Erin's Journals

Yet again yesterday we awoke to news of a tragedy in Toronto. There was the Yonge Street van attack and, of late, escalating violence that I hear about in snippets and tweets. But before I went to bed on Sunday night, the news of the gun attack on the Danforth hit especially close to home – that’s because it was.
 
When we lived at Bloor and Jarvis, it was a rite of spring to walk over to the Danforth – often to the area of Carrot Common – to take in dinner. We didn’t sit outdoors on the sidewalk anymore; the panhandling got to be too much. But sitting outside on back patios, enjoying open air dining was always such a pleasure. Strolling and gazing through store windows at furniture, ceramics and clothes – always a pleasure. 
 
A hit like this on such a storied and popular stretch of street in Toronto would have seemed almost unthinkable until 2018. Yes, there have been attacks such as that at the Eaton Centre in 2012 (killing two) and the Boxing Day shootout on Yonge that killed Jane Creba in 2006. But this year, as much as this senseless violence hurts, the vague and unclear warnings around the CN Tower and Canada’s Wonderland less than weeks ago kind of put us on notice. This summer would be one we might remember for all of the wrong reasons.
 
Already I’ve heard from and read of people who don’t want to go on patios or subject themselves to possible danger. To them, I say what so many others have said: Toronto Strong. You are safe in Toronto.
 
What makes me say that? I know what the heart says: be worried! But here’s something that we need to keep in mind. And thank to you Michael Hainsworth for this tweet yesterday in response to someone who said how frightened they were to go out and enjoy life on the Danforth again.

@hainsworthtv: You are literally THREE TIMES more likely to be killed by a car than a gun in Canada. And even that death rate is only 6 out of every 100,000 of us. We can’t cower in the face of violence. #Danforth

I know that it’s easy to cite statistics. I tell myself when I’m in the midst of turbulence or getting a little nervous on a plane that I am truly travelling one of the safest ways there is. I think of my Dad saying that the pilot and crew want to make it home as badly as we do! But what the brain says and what the heart feels can be two very different things.
 
So I say this: Toronto will heal again, as it has been in the process of doing since the van attack earlier this year. No one and nothing can prevent one sick person from doing something heinous, whether on a vibrant metropolitan street or during the Changing of the Guard in the nation’s capital.
 
All we can do is control weapons access as best we can, live our lives, remember the victims and use our sadness to fuel our journey forward. Be ever vigilant, ever tolerant and ever adamant that no one can steal the freedom from fear that life in the city of Toronto has always offered.
 
Sending love, always,
 

My goodness, we’re already three quarters of the way through July. Summer, as it always does, is flying by at a pace most incongruent with the slow speed at which life should go during this most delicious of seasons. But we’re looking forward to August, not only for our upcoming road trip (yes, another one – this is what we hoped reWirement would be all about) but we’ve got our fingers crossed that Dad will hop on a plane out of Kelowna and pay us a visit.
 
When we spoke of it earlier this month, Dad jokingly asked if we had two naps a day built into our schedule. I told him they can do whatever they like – and we’ll always make time for naps! This will be a great time for us, having him at our place. We’ve plans to show him around and treat him royally and I know Dad will look forward to visiting with his “kid” brother, 66-year-old Vern and his wife, as well as their youngest daughter Karen and their family. We can’t wait and hope it comes to pass.
 
Dad, as I think I’ve told you, loves to read to his lady friend Dawna every night. The widow of a missionary, Dawna has always had a great interest in studying The Bible and Dad loves the opportunity to pore over and discuss religious teachings. Born a Baptist, he converted to Catholicism when he and Mom got married in 1956, a decision that prompted some of his smaller-minded relatives to sit out their wedding. Too bad; from the pictures, it sure looks like they missed a great time!
 
Now he enjoys looking at different perspectives and recently picked up from a Mennonite thrift store several volumes of books that explore The Bible from different viewpoints. I made my dad laugh out loud the other day as we discussed his new acquisitions. I said, “Boy, you’re really cramming for the finals!” and he laughed a great musical laugh, saying he hadn’t really thought of it that way!
 
I love that we laugh together. Our phone conversations are a discussion of the latest news (world, national and what’s going on in his life), his weather and ours, and what the Jays are up to. When we’re done, I usually say, “Well, we’ve covered news, weather and sports…” and we laugh and know it’s time to wrap up. 
 
One of Dad’s great joys now is that his tween-aged granddaughter, who lives in Kelowna, and whom he’s been ferrying to music lessons so she can learn to play his (now her) clarinet, has shown great interest in and ability with the instrument. Ava’s been playing lead clarinet in a marching band and may pursue the interest further in the cadets. Another generation of military Davises, she could well follow in the footsteps of her aunt, my sister Heather, who went on to become the first female conductor in the Canadian Armed Forces music program. So, let’s hope!
 
Dad always encouraged Lauren to keep up with her cello, although her interests moved more towards singing and performing musical theatre in her high school years. That didn’t stop him from asking in almost every phone call whether she’d taken it up again – sometimes to her frustration – but I reminded him that when I was well into my radio career he would occasionally ask when I was going to study some university courses.
 
That’s Dad: always wanting us to push harder and go higher. But maybe, and thankfully, it was when I was fortunate enough to receive an honourary degree from my alma mater that he finally realized I wouldn’t be darkening the hallways of higher learning, at least not as a student!
 
There was a time when I was frustrated with my Toronto radio career (back in the CKO all-news years in the mid-80s) that I almost left to teach at Loyalist College in Belleville. I’d always imagined myself as a teacher when I was sitting in classes in high school; radio hadn’t even occured to me as a career a woman could realistically pursue. Surely I wasn’t as intelligent or well-versed as the women I listened to at night in the dark on the CBC’s As It Happens; I couldn’t imagine the steel it took to ask all of those powerful men the tough questions. 
 
Am I glad I didn’t leave to teach? Oh, yes. I don’t know what it would have meant for Rob’s career; I hoped he’d be invited to come and share his knowledge as well, but that request was never extended to him. So, I stayed. And that remained a path not taken.
 
Now, even if I was asked to teach somewhere I don’t think I’d be able to fit a structured job – even part-time – into this more carefree life that we’ve fashioned for ourselves. But I never mind listening to and helping young broadcasters on their way up.
 
Kind of seems a shame to waste a lifetime of experience when my best student is no longer around to ask for advice or to share stories of the radio business as it is now evolving. I often felt I learned as much from Lauren as she did from me. I’m grateful to have set up a scholarship for young female broadcasters at Loyalist, though. For even as my dad continues to demonstrate with his granddaughter Ava, life is about leaving little legacies of the good kind. 
 

Wow – Friday! I know, as someone enjoying reWirement, the days of the week don’t carry the same weight as they used to, but boy, we’re glad to reach the weekend. The previous week, it was about appointments and scheduled social events. This one looked wide open, but boy, were we wrong! So, I thought I’d wrap up this crazy week, in which we got four freelance voice jobs in four days, with a few stories from home.
 
One of those voice jobs caused a calamity in our lives, but nothing we couldn’t handle with a little juggling. On Sunday, I was preparing to host a whole bunch of family (including two tweens and two toddlers) for a plates-on-your-lap kind of casual barbecue. I’d done my prep work on Saturday and never was I more grateful for that earlier work than at 1 pm Sunday when Rob chirped, “You got a job!”
 
Passing his computer, he noticed an email from a voice agency we subscribe to: we pay an annual fee and they send us auditions for which we’d seem to be a fit. The funniest ones are described as wanting someone middle-aged – like late 20s, early 30s. We always get a guffaw out of that, and some of them I even get!
 
In this case, the client (for whom I’d auditioned months earlier) needed a 14,000+ word job done by that evening. The voice they’d chosen was unavailable. Um – what? It wasn’t being second choice that was scary; it was the time allotted to do the job. We responded that we could get it packaged up by the next day and then negotiated a more reasonable deadline of noon OUR time. This vast continent and its many zones make hitting deadlines a bit more of a challenge out here, as so much of the work comes from the east.
 
Rob printed up the massive script, only to find that certain boxes of narration were cut out. Okay, off my computer screen it would have to be, even though we worry about the hard surface bouncing sound back into the mic. (Usually I do jobs off my smart phone). As Rob went into his booth – actually a walk-in pantry – and I into mine, I frantically messaged our guests asking that instead of a 4:30 arrival, they try for 5:00 and everyone was fine. After all, messing with little people’s schedules can be pretty tricky. 
 
Long story short, we managed to record half of it, dive into the shower and get ready, and have appetizers out and ready to serve by the time everyone arrived promptly. Three hours later, we said goodbye to our company, finished cleaning up and headed back into the studio. We called it quits at 11 pm, Rob got up at 4 am Monday to start editing and they had their job on time and loved it. Whew!
 
That’s a little insight into the life of freelance voicework. The pay on this one made it worth the frenzy, but we’ve been lucky to get some smaller jobs this week, too. It’s not enough to live on if we had to, but I told Rob I only wished for enough to cover the bills. We’re not there yet (might be if we stopped traveling!) but it’s just a sidebar. A hobby that unites us in a task we can both work on together.
 
Granted, Rob has the heavier lifting – editing, taking out breaths, making segments fit the time allotted – and the poor guy is listening to me ALL DAY! If it’s not us talking, it’s me in his editing earbuds. I don’t know how he does it!
 
I’m still hoping an audio book or two comes my way and wondering if we’ll do one for Mourning Has Broken. The publisher doesn’t seem to be leaning in that direction, but for us it’s a no-brainer. Plus we can use actual audio when we refer to Lauren talking or singing. It’ll be an interesting project, for sure. So, we’ll see! Lots of irons in the fire where this book is concerned; makes me wonder what we’ll do next. 
 
I hope you’ve got some great weekend plans and I’ll be back with you here on Monday. Take care and thank you for sharing some time here every day!
 

Sometimes when a friend does something extraordinary, you shout it from the rooftops. This will be better, since I hope you’ll pass this on! 
 

 
I can’t tell you how many times in my career I was approached by people who thought they or their clients would make great guests on our radio show. Usually, I would pass them on to our senior producer who would gently say, “No, thank you,” and that would be the end of it.
 
Sometimes, the person reaching out would be persistent, as in the case of the PR giant in Toronto who hounded Ian “The General” MacArthur year after year to have his clients, Playboy bunnies, on CHFI to talk about god-knows-what. Uncharacteristically for Ian, that annual ordeal ended in a screaming “F-off!” from both sides. But it was within Ian’s right to protect our show’s best interests and only serve up what would be valuable, entertaining and appropriate for our listeners. It was always “what’s in it for the listener?” and “tell us a story.”
 
Then there were the times that people who were running a charity would hope we’d give them air time to pitch a golf tournament or a run or a lemonade stand or a dance-a-thon. Wonderful causes were behind every single one of these events, but we couldn’t put them all on the air. Fortunately, as technology evolved, we could point them towards Facebook or I’d ask them to email me, so I could post something for them here and help get the word out.
 
Now there’s a concise little book out that every person who wants to pitch themselves or a client for an interview – on any medium – NEEDS TO READ. It’s called Make the Media Want You: An Insider’s Guide to Creating Persuasive Pitches and I devoured it in a few sittings.
 
Lisa tells you what the media need from an interview and she pulls no punches. She does a morning show in London, Ontario (although you may remember her from the 680 News morning show, as well as news on our show, too, at CHFI). In a pared-down cutback radio economy, Lisa and her radio partner have to book, prepare and execute live radio interviews – several per show – and she’s waded through the worst and plucked from the best, to help guests know what they need to do to pitch, prepare and present well. 
 
I can’t stress enough what a powerful tool this book is for everyone: from a city councillor to a volunteer spokesperson, from a proud parent to a seasoned public relations expert. EVERYONE who wants a spot on a radio show (or TV, or wherever) should read this book. Even if you think you know how it all works, there are insider tips that could help you get that coveted few minutes to share your story and your message and to stir up interest in the community. 
 
I’m honoured to have contributed a chapter to this book (no, I’m not getting paid, nor did I expect to!) and should point out that Lisa is donating a percentage of the book’s profits to her own personal favourite charity in memory of her dad, who died last year of Parkinson’s Disease.
 
Please, please, please share this journal today. Whether you hope to get fifty more people for your town fair this fall or are booking drivers from the Honda Indy, everyone who wants to get close to a microphone – and a bigger audience – has to read Make the Media Want You. Here’s the Amazon.ca link. 
 
Congratulations, Lisa. You’re doing everyone a service here. Now, can I talk about my book on your radio show? See, it’s about this woman who’s a little loco….
 
Talk to you here tomorrow.
 

Every now and then, when we’re on FaceTime with Colin several provinces away chatting with him, or when I only take my phone shopping because I have my Visa card in it and need only tap it to pay, I marvel at the technology in this age in which we live. 
 
This week, I came to embrace new technology even more and I’ll fill you in on an Ontario angle for it in a moment. First, here’s what’s up.
 
I take these enzymes called tryptophan. You’ve heard of them because they’re in turkey, warm milk and bananas and have been known to kind of just chill your nerves. Not sure why they need an RX, but I have used them to help me sleep and to aid me in dealing with stressful situations. They’re like meditation in a capsule. That reminds me: get back to meditation. 
 
Anyway, on Monday, I realized we have a trip to the US coming and I’m very low on tryptophan. (Not that the destination and the RX are related, but you never know!) I went online to my local Shoppers and, sure enough, just as the label said, I was out of refills. Reluctant to book precious time with a doctor so slammed (as they all are) that he’s no longer taking patients, I remembered being told by my new island pal Nancy about Skype- or Facetime-style doctors’ appointments.
 
She uses Medeo; having forgotten its name, I Googled and found Viva Care Medical Health. Here’s how it works: provided you aren’t looking for special care like disability leave extension or prescriptions for narcotics or controlled substances, want to consult them for travel-related concerns or get lab requisitions for certain issues, you can book an appointment to talk with a real honest-to-goodness doctor. 
 
All I wanted was a re-up on my lapsed prescription, so I filled out an easy application (including my BC Health card, pharmacist’s fax number, previous prescription and dosage, etc.) and made an appointment time – for TEN MINUTES FROM THEN!
 
I could hardly believe this was real. I put on some lipstick, sat by my phone, expecting a call. I got a reminder text a few minutes out. And then waited. And waited. 
 
About fifteen minutes past my appointment time with a Dr. Wu, I checked my emails and D’OH! I’d missed a response saying I needed to download an app and join an e-meeting site. That’s okay – I knew how to do that – and with Rob’s help I got into the virtual waiting room. No cheesy music piped in, no old germy magazines. Just my own! 
 
A few minutes later, a very cheery (human) receptionist told us that the doctor had just finished up with a mom and her two babies, and would be getting to us soon. Some online poking around showed me that Viva Care has actual real offices and clinics, so yes, they’re juggling online patients with in-person visits. (Made me even sorrier that I’d stood up Dr. Wu because of my oversight).
 
The receptionist, if you will, was wonderful and told me to go about my day but leave my video camera on – I guess, a reminder that if part of my day included inappropriate scratching or working on my pole dancing abilities, I might have to be aware there’s a camera. She promised I’d see and hear the doctor when he or she was ready. (It turned out to be a “he” as I guess he took whoever was next in the virtual waiting room). 
 
We said our hellos, he asked what I wanted (although he was reading from a file on his screen that told him), checked the dosage and after a forty-five second chat, I had my refill. They faxed the prescription to my local pharmacy. Just like that. FOR FREE. (Of course, the actual pills aren’t free, just the whole seeing a doctor thing.)
 
They provide this service to BC residents no matter where in the world they may be. I’m a fan and am looking forward to getting further re-ups on prescriptions.
 
Now, I know that doctors’ appointments are important and I have every intention of keep up with visits and exams with my doctor in Victoria. But why should I take up his time when there could be someone who’s actually sick, who needs an appointment and then can’t get in ’cause I’m in the examination room having a nice chat? I think that, at least in our situation, this was absolutely perfect.
 
Knowing that many journal visitors are in Ontario, I reached out to my pal Lisa Brandt and asked if she knew of such a service there (Lisa’s in London). She said they just did an interview on her station with GOeVisit and sent me a link; you can learn more at goevisit.com. It costs about $4.25 a month to subscribe plus each visit is $25. (It’s also available to visitors to Canada but that’s at $49.95 per visit). That made me appreciate Viva Care even more!
 
I’ll reiterate here the importance of seeing a doctor in person, which I’m sure Viva Care would do, too, for regular hands-on (literally) examinations. A doctor you have known for years can look you in the eye and ask if everything is okay, and that’s an exchange that can be worth its weight in gold.
 
But consider this: Viva Care, and others here like it, offer counselling appointments for depression, addiction and other issues that a prospective patient might find difficult to discuss with a doctor in a non-video way. And today they sent a list of services available via video ($95 hourly sessions) with psychotherapists. Counselling from the comfort and privacy of my own home, in my jammies? Sign me up! 
 
I’m just stunned at how well this worked for us and what an incredible tool this is going to be going forward, especially when we’re away for longer stretches and we inadvertently mess up on prescriptions and refills. Best of all, I hope I’ve done my part to help ease the congestion in our overworked health care system by freeing up a doctor to do real medicine instead of rubber stamping a prescription. 
 
I’ll be back here tomorrow with some news about Lisa that I think you’re going to want to know and share, especially if you’ve ever asked, “How do I get some publicity for this?” Take care.