For Love of Country - Military Policewoman - Middle East continues For your own signed copy - www.silvaredigonda.ca

I went to Tel Aviv again with one of the Dutch Military policemen. We often worked weekend details. We went to the Israeli police station and one of the policewomen was looking at my uniform with intense interest. She thought I was modeling their new uniform. We entered a room full of policewomen. They were looking at my partner with an intense interest. He was being treated like a piece of meat, and I had to admit it was nice having roles reversed. One of the policewomen told him that she had mirrors over her bed. He did not know how to react and stuck to me like glue. I thought that all men needed to experience this at least once in their careers. Though I found it all quite amusing, I kept an eye on him. The next morning my partner and I went for breakfast. He kept turning around to look at a prostitute. With all the attention from the policewomen the day before, his ego was now flourishing. He kept telling me how the prostitute behind him was looking at him because she liked him. The prostitute finally glared at him, and asked, “What the fuck are you looking at!” I could not help but burst out laughing. My partner turned beet red and never said another word. We finished our breakfast while I casually talked about work and our travels. Because many of the Dutch men had blond hair and blue eyes, they were eye candy to the Middle Eastern women. Whoever I was working with would normally tell the ladies that he and I were married. I always found that amusing, but played along. I understood how demeaning having unwanted attention could be. I was beginning to realize and appreciate that there were not too many differences between men and women. It depended on opportunity and power. The more time I spent away from my home in Canada, the more I appreciated it. We didn’t have wars in our country and it was relatively peaceful. We didn’t need to worry about our clubs being blown up and being searched for explosives. We didn’t have to fear our neighbour blowing us up. Excerpt From: Silva Redigonda. “For love of country : military policewoman.” www.silvaredigonda.ca

UTM WEBINAR: Canada's Homelessness Crisis ( I attended this and I have just received the video)

Have to give priorty to final work before it goes to the publisher - Ominous is almost ready. I am so excited

Every time I have a free moment, I think I am good getting back to normal. However, my normal isn't quite normal. I am going to give my book, one more final read to ensure there are no errors. When you go buy a book, you usually do find some error or other, do you not? Well, since this is my favourite book, I want to ensure it is perfect for you. I also have Amazon updating something or other which has to wait. After this is done, I am all set to provide you with your notes. Please be patient with me. Until then, I shall cut and paste the Middle East section for you again, once a week. I shall do this later in the week, I promise.

Writer's Corner

Last night I attended a webinar with my fellow sisters (and men) held by Misty Evans who has written 90 books and won many awards. I had thought I was attending the Toronto Sisters and Crime, however, it was the USA and I believe I was the only Canadian. I can be wrong. I am beginning to think I attend more events from the States, than my own. Oh well, what can I say? They are nice to me. Canadians are good to me too, of course. Writers are a very welcoming world. I have been invited to attend a Black Authors event where I can showcase one of my books, but I am going to miss that because I don’t want to take away from any Black Author. I think they have somehow adopted me. Now, let’s get back to Misty. I found her delightful. Misty has turned Indy, because she wants to have control of her books. She states that you need an editor and proof readers. She states that as writers we need to keep evolving and be flexible (yup, I do that). She indicated that you need to reach out and get help when you need it. Then she talked about goals. Here goes: Formula is Productivity = Energy + (GMC) Goals, Motivation and Conflict. Misty explained that High Energy = High Productivity (take care of ourselves). She writes every morning and does administration in the afternoon (I am best in the mornings too, after copious coffees). Tuesday is her low energy day so she does no editing. She told us that subscribers love recipes, cats and puzzles. No kidding? Well I have a cat and you know I had people come up to me at Fairs because I am holding Holy Terror on my poster which is a tad dated but still works so I continue to use it. No one has told me that my hair has changed colour and that I have aged because they love looking at Holy Terror. One reader actually told me she bought my book because I can’t be all bad if I have a cat or words to that effect. Well Misty takes weekends off. Well, regarding puzzles, I don’t think I am going to add that to my to do list. I like filling them out with a cheat list, but don’t think I want to try to think up a puzzle. Recipes - well, I am not much of a cook. I am a vegetarian and if I ever get to go to Niagara Falls to live (which may be sooner than later because Mr Attitude is in his 21st year now) I think learning how to make veggie food options myself would be healthier and so I am looking for the opportunity to take a cooking course over there. I am assuming I shall have more time for another hobby and I think it would be a good way to meet new people over yonder. That would be something to write about. Misty states to use your high energy to be more productive. Ok, I do not have a subscriber’s list. I did have a few ask me about that so you know what, I will have one next time round. Let me take a note right now. If any of you are interested, send me an email with your name. What I may do is just continue Writer’s corner with them who do not want to read my other stuff, like you do. Misty continues that Friday is a left over, with the afternoon off. I normally take Fridays off. I like Monday afternoons off. I like weekends off. I apparently need to learn how to pitch. Misty gets royalties. I don’t have royalties. She suggested trying a new genre. For you who have read my books (thank you), you will notice that each of my books have a different genre, or almost. Hey Guy Buy Me, I wrote for men, but women buy it too. This is a book that gets me into trouble when men come and talk to me about the book and their wives are not impressed. This happens. Not only that, but the women are pissed at me. However, I also get women who know a man, who knows a man and viola they buy my little book too. Some buy more than one, and that is my first book. Now my second and third, one is my bio and the other is the Internet Murders. Now what will be coming out soon is “Ominous” and this is my favourite so far. The words just sang to me. It is spooky, and there is romance, you may see a demon or two and hey of course an angel. My beautiful Holy Terror will be in it of course. As you know my baby girl died last year and my heart is still broken. However, I have her brother who keeps me grounded. He is funny. This being his 21 st year, he has slowed down, sleeps more and hates it when I am on the computer. Last week he wasn’t feeling good. I realized that I accidentally gave him treats that had beef. Beef is hard to digest for older cats so I never give beef to any of my pets. Now, once he felt better he started running around like crazy forgetting he is old. Then the poor little guy stopped, and started heaving. Of course I picked him up and held him. He is completely back to normal. Ok, Misty continues with we should dream really big. Someone else told me that. He is a painter of beautiful art. His name is Michael Pape. You can look him up at www.michaelpape.com. This man’s art is big, literally. I bought a calender off him on line and January has art from Robert Bateman, an artist I have appreciated for years. Misty continued by telling us to listen to people who have been successful. Ok. I am listening. Actually, I would love to win the lottery. Misty continues with have achievable goals. Ok, that puts a damper on the lottery. Misty is a writing coach. So, if you guys need help she is probably available. Misty talks about finding your path. Pick a word - (for me it is passion). She recommends growth, rather than being busy. She continues with taking courses you need, learning the craft, less is more. Determine your top three priorities and write them down. Have a plan for your writing. How do I do it? I don’t plan. I just write and write and it comes to me. The words kind of take ownership of me. I don’t actually get a brain freeze or what they call writer’s block, but then I have no structure either. I always have something to say as I am sure you have noticed. She said that we have a tendency to let our writing to the bottom of the pile. Take time for rest and recovery so you do not burn out. Take time away from social media and all the bad stuff out there. It hurts our Muse. If you only put garbage into your brain, it is hard not to put garbage out. I like that quote which she quoted from someone. She suggests that you do anything that feeds your creativity. Her readers love it. My readers keep telling me to include psychotherapy in my writing. Ok, the next book I write is about some of that - ok? I have been listening. Why not? It should be fun. Ok, now she gets in the gritty stuff of coaching and it is also what I normally recommend as a basic. First she states that prayer is asking for things and meditation is for answers. Now, I would say it a tad differently. Prayer can be about asking, but it can also be about thanking and it can also be a meditation as you just allow yourself to be cradled by God. Misty suggests quieting your mind and listening to your Muse. Bottom line is will it make your beat go faster. She states she gets invited to a lot of things (yup). What she asks herself is will it make her writing better, is it fun, quality over quantity. If it doesn’t help my writing, it isn’t. Misty asks us who is our biggest critic and she states it is ourselves. She asks why we became writers? One person responded that it is part of who she is. I agree, it is part of who I am. Since I was in elementary school I would read out my writings to my mother in the kitchen while she was cooking. I miss her cooking. She was my biggest fan, always encouraging me to write more. Father Bill German a Jesuit priest loved my books as well and was another version of my mom. Misty continues that we need to be adaptable and flexible (yup, I am that). Then she makes an impact statement. "Our world Need Your Stories." She continues to tell us to practice mindfulness and stress free techniques. Get adequate sleep, leisure (I recommend that always as well) and also to surround yourselves with positive influences. Yup I recommend that as well and practice it. She said that we were doing that by sharing with other writers. Focus on your strengths. Pamper your muse. The power of commitment - small smart choices - consistency over time. It is like saving money and over time you end up with a pot (of money). One thing she said which may apply to you if you are writing not to stop at the end of a chapter, but stop mid page. This is so you don’t return to a blank page. She said that writing has to be a priority. She indicated that some structure can help creativity. She also has a wonderful husband who is very supportive. Now, that can be a fleeting thought. She did provide a pdf of goals but I didn’t ask permission to share it so I just shared my notes. I really enjoyed the time spent with them all last night. Here are some links I haven’t looked up yet, but will. www.mistevansbooks.com and writing.nyxhalli.well.com and writing - raven.com. Have a good weekend everyone.

Ending the Injustice of Generational Poverty by Dr Gloria Wilder, MD notes......

These notes are from two CAMFT conferences ago. I have mentioned it to you before but had misplaced my notes. Guess what? I found them and so forgive me if I am repeating myself. The speaker is Dr Gloria Wilder, MD. She is a Pediatrician. This was the last session if I recall after an exhausting three days. Perhaps that is why I found this so sad. Dr Wilder was raised by a single mother on welfare. It is now called something else (I believe the same is here in Canada). She is from Brooklyn, USA (been there). What you have there is Brownstone which is beautiful. She was from the other side. Her father was an alcoholic who would beat her mother almost every night. There was little food in the house with little or no food. While Dr Wilder was saying all this, I had an urge to hug her. Her mother taught her early to not tell anyone. At that time, born in 1964, it was illegal in the US to be poor. Her mother raised the three of them by getting three jobs. She worked in a hospital, taxi cab, and restaurant, while obtaining social assistance. Poverty was a big secret. “A heavy blanket that smothered you.” We are now fast forwarding 50 years. This poverty generational has become the norm. 11.6% of the population live in poverty. If you are a family making 27,740, you are not considered to be in poverty. In most of the States, 28,000 and 50,000 are near poverty in reality. You cannot fairly compete for housing or food. Turkeys in some places are $40.00. Dr Wilder continued to say that we (Americans) cling to be a democratic society. Families in the lower middle class are actually in poverty. Getting back to mom. A councillor hires her mom to work the night shift. She is an Operator and Switchboard, two different jobs and her mother brings her children and has them take her shifts. If you called during the night, you would get a six year old child. Three cab drivers quickly figured three children were taking turns. The cab drivers didn’t report them, but brought them food during the night, and drove them to school in the morning. The fact that the cab drivers allowed their mom to keep her job (for 30 years) and in that time they became their fathers, she is a physician today (Wow. You can see why I ended up in tears, hearing her story). Dr Wilder said there are five keys to social justice. It either puts you on a pathway to move forward or difficulty so far back. 1. Access to Health Care: During COVID, more than a million died. Moment of greater good, suddenly everyone experiences vulnerability, education, economic justice; environmental justice. Health Care - if a hospital only has 250 beds, your grandmother may be 251 and not get a bed. Everyone has a right to health care that prevents you from dying. In the USA, we still allow 30 million people to be uninsured. Nine million are children. 50% are male, black or Hispanic. The largest group now becoming improvised are over 65. 2. Education: " All of us had an education. Every day, 26 seconds, a student is dropping out of school. Every day 7000 students drop out and this was before COVID as well. 7000 children a day drop out." 3. Key - Economic Justice: You hear about minimum wage going up in cities. 21 of the States still has $7.07 considered a good job. That is the minimum and in other States, there is no minimum (Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee and Carolina {South?} and one other. It is critical that people get a fair wage. The U.S. incarcerates more than 5x10 times higher than International allies. 5.5 million people. 57 Billion dollars a year is spent keeping people locked up, but won’t spend money to get people out of poverty. Environmental Justice - Climate change is dragging some of us into the Ocean. Looking at it as political, rather than moral. Allowing children to die of Pediatric Asthma because of where they live. Community violence where children grow up that gun shots are all around them. Dr Wilder has resuscitated children in the street. She had a three year old come to see her. She had been shot playing. Her mom thought she had fell playing. Dr Wilder asks, “Have we gone to far?” The first time they went for family assistance, when she was a child, she saw a white social worker (Dr Wilder is a Black woman). She was asked if her mom feeds her? Does she have a television? During that time it was illegal to have electronics and get assistance. Her mother worked to become clerk of the District Attorney for Manhattan. Dr Wilder said that they knew their mother loved them. Talked about greedy landlords with powerful lawyers and tenants fighting alone. Dr Wilder said, “For me and everyone who wants to join - not to use charity without Justice. If we want to be the Nation we claim to be….” We need to be honest and for you brilliant people, (who me? nah) who help people - teach people not to be ashamed of their stories or poverty. Both Dr Wilder’s siblings have a Masters degree. They grew up not having enough food. On Saturdays their mom would get them all up and they would go all over to find coins. Once she had 96 cents. They would go to “Duke’s” and get baloney and bread. Duke was the only Black store in the neighbourhood. It seemed that all the neighbourhood kids came into the store to get candy when she went. Dr Wilder had a bag of pennies and was thinking that all the children would know she was poor. Duke tells her to get the bread, baloney, milk, cheese, ice-cream etc….As she is leaving the store, Duke tells her to say hi to her mom, and says don’t give the scholarship to Harvard University. MD at Georgetown University. For a quarter, Duke showed her that they mattered. She went back years later and Duke told her that she did good. “I gave her a hand. That is why God gave me two” She invites us to do the same thing. “Let America be America again. I am the Negro.” Dr Wilder states that her sister has Schizophrenia as well as a grandmother. She continues that the first time she gave a speech at a hospital where their kitchen staff and janitorial staff were getting basic pay below standard living with no health coverage. After her talk, the staff demonstrated. Dr Wilder informed us that she could still feel the heat when she knelt to help a young woman who had been shot twice and she was trying to save. She stated that it depends on all of us to help, to be a healer. She reports that education is the one that really impacts all the other four. By the end of this session my tears were flowing. Dr Wilder made such an impact on me. If there are any errors here, they are mine and mine alone. In Toronto right now, one of every ten people need to go to a food bank to get food to eat. This was unheard of when I was growing up. Today, our taxes are going up 9%. I did not vote for this Mayor who would not cap taxes. I do not know how she got elected based on that alone. We had a Refugee who came to Canada to die on the Streets on a cold night because he had no shelter. A few weeks ago, I was at a grocery store and a woman tried to communicate with me while I was in line. She was trying to determine the price of oil which was on sale. I told her the price and let her in front of my line, because that was all she was buying. She took out her change from a small purse and realized that she did not have enough money to pay for the item. I realized it was probably because of the taxes. I paid for her item. Last week the news announced that CEO pay hit a record high in 2022. Canadian top 100 CEO’s were payed 14.9 million each. That is $7100. an hour, about 60,000 a day, which is 246 times more than the average Canadian. One of those CEO's works at a major food chain, where prices keep increasing. The average person gets a 3% - 4.4 pay hike. What can I say? Houston we’re in trouble. Next week I shall be attending a lecture on Canada’s Homelessness Crises, held by University of Toronto. It will be held in the evening so I will do my best not to miss it. Of course I shall provide you with anything I learn. I think I know why we have this problem but I will wait to see what is reported.

Ordering Flowers? Be careful. I will share what happened to me with Blossom Flowerdelivery so it doesn't happen to you

Well I am still in the Christmas Spirit, even though tomorrow I will be taking down my Christmas tree and placing everything away for another year. I love Christmas, the lights, nativity, Christmas Mass, outdoor lights, the entire Christmas feel. It is a time when I try to catch up with everyone and always get a pleasant greeting from those I haven't seen awhile and don't forget the Christmas cards. Yup, tomorrow, I have to say my bye bye and the eighth, well all goes back to normal. Students go back to school, everything is open once again and well we carry on. Now, I am going to share with you an experience I never thought I would have. I ordered flowers and chocolate for a family member on the same day as her birthday because of course, I forgot the date. My mom used to remind me of all family members birthdays etc....and with her gone, well, what can I say? Mom, I miss you so much. So I found out early morning on the 30th, the day of getting her a gift. I typed out where she lived and www.blossomflowerdelivery.com popped up and I ordered her flowers and chocolate (medium sized). I don't normally tip for flowers but gave them the minimum of 5.00. I usually am a good tipper but not for these type of services. Actually, I won't tip at all in future for flowers to be delivered. In all the cost was $98.22. Today I opened up my credit card bill and was actually charged $133.57. You see they charged me in American dollars. I have to admit, I never expected such incompetence from an American Company. So here goes. Oh by the way they also have a complaint with the Better Business Bureau for failing to deliver and it wasn't me. So here goes: I ordered the flowers at about 0900, on the 30th. I was pleased that they were going to deliver on the same day. Whew! My error in memory loss corrected. At 3pm, I come home from gavalanting around town and I get an email that they won't be able to deliver the flowers. They ran out? They want to ensure it is fresh so when they get fresh, it will be delivered. I am of course furious. You see I had sent a previous email, letting them know that the link which is provided to let me know that the flowers are being prepared, delivered etc....wasn't working. But, I was informed that they were being prepared. Why lie? Now, behold. If when I ordered at 0900 I would have been told that delivery wasn't possible, I of course would not have ordered from them. But, they know that of course and therefore lied to me. So, I finally do a bit of research and phone the number where these flowers originate from and I am happy that it is in California and not from Timbucktoo. I feel that now I will get results. After all they are customer service. I tell them what I think of their lack of service and the complaint I saw (now I should have looked them up before ordering but I did think that it was local - colpa mia). I want to be compensated. I want to get free flowers for myself. No they cannot do that because it would cost them money. What they will do is give me $5.00 in addition to my tip which I wanted back. They were also going to give me a voucher of sorts for $20.00 off in my next order. I told them there will never be another order. When my family member gets the flowers, she doesn't realize they come from me. You see they forgot to put in a card, which I asked them to do and to say Happy Birthday and it is from me. So, I send the "local" person an email indicating that they never added a card. Now I wasn't going to complain, but it wouldn't stop and today learning I was being charged in American dollars, I called my family member. She tells me that the flowers are beautiful and very fresh because they still look good. The chocolate is more than sufficient because she is still eating them, but no, what she received is not worth $133.57. She also provides me with a name of a real local flower shop near her. So this was my experience, that I share with you, so it doesn't happen to you. I am very solution focused. I also like to correct a situation and move on. Even though I initially told Customer Service I was going to complain on my social media, I decided not to and informed such to the "local" when she didn't add a card. I told her, that in the spirit of the holidays I wouldn't. But opening my bill and finding that I paid so much more, well that topped it all. Of course I called California again (oh by the way, if you call, you have to pay for long distance yourself). I tell them what I think of being overcharged and well they let me know that it is somewhere on their website. So, I am informed I will be provided with my tip of 5. back and another 5. for my troubles I suppose. This will never happen to me again I hope. Now, that I have informed you, I hope it doesn't happen to you. Time to move on and enjoy the rest of my day. Now breathe!

Welcome to 2024 - Wow!

I wish you have a wonderful New Year. This is a good time to review your options and wants. 2023 was a difficult year for the world, but there is always hope which history has reported throughout the eras. I don't do New Year Resolutions, but I continue to eat healthier, go to the gym and re-examine my balances. My priority is family and Mr Attitude. Next is who I socialize with. Then there is my determination to get my new book "Ominous" out there when it is published. I want to make books a priority equal to my practice and that should be a challenge. I also want to thank you for reading my blogs. In todays world it can be daunting knowing who to trust. I wanted to write to you today about one of the sessions, I attended about Ending the Injustice of Generational Poverty, but I wanted you to ease into such topics, so today I thought I would just welcome you back to me, and thank you and wish you a good year. I will provide you with the aforementioned notes next. What do you think?