YES! After a week of light and heavy snow, I woke up this morning to bright sunshine, clear skies and quite a beautiful day. Mountains remain covered in deep snow and it will probably be July before their snow has disappeared. For the taller Alps-like mountain tops the snow will remain and this makes for quite a scenic backdrop for photographers. Not sure if I said anything in the last journal, but our wayward cat-Titania, has returned.
I threatened to attack a micro-camera to her just to see where she goes, but then I'd be forced to watch a cat's eating habits and what they consume, so cancel that idea. But, she was glad to be home and attached herself to my chest for several hours. Our pets can affect us in so many ways, becoming our friends, listening to our complaints without judging, and keeping many people from having a feeling of loneliness. Believe me, with 4 ankle biter canines and 2 cats, I do not get lonely very often. Especially with a house filled with people.
I have found that writing these journal entries helps me get ready for working on my manuscripts, getting my mind opened up after a night's sleep. I have had my hot tea and toast with peanut butter on it for a protein boost , check my news sites and can then spend the next 4-5 hours working on my writing endeavors. I try to create a chapter a day, then edit it the first time. The next day I edit it a second time and then create a new chapter. Once the manuscript is done, I edit it a third time and possibly a 4th and 5th. I have found I make a good number of changes when editing the whole story.
One of the news stories this morning sort of surprised me, the one involving the semi-dictator of the Philippine Island, President Duterte, who is threatening "Declaring War with Canada" over a serious garbage issue. I'm not sure if this is garbage floating to the islands from Canada, who being shipped there and just dropped off. But, I wouldn't want to be a Canadian citizen visiting the Philippines right now. Duterte has a reputation for executing his prisoners, without trials as he did in his drug wars- which is still going on. He brings back memories of when Marcos was in power in the islands for so many years. His First Lady was also quite the tyrant and a real clothes horse, famous for her collection of nearly a thousand pair of shoes purchased by taxpayer funds. A Dear friend of mine had worked for the Secret Service back then and was one of the agents assigned to guarding her when she came to the U.S. He found her to be quite the "witch", in his words. Sometimes wealth and political power does that to people. Now I promise, if I ever become an award winning author I promise not to forget all the little people who bought my books and helped me along with critiques. Truthfully, my goal has always been to have one of my stories reach out to a lost soul and something in my book brought him to the Lord. I'd also like to make enough funds to complete the house repairs I need done here, but that is a secondary issue.
In my current story, this next chapter has to do when the President in the mid 80s allowed for the Polish fishing fleet to enter Alaskan waters and make port to be resupplied and provide some off-duty time for their fishermen. Seward was named one of these ports and the boats soon began arriving. They carried crews of 40 to 80 personnel and we were told they also carried a communist party political officer to ensure these sailors didn't forget where they came from. We had a small pawn shop in Seward back then, that was struggling along, but nearly overnight it became a thriving business as these Polish fishermen brought much of their rain gear, boots and things from home to sell in order to have money to purchase drinks in the local bars. The rain gear was soon being sold off to tourists, for during the summer months Seward did get a lot of rain and many of the tourists were not prepared for it. We, the police officers, had a lot of dealing with these men and a few women fishermen, who just couldn't get their minds around Alaskan laws. We issued a lot of warnings before having to make an arrest of one of these visitors, knowing this difficulty they were having. It also seemed that in Poland, the women serving drinks in the bars were also known to be prostitutes and during one such incident, a Polish fisherman became upset when the female bartender at the Elks Lodge wouldn't accept his kind offers for an hour of play time. Sadly, the man became upset and slugged the woman to her jaw, nearly knocking her out. To make things worse, the man had assaulted the woman right in front of the lady's husband. I arrived just in time, otherwise the man may not have survived the brutal beating he was receiving at the hands of the husband, who was my size. After that the arriving crews were lectured on the difference between female bartenders here in Alaska and those back home in Poland. We had a lot of these culture difficulties that summer.
Another thing that began happening was how so many of these fishermen, unhappy with their home situations, began pleading for asylum in the United States. On a given weekend, our jail could be filled with 10 to 30 fishermen wanting to remain in the U.S. and many wanted to stay in Alaska as it reminded them of home. As a gesture of goodwill, the cell doors were not closed and several organizations began delivering Pizzas and homemade cookies to the fishermen, before they were buses north by U.S. Immigration to begin the process of asylum. In some cases the fisherman were put on a plane and flown home, found unsuitable to remain for one reason or another. I've always believed that one or two of these people were actually agents hoping to find a way to remain in the U.S,, but were discovered and shipped out. Eventually, we were told to advise the asylum seekers to just board the Seward Bus-lines and to contact Immigrations when they reached Anchorage.
One evening while on mid shift patrol, I worked the midnight to 8 a.m. shift for over a year, I was waved down by one of these fishermen. He was about half my size and a bit intoxicated. I asked him if he was wanting a ride back to his boat, but he spoke no English and I spoke no Polish. We did have a polish interpreter who helped us big time during that summer, but he was not riding along with me that night. I then asked him if he was wanting asylum and after a brief thought he replied with a nod of his head. So, because of his intoxication I placed him in the back seat of my patrol car, which put him behind the cage that protected me from prisoners I might be transporting. When he saw the cage, he began having a royal fit. I drove him to the station and walked him down to the jail cells in our lower level, knowing he needed to sober up as it would be hours before the next bus headed north. He was screaming and shouting, even getting down on his knees pleading with me. So, I went upstairs and had my dispatcher call the interpreter at home and see if he could talk with the individual over the phone to see what the problem was. This took place and it turned out this poor man thought I was a taxi and all he wanted was a ride back to his ship. When he saw the cage and finally took notice of my uniform and the weapon I carried, he was sure I was taking him somewhere to execute him. Apparently, this sometimes happened in the current communist Poland. When I got him back to his vessel, he ran up the gang plank and never turned around to even wave, and I felt so sorry for frightening him so. I was always curious what he might have told his political officer concerning his experience. But, he was the last Polish fisherman I offered to give a ride to. After that, I directed them to dispatch, where they could speak with the interpreter over the phone or if the man was on hand to listen to their stories. I'm not sure how many of the fishermen were eventually granted asylum, but the number of Polish vessels coming to Seward started dwindling. I also wondered how it was going in the other U.S. ports authorized to take in these foreign fishermen. They also kept the U.S. Coast Guard pretty busy, when these boats would attempt to fish in U.S. waters. Thankfully, the largest U.S. Coast Guard base on the west coast is on Kodiak Island, Alaska. I also came to realize these Polish fisherman, the ones who liked to drink, gained a sincere appreciation for our American liquors and candy bars. I won't say which ones, as I am not a sales representative for any of these people.
NEWS HIGHLIGHTS: "China, a Major Importer of Iran Oil, Now Facing Sanctions With U.S. Policy Changes".... "Mayor of Yuma, Arizona Declares State of Emergency as Residents Face 'Imminent Threat' Resulting From Mass Release of Immigrants, Stating 'Migrants Continue to be Released at an Alarming Rate That Cannot be Sustained, Overwhelming the Current Non-Profit Shelter System"...."U.S. Offers $10 Million Bounty on Hezbollah Operatives"...."Trump Issues Order to Crackdown on VISA Overstayers".... "Federal Court Rules Against Catholic Foster-Care Agency Due to its Religious Beliefs About Marriage".... "Deadly 6.6 Earthquake Hits Central Philippines, 2nd Major Quake in Two Days-16 Dead so Far and More Expected as Debris is Gone Through".... "Islamic State Claims They Were Behind the Sir Lanka Bombings That have Killed Over 300 People and Injuring Over 600 People- Revenge For the Attacks Made on Sri Lanka Mosques".... "California Continues to be Rocked by Daily 3.0 Quakes or Higher"...."50 People Killed in Myanmar Mudslide"...."Pharmaceutical Distributor Faces Federal Criminal Charges Over Opioid Crisis".... "Saudi Arabia Executes 37 People for Terrorism Related Crimes, Crucifying One of Them".... "FBI Told a Militia in New Mexico Planned to Kill Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton".... "157 -lb Swordfish Caught in Florida Keys".... "U.S. New Home Sales Climbed to 4.5 % in March".... "Off-Duty Nigerian Police Officer Plows His Vehicle Into a Crowd at Easter Celebration, Killing 8 and Inuring 30"...." Security Officials Urging Israeli Tourist to Leave the Sinai"...."World's Recyclable Plastic Being Shipped to Asia , Where it is being Illegally Dumped, Buried or Burned in Countries With the Lightest Regulations, Environmentalists Warn".... " Russia Reveals New Sub-carrying Nuclear-Tipped Drone".... "Over $1 Billion Pledged to Rebuild Notre Dame"...."Death Toll In Sir Lanka Rises to 329, With over 600 Injured, as 3 Churches and 3 Hotels Were Hit by Suicide Bombers".... "Palestine Now Considering Terminating All Relations With Israel, Will Vote in May on This Issue".... "Dozens of Chilean Tourists Tied to Burglary Spree in Southern California".... "51 People Killed in South African Floods".... "Uganda on High Alert For Arrival of Terrorists Cells".... "WHO Announces the World's First Malaria Vaccine Being Launched in Africa".... "Iran's Parliament Labels U.S. Forces in West Asia as 'Terrorist Groups' "......
I guess I ran is getting back at us after their Revolutionary Guard, their elite Muslim Army Group, has recently been listed as a terrorist group. The Guard is seperate from their regular army, sort of like their special forces and sworn to fight to the death. I wonder how our Green Beret, Seals and others would feel about taking such an oath and ordered to take suicide bombs into schools and churches? I strongly believe this is the difference between Christianity and fanatical Muslims... even the rise of fanatical Buddhist. Now we have Buddhist monks carrying automatic weapons making war with Islamic forces, a big change from only a decade ago. Still, we did have Buddhist monks in Vietnam that assisted our enemy, which actually is a violation to the vows they take. Religion can be really confusing, even in the United States, as so-called Christian faiths argue with one another and accuse the other guy of having understood the Word of God wrongly. I see it as just another ploy by the common enemy- Satan.
All for now, time to go to work. I do hope you enjoy the little snippets I give you on my current writing endeavor. It actually helps me recall some of the incidents.
God Bless, BILL
I have found that writing these journal entries helps me get ready for working on my manuscripts, getting my mind opened up after a night's sleep. I have had my hot tea and toast with peanut butter on it for a protein boost , check my news sites and can then spend the next 4-5 hours working on my writing endeavors. I try to create a chapter a day, then edit it the first time. The next day I edit it a second time and then create a new chapter. Once the manuscript is done, I edit it a third time and possibly a 4th and 5th. I have found I make a good number of changes when editing the whole story.
One of the news stories this morning sort of surprised me, the one involving the semi-dictator of the Philippine Island, President Duterte, who is threatening "Declaring War with Canada" over a serious garbage issue. I'm not sure if this is garbage floating to the islands from Canada, who being shipped there and just dropped off. But, I wouldn't want to be a Canadian citizen visiting the Philippines right now. Duterte has a reputation for executing his prisoners, without trials as he did in his drug wars- which is still going on. He brings back memories of when Marcos was in power in the islands for so many years. His First Lady was also quite the tyrant and a real clothes horse, famous for her collection of nearly a thousand pair of shoes purchased by taxpayer funds. A Dear friend of mine had worked for the Secret Service back then and was one of the agents assigned to guarding her when she came to the U.S. He found her to be quite the "witch", in his words. Sometimes wealth and political power does that to people. Now I promise, if I ever become an award winning author I promise not to forget all the little people who bought my books and helped me along with critiques. Truthfully, my goal has always been to have one of my stories reach out to a lost soul and something in my book brought him to the Lord. I'd also like to make enough funds to complete the house repairs I need done here, but that is a secondary issue.
In my current story, this next chapter has to do when the President in the mid 80s allowed for the Polish fishing fleet to enter Alaskan waters and make port to be resupplied and provide some off-duty time for their fishermen. Seward was named one of these ports and the boats soon began arriving. They carried crews of 40 to 80 personnel and we were told they also carried a communist party political officer to ensure these sailors didn't forget where they came from. We had a small pawn shop in Seward back then, that was struggling along, but nearly overnight it became a thriving business as these Polish fishermen brought much of their rain gear, boots and things from home to sell in order to have money to purchase drinks in the local bars. The rain gear was soon being sold off to tourists, for during the summer months Seward did get a lot of rain and many of the tourists were not prepared for it. We, the police officers, had a lot of dealing with these men and a few women fishermen, who just couldn't get their minds around Alaskan laws. We issued a lot of warnings before having to make an arrest of one of these visitors, knowing this difficulty they were having. It also seemed that in Poland, the women serving drinks in the bars were also known to be prostitutes and during one such incident, a Polish fisherman became upset when the female bartender at the Elks Lodge wouldn't accept his kind offers for an hour of play time. Sadly, the man became upset and slugged the woman to her jaw, nearly knocking her out. To make things worse, the man had assaulted the woman right in front of the lady's husband. I arrived just in time, otherwise the man may not have survived the brutal beating he was receiving at the hands of the husband, who was my size. After that the arriving crews were lectured on the difference between female bartenders here in Alaska and those back home in Poland. We had a lot of these culture difficulties that summer.
Another thing that began happening was how so many of these fishermen, unhappy with their home situations, began pleading for asylum in the United States. On a given weekend, our jail could be filled with 10 to 30 fishermen wanting to remain in the U.S. and many wanted to stay in Alaska as it reminded them of home. As a gesture of goodwill, the cell doors were not closed and several organizations began delivering Pizzas and homemade cookies to the fishermen, before they were buses north by U.S. Immigration to begin the process of asylum. In some cases the fisherman were put on a plane and flown home, found unsuitable to remain for one reason or another. I've always believed that one or two of these people were actually agents hoping to find a way to remain in the U.S,, but were discovered and shipped out. Eventually, we were told to advise the asylum seekers to just board the Seward Bus-lines and to contact Immigrations when they reached Anchorage.
One evening while on mid shift patrol, I worked the midnight to 8 a.m. shift for over a year, I was waved down by one of these fishermen. He was about half my size and a bit intoxicated. I asked him if he was wanting a ride back to his boat, but he spoke no English and I spoke no Polish. We did have a polish interpreter who helped us big time during that summer, but he was not riding along with me that night. I then asked him if he was wanting asylum and after a brief thought he replied with a nod of his head. So, because of his intoxication I placed him in the back seat of my patrol car, which put him behind the cage that protected me from prisoners I might be transporting. When he saw the cage, he began having a royal fit. I drove him to the station and walked him down to the jail cells in our lower level, knowing he needed to sober up as it would be hours before the next bus headed north. He was screaming and shouting, even getting down on his knees pleading with me. So, I went upstairs and had my dispatcher call the interpreter at home and see if he could talk with the individual over the phone to see what the problem was. This took place and it turned out this poor man thought I was a taxi and all he wanted was a ride back to his ship. When he saw the cage and finally took notice of my uniform and the weapon I carried, he was sure I was taking him somewhere to execute him. Apparently, this sometimes happened in the current communist Poland. When I got him back to his vessel, he ran up the gang plank and never turned around to even wave, and I felt so sorry for frightening him so. I was always curious what he might have told his political officer concerning his experience. But, he was the last Polish fisherman I offered to give a ride to. After that, I directed them to dispatch, where they could speak with the interpreter over the phone or if the man was on hand to listen to their stories. I'm not sure how many of the fishermen were eventually granted asylum, but the number of Polish vessels coming to Seward started dwindling. I also wondered how it was going in the other U.S. ports authorized to take in these foreign fishermen. They also kept the U.S. Coast Guard pretty busy, when these boats would attempt to fish in U.S. waters. Thankfully, the largest U.S. Coast Guard base on the west coast is on Kodiak Island, Alaska. I also came to realize these Polish fisherman, the ones who liked to drink, gained a sincere appreciation for our American liquors and candy bars. I won't say which ones, as I am not a sales representative for any of these people.
NEWS HIGHLIGHTS: "China, a Major Importer of Iran Oil, Now Facing Sanctions With U.S. Policy Changes".... "Mayor of Yuma, Arizona Declares State of Emergency as Residents Face 'Imminent Threat' Resulting From Mass Release of Immigrants, Stating 'Migrants Continue to be Released at an Alarming Rate That Cannot be Sustained, Overwhelming the Current Non-Profit Shelter System"...."U.S. Offers $10 Million Bounty on Hezbollah Operatives"...."Trump Issues Order to Crackdown on VISA Overstayers".... "Federal Court Rules Against Catholic Foster-Care Agency Due to its Religious Beliefs About Marriage".... "Deadly 6.6 Earthquake Hits Central Philippines, 2nd Major Quake in Two Days-16 Dead so Far and More Expected as Debris is Gone Through".... "Islamic State Claims They Were Behind the Sir Lanka Bombings That have Killed Over 300 People and Injuring Over 600 People- Revenge For the Attacks Made on Sri Lanka Mosques".... "California Continues to be Rocked by Daily 3.0 Quakes or Higher"...."50 People Killed in Myanmar Mudslide"...."Pharmaceutical Distributor Faces Federal Criminal Charges Over Opioid Crisis".... "Saudi Arabia Executes 37 People for Terrorism Related Crimes, Crucifying One of Them".... "FBI Told a Militia in New Mexico Planned to Kill Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton".... "157 -lb Swordfish Caught in Florida Keys".... "U.S. New Home Sales Climbed to 4.5 % in March".... "Off-Duty Nigerian Police Officer Plows His Vehicle Into a Crowd at Easter Celebration, Killing 8 and Inuring 30"...." Security Officials Urging Israeli Tourist to Leave the Sinai"...."World's Recyclable Plastic Being Shipped to Asia , Where it is being Illegally Dumped, Buried or Burned in Countries With the Lightest Regulations, Environmentalists Warn".... " Russia Reveals New Sub-carrying Nuclear-Tipped Drone".... "Over $1 Billion Pledged to Rebuild Notre Dame"...."Death Toll In Sir Lanka Rises to 329, With over 600 Injured, as 3 Churches and 3 Hotels Were Hit by Suicide Bombers".... "Palestine Now Considering Terminating All Relations With Israel, Will Vote in May on This Issue".... "Dozens of Chilean Tourists Tied to Burglary Spree in Southern California".... "51 People Killed in South African Floods".... "Uganda on High Alert For Arrival of Terrorists Cells".... "WHO Announces the World's First Malaria Vaccine Being Launched in Africa".... "Iran's Parliament Labels U.S. Forces in West Asia as 'Terrorist Groups' "......
I guess I ran is getting back at us after their Revolutionary Guard, their elite Muslim Army Group, has recently been listed as a terrorist group. The Guard is seperate from their regular army, sort of like their special forces and sworn to fight to the death. I wonder how our Green Beret, Seals and others would feel about taking such an oath and ordered to take suicide bombs into schools and churches? I strongly believe this is the difference between Christianity and fanatical Muslims... even the rise of fanatical Buddhist. Now we have Buddhist monks carrying automatic weapons making war with Islamic forces, a big change from only a decade ago. Still, we did have Buddhist monks in Vietnam that assisted our enemy, which actually is a violation to the vows they take. Religion can be really confusing, even in the United States, as so-called Christian faiths argue with one another and accuse the other guy of having understood the Word of God wrongly. I see it as just another ploy by the common enemy- Satan.
All for now, time to go to work. I do hope you enjoy the little snippets I give you on my current writing endeavor. It actually helps me recall some of the incidents.
God Bless, BILL
RSS Feed
