COFFEE BREAK
B8 — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
TuESDAY, SEpTEmBER 21, 2021
Prison sentence complicates longtime friendship
lent crime, it was horrible just the
same. He has called me several
times from prison, declaring his
innocence — always requesting
money. Abby, I live paycheck
to paycheck. Even if I had extra
money, I wouldn’t feel comfort-
able giving it to him.
I feel hurt and used. Part of
me says I need to end the friend-
ship; the other part says he needs
friends right now and it’s not
my place to judge him. I have
refused to accept his last few
calls because I really don’t know
what to do. Your thoughts are
appreciated. — Blindsided in
Pennsylvania
Dear Blindsided: This person
hasn’t used you — yet. The next
time he reaches out, accept the
Dear Abby: I have a former
high school classmate who, over
the years, I’ve gotten pretty close
to. He has been there for me when
I was at my lowest, and I have
been there for him as well. He
lives several hours away, but we
talked almost daily in addition to
being on social media.
A few months ago I stopped
hearing from him, and his social
media profile went dark. I had a
bad feeling, so I Googled him and
was shocked to see he had been
arrested. While it wasn’t a vio-
home. He said he found a job and
decided he wants to stay there and
work for some months to save up
enough money to pay off the bulk
of our debt.
He did not consult me before
making this decision. He told
me he has worked out a COVID-
safe housing arrangement with
his sister and his aunt. The type
of work he will be doing there
is something he could do here,
where our home is. I don’t want
to discourage him, but it baf-
fles me that he would take a job
1,000 miles away. What if some-
thing were to happen to me or
our animals? When I told him I
didn’t agree with his decision, he
told me I should be happy he’s no
longer unemployed. How should
call. When you do, make clear
that you can offer moral support,
but you cannot give him money
because you live paycheck to pay-
check. You may not hear from
him after that. But if he continues
to ask, take a giant step backward
and recognize this friendship has
run its course.
Dear Abby: My husband and I
have been together for three years.
He recently went back to his home
state 1,000 miles away for what
I thought would be a two-day
trip to grab some things from his
late mother’s estate. He has been
unemployed for most of this past
year due to the pandemic, so I’m
somewhat conflicted about some-
thing he told me when I called
to ask when he was coming
I handle this? — Far away in
Missouri
Dear Far Away: Your husband
shouldn’t have taken a job 1,000
miles away without first talking
with you. That said, what’s done
is done, and you need to let this
play out. There’s nothing to stop
you from visiting. Fortunately,
you and the animals are all doing
well. If circumstances change, he
can always quit the job and come
back.
When the time comes, wel-
come your debt-free husband
home. There will be plenty of
time for the two of you to hash
out in person what caused him to
make such a disruptive decision if
there were similar jobs available
in your own community.
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
Idled Thai taxis go green with mini-gardens on car roofs
The Associated Press
BANGKOK — Taxi fleets in
Thailand are giving new meaning
to the term “rooftop garden,” as
they utilize the roofs of cabs idled
by the coronavirus crisis to serve
as small vegetable plots.
Workers from two taxi coop-
eratives assembled the miniature
gardens last week using black
plastic garbage bags stretched
across bamboo frames. On top,
they added soil in which a variety
of crops, including tomatoes,
cucumbers and string beans, were
planted.
The result looks more like an
eye-grabbing art installation than
a car park, and that’s partly the
point: to draw attention to the
plight of taxi drivers and operators
who have been badly hit by coro-
navirus lockdown measures.
The Ratchapruk and Bovorn
Taxi cooperatives now have just
500 cars left plying Bangkok’s
streets, with 2,500 sitting idle at a
number of city sites, according to
54-year-old executive Thapakorn
Assawalertkul.
With the capital’s streets
deathly quiet until recently,
Sakchai Lalit/The Associated Press
Miniature gardens are planted on the
rooftops of unused taxis parked in
Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Sept. 16,
2021. Taxi fleets in Thailand are giv-
ing new meaning to the term “rooftop
garden,” as they utilize the roofs of
cabs idled by the coronavirus crisis to
serve as small vegetable plots and raise
awareness about the plight of out of
work drivers.
there’s been too much competi-
tion for too few fares, resulting in
a fall in drivers’ incomes. Many
now can’t afford the daily pay-
ments on the vehicles, even after
the charge was halved to $9.09,
Thapakorn said. So they have
weather
| Go to AccuWeather.com
walked away, leaving the cars in
long, silent rows.
Some drivers surrendered their
cars and returned to their homes
in rural areas when the pandemic
first hit last year because they
were so scared, he said. More gave
up and returned their cars during
the second wave.
“Some left their cars at places
like gas stations and called us to
pick the cars up,” he recalled.
With new surges of the virus
this year, the cooperatives were
“completely knocked out,” as
thousands of cars were given up
by their drivers, he said.
Thailand’s new infections have
ranged just under 15,000 in recent
days after peaking above 23,400
in mid-August. The government
hopes the country is easing out
of this wave, which has been the
deadliest so far, accounting for
97% of Thailand’s total cases
and more than 99% of its deaths.
In total, Thailand has con-
firmed 1.4 million cases and over
14,000 deaths.
The situation has left the
taxi companies in financial
peril, struggling to repay loans
on the purchase of their fleets.
Boston’s famous Skinny
House sells for a nice fat
price: $1.2 million
BOSTON — Boston’s famous
Skinny House has sold for a nice
fat price.
The home in the city’s North
End hit the market in August for
AROUND OREGON AND THE REGION
Astoria
Longview
50/65
Kennewick
52/70
St. Helens
57/73
53/74
Condon
51/79
56/75
WED
THU
FRI
SAT
Mainly clear
More clouds
than sun
Sunny and nice
Mostly sunny
and pleasant
Mostly sunny
and warm
35 75 38
74 36
79 39
82 40
Eugene
10
10
8
51/75
73 40
79 45
83 48
10
10
8
46 74 43
Comfort Index™ 10
Enterprise
10
49 72 43
Comfort Index™ 10
77 51
82 47
10
8
8
10
ALMANAC
NATION (for the 48 contiguous states)
High Sunday
Low Sunday
High: 106°
Low: 26°
Wettest: 4.87”
58°
33°
59°
43°
60°
44°
PRECIPITATION (inches)
Sunday
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Normal year to date
0.01
0.43
0.29
3.54
6.71
0.11
0.43
0.39
6.97
11.72
0.39
0.43
0.59
16.22
16.50
HAY INFORMATION WEDNESDAY
25%
WNW at 4 to 8 mph
10.7
0.14
RESERVOIR STORAGE (through midnight Monday)
Phillips Reservoir
Unity Reservoir
Owyhee Reservoir
McKay Reservoir
Wallowa Lake
Thief Valley Reservoir
N.A.
12% of capacity
11% of capacity
32% of capacity
0% of capacity
0% of capacity
High: 72°
Low: 33°
Wettest: 1.49”
Ontario
Crater Lake
Florence
Hurricane Hugo intensifi ed on Sept. 21,
1989, as it moved toward Charleston, S.C.
Hugo made landfall just prior to midnight
on Sept. 22 on Sullivan’s Island, north of
Charleston, with winds of 130-150 mph.
SUN & MOON
Sunrise
Sunset
Moonrise
Moonset
TUE.
WED.
6:38 a.m.
6:52 p.m.
7:34 p.m.
7:10 a.m.
6:39 a.m.
6:50 p.m.
7:54 p.m.
8:16 a.m.
MOON PHASES
STREAM FLOWS (through midnight Sunday)
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
WEATHER HISTORY
AGRICULTURAL INFO.
Lowest relative humidity
Afternoon wind
Hours of sunshine
Evapotranspiration
Zapata, Texas
Bodie State Park, Calif.
Fayetteville, Tenn.
496 cfs
0 cfs
52 cfs
49 cfs
91 cfs
3 cfs
Last
Sep 28
New
Oct 6
First
Oct 12
Full
Oct 20
40/66
42/74
46/80
Beaver Marsh
Powers
55/74
52/80
Silver Lake
Jordan Valley
45/77
Frenchglen
Paisley
49/81
48/73
41/70
Diamond
Klamath Falls
54/82
Lakeview
41/74
39/75
McDermitt
42/82
RECREATION FORECAST WEDNESDAY
REGIONAL CITIES
City
Astoria
Bend
Boise
Brookings
Burns
Coos Bay
Corvallis
Council
Elgin
Eugene
Hermiston
Hood River
Imnaha
John Day
Joseph
Kennewick
Klamath Falls
Lakeview
THU.
Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W
65/49/sh 68/50/s
72/40/pc 73/44/s
81/49/pc 79/50/s
64/53/pc 76/56/s
78/36/pc 78/36/s
67/51/pc 71/56/s
76/50/pc 77/49/s
76/44/pc 79/44/s
74/41/pc 73/42/s
75/50/pc 76/48/s
80/51/s 78/48/s
73/50/pc 79/49/s
80/46/pc 76/46/s
80/43/pc 77/46/s
72/44/c 71/46/s
80/52/s 80/47/s
74/37/pc 79/41/s
75/38/pc 77/37/s
42/81
40/80
Fields
Shown is Wednesday’s weather. Temperatures are Tuesday night’s lows and Wednesday’s highs.
WED.
Grand View
Arock
49/80
46/85
Medford
Brookings
Boise
52/81
55/82
49/64
39/84
42/77
Chiloquin
Grants Pass
Juntura
36/78
42/74
38/73
Roseburg
Ontario
43/80
Burns
Brothers
51/76
Coos Bay
Huntington
41/77
49/72
Oakridge
46/76
46/75
Seneca
Bend
Elkton
Council
35/75
John Day
46/72
Florence
SUNDAY EXTREMES
TEMPERATURES Baker City La Grande Elgin
Sisters
50/67
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.
40/74
Baker City
Redmond
49/62
49/61
Halfway
Granite
49/76
Newport
54/76
72 46
45/80
52/73
54/77
Corvallis
Enterprise
49/72
46/74
Monument
51/76
Idanha
Salem
TONIGHT
La Grande
Elgin
44/74
La Grande
49/74
Maupin
10
54/76
Pendleton
The Dalles
Portland
Newberg
49/73
Lewiston
51/79
Hood River
50/78
48/68
Comfort Index™ 10
Forecasts and graphics provided
by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
Walla Walla
50/80
Vancouver
53/72
TIllamook
Baker City
$1.2 million, and the deal was
closed Thursday, Sept. 16, for
$1.25 million, according to Zillow.
The home “received multiple
offers and went under agreement
for over list price in less than one
week,” real estate agency CL
Properties posted on Facebook.
The four-story home built in
1862, according to a plaque on the
facade, is about 1,165 square feet
— even though it is about 10 feet
wide at its widest point and nar-
rows in the back to about 9.25 feet.
It has two bedrooms and one
bathroom and includes a pri-
vate deck with a view of Boston
Harbor. The home does not have a
front door. Instead, residents enter
through a side door.
It was last sold in 2017 for
$900,000.
It is also known as the Spite
House, according to the plaque.
According to local lore, two
brothers inherited some land.
When one of them joined the
Army, the other built a large
house that took up most of the
land. When the soldier brother
returned, he built the Skinny
House to block his brother’s view
and sunlight.
Ratchapruk and Bovorn cooper-
atives owe around $60.8 million,
Thapakorn said. The government
has so far not offered any direct
financial support.
“If we don’t have help soon, we
will be in real trouble,” he told The
Associated Press on Thursday,
Sept. 16.
The taxi-top gardens don’t offer
an alternative revenue stream. The
cooperatives staff, who were asked
to take salary cuts, are now taking
turns tending the newly-made
gardens.
“The vegetable garden is both
an act of protest and a way to
feed my staff during this tough
time,” said Thapakorn. “Thailand
went through political turmoil for
many years, and a great flood in
2011, but business was never this
terrible.”
WED.
City
Lewiston
Longview
Meacham
Medford
Newport
Olympia
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Powers
Redmond
Roseburg
Salem
Spokane
The Dalles
Ukiah
Walla Walla
THU.
Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W
79/53/pc 77/52/s
70/50/sh 72/50/s
72/41/c 73/40/s
82/51/pc 86/53/s
62/48/pc 64/49/s
70/47/r 70/47/s
80/50/c 81/44/s
81/49/pc 78/46/s
78/50/pc 74/49/s
75/54/sh 76/54/pc
74/51/pc 81/54/s
74/38/pc 76/42/s
80/52/pc 80/51/s
77/52/c 76/53/s
71/46/pc 71/48/s
79/53/pc 81/55/s
73/37/pc 71/37/s
76/53/pc 74/54/s
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
Clouds and sun
Partly sunny; nice
49
31
68
34
MT. EMILY REC.
BROWNLEE RES.
Mostly cloudy
Some sun; pleasant
60
40
79
48
EAGLE CAP WILD.
EMIGRANT ST. PARK
Mostly cloudy
Variable clouds
57
33
68
35
WALLOWA LAKE
MCKAY RESERVOIR
Mostly cloudy
Partly sunny
72
44
77
47
THIEF VALLEY RES.
RED BRIDGE ST. PARK
Nice with some sun
Mostly cloudy
75
38
74
43
Casual Sofa with
Accent Pillows
only
$
799
Lay-Z-Boy
Recliner
$
599
5 Pc
Mango set
Solid mango wood
42” X 60” leg table that
extends to 78”.
Paired with 4 side chairs.
• Free Delivery
• In-Store Credit
$
Only
Bench available at extra cost.
899
HOURS:Mon. - Fri. 9:30 am-6:30 pm
Sat. 9:30 am-5:30 pm Sun. 12 noon-4 pm
(541) 963-4144 • 888-449-2704
• 70 Store Buying Power
• Decorating Assistance
1520 ADAMS AVENUE
La GRANDE, OREGON 97850