COFFEE BREAK B6 — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD SATuRDAY, AuguST 14, 2021 Grandparents are ‘Mommy’ and ‘Daddy’ to toddler mommy. We display her photos, and he will say that that’s his mommy, but I also don’t want to hurt his feelings by saying I’m not his mommy. His father isn’t in the picture, so my hus- band and I are the only parents he knows. My husband seems uncomfortable with him calling me Mommy and when he hears it, he tries to correct him. Should we allow him to call us Mommy and Daddy or continue to cor- rect him? — Getting It Right in North Carolina Dear Getting It Right: Please accept my sympathy for the loss of your daughter. I see nothing positive to be gained by not allowing your grandson to call you what he wants. You and your husband have made clear that his mommy is in heaven, but right Dear Abby: My daughter passed away last year, and we received custody of our grandson, who was 15 months old at the time. He is now nearly 2½ years old. My daughter wanted him to call me Mamaw because that’s what she called my mother, so I’ve always referred to myself that way, but recently, he has started calling me Mommy. I say Mamaw back to him and sometimes he will say Mamaw, but more often it’s Mommy. I’m uncomfortable not hon- oring my daughter as his nant melanoma after a mole was removed. After I emailed the news to my sisters, I received one response from a sister saying, “Give your daughter our best!” Other than that, there have been no cards — nothing. Am I petty in thinking they should have at least sent my daughter a card? — Petty in Florida Dear Petty: Your relatives apparently didn’t consider the thoughtfulness you displayed to their children something to be reciprocated. How sad. In situ- ations like this, it isn’t the tan- gible item that’s most important, it’s the thought, and it appears your relatives didn’t want to put in the effort. I do not think it’s petty to recognize that fact and feel disappointment. You are human. ding rings. Why do women do this and how can I politely tell them “No way”? — Shocked in New York Dear Shocked: The women want to see it on their own hand and imagine for a moment that the ring is theirs. Feeling as you do, convey your message by smiling and replying, “I never remove my wedding rings other than to clean them.” Dear Abby: I live in Florida, and the rest of my big family lives in Canada. Last year, five of my nieces/nephews were admitted to the hospital for varying health reasons. Rather than send flowers, I sent each a check for $50. I thought money would be more useful. Well, last week my daughter was diagnosed with malig- now the boy needs a “Mommy” right here on Earth. It is not at all disrespectful of your late daugh- ter’s memory to allow him that. Dear Abby: I have been hap- pily married to my husband for five years. When we married, money was tight, so we agreed to use temporary wedding rings and upgrade to our final offi- cial set later. Well, we finally did it, and my ring is what I always wanted. It is stunning. The problem: When friends and family (and sometimes even strangers!) compliment me on my ring, it is often accompanied with, “Can I try it on?” or more forcibly, “Let me try that on!” I would never ask to try on some- thing so precious to someone else, and I never want to see someone else wearing my wed- NEWS OF THE WEIRD Crime historian conducts dig for D.B. Cooper case evidence ited communications back home, restricted food and resources and equipment failures. NASA is planning three of these experiments with the first one starting in the fall next year. Food will all be ready-to-eat space food and at the moment there are no windows planned. Some plants will be grown, but not potatoes like in the movie “The Martian.” Damon played stranded astronaut Mark Watney, who survived on spuds. “We want to understand how humans perform in them,” said lead scientist Grace Douglas. “We are looking at Mars realistic situations.” The application process opened Friday and they’re not seeking just anybody. The requirements are strict, including a master’s degree in a science, engineering or math field or pilot expe- rience. Only American cit- izens or permanent U.S. residents are eligible. Appli- cants have to be between 30 and 55, in good phys- ical health with no dietary issues and not prone to motion sickness. That shows NASA is looking for people who are close to astronauts, said former Canadian astro- naut Chris Hadfield. And, he said. that’s a good thing because it is a better exper- iment if the participants are more similar to the people who will really go to Mars. Past Russian efforts at a pretend Mars mission called Mars 500 didn’t end well partly because the people were too much like The Associated Press VANCOUVER, Wash. — Nearly 50 years after skyjacker D.B. Cooper vanished out the back of a Boeing 727 into freezing Northwest rain — wearing a business suit, a parachute and a pack with $200,000 in cash — a crime histo- rian is conducting a dig on the banks of the Columbia River in Vancouver, Washington, in search of evidence. KOIN reports that Eric Ulis, a self-described expert on the infamous D.B. Cooper case, began a two-day dig on Friday, Aug. 6. Ulis and four volunteers are searching for evidence about 10 to 15 yards away from where a boy found $6,000 of Cooper’s ransom money in 1980. Ulis said his theory is that Cooper buried the parachutes, an attache case and the money at the same time, but dug smaller holes instead of one large one. The case of Cooper has become infamous, not only in the Pacific Northwest but also in the country. The FBI Seattle field office called the investigation one of the lon- gest and most exhaustive in the agency’s history. On Nov. 24, 1971, the night before Thanksgiving, a man described as being in his mid-40s with sun- glasses and an olive com- plexion boarded a flight from Portland, Oregon, to Seattle-Tacoma Interna- tional Airport. He bought his $20 ticket under the name “Dan Cooper,” but an The Associated Press, File This undated artist sketch shows the skyjacker known as D.B. Cooper from recollections of the passen- gers and crew of a Northwest Airlines jet he hijacked between Portland and Seattle on Thanksgiving eve in 1971. Nearly 50 years after skyjacker D.B. Cooper vanished out the back of a Boeing 727 into freezing Northwest rain, wearing a business suit, a parachute and a pack with $200,000 in cash, a crime historian is conducting a dig on the banks of the Columbia River in Vancouver, Washington, in search of evidence. Want to pretend to live on Mars? For a whole year? Apply now and jumped. He was never found. But a boy digging on a Columbia River beach in 1980 discovered three bundles of weathered $20 bills — nearly $6,000 in all. It was Cooper’s cash, according to the serial numbers. Over the years, the FBI and amateur sleuths have examined innumerable the- ories about Cooper’s iden- tity and fate, from accounts of unexplained wealth to purported discoveries of his parachute to poten- tial matches of the agen- cy’s composite sketch of the suspect. In July 2016, the FBI announced it was no longer investigating the case. early wire-service report misidentified him as “D.B. Cooper,” and the name stuck. Sitting in the rear of the plane, he handed a note to a flight attendant after takeoff. “Miss, I have a bomb and would like you to sit by me,” it said. The man demanded $200,000 in cash plus four parachutes. He received them at Sea-Tac, where he released the 36 passen- gers and two of the flight attendants. The plane took off again at his direction, heading to Reno, Nevada, at the low height of 10,000 feet. Somewhere, appar- ently over southwestern Washington, Cooper low- ered the aircraft’s rear stairs weather | Go to AccuWeather.com Want to find your inner Matt Damon and spend a year pretending you are iso- lated on Mars? NASA has a job for you. To prepare for eventu- ally sending astronauts to Mars, NASA began taking applications Friday for four people to live for a year in Mars Dune Alpha. That’s a 1,700-square-foot Mar- tian habitat, created by a 3D-printer, and inside a building at Johnson Space Center in Houston. The paid volunteers will work a simulated Martian exploration mission com- plete with spacewalks, lim- Astoria Longview 57/70 Vancouver 66/93 67/95 SUN MON Mostly sunny; not as hot 55 98 55 91 52 Baker City Comfort Index™ La Grande 3 66 98 60 Comfort Index™ Enterprise 4 4 74/93 Comfort Index™ 3 81 47 Condon 74/99 69/93 63/96 75 52 79 53 6 10 10 74 48 76 52 8 10 8 TEMPERATURES Baker City La Grande Elgin NATION (for the 48 contiguous states) High: 116° Low: 30° Wettest: 4.38” 96° 50° 99° 55° 102° 56° PRECIPITATION (inches) Thursday Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Normal year to date 0.00 0.47 0.17 2.93 6.16 0.00 0.21 0.25 6.33 10.91 0.00 0.30 0.24 15.67 15.47 HAY INFORMATION SUNDAY 20% WNW at 4 to 8 mph 9.1 0.28 RESERVOIR STORAGE (through midnight Friday) Phillips Reservoir Unity Reservoir Owyhee Reservoir McKay Reservoir Wallowa Lake Thief Valley Reservoir 1% of capacity 34% of capacity 22% of capacity 51% of capacity 5% of capacity 0% of capacity The Dalles Meacham Rain on Aug. 14, 1979, left 1,800 Las Ve- gas residents without electricity and made getting around the fl ooded city streets dicey. It is a gamble to expect much rain in Las Vegas, Nev., during August. SUN & MOON SAT. Sunrise Sunset Moonrise Moonset SUN. 5:52 a.m. 5:54 a.m. 8:01 p.m. 7:59 p.m. 12:53 p.m. 2:11 p.m. 11:14 p.m. 11:45 p.m. MOON PHASES STREAM FLOWS (through midnight Thursday) Grande Ronde at Troy Thief Valley Reservoir near North Powder Burnt River near Unity Umatilla River near Gibbon Minam River at Minam Powder River near Richland OREGON High: 108° Low: 49° Wettest: none WEATHER HISTORY AGRICULTURAL INFO. Lowest relative humidity Afternoon wind Hours of sunshine Evapotranspiration Death Valley, Calif. Walden, Colo. Rantoul, Ill. 476 cfs 56 cfs 97 cfs 41 cfs 79 cfs 16 cfs First Aug 15 Full Aug 22 Last Aug 29 New Sep 6 Brothers 58/96 Beaver Marsh 57/94 Roseburg 65/95 Jordan Valley 61/98 Paisley 57/98 Frenchglen 63/99 Medford Grand View Arock 61/100 68/104 65/103 Klamath Falls 59/97 Lakeview 57/96 McDermitt 62/102 RECREATION FORECAST SUNDAY MON. Hi/Lo/W 68/55/pc 89/52/s 97/67/pc 68/54/pc 94/53/s 70/52/pc 84/54/pc 96/57/pc 88/55/pc 87/58/pc 93/66/pc 86/61/pc 92/56/pc 91/59/s 87/53/pc 96/67/pc 88/51/s 92/50/s Diamond 62/99 Fields REGIONAL CITIES City Hi/Lo/W Astoria 70/59/c Bend 94/60/pc Boise 100/68/pc Brookings 65/53/pc Burns 100/58/pc Coos Bay 70/57/c Corvallis 89/59/pc Council 99/61/pc Elgin 98/57/pc Eugene 95/58/pc Hermiston 103/72/pc Hood River 93/66/pc Imnaha 100/62/pc John Day 101/61/pc Joseph 93/57/pc Kennewick 103/71/pc Klamath Falls 97/54/pc Lakeview 96/57/pc Boise 70/100 Shown is Sunday’s weather. Temperatures are Saturday night’s lows and Sunday’s highs. SUN. 64/103 Silver Lake 55/92 72/101 53/65 Juntura 58/100 67/103 Brookings Ontario 69/105 Burns 59/98 Chiloquin Grants Pass Huntington 60/97 64/93 Coos Bay 68/99 75/102 Seneca 66/94 Oakridge Council 55/98 65/101 64/95 Bend 62/83 62/100 58/89 John Day 62/99 Sisters Elkton Powers Halfway Granite Baker City Florence 55/65 THURSDAY EXTREMES High Thursday Low Thursday Monument 64/103 Redmond 52/63 54/70 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. 66/98 63/92 65/93 59/86 87 54 ALMANAC Newport Eugene 89 57 5 Corvallis Enterprise 61/94 60/89 62/95 10 Elgin 61/98 La Grande 69/97 73/98 Idanha Salem 79 46 9 74/99 Pendleton The Dalles Portland Newberg Lewiston 72/103 Hood River 71/100 WED 6 2 61 94 57 TUE Partly sunny and Partly sunny and cooler pleasant Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021 Walla Walla 71/103 Maupin Hazy and very hot BOSTON — Boston’s famous Skinny House is on sale again for a whopping $1.2 million. The vertically rectangu- lar-shaped house was listed on Monday, Aug. 9, the first time it’s been on the market since 2017. Four years ago, it was sold for $900,000, The Boston Globe reported. The home, in Boston’s North End, is about 1,165 square feet. But more inter- estingly, the house is barely 10 feet wide at its widest point. The humble abode narrows in the back, ending at 9.25 feet. There are four stories in the home and a deck that displays views of Boston Harbor. Also, the house offers updated appli- ances, hardwood floors and exposed brick, and a Juliet balcony facing private gardens. The home does not have a front door. Guests enter through a private side door and they’re met with a skitchen and dining room. The second floor holds the living area and the house’s only bathroom. The third level has a living space and a bedroom. Lastly, the upper level of the house has the only other room — a master bedroom. Appointments are avail- able to view the home, but potential buyers may want to act quickly because the house was sold in less than three months in 2017. Kennewick 62/86 St. Helens TIllamook TONIGHT Boston’s famed Skinny House back on market, listed for $1.2M AROUND OREGON AND THE REGION 55/73 Hazy, warm and smoky everyday people, he said. SUN. City Lewiston Longview Meacham Medford Newport Olympia Ontario Pasco Pendleton Portland Powers Redmond Roseburg Salem Spokane The Dalles Ukiah Walla Walla MON. Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W 103/71/pc 96/69/pc 86/59/pc 78/55/pc 98/58/pc 89/55/pc 101/65/s 94/61/s 63/53/pc 64/49/pc 83/57/pc 76/52/pc 105/71/pc 100/68/pc 104/68/pc 96/66/pc 100/71/pc 92/63/s 93/64/pc 85/59/c 83/58/c 80/56/pc 99/58/pc 91/52/s 95/60/s 89/61/s 93/62/pc 86/58/pc 95/68/pc 88/59/pc 99/69/pc 90/62/pc 95/55/pc 88/50/s 99/72/pc 93/64/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 Hazy sun Hot with hazy sun 70 49 91 55 MT. EMILY REC. BROWNLEE RES. Hazy sun and smoky Hazy sun and smoky 84 56 102 64 EAGLE CAP WILD. EMIGRANT ST. PARK Hazy sun and smoky Hazy and hot 80 49 91 48 WALLOWA LAKE MCKAY RESERVOIR Hazy sun and smoky Hazy sun; very hot 93 57 100 68 THIEF VALLEY RES. RED BRIDGE ST. PARK Very hot Hazy and very hot 98 55 98 60