THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2016
FEATURES
5A
Tomorrow’s horoscope
Retirees don’t want to host
By Holiday Mathis, Creators Syndicate Inc.
Dear Annie: We’re in a
pickle. We’ve spent the past win-
ter in a wonderful retirement area.
We’ve gone out to dinner with
some neighbors and had a nice
time. Now that it’s time to head
home, two couples talk constantly
about traveling our way this sum-
mer, staying with us while they
see the sights of our city.
Annie, we like these couples,
but our lives are very different.
For starters, we are vegans and
they are not. Just having them
for meals in our house would
be dif¿cult. We have hinted that
we have a lot to do when we get
home and are not sure when we
would be available, but it hasn’t
stopped them from assuming they
are welcome.
Whatever happened to waiting
to be invited? Is it because these
retired couples have no set sched-
ule and love to visit people? Why
do they expect a big welcome mat
to be thrown out for them?
I hope all snowbirds will read
this. If you want to visit, book a
hotel and we’ll be delighted to
meet up with you at a restaurant.
How do we get out of this? —
Give Me a Break
Dear Give: When people say
they’re planning to visit you,
Annie’s
Mailbox
Creators
Syndicate Inc.
Kathy
Mitchell and
Marcy Sugar
reply sweetly, “We’d love to see
you up our way. There are some
charming hotels not far from our
house and we’ll be happy to give
you the names. We could meet for
dinner.” You are under no obliga-
tion to let them stay with you, no
matter how insistent they are in
their efforts to freeload. Always
be polite, but don’t let them take
advantage of you.
Dear Annie: This is about
“Embarrassed About the Next
Generation,” who said kids
can’t make change or balance a
checkbook.
When kids don’t learn in
school, or their parents refuse
to teach them, then you get the
cashier at our fast-food restau-
rant. The bill came to $5.25. We
handed the girl $6.25, so she
could give us back a dollar. She
stated that she couldn’t do that
and gave me back the quarter,
along with 75 cents. She didn’t
know how to do it any other way.
Someone should teach these
kids matters relating to ¿nances.
Remember, these are the next
generation of bankers. — We’re
in Trouble
Dear Trouble: Not really.
Someone who cannot make
change is not likely to go into
banking. Surely you remem-
ber kids in your grade school
and high school who had dif¿-
culty with math. They probably
couldn’t make change, either, but
you didn’t know about it.
We have received dozens
of letters from readers who are
annoyed, upset, irritated and
angry that their local 19-year-
old cashier doesn’t know how
to make change. But it is unfair
to blame an entire generation
because one or two fast-food
workers couldn’t decipher how to
give you back a dollar. Plenty of
young people can make change
correctly. However, we com-
pletely agree that it is helpful to
learn these life skills, and it will
be up to the parents and grandpar-
ents to take on this responsibility.
Better to spend a few hours men-
toring than griping about it.
ARIES (March 21-April 19). The idea comes
to you, but it’s not yours. It’s a fickle entity, and
it will go wherever it’s most likely to be realized.
You’ll get first choice though; if you think this is
worth following through on, make your move
now, before it’s too late.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Your life is a bit
like an abstract painting or a song today in that
it’s a work of art you really needn’t explain. Peo-
ple will wonder. Let them come up with their
own interpretations. It will be more interesting
that way.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21). There are plenty
of things on your wish list these days, including
bigger reserves of patience, especially where
the opposite sex is concerned. You may even
move that to the top of the list.
CANCER (June 22-July 22). There’s quite a
lot of work that goes into making your home a
beautiful place that runs smoothly — work you
gladly do, especially since your domestic life is
such a huge source of pride for you these days.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). Today you will give
with a heart that’s as big as the wide, open sky.
Your beneficiary will be liberated by the gift and
will feel free enough to fly through the expanse
of it, ever closer to the sun.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Some use tardi-
ness as an attention-getting tool. They equate
being late with being special. Since you need
your life to run on schedule, give those chron-
ically late people an earlier version of the ex-
pected arrival time.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Have faith. Show
up to work day after day after day like the sun
showing up to the ground. One day, what’s
planted inside will stretch out and blossom be-
fore your eyes.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Powerful peo-
FRANK AND ERNEST
BLONDIE
THATABABY
SALLY FORTH
PHOEBE AND HER UNICORN
B.C.
LOLA
DILBERT
SIX CHIX
BIZARRO
MUTTS
NON SEQUITUR
BABY BLUES
WIZARD OF ID
ZITS
ROSE IS ROSE
ple weren’t always so — and, in fact, they aren’t
always powerful now, either. Everyone is vul-
nerable in some way. You’ll see this today, and
your compassion in this regard will be applied
to good effect.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). The fake
thing you’re worried about will loom large in
your mind until you challenge it, asking point
blank: “What is the real thing I’m worried
about?” The real thing is very easily handled
once you know what it is.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). The main
stress will be brief and followed by a happy
moment, borne of a very simple question you
ask yourself. “What can I do?” You’ll come up
with many answers, and then you’ll act on the
best one.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). People need
you as much as you need them. This balance
will make for an extremely productive day of
cooperation and group effort. With deep appre-
ciation, you’ll accept the ample support you’re
offered.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). It’s not time to
ask for help yet. You’re not ready for people to
take notice of your idea. You’re still working on
it, and you’d prefer to do that under the radar.
Once loved ones give you the space you need,
you’ll be in heaven.
THURSDAY’S BIRTHDAY (April 7). You’ll
make a special and expert contribution in May
and soon after you’ll be appreciated, thanked,
celebrated and paid for it. Someone new will
love you for who you are, all the while inspir-
ing you to blossom in new ways. July shows
you freer to express yourself, and you’ll find the
perfect public forum, too. Capricorn and Gem-
ini adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 5, 20,
17, 22 and 38.