Ok,,,, so we did not get the rail car full last year and even getting is partially full created some challenges. The biggest challenge was getting the food from the rail car to the charity. This is where we needed help and thankfully, Jimmy, from the Bayview team helped make it happen. 

This year we hope to sort the food before shipping and gather from satellite locations and we are are going to need some help. It should be a fun challenge. In the end, the givers and receivers will feel better   

Why would our government accept Vaping tools and liquids? Since when is inhaling Propolyne glyco ever good for humans and how did companies succeed in getting these products allowed to be sold.? Why flavour the vaping juice with sweet candy-like smells using nasty chemicals like diacetyl.  

This whole industry needs to be shut down. When the principal at my kid's middle school says it is an empademic there is a problem that no one is addressing. 12, 13-year-olds smoking liquids loaded with nicotine flavoured with Captian crunch type smells created in a base of Propylene glyco. How stupid are we to let this happen? 
1st there were reports of popcorn lung and no government intervention then this year High school students started getting lung disease and then finally commercials started appearing about the risks. Now people are dead.

This should never have started in the 1st place. Common sense says if you inhale antifreeze ( propylene glycol ) you are going to get sick it is not natural in any way. You don't need a scientist to figure that one out. Once again we have been ginny pigs for big corporate profits.  These corporations don't care about our health. Tey care about Profit. 

If you are a teen or tween vapiong smells yummy and looks cool. Some kids seeing this maybe temped with the sweet smells and cool names of the juice. but the nicotine is the addictive component that will get them hooked. It is like the 50s all over again when cigarettes were considered cool but then quitting was almost impossible for some.  

With the legalization of pot, some big companies like Canopy Growth are investing in TCH Vaping juice. Personally I have pulled my investments from any company involved in this business as the heeling property of Pot is not THC isolated. 

THC isolated should be treated as a pharmaceutical because it is. Currently, there are 380 cases for Lung disease directly related to Vaping this is the tip of the iceberg. Currently there are seven deaths related to vaping unfortunately this number will grow as more investigations proceed. 


The US has taken the lead on this, as Canada sits on there hands. This could be an election issue. This should be an election issue.  How many young people in Canada will die or have died because our Government passed a product that is dangerous to humans and allowed it to be sold? One child is too many.









 

If you have an ear pointed to the investing world you have noticed the rise of legal pot companies.   

Anyone who made a lot of money by buying pot stocks two or more years ago can relax and enjoy. People who came in late or bought the wrong companies are still be trying to find their golden goose. Me? I started three years ago and cashed out in October of last year but then noticed a promising trend. CBD extract. 

Last October I was at a friends design studio and a lady rushed in to drop off what I assumed was Nicotine patches. To my suprise, I was told that they were CBD patches to help with anxiety. The former pot smokers had switched from THC to CBD. One of the reason was that THC was adding to their anxiety. I am no a big fan of inhailing any type of smoke on a regular basis My grandmother died of emesyma, Smoke of any type is bad for the lungs and vaping, don't get me started on that new age poison. 

After research and more research from everything that toutes CBD as a cure all to how dangerious it is. I made a decision to jump back in to the Hemp equity markets. Mostly because stocks can go up on hype alone regardeless of earnings. This is speculatlive investing, risky and not worth betting your life savings on. I did well with my original investments and thought I would take a chance with some of those profits. 

If you have been investing for your future in either TFSA, RRSP, RESP then you have begun to build wealth. My faviourte method has been the automatic withdrawals to savings from one bank to an investment portfilio. I will admit, I am no expert, I do not consider my self finacially rich but I consider my life rich. Mind you I felt that way when I was rolling coins for groceries back when I made a few wrong choices. Being self employed can be a bitch sometimes. 

I bought VFF ( a tomato green house in BC that added green houses to grow hemp) OGI, TGOD WEED and HMMJ (ETF). I don't recommend stocks but I would do some research and follow some of the names below and the prementioned tickers

This is a screen shot of my watch list( I did not buy all of these stocks). A watchlist can be found on online brokerage companies, They allow you to pretend to buy a stock and watch it.  I bought and sold some of these, made money on most and lost money on some ( timing is everything)  This chart was created in 2016 and I added more as I found more.   ​

All stocks go up and down as can be seen below. There are more buying opertuniites coming. If you missed the 1st wave there will be a second. I get excited when the market goes in to a nose dive. I get ready to hit the sell button when it reaches new highs. My finger is on the sell button in reacent weeks. The chart below is a 12 month representative of the above wach list. 

  There are lots of tours to take, all can be found online. We went for the Panama canal tour and jungle tour combined and enjoyed the sites. The Canal is quite the creation. The sloth reserve was probably the high point for my kid as he was not fond of the Crocks that we had seen and sloths are pretty peaceful. 

One of the coolest places in the city was Casa Viejo the efforts of the government and its people is to be commended. This was the original city full of history and character. Well worth the visit. Yes.. a bit of a tourist trap and worth seeing. 

Driving in Panama was not the worst place to drive but not the easiest either thanks to WAZE Gps service we got around pretty good. We made a journey to Coronado. About an hour and 30-minute drive.   ​

We stayed at the Casablanca house. We have never stayed at a house while traveling before. This one has a pool, air conditioning, three bedrooms, and two baths and only a 7-minute walk to the beach. The Casablanca house. 

The Casablanca house is close to grocery store, and a nice Italian restaurant and the beach. It has a nice kitchen and was clean and safe. It can be found on Bookings.com and on Goole maps. Contact Rod for more details and to book @ rodinpanama@gmail.com  

I have driven past the Roundhouse for years. I have admired the red brick heritage buildings and wondered what might happen to them. One day I phoned the owners (Bayview Properties) and asked if I could use one of those building for a Christmas Market. Nomad Holiday Market was born. 

The railyard has huge potential to become a jewel for Victoria and surrounding area, Its close to the water, has a neighbourhood pub and lots of new condos. The Nomad Holiday Market was one of the 1st Markets to be held in an area destined to become a marketplace. It was a privilege to work with the folks at Bayview and the Salvation Army as they let my creative juices flow and produce an impressive market. We were able to raise 2000.00 in donations for the Salvation Army and put 7000 lbs of food in the rail car. Not bad for a 1st show. Hopefully, there is more to come.   ​

​Free thinking is underrated in this day of the giant corporation taking over every aspect of our lives. Sometimes a creative mind can be a bit busy. Too many ideas and not enough time to get them all done. Starting projects and not finishing them is a good example. Mind you, some people may call this procrastination. I have one of those brains, it never stops thinking of something to do. Over the years I have tamed it down to focus on specific projects that have a start and an end. Some long-term some short term. Some work out, some don't luckily as I get older more work out than not. 

Victoria Fashion Week is one of those projects. It was going to be a Fashion Event different from what Victoria had seen too. A way to showcase and show off an emerging fashion scene in BC's capital city. A city known for Gortex and yoga pants as fashion statements. After two successful Fashion Splash events in the inner harbour, it seemed like a good idea to move it indoors. After sitting down with Christina and Andrew from Robazzo A name was chosen. Victoria Fashion Week. 

The minute the name was chosen adrenaline started to flow. How to create an event with a world-class name in Victoria, It seemed like a roller coaster ride from start to finish. A volunteer-run event with no money except for ticket sales. Not easy but not impossible
This is where the magic of manifestation starts. How to become a magnet for like minds to join together to create a vision? To manifest something from nothing to full fill a name and a vision. An open, creative mind can be an amazing thing. Like a funnel gathering thoughts, ideas, discussions, projections and opinions. Then, funneling all that into manageable amounts of information to be manifested into a reality.  There are always challenges, negative nellies, financial hurdles, and operational letdowns. 

At the end there was a magnificent show. One that I had repeatably seen in my brain. Along the way, I met some amazing, talented and intelligent people.  Luckily for the emerging fashion seen in Victoria two of them took on a second show.  They are above in the picture Natalia Downes (right) and Chriostina Robev ( left ) Stike of midnight Fashion Week event. 

This show went off well smaller and a bit more commercial, but it kept the name going. Christina has connected with more talented people to see if Victoria Fashion Week can continue. I wish her all the success and look forward to attending the event.   ​

2019 seen the event lag. No interest in Victoria Fashion Week. There was a show called Victoria Eco Fashion Week maybe this is the new direction. Or maybe I will have to step back in for Victoria Fashion Week 2021  

​Hi Parents,
Just a quick reminder that practices start on Thursday from 6-8pm. No gear just cleats and bring a water bottle. 

• Victoria Renegades PeeWee & Junior Bantam - Royal Oak Middle School
• Westshore Warriors - Juan De Fuca soccer fields (down by the Q Centre)

Your Team Managers will be in touch to introduce themselves this week. 
Bring a friend! All our teams could use a few more players and the best recruits are our players. Please encourage your child to bring a friend or two to 1 of the next 3 practices. For any player that brings a friend and they register they will receive a free night at the movies for 2. 
Games will start September 8/9 depending on the schedule. The Island Football schedule will not be out until a week prior as teams are still recruiting. The schedule will be posted on the www.islandfootball.ca website. 
If you have any gear issues or have any questions or concerns please contact us. 
Sincerely,
GVMFA Board

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For questions regarding Greater Victoria Minor Football Association please email gvmfa.general@gmail.com or go to http://www.victoriafootball.ca

My family traveled to Curacao in 2015 it was a last minute replacement for wanting to go to Europe. Not a bad choice, not because it is so much like Europe but because it is a charming place to visit and it does have a European flair. 

The combination of the floating bridge and brightly painted building makes this place easy on the eyes. The local food has a fusion of European, eastern and Caribbean flavors, The beaches were plentiful and beautiful. I think we went to a different beach each day. Our favorite was Mambo beach.  Some of the beaches were topless which my 10 year found fascinating even nicknaming one beach "booby beach".  Some beaches were very dutch serving Dutch food and speaking Dutch it was almost like we made it to Europe. Almost......

The choices of accommodations are great.  You can go high-end low end but they were much more costly than south-east Asia. about twice as much. That being said it is not the cheapest place to travel but it has character and charm. We are a mixed race family and traveling is always interesting as people are still curious in this day and age,  and some cases not impressed but really ....who cares. It seems everywhere I go other than my home country the 1st impression people have is that I am from that country. Canadians still have a ways to go. In the US people are open and blunt about the racial opinions in Canada we are just more polite about it. 

This was my 7th trip to the Caribbean, this island felt like one of the safest. This Island was one of the biggest trading areas for slavery and instead of hiding it they have created a fascinating slave museum. I did not know what to expect when I entered and therefore was pleasantly impressed by the honesty of the displays and information. One of my ancestors may have come through this Island. Traveling on the torturous ships that were on display. Even my 10 year old enjoyed the journey. OK.... I will be honest African people were treated worse than livestock.  Talk about needing a strong constitution. To know that two of my ancestors made it through makes me proud. You think we would have evolved past this but it is still done to today with women, kids, in other parts of the world and Canada. ( read more here)  

The island has various types of terrain, desert-like and forest. Giant cacti and lots of pink flamingos ( never seen before ). That what traveling is about for me seeing, smelling, tasting, touching something new, relaxing and changing the perspective for a moment in time. ​

Why coach?

My main reason for coaching is bonding with my child and joining him with the challenges that come with playing on a team. I played sports as a kid. I loved the challenge, and in some way, that competitive feeling comes back when I coach. My body may not work like it use to but the knowledge is still there. One of the challenges as a coach is to transfer that knowledge in a supportive manner.

There is something magical that happens when a kid goes from fearful behavior to fearless. Unfocused to focused. Then watching the expression on their face when they accomplish something great. One challenge as a coach is to remember that regardless of the talent on a team. Every kid on the team needs to have the opportunity to excel at their own level

This year I had the privilege of creating a summer tournament team. Something little league on the island has been missing for some time. It is my 3rd summer of being involved but the 1st summer that the league fully supported it. It was a team made up of the kids that did not make all-star team. They had a blast. Without the pressure of all-star ball they flourished. I hope that it is something that continues for some time.

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