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MY SUN DAY NEWS

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January 24, 2019

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National Lampoon’s Eggers’ Christmas Vacation

T’was the 18thof December and look at our car, all gassed up, shined up, and ready to go far.  The luggage was packed with clothes for all weather, and believe you me, not light as a feather.

And so, armed with beef jerky and Twizzlers, began the Dining Duo’s “Christmas Vacation” to see the grand kids in Jupiter, Florida.

Navigating winds and tides at Christmastide

I spent this holiday season in Naples, Florida, where my wife and I bought a home in 2009 to escape the bitter Chicago winters.

On Christmas morning this year, I slipped my kayak into the water by the Jolley Bridge at Marco Island and paddled the Big Marco River westward toward the Gulf of Mexico, tugged by the falling tide. The wind was northerly — neither help nor hindrance just yet.

A new year potpurri

First a belated Happy New Year to my friends at the fitness center, Ed, Bernie, Tony and Russ, I hope to get back soon.

It’s been a few weeks since we published, so there is a little catching up to do.

Ask the Woodchucks: January 10, 2019

I’m wondering if lock boxes are allowed here at Sun City? I know other Del Webb communities allow them. How would one go about getting one and who could install it?

Ask an Angel: January 10, 2019

We gathered at mom’s house for the holidays and it was obvious something has changed for her. We found her house a mess, papers all over the place, and she looked a little unkempt. My mom has always been very tidy and organized, so these findings were a little unsettling. I am going to suggest she thinks about her options, but I don’t even know what is available. What do families do in this situation?

Ask the Woodchucks: December 13, 2018

My wife would like to replace the mirror in the small bathroom of our Adler. I have loosened the metal clips and it won’t slide out. I tried to pry it from the wall, but it will not release. Thinking it was taped or glued to the wall, I pushed a putty knife behind the mirror and hit something which felt metallic. Any thoughts on how to get the mirror off the wall without breaking it or destroying the wall?

End-table lessons about little engines and big lies

On the end-table in what I call the “reading nook” in my house are ten little books. They are worn and weathered — understandable, because all are well-thumbed children’s books, each of them older than I am.

I have had them forever. (Well, for all of my life, which is forever to me.)

The Dining Duo’s best of 2018

Another year and 23 restaurants bite the dust. This was a tough year to review restaurants since we had a run of mediocre venues. Jim and I sat down, locked ourselves in our office, and tried to pick the best 10 restaurants by pondering over the reviews we did last year. “Pondering” is such an understatement; it was more like yelling, screaming, biting, and kicking.

Ask an Angel: December 13, 2018

The holidays come and go, and always make me feel a little blue and often I find it hard to get out of the slump. I’m sure I’m not alone with these emotions. What do people do to get through the season, which is supposed to be festive?

A look back at the year in movies

Last year there was a plethora of good or great films hitting the theaters around this time of year. Some of the best included The Man Who Invented Christmas, The Post, The Darkest Hour, and The Greatest Showman. Included in that time frame was The Shape of Water, undoubtedly one of the five worst films in history, and of course it won the Oscar for best movie.

The table with room for an endless number of chairs

“Buckle up for the toast of thankfulness,” I told my daughter Jenny as we started setting the table on Thanksgiving Day. “It’s going to be a bumpy ride.”

She laughed, but she also gave a sad nod, because she remembered.

Instant Family, instant watch

I arrived at the theater, settled into my seat with a box of Sno-Caps (a movie is not a movie without them), looked around, and there were five people in attendance. Why so few? Well maybe it was the time, 7:20; maybe it was the venue, AMC Lake in the Hills; maybe it was the weather, cold and miserable; maybe it was the day, a Thursday, or maybe it was the genre, Comedy/ Drama. Or maybe it was the subject matter, a realistic look at the Foster Care system.

Ask an Angel: December 6, 2018

My siblings and I all live out of town. Mom lives on her own and is doing fine, but she keeps to herself and sometimes says she feels lonely. She doesn’t like to socialize too much, so we are a little concerned that she is isolating herself. How can we help her have socializing in her life?

Ask the Woodchucks: December 6, 2018

We have lived in Sun City since 2006 and each year the sewer clean-out pipe in front of the house has risen a little out of the ground. It is now 14 inches above ground level. Is there any way to get it back down to where it belongs?

1 tequila, 2 tequila, 3 tequila, floor…

Jim officially retired on October 1, and boy is he enjoying his free time. He has spent most of his days touring doctors’ offices staffed by the medical team of Moe, Larry, and Curly, with Shemp being on call. He also visited the hospital, the emergency room, and physical therapists trying to get his new knee and hip play nice together. These truly are the “Golden Years.” We wanted to celebrate the doctors’ decision to let him graduate from a walker to a cane, so we decided to try Good Tequila’s Mexican Grill in Elk Grove Village. Is there such a thing as bad tequila???

Thank you turtles, and beetles, and crows (oh my!)

Several weeks ago in this space, I suggested that we should all say “Thank you for your service” to teachers, just as we thank military men and women for their service. That column “ignited” a “flood” of reader emails as contradictory as the mixed fire/water metaphor earlier in this sentence.

Some agreed with me and dashed out to thank the nearest teacher they could find.

Some thought I hadn’t gone far enough, suggesting that we might also shower firefighters and police officers with thanks for their service.

And some thought I went too far, arguing that saying “Thank you for your service” to anybody but military personnel would diminish its impact.

Ask an Angel: November 15, 2018

I care for my elderly parents and often neglect taking care of myself. While I prepare healthy meals for them, I don’t often take the same interest in my own diet because I am on the go so often. I’d appreciate any motivation you can give me to better my current habits.

It’s not in Addison…

We decided to go all out for Jim’s “Last Supper” before he goes “under the knife” once again. He is turning into a living “Operation Game.” The doctor replaced his knee and the buzzer went off, WRONG!!! Now, the hip doctor is giving it a try with a back surgeon waiting in the wings. Jim is turning into the bionic food critic. He felt he needed a good steak before surgery, so we thought we’d give Addison’s Steakhouse in McHenry a try.

Ask the Woodchucks: Vacation checklist

As many Sun City residents pack for warmer climates, it is important to spend an hour or so to get your house ready for winter. When you are going to be away for a week or more, you should prepare your home so there will be no surprises on your return.

The Girl in the Spider’s Web — not up to expectations

Swedish author Stieg Larsson died in November 2004. It took several years for his phenomenally successful trilogy about an unusual young woman named Lisbeth Salander to be published. The books sold 60 million copies posthumously. Lisbeth became an icon to those of us who could not put those books down. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl who Played with Fire, and The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, were made into films and went on to gross over $700 million worldwide.

There once was a Luddite from Limerick…

Go ahead, call me a Luddite. It’s not true.

Or… well… it’s not completely true. Not anymore.

Robert Redford, where are you?

A potato farmer hired a young man to help him with the harvest.  After dumping a truckload of potatoes in the barn, he asked him to sort them into three piles, one for large, one for medium sized and the third for smaller ones. The lad said, “fine, that shouldn’t be too hard.” After an hour or so the farmer decided to check back and see how the new helper was doing. He walked into the barn and found him curled up in a fetal position on the floor. Angered at the scene he found, the farmer spoke harshly to the young man, “what’s going on, I thought you said this job shouldn’t be too hard.” “The work isn’t too hard he replied, it’s those decisions that are killing me.”

Homemade for the holidays

Each year in the fall I spend a day making homemade Christmas gifts. It is a day that I treasure and hopefully brings some joy to the recipients at the holidays. Throughout the years, the gifts and the recipients have varied. One year it was canned pears for all of the adults who were influential in my children’s lives.

Ask an Angel: November 1, 2018

My father has dementia and is constantly fidgeting and moving things around in his house. This upsets my mom because she feels like she must keep him settled but can’t. What can I do to help them at this time in their lives?

Lucy, I’m home!

Before Nancy and I moved to the sunny confines of Sun City, we lived in Hoffman Estates, which is basically a suburb of Schaumburg. Our days living there included a lot of fond memories, such as when our son played basketball for a church league that was coached by one of my high school buddies. He coincidentally now also lives in Del Webb. After the games, the whole team would often go to a local haunt and “lick their wounds” over a big pepperoni pizza. We decided to revisit this haunt and “go back home” to Riccardo’s Ristorante in Schaumburg.

Question: When should you replace your furnace?

This column was not written to tell you when to replace your furnace and air conditioner, but rather to tell you how I decided and let you gather facts to make a decision that fits your needs. Replacing a furnace is usually done with different criteria than replacing your car.