My description of the day ended with thanks to Shamir. Plans were made to meet later that evening and ‘burn the midnight oil’ – his phrase not mine. I am having massive ongoing problems with the the Royal Bank of Canada that can only be resolved, according to them, with a virtual video conference, not an email, not a telephone call. Had a virtual on line conference in July nothing happened, no resolution whatsoever . Shamir the miracle worker was to be present during the call. He arrived at the end of his day giving us time to review private banking stuff and get his valuable on sight help as I undertook new projects.
My word of advice to everyone DO NOT BANK WITH the ROYAL BANK of CANADA. The bank closed one account because I was overdrawn – I had no access to the account. How could it be overdrawn???? More than a little frustrating. But whatever. There might be a solution, read on.
We accomplished SO much. The ‘publishing’ on Mind the Gap and the first serialized episode of the Uncle Dave book. Uploading is for me impossible but not to Shamir. The ‘midnight oil’ call did not happen – nothing, nada. A reminder email that was impossible to respond to – no sense calling yet again. He went home but that is why in a text I said:
Me: Fabulous day. We could conquer the world if did not have Canada in it. Then I sent a Gif entitled: Good bye Canada.
What am I going to do about my Canadian banking immense problem? Have patience, and trust in Allah. Patience is fundamentally important in the Islamic Faith, Knew I had written about it before – so turned to the search engine of the blog. No longer relying on Artificial Intelligence. Had spoken at length and several times about it. This from the May 25, 2024 blog
“According to the Sunni worldview, patience, a core concept in Islam, leads to peace or peaceful relationships between people and is considered to be “half of faith.” In the Qur’an, it is said, “Our Lord! pour out on us patience and constancy, and take our souls unto thee as Muslims” (7:126). The population of Muslims worldwide is more than 1.5 billion. The Sunni, derived from the Arabic word “Sunnah” meaning the tradition of the Prophet Mohammad, is the largest branch of Islam, constituting 90 % of the religion’s followers, stretching from Indonesia to Morocco. Malaysia is Sunni. Knew that I had written about patience in the past therefore typed patience (patiently) into the search engine of the blog discovering patience appeared 73 times. The analysis found in the June 13, 2023 seemed the best,. Therefore I shall patiently copy and paste, putting myself in quotations. “Patience is in the Quran, it is essential. In the Quran, Allah said: “And be Patient. Surely, Allah is with those who are patient.” (Quran, 8:46). From this ayat of Holy Quran, we can say that no matter what’s the situation we are facing we should be faithful and patient as Allah is with us He will never leave us alone.
Do admit that patience was never one of my virtues, but I am slowly getting it. Sometimes my patience utterly amazes me. I does work – sometimes everything has to be place, in order for something big to happen.
These wise words were published in January 7, 2020 by Ismail Ahmed;
The Reward of Patience
A person who loves Almighty Allah finds it much easier to be patient and to persevere. This is because he sees everything as coming from Allah, and if it comes from Allah, there must be a reason for it. A person who loves wants the Beloved to see him in the best of states, and so he proves the best of patience. Patience is a virtue, which enables the individual to proceed towards worthy goals.”
My ’bible’ Muslim Character has an entire chapter on Patience, which I have read and reread. It does have a different focus. One paragraph summarized simply “A true believer has to show patience where his life, property, family and position receive any harm, and if he is hurt he has to be patient. It is inevitable that a man should pass through these stages. Pitiable is that life which does not get a taste of these waves of storm. If he is not subjected to this storms, he cannot be prepared to face dangers squarely, But when a Muslim goes under the shelter of Allah and seeks his help, then the weapons of accidents and calamities become blunt and useless and they do not have any effect on his body. Many times their irrevocable faith and and unshaken belief make the assault of calamities futile, as the anesthesia at the time surgery makes the patient unaware of the pain.”
Patience was necessary – critical for success in the ‘publication’ of the Uncle Dave biography and Mind the Gap. I needed someone on-sight, nearby to for the first step putting together the photos, fonts and pages for Mind the Gap. Far away Computer Guru Chris enabled Shamir to post the ‘masterpiece’ in the Book section of the blog.
The Uncle Dave biography required not only patience but an enormous amount of effort on my part. If the book had been ‘published’ in 2017, there would have been no audience. Who is going to read a biography of a Saskatchewan drowned sports writer? Now the readership is ensured. Thousands and thousands read this blog, my finding him, our relationship makes him live again. By the way, I hate sports, never been a fan and I am not at all athletic. I learned, in getting to know him, some traits we share, certain habits. These you will discover when you read the biography. .
I am reminded of a song, of course I am reminded of a song.
Getting to Know You
It’s a very ancient saying
But a true and honest thought
That “if you become a teacher
By your pupils you’ll be taught”
As a teacher I’ve been learning
And forgive me if I boast
That I’ve now become an expert
On the subject I like most
(spoken)
Getting to know you!
(sung)
Getting to know you
Getting to know all about you
Getting to like you
Getting to hope you like me
Getting to know you
Putting it my way, but nicely
You are precisely
My cup of tea
Getting to know you
Getting to feel free and easy
When I am with you
Getting to know what to say
Haven’t you noticed?
Suddenly I’m bright and breezy
Because of all the beautiful and new
Things I’m learning about you
Day by day
This should be the signature song for all biographers, as it does describe the process. It is unlikely that I will write an autobiography because I am too busy living life in the present. Perhaps if I become infirm? It is up to Allah, if it is my destiny to become an autobiographer I shall become one – if not with His help, I shall be a biographer. Hahaha
This morning ’s greeting was, as usual, rather unique. (Recently unique, when living in Paradise it used to be sunrises all the time.) This time a photograph of me eating breakfast in the Lyf hotel lobby. This was the caption. “Breakfast at Lyf. Eggs individually cooked just for me by my ‘grandson’ Ammar, one of my many Lyf family.” Then I sent another photo, this time in black and white with this caption. “Do you prefer me in black and white or living color?”
Here are some responses.
Alice; Good morning dear. Both I like Colour pic like sunshine B&W like history.
Me: Great answer I will put it on the blog.
Nesh: Oh wow. The same picture but it speaks so differently. But for some reason. color speaks more to me. Love the vibe and the breakfast looks wonderful. How are you today, Alexis
Me: Great! Need to finish up blog and will get back to you soon.
Nixon: I have shared to our team about Amaar doing a great job and services.
Me: ❤️
The breakfasting photos will follow. Also a foodie photo. The Mojo Market Fish Congee from last evening. Absolutely delicious. Also a delicious tart from Kenny Hill’s Bakery. I live in Foodie Heaven!!
