Page 8C
East Oregonian
COFFEE BREAK
Saturday, February 6, 2016
DEAR ABBY
Clutter of holiday decorations
crushes man’s Christmas spirit
Dear Abby: Every December
arrive at work, the middle-aged men
my wife virtually buries our home in
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Christmas decorations. It’s not just
muscles. Literally! It makes me
the tree and stockings in the living
uncomfortable. I want to tell them I’m
not interested and they’re making fools
room; she’s not happy until there are
of themselves. Should I say something?
Christmas towels and Christmas soap
They read your column. Help me out,
in the bathroom and another tree and
please! — There To Work
knicky-knacky stuff downstairs. Not
Dear There To Work: Your
even a doorknob is safe from decora-
Jeanne
tion.
Phillips middle-aged co-workers are acting like
a group of teenaged boys. Continue
It drives me nuts; I feel so claustro-
Advice
to ignore them; you won’t be there
phobic. I bump into these decorations
forever. However, if it escalates, you
everywhere I turn. I was raised
differently, more simply. There was a tree in should discuss it with Human Resources.
Dear Abby: Please settle a disagreement I
the living room and stockings hung from the
have with my husband and daughter. How do
mantel. That was it.
For the last 20 years of our marriage, I you determine “up the street” or “down the
have suggested — unsuccessfully — that we street”? I contend that it goes by the house
compromise and alternate every other year. One numbers. They disagree. Any advice? —
year her way, the next mine. When I do, she Curious In New York
Dear Curious: According to Merriam
tearfully accuses me of being Scrooge. I admit
I’m not big on the commercialized Christmas Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary online: “In
season, but is my request unreasonable? — Not general, the prepositional phrases ‘up the street’
and ‘down the street’ mean the same thing,
Fond Of Christmas In North Ogden, Utah
Dear Not Fond: No, it’s not. You are and in most cases either one is appropriate. ...
suggesting meeting each other halfway. Your However, if the street is on a hill, use ‘up the
wife is unwilling to do that even though street’ when talking about something that is
she knows what she’s doing is making you further uphill, and ‘down the street’ when it’s
uncomfortable. And that’s regrettable because further downhill.”
My postman said that, in his opinion, “up the
Christmas is supposed to be about what’s in the
street” means in the direction of higher address
heart, not what’s all over the house.
Dear Abby: I’m a female college student numbers, and the reverse for lower ones — so
and I intern at a chemical plant. When I I’ll defer to him and to you.
DAYS GONE BY
100 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
Feb. 6-7, 1916
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been underway all day long and because of
rather alarming reports from foothills and
mountains. About 11 o’clock the Umatilla
River began to rise and at 2 was carrying a
considerable stream of muddy water. At 2
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thermometer registered 51 degrees above zero,
the warmest weather in many days. Snow is
melting to considerable extent here this after-
noon and slush is forming though little water
was running on the ground or in the gutters.
50 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
Feb. 6-7, 1966
“Someone was watching over them,” a
lawman said today of nine persons who missed
a 110-mile-an-hour head-on collision by inches
Saturday. As it was, the sides of both cars were
heavily damaged in a hit-run sideswipe on old
Highway 30 near Memory Lane 1 1/2 miles
east of Pendleton. Chester Minthorn, 19, Pend-
leton, is being held in the Umatilla County
Jail charged with hit-run. He told deputies the
car he was driving was moving more than 70
miles an hour when it brushed the side of a
car coming from the other direction, toward
Pendleton. That car was driven by Joe Craig,
Cayuse. Craig’s speed was estimated at at
least 40 miles an hour. Sheriff’s deputy Bill
McPherson said he found the alleged hit-run
vehicle near Mission and arrested Minthorn
and three juveniles, including two girls, who
were charged with being minors in possession
of alcoholic beverages.
25 Years Ago
From the East Oregonian
Feb. 6-7, 1991
Tuesday was “Jeanne Hughes Day” in both
Pendleton and Umatilla County, and about
65 people gathered for a no-host luncheon to
honor the former county commissioner from
Pendleton. “It’s good to be recognized while
you’re still here,” Hughes told the crowd.
Hughes served on the commission from April
1985 to December 1990. She has worked on
the Area Agency on Aging advisory council,
League of Women Voters, county courthouse
clock tower project and formation of the
Umatilla County Special Library District.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Today is the 37th day of
2016. There are 329 days
left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in
History:
On Feb. 6, 1911, Ronald
Wilson Reagan, the 40th
president of the United
States, was born in Tampico,
Ill.
On this date:
In 1778, the United
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nition from France with
the signing of a Treaty of
Alliance in Paris.
In 1788, Massachusetts
became the sixth state to
ratify the U.S. Constitution.
In 1899, a peace treaty
between the United States
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U.S. Senate.
In 1933, the 20th
Amendment to the Consti-
tution, the so-called “lame
duck” amendment, was
proclaimed in effect by
Secretary of State Henry
Stimson.
In 1952, Britain’s King
George VI died; he was
succeeded by his daughter,
Elizabeth II.
In 1959, the United States
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continental ballistic missile
from Cape Canaveral.
In
1978,
Muriel
Humphrey took the oath
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senator from Minnesota,
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husband, former Vice Presi-
dent Hubert Humphrey.
In 1991, comedian and
television performer Danny
Thomas died in Los Angeles
at age 79.
In 1992, 16 people were
killed when a C-130 mili-
tary transport plane crashed
in Evansville, Ind.
In 1996, a Turkish-owned
Boeing 757 jetliner crashed
into the Atlantic Ocean
shortly after takeoff from
the Dominican Republic,
killing 189 people, mostly
German tourists.
In
2006:
President
George W. Bush submitted
a $2.77 trillion budget
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Attorney General Alberto
Gonzales defended the
Bush
administration’s
eavesdropping
program
before the Senate Judiciary
Committee.
Terrorist
conspirator
Zacarias
Moussaoui disrupted the
opening of his sentencing
trial in Alexandria, Va., and
was tossed out of court.
Hundreds of protesters
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at the Danish Embassy
in Tehran to denounce
published caricatures of
the prophet Muhammad.
Stephen Harper was sworn
in as Canada’s 22nd prime
minister. Isabelle Dinoire,
the Frenchwoman who’d
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partial face transplant,
showed off her new features
at a news conference.
Today’s
Birthdays:
Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor is
99. Cinematographer and
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(Film: “Medium Cool”) is
94. Actor Rip Torn is 85.
Actress Mamie Van Doren
is 85. Actor Mike Farrell
is 77. Former NBC News
anchorman Tom Brokaw
is 76. Singer Fabian is 73.
Actress Gayle Hunnicutt is
73. Actor Michael Tucker is
72. Producer-director-writer
Jim Sheridan is 67. Actor
Jon Walmsley is 60. Actress
Kathy Najimy is 59. Rock
musician Simon Phillips
(Toto) is 59. Actor-director
Robert Townsend is 59.
Actor Barry Miller is 58.
Actress Megan Gallagher
is 56. Rock singer Axl
Rose (Guns N’ Roses) is
54. Country singer Richie
McDonald is 54. Singer
Rick Astley is 50. Rock
musician Tim Brown (Boo
Radleys) is 47. “Good
Morning America” co-host
Amy Robach is 43. Actor
Brandon Hammond is 32.
Actress Alice Greczyn is 30.
Thought for Today:
“Life is just one grand sweet
song, so start the music.” —
President Ronald Reagan
(1911-2004).