Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, September 2, 2023

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Mountain Views-News Saturday, September 2, 2023 


SAFE PATH FOR SENIORS

Steve Sciurba, Senior Placement Specialist 

There are many reasons in working with Safe Path 

for Seniors, we will assess your loved ones and make

recommendations depending on care needs and 
budget. 

With our many years of experience, we will make an

informed recommendation. 

We work with large communities to the small 6-bed, 

board & care residential homes.

You will tour with an experienced consultant who will 

work with you through the entire process. from selecting 
the right living environment to all of the necessary 
paperwork involved.

The good news is that there is no cost for this service.

If you have any questions about placing a loved one, 
visit our web site:

www.safepathforseniors.com 

or call Steve at 626-999-6913

SENIOR HAPPENINGS

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! …September Birthdays*

Clem Bartolai, Pat Hall, Donna Anderson, Teresa Chaure, Cathy 
Gunther, Esther Macias, Sheila Pierce, Nancy Sue Shollenberger, Patti 
O’Meara, Judie Cimino, Mary Steinberg, Geri Wright, Parvin Dabiri, 
Denise Reistetter and Nehama Warner, Virginia Mullaney, Gwen 
Robertson. 

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


SENIOR CLUB Every Saturday at Noon Hart Park House

Open to all seniors 50+ Fun - Games - And More! Call Mark at 626-355-3951 


HOW SENIORS CAN PROTECT THEMSELVES FROM 

CYBERCRIMES


Dear Savvy Senior,

I spend a lot of time online and love the convenience 
of paying bills, shopping, and keeping up with my 
grandkids on Facebook and Instagram. But a few 
months ago, my computer was infected with malware, 
and I just found out some cyber crook opened 
up a credit card using my identity and went on a 
shopping spree. Do you have some simple tips to 
help me stay safe while online? Paranoid Patty

 

Dear Patty,

Unfortunately, cybercrimes against seniors continue 
to be a big problem in the U.S. According to 
the FBI 2022 Elder Fraud Report, cybercrime cost 
Americans over age 60 more than $3 billion last 
year, a whopping 84 percent increase from 2021.

 

While anyone can be subject to cybercrimes, seniors 
are frequent targets because they tend to be more 
trusting and have more money than their younger 
counterparts. But there are a number of things you 
can do to protect yourself from online fraud, hacking 
and scams. Here are a few tips to get you started.

 

Strengthen your passwords: A strong password 
should contain at least 12 characters and include 
numbers and a special character, like an exclamation 
point or asterisk. Be sure to change up your 
password across different sites to ensure a hacker 
would not gain access to all accounts through one 
password. And keep a written list of all your passwords 
stored in a safe secure place.

 

On your smartphone or tablet, be sure to set up a 
four or six-digit PIN to protect your device.

 

Opt out of pop-ups: To protect yourself from computer 
viruses and other forms of malware, make it a 
habit to avoid any pop-up style message when you’re 
on the web. Sometimes hackers disguise their malware 
as pop-up advertisements or “special offers” 
when you’re shopping or reading online. Clicking 
on these pop-ups can lead to viruses or data 
breaches.

 

If you encounter a suspicious pop-up message, don’t 
click on anything in the window. Simply leave the 
site or close out of your web browser.

 

When in doubt, throw it out: Sometimes online 
hackers will send you an email or text message and 
pretend to be someone they’re not in order to convince 
you to share valuable information with them, 
such as your Social Security Number, address or 
credit card information. This is called phishing.

 

If 
you 
receive 
a message from an unknown sender, do not respond 
or click on any links or attachments. Instead, 
either ignore the message or delete it.

 

Share with care: There is such a thing as oversharing, 
and it definitely applies to online profiles. On 
social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, 
and Twitter, online hackers can easily gather information 
about you from what you post – like where 
you live.

 

Ensure that your privacy settings are up to date so 
that only people who follow you or are your Facebook 
friend can see your posts.

 

Verify websites: Before you shop or access your 
bank online, double check the validity of the website 
you’re using. Reputable sites use technologies such 
as SSL (Secure Socket Layer) that encrypt data during 
transmission. You will see a little padlock icon 
in your browser and usually “https” at the front of 
your address bar to confirm it’s a secure connection. 
If you don’t see it in the web address that you’re on, 
you should not trust that website with your passwords, 
payment or banking information.

 

Have some back-up: Practicing safe habits will protect 
you and your information, but you don’t have to 
rely on just yourself to stay safe. Anti-virus software 
works in the background to protect your computer 
from a variety of malware and helps to make it easier 
for you to avoid threats while surfing the web.

 

For more information on how to safeguard your 
personal technology devices and information, visit 
Consumer.ftc.gov and search “Protect Your Personal 
Information and Data.” And to report fraud 
and identity theft go to ReportFraud.ftc.gov and 
IdentityTheft.gov.

 

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.


MY JOURNEY TO HEALTH 

AND WELLNESS 

 by Michelle Silence

Growing up in an Italian family I was quite overweight 
as a child. Back then, clothes from the JC 
Penny catalog labelled “Chubby” were the only ones 
that would fit me. My mother would sew clothes out 
of fabrics with small prints to make me “look smaller”. 
Home cooked food was amazing and I formed 
taste preferences that are still with me today. The 
only real exercise I saw anyone get was my mother 
doing an occasional Jack LaLanne workout in the 
living room. More common were attempts to lose 
weight through the use of sauna suits, reduction 
belts or Ayds appetite suppressant candies (which I 
liked to sneak and eat because I thought they were 
chocolates).

Years of being picked last for sports teams in school, 
ridicule from classmates for my weight and failing 
all the Presidential Fitness Tests made it easy 
to dislike “exercise”. How can you like something 
you never were good at and that makes you feel bad 
about yourself? Even though I was a child, I blamed 
myself for not being fit.

It wasn’t until years later I found out that the word 
“exercise” doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Happening 
upon an aerobics class in the late seventies I 
found it! Something that was fun, that I could do. I 
actually wanted to move my body and felt a sense of 
accomplishment as I watched it change, get stronger 
and boost my self-esteem. But I soon realized it’s 
not always that easy for people to find that one thing 
that excites them. The one activity that can take the 
negative sting out of the word exercise. And that it’s 
not that easy to find a place to work out with others 
where it’s comfortable and safe.

Several years down the road, I started my own fitness 
business. I was especially interested in helping 
deconditioned people like Seniors and larger individuals 
that had limited experience with any exercise. 
Earning my master’s degree in psychology, I 
found that for most people it wasn’t just discovering 
a doable type of exercise but finding a way to connect 
past baggage to current body image, abilities 
and self-worth. 

After working with adults for years, I turned my attention 
to the other end of the spectrum, formulating 
programs for preschool children. An attempt 
to prevent them from growing up with the same 
scars and pain from teaching early that exercise can 
be fun and provide practice with the skills to feel 
competent at it. After creating an international preschool 
physical education program and running a 
successful company for 28 years, COVID struck. 

Going into preschools isn’t simple anymore. Motivating 
adults to join gyms and classes is challenging 
too. But the need remains more than ever to start 
exercising, no matter at what age, to improve health 
and well-being. The obesity rate in this country has 
reached a level (40%) that no other nation comes 
close to matching. 

Adult onset diabetes is now being diagnosed in children 
as young as age two. Heart disease -almost entirely 
preventable -kills the most people not just in 
the USA but globally. Almost 700,000 deaths in the 
US were attributed to heart disease in the year 2021, 
emphasizing the importance of exercise for overall 
well-being.

It's been 37 years now since I stumbled into that 
aerobics class. A lot of years and a lot of crunches 
later I know that it takes small steps cemented into 
habits one at a time that produces lasting change. I 
know that without working on feelings, it’s tough 
to sustain fitness routines. It’s vital to get valid 
information. 

Steer clear of pills, potions and quick weight loss 
schemes. Find something active you feel you can 
do, no matter what it is, that requires you to move 
more today than you did yesterday. 

Just a simple, non-threatening approach that works. 
You don’t have to beat your body up, get down on 
yourself for having weak moments or feel bad about 
what you’ve done or not done in the past. Today is 
a new day. A new start. A new opportunity to find 
out that you really can improve your health by moving 
more and eating better. And it doesn’t take a 
whole lot to get started. Just small steps.

Hopefully this column will help provide information 
and motivation to take those steps. It’s not 
about becoming an athlete. It’s about becoming a 
better you and adding years to your life. I look forward 
to helping you whether just starting out, restarting 
or continuing on that journey.

If you have questions or ideas for this column 
contact Michele at michele@kid-fit.com E-mailto: 
michele@kid-fit.com or on Facebook at: michelesfitness 
www.facebook.com/michelesfitness


OUT TO PASTOR 

A Weekly Religion Column by Rev. James Snyder

HOW MANY COUGHS IS ENOUGH FOR ONE DAY

This past week started rather 
rough. At least rougher 
than others. It started with 
a cough. A cough is not that 
serious if it's just one cough or 
maybe two. But it is not good when it is one 
cough after another and another.

 One day last week, right after this coughing 
spell began, the Gracious Mistress of the 
Parsonage and I enjoyed a fine supper, and I 
sat back in my chair as we started watching 
TV and relaxing after a busy day.

 Then, my coughing spree began. I coughed 
and coughed and coughed almost uncontrollably. 
I've had a coughing fit, and then I 
sneezed my brains out. That's snot good.

I was hoping to get this under control and 
quite soon.

Looking at me, the Gracious Mistress of the 
Parsonage said, "What's all that coughing 
about?" She said it as though I had control 
over my coughing. "Oh, nothing," I said, "I 
think I just swallowed a fly." Then I smiled.

"What," she exclaimed, "you swallowed a fly? 
Didn't you have enough at supper?" Now, 
I'm in trouble. I had no explanation that she 
would accept. Then, I had another coughing 
spell that seemed worse than before. I tried 
to stop but just could not.

 At my age, you would think I could control 
the things in my life. I tried, but I have 
yet to be successful. Now, Miss-Nurse-Am-I 
stepped in. She had a thermometer to take 
my temperature, and it was high. She gave 
me a Covid test, and I passed, much to her 
chagrin and my smile. She then took my 
blood pressure, and it was high. Imagine 2 
out of 3!

 When all her testing was finished, she 
looked at me seriously. This was on Saturday, 
and she said we had to cancel our Sunday 
morning service. I tried to protest, but I was 
coughing too much to respond.

 Not having the church service on Sunday 
morning is a great downer for me. I love 
nothing more than Sunday church. And 
there was no replacement, so the service had 
to be canceled. That made me cough even 
more with a sour ending. Then, the law was 
laid down. "I'm calling the doctor," she said, 
"on Monday and schedule an appointment. 
You're sick." In my position, I had nothing to 
do but cough.

 There is nothing more that I like doing 
than seeing my doctor to begin the week. He 
loves seeing me, and we all know why. It ain't 
my charming, good looks, that's for sure.

 There is no Sunday I like less than not going 
to church and wearing pajamas all day. 
I did try to get dressed, but Miss-Nurse-
Am-I caught me and said, "Don't you dare 
get dressed. You're spending the day in bed. 
You're sick." Well, if I want to object to Miss-
Nurse-Am-I, I had better make plans for my 
funeral. I did not know how long a Sunday is 
when I'm in my pajamas, not permitted to do 
anything but cough. And cough, I did.

 I tried to take advantage of these coughing 
spells and sometimes faked some. Don't let 
her know, but a fake cough can have a soothing 
element to it, along with a smile.

 Then Monday came, as it always does. The 
appointment was made for the morning, 
thanks to a cancellation. And I was getting 
ready to go to the doctor and get his report 
on my condition. I wasn't that anxious, but I 
had no choice then.

 My appointment was at 10:15, and I arrived 
just before 10:00. I like to be early. I 
was lucky, and I got to see my doctor at 11:10. 
This is why doctors call us patients. We have 
to have patience to see the doctor.

 Finally, the doctor was ready for me. First, 
I had to see his nurse to get the information 
for the medical evaluation. She took my temperature, 
my blood pressure, and all the rest.

Thirty minutes after she was finished, the 
doctor finally came. At that time, I was 
thinking of slipping out and go home and tell 
the wife the doctor said I was fine. As I was 
finishing this thought, guess who walked in?

I greeted him with a series of coughs.

"Not doing well," the doctor asked.

"That's why I'm here, Doc."

He looked through the nurse's information 
and then checked my lungs.

After checking the statics and asking me 
questions, he finally concluded.

Looking at me, he said, "You have acute 
bronchitis."

 I glared back at the doctor and said, "Doc, 
this bronchitis is not cute to any degree."

I then coughed in his direction three times.

After the doctor's visit, the worst part of the 
day, I had to return to the Gracious Mistress 
of the Parsonage and tell her what the doctor 
said was wrong with me and that she was 
right. She said I had bronchitis.

 Looking at my watch, I saw I had enough 
time to stop and get some personal medication, 
an Apple Fritter. What she doesn't 
know gets me in no trouble.

 While recovering from my sickness, I read 
something interesting in the Bible. "But 
when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, 
They that be whole need not a physician, but 
they that are sick" (Matthew 9:12).

As I get older, I realize that there are times 
when I do need to see a doctor. Even Jesus 
believed that.

 www.jamessnyderministries.com.

Michele Silence, M.A. is a 37-year certified fitness 
professional offering semi-private/virtual fitness 
classes and a weight management support group.

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