write.  I have had writers ask me for an opinion and usually it is about changes recommended by others.  One writer told me he had beta readers all tell him to remove one specific area which meant a lot to him.  I reminded him that it was his story.  If it meant so much to him why listen to a small group?    We can never please all the people and that is something to be remembered.  It can be difficult in what to decide and whom to listen to.   Find your network who you can trust to be honest and kind.  The Host continued that “Patience is a virtue and a reality.”  I’m not all that good with patience.  As many of you know by now when I go to confession - no patience is my staple sin.

     The Host continued with Roads to Publishing:  “Who am I as a writer?”  This particular host had 72 rejections from Agents.  She is now doing quite well.  She said she received rejections hundreds of time.  She said you require patience, determination and focus.  It is important to continue to write.

     What am I doing now?  Well,  today is a nice warm day at about 20.  I want to take advantage of every beautiful day because quite frankly it has been cold with overcast and I forgot what the sun looked like.  I still have my heat on, but the windows are open.  I am packing my bulky winter clothing away for the season.  I don’t think I shall be moving to Niagara this summer since the market is still at its lowest.  That’s ok.  I have squirrels and a bunny rabbit in my backyard as well as birds galore.  Unfortunately, there is also a Hawk wanting my fat little creatures.  After Victoria Day I want to start beautifying my planters, cut my rose bushes etc…I want to eat out side and enjoy every bit of sunshine.  For now, take care and enjoy life as you balance work and fun.  What do you think?  

   

Suicide: Continuing with Imagery helps………

 

Woman performed empty chair and read letter to husband.

Considerations:  Comfort and Safety Plan  

Foster and be present to client.  Office is a safe place.   “I’m here for you.  I will listen to you.  I will stand beside you.”

Cognitive Disorder:  Family/Friend support.  When to call in.  Risk factors and include in safety plan.  If believe burden to family, lack of purpose -  may feel  unable to move forward. Feels worthless.  Are you thinking of suicide?  Cannot determine.  Keep close eye on elderly.  They really question, “What is my purpose?  What do I do now?” (when lose partners).  “When do I call for support?  When call 911?  

“You don’t have to have answers.  You’re not alone.  I will work with you.”  

Most suicide people do not write a suicide note. When they do write one, please understand that they are at the lowest point.  Don’t take in every word.  Don’t read into it.

Difference of losing a child vs adults.  Death in general is a wound that never truly heals.  Don’t get stuck there.  Maybe you are watching a movie and pain comes right to the surface and you go into a rabbit hole.  “I should have done this (or that?”

Shame  - when standing at the grave of a child, it doesn’t have to be overwhelming then but it is always there.   A problem for clinicians is that we think we have failed.  There is a limit to what we can do.  We only have control over ourselves.  The speaker continued that he lost five patients to Suicide:  Continuing with Imagery helps……… patients who died by suicide.  They will be with him for the rest of his life.  Concluded

   

Theology notes continues

Psalm 22 (is my favourite and I recite it each day Mon to Fri)  innocent.  After Priestly writers, new writing comes - Wisdom literature.  If not, what replaces Covenant?  What is new in the new Convenent of Christ?  Is something new?  Yes.  Babylonic . Priestly writers offer hope and rework moments, creation with Noah and Abraham.

What values trying to put forward: 

Abrahamic Arch:

Genesis 12:  Call/challenge,  Promises, First speech of God to Abraham (land, descendants, and blessing of all people).   Leave and go to unkown land.  I will show you (task). Either accept challenge, wish, tripple promise. 

PROMISE -  (How do I know?)  Promise of land and promise of descendants (a gift).  The centre of the Berit Covenant is the promise (gift).  Abraham didn’t ask for it, it is purely a gift.  Double promise.

Genesis 22:  Call, Challenge, Promise - tripple promise.

to be continued.

 

Book Events - This summer events I have been invited to . I am so thankful.

 I just received an email from the Crime Writers of Canada that I will be able to attend and share a table at the Motive festival, at Victoria College, set at the University of Toronto,  from 1100 to 5pm, both Saturday and Sunday, 6 & 7 of June 26.  I really miss the University students and their enthusiasm.  Of course I have accepted. 

I have also been invited and of course I accepted, to a Writers Conference at the Coptic Centre in Mississauga,  Saturday 29 Jun 26,  to sell my books.   This time the event is closed to the public.  

I have also signed up again for Word on The Street, scheduled both Saturday and Sunday, 1100 to 6pm on Saturday 26 September 27 and 10:00 to 5pm, Sunday, 27 September 26.  The Word on the Street will be at the same place as last year across from TIFF and the theatre.  Lots of parking (which I love).  This year I will be sharing a table with another Author.  I had fun last year sharing a table and it is more cost effective.

     I do hope you come and say hi.  If you don't have any of my books, the cheapest is Hey Guy Buy Me.  

I am selling it for 5.00.   It has cartoons.

     I have also been nominated to receive a Quilt of Valour, for my Military Police Service.   I am extremely excited about that.  Of course I accepted.  Now it is just about when and where.  What an honour this is for me!  

      Good talk

        

        

      

Surgery - Cut and pasted because they don't have a share button for blogs. Also on my facebook and linkedin page

 When something goes wrong on a plane, investigators turn to the black box. Now, a similar tool is being tested in operating rooms – where researchers review synchronized video, audio and physiological data to gain a better understanding of what happens during surgery.  

Patricia Trbovich, an associate professor at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, is using this “OR black box” not just to analyze failures, but to study what goes right. Her research shows that outcomes often hinge on small, overlooked details – how a surgical team communicates, where equipment is placed or how an operating room is laid out. 

The system captures video and audio from the operating room, patient vital signs and even the heart rates – and heart-rate variability – of clinicians, recorded through wearable devices. Originally developed by Dr. Teodor Grantcharov to improve surgical training and patient safety, the OR black box now allows researchers like Trbovich to examine how subtle factors – from team dynamics to the space around the operating table – influence how an operation unfolds. 

More than two million surgeries are performed in Canada each year. Yet national data doesn’t fully capture the challenges in operating rooms. Researchers have noted that surgical patients account for the highest rates of safety incidents among hospitalized patients, but many priorities identified by health-care experts – including outcomes that matter most to patients – are not well captured in existing data. 

That’s where black box research can help. By reviewing 195 surgeries across hospitals in Toronto and Palo Alto, California, Trbovich and her colleagues are identifying patterns that traditional reporting systems overlook. She emphasizes: poor surgical outcomes are not necessarily due to failure by clinicians. They are often rooted in system design.

“Our black box data reveals again and again that it’s not a lack of skill,” she says, “but rather a lack of design leading to most of the errors we see. I notice practitioners’ resilience – their ability to make small adjustments when the unexpected happens – much more than practitioner error.” 

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Professor Patricia Trbovich worked with hospitals to condense their surgical checklists (1) and improve their visibility in the operating room. All illustrations by Chris Philpott

Microphones (2) capture operating room audio while cameras (3) record the procedure.

Wearables (4) track clinicians’ heart rates – and stress levels – during surgery.

Names on surgical caps (5) promote clearer communication, less hierarchy. Combined data, gathered by the black box (6), reveal how subtle factors affect surgical outcomes.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bonnie O'Sullivan

Senior Communications Strategist, Dalla Lana School of Public Health 

HUMAN FACTORS 

Rather than focusing solely on human mistakes, Trbovich asks broader questions: How was the operating room designed? Was someone interrupted at a critical moment? Was the equipment where it should have been? This approach – known as human factors – examines how people interact with their environment. 

Trbovich, the Badeau Family Research Chair in Patient Safety and Quality Improvement at North York General Hospital, has identified distractions, unclear communications and missing or poorly designed equipment as key safety concerns. Different members of the surgical team need to focus at different points in a procedure, she says. When colleagues understand those moments, they can avoid unnecessary disruptions and protect each other’s concentration.

Just as important are the often invisible adjustments teams make to prevent problems from escalating. A lead surgeon may switch roles with a surgical trainee. A nurse may anticipate the need for an extra instrument. The team may call in an expert to advise. These actions rarely appear in incident reports, but they are essential to keep patients safe. “Success often leaves no trace,” Trbovich says. “We’re trying to make those invisible moments visible.”

CHANGING OUTCOMES  

As Trbovich’s team studies OR black box data, they are developing ideas for operating room improvements. Some fixes are straightforward. For instance, hospitals often add items to the World Health Organization’s surgical safety checklist. Over time, some checklists become so long and densely printed that they are difficult to read from the operating table. Trbovich worked with hospitals to condense their lists and improve their visibility. 

Her team is also studying how to strengthen psychological safety in operating rooms. Rather than focusing only on individual behaviour, they are testing cultural changes such as adding names to surgical caps, offering opportunities for confidential feedback and creating structured pauses during surgery for team input – small adjustments that make speaking up easier and more routine.

Looking ahead, Trbovich is leading a project to develop predictive tools that could flag safety threats as surgeries proceed. The goal is to use AI to analyze black box data and provide timely alerts to clinical teams. The system is being designed with clinicians to ensure it augments – rather than replaces – human judgment. It is also being tested to minimize unnecessary warnings and avoid “alert fatigue,” says Trbovich.

Whether the solution involves redesigning a checklist or developing AI-driven insights, the principle is the same: better systems support better care. Trbovich compares it to Formula 1 racing. “F1 drivers aren’t superhuman,” she says. “They’re fast because every part of the system – the car, the track, the data – is engineered around performance.” Likewise, in the operating room, success depends on more than individual expertise. It depends on an environment designed to help skilled teams do their best work – even when the unexpected happens.