Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/7687
(MCT) Back when I was knee- high to a grasshopper... Whoa, hold on there a second, pardner. Is that what I meant to say? Where'd that phrase come from anyway? Never before had I applied it in this space _ not to my recollection. Still, they were the first words to spill from my fin- gertips this morn- ing as I pulled up my swivel chair for this weekly interlocution with you. Last night, my wife and I spent some quality time in the home of my 83-year-old kid brother and his ageless wife, so I suppose that has some- thing to do with my pre- sent mental impetus. Also on hand were two welcome, enchanting, sur- prise visitors from St. Louis, my niece and her daughter. Ah, and didn't we have a grand time. Laughter, the night's theme. Yes, and so it should be, d e l e c t a b l y , when relatives gather _ prefer- ably not for a funeral _ and dust off the old family stories, the funnier and more outra- geously embar- rassing the bet- ter. My great- niece, in her glorious 20s, and seemingly relishing every second of her existence, might've been the luckiest individ- ual at the dinner table because she'd not heard our nostalgic valedictions before. And I must say that some of our old yarns have aged gracefully _ with a light sprinkle of forgivable hyperbole. Undoubtedly it's the same with your dear ones. Gosh, we stayed up merrymaking till all hours. I reckon the missus and I didn't head for home until, well, gee-whiz, about 9 o'clock. OK, so drifting back to the opening sentence of this column, I've been musing, not merely about the mem- ories themselves, rather about words. And I wonder if we elders used any indi- vidual words or phrases that sounded unfamiliar or downright quaint to my lively, lovely great-niece. Such as? Oh, I don't know. Well, such handy expressions as holy mack- erel, holy catfish, holy criminy, holy smoke, golly, drop dead, oh dear, so's your old man, baloney, gee-whiz, son of a gun, dang, darn, shoot, my stars, man alive, go fly a kite, get lost, and leapin' lizards. We just don't hear those grand, clean, simple exple- tives anymore. Confiden- tially, such verbiage would be laughed off the air — to borrow from radio's gold- en era. Most generations intro- duce new words, or so- called streamlined versions of existing language. As the years skid by, the dic- tionary gains weight. In some instances, even defi- nitions flip-flop. Remem- ber when a certain wedge of the populace substituted the word bad whenever it meant good? What hurts me most, I reckon, is that the language of too many of our bright young people has turned absolutely vulgar. Come on, boys and girls, you can do better than that, for crying out loud. Tuesday, March 9, 2010 – Daily News – 3B Bartlett & Spence 1395 Montgomery Rd. Red Bluff, Ca • 527-2276 Marie Bartlett & Shirley Spence and • Payroll • Bookkeeping Open year around $ Money $ 2 Lend Cash 4 Notes McKinley Mortgage Co. CA DRE # 01773837 Call 530-241-0977 800-909-1977 DW PLUMBING INC. Local Plumbers Serving all Your Plumbing Needs Since 1993 530 527-6403 Lic. No 679492 Major Credit Cards Accepted Dear Annie: I am 17, a senior in high school and have never had a girlfriend. It seems like no matter what I do, I never can find a girl to go out with. Any girl I've managed to date will only go out with me once, and after that, we are just friends. I freeze up on dates and have no clue why. I've known one girl since I was 3, but for some reason couldn't find a single thing to say to her when we were out. Mind you, I can talk to a girl all day at school, but alone with her, my mind goes blank and she loses interest. I am tired of this happening every time and don't want to go through the rest of the year like this. I am often told that I am good-looking and kind, but I always manage to mess things up. How can I overcome this? Any input would be greatly appreciated. — Never Kissed a Girl Dear Never Kissed: Your shyness may be severe enough to qualify as a social anxiety disorder. Still, some- times all it takes is practice. Because you can carry on a conversation at school, some of these girls may mis- take your shyness for boredom or dis- dain. Prepare a couple of things to say. Ask what she thinks about one of your classes. Tell her she looks nice or that you like her earrings. Smile. Consider going out in a group. Also, you'd be surprised to learn that some women think shy guys are adorable, and if you confess that you are nervous, they will do their best to put you at ease. Dear Annie: Recently, some friends lost a family member. In the obituary, it states that in lieu of flowers, a donation can be made to a selected charity. We honored that wish and made a donation. Is it acceptable to let our friends know of the donation, either verbally or in a sympa- thy card? We have made such donations in the past and aren't sure whether the family was notified by the organization. We aren't looking for gratitude. We simply want the family to know we are thinking of them. What is proper? — Unsure Dear Unsure: The organization will notify the family of your donation (without stating the amount). The family should then send some type of acknowledgement. If you want to be sure your donation was received, it is best to call the organization. Dear Annie: I have a suggestion for ''Life's a Beach,'' who was tired of entertaining her husband's freeloading relatives every summer, and he refused to tell them not to come. We recently called friends who live out of state and asked whether it would be OK to visit them for the day. We offered to take them out for lunch, but they refused. After a simple and deli- cious meal, the lady of the house sim- ply announced, ''We will clear the table, and then the kitchen is closed.'' My husband and I went sightseeing that afternoon and then treated our friends to dinner. ''Life's a Beach'' has to pull up her socks and stop letting them take advantage of her, even if she has to pack a sack lunch and take Hubby and the kids to the park, leaving the refrig- erator nearly bare for the uninvited ''guests.'' If Hubby doesn't want to join her, let him figure out what to feed his rel- atives. The old saying is true: ''Guests and fish go bad after three days.'' People can be selfish and thoughtless unless educated by events. ''Life'' might invest in a sign that says ''Kitchen Closed Until Further Notice,'' although I'd just handwrite a note and tape it to the bathroom mirror. — A Grandmother who Loves Company but not Freeloaders in Nebraska Dear Grandmother: It's unfortu- nate that some people can be clueless or inconsiderate when it comes to good manners. Annie's Mailbox is written by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, longtime editors of the Ann Landers column. Please e-mail your questions to anniesmailboxcomcast.net, or write to: Annie's Mailbox, c/o Creators Syndicate, 5777 W. Century Blvd., Ste. 700, Los Angeles, CA 90045. Teen freezes up when on dates with girls Annie's Mailbox by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar FEATURES DEAR DR. GOTT: I am an 80- year-old retired farmer. I have night sweats that begin at 10 p.m. and last until 10 a.m. I have to change my paja- mas three times a night. This has been going on for three months now. I have been tested by infection, kidney, heart, lung and urology specialists, but everything checks out. I have no fever, diarrhea, vomiting or weight loss, and I continue to have a good appetite. Every blood test that has been taken (for which it seems I have given several pints of blood) is normal. I did have a malignant tumor on my prostate in 1996. After both were removed and the tissue was tested, I did not have to undergo chemotherapy or radiation. My PSA was 0 for nine years, but it is now reading 1.08. I also had a slight stroke six months before I started having the night sweats. The part of the brain affected was two small spots above the fore- head. There were no visible signs of even having a stroke when the event occurred. I take the following meds: albuterol, Advair, allopurinol, doxycycline, levothyroxine, Diovan, warfarin and fexofenadine. All meds have been checked for possible reac- tions. I am a male, stand 5 feet, 6 inches tall, and weigh 192 pounds. Please help. I'm miserable. DEAR READER: The thing that stands out in my mind is your prostate can- cer. You say both were removed. I take this to mean the tumor and the prostate gland itself. How- ever, the problem with this situation is that now your PSA level is going up, which means that there must be some prostate tis- sue still present. Your ris- ing level could indicate that the cancer was not eradi- cated entirely and is now making itself known. Your urologist should be exam- ining you thoroughly to check for any possibility that the cancer has returned. My next thought would be your stroke. Your neu- rologist would be able to tell you if the damage to your brain could have resulted in your night sweats. Other causes of night sweats include medication side effects, certain infections, changes in various hor- mone levels (such as testosterone, thyroid, etc.) and some neurological disorders. You say that your medications have been checked, but I will review them briefly. Albuterol and Advair are most commonly used to treat asthma. Allopurinol is primarily used for gout and may cause abnormal sweating. Doxycycline is an antibiotic. Levothyrox- ine is a thyroid hormone- replacement drug used to treat hypothyroidism. Side effects from this drug are typically caused by thera- peutic overdose and resem- ble hyperthyroidism, of which excessive sweating is a symptom. Diovan is used for the control of hypertension. Warfarin is an anticoagulant used in patients with certain clot- ting disorders, blood clots, heart attack, stroke and more. Fexofenadine is used to treat seasonal allergies and uncomplicated idio- pathic hives. Two of these medica- tions specifically list sweating as a side effect, but there is a possibility that two or more of these could be interacting, caus- ing unwanted effects. Sit down with your primary- care physician or an internist to discuss the situ- ation, and review the results from your plethora of specialists. Perhaps the answer is simple but your specialists are missing it because they are not look- ing at you as a whole body. To provide related infor- mation, I am sending you a copy of my Health Report "The Prostate Gland." Other readers who would like a copy should send a self-addressed stamped No. 10 envelope and a $2 check or money order to Newsletter, P.O. Box 167, Wickliffe, OH 44092. An order form is also available for printing at my Web site, www.AskDrGottMD.com. Dr. Peter Gott is a retired physician and the author of the book "Dr. Gott's No Flour, No Sugar Diet," available at most chain and independent bookstores, and the recently published "Dr. Gott's No Flour, No Sugar Cookbook." Farmer's night sweats a mystery Dr. Peter Gott Good grief! Old-school phrases are da bomb Ed Hayes Heydays Pilot safety classes offered in Red Bluff, Redding Two safety classes are scheduled in March for pri- vate pilots. • Aircraft Fight Instruments is set for 9 a.m. Satur- day, March 13, at Hangar 1A Benton Airport, 2600 Gold St. in Redding. A discussion will take place regarding the VFR and IFR flight instruments. Operations, maintenance and use of the FAA required flight instruments in both nor- mal and emergency situations will be addressed. • FAASTeam CFI Workshop, Module 6, is set for 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 10, at Red Bluff Air Ter- minal, 1950 Airport Blvd. in Red Bluff. This is workshop #6 in the CFI Workshop Series, and will cover Takeoffs, Landings, Low Altitude Maneuvering and Aircraft Operational Limitations. There will be an open forum following the two core topics. The Workshop is scheduled to end at 12:30 p.m. For more information on classes, visit http://www.faasafety.gov.