Mountain Views News          Saturday, April 18, 2015

13

THE GOOD LIFE

Mountain Views-News Saturday, April 18, 2015

FYI - SENIORS - DON’T BE A TARGET

THE F.B.I. Common Fraud Schemes webpage provides tips on how you can protect you and your 
family from fraud. Senior Citizens especially should be aware of fraud schemes for the following 
reasons:

 Senior citizens are most likely to have a “nest egg,” to own their home, and/or to have excellent 
credit—all of which make them attractive to con artists.

People who grew up in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s were generally raised to be polite and trusting. 
Con artists exploit these traits, knowing that it is difficult or impossible for these individuals to say 
“no” or just hang up the telephone.

 Older Americans are less likely to report a fraud because they don’t know who to report it to, are 
too ashamed at having been scammed, or don’t know they have been scammed. Elderly victims may 
not report crimes, for example, because they are concerned that relatives may think the victims no 
longer have the mental capacity to take care of their own financial affairs.

When an elderly victim does report the crime, they often make poor witnesses. Con artists know the 
effects of age on memory, and they are counting on elderly victims not being able to supply enough 
detailed information to investigators. In addition, the victims’ realization that they have been 
swindled may take weeks—or more likely, months—after contact with the fraudster. This extended 
time frame makes it even more difficult to remember details from the events.

Senior citizens are more interested in and susceptible to products promising increased cognitive 
function, virility, physical conditioning, anti-cancer properties, and so on. In a country where new 
cures and vaccinations for old diseases have given every American hope for a long and fruitful life, 
it is not so unbelievable that the con artists’ products can do what they claim.

 For more information go to: http://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/fraud/seniors

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HELPFUL HINT: Burned a pot of rice? Just place a piece of white bread on top of the 
rice for 5-10 minutes to draw out the burned flavor. Be careful not to scrape the burned pieces off 
of the bottom of the pan when serving the rice

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FOR YOUR FUNNY BONE 

“Now, Ms. Lyons,” said the doctor, “you say you have shooting pains in your neck, dizziness, and 
constant nausea. Just for the record, how old are you?” “Why, I’m going to be 39 on my next birthday,” 
the woman replied indignantly. “Hmmm,” muttered the doctor, “Got a slight loss of memory, too.”

 ~ ~ ~

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! … April Birthdays…

Howard Rubin, Mary Harley, Bette White, Dorothy White, Doris Behrens, Freda Bernard,

Beth Copti, Terri Cummings, Marilyn Diaz, Virginia Elliott, Elma Flores, Julia Gottesman, 
Betty Jo Gregg, Barbara Lampman, Betty Mackie, Elizabeth Rassmusen, Maria Reyes, 
Marian DeMars, Anne Schryver, Chrisine Bachwansky, Colleen McKernan, Sandy Swanson, 
Hattie Harris, Hank Landsberg, Ken Anhalt, Shannon Vandevelde

 . *To add your name to this distinguished list, please call the paper at 626.355.2737. 
YEAR of birth not required.

ACTIVITIES: Unless listed differently, all activities are at the Hart Park 
House (Senior Center) 222 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre

 

 YMCA San Gabriel Valley Intervale Senior Café: Monday-Friday at 12:00 Noon 

(Participants are urged to arrive no later than 11:45 A.M.) 

All seniors 60 and up can take part in the lunch program. There is a suggested donation of $2.00 
for those 60 and over and $3.75 for non-senior guests. Daily reservations are necessary as space is 
limited. Please call 24 hours in advance...626.355.0256

HAWAIIAN AND POLYNESIAN DANCE CLASS: Every Tuesday morning from 10am to 11am. 
Join instructor Barbara Dempsey as she instructs you in the art of hula.

BINGO: Every Tuesday beginning at 1:00pm. Cards are only $0.25 each! Everyone is welcome to 
join. May be canceled if less than 5 people.

FREE BLOOD PRESSURE TESTING: 2nd Tuesday of the month from 11am to 12pm. No appt. 
is necessary.

BRAIN GAMES: Tuesday, March 17th, 11am -12pm, improve your memory and strengthen your 
brain. Activities facilitated by Swati Puri, Community Liaison for ComForcare Senior Services in 
Pasadena.

FREE LEGAL CONSULTATION: Wednesday, March 18 from 10:30am to Noon. Attorney Lem 
Makupson is available for legal consultation. He specializes in Family Law, Wills, Trusts, Estates, 
and Injury. Appointment are required by calling 626-355-7394.

CHAIR YOGA: Mondays and Wednesdays from 11:00 to 11:45 am, except on the third Monday of 
the month. A suggested donation of $5 at one of the classes is requested, but is not required.

CASE MANAGEMENT: Meets the 2nd Thursday of the month. Case Management services are 
provided by the YWCA and provide assistance in a variety of areas. Appointments are required and 
can be scheduled by calling the HPH Office at 626-355-7394.

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS: Every second Thursday of the month the Hart Park House Senior 
Center celebrates birthdays of our patrons. The free birthday cake is provided by the Sierra Madre 
Civic Club.

GAME DAY: Every Thursday starting at 12:45pm. A regular group of seniors play poker. Other 
games available for use.

TAX ASSISTANCE: Every Thursday February 5th through April 9th from 1:00pm-2:00pm. Don 
Brunner is available for income tax consultation. Appointments are required, call 626-355-7394.

FREE STRENGTH TRAINING CLASS: Every Friday from 12:45pm to 1:30pm with Lisa 
Brandley. The class utilizes light weights for low impact resistance training. All materials for the 
class are provided.

SENIOR CLUB: Every Saturday at the Hart Park House Senior Center. Brown bag lunch at 11:30am. 
Club meeting at noon. Bingo 12:30-3:30pm. Annual Membership is only $10.00.

LUNCH & LEARN PRESENTATION - Thursday, April 16th, 2015 beginning at 12:00pm

Tanya Mazzolini from The Kensington will give a talk about French artist Henri Matisee while 
demonstrating a project in his style of art. Matisee, known for his use of color and his fluid and 
original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily 
as a painter. Matisse is commonly regarded along with Pablo Picasso and Marcel Dunchamp, as one 
of the three artists who helped to define the revolutionary developments in the plastic arts in the 
opening decades of the twentieth century. 

MEDICATION MANAGEMENT TOOLS FOR 
ORGANIZING AND REMEMBERING

SENIOR HAPPENINGS


Dear Savvy Senior,

What products or solutions can you recommend 
to help seniors keep up with their medications? 
My mom is supposed to take several different 
medications at different times of the day but 
frequently forgets.

Reminding Son

Dear Reminding,

Anybody who juggles multiple medications 
can relate to the problem of forgetting to take a 
medication, or not remembering whether they 
already took it. This is especially true for people 
who take medications at varying times of the 
day. Here are some different product and service 
solutions that may help.

Medication Helpers

Getting organized and being reminded are 
the two keys to staying on top of a medication 
schedule. To help your mom achieve this, there are 
a wide variety of affordable pillboxes, medication 
organizers, vibrating watches, beeping pill bottles 
and even dispensers that will talk to her that can 
make all the difference. To find these types of 
products go to Epill.com (800-549-0095), where 
you’ll find dozens to choose from. 

 Also check out Reminder Rosie (reminder-
rosie.com, $130), a voice activated talking clock 
that tells you when to take your medicine, and 
can be used for other reminders, too.

 And for a super comprehensive medication 
management device, there’s the MedMinder 
automatic pill dispenser. This is a computerized 
pillbox that will beep and flash when it’s time 
for your mom to take her medication, and will 
call her if she forgets. It will even alert her if she 
takes the wrong pills. This device can also be 
set up to call, email or text family members and 
caregivers letting you know if she misses a dose, 
takes the wrong medication or misses a refill. 
Available at MedMinder.com, or 888-633-6463, 
the MedMinder rents for $40 to $65 per month.

Medication Packaging

Another possible way to help simplify your mom’s 
medication use is to get her prescriptions filled in 
single-dose packets that put all her medications 
(vitamins and over-the-counter drugs can be 
included too) together in neatly labeled packets 
organized by date and the time of day they should 
be taken. This does away with all the pill bottles 
and pill sorting. Some compounding pharmacies 
or independent drug stores offer single-dose 
packaging along with a number of online 
pharmacies like PillPack.com.

Reminding Services

Another simple solution that can help your 
mom stick to her medication schedule is to use a 
medication reminding service. These are services 
that will actually call, email or text your mother 
reminders of when it’s time to take her medicine 
and when it’s time to refill her prescriptions. Some 
even offer extra reminders like doctor and dentist 
appointments, wake-up calls and more.

 Companies that offer such services are 
MyMedSchedule.com, which provides free 
medication reminders via text message or email. 
Their website can also help you make easy-to-
read medication schedules that you can print out 
for your mom to follow. Or, if your mom uses a 
smartphone or tablet, there are free medication 
reminding apps that can help, like MediSafe 
(medisafeproject.com) or MedCoach (greatcall.
com).

 If, however, your mom doesn’t receive texts or 
use a smartphone, tablet or computer, OnTimeRx.
com or Snoozester.com may be the answer. With 
starting prices ranging between $4 and $10 
per month, these services will call your mom 
on her phone (they can send text messages and 
emails too) for all types of reminders including 
daily medications, monthly refills, doctor 
appointments, wake-up calls and other events. 

 Or, if you’re looking for extra help, Care Call 
Reassurance (call-reassurance.com, 602-265-
5968 ext. 7) may be a better fit. In addition to 
the call reminders to your mom’s phone, this 
service can be set up to contact a family member 
or designated caregiver if she fails to answer or 
acknowledge the call. This service runs between 
$15 and $20 per month.

 Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. 
Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.
org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today 
show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book.

 


KATIE Tse..........This and That

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE CRAZY

It’s that time of year again! 
The weather’s getting warmer, 
flowers are blooming, and 
school children are itching with 
spring fever! And it’s only the 
end of April! But you must remember that many 
schools started way back in the middle of August. 
That leaves only about 30 school days left, and 
both students and teachers are running on fumes.

 Most “naughty” kids push the envelope of their 
teacher’s patience at the beginning of the school 
year. But there are always a few who students 
snap and revert to their old ways in this last leg of 
the race. This is what 
happened near the end 
of one of my mom’s 
last years of teaching 
third grade in a public 
school.

 The student in 
question (let’s call him 
Ned) came to third 
grade with a reputation 
for chronic sassy-
ness, noncompliance, 
and general mis-
conduct. Ned’s 
previous teachers had 
exhausted all the usual 
disciplinary methods: 
e.g., behavior con-
tracts, punishment, rewards, screaming --all to 
no avail. Since my mom had 30 plus years of 
experience in the trenches dealing with every 
variety of students, she had a full arsenal of 
strategies at her disposal. 

 You see, some kids just get so callused and 
jaded over the years that traditional approaches at 
behavior modification fall short. These kids have 
grown accustomed to having teachers negotiate 
with them, cajole them, punish them, and yell 
to the point of developing vocal nodules. What 
they’re not used to is teachers who are just as 
crazy as they are!

 My mom and Ned maintained a working 
relationship for most of the year, but near the 
end Ned started to slip back into his whinny, 
argumentative habits. Specifically, he claimed 
that my mom had confiscated a ring of his at the 
beginning of the year, and now he wanted it back.

 Of course there was no such ring, but that 
didn’t matter to Ned. He just wanted a fight. 
Their conversation went something like this:

Ned: “Hey, Mrs. Hopkins, you never gave back 
my ring that you took away.”

Mom: “I never took a ring from you. What are 
you talking about?”

Ned: (whining) “NO! You took it! I remember!” 

Mom: (walking to her 
desk, she cut a small 
rectangle of paper, 
connected the ends 
with tape, and handed 
it to Ned.) “Ok, here’s 
a ring for you.”

Ned: (surprised, but 
still angry) “No! It was 
a real ring! My dad 
gave it to me!”

Mom: “That is a real 
ring. Look, you can 
put it on your finger.”

Ned: “No! It had a 
diamond on it!”

Mom: (she takes the 
paper ring back and 
draws a diamond shape in the middle) “Okay, 
here’s a diamond.”

Ned: (walking away with his new ring) “I’m 
telling my dad!”

Mom: “That’s fine. While you’re at it, remind him 
to sign and return your report card.”

 Ned had a big, strong male teacher for fourth 
grade. Around the end of the year, Ned’s mom 
came back to thank my mom for working with 
him. “You’re the only one who was able to manage 
him!”

 Teaching, for the most part, is a thankless job of 
civil servants. But occasionally there’s something 
to brag about!


UPCOMING EXCURSIONS:

THE MUSEUM OF TOLERANCE (LOS ANGELES)

 Thursday, April 30, 2015 8:45am to 3:30pm

 Meeting Location: Hart Park House Senior Center

 Cost: $15 (Does not include lunch)

Opened in 1993, built at a cost of $50 million by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, named after Simon 
Wiesenthal, Holocaust Survivor. We’ll have a 3 hour docent-led tour of the Museum of Tolerance, a 
multimedia museum in Los Angeles designed to examine racism and prejudice around the world with 
a strong focus on the history of the Holocaust. Lunch will be on your own at Factor’s Deli, a landmark 
location for over 65 years. It’s a booth-lined Jewish delicatessen known for its matzo ball soup and 
corned beef on rye. Participants should bring money for lunch and souvenirs. Last day to register is 
April 22nd. Level of walking: Medium to high. For more information, please call the Hart Park House 
at 626-355-7394.

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SENIOR CINEMA • 1st and 3rd Wednesday

Shown at the Hart Park House Senior Center 

April 15th – Maleficent (2014)

As a beautiful young woman of pure heart, Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) has an idyllic 
life in a forest kingdom. When an invading army threatens the land, Maleficent rises 
up to become its fiercest protector. However, a terrible betrayal hardens her heart 
and twists her into a creature bent on revenge. She engages in an epic battle with the 
invading king’s successor, then curses his newborn daughter, Aurora, realizing only 
later that the child holds the keep to peace in the kingdom. Start time: 1:00pm (run 
time 98 minutes)


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626-355-5700245 West Sierra Madre BlvdSierra Madre, CA 91024www.TheKensingtonSierraMadre.comRCFE License198601953How to Control Your LegacyNow and Later:
Essential Steps You Must Takewith Marc Garlett, Family Trust Attorney,
CaliLaw Professional CorporationThursday, April 23, 2015 from 5:30pm-7:00pmat The Kensington, 245 West Sierra Madre Blvd, Sierra Madre, CAHors d’oeuvres and refreshments servedRSVP to SSciurba@KensingtonSL.com or 626-355-5700YOUR INVITATION TO AN EVENTAT THE KENSINGTON