Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/77999
Thursday, August 9, 2012 – Daily News FEATURES Wife worried about hubby 'friending'teens Dear Annie: Recently, my husband and I chaper- oned a seven-day office- sponsored trip for high school sophomores and juniors. My husband, who is in his 50s, is very outgo- ing. While on the trip, he developed quite a following among the teens, especially the girls, many of whom developed a little crush on him. I brought up the possi- bility that these girls would want to friend him on Face- book, and we both agreed it would not be a good idea. Now that we are home, however, he has, in fact, friended several of the kids, mostly girls. I do not have a good feeling about this, especially when so many innocent actions could be interpreted as criminal acts. My husband has worked hard to move up the ladder at his compa- ny, and I worry that he might be jeopardizing his career. I have asked that he block these Annie's Mailbox by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar kids, but he says it's no big deal and I'm overreacting. He says he wants to watch them grow up. I have explained my reservations, saying these kids are not his peers, and as the adult, he needs to be more responsible. My husband and his friends share a risque sense of humor, and who knows what would happen if these kids saw those comments? While it's OK that he has friended our children's friends (who are a bit older), I don't think it's appropriate worst-case scenario that may not happen. However, when your hus- band agreed not to friend these kids, he should have kept his word, and now he needs to back away. Make sure he confines their access so they are not privy to anything personal or inappropriate while he gradually unfriends them. And we recom- mend you keep an eye on things to be sure no lines are crossed. You seem to have a better grasp of the pitfalls than your husband. Dear Annie: I am a widow in my late 60s. Four years ago, I moved to be closer to my children and grand- children, and it's been wonderful. Recently, I reconnected with an to do so with children who have no ties to us. I fear this foolishness will cause prob- lems. I don't want teenagers stalking us. I don't want them to see photographs of us on our children's Face- book pages that may not be appropriate for these teens. Am I being oversensitive or not? — To Be or Not To Be Overreacting Dear To Be: We under- stand your trepidation, although you are expecting a old boyfriend, and we have fallen in love. We want to spend what time we have left together. The problem is, I would have to move to his home, which is three hours away. I'm already experiencing tears and hard feelings from my family. The adults I can deal with, but what do I tell my little grandchildren who say, ''We had you first, Gram''? How do I make them understand that my love for them will never change and that we can still visit? — Sad Gram Dear Gram: It's sweet that your family will miss you so much, but the only way to make the children understand is to let them live through the experience. You are only three hours away. When they see how often you visit, call, write, email, Skype, whatever, they will be able to accept your new circum- stances more easily. Dear Annie: I have a solution for ''Maria in Ohio,'' who asked how to word wedding invitations when the parents are divorced and remarried to others. This is how our family now handles things: ''Together with their parents, Bride Jane's name and Groom Joe's name invite you to share in their joy as they exchange wedding vows,'' followed by the date, time and loca- tion. B-12 deficiency is easily treated TOR K: I'm a vegan. I just found out I have a vitamin B-12 deficiency. How is this treated? DEAR READ- DEAR DOC- ER: Vitamin B- 12 deficiency is common in veg- ans, and fortu- nately it's easy to treat. Vitamin B-12 is needed by many tissues in the body, especially the brain and spinal cord, and the bone mar- row where blood cells are made. This is the format, no matter who is paying for the event or how much, and it doesn't matter how many parents or stepparents are involved. (When did life get so complicated?) — B.S. 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. Face the Facts THINK AGAIN FACT: 36 percent of Social Security recipients are not senior retired work- ers, but children, the disabled, or spouses and survivors of workers. One of every six Americans receives a Social Security benefit today. The system pays out $43.7 billion a month to retirees themselves, $10.2 billion to the disabled and their dependents, $6.5 billion to survivors of deceased workers, and $1.8 billion to retiree spouses and children. THINK YOU KNOW WHO GETS SOCIAL SECURITY? PULL OVER HERE AND FILL UP FACT: The United States is a net exporter of fuel up 60 percent from 2010. (Only cars were ahead.) We still import most of our crude oil, but the refin- ing boom is changing the energy landscape. THIS TIME, THE GO-TO faster rate than larger companies in the past decade. Small businesses with less than 50 employees lost 3.8 million jobs during the 2007-2010 recession compared to 1.5 mil- lion jobs lost at companies with 50-249 employees, and 4 million lost in companies with more than 250+ employees. ENGINE SPUTTERS FACT: Small businesses, typically cited as the "engine of growth" for the American economy, have shed jobs at a for the first time since 1949. In 2011, for the first time in 62 years, we exported more refined gas, diesel and other fuels than we imported. By dollar value, petroleum products were ranked second in value of all U.S. exports in 2011 at $111.1 billion, Talks, a financial empowerment class, at the WorkFirst Center. class offered, starts Friday Alternatives to Violence (ATV) is holding Money Financial empowerment The classes, made possible by a grant from Tehama County Community Action Agency, will be held it two sessions. The first class is 9 a.m. to noon on Friday, Aug. 10, and 1-4 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 13. The sec- ond class is 9 a.m. to noon on Sept. 24 and Sept. 28. The workshop is for those who are struggling to make ends meet, find a safe place to live, hold a job, achieve academic success, or support their children. Participants need to attend both sessions of the class to receive a certificate of completion. For more infor- mation call 528-0226 or e-mail ldickerson@atvrb.org. Information is also available at www.Alternatives2Vio- lence.org. party at Brandy Creek Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, in partnership with the Shasta Astronomy Club, will be holding a special star party to view the Perseid Meteor Shower on Saturday, Aug. 11. These very knowledgeable and passionate ama- teur astronomers will be displaying meteorites and providing powerful telescopes to view what is often considered the most brilliant meteor shower of the year. The event will commence shortly after sunset — around 8 p.m. — at Brandy Creek parking lot B. The lights will be turned off to minimize light pollution and the beach will remain open for the event. Visitors are encouraged to bring lounge chairs, food, drinks and extra clothing for the nighttime star party. A day use fee parking pass is required. All telescopes are privately owned and only Perseid Meteor Shower available through the generosity of individuals from the Shasta Astronomy Club who are sharing their resource, expertise and time. Visitors should always practice proper telescope etiquette by being patient, polite and never touch or look through an eyepiece without the telescope operators' permis- sion. Call Park Ranger Robert Gutierrez at (530) 242- 3454 for more information about this special event. The company that manages the Daily News, Digital First Media, has partnered with the George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs for a non-partisan initiative called Face the Facts USA — www.facethefactsusa.org. Each day leading up to Election Day, Face the Facts will release one interesting fact affecting our nation. Due to space limitations, Face the Facts was not published Aug. 7 and 8 and are published here. Dr. K by Anthony L. Komaroff, M.D. If left untreat- ed, vitamin B-12 deficiency can damage your spinal cord and nerves. If nerve damage does occur, it can cause: your skin and eyes Our bodies get vita- min B-12 from food. But it is available only in animal foods (meat and dairy products) or yeast extracts (such as brew- er's yeast). As a vegan, a strict vegetarian who does not eat any animal products, such as meat, fish, egg or dairy, you're at higher risk for the deficiency because you don't eat the sources of vitamin b-12 for most people. You didn't mention any symptoms caused by the vitamin B-12 defi- ciency. mon for there to be no symptoms in the earliest stages. Sometimes, the deficiency is detected when a person becomes anemic (not enough red blood cells). If you do have symp- It's not uncom- toms, I'll bet they devel- oped slowly, and you may not have recognized them right away. As your condition wors- ened, you may have experienced: — Weakness and fatigue — Light-headedness and dizziness — Palpitations and rapid heartbeat breath — Shortness of — A sore tongue that has a red, beefy appear- ance appetite — Weight loss — Diarrhea — Yellowish tinge to — Nausea or poor your hands and feet — Difficulty walking — Muscle weakness — Irritability — Memory loss — Dementia — Depression — Psychosis It's easy to treat a vit- amin B-12 deficiency that is due to not enough of the vitamin in your food. You simply take a vitamin B-12 pill regu- larly. If the deficiency is severe, you might need several injections of the vitamin before starting on the pills. — Numbness and tingling in 3B If you choose to con- tinue eating a vegan diet, incorporate yeast extracts into your diet. They are available in some grocery stores and many health food stores. Vitamin B-12 is also found in many fortified breakfast cereals. Several weeks ago we talked about a disease called pernicious ane- mia. In that disease, a person gets plenty of vitamin B-12 in the diet but cannot absorb it. Vit- amin B-12 pills often don't fix the problem, and regular injections are needed. deficiency is simply because you're a vegan, with proper treatment your symptoms and any anemia you have should improve. But if your vitamin Dr. Komaroff is a physician and professor at Harvard Medical School. To send questions, go to AskDoctorK.com, or write: Ask Doctor K, 10 Shattuck St., Second Floor, Boston, MA 02115. Outdoors Q&A - The Skeet Fleet Question: In Southern Cali- fornia we have taken large boats offshore on the open ocean to shoot clay pigeons with shot- guns. We call this "Skeet Fleet." We use steel shot and do not shoot auto loaders such that we can maintain control of the shells and not have the casings land in the water. I guess the first ques- tion is what are the regulations regarding this activity and is there a distance that we need to be offshore? I now live in north- ern California and am interested in doing the same. Would there be an option of doing the same around Grizzly Island or on San Francisco or Suisun Bay? (Anonymous) Answer: Target shooting in the ocean is not addressed in the Fish and Game Code, but litter- ing in waters of the state is. Therefore, the throwing of the clay birds, which are coated in paint for visibility, into the water may be an issue. "It is unlawful to deposit, per- mit to pass into, or place where it can pass into the waters of the state, or to abandon, dispose of, or throw away, within 150 feet of the high water mark of the waters of the state, any cans, bottles, garbage, motor vehicle or parts thereof, rubbish, litter, refuse, waste, debris, or the viscera or carcass of any dead mammal, or the carcass of any dead bird" (FGC, section 5652). Depending on the location, there may also be local, state and federal laws prohibiting the dis- charge of firearms. Buying wild boar meat Question: I have heard wild boar numbers are often at exces- sive levels and that they can be hunted and sold. I am looking to purchase some wild boar meat. I know there are different hunting seasons for them and the quantity varies throughout the year. What is the regulation on selling wild boar and are there any people/businesses in the area that are licensed to do so? (Tara S., Carmel) large population of wild pigs in this state and they can be hunted; they just cannot be sold. Accord- ing to Department of Fish and Game (DFG) Statewide Coordi- nator for Bear, Mountain Lion and Wild Pig Programs Marc Kenyon, the sale of wild animals (including wild pigs) or their meat is unlawful in California. Only permitted domestically reared deer meat and the products of domestically reared deer or elk (jerky or sausage, for example) are exceptions. Answer: We do have a rather (Tom R.) wolves and wolf pelts can be brought back into California under the following conditions: 1. The animal must have been Answer: Legally harvested taken legally in a state that autho- rized their legal take. 2. You must have copies of the license, tag, etc. from the state where taken. 3. You must declare the animal prior to entry into California. Official Declaration for Entry forms are available online at: www.dfg.ca.gov/enforcement/do cs/declaration_form.pdf . Are hunters/anglers required to carry photo identification? Question: What type of iden- The sale of wild pig taken and sold within California is unlaw- ful. In addition, even wild pig taken in another state is unlawful to sell in California (FGC, sec- tion 3039). You should be able to locate pig through a vendor on the Internet that sells game meats. As long as it is already pre-packaged, it would be legal to purchase and import into Cali- fornia. We have previously dealt with this issue extensively at county and state fairs where ven- dors sell various types of game meats at booths. There are also state and federal requirements that apply to the products to make them safe and lawful for sale for human consumption. Bringing a wolf carcass or pelt back from another state Question: If I legally kill a wolf in Idaho, can I return to Cal- ifornia with the wolf and/or hide? tification am I required to carry when hunting and/or fishing? Is just my current license and tags all I need to carry or am I required to carry another form of ID? (Russell W., La Verne) Answer: Unless you are a commercial fisherman, you are not required to carry photo iden- tification when hunting or fish- ing, but it is always a good idea. Carrying photo identification will allow a game warden to pos- itively confirm your identifica- tion and that you are the licensed holder of the fishing/hunting license you are carrying. For Cal- ifornia residents, it's best to carry a California driver license or DMV identification card. Carrie Wilson is a marine biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game. While she cannot personally answer everyone's questions, she will select a few to answer each week. She may be contacted at CalOutdoors@dfg.ca.gov.