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2B Daily News – Thursday, December 26, 2013 FEATURES Rest, ice, compression for tennis elbow times a day to DEAR DOCcombat inflammaTOR K: I've been tion. playing tennis for — Compresyears, but lately sion: A counterI've been sidelined force brace wraps by elbow pain. snugly around the What can I do? forearm, reducing DEAR READtension on the tenER: Elbow pain is the bane of tennis Dr. K don. It can help relieve symptoms. players. It has kept by Anthony L. — Antime off the courts Komaroff, M.D. inflammatory for several months at a time. Let's talk about medications: These drugs how to get you back on (such as ibuprofen and the court — and prevent a naproxen) can help relieve pain and inflammation. repeat injury. — Corticosteroid Elbow pain associated with racquet sports is a injection: Your doctor form of tendonitis called may consider a limited epicondylitis. It affects number of corticosteroid anchor points on either injections to provide side of the elbow joint (the symptom relief. In my experience, these epicondyles). Hold your arm out straight, with the measures almost always palm up. Then, starting at do the trick, but it takes the wrist of your out- time to heal. If you have stretched arm, run your severe, unrelenting pain thumb up the inner side of that does not respond to the arm and your middle the above treatments, you finger up the outer side. and your doctor may conWhen you get to the sider: — Platelet-rich plasma elbow, you'll feel two hard bumps on either side therapy (PRPT): Platelets of it. Those are the epi- and other substances from your own blood are injectcondyles. Muscles in the forearm ed into the injury site. that flex the wrist attach to PRPT may help stimulate the epicondyles with a a healing response in the fibrous tendon. Over time, damaged tissues, although repeating the same body this treatment is unproven motion damages the ten- and controversial. — Surgery removes don. Hitting a tennis ball requires a firm grip on the damaged, non-healing tisracquet, and when you sues and may stimulate strike the ball the tendon healing. Once you're back on tugs at the epicondyles. That's particularly true of the court, do the following the one on the outer side to prevent further injury: — After you play, ice of your elbow when you hold the arm out with the your elbow, even if it doesn't hurt. palm up. — Make sure the size, When trouble develops in the tendon that attaches weight and grip of your on the outer side of the racquet are right for you. — Warm up before elbow, it's called lateral epicondylitis. It's more playing. Stretch, put your commonly known as "ten- joints through their full nis elbow." (I've put an range of motion and illustration on my website, increase activity gradually. AskDoctorK.com.) Right after injury, Dr. Komaroff is a focus on relieving pain and inflammation and physician and professor at Harvard Medical resting the affected area: To send — Rest: Stop playing School. questions, go to for a few weeks or months or to give the tendon time to AskDoctorK.com, write: Ask Doctor K, 10 heal. — Ice: Ice the joint for Shattuck St., Second up to 20 minutes several Floor, Boston, MA 02115. Parents feel shut out of children's lives Holidays are the hardest, Dear Annie: You often but with God's help, we print letters from older parmake it through. We have ents dealing with rejection forgiven our children and from their adult children. will always pray for them. This is literally an epidemic We will always thank God everywhere. Anger and for choosing us to be their hatred are destroying famiparents. — Joining the Letlies. ting Go Club My husband and I have Dear Joining: Your letter three adult children who Annie's is heartbreaking. When chilwere the delight of our dren are brought up by lovlives. We had a typical loving family, with vacations, by Kathy Mitchell ing parents, we don't know birthday parties and special and Marcy Sugar why some remain close and others do not. The same fire celebrations that included friends and extended family. We that melts butter will forge steel. If had anxious times during illnesses, you have any family members who surgeries and accidents, but we are in touch with your children, perhaps they could help you undermade it through. All three of our children have stand what is going on and even grown to be successful, well-liked intercede on your behalf. In the and respected adults. Sadly, over the meantime, you are wise to accept past 22 years, they all have chosen what you cannot change and comto shut us out of their lives. We've passionate to forgive those who had minor disagreements at times, have hurt you. Dear Annie: I'm a little late but never any major battles that might justify their choices. None of sending out my Christmas cards, them will tell us why they are angry. but I hope to have them all done They refuse to have any contact or before the holiday season is over. What is the proper etiquette open dialog that might heal our relationship. I know you're probably when writing Christmas cards to thinking ''there must be some- families with children over 18 still thing.'' If so, we don't know what it living at home? Can I send one card to them all, or do I need to send the is. My husband is 81, and I am 78. kids their own? — Hurrying Before We understand there is a real possi- the New Year Dear Hurrying: It is perfectly bility that we will never hear from our children before we die. We do OK to send one holiday card to the our best to focus on the great times entire family if they are all living in we had and to hold onto the many the same house, although it would precious memories of their grow- be nice to put all of their names on the envelope. ing-up years. Mailbox Dear Annie: ''Speaking for Another Lost Veteran'' said her 55year-old bipolar niece is hanging onto her stepfather's ashes instead of allowing him to be buried next to his late wife in a military cemetery. When we knew that my late husband was dying, he said he would like his ashes to be scattered on the ocean. I was heartbroken because I wanted to be buried with him. And being a Vietnam veteran, he deserved a military funeral with full honors. When he died, the funeral director placed some of his ashes in three tiny urns, one for each of his grown children and one for me. The remainder was divided in half. One half was buried at a national cemetery with full honors, and the other half was placed in a container made for scattering ashes at sea. Our family set it afloat on the ocean that had given him so much joy through the years. In this way, I believe I satisfied everyone's wishes, most of all, his. — Found a Loving Solution Dear Found: Thank you for a sympathetic compromise. Happy Kwanzaa to all of our readers. Annie's Mailbox is written by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, longtime editors of the Ann Landers column. Please email your questions to anniesmailboxcomcast.net, or write to: Annie's Mailbox, c/o Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254. A great way to keep butter soft, fresh Dear Mary: Several years ago, I visited a friend and was introduced to an item that allows you to keep butter out of the refrigerator and on the counter to be nice and soft and fresh until consumed. The butter somehow stayed in a top container that was suspended over a container of water. I don't know the name of this thing nor where to buy one. I have never seen one since my visit. Can you tell me what it is? -- Lyn, Pennsylvania Dear Lyn: You are describing the Original Butter Bell Crock by L. Tremain (everydaycheapskate.com/butterbell). I have one, and you are right to recall it as being quite ingenious. Modeled after the original French butter crock, a Butter Bell keeps butter fresh and spreadable for up to 30 days without refrigeration, no odors or spoilage. Here's how it works: You pack softened butter into the lid. Fill the base with cold water and place lid upside down into the base. The unique design keeps butter soft and fresh actually came to a point. The "Aha moment!" in all its glory. using water as an My vac nose told me this is insulator. The key The One. is that you must I called my hubby and change the water drove madly to Bed Bath often, like every and Beyond, clutching my day or two at the 20 percent discount card longest. and urging John to drive Other manufacturfaster! ers have produced their Long story short, I don't own knock-off versions even put the thing away! of the Butter Bell based There it sits, proudly, on the same principal, Mary grandly and just within some of which are cheapreach. er, to mixed reviews. Thanks for the info recDear Mary: While my ommendation, and even if I gal pals were out shopdiscovered my Great White ping for clothes, you'd this late in life, I am still find me in Electrics, smiling. Very best regards. checking out the vacuum -- Elsa, Minnesota cleaners! An odd quirk, Dear Elsa: I'm happy to but (my love for vacuum cleaners) has trailed behind me all know that you and your Shark (everydaycheapskate.com/sharkvacthese years. In my lifetime, I have owned a uum) are getting along so well. For myriad of vacs, always striving to the price, I just don't think you can find The One. Canisters, uprights, beat this vacuum. Now that I think what have you. I've had them all, but about it, I don't think it can be beat at any price. I'm with you. It is The none hit the mark. Then I read your column about One! Thanks for writing. Your letthe Shark Navigator and my ears ter made me smile. Hunt Everyday Cheapskate Utility pays nearly $1M in taxes to county Tech startups create virtual farmers markets Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) paid property taxes totaling more than $158 million this week to the 49 counties in which it operates in Northern and Central California. In northeastern California, PG&E paid more than $16 million in property taxes to Tehama, Yuba, Sutter, Colusa, Glenn, Butte, Plumas, Shasta, Trinity, Lassen, Modoc and Siskiyou counties. The utility's payment to Tehama County was more than $930,490. The payments are the first of two installments and represent all property taxes due for the period from July 1, to Dec. 31. PG&E will make a second, identical payment on April 10 to each of the counties for the second half of the 2013/14 tax year, which runs from Jan. 1, 2014 through June 30, 2014. "Local governments must address public safety, environmental protection, education and other needs with limited financial resources," said Mark Caron, vice president of tax. "PG&E's timely and substantial payments to local governments help them address those vital community services." The company's tax payments to counties for tax year 2013/14 increased by more than $2 million over the previous year's payments as a result of an increase in assessments on PG&E's infrastructure investments to improve electric and gas safety, reliability and capacity. PG&E is one of the largest combined natural gas and electric utilities in the United States. Based in San Francisco, with 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of the nation's cleanest energy to 15 million people in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit www.pge.com/about/newsroom and www.pgecurrents.com. Oh Snap! The Daily News wants your photos: Cute kids, Adorable pets, Inspirational sights, Any shot you think readers would enjoy You might just see it in the Daily News Send pictures to editor@redbluffdailynews.com or drop off at 545 Diamond Ave. in Red Bluff. Include a caption. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Sara Pasquinelli doesn't shop at the grocery store much anymore. The busy mother of two young boys buys nearly all her food from a new online service that delivers to her front door — but it doesn't bring just any food. The emerging tech startup specializes in dropping off items that Pasquinelli probably would only be able to find at her local farmers market. Minutes after her weekly GoodEggs.com order arrived at her San Francisco home, Pasquinelli unpacked bags and boxes of finger limes, organic whole milk, kiwi fruit, beef short ribs, Dungeness crab and pastured eggs. ''I don't even remember the last time I went to the store for anything other than bananas and string cheese,'' said Pasquinelli, an attorney who started using the service about a year ago. The San Franciscobased Good Eggs is among a new crop of startups using technology to bolster the market for locally produced foods that backers say are better for consumer health, farmworkers, livestock and the environment. These online marketplaces are beginning to change the way people buy groceries and create new markets for small farmers and food makers. ''It's a new way of connecting producers with consumers,'' said Claire Kre- men, a conservation biology professor at the University of California, Berkeley. ''The more alternatives people have access to for buying food outside the industrial agricultural regime, the better it can be.'' The Good Eggs website features attractive photos of offerings such as Hachiya persimmons, chanterelle mushrooms, grass-fed beef steaks, pureed baby food and gluten-free poppy seed baguettes. It also has pictures and descriptions of the farmers and food makers. Prices are similar to what shoppers pay at a farmers market, and customers can pick up their orders at designated locations or have them delivered for $3.99 — usually two days after they're placed. ''There's this wave of entrepreneurship and creativity happening in the food world, and Good Eggs is all about bringing that high-quality production right to your door,'' said CEO Rob Spiro, who cofounded the startup after he sold his last company, a social search service called Aardvark, to Google Inc. for $50 million in 2010. Good Eggs offers more varieties of fruits and vegetables than most supermarkets, but the selection is limited to what can be grown and made locally, so you can't buy bananas in San Francisco in December. The service started in the San Francisco Bay Area last year and recently launched in New York, Los Angeles and New Orleans. There are plans to expand into more markets next year. The founders, Silicon Valley engineers, say they want to grow the market for local food that's led to the proliferation of farmers markets and communitysupported agriculture programs that deliver boxes of fresh fruits and vegetables. ''There are a lot of people out there who want to eat locally, who want to support their local community, who want to support the producers who are doing things right, but it's just not very convenient,'' said Chief Technology Officer Alon Salant, who ran a software consulting firm before starting Good Eggs with Spiro. The company is entering an increasingly competitive market for online grocery delivery. Major retailers such as Walmart and Safeway deliver groceries and Amazon launched its AmazonFresh service in San Francisco this month. Another San Francisco startup called Instacart allows customers to order groceries from local supermarkets and delivers in as little as an hour. Good Eggs currently sells food from about 400 local producers that meet the company's standards for environmental sustainability, workplace conditions and transparent sourcing of ingredients. Produce is usually picked one or two days before it's delivered. The startup is helping farmers such as Ryan Casey, who runs a small organic farm that grows more than 50 types of fruits, vegetables and flowers. His Blue House Farm in Pescadero, about 45 miles south of San Francisco, mainly sells its produce at farmers markets and through community agriculture programs, but Good Eggs makes up a growing share of business. ''They're really good at marketing and finding people and connecting people with the food, which leaves me more time to do the growing,'' said Casey, standing in a field of leafy greens. Good Eggs has attracted enthusiastic foodies like Shelley Mainzer, who does nearly all her grocery shopping on the website and often emails producers with questions and comments. After her weekly order arrived at her downtown San Francisco office, she pulled out organic cauliflower and Romanesco broccoli she bought from Blue House Farm. ''I can't eat store-bought food anymore because it just doesn't taste the same,'' said Mainzer, who works as an executive assistant at a small investment bank. ''You basically remember what things are supposed to taste like when you eat these fresh vegetables and fruits.''