Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, June 13, 2020

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Mountain View News Saturday, June 13, 2020 

WHY HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE 
IS EVEN MORE DANGEROUS IN 
THE COVID-19 ERA

Dear Savvy Senior:

Are people with high blood pressure at increased 
risk of getting coronavirus? Hypertensive Helen

Dear Helen:

If you have high blood pressure, you definitely need to take extra care to protect yourself during 
the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Research shows that people with hypertension are more 
susceptible to getting COVID-19, are more likely to develop severe symptoms if they do get sick, 
and are more likely to die from the infection, especially if they’re older.

High Risk Links

A weaker immune system is the key reason people with high blood pressure and other health problems 
are at higher risk for coronavirus. Long-term health conditions and aging weaken the immune 
system so it’s less able to fight off the virus. Nearly two-thirds of Americans over 60 have high blood 
pressure.

 Another concern that has been circulating, but was put to rest last month, were theories that 
the medications that are commonly prescribed to treat high blood pressure – ACE inhibitors and 
angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) – could make patients more vulnerable to contracting COVID-
19, and more susceptible to severe illness if they did become infected. 

 But new research published in The New England Journal of Medicine last month found no risk 
linked to these medications.

COVID Complications

While pneumonia is the most common complication of the virus, it can also damage the cardiovascular 
system. That’s why people with high blood pressure, heart disease, and heart failure are at risk.

 High blood pressure damages arteries and reduces the flow of blood to your heart. That means 
your heart has to work harder to pump enough blood. Over time, this extra work can weaken your 
heart to the point where it can’t pump as much oxygen-rich blood to your body.

 Coronavirus can also damage the heart directly, which can be especially risky if your heart is 
already weakened by the effects of high blood pressure. The virus may cause inflammation of the 
heart muscle, which makes it harder for the heart to pump.

 If you also have plaque buildup in your arteries, the virus may make those plaques more likely to 
break apart and cause a heart attack. Studies have shown that people with heart disease who get 
a respiratory illness like the flu or earlier types of coronavirus are at higher risk for a heart attack.

What to Do?

While everyone needs to take precautions to prevent coronavirus, people with high blood pressure 
and other health conditions need to be extra careful.

 The best way to avoid getting sick is to stay home as much as you can. If you have to go out, wear 
a mask and keep at least 6 feet away from other people. And every time you come home, wash your 
hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds. Also, clean and disinfect all frequently 
touched surfaces like cell phones, countertops and doorknobs.

 The CDC also recommends that you have enough medicine on hand to treat high blood pressure 
and other health conditions. And stock up on over-the-counter medicines to treat a fever and other 
symptoms if you get sick.

 While a coronavirus vaccine isn’t available yet, you should stay up to date on your other important 
vaccines. The pneumococcal vaccines – Prevnar 13 and Pneumovax 23 – will prevent you from 
catching pneumonia on top of coronavirus. Also get a flu shot in September or early October. Its 
symptoms are easy to confuse with coronavirus, which could make it harder for doctors to diagnose 
you if you do get sick.

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.

SENIOR HAPPENINGS


HAPPY BIRTHDAY! …June Birthdays*

Joanne Thrane, Nellie Haynes, Dorothy McKay, Donna Doss, Mary Carney, Carol 
Handley, Marilyn McKernan, Pat Fujiwara, John Shier, Beth Smith-Kellock, Ann 
Disbrow, Joan Ellison, Anne Montgomery, Trini Ornelas, Martha Spriggs, Pat 
Starkey, Kathleen Coyne, Suzanne Decker, Jacque Persing, Jeanne Peterson and 
Grace Sanders

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


SIERRA MADRE SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS PLAN

The City of Sierra Madre is following these procedures to provide current communication in light of 
COVID-19 and keep the Senior Community and families informed of essential information and resources. 
City staff are monitoring email communication daily, and although employees are minimizing 
direct engagement and practicing social distancing in the community, please note that voice messages, 
emails, and social media responses are being addressed in the most efficient and timely manner.

If at any moment additional information is needed, please contact City Hall Administrative Services at 
(626) 355-7135, Monday-Thursday from 7:30a – 5:30p, as they are taking messages and e-mailing the 
appropriate person.

For messages that may trickle in otherwise, please note our team is remotely checking voicemail daily at 
the Community Services Department, (626) 355-5278 x702.

Community Services Department will continue email communication with Senior residents and aging 
community members.

If you know of family members or neighbors who may benefit from accessing information electronically, 
and to receive the department’s Seniors Newsletter via email but may not otherwise have been included 
on an email group list, please send your request with email address to the following team members:

Lawren Heinz Lheinz@cityofsierramadre.com and Clarissa Lowe Clowe@cityofsierramadre.com.

Community Services Department will continue Electronic Seniors Newsletter on a weekly-basis 
distribution.

Community Services Department will continue with mail drop-off of newsletters at the Sierra Madre 
U.S. Post Office Box (unless otherwise advised).

City Social Media will continue via Facebook as well as Instagram, and information sharing will include 
updates as details becomes available.

Mater Dolorosa - Sierra Madre Meal Pick-Up Program provides seal-packaged frozen meals, 5-per 
person every Thursday, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. at Hart Park House Senior Center 222 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. 
Donations are accepted. Call (626) 355-5278; x702 or 704.

YWCA Intervale Meal Program - Effective Wednesday, April 1, 2020

YWCA has transitioned their distribution of take home meals at the Sierra Madre Hart Park House Senior 
Center to a home-delivery meal program. Participants previously reserved for meal pick-up as of 
Wednesday, 3/25/20 were informed that they would begin to have their meals delivered to their homes, 
beginning Wednesday, April 1, 2020 until further notice.

For any additional participants calling in that are at a high risk and need meals delivered to, please 
provide us their name, date of birth (they must be 60+), address and phone number and Community 
Services Department will for-ward this information to our County Contact.

Food Banks Support: Seniors & Families:

If someone is outside of our local area and in need of a food bank, they can find one nearest them by 
going to www.lafoodbank.org and typing in their zip code; or call from the list here:

First Church of the Nazarene-Pasadena 3700 E. Sierra Madre Blvd. 626-351-9631

Wednesday 10:30 am-12 pm 

Pasadena Senior Center 85 E. Holly St. Pasadena 626-685-6732

Foothill Unity Center 415 W. Chestnut Ave. Monrovia 626-358-3486 Monday 1 pm-3:30 pm, 
Wednesday & Friday 9 am-11:30 am

Lifeline Community Services & Economic Development 2556 N. Lake Ave Altadena

626-797-3585 2nd and 4th Wednesday 12 pm-2 pm & 8:15 pm-9 pm

Morning Star Outreach Ministry 1416 N. Mentor Ave Pasadena 626-794-4875

2nd & 4th Saturday 11 am-1

FAMILY MATTERS By Marc Garlett


USING PASSIVE INCOME TO ESCAPE 
THE RAT RACE 

Like many people, you may have 
been raised to think the safest way 
to live in the working world is to 
have a stable career and steady 
paycheck. This financial crisis is 
challenging that framework for 
many people. Even if you had a 
stable job, and even if you still 
have one, by now we’ve all seen 
how easy it is for that security to 
disappear overnight. 

 A sad, yet common, attitude is 
for us to see money as a scarce 
resource, and income as something 
that’s outside of our control. 
Thinking or talking about money 
can trigger feelings of guilt and 
shame in many people. 

 It doesn’t have to be that way. The 
truth is, money is a tool that you 
can access and multiply, independent 
of anyone else’s permission. 
And even if you do have anxieties 
that keep you from seeing how 
money can be a positive part of 
your life, that can change.

 Consider this: what if you 
weren't relying on a check from 
your boss (or the unemployment 
office, as the case may be)? 

 If you have a paycheck, you are 
converting energy into income 
– think of this as active income. 
Active income is not sustainable 
because at some point you will 
become unable to work or you 
may lose your job. 

 If you have something of value 
which earns income all on its 
own, independently from you, 
you are converting assets into income 
– think of this as passive income. 
And passive income is your 
ticket out of the rat race.

 Are you working for your money 
or is your money working for you? 
If you don’t already have an emergency 
fund equal to 3-6 months 
of expenses, start there. Then pay 
off your debts (at least your consumer 
debts – credit cards, car 
loans, student loans, etc). If you 
own a home, keeping your mortgage 
is fine. Otherwise, get out of 
debt and stay out of debt.

 Once you’re out of debt, you’ll be 
in control of the game and ready 
to put your energy into building 
up your assets. The more energy 
you invest, and the smarter you 
invest it, the faster you’ll build 
assets.

Here are three proven ways to 
turn your energy into assets:

 1. Work, work, work. Work 
as much as you can during your 
day job. Develop a side hustle. 
Use the money you make from 
your energy to pay off your debts 
(debts are keeping you down 
and beholden to other’s dreams). 
Once your debts are gone, put 
money aside and build up your 
nest egg so you can invest in 
your legacy.

2. Write a book. If you have 
something of value to share with 
the world, put it in a book. It’s 
easier to publish a book now 
than ever. While it does take a 
lot of energy to write and publish 
a successful book, the energy 
you expend results in more 
than just a one-time payoff. The 
asset created (your book) can 
provide an awesome stream of 
passive income. And if you can 
do it once, you can do it multiple 
times.

3. Start a business. Starting 
and building a business takes 
an enormous amount of energy. 
Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs 
never get past the start-up 
phase which means they’ve done 
little more than create an energy-
sucking job for themselves. 
And while there are certainly 
worse things than working for 
yourself, if you can go beyond 
that and create an actual business, 
you’ll have a valuable asset. 
Not only will your business 
provide passive income for you, 
it will serve more people than it 
could if it is reliant on you. Once 
your business outgrows you, it 
serves you and others so much 
better.

Once you have assets to invest, 
here are three proven ways to turn 
those assets into passive income 
generating machines:

1. Buy a business. You can 
skip the start-up phase and go 
right into running a business. 
What that really means, is that 
the business runs with or without 
you. You’ll want processes 
and procedures in place to run 
the business and the right people 
in place to run the processes and 
procedures. Once a business can 
function independently of its 
owner, it begins providing passive 
income serving its customers 
more deeply.

2. Invest in the market. 
This is the old compound return 
game and it works! For example, a 
25-year-old who invests just $100 
per month in the market and receives 
an average 8% gain per 
year would grow their nest egg to 
over $300,000 by the time they’re 
65. That equates to a six-fold gain 
on the $48,000 they would have 
invested. And if they can invest 
$300 a month, their nest egg 
would grow to nearly $1 million 
by retirement. 

3. Invest in income properties. 
This is my preferred method 
of generating passive income. It’s 
completely changed the trajectory 
of my family’s financial future 
and it can do it for yours, too. For 
example, let’s say you buy a half-
million-dollar rental property 
with $100,000 down (financing 
the rest). If you’ve bought in the 
right area it won’t take long for 
that property to appreciate by the 
$100,000 you’ve got invested. And 
during that time, you’re colleting 
rent, too. At just $10,000 per year 
in cashflow (after your mortgage 
payment and expenses), you’ve 
made back your $100,000 in 10 
years. If you manage the property 
yourself, it’s not truly passive income, 
but it can sure add up quick. 
And you can roll those profits into 
a management service or more 
properties. 

Yes, I’m an estate planner. But 
even more than that, I’m a legacy 
builder, both for myself and for 
my clients. I firmly believe we all 
each in control of determining the 
legacy we’ll leave. All it takes is 
putting a plan in place and moving 
forward with intention.

Dedicated to empowering your 
family, building your wealth and 
defining your legacy,

A local attorney and father, Marc 
Garlett is on a mission to help parents 
protect what they love

most. His office is located at 55 
Auburn Avenue, Sierra Madre, CA 
91024. Schedule an

appointment to sit down and talk 
about ensuring a legacy of love and 
financial security for your

family by calling 626.355.4000 
or visit www.CaliLaw.com for 
more information.

OUT TO PASTOR 

A Weekly Religion Column by Rev. James Snyder


THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT A LAZY SUMMER 
AFTERNOON 

The past week was an unusually 
quiet week around the 
parsonage. It enabled me to do some-thing that 
I have wanted to do all summer long. Nothing. I 
am not bragging or anything, but I can do nothing 
right up there with the best of them.

The week, as all weeks do, started on Monday. For 
me, there is always something about a Mon-day 
morning. And this Monday morning was going 
to set the tone for the rest of the week.

It all began when the Gracious Mistress of the 
Parsonage made one of her announcements. I live 
for these announcements because I know it will 
affect my whole week.

"Our daughter and I," she said rather matter-of-
factly, "will be going out of town for the entire day 
on Thursday."

This came as a shock to me, for I had not been 
forewarned. And you know what they say about 
being forewarned. However, I'm not one to look a 
gift horse in the mouth. I will take what I can take 
when I can take it.

Apparently, our daughter was going to take her 
daughter to visit friends for an entire week, and 
she wanted my wife to go along to keep her company. 
Trying to hide my delight in the whole matter, 
I soberly said, "Is there anything I can do for 
you for your trip?"

Evidently, my offer was not heard because the 
next words out of my wife's mouth were, "Now, 
here's the list I made for you while I'm away. 
Make sure you do everything on that list."

I graciously accepted "The List" and glanced at it 
casually. If I did everything on that list, she would 
have to be gone for a month. I smiled as I folded 
"The List" and tucked it into my shirt pocket.

This is what I love about my Beloved. She is always 
thinking of me. Even when she is planning 
to be away, she takes the time to plan my day. I 
could not ask for a better helpmeet in all the wide 
world. I promised her that I would take special 
care of "The List" while she was away for the day. 
Fortunately for me, I did not define what I meant 
by "special care." After being married as long as I 
have, there are certain things not appropriate to 
divulge to your Better Half.

For the rest of the week, she was busy making her 
plans, and I, for my part, stayed out of her way 
as much as possible. My motto being, never interrupt 
somebody who is busy about his or her 
business.

Finally, the day arrived. Early that morning, the 
three of them – grandmother, mother, and daughter 
– loaded up the car and began their journey. 
I stood in the doorway and waved until I could 
no longer see the car, and then I waved for three 
more minutes just to make sure the job was done.

After I shut the door, I sighed very deeply, toddled 
over to my easy chair with a nice hot cup of 
coffee, and began my day's activities. Oh sure, I 
read over "The List" several times and then folded 
it neatly up and put it back in my shirt pocket. As 
I patted my shirt pocket, I said to myself, "I plan 
to take special care of this list."

Knowing all the things I was supposed to do as 
outlined in "The List," I decided to do something 
not on that list. After all, I was now captain of my 
ship, and I decided to live rather dangerously for 
the day.

After pouring myself another hot cup of coffee, I 
ventured out onto the patio, sat down to enjoy the 
morning and watched the birds play in the backyard. 
This was living. Nobody could ever ac-cuse 
me of being afraid of work because I had a whole 
list of work that needed to be done and absolutely 
did nothing about it. It gave me a real sense of 
ownership. Right at this moment, I owned the 
moment.

I know what you are thinking right now. You're 
thinking, what are you going to do when your 
wife comes home? That is the difference between 
the average person and Yours Truly. I am living 
in the moment. Whatever happens later on has 
no bearing whatsoever upon my enjoyment of the 
moment. Indeed, I may get into some complicated 
trouble; however, it is a small price to pay for 
enjoying my moment.

Not many people come to the place where they 
can enjoy their moment in the sun. Some people 
have grandiose ideas of life to such an extent that 
they work all their life and never achieve it. Some 
people work very hard all their life so that they 
can come to the place where they can do nothing.

I am miles ahead of the ordinary citizen. I find 
ways in which to enjoy doing nothing wherever I 
can find it. I purposefully look for those moments 
and grab them when I can.

Even Jesus took time to rest. "And he [Jesus] said 
unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert 
place, and rest a while: for there were many 
coming and going, and they had no leisure so 
much as to eat" (Mark 6:31).

I am reminded of another old Pennsylvania Dutch 
saying, "The hurrier I go the behinder I get."

Dr. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of 
God Fellowship, Ocala, FL 34472. He lives with 
the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage in Silver 
Springs Shores. Call him at 352-216-3025 or e-
mail jamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site 
is www.whatafellowship.com.


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