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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (March 3, 2022)
COFFEE BREAK B6 — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD THuRSDAY, MARCH 3, 2022 Drug abuse, bad finances derail caregiver’s life I have since gotten sober, while Martha is still strung out. She threatens to destroy my life if I won’t do what she wants, and I’m scared to quit because we have loans together. How do I start having a healthy balance with her and my life? Now that I’m sober, I realize how badly she has been treating me the whole time. Can you please advise me how to distance from her? — SOBER WOMAN IN GEORGIA DEAR SOBER WOMAN: For the sake of your sobriety, your relationship with Martha must end. Do not allow your- self to be blackmailed into con- tinuing one with her. She needs DEAR ABBY: I’m conflicted about a relationship I have devel- oped with a 77-year-old lady I’ll call “Martha.” I have been acting as her caregiver. For the first three years, I was addicted to pain pills, which Martha and I both get. I was so strung out I didn’t realize what kind of person she was. She expects me to be there every free minute, which, under different circumstances, would be fine. But I have a husband and a dog. to find another caregiver, and you need to find another job. Because your name is on those loans, you may be obligated to pay them off if she doesn’t. This is why you should discuss this mess with an attorney. That Martha still abuses her meds means you may have some leverage. DEAR ABBY: My husband and I argue about returning gifts his parents give us. They are well-off and buy excessively for their grandkids throughout the year, especially at holidays. They also buy multiple gifts for my husband and me. We are drowning in too much stuff and constantly battling clutter in our home. though he fundamentally agrees with me. How do I help his par- ents understand that what they are really giving us is a fight? And, if none of them care about my wishes, how do I get past feeling disrespected and disre- garded? — BURIED IN STUFF DEAR BURIED: By now you should have realized that your mother-in-law, “Lady Bountiful,” isn’t going to change. You will spend less time being frustrated if you let go of your resentment about her spending sprees. My heart- felt advice to you is to develop a sense of humor where she’s concerned. If you can’t use her gifts, donate, regift or sell them. None of these gifts are from our family’s wish lists, nor are they particularly thoughtful. In years past, I have asked my mother-in-law to limit her pur- chases to three gifts — one toy, one outfit, one book — with no success. I also have pleaded with her to stop buying me small knickknacks, and have suggested more experi- ence-based gifts. Still, year after year, we come home with a bunch of stuff we neither need nor want. How can I get my in-laws to respect our wishes? To make matters worse, my husband becomes defensive of his par- ents when I get frustrated, even national back orders on those, and other parts as well. I think it has to do with the fact that they’re not being able to come up with the (computer) chips.” Silicon computer chip manufacturers have been in the spotlight for their inability to keep up with the ever-encreasing demand, leading to short- ages in everything from game consoles, cellphones and even new vehicles. “We’ve always been really busy,” Horst said. “I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that buying new cars isn’t as easy as it has been, so people are fixing their old ones.” The chip shortage has affected the manu- facture of new cars, and the used car market has flourished, according to numerous media reports. In some instances, cars have actually appreciated in value due to the relative scarcity. Repair shops have been inundated with an increased demand for ser- vices, which is only exac- erbated by the still lin- gering nationwide labor shortage. REPAIR Continued from Page B1 “There’s definitely been an increase (in demand) especially with the other auto body shops on 10th Street in Baker City recently going out of busi- ness,” said Tabbitha Jensen, manager at Eagle Valley Collision Rebuilders, Baker City. “I heard that Joe’s Pre- mier Auto Body over on Broadway Street is seeing the same. There’s definitely an increase in demand that is higher than usual.” Jensen said that her shop has had an increase in busi- ness and repairs, but didn’t want to point fingers at the general public’s driving habits. Instead, she said that a local auto body shop closing meant that Eagle Valley Collision Rebuilders was taking on a lot more clients than before. So many, in fact, that the shop has a backlog of work extending well into this spring. “Right now, for body work, on a regular schedule we’re booked out to May,” Jensen said. “My next job (availability) is May 2. This MEAT Continued from Page B1 • Plants operating under USDA inspection that are planning to increase meat processing from animals raised in Oregon. ODA anticipates its inspection program will begin in July, pending approval from the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. Andrea Cantu-Schomus, ODA spokesperson, said the program’s first set of draft rules were evaluated by Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group Carl Severtsen, a mechanic at La Grande Auto Repair, on Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, replaces the starter in a customer’s vehicle. is the furthest that we’ve ever been booked out.” Jensen noted that the shop can still perform rou- tine and basic repairs to help get cars street legal, such as replacing head- lights or tail lights. As well, Jensen said she hadn’t noticed shortages on basic car parts. Still, certain parts are difficult to procure, according to Joe Horst, owner of La Grande Auto Repair. Horst said that his the federal government in January. “We are in the midst of making necessary changes to meet their program requirements,” she said. Oregon has not had a state inspection program since 1971, when it was eliminated due to budget cuts. In 2020, the Legisla- ture allocated $926,195 and three full-time employees to re-establish the program. Currently, Oregon has 13 USDA-inspected meat plants that are either at full capacity or require ranchers to drive long distances — what are known as “pro- cessing deserts.” By expanding processing capacity, ODA says it can reduce transportation time and costs; support direct- to-consumer meat sales; reduce processing bottle- necks; provide wholesale options for value-added processors; and give pro- ducers greater control over the price they receive for livestock. The $2 million Oregon Meat Processing Infra- structure and Capacity Building Grant is meant to help spur this work. weather | Go to AccuWeather.com shop, which he opened in 1993, is currently averaging about a week for repairs, but that all depends on what parts are needed. Certain electrical parts are on back order for months according to Horst, which means some repairs may be stalled for extended periods of time. “There are some things that are getting more and more difficult to get,” he said. “One good example is modules from the dealers. There seems to be a lot of AROUND OREGON AND THE REGION Astoria Longview 40/50 Kennewick 42/52 St. Helens 40/55 33/56 37/58 40/54 38/53 Condon Baker City 29 42 30 Comfort Index™ La Grande 0 0 MON Rather cloudy and chilly Mostly sunny and chilly Mostly sunny 40 27 43 19 45 22 Eugene 37/49 0 1 39 29 42 27 49 29 0 1 6 38 23 43 28 1 2 5 0 ALMANAC TEMPERATURES Baker City La Grande Elgin NATION (for the 48 contiguous states) High: 93° Low: -16° Wettest: 0.63” 51° 32° 55° 39° 60° 37° 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.40 1.31 0.04 0.04 0.05 1.91 2.95 0.54 0.54 0.09 6.09 5.70 PRECIPITATION (inches) Tuesday Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Normal year to date AGRICULTURAL INFO. HAY INFORMATION FRIDAY Lowest relative humidity Afternoon wind Hours of sunshine Evapotranspiration 55% NNW at 8 to 16 mph 0.0 0.05 RESERVOIR STORAGE (through midnight Wednesday) Phillips Reservoir Unity Reservoir Owyhee Reservoir McKay Reservoir Wallowa Lake Thief Valley Reservoir 3% of capacity 34% of capacity 23% of capacity 44% of capacity 27% of capacity 53% of capacity STREAM FLOWS (through midnight Tuesday) Grande Ronde at Troy 2790 cfs Thief Valley Reservoir near North Powder 1 cfs Burnt River near Unity 7 cfs Umatilla River near Gibbon 606 cfs Minam River at Minam 381 cfs Powder River near Richland 30 cfs Palm Springs, Calif. Clayton Lake, Maine North Bend, Ore. OREGON High: 69° Low: 25° Wettest: 0.63” Hermiston Ruch North Bend On March 3, 1994, as much as 30 inches of snow buried central Pennsylvania, push- ing season totals to record levels. SUN & MOON THU. 6:27 a.m. 5:42 p.m. 7:20 a.m. 7:03 p.m. FRI. 6:25 a.m. 5:43 p.m. 7:40 a.m. 8:14 p.m. MOON PHASES First Mar 10 Full Mar 17 Last Mar 24 Beaver Marsh 40/48 New Mar 31 Jordan Valley Paisley Frenchglen 35/47 City Astoria Bend Boise Brookings Burns Coos Bay Corvallis Council Elgin Eugene Hermiston Hood River Imnaha John Day Joseph Kennewick Klamath Falls Lakeview Hi/Lo/W 50/40/c 47/37/pc 52/36/pc 48/40/c 48/28/sf 48/41/c 49/35/sh 46/30/pc 45/31/pc 49/35/sh 53/33/pc 56/36/pc 46/35/sn 45/32/sf 38/30/sn 54/33/pc 43/29/sf 46/27/sf Hi/Lo/W 51/36/pc 50/33/c 48/32/c 52/37/pc 45/23/c 50/37/c 52/33/c 43/26/c 41/27/pc 52/34/pc 56/30/s 59/37/pc 44/31/c 39/29/pc 35/24/c 55/30/s 44/21/c 44/22/c Grand View Arock 37/52 36/51 38/50 Klamath Falls 32/43 Lakeview 33/46 McDermitt Shown is Friday’s weather. Temperatures are Thursday night’s lows and Friday’s highs. SAT. Diamond 34/43 Fields 38/48 FRI. Boise 34/50 32/43 30/41 Medford Brookings 33/50 36/52 38/47 40/48 Juntura 32/48 Silver Lake Chiloquin Grants Pass Ontario 38/55 Burns 28/40 37/52 RECREATION FORECAST FRIDAY REGIONAL CITIES WEATHER HISTORY Sunrise Sunset Moonrise Moonset 35/41 26/37 Roseburg 40/47 Brothers 33/47 Coos Bay Huntington 28/41 34/47 Oakridge Council 32/46 36/50 Seneca Bend TUESDAY EXTREMES High Tuesday Low Tuesday 32/45 33/47 Elkton Powers 30/44 29/42 John Day 30/47 Sisters Florence 40/49 Halfway Granite 25/41 Baker City Redmond 40/48 Comfort Index takes into account how the weather will feel based on a combination of factors. A rating of 10 feels very comfortable while a rating of 0 feels very uncomfortable. 27/39 36/49 Newport 39/50 36 25 30/46 33/51 39/54 Corvallis 38/47 0 1 27 39 32 Comfort Index™ SUN Enterprise 32/44 Monument 34/53 Idanha Salem SAT 0 32 44 33 Comfort Index™ Enterprise 0 Elgin 29/45 La Grande 32/44 Maupin Late-night snow, Partly sunny and 1-2” chilly 35/46 Pendleton The Dalles Portland Newberg Lewiston 37/50 Hood River 32/47 39/53 FRI Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022 Walla Walla 32/54 Vancouver 40/53 TIllamook TONIGHT Computer not running as fast as when it was new? Let us install lightning-fast solid state drive! Still running unsupported Windows 7? We’ll help you avoid critical issues by installing Windows 10! City Lewiston Longview Meacham Medford Newport Olympia Ontario Pasco Pendleton Portland Powers Redmond Roseburg Salem Spokane The Dalles Ukiah Walla Walla FRI. SAT. Hi/Lo/W 50/37/c 52/37/c 42/31/c 48/37/c 47/40/sh 49/32/sh 55/38/c 56/31/pc 47/33/pc 54/38/c 47/42/c 47/29/c 48/42/c 54/38/c 48/30/c 58/35/pc 42/27/c 46/36/c Hi/Lo/W 49/33/pc 55/34/pc 40/28/c 53/32/c 48/37/pc 50/31/pc 53/38/c 57/31/s 48/29/pc 53/36/c 49/38/c 48/28/c 51/37/c 54/36/c 46/28/pc 59/37/pc 37/25/c 48/33/pc Weather(W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice ANTHONY LAKES PHILLIPS LAKE Snow, 1-2” Morning fl urries 24 19 43 28 MT. EMILY REC. BROWNLEE RES. Cold A little a.m. snow 34 27 47 33 EAGLE CAP WILD. EMIGRANT ST. PARK Snow, 1-2” Cloudy and chilly 32 21 39 27 WALLOWA LAKE MCKAY RESERVOIR Snow, 1-2”; chilly Periods of sun 38 30 45 32 THIEF VALLEY RES. RED BRIDGE ST. PARK Snow, 1-2”; cold Partly sunny 42 30 44 33