Married lady in Ucluelet with tattoo of another woman's daughter's name above her breast.

Let's start at the beginning.  About 15 years ago a young man with mild learning disabilities about 18 years old, met a young girl about 14 years old who had her own emotional problems.  They fell in love, and as the young man started to mature and find suitable employment, the young girl turned to alcohol, and then cocaine, then crack, and eventually heroin.

During the alcohol stage, the two decided it would be a good idea to have a child, and they had a beautiful young daughter.  About this time the young man found employment as a deckhand on a commercial fishing boat.  While he began his training in his new career, the wife of his boss took the girlfriend under her wing.  It was known at the time, but both the captain of the boat and his wife were ex-heroin addicts.

It wasn't long after the young man had been out on a few fishing trips that he returned one day to find his girlfriend and daughter gone.  He searched the small town and found the girlfriend in a crack trailer, totally out of it, and his young daughter sitting in her stroller with a soiled diaper.  That was then end of the relationship, and the beginning of further problems.

The girlfriend moved to Nanaimo, and her friendship with the bosses wife matured.  It is my belief that the wife, being a recovered addict herself from what I heard, decided that she could help the young lady with her addiction problems.  Not only did she drive back and forth to visit the young lady, she assisted her with trying to obtain partial custody of her young baby (who was only about a year old at the time).  The young man, still working for the husband, was constantly dragged into court to fight for custody, and spent thousands in legal fees - money that would have been better spent on an education plan for his daughter.

Let's move forward to last year.  The baby's mother, now living in Nanaimo, was now hooked on heroin and living with a fellow in the same predicament.  This fellow overdosed and died, and a few months later, so did the young mother.  The young father married another woman and they have a new daughter, so the step-mother is now raising both children.

The young father is still working for the captain and his wife, and now the wife has decided that because she wasn't able to help the mother, she will now help this little girl (who is now 9 years old).  Not only has she set up a room in her home in Ucluelet for the child, I understand that she now has the little girls name tattooed above her breast.  I wonder if the deceased mother's name is on the other breast?

I sincerely hope that the young man smartens up and keeps this lunatic and her captain husband away from his daughter.  If the young girl is given the same assistance as the mother, heaven help her.  This woman probably thinks she is helping and is a friend of the deceased mother and her daughter, but with meddlesome friends like this, who needs enemies?  And finally, let's hope she doesn't have some kind of perverted interest in this young child, and if so, did she have the same for the mother?

What kind of writer are you? The Blogger

The Blogger - what a fantastic way to reach a vast audience, that is, if you can figure out how to get your blog out there and easily accessible.  The first step, however, is to find the right platform for your blog.  As you noticed, I am using Google Blogger, because it was one of the most popular ones when I started my blog last year.

The ratings now show that Blogger is all but dead.  I think it might be time to switch to another more popular platform in the near future.  More popular platforms that are actually monitored and improved upon regularly are:  A Quick Primer, Wordpress (always one of the best), Squarespace, Posthaven and Ghost, just to mention a few.

But what is blogging all about?  Basically anything you want to write about that tickles your fancy, can be included in your blog.  The main thing is to make it interesting and be passionate about what you write.  Also, be sure to have a basic knowledge of your topics, because there is nothing worse than rambling on about something, and having a complete stranger challenge your information.  Not only does this make your blog ineffective, it can be quite embarrassing as well.

My blogs are divided into a few main topics that I enjoy writing about.  Writing of course, and also Politics, Mexico and Canada.  You can never write enough about politics, and because the news always contains different political issues, there is a never-ending supply of material for me to blog about.

My main concern, however, about my blogs is trying to determine how to reach an audience.  I don't just want friends to read my blogs, I want the WORLD to read them.  Unfortunately, I haven't discovered just how to accomplish this yet.  Perhaps it has something to do with my blog title, perhaps the titles of my individual posts;  whatever it is, it seems to be hit and miss for me.  I will write a blog one day on a certain topic, and get one view;  then the next day I'll blog on the same topic and get 100 views.

If anyone has any suggestions on what I might be doing wrong, it would be greatly appreciated.

Now that my boat has been repaired and I have no plans for taking any immediate yachting trips, I just might be able to blog more often.  The last, and final, chapter in this series is The Novelist.  Coming soon.

Canada - For Sale

I'm not entirely sure exactly where or when it started, but Canada has now been placed on the open market, and it's resources are for sale - sometimes at giveaway prices.  I first noticed this phenomenon quite some time ago.  Our rights to, believe it or not, the marketing of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were sold to Disney.  Of course, it was only for five years, and the rights have now been returned (I believe), but this was the start of a precedent.

Now we are looking at Nestle taking much of our water supply (almost free), and turning around and selling it to Third World countries and those in need.  Nestle seems to believe that water is abundant on the earth and belongs to whomever takes it.

I've recently heard, and this is apparently true, that controlling interest in the Canadian Wheat Board has been sold to G3 Global Grain Group, a joint venture between Bunge Canada (USA controlled) and SALIC Canada (Saudi controlled).

Not only is our water being siphoned off, but now our grain food is being controlled by foreign interests.  Let's see, they now control our water, our food;  what will be next, our air?  I think it's time our politicians lost control of Canada's finances.  They obviously are not concerned with our well being, and have no skills in this area whatsoever.

Next up for sale - Canada's Via Rail.

What kind of writer are you? The Songwriter

The Songwriter - a songwriter is similar to a poet, particularly those songwriters that concentrate on writing the lyrics to songs.  Many songwriters are also musicians, which gives them a distinct advantage to become a full-bodied songwriter; because songwriting not only includes writing lyrics, it requires writing a melody too.

So, to be considered a songwriter, one must write either lyrics or melodies, or both in many circumstances.  That is, unless, the song is written solely as an instrumental.  In many instances a person has the ability to only create either one or the other.  To create a complete song, they will usually have to collaborate with another person.

Myself, I love to write lyrics, and even though I am also a musician, the melody of the song just doesn't come to me.  Of course, I have an idea of what the meter and genre of the song will be (fast, slow, Rock and Roll, Country), but not the melody itself is missing.

Fortunately many of my previous band mates have been talented in writing music, and we have collaborated on numerous songs.  And great ones, I might add.  In my opinion, if a group of musicians in a band are somehow able to write and perform their own music, it doesn't get much better than that.

Songwriting is like modern day poetry, but much more entertaining because it tantalizes the senses in ways poetry cannot.  Even if poetry is spoken, it just doesn't compare to the sound of a great song. Poetry with music, I simply love it.

RBC Direct Investing Inc. - Legal siphons

Three years ago, my mom got a tip on a very hot stock to buy.  It was going to go through the roof, and soon.  I told her that I wasn't really interested, but she was so sure of it, she sent me $500.00 to invest.  Because I was already a member of RBC, I decided to use RBC Direct Investing Inc. as my broker so that I could keep track of this wonderful investment right on my RBC Online account.  There was a one time buying fee of 6.95 or something like that, so I bought over 600 shares at a value of about $450.00.

I then basically forgot about this wonderful investment, but received regular statements that showed it going up and down, and not materializing into the 'get rich' value mom had told me it would go to.  This is the important part for people to understand.  This was a relatively small investment, and actually no investment on my part, but RBC has quarterly management fees that they tend to hide in their multitude of information upon signing up.

There is a $25.00 quarterly fee deducted from your account every three months.  Now, on a 447.00 investment that isn't doing as wonderful as predicted, within three years these small fees add up to $300.00.  Then add in a stock change of some sort about a year into the purchase (the value of the shares dropping somehow), my mom's $450.00 investment not only deteriorated in value, any increases were eaten away by RBC.

The stocks are now about $0.00, and the only people that made any money off them was RBC Direct Investments Inc.  Fortunately my mom purchased her shares through CIBC, and hers are still holding their original value (or slightly less).  The moral of the story - DON'T use RBC Direct Investing Inc. for any small share portfolios.  They'll ensure they make as much, or more, than you from your investment.

Muslim beheadings of Non-Believers and Christians..

I have been disgusted in recent months watching the news of ISIS (or whatever they are called now), and their atrocities towards non-Muslims and Christians.  You can say what you want, but it is obvious that they are fighting a religious battle, not matter how distorted their views might seem - or so our new Muslim citizens imply.

Western countries have been taking in Muslim immigrants for years, and now we discover that some of these are terrorists in our own midst.  And our Governments don't seem to have any answer but to allow even more of them into our quiet and previously safe countries.  We have welcomed them with open arms, and they in turn, plot to kill us.

Not only do we welcome these devils, but when caught plotting murder in their new homes, they are slapped on the hands and sent to one of our cushy prisons.  The severity of their crimes is measured in numbers (numbers of years in jail).  What ever happened to an 'eye for an eye' or the 'punishment fits the crime?  Aren't those Christian principles?

I only have to picture my late grandmother, one of the nicest people I have ever know who attended the Catholic Church faithfully, having her head chopped off by one of these bastards.  My Christian punishment would easily fit the crimes of these animals, and I would have not regrets whatsoever.

What kind of writer are you? The Satirist

The Satirist -now this is the kind of writing that I like, and it is really fun.  Just pick any topic that you think is ridiculous, and go to town on it.  But of course, try not to be totally rude and obnoxious when slamming whatever it is you are writing about.

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift is a perfect example of satire.  It is a satire of 18th Century British Society, and is a classic.  Satirists of today can have a field day with topics such as politics, overpaid actors and professional sports figures, and numerous other subjects.  Politics has always been a favorite throughout the times.

When writing satire, keep in mind that you want the reader to find your writing humorous, and not condescending.  You want to leave them with a smile on their face, and something to think about.  You don't want to leave them with the impression that you are just a complainer, and possibly even an arrogant antagonist.

Anyway, a little satire in whatever you write can add spice to your creations.