A12 East Oregonian PEANUTS COFFEE BREAK Thursday, August 1, 2019 DEAR ABBY BY CHARLES M . SCHULZ Dad’s long disappearances give family cause for alarm FOR BETTER OR WORSE BY LYNN JOHNSTON B.C. BY JOHNNY HART PICKLES BY BRIAN CRANE Dear Abby: My father’s behav- cult time, and that’s what I urge you ior has been very peculiar lately. He to do. I don’t know what your father and Mom have been married for 45 is up to and neither do you. But if it becomes necessary, a private detec- years. Of course, all marriages go tive can fill you in, I’m sure. through ups and downs. They have Dear Abby: I am in a loving and had their share of health problems. rewarding marriage. Because we Both are doing OK but are dealing have no children, my husband and I with some medical issues. are best friends who devote most of Because of my father’s actions, J eanne our time to each other. My issue is I’m afraid for my mother’s emo- P hilliPs tional state. He stays gone for long with some of his habits. ADVICE He is kind of clumsy, and this periods of time throughout the day has resulted in the destruction of and sometimes stays out until the many things in our home — our early morning of the next day. She carpet (spills that can’t be cleaned), cof- always stays up until he gets home. When fee table (discolored from spilling a caus- she calls or texts him, at times he doesn’t tic material) and sofa (spilled wax and cigar respond. I’ve also called or texted him while burns). I know he doesn’t do this intention- he was out. When I tried talking to him, ally, but nonetheless, it makes me irate. And he said he doesn’t have to explain himself. it is constant. He apologizes for it, yet it He’s not the best at staying on track when it occurs repeatedly. comes to taking care of himself. It’s like he Is there anything I can do to change this, is living another life. or must I accept the incremental destruction I’m not sure what’s going on between my of my home? And if that’s the case, what can parents. I just know I don’t like to see Mom I tell myself to make me less angry about it? treated this way because it’s disrespectful, — Mrs. Destructo in Baltimore and I can see she’s hurting. My relation- ship with my father is suffering because of Dear Mrs. Destructo: A certain amount this. I asked him to come to family coun- of wear and tear is normal. But your husband seling with me, my siblings and mother. He may be one of those people — many people refuses. I’m praying about this. I just don’t are — who “lives” on the sofa. Much of your know what else we can do. Please help. — problem might be eliminated if you made Perplexed Daughter sure that snacks are consumed in the kitchen Dear Perplexed: You cannot force your and no beverages more colorful than water father into family counseling, but you and are enjoyed in front of the television. If that’s your siblings can continue to give your not feasible, consider durable, stain-resistant fabrics when you re-cover your sofa. mother emotional support during this diffi- DAYS GONE BY BEETLE BAILEY GARFIELD BLONDIE BY MORT WALKER BY JIM DAVIS 100 Years Ago From the East Oregonian Aug. 1, 1919 Jerry Bronaugh, Portland attorney and once president of the Mazamas, stopped over night in Pendleton, en route by machine to Yellowstone Park, accompanied by his son. Mr. Bronaugh was quite anxious to have fel- low motorists in Portland know that there is sand on the road between Echo and Pendle- ton and that he was struggling to get his car free from it yesterday. He drove by way of The Dalles, Olex, Ione and Echo and made the trip here in two days. He advises his friends to take the trip slowly if they attempt it. 50 Years Ago From the East Oregonian Aug. 1, 1969 Water was a scarce commodity when the Tribal Community Hall on the Uma- tilla Indian Reservation was destroyed by fire Wednesday. The Pendleton Fire Depart- ment, acting on a mutual aid call, emptied a 750-gallon pumper and a 600-gallon tanker on the blaze. Rigs from St. Andrews Mis- sion, the Umatilla Indian Agency and the Pendleton Grain Growers also threw all the water they were capable of holding at the blaze, but could not squelch it. “We’d have needed at least two hydrants out here to have controlled this,” said one Pendleton fireman. Cause of the fire is still undetermined. The community hall was built in the early 1950s. 25 Years Ago From the East Oregonian Aug. 1, 1994 The man convicted of trying to kill a Stanfield police officer in February was finally sentenced this morning to more than 35 years in prison. Despite Damon L. Petrie’s request that the judge give him “a light at the end of the tunnel,” and despite defense attorney Robert Klahn’s challeng- ing of a pre-sentencing report, Circuit Court Judge Robert Abrams gave Petrie 35 years and two months in prison for attacking Stan- field police officer Butch Parrish with a com- mandeered patrol car. Echoing comments he made during his trial, Petrie apologized for injuring Parrish and said once again that his intent was only to escape — not to kill. BY DEAN YOUNG AND STAN DRAKE TODAY IN HISTORY DILBERT THE WIZARD OF ID LUANN ZITS BY SCOTT ADAMS BY BRANT PARKER AND JOHNNY HART BY GREG EVANS BY JERRY SCOTT AND JIM BORGMAN On August 1, 1944, an uprising broke out in War- saw, Poland, against Nazi occupation; the revolt lasted two months before collapsing. In 1714, Britain’s Queen Anne died at age 49; she was succeeded by George I. In 1876, Colorado was admitted as the 38th state. In 1907, the U.S. Army Signal Corps established an aeronautical division, the forerunner of the U.S. Air Force. In 1914, Germany declared war on Russia at the onset of World War I. In 1936, the Olympics opened in Berlin with a cer- emony presided over by Adolf Hitler. In 1957, the United States and Canada announced they had agreed to create the North Ameri- can Air Defense Command (NORAD). In 1966, Charles Joseph Whitman, 25, went on an armed rampage at the Uni- versity of Texas in Austin that killed 14 people, most of whom were shot by Whit- man while he was perched in the clock tower of the main campus building. (Whit- man, who had also slain his wife and mother hours earlier, was finally gunned down by police.) In 1973, the movie “American Graffiti,” directed by George Lucas, first opened. In 1981, the rock music video channel MTV made its debut. In 1994, Michael Jack- son and Lisa Marie Pres- ley confirmed they’d been secretly married 11 weeks earlier. (Presley filed for divorce from Jackson in Jan- uary 1996, citing irreconcil- able differences.) In 2007, the eight-lane Interstate 35W bridge, a major Minneapolis artery, collapsed into the Missis- sippi River during evening rush hour, killing 13 people. In 2013, defying the United States, Russia granted Edward Snowden temporary asylum, allow- ing the National Security Agency leaker to slip out of the Moscow airport where he had been holed up for weeks. Today’s Birthdays: Actor Giancarlo Giannini is 77. Blues singer-musi- cian Robert Cray is 66. Rock singer-musician Suzi Gard- ner (L7) is 59. Rapper Chuck D (Public Enemy) is 59. Rap- per Coolio is 56. Actor John Carroll Lynch is 56. Rock singer Adam Duritz (Count- ing Crows) is 55. Movie director Sam Mendes is 54. Actress Jennifer Gareis is 49. Actress Tempestt Bledsoe is 46. Actor Jason Momoa is 40. Actress Honeysuckle Weeks is 40. Singer Ashley Parker Angel is 38. Actress Taylor Fry is 38. Actor Elijah Kelley is 33. Thought for Today: “As scarce as truth is, the sup- ply is always greater than the demand.” — ”Josh Billings” (Henry Wheeler Shaw), American author (1818-1885) PHOEBE AND HER UNICORN BY DANA SIMPSON BIG NATE BY LINCOLN PEIRCE