Mountain Views News          Saturday, March 12, 2016

THE GOOD LIFE

11

Mountain Views-News Saturday, March 12, 2016 

HOW RETIREES CAN SAVE ON 

PRESCRIPTION EYEGLASSES

SENIOR HAPPENINGS


HAPPY BIRTHDAY! …March Birthdays

Clare Marquardt, Karen Blachly, Carla Duplex, Ella Guttman, Viky Tchatlian, Mary 
Cooper, Georgina “Snooky” Greger, Sun Liu, Helen Wallis, Joan Crow, Nancy Fox, 
Martha Cassara, Rita Johnson, Mercedes Campos, Dorothy Webster,Terri Elder, 
Carol Cerrina, Amy Putnam, Sally Contreras and Lori Cooper. * To add your 
name to this distinguished list, please call the paper at 626.355.2737. YEAR of birth not required 
but you must be over 60.

...................................................................

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

 

 

 YWCA San Gabriel Valley - Intervale Senior Cafe 

Seniors 60 years of age and up can participate in the YWCA Intervale daily lunch program held 
at the Hart Park House Senior Center. Meals are served Monday through Friday at 12:00 pm 
and participants are encouraged to arrive by 11:45 am. Meals are a suggested donation of $3.00 
for seniors 60 and over or $5.00 for non-senior guests. Daily reservations are necessary, space is 
limited. Please reserve your lunch by calling 626-355-0256.

Tech Talk: Held on Monday, January 25th from 1:30-2:30pm. Learn how to use your new 
technology devises. Please reserve your space with the Hart Park House by calling 626-355-7394. 

 

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: Thursday, January 21st, 10:30am - 11:30am, improve your memory and strengthen 
your brain. Activities facilitated by Hugo, Community Liaison for New Wave Home care of 
Pasadena. 

 

Free Legal Consultation: Wednesday, January 27th 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. 

Balance Class: No Balance Class due to Martin Luther King Holiday. 

 

Chair Yoga: Mondays and Wednesdays from 11:00 to 11:45 am. 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 at the Hart Park House. The free 
birthday cake is provided by the Sierra Madre Civic Club. 

 

Game Day: Every Thursday starting at 12:00pm. (Please note the time change.) A regular group of 
seniors play poker. Other games available for use. 

 

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. 

Dear Savvy Senior,

What tips can you recommend for finding affordable 
prescription eyeglasses? I used to have vision insurance 
through my work, but lost it when I turned 65, retired, 
and signed up for Medicare. 

Looking For Eyeglasses

Dear Looking,

Prescription eyeglasses today aren’t cheap. You can 
easily spend $200 for a basic pair, but if you want 
designer frames or need bifocal or progressive lenses 
the price can more than double. Here are a few different 
options that can help you save. 

Medicare/Insurance Coverage

If you are a Medicare beneficiary, you already know 
that original Medicare (Part A and B) and Medigap 
supplemental policies do not cover routine eye exams 
or eyeglasses (unless you’ve just had cataract surgery), 
but there are some Medicare Advantage (Part C) plans 
that do. 

 Many of these plans, which are sold through private 
insurance companies, cover vision as well as dental, 
hearing and prescription drugs, in addition to all of your 
hospital and medical insurance. To locate Advantage 
plans in your area that provides vision coverage, visit 
Medicare.gov/find-a-plan or call 800-633-4227. But 
before enrolling in a plan, check the benefit details to 
ensure the plan’s vision coverage includes routine eye 
exams, eyeglass frames and lenses. 

 You can switch from original Medicare to a Medicare 
Advantage plan each year during the open enrollment 
period, which is between Oct. 15 and Dec. 7. 

 If, however, you don’t want a Medicare Advantage 
plan, you can still get coverage by purchasing 
an inexpensive vision insurance policy – see 
eHealthInsurance.com. Policy costs vary depending 
on where you live, but they usually start at around $6 
to $9 per month for an individual. Before signing up, 
make sure your savings potential is worth the cost of 
the premiums and copays.

Discount Stores

Purchasing eyeglasses from discount retailers is 
another way to save. Costco is one of the best discount 
stores for good eyewear and low prices. Eyeglasses cost 
an average of around $150, but to shop there you have 
to pay a $55 annual membership fee. Some other good 
retail options for low prices include For Eyes Optical, 
BJ’s Optical, Sam’s Club and Walmart. 

 You also need to find out if you are eligible for 
any discounts. Many retailers provide discounts to 
membership groups like AARP and AAA. AARP 
members, for example, can get 30 percent off a pair 
of prescription eyeglasses as well as discounts on eye 
exams at any LensCrafters, most participating Pearle 
Vision, Sears Optical, Target Optical, JCPenney Optical 
and thousands of private optometrist offices.

Look Online 

Buying eyeglasses online can also offer huge savings. 
Some online stores like ZenniOptical.com, Goggles4u.
com and EyeBuyDirect.com sell prescription eyeglasses 
for as little as $7 plus shipping. These sites let you 
upload a photo of your face, so you can see what you’d 
look like in different frames. 

 Or, for a fancier choice of frames see WarbyParker.
com, which offers single-vision glasses for $95. They 
even offer a free program where you can request up to 
five pairs to try on at home for five days. 

 To purchase glasses online, you’ll need your eyeglass 
prescription from a local eye doctor, plus your pupillary 
distance number, which is the distance, measured in 
millimeters, between the centers of your pupils in each 
eye.

Low-Income Assistance

If your income is low, depending on where you live, 
there may be some local clinics that provide free or 
discounted eye exams and eyeglasses. Put in a call 
to your local Lions Club to see what’s available in 
your area. See directory.lionsclubs.org for contact 
information.

 You may also be able to get free eyeglasses through 
New Eyes (new-eyes.org, 973-376-4903), a nonprofit 
organization that provides free eyeglasses through a 
voucher program to people in financial need. 

 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

IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD, 

AS WE KNOW IT!

I’ve been guilty again lately of recycling old articles. 
I chose this one not only because the current state of 
national and global events puts me in a Doom’s Day 
mood, but also because I particularly like this picture 
of Vincent Price with rabbit ears! It’s about a good 
old campy flick titled “The Last Man on Earth.” This 
1964 gem was based on Richard Matheson’s novel 
“I am Legend.” Shot in Italy, mostly with Italian-
speaking actors, the voices don’t quite sync with the 
lips. But that just makes it all the more deliciously 
corny. “The Last Man on Earth” is considered to be 
the precursor to “The Omega Man,” (1971) a film 
with a significantly bigger 
budget, starring Charlton 
Heston. Recent movie-
goers will recognize its 
latest rebirth as “I am 
Legend,” (I suppose the 
name gives it away).

 The premise of “The 
Last Man on Earth” 
is that an air borne 
pathogen is spreading 
across continents, making 
people sick, killing them, 
and subsequently turning 
them into the walking 
dead. But these night 
walkers don’t exactly 
conform to our modern 
zombie stereotype. 
Although they have the 
classic zombie dead pan 
expression and stiff gait, 
they also possess vampire 
qualities. They are repelled 
by garlic and their own 
reflection in mirrors. Like 
Bram Stoker’s “Dracula,” 
they are most effectively 
killed when impaled with 
a wooden stake through 
the heart. Also, these zombies can speak simple 
phrases (e.g., “Come out, Morgan! We know you’re 
in there!”). They’re too articulate to be true zombies, 
but too crude to be vampires. Everyone knows that 
vampires are sexy and well-spoken.

 The story begins with Robert Morgan (Vincent 
Price) exiting his mirrored and garlic-laden home, 
to drive around and collect bodies of the infected 
dead. (As with most zombie flicks, there seems 
to be a period of time between death and zombie-
hood). His task is made funnier by the fact that 
the dummies must’ve weighed about 15 pounds, 
so Price effortlessly tosses them into his 50’s 
station wagon, not bothering to close the tailgate. 
“They’re not gettin’ out!” After he’s accumulated 
a good number of bodies, he heads to “The Pit,” a 
perpetually smoking zombie landfill. He dons a 
gas mask (left over from “Plan 9 from Outer Space” 
or some similarly cheesy production), douses the 
wrapped, staked bodies with gas, and chucks them 
in. On the way home, Morgan replenishes his 
mirrors and checks his garlic garden. At night the 
zombies gather outside his house to weakly throw 
stones and beat against his boarded up doors and 
windows. Morgan plays a record, attempting to 
drown out their voices, and tries to get some sleep 
on the couch.

 One day, Morgan spots a disheveled, but 
otherwise normal-looking woman walking though a 
field. She’s frightened, but he convinces her to come 
home with him. Once 
subdued, the woman, 
Ruth, asks how Morgan 
survived. He explains 
that years ago he was 
bitten by a bat infected 
with the vampire germ. 
The bat’s system strained 
the germ before it entered 
his body, thus giving him 
immunity. 

 Over coffee, Morgan 
begins to suspect that his 
lovely guest is infected. 
A potent whiff of garlic 
proves his theory. Ruth 
flees the room and starts 
to inject herself, but is 
interrupted by Morgan. 
She tells him that she, and 
her people, are infected, 
but keep the germ at 
bay through regular 
injections of treated 
blood plus vaccine (I 
didn’t understand that, 
but then science was 
never my strong suit. 
Apparently it wasn’t the 
screenwriter’s strength 
either.). Ruth warns Morgan that her people have 
plotted to kill him. Overcome by exhaustion, she 
falls asleep on the couch. While she’s knocked out, 
Morgan hooks up a transfusion of his own blood 
into hers. In his kitchen laboratory he discovers that 
the transfusion has cured her! Unfortunately, the 
“Infected Resistance” captures Morgan after a long 
chase, and harpoons him in a church as he shouts, 
“You’re freaks! I’m a man --the last man!” Ruth 
consoles him as he dies in her arms. 

 Yet we are left with a sense of hope as Ruth leaves 
the church hugging her freshly injected arm. They 
killed the last man, but Ruth’s blood holds the 
promise of a cure. The morals of the story are: 1. 
Eat lots of garlic (seriously, it’s anticarcinogenic!), 
2. Don’t pick up strange women, 3. Don’t go home 
with strange men, and 4. Give blood, but with 
discretion.


626-355-5700245 West Sierra Madre BlvdSierra Madre, CA 91024www.TheKensingtonSierraMadre.comRCFE License198601953At first, Dad and I didn’tsee eye to eye about moving toThe Kensington, but sincehe did, we’re both thrilledLimited Senior Living Suites Still AvailableCall or Visit to Reserve Yours Today
Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com