Busy-----------------------

 I haven't forgotten you.  It has simply been too busy.  I attended a webinar about M.A.I.D (Asssistant Dying).  I shall bring you up with that.  I attended another meeting and just finished now.  I am de-staging my house.  I am having car troubles and need to get that done.  If I still have any energy I shall attend another webinar about our court/prison system.  It is of interest because of who the speaker is.  Retired from teaching law school.  Anyhow,  Thanksgiving got delayed so I am trying to give that priority as well.  So, you see, this is why.....Please be patient because I have lots to tell you.....Yes there is more.  Have a good week.

I have been reading a lot - Here goes and one meeting - sick too

Well,  I got sick.  That's what happens when you shake hands with the devil.  Actually, I shaked more hands.  Normally, I use sanitizer afterwards but I couldn't make it obvious so I didn't.  Doesn't look good when someone wants to shake your hand and you pull out a sanitizer afterwards.  Remember Monk?  It started with a sore throat and then congestion but I really let myself slow down because I wanted to heal quickly and now I am 95% good.  Only, my family is now sick but we are all celebrating Thanksgiving together so that should be good.  It appears they have the flu, but getting together has been awhile and so it appears I shall risk it.  Since it was beautiful out for the week I was ill, I accomplished reading a lot.  I completed reading  "Eruption"  written by James Patterson and Michael Chrichton (creator of Jurassic Park).  He died but was planning to write this book so his wife seeked James Patterson's help.  She had all of her husband's notes.  A nice tribute to him.  That is why I wanted to read the book.  The setting is in Hawaii and if you like Volcanic eruptions, this may be the book for you.   I also wanted to read the books from "Word on the Street."  First, I read, "Light From Darkness" by Matthieu Bonin.  He gave me the book when I was talking to him at the end of the last day.  I will use his words at the back of the book, "This is a story about darkness and light, suffering and joy..."As a therapist I do at times recommend that people write their story as part of their their therapy.  The option is always there.  The author has the uncanny ability to fully describe the depth of darkness and dispair he can feel.  Normally, it takes time to build to this.  Some have difficulty describing the emotional hell they experience.  I also recommend that clients journal and they bring it to the therapy session if triggers exist.  What I also see when people write their stories is that they remember good things that happened in their lives or/ and good people all of which was forgotten due to the overwhelming sadness.  Next is a booklet, written by Thanh Dinh, "Salt & Ashes."  I met Thanh and her daughter gave me the book, indicating that her mom wanted me to have it.  It didn't take long to read and I was wondering how to describe it, when poetic suffering came to mind.  I found her family to be delightful at Word On The Street and wish them all well.  The last book which I haven't completed is, "Hate Story" by Jeff Cottrill.  We shared a table during our second day and he wanted to trade a book so I gave him, "The Internet Murders."  I am enjoying the book and have read 83 pages.  It begins with a riot at a funeral where a man who has died is hated and the target of what I would call mass hysteria on the internet.  That would never happen, right?  Anyhow, a small time reporter also working at a call centre, which she hates but has to pay the bills is assigned to find out why this man was so hated and so the mystery begins.  I love the satire and mystery and didn't think I would like the book as much as I do.  So, that is where I am at.  I will talk about the meeting another time which will only be a tidbit.  That's all for now.  

Exposing a sextortion scam targeting teens | Marketplace | Full episode

Word On The Street - Conclusion

 

     I greeted my fellow Authors.  One came to look at my books and said she loved bios so she bought, "For Love of Country - Military Policewoman".   She did really well selling her books - galore.  People were buying her books about how to write ……..

     The first person who is not an Author who came to my table was wearing a blue jay cap.  So, unable to keep my mouth shut, I said, “blue jay.”  He said I was going to see many of them today and then I was stumped.  I don’t watch sports.  I am clue less.  When a good friend of mine kept bugging me to see a game at the then called Sky Dome, I kept declining until I agreed that if he couldn’t find anyone to go with, I would, as long as he was oky with me wearing ear defenders (for shooting) and bringing a book to read.  He found someone else to go with.  So, all I know about sports is what I see on the news when I am not fast forwarding that part.  I know they are on a winning streak but sometimes they don’t.  So, I just ignored what he said and tried to disappear, but he did that for me.  He was tall, definitely in shape but had sustained an injury.  He also had red hair.  Not too long after I saw a group of men with baseball (?)uniforms , Americans, huddled, talking.  I noticed they were smaller than my blue jay and a bit pudgy and wondered if that is why our team was on a winning streak.  I recognized one of the names on the news that night when they were talking sports.  Yup, Americans, I was right.  Easy since I can still recognize uniforms as couples wear them, babies wear them and itsy bitsy children wear them so it is no big deal for me to just assume everyone is a fan and not a player.

I didn’t do very well on my first day but did sell a copy of "Hey Guy Buy Me".  It is still my most popular book.  Go figure.  

Then I saw the devil.  He was dancing with a woman and then they stopped dancing and he came to me to shake my hand.  I complied.  He then proceeded to another table not that far from me and war started.  There was shouting and things flying and I could see that things were going to go very bad, very fast, so I got up and went to speak to the writer.  No, that didn’t work so I asked the devil to come with me and brought him back to my table.  I offered him a copy of Hey Guy Buy Me which he didn’t want.  He was very upset that the writer had called him the devil and to get away from him.  Sometimes, you have to see the man within the mask of the devil.  I suggested that he had probably scared the man or he thought he really was the devil.  I mean he looked like the real thing that you see in well produced movies, or not.  He had some sort of realistic face shield  with horns and a tail and red blood all over him including the hand I shook.  This is not what you want to see in a dark lane and really not even on a bright sunny day as we had.  He told me it was Hallowe’en (see what happens when everyone sells stuff for Hallowe’en before the date?).  All he wanted was to make friends with someone.  I felt bad for him and have since asked about community services for people to meet other people and make friends.  Someone promised to look into that and provide me with a list.  Older men are at the top of the list to commit suicide and we need to start working on something to discourage that.  Friendship is important and loneliness is something many people suffer from.  Find a way to have them unite, get to know each other and become friends.  Not everyone has family and not all families are supportive.  We need to help within our communities.  Anyhow, I told him to just ignore the writer and to walk along a certain path and be the bigger person.   He complied ignoring further jabs from the writer who began fighting with an author who had also tried to get him to stop.  I was fortunate that he didn’t feel angry at me.  The fun was not over.  Two policemen came with a few members of Word on the Street and the writer was asked to leave.  Well, after some loud complaining and wanting a refund,  he yelled out at the policemen that he knew that they wanted to shoot him and to kill him and then challenged them to do so.  The policemen looked bored as if they have to do this every two hours.  Of course people would come to my table and disappear once they heard the man shouting,  “Kill Me!”  I was impressed how everything was dealt with very quickly and all traces of any incident disappeared.  Table gone……space cleaned……… A magic wand.  By now I really could use a coffee.  So, I asked a volunteer how there can be no coffee at this event.  This is what I was told, but don’t quote me.  Tim Hortons did not want to sponsor the event, so they couldn’t get a spot.  It made me wonder how much money do they have to donate.  Tim Hortons is no longer Canadian so is that why?  Are they mad at us?  People still drink Tim Hortons.  I see them everywhere.  Then one of the Authors reminded me that Star bucks is shutting down stores in Canada.  “100”  I responded.  I love Starbucks.  I know I will still find them in Toronto because they are everywhere, but what about Niagara Falls?  Am I going to Niagara Falls?  Who knows.  I am taking my house off the Market in what 21 days?  Is this a hint from Toronto that I won’t be going anywhere?  

The day ended before I realized it.  It went so fast.  I didn’t sell much but people loved to come and talk.  They were all from Toronto.  Come on Americans, “Where are you?”  I didn’t see the regular visitors and none of my three fans.  I decided I was going to have a huge cup of coffee when I got home.  But, now going home was not going to be easy.  First of all I parked at Roy Thompson Hall because when I tried to park below the square, I scanned the entrance payment thing of a jig and what do I get?  Those casino games where you pay and lose all your money without going to the casino.  When I finally got out I had to wait because there was grid lock.  A fire truck was trying to travel East and was just sitting there siren and lights screaming and people just waiting stationary in their vehicles.  After about five minutes there was some movement and I managed to come out of the lot.  I know there is a lot of congestion in the city but I didn’t think about how this impacts the survival of others, needing emergency response.  It took me forever and as soon as I could travel North, I did.   I passed Hooters (I didn’t even know we still had any in Toronto) and saw our American players inside.  They certainly were not reading any books.  It took me forever to get home…….over an hour easy.  Traffic was everywhere.  I think we need to trade our cars in for golf carts.  Would that help?  They keep decreasing the speed limit so that may just be an option.  We can winterize the carts.  It would be very affordable.  I got home, took a bath and forget coffee.  I woke up once during the night with a headache from caffeine withdrawal.

     I awoke the next morning  feeling fresh and bushy tailed.  I was ready.   I made a big peanut butter and jam sandwich.   I drank two coffees with a heated scone and I filled  a huge cup of coffee with a mug I got for Christmas.  I have two which keeps coffee hot all day.  I got into my car and drove there in no time.  I parked under the square, ignoring the scanner.  I parked right next to the elevator which took me directly to the square where my table was nearby.  I stopped first at an eatery asking them if they have vegetarian meals.  She assured me they did and that would be my final trip of the day (to go).  The nice lady remembered me and not only did she give me a discount, she gave me two days of Indian food.   I sold more books during my second day but nothing like, "Hate Story" by Jeff Cottrill.  There is me offering him suggestions when I saw his pink overused blanket holding his books.  I felt sorry for him but not for long as everyone seemed to buy his book.  It is about a fight or riot that breaks out at funeral.  All he was saying was, “Do you like mystery and satire?”  They would stop, all genders, and buy the book.  I kept looking at him and trying to figure out how he was accomplishing that.  I decided I have to use the word “hate” in my caption of a book which he discouraged saying that Bookstores don’t like that word.  He told me that people really like his pink blanket.  I looked at another Author who was doing well and he used black garbage bags as a base.  Jeff wanted to trade a book for his and The Internet Murders cost the same so we traded.  Jeff is very likeable.  He told me about a few places in Hamilton and was it Ottawa or Montreal where I should go to sell my books.   I have it written somewhere.  I am presently surrounded by my books as I wish to write my blog first.  Matthieu Bonin, another Author gave me a copy of his work called Light From Darkness.  He had tried to talk to the writer when the Devil came around and I wanted to check on him to make sure he was ok.  I am looking forward to reading his book as well.   As I was leaving I saw a woman reading his book on a bench.  Thanh Dinh also gave me a lovely book marker and a booklet named Salt and Ashes.  She was selling books with her family and they are all very nice.  She had balloons and when one popped everyone got scared so I mentioned it to her that people in Toronto get edgy sometimes because of all the people shooting guns, they don’t know how to shoot.  I had a young child come to me to look at my books again and I felt horrible.  I gave her a book marker and pen and told her to come back when she is 16.  I have to write a kid’s book because I don’t like to see them so disappointed.   How hard can it be?  I’ll find out.   I also learned from one of the Author’s that a young woman was charging people whatever they could afford to pay and she would write them a poem using a typewriter.  Another told me about someone selling plots?  “How can they write a book, if they can’t write a plot?”  When I thought about it later, it is pretty creative of how to think up ways for young people to make money.  It was a great day and I met and talked to so many people.  I have to still table how many books I sold etc…and should finish off tomorrow.  I have to finish off what I am presently reading and then I shall read the other books and let you know about them.  The other highlights?  I got chocolate dipped ice cream all over my pants and top.  A woman who said she teaches English at York University wanted to take a picture for her Instagram and then I found myself live on video answering her question of what The Internet Murders is all about.  I was taken completely off guard and felt like a babbling idiot.  I couldn’t sell her a book because she didn’t have cash and I didn’t have a tap machine.  I need to get that figured out because I do lose too much money.  Jeff Cottrill was so nice to me that  he would eventually let people  use his stripe and he would pay me. I had a man come to my table to tell me he was a blogger, “me too,” I replied and then he disappeared.   I had another wanting me on her pod casting channel.  I declined telling her I am low profile.  Another Author I met previously came to say hello and he was with his Influencer he wanted to hire.   Facebook, etc……(and you charge for that?) All in all, it was a great weekend with very many interesting costumes, and people.  I do love my City and all it offers.  Now, I have to slow down again and recharge.  I am really looking forward of taking my house off the market so I can have my home back.   You have three weeks to buy or I stay in Toronto.  Good talk.

Later.  

Word On The Street - Initial Impression

It was an exciting weekend at Word On The Street.  I didn’t know it was where it actually is because I didn’t recognize the name of the Square.  They keep changing names in Toronto or providing names and I don’t even bother to pay attention anymore.  If they had said Roy Thompson Hall where I have been to see the Vienna Choir or the Alexander Theatre, where I was a member until COVID hit us,  or TIFF, I would have had a huh huh moment.  What I loved was all the parking - tons.  If I move to Niagara and they have it at the same location next year it is across from the Ritz (Can I afford that plus a tent, plus travel?)  There was a discount for the Chelsea hotel but people were driving there, which doesn’t normally work for me.  So I shall let you know what my experience was.  First I had a scheduled time and I was expected to be there not a moment earlier or later.  Ok.  I left my house giving myself plenty of time to get there and it took me what?  15 or 20 minutes?  There was minimum traffic and I hit all the green lights.  I got there too early and though there was hardly anyone, I was told to drive around about seven times and/or go for coffee.  I stopped my vehicle down the street near Starbucks but there wasn’t any parking.  I debated going to the Ritz for coffee and wondered how that would work.  So, I just stayed “standing” because there is no parking and was watching a street lady perched in her walker examining her hat.  It took me a while to determine it was a hat as she was plucking away at it.  There were statues in the grass land of some animals - dogs?  The hour went pretty fast as I was beginning to salivate looking at Starbucks but not risking a ticket (though I didn’t see any Police or Parking people around).  I went back to my gate and met with the Organizer.  My first impression was not the greatest.  I complained about the scheduled times, wondering why we didn’t have another place.  She said that Queens Park was having all it’s piping replaced (my area is doing all that as well).  I suggested the Water Front and she said Authors were complaining of not selling their books there (I didn’t quite believe that).  Two volunteers showed up and helped (actually did most of the work) to unload my car and escort me to my tent.  I saw my name next to another Author, only there was no room for the both of us.  So the volunteers moved my table to the East side of the tent.  It appeared that there were four tables in one tent and it appeared that the tables had shrunk and perhaps the tents too.  I am not impressed so far.  However,  I loved the location otherwise.  It was adjacent to an Ice Cream Truck.  So right now, though I had my coffee before leaving home, I am overdue for more caffeine as I continued to feel grumpy.  The volunteers were wonderful and so helpful and caring so that balanced things out somewhat.  No coffee?????????How can this happen???????

To be continued.

Had breakfast with my little buddy

 

Am going to catch up with my education hours - Retire or not? That is the question.

I didn't think I was going to be able to complete my education hours this year, because I work from home and my house is staged (which I hate).  Try living in a department store where you have to be ready to escape when people come.  I have made the lowest money ever this year because of the staging.  Also,  I haven't been able to watch movies on my big tv and have been using my mom's tiny one.  My dining room table is also in the basement and they figured out how to dismantle it.  It hasn't been fun, but that is ok because I spent most of my summer outside and entertaining in the back yard.  There has been interest in my house, but people are expecting me to put down the price which I am not prepared to do.  I have watched others do so reluctingly  because they had to and some have sold for less than they bought.  I am not prepared to do that.  I want my house back.  People can still buy it but if they are waiting - it is not going to happen.  On the 11 October, it should be the last day and then my house will be returned and I can give it a proper cleaning.  My plants are all in my writing room and they can get their space back too.  I have signed up for courses in October and will once again have more than required.  I am not 100% sure if I shall retire or not but need to be able to entertain at home and work from home if I choose and take courses and/or attend seminars.  My objective is to wait until this economy changes.  A wise woman once told me, "You don't want to sell here, move to NIagara and be in the same situation where you are not making a good profit.  You will need to set aside 100,000 to just ensure you have all expenses covered -  transfer taxes, lawyers, insurance, real estate fees et.......You won't spend 100,000 but you should have it."

As I have seen others around me sell houses here which in some cases took a year after many decreases in lowering their prices, I have learned from all.  I will have my house listed for 6 months, which was supposed to last one week.  Thank God I didn't buy anything and I recommend that you never do before selling.  Some have found themselves with two houses because they cannot sell.  I have also been surpised by how many people do not want me to move.  I don't think about it as a big deal because Niagara is so close.  It is always nice to be appreciated.  I had hoped to focus more on my writing and am stepping down from the board of the federal retirees once new people are in place.  That too should be accomplished next month.  I have not accepted new clients and preparing existing ones of my possible retirement.  This is a big decision.  This week I attended a two hour session of some history of mental health.  I had it in detail in basic psychology so I don't think I need to share anything there that would be relevant.  I will be taking another in MAID,  just in case there is new info.  Saturday and Sunday I will be selling my books at Word on The Street.  I am hoping to continue to write once my house is in order.  I am not against selling my house but not this way.  Toronto after all is my home and there is so much to do here.  It is time to re-evaluate.  Have a good week.  I still have some photos of the Botanical Gardens for you.  I will be attending a three day course on line with the American Association of Family Therapy which I would not have been able to do if I didn't take the house off the market, so I am so excited about that.  Have a good week.  If you come and visit at Word On the Street, let me know if you read my blogs and I will give you a free copy of Hey Guy Buy Me, while copies I bring last.  Thank you.  What do you think?