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MY SUN DAY NEWS

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News & Features Columnists Editorials Hang Your Hat Obituaries My Huntley News

August 22, 2019

Columnists

Ask an Angel: August 22, 2019

My elderly mother recently had a doctor’s appointment that probably could have gone better. My mother is independent and capable, but she tends to downplay her ailments when speaking with the doctor. She does, however, call me to complain about how fast the appointment went. How can I help my mom prepare for her next doctor’s appointment so that she goes into it with greater confidence and competence?

If you don’t believe in psychics, prepare to be chilled

My sister-in-law went to see a psychic recently, and when she called to report back to me how the meeting went, I had my reservations.

After all, there are psychics, and then there are psychics. The fake ones should be put in jail for lying to us about their phony abilities. The real ones should be put in jail for not telling us when an earthquake or tornado is about to hit.

Be Bop a Lulu…

A good friend of ours, Kathy, invited us to join her and a group friends, for dinner. We jumped at the chance for two reasons. It would be a fun night out, and we found out that, on that particular night, you get 50% off on all appetizers and entrees at the recentley opened Be Bop A Lulu’s Rockabilly Cafe in Union.

Yesterday — a musical treat

This movie has been in the theaters for a while, and certainly some of you may have seen it. I prefer to write about new releases, but as my editor Kelsey O’Kelley put it “I feel that August is one of the months where no good movies come out.” You’re right Kelsey, at least so far, so I chose to “reach back” for this edition.

The grass is always greener on the other side of lawn care

We have an area in the front of our house where grass doesn’t grow very well. My husband, bless his heart, has tried in vain for 3 years to establish lawn in this area. Inevitably, no matter what he has tried grass seed or sod, this area ended up being bare soil. It was the topic of conversation on a recent Saturday night. Although I could see he was tired and frustrated from working on the project once again, I had to admit, I really never noticed that part of our yard.

Ask the Woodchucks: August 8, 2019

In the last issue of this paper I gave some inaccurate information on siding for Sun City homes. I should have researched a little further and not relied on a single source.

Ask an Angel: August 8, 2019

I think it’s time for all of us to have a conversation about hiring more help, but I don’t know how to approach the topic. Do you have any tips?

All roads lead to Rome … or something like that

Like most Americans, whenever I feel a bit anxious and lost, I trust my faith in a higher power — my car’s navigational system. She always seems to get me back on track.

I call her “she,” of course, because her voice is female. And I’m glad she’s female, because who wants to put all your faith in some disembodied guy’s voice when you’re lost? We men are idiots when it comes to finding our own way, because we always think we can get there without asking directions. So that directional dashboard dude is probably just as lost as I am and is faking it to preserve his fragile manhood.

Calculating the Valley Hi rebate is an ‘exacting exercise’

Procrastination is fairly common among taxpayers filing just before the April deadline every year. The government expects to see completed federal tax forms and state tax forms right up to the last minute, but there’s no history of filing early or late for the Valley Hi Rebate.

Dropping anchor once again

After seven years of writing this column, we are proud to say we have never repeated a restaurant. That is partially due to the fact that after we review them, for some reason, they go out of business. Was it something we said???

Human / Nature

Recently, there was a discussion on the radio regarding the implementation of self-service checkout lanes at Jewel. I listened especially closely because my son is a checker at the Huntley store. The consensus of the discussion seemed to be that shopping at Jewel was more rewarding when the visit ended with interaction with the checkers and baggers.

Ask the Woodchucks: July 25, 2019

We recently moved to Sun City and love it here. The hardest thing is deciding which clubs to join. We have one problem we can’t solve. When we connect a hose to the faucet in the garage and turn it on it drips on the floor and makes a puddle. Short of putting a bucket under it what can we do?

Ask an Angel: July 25, 2019

We recently visited my elderly mother-in-law over the holiday weekend. While it was wonderful to see her, my family and I spent most of the time literally sweating out the visit. I mean, it was almost cooler outside than it was inside her small home. My husband adjusted the thermostat to give us a reprieve from the heat, only to discover that my mother-in-law turned the air conditioning off later in the evening.

The Lion King — all I can say is WOW

The sold out theater erupted into applause as this incredible movie came to an end. I don’t know if it was the spectacular settings and background, the animation (which is the best I have seen) or the musical score featuring Beyonce. In all likelihood, it was a combination of the three.

Retirement is a Story in Itself

More than four decades ago, I started writing news briefs for my college newspaper in a newswriting journalism class. In my junior year, I switched to broadcasting classes and declared my major as Radio Broadcasting. I began in the news reporting business in 1974 and finished a long run in early April when I read my final radio newscasts on 103.9 The Fox and on STAR 105.5 FM in Crystal Lake. Corporate consolidation affected my position.

Searching for footprints that last forever

A couple months ago, while a friend and I drove through western Illinois, I realized that we were only a short drive from Macomb, where I had gone to college at Western Illinois University in the late 1960s. We decided to swing west and check out the university, which I hadn’t visited in decades.

But besides visiting the campus, high on my list of things to see was the little cottage at 435 N. Chandler Street.

Ask the Woodchucks: July 11, 2019

Our Sun City home was recently struck by a lightning bolt, and the damage done included some damage to our vinyl siding. Is it still possible to secure siding that will match our current siding in terms of color?

How to ‘win’ the war on weeds

On a recent Sunday morning, I spent a few hours watering the plants at our garden center. Normally I spend Sundays holed up in my office trying to get done all of the work that has piled up on my desk throughout the week. This Sunday was different. I needed to be outside. Frankly, it was quite depressing.

All aboard!

Recently our son and his family came for a visit from the great state of Florida. They have a seven year old son, Henrik, and four year old twin daughters, Ana and Greta. As it is with most grandchildren these days, it seems like they have to be constantly entertained every hour, every minute, every second, of every day, 24/7 during their four day stay.

Spider-Man: Far From Home: Ho-hum

This is the umpteenth sequel for this franchise, the original with Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst still ranks as the best of the lot, heads and shoulders above this one for sure. Spiderman fans will agree that Tom Holland makes an excellent Peter Parker, just on his good looks alone. However, even he can’t score with a less than mediocre script despite the support of an all- star cast.

Ask an Angel: July 11, 2019

I’m starting to feel concerned about my mother’s memory. She’s turning 75 next week and she seems to be more forgetful these days. She constantly misplaces her car keys. She repeats stories about the nuances of her day.

Tracing the “enemy of the people” to its true source

Today — as with pretty much any other day — I heard our president call American journalists “the enemy of the people.”

He says it so often you would think he invented the phrase: “Enemy of the people.” He says it every time he refers to the press, that most American of institutions that our Founding Fathers insisted on protecting when they drafted our First Amendment, the most urgent document of them all, guaranteeing our most important rights that most clearly define what it means to be an American.

Ask the Woodchucks: June 27, 2019

The high winds we had 2-3 months ago managed to get behind one of my shutters and break it. With the nice weather, it’s time to replace it, but where do I get a replacement?

Toy Story 4: Movie ok, ice cream much better

This is the third Toy Story sequel, and as usual, Pixar and Disney join hands providing us with another amazing production.

Spelunking for dinner

As you may or may not know, Nancy is President of the Sun City Bocce Club. Every year, from the beginning of May to the beginning of June, it is absolute chaos in the Dining Duo household. There are an average of 12 calls a day with such earth shattering questions like: “did I sign up for bocce ball last year, if so, when do I play,” and the ever popular, “where are the bocce ball courts?”

Walk this way

Recently Christopher, my son, his girlfriend, Celeste and I drove down to Tennessee. Each of us had our own purpose for making the trek. Christopher, as an incoming freshman, was attending the summer orientation for Middle Tennessee State University. This was his chance to register for classes, meet potential friends, and start to acclimate to literally a new climate. It was also important for him to share with his girlfriend where he would be spending the next four years.