COFFEE BREAK
B6 — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
THuRSDAY, NOVEmBER 18, 2021
Father’s anger issues stem from head injury
Dear Abby: I’m a divorcee
who has reconnected with a
childhood neighbor, “Levi.” He
was physically assaulted as a
teenager and badly injured. He
has made almost a complete
recovery, but has a metal plate in
his skull and a traumatic brain
injury. We have always been
friends, and after my divorce, he
asked me out.
It felt strange, akin to dating
my brother, but he was per-
sistent. We had fun, enjoyed par-
ties and hanging out, and I got
pregnant. Immediately I began
to resent Levi. Neither of us was
capable of raising children. Our
5-year-old now lives in chaos.
I didn’t know Levi as well
as I thought. His TBI is a much
bigger problem than I realized.
He cannot control his temper.
He’s quick to yell at our son,
“Jaden,” and me, and puts me
down in front of him. We have
to move to a different area of the
home to give Levi space.
He truly cannot help it, but
it’s hard to tolerate the tantrums.
Jaden loves his father anyway
and never holds a grudge. Levi
frequently apologizes, but the
behavior never stops. He has
never been physically abu-
sive, but he’s walking a fine line
with the verbal nastiness. I’m
constantly a referee to prevent
escalation.
I love both Levi and my son.
We are not married. Should I
continue trying to make it work?
Or should I run for the hills with
Jaden? It’s loud and often conten-
tious. — Second-Guessing My
Life
Dear Second-Guessing: Your
love for Levi is beside the point.
The longer Jaden is subjected to
his father’s irrational outbursts
— whether they are aimed at you
or at him — the more the boy
will feel this is what a normal
adult relationship is like. For your
son’s sake, you should separate.
If Levi’s abuse escalates from
verbal to physical, THAT’S when
you should “run for the hills.”
I’ve made with him, but I’m
not sure what they were. I try
to focus him on his license and
insurance, but nothing gets done.
What’s the next best step? —
Helicopter Mom In Michigan
Dear Helicopter Mom: I am
sorry you didn’t mention what
exactly your son does for these
nonprofit organizations. Because
they are “nonprofit” does not
mean there is no money to pay
their employees. Not only do
staffers at nonprofits earn good
wages, there are also bene-
fits. The next best step for YOU
would be to step back, and allow
your adult son to conduct his life
the way he has chosen and to
accept the consequences of his
irresponsibility.
Dear Abby: I am a mother of
three adult kids. We are all com-
fortable financially. My eldest
and youngest are successful.
They work hard, and enjoy their
homes and their lifestyle of enter-
taining and eating out.
My middle child lives far
away and is happy to say he is not
a capitalist. He works for non-
profits and barely makes ends
meet. He went to college, but
dropped out in his last semester.
He has no health insurance. He
drives a car, but has no insurance
or driver’s license. He clearly
knows better, but insists that all
these concerns of mine are “old
world and overrated” and that I
worry about “nothing.”
I’m sick about the mistakes
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
Russian test blamed for space junk threatening space station
their orbits. The fragments
will begin to spread out over
time, due to atmospheric
drag and other forces, he
said in an email.
The space station is at
especially high risk because
the test occurred near its
orbit, McDowell said. But
all objects in low-Earth orbit
— including China’s space
station and even the Hubble
Space Telescope — will
be at “somewhat enhanced
risk” over the next few
years, he noted.
Earlier in the day, the
Russian Space Agency said
via Twitter that the astro-
nauts were ordered into their
docked capsules, in case
they had to make a quick
getaway. The agency said
the crew was back doing
routine operations, and the
space station’s commander,
Russian Anton Shkaplerov,
tweeted: “Friends, every-
thing is regular with us.”
But the cloud of debris
posed a threat on each
passing orbit — or every
1-1/2 hours — and all
robotic activity on the
U.S. side was put on hold.
German astronaut Matthias
Maurer also had to find a
safer place to sleep than the
European lab.
NASA’s Nelson noted
that the Russians and Amer-
icans have had a space part-
nership for a half-century
— going back to the joint
Apollo-Soyuz mission in
1975.
“I don’t want it to be
threatened,” he told the AP,
noting both countries are
needed for the space station.
“You’ve got to operate it
together.”
By MARCIA DUNN
The Associated Press
CAPE CANAVERAL,
Fla. — A Russian weapons
test created more than 1,500
pieces of space junk now
threatening the seven astro-
nauts aboard the Inter-
national Space Station,
according to U.S. officials
who called the strike reck-
less and irresponsible.
The State Department
confirmed that the debris
was from an old Russian
satellite destroyed by the
missile.
“Needless to say, I’m
outraged. This is uncon-
scionable,” NASA Admin-
istrator Bill Nelson told The
Associated Press. “It’s unbe-
lievable that the Russian
government would do this
test and threaten not only
international astronauts, but
their own cosmonauts that
are on board the station” as
well as the three people on
China’s space station.
Nelson said the astro-
nauts now face four times
greater risk than normal.
And that’s based on debris
big enough to track, with
hundreds of thousands of
smaller pieces going unde-
tected — “any one of which
can do enormous damage if
it hits in the right place.”
In condemning Russia,
Secretary of State Antony
Blinken said satellites were
also now in jeopardy.
The test clearly demon-
strates that Russia “despite
its claims of opposing the
weaponization of outer
space, is willing to ...
imperil the exploration and
use of outer space by all
NASA via The Associated Press
In this image from video provided by NASA, the International Space Station is seen as astronauts in the SpaceX Dragon capsule undock on
Monday, Nov. 8, 2021.
nations through its reckless
and irresponsible behavior,”
Blinken said in a statement.
There was no immediate
comment late Monday from
Russia about the missile
strike.
Once the threat became
clear early Monday, Nov.
15, the four Americans, one
German and two Russians
on board were ordered to
immediately seek shelter in
their docked capsules. They
spent two hours in the two
capsules, finally emerging
only to have to close and
reopen hatches to the sta-
tion’s individuals labs on
every orbit, or 1-1/2 hours,
as they passed near or
through the debris.
By the end of the day,
only the hatches to the
work. Four of the seven
crew members arrived at the
orbiting outpost Nov. 11.
NASA astronaut Mark
Vande Hei, who’s midway
through a yearlong mis-
sion, called it “a crazy but
well-coordinated day” as he
bid Mission Control good
night.
“It was certainly a great
way to bond as a crew,
starting off with our very
first work day in space,” he
said.
A similar weapons test
by China in 2007 also
resulted in countless debris.
One of those pieces threat-
ened to come dangerously
close to the space station
last week. While it later
was dismissed as a risk,
NASA had the station move
central core of the station
remained open, as the crew
slept, according to Nelson.
Even a fleck of paint
can do major damage
when orbiting at 17,500
mph. Something big,
upon impact, could be
catastrophic.
State Department
spokesman Ned Price said
the U.S. has repeatedly
raised concerns with Russia
about doing a satellite test.
“We are going to con-
tinue to make very clear
that we won’t tolerate this
kind of activity,” he told
reporters.
NASA Mission Control
said the heightened threat
could continue to inter-
rupt the astronauts’ sci-
ence research and other
weather
| Go to AccuWeather.com
anyway.
Anti-satellite missile
tests by the U.S. in 2008
and India in 2019 were con-
ducted at much lower alti-
tudes, well below the space
station at about 260 miles.
The defunct Russian sat-
ellite Cosmos 1408 was
orbiting about 40 miles
higher.
Until Nov. 15, the U.S.
Space Command already
was tracking some 20,000
pieces of space junk,
including old and broken
satellites from around the
world.
Jonathan McDowell of
the Harvard-Smithsonian
Center for Astrophysics said
it will take days if not weeks
and months to catalogue the
latest wreckage and confirm
AROUND OREGON AND THE REGION
Astoria
Longview
44/50
Kennewick
45/49
St. Helens
46/50
46/52
40/48
39/47
46/51
46/52
Condon
FRI
SAT
SUN
MON
A brief shower
or two
A couple of
showers
Partly sunny
Partly sunny
Partly sunny
Baker City
Comfort Index™
La Grande
0
35 49 34
Comfort Index™
1
42 28
43 26
Eugene
3
2
3
47/53
45 26
46 31
48 33
5
3
5
1
46 33
51 35
3
5
7
3
ALMANAC
TEMPERATURES Baker City La Grande Elgin
NATION (for the 48 contiguous states)
High: 91°
Low: 14°
Wettest: 0.50”
40°
22°
43°
26°
44°
28°
PRECIPITATION (inches)
0.00
0.62
0.38
4.97
7.86
Trace
1.19
1.00
9.59
14.58
0.08
2.43
1.47
20.94
20.50
AGRICULTURAL INFO.
HAY INFORMATION FRIDAY
Lowest relative humidity
Afternoon wind
Hours of sunshine
Evapotranspiration
50%
SW at 4 to 8 mph
0.0
0.05
RESERVOIR STORAGE (through midnight Wednesday)
Phillips Reservoir
Unity Reservoir
Owyhee Reservoir
McKay Reservoir
Wallowa Lake
Thief Valley Reservoir
52/56
N.A.
13% of capacity
13% of capacity
10% of capacity
8% of capacity
3% of capacity
STREAM FLOWS (through midnight Tuesday)
Grande Ronde at Troy
1080 cfs
Thief Valley Reservoir near North Powder
0 cfs
Burnt River near Unity
16 cfs
Umatilla River near Gibbon
76 cfs
Minam River at Minam
168 cfs
Powder River near Richland
13 cfs
Childress, Texas
Merrill, Wis.
Stampede Pass, Wash.
OREGON
High: 58°
Low: 18°
Wettest: 0.13”
Brookings
Crater Lake
Astoria
On Nov. 18, 1421, surge from a powerful
storm swept inland and destroyed Hol-
land’s dikes. More than 70 villages were
swept away; 10,000 people died.
SUN & MOON
THU.
6:55 a.m.
4:19 p.m.
4:07 p.m.
6:11 a.m.
FRI.
6:56 a.m.
4:19 p.m.
4:34 p.m.
7:16 a.m.
MOON PHASES
Full
Nov 19
Last
Nov 27
New
Dec 3
Beaver Marsh
49/56
First
Dec 10
Burns
Jordan Valley
Paisley
Frenchglen
41/53
City
Astoria
Bend
Boise
Brookings
Burns
Coos Bay
Corvallis
Council
Elgin
Eugene
Hermiston
Hood River
Imnaha
John Day
Joseph
Kennewick
Klamath Falls
Lakeview
Hi/Lo/W
50/42/pc
53/34/sh
53/38/sh
56/47/r
51/27/sh
56/44/r
53/40/c
44/34/sh
48/38/r
53/42/r
46/39/r
48/42/r
50/40/r
51/36/sh
49/32/r
46/37/r
51/30/sh
49/28/c
Hi/Lo/W
51/39/c
50/36/s
49/32/pc
59/46/s
48/20/s
57/38/s
49/34/pc
45/27/pc
44/26/pc
50/33/pc
49/30/pc
50/32/pc
50/31/c
46/34/s
42/29/pc
50/31/pc
49/22/pc
49/18/pc
Grand View
Arock
39/55
40/51
40/53
Klamath Falls
37/51
Lakeview
35/49
McDermitt
Shown is Friday’s weather. Temperatures are Thursday night’s lows and Friday’s highs.
SAT.
Diamond
40/53
Fields
47/53
FRI.
Boise
41/52
36/50
39/46
Medford
Brookings
36/50
40/53
50/54
51/56
Juntura
33/51
Silver Lake
Chiloquin
Grants Pass
Ontario
36/48
35/49
39/52
RECREATION FORECAST FRIDAY
REGIONAL CITIES
WEATHER HISTORY
Sunrise
Sunset
Moonrise
Moonset
39/49
37/47
Roseburg
Powers
Brothers
47/54
Coos Bay
Huntington
34/45
44/53
Oakridge
34/44
37/47
Seneca
Bend
Elkton
TUESDAY EXTREMES
High Tuesday
Low Tuesday
Tuesday
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Normal year to date
Florence
Council
32/44
40/51
41/53
51/56
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.
33/45
John Day
42/51
Sisters
51/56
43 27
34/44
Baker City
Redmond
51/56
Halfway
Granite
45/53
Newport
44 24
1
37 47 37
Comfort Index™
Enterprise
1
41/53
47/54
47/52
Corvallis
Enterprise
35/49
37/47
Monument
39/49
Idanha
Salem
48/51
32 44 29
Elgin
38/48
La Grande
38/46
Maupin
TONIGHT
36/41
Pendleton
The Dalles
Portland
Newberg
47/56
39/45
Hood River
39/43
TIllamook
Lewiston
Walla Walla
38/46
Vancouver
Forecasts and graphics provided
by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021
City
Lewiston
Longview
Meacham
Medford
Newport
Olympia
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Powers
Redmond
Roseburg
Salem
Spokane
The Dalles
Ukiah
Walla Walla
FRI.
SAT.
Hi/Lo/W
45/37/r
49/43/c
45/35/r
53/42/r
51/43/sh
46/36/c
48/35/sh
44/34/r
43/36/r
51/43/sh
56/44/r
51/31/sh
56/42/r
52/42/sh
41/32/c
47/40/sh
46/32/r
41/35/r
Hi/Lo/W
47/33/c
51/37/c
43/26/pc
51/36/pc
51/38/pc
48/34/c
52/30/s
49/31/pc
47/27/pc
49/38/c
59/38/s
49/28/s
53/37/pc
51/36/pc
40/30/c
49/32/pc
45/26/pc
46/31/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
Snow showers
A few showers
31
21
47
34
MT. EMILY REC.
BROWNLEE RES.
Showers around
Showers around
38
31
48
37
EAGLE CAP WILD.
EMIGRANT ST. PARK
A.M. snow showers
Showers around
36
22
43
29
WALLOWA LAKE
MCKAY RESERVOIR
A few showers
Showers around
49
32
47
36
THIEF VALLEY RES.
RED BRIDGE ST. PARK
A few showers
A few showers
44
29
47
37