Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/84544
4C Daily News– Wednesday, September 26, 2012 FEATURES Sister's wedding irritates old wounds divorced years ago. Dad waited patiently while Mom chose between him and another man. In the end, Mom chose the other guy, but it didn't work out. Nei- ther have any of her other relationships. Meanwhile, my dad married a lovely, classy and extremely wealthy woman. They have found true happiness, while my mom has become bitter and jealous. I love both of my parents, but it's Dear Annie: My parents probably assumes Grandma will pay. Annie's Mailbox by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar difficult to be around my mother when she constantly whines and complains about Dad, saying he has money and she doesn't. My grand- mother had to take over most of Mom's financial responsibilities, including helping to pay for our expenses growing up. Here's the problem. My sister is getting married. She is paying for part of the wedding, but asked our parents to help with the rest. Dad gave her a check for his share. Mom, on the other hand, is unable to pay, and Grandma says she is not cover- ing the cost. This was a surprise because Grandma has always said ''yes'' in the past. Mom won't tell my sister because she doesn't want to upset her. She doesn't want Dad to know she can't afford it, which is ridiculous because he's well aware that she is financially strapped. He September is National Preparedness Month, but for Pacific Gas and Electric Co., emergency readiness is a year-round focus. Knowing that prepara- tion can help save lives dur- ing disasters, PG&E fre- quently shares important safety information with its employees, first-responder partners and customers. PG&E provides a wealth of safety information on its website, at www.pge.com/safetycen- tral. Here's checklist of some of the major steps cus- tomers can take to protect themselves and their fami- lies before and after disaster strikes: Get ready for natural disasters before they hap- pen • Prepare an emergency plan and conduct an emer- gency drill with your family. Prepare an evacuation plan for your home. Each room should have at least two The following are the October activities for Mount Lassen Chapter, Cal- ifornia Native Plant Society. For more information visit mountlassen.cnps.org. General Meeting, Lise Smith-Peters, Vol- unteer Coordinator for city of Chico Parks Division, part of this is her own fault. She needs to grow up and live within her means instead of trying to keep up with Dad and his wife. But telling her that would crush her. What can I do? — Worried Dear Worried: There's only so much reassurance you can give Mom if she cannot overcome her insecurities. That might require pro- fessional help. But there is no reason to protect your sister from the diffi- culties she has caused. Tell her the wedding is a financial burden that Mom cannot manage, and ask her to cut back on her expenses or find another way to pay for the extra cost. level of complaining. She cries and is frequently sick. She's angry with Grandma. She worries that Dad's wife will look prettier at the wed- ding and that her future son- in-law will like my step- mother better. She has asked to borrow money from me and is thinking of taking out a loan. I want to help, but I think Mom has reached a new enjoyed sex when we had it, but I initiated every session. After five years, I started to feel as if I was begging for it and asked him to take the lead some of the time. He didn't. Dear Annie: My husband ways to escape in case one is blocked. Establish a place where your family can reunite. • Establish an alternative would thrill me to be approached by him, treated to dinner or have a little gift placed on my pillow — the kind of things I did for him. I finally con- vinced him to go for counseling, but my husband wouldn't do any of the things the counselor suggested. In desperation, I told him that if he wanted sex, he would have to initiate it. For three more years, I told him it haven't been intimate since. I can't divorce him because of my own physical problems. He says he loves me, but he's not willing to do any- thing for me. Any suggestions? — Another Sad Wife That was seven years ago, and we Dear Sad: Other than making sure your husband has a thorough checkup, you might consider coun- seling for yourself. While you can- not force your husband to change, you can work on your own happi- ness. Our condolences. Dear Annie: May I weigh in on whether or not to have flowers at a funeral? When my parents died, the flowers were deeply appreciated. They brightened the rooms where we had visitation and later at the church. charity, fine, but the flowers at my parents' funerals brought much more comfort to us than any of the donations, although the latter were surely well intended. — C.B. If someone wants to give to a National Preparedness Month promotes safe communities way to contact others who are not home, such as an out-of-the-area telephone contact. • Prepare and maintain suffice. • Know where the main electric switch is and how to turn off your electric supply. Know what to do after an emergency preparedness kit with enough supplies on hand to be self-sufficient for at least three days, and preferably up to one week. • Know where your gas service shutoff valve is, and how to shut off your gas supply. The main shutoff valve is normally near your gas meter and will require the use of a 12- to 15-inch adjustable pipe or crescent- type wrench or other suit- able tool. • Know which of your appliances use gas and where the appliance shutoff valves are. In some cases, turning off the gas at the appliance shutoff valve will Wednesday, Oct. 3, 7:30 pm, Butte County Library, Chico and Paula Shapiro, Mount Lassen member, will talk about Chico High School's project to start native plants in the school greenhouse and then planting them in Bidwell Park. an emergency • Check for injuries and ensure that everyone is safe. • Check for damage. If you smell or hear gas escaping inside your home or business, get everyone outside immediately to a location upwind where you no longer can smell natural gas. Do not use electrical switches, appliances or phones because sparks can ignite gas from broken gas lines or unlit pilots on gas appliances. Do not check for a gas leak with a match or an open flame. Once outside, use your phone from a safe distance to call 911 and PG&E at 1-800- 743-5000. • If you smell or hear gas escaping inside your home or business, shut off the gas at the appliance valve or the Rare Plant Treasure Hunt, Saturday, Oct. 6 We'll be looking for obtuse startwort at Butte Creek House Ecological Reserve. Contact Ron rco- ley64@comcast.net for details. Forest Lake, Lassen Vol- canic National Park, Sun- day, Oct. 7, 8:30 am Meet at Chico Park & Ride west lot with lunch, water, insect/sun protection, park pass (if you have one), money for ride sharing and wear hiking gear. We'll trav- el about 70 milesz to the Forest Lake-Brokeoff main gas service valve if you can do so safely. • Once you shut off the gas, do not turn it back on. Contact PG&E or another qualified professional to perform a safety inspection before the gas service is restored and the gas appli- ance pilots are re-lit. • If the power goes out, turn off all electric appli- ances to avoid overloading circuits and fire hazards when power is restored. Leave a single lamp on to alert you when power returns. Turn your appli- ances back on one at a time when conditions return to normal. • During a power outage, use battery-operated flash- lights, not candles. •Treat all downed power lines as if they are energized and extremely dangerous. Keep yourself and others away from them. Call 911, and then notify PG&E at 1- 800-743-5002. Mountain trailhead just inside the park's south boundary at 6500 feet eleva- tion. We'll climb 1 1/2 miles, gaining 700 feet, through open forest, follow- ing a mountain stream to tree-ringed Forest Lake. Call Gerry at 530-893-5123 for alternate meeting site. Willow Lake, Lassen National Forest and Termi- nal Geyser, Lassen Volcanic National Park, Sunday, Oct 14, 8:30 am Meet at Chico Park & Ride west lot with lunch, water, insect/sun protection and money for ride sharing and wear hiking gear. This Simple remedies can get rid of hiccups TOR K: I've been hiccupping for days. Please help! DEAR READ- ER: Most people have DEAR DOC- occasionally, and sometimes they can last for days. What are they, and what can you do to stop them? hiccups Dr. K by Anthony L. Komaroff, M.D. At the bottom of your lungs, separating your chest from your abdomen, lies a flat, blan- ket-like muscle called the diaphragm. It moves down when you take a breath in, creating suction in your chest that helps pull air into your lungs. It moves up when you breathe out, helping push air out of your lungs. A hiccup is caused by a sudden contraction or spasm of the diaphragm. It makes you inhale quickly and involuntarily. Then the space in your throat near your vocal cords snaps shut, produc- ing the typical hiccup sound. Try making a hic- cup sound: You'll discov- er that you need to take in a quick breath, and you'll feel something move in your throat. Of the many purported ways to get rid of hic- cups, here are a few that have some merit: — Stimulate the uppermost region of your throat: Pull on your tongue; put a teaspoon of granulated sugar on the back of your tongue; gar- gle with water or sip ice water; drink from the far side of a glass; or bite on a lemon. (I've tried all of these, particularly the sugar trick, and they work for me.) — Tap or rub the back of your neck. — Gently poke the back of your throat with a long cotton swab. like tissue that hangs from the very back of the top of your mouth (the uvula) by touching it with a cotton swab. — Stimulate the cone- — Change your just won't go away. But even long-lasting hiccups don't usually signal a medical problem. Occasionally, hiccups — Distract yourself from the fact that you're hiccupping. breathing pattern in various ways: Hold your breath; breathe into a paper bag; gasp in fright; or pull your knees up to your chest and lean forward. In a small number of cases, though, persistent hiccups may be a sign of disease. The underlying issue is usually some- thing that causes irrita- tion of one of the nerves in the chest that send sig- nals to the diaphragm telling it to move. Hic- cups can also be triggered by excess alcohol use, kidney failure and infec- tions, especially ear infections. If you have long-last- ing hiccups, see your doctor. He or she will look for problems that may be causing them and then try to fix that prob- lem. Your doctor may also prescribe a medica- tion that can help stop your hiccups. The ones most often used are chlorpromazine, haloperidol and metoclo- pramide. Or your doctor may tell you to stop tak- ing a particular drug that may be causing your hic- cups. Examples include midazolam, some types of chemotherapy and digoxin. Surgery for persistent hiccups is another option, though it's rarely used. One type of surgery is a "nerve block" that stops a signal telling the diaphragm to contract. Another option is implanting a pacemaker that makes the diaphragm contract more rhythmi- cally. Fortunately, the simple solutions I described ear- lier almost always solve the problem. California Native Plant Society outings planned for October scenic lake, just north of Chester, features a large floating island. We'll hike about 1 1/2 miles up to Ter- minal Geyser for lunch, looking for asters and sun- dews along the way. Call Wes at 530-342-2293 for alternate meeting site. Deer Creek Trail, Lassen National Forest, Sunday, Oct. 21, 8:30 am Meet at Chico Park & Ride west lot with lunch, water, insect/sun protection and money for ride sharing. We'll drive about 40 miles to the trail head at the High- way 32 Deer Creek bridge. Starting at 3200 feet, this is a gradual 2 miles hike down to the falls and fish ladder, where we'll have lunch. Call Gerry at 530-893-5123 for alternate meeting site. Ten Mile House Trail, Upper Bidwell Park, Sun- day, Oct. 28, 9:30 am Meet at the Green Gate entrance to Upper Bidwell Park, 7 miles east of Bruce Road along Highway 32, with lunch, water, insect/sun protection and wear hiking gear. We'll walk down an old road through Kellogg and blue oak forest to Chico Creek for lunch. On the return we'll stop at a spring and possibly pick some persimmons to break the 700-foot climb. Rain cancels. Call Wes at 530- 342-2293 for more informa- tion. We invite you to join us in our mission by supporting Think Pink and helping to spread the word about the importance of early detection. October - 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 DEADLINE: 2 DAYS PRIOR TO PUBLICATION Run Dates Over 25 years of experience New content for readers each run. Color Full $29 (a box for all 5 pages) Box size: 2.5" x 2.5" (square) $39 (1 box) Contact your Daily News advertising representative at (530) 527-2151 to place your ad today! DAILYNEWS RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY The North State's premier supplier of stoves STOVE JUNCTION It's HOT now! But don't get left out in the 5A>6! Serving Butte, Glenn & Tehama Counties Tues-Sat 9am-5pm • Closed Sun & Mon 22825 Antelope Blvd., Red Bluff 530-528-2221 • Fax 530-528-2229 www.thestovejunction.com The