Mountain Views News          Saturday, May 16, 2015

HELPFUL HINT: Got Ants? To banish ants from the kitchen, find out where they are 
coming in and cover the hole with petroleum jelly. Ants won’t trek through the jelly. If they are 
coming under a door, draw a line on the floor with chalk. The little bugs also won’t cross a line of 
chalk.

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FOR YOUR FUNNY BONE 

An elderly woman died last month. Having never married, she requested no male 
pallbearers. In her handwritten instructions for her memorial service, she wrote, 
“They wouldn’t take me out while I was alive, I don’t want them to take me out when 
I’m dead! 

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY! … May Birthdays*

Joann Serrato-Chi, Harriett Lyle, Jean Coleman, Birgitta Gerlinger, Donna Mathieson, Dorothy 
Murphy, Linda Wochnik, Marian Woodford, Debbie Sheridan, Joanne Anthony, Carole Axline, Kika 
Downey, Shirley Hall, Annie Scalzo, Janet Ten Eyck, Jane Thomas, Ray Burley. . *To add your 
name to this distinguished list, please call the paper at 626.355.2737. YEAR of birth not required.

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Quote of the Week: “Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around.” 

 Henry David Thoreau

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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. 

13

THE GOOD LIFE

Mountain Views-News Saturday, May 16, 2015

SENIOR HAPPENINGS

HOW TO SEARCH FOR LOST PENSION MONEY


Dear Savvy Senior,

What tips can you offer for tracking down a lost pension 
from a previous employer? 

About to Retire

Dear About,

It’s not unusual for a worker to lose track of a pension 
benefit. Perhaps you left an employer long ago and 
forgot that you left behind a pension. Or maybe you 
worked for a company that changed owners or went 
belly up many years ago, and you figured the pension 
went with it.

 Today, millions of dollars in benefits are sitting 
in pension plans across the U.S. or with the Pension 
Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), a federal 
government agency, waiting to be claimed by their 
rightful owners. The average unclaimed benefit with 
PBGC is about $6,500.

 To help you look for a pension, here are some steps 
to take and some free resources that can help you 
search if your previous employer has gone out of 
business, relocated, changed owners or merged with 
another firm.

Contact Employer

If you think you have a pension and the company 
you worked for still is in business, your first step is 
to call the human resources department and ask 
how to contact the pension plan administrator. Ask 
the administrator whether you have a pension, how 
much it is worth and how to claim it. Depending on 
how complete the administrator’s records are you 
may need to show proof that you once worked for the 
company and that you are pension eligible.

 Your old income tax returns and W-2 forms from 
the years you worked at the company will help you 
here. If you haven’t saved your old tax returns from 
these years, you can get a copy of your earnings record 
from the Social Security Administration, which will 
show how much you were paid each calendar year by 
each employer. 

 Call 800-772-1213, and ask for Form SSA-7050, 
“Request for Social Security Earnings Information,” 
or you can download it at ssa.gov/online/ssa-7050.pdf. 
The SSA charges a $136 for this information.

FYI - TIPS FOR HAPPY RETIREMENT LIVING By By Sharon O’Brien

Retirement living is about more than money. 
Financial planners tell us to start thinking about 
retirement living decades before we’re ready 
to retire, and it’s good to make a retirement 
planning checklist about five years before your 
retirement date.

While you’re thinking about how much money 
you’ll need in retirement, think about what you 
want your life to look like, and how you want to 
feel.

Make life plans. It’s important to plan for the 
non-financial aspect of retirement living by 
considering what will make you happy. Maybe 
you’ll climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, go dog sledding 
in Alaska, make time to write that novel you’ve 
been thinking about, or even continue to work 
part-time. Make a life plan and tick off your 
experiences as you move ahead. (And no, I’m not 
talking about a “Bucket List!”)

Find a purpose. When making your retirement 
living plan, look for things you can do on 
an ongoing basis that bring you joy and add 
structure to your life. This can include travel, 
hobbies or even training for a new career.

Keep your mind sharp. “Use it or lose it” applies 
to your brain. If you feel the need to replace 
the intellectual stimulation you found at work, 
try learning a foreign language or a musical 
instrument, or join a book club. Lifelong 
learning offers many opportunities to keep your 
mind sharp. How about checking out the lifelong 
learning classes offered by your local community 
center or college?

Volunteer. Getting involved in your community 
is a great way to give back, and it’s a wonderful 
opportunity to interact with people and make 
new friends. Senior Corps offers volunteer 
opportunities tailored for older adults.

Develop new friendships. A measurement of 
whether people are successful at retirement 
living is the strength of their social network—
that includes family and friends. Check out 
groups that help you meet new people or join 
community or religious organizations that have 
members who share your interests. It’s possible 
to meet people and make new friends even if it’s 
difficult to get around.

Remain healthy. Carter brought up an old adage: 
A lean horse for a long race. With increasing 
life spans, retirement living can be a long race, 
so get yourself in shape. That means eating well, 
watching your weight and staying active. When 
you feel good, it’s easier to stay positive and open 
to new experiences.

Handler, who retired at 66, says he’s looking 
forward to his next decade of retirement living. 
“I wake up every morning and wonder what I’ll 
learn today.”


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

EDUCATION, SUCH AS IT IS...

I try to keep my articles 
light and inoffensive. So, I 
figured the hot-topic button 
of education might be better 
suited for the political 
columnists. Right after 
religion and politics, voicing 
your views on education is the most unlikely 
way to win friends and influence people. And 
few issues in education are as controversial as 
common core.

 Although I’m happily not responsible for 
teaching common core, it still manages to 
seep into my job at a public school. My run-
ins with common core 
typically occur during 
staff meetings. Like 
communism, common 
core sounds good in 
theory. And when you 
read the standards, they 
don’t seem that evil. What 
causes eyes to roll are the 
various applications of 
common core. A collective 
groan erupted when one of 
my coworkers explained 
that “addition” is out, 
and “number bonding” 
is in. Kindergarteners 
are now busy learning to 
“decompose” numbers. 
Meanwhile half of them 
are strangling each other. 
But when we’re racing to 
match other developing 
nations in math and 
language, training in 
civility must take the back 
seat. 

 The term “omphalo-
skepsis” comes to mind. Toss that one around at 
your next party! It refers to the practice of intently 
gazing into one’s navel, and I’m reminded of it at 
every common core professional development 
day. We sit in groups and ponder questions like, 
“Why do we use 10 as a base for counting?” and 
“What does 3 X 5 really mean?” Deep stuff... 
And that’s just 1st grade! I shudder to think of 
what the junior high teachers have to do! I’m 
waiting for a meeting at which the presenter will 
be wearing his shirt backwards and ask why our 
society expects the buttons to be in front. But 
these are depressing observations, and who 
wants to read about that on a lovely Saturday 
morning?

 While common core continues to rile teachers, 
students, and parents, some things in education 
actually have gotten better! I’m talking about 
our new Xerox machine! Ah, the Xerox machine. 
It used to be an incomprehensible monster that 
randomly consumed the papers of unsuspecting 
teachers and aides. The worst thing was to 
be the person responsible for jamming it in 
morning. Jamming the copier anytime was bad, 
but the morning is a particularly frantic time 
of the school day. People are printing out tests, 
worksheets, homework, and other vital papers. 
The foreboding sound of a page ripping deep 
in the bowels of the machine is sure to drain 
the blood from the bravest teacher’s face. And 
attempts at repairs usually 
just made the problem 
worse. Finally someone 
tapes the sign “Copier 
Broken!” on it, and your 
name would be mud until 
the maintenance guy came 
later in the week to fix it. 
Yes, I’m sure fear of Xerox 
machines caused some 
people to choose another 
line of work instead of 
teaching.

 But it’s not like that 
anymore! Now the graphic 
display on our copy 
machine shows us exactly 
where the problem is, and 
what knobs and levers 
we need to pull to get the 
mangled paper out. We 
even have little buttons 
on our ID badges to scan 
instead of punching in 
our code each time. And 
we can print from home if 
we have a burning desire 
to do so! All we need is to sign into our work 
email, click “print,” and BAM! Our papers will 
be neatly stacked and waiting for us in the copy 
room when we arrive in the morning.

 So, if you’re reading this humble article and 
considering a career in teaching, I can’t promise 
that common core will be gone by the time 
you get your first job. I can’t even be certain 
the common core police won’t put me away for 
suggesting that it might eventually be (gasp!) 
obsolete. But, you can rest assured that the old 
tales you’ve heard of copier machines breaking 
down when people looked crooked at them are 
simply that, old tales from the past. Now is the 
dawn of the future in education --the obedient 
Xerox machine! It truly is a brave new world


626-355-5700245 West Sierra Madre BlvdSierra Madre, CA 91024www.TheKensingtonSierraMadre.comRCFE License198601953Expert Panel DiscussionManaging Challenging BehaviorsAssociated with Alzheimer’s Disease& Memory ImpairmentThursday, May 21, 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 EVENT AT THE KENSINGTONPleaseRSVP