Cottage life this summer

INTERNET!!  After 60 years of no phone, no TV, no hydro, We Are On Line!!  As a result, Pierre and I each wrote a book, his is "Power Up Your Life and Make Stress Work 4 You," 

        ( http://tinyurl.com/dyhmwp ) and mine is "Landlordom, The Land of Jekyll and Hyde," (How to be a successful landlord, anyway).  Hard copy and ebooks are both available on XLibris.  Also on online book stores such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kindle.

Two yellow kayaks and one large kayak-canoe added to our fun this year.

The dock, so peaceful at sundown.

Sister Susan

Cousin Sue-em. with husband Derry, Pierre and Pat and Shaun

Sue-em.

Brandon with Mishka

Pierre and Daryll

Derry, Sue-em, moi

Hallowe'en, The trick is, the treat is bad for you

I hate to ruin your 'fun', but I have to tell you the truth: Hallowe'en is a crime against children. 

This truth you are well aware of, but the forces of society and custom that consider candy as a treat are too great to fight even though you know it is bad for you. We succumb to the lie that sugar is a treat and we reward our children with it, something that can cause hyperactivity, memory loss, weight gain, rotten teeth, less immunity, diabetes and on it goes. Don't you think it's time to reevaluate our reward system?  We are teaching our children, as we have previously been taught, that something so bad for us is seen as a reward of which we want more, more, more. 

‘Hallowe’en’ embodies one of the greatest ironies of our ‘civilized’ culture.  It is a time of year when adults bombard children’s bodies with sugar, perhaps unaware of the damage it’s doing. ‘Hallowe’en’, nonetheless, arrives with great anticipation and glee, as a major ‘treat’ of the year. The costumes add magic to the ritual. But the candy is the ‘coup de gras’ for the kids.  ‘Hollow’s eve’ is one of the few opportunities children have to violate their bodies with not only the consent of society and their parents, but with their full endorsement and encouragement.

Amongst other ailments, sugar stimulates the production of insulin and too much insulin can induce insulin shock.  Sugar depresses the immune system.  How many children get colds or the flu after Hallowe’en?  It behooves parents to sit up and take notice. 

We must keep in mind that children’s bodies are much smaller than ours and the effect of sugar is magnified.  Is it possible to change our thinking and give different things to thrill them? ‘Magic stones’, psychedelic pencils, spider rings, wands from a magician’s den, magic wishing water from a witches’ pond  in the forest in a small little bottle (color it green like kryptonite), a balloon, a trick or a song that they can learn and remember, a beautiful marble, a prize for their costumes, money!! A lock of hair from a doll but really from a witch who lives behind a tree on your front yard!

…anything you can come up with that will capture their imagination is better than candy.

In the 1700’s people ate one kilogram of sugar a year. By the 1800’s, it increased to two kilograms and in the 1900’s to 16 kilograms and in the recent 40 years to around 100 kilograms per person.  Where are we going with this??  One teaspoon of sugar depresses the immune system for 12 hours.  White sugar, White death.

Between 1999 and 2009, diabetes in Canada increased 70% with the largest increase in children ages 9 to 19.  30 million people in North America have diabetes and an undiagnosed 2/3’s are unaware they have it.

Maybe its time we adults redefine the meaning ‘treats’ on Hallowe’en or treats, period.  Maybe it is time to take responsibility and protect our children from that which we try and get them away from the rest of the year!  After all the Trick and Treating is done, parents can buy the candy from the kids, or at least part of it and throw it out. Kids like money too. The magic will still be there!

Should I be a Landlord?

After a few years in the landlord business, I decided to put pen to paper and share my ideas with you in my new book, 'Landlordom, The Land of Jekyll and Hyde"  How to be a successful landlord, anyway. It will be released by mid November by XLibris and will appear on numerous on-line book stores such as Amazon and Kindle. It begins like this:

Rental properties can increase equity and provide extra income; at least this is the dream on paper. Some landowners are lucky and the dream unfolds as it should.  Others, however, are not so blessed and the experience becomes a nightmare. On the up side, owning properties for rental purposes has great potential for monetary gain, but on the down side it has many pitfalls, one being bad tenants. It is an unforgiving fact that the poor behavior of tenants has given renting out property a bad name and has provided a good reason for investors to shy away from being landlords.

There are many laws in place to protect tenants that can seem to be unfairly stacked against the landlord. An uninformed and unsuspecting landlord can be tarred and feathered by a wily tenant.

Tenants are entitled, amongst other things, to hot and cold running water.  Having to state this in law is on the level of an airline hostess telling you how to do up a seat belt, but its there, in the law. I never had to go out of my way to accommodate this requirement. If the law has to state this, you can only imagine what other hairline requirements there are.  It’s to your advantage to be aware of them.

Even though this may be true, the idea remains seductive to the young investor as he or she is lured by the prospects of additional income for their retirement, a time when the property would be clear of a mortgage and the extra income would add to one's projected comfortable retirement life style.

So you are thinking of succumbing to the temptation of 'landlordom'?  Be aware that, early in the planning stages, before you've even purchased a place, you are entering into a fear-ridden arena in which you will either be eaten up by the lions of intimidation or you will come out victorious, having kept your verve to continue your shaky adventure into the rental world of tenants, leases, loans and repairs.  

Summary

Should you be a landlord?  To help you answer this question, Christine shares, with uncloaked honesty and objectivity, her knowledge and experiences. Her book reveals what you must know before you leap, such as relevant laws and rights and obligations of both tenants and landlords. Do you have the money and where can you get it? What type of property is best for you?  Knowing the best way to deal with the tenant, the lease and the law, are just a few of the valuable tips Christine gives you on how to succeed.  Her compelling stories show both sides of the rental world: how dealing with tenants can be sometimes Jekyll, sometimes Hyde.

“Landlordom, The Land of Jekyll and Hyde” is sure to entertain, to inspire and to help the reader decide if  ‘Landlordom’ is for him/her, or not.