COFFEE BREAK
B6 — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
SATuRDAY, DECEmBER 18, 2021
Educator feels homeschool past carries stigma today
I am asked what year I gradu-
ated, or other questions about
my schooling. (They assume that
since this is my hometown, I
attended school in the same dis-
trict in which I work.) If I reply
with, “I was homeschooled,”
I get shocked silence, and feel
I must somehow justify my
mom’s choice to homeschool me
(something over which I had no
control).
This isn’t just from colleagues,
but also parents and staff. In addi-
tion, our district likes to feature
alumni who work at the district
and who chose to return to their
hometown to give back. Well,
I meet one of those criteria, but
I cringe when they mistakenly
announce my name as an alumna
DEAR ABBY: I was home-
schooled K-12. I now have mul-
tiple master’s degrees and work
for a public school. I returned
to my hometown and, with
hard work and dedication, have
moved up the career ladder in
my district. While I love my job,
I also value and respect the fact
that my mom chose to home-
school me. I can’t change my
childhood, so I embrace all of
those who are part of a village to
raise and educate children.
My challenge comes when
band is an “open book” when it
comes to discussing our personal
finances with others, while I am
extremely private about this type
of information.
Recently, our neighbors
stopped by, and he told them what
we paid for some work we had
done on our house, which they did
not ask to know. I was appalled
that he did it, and asked him after
they were gone not to tell people
such private information. I’m very
uncomfortable discussing our sal-
aries with others, while he thinks
it’s something for all to know.
We’re a middle-class family,
and I’m by no means embarrassed
by our finances, but I think it’s
preferable to abstain from dis-
cussing these matters with others.
in a public forum, not knowing
how to handle it. Please advise.
— EDUCATION LOVER IN
ARIZONA
DEAR EDUCATION
LOVER: I think it is time for
you to stop being self-conscious
about the kind of education your
mother gave you, which equipped
you to attain not one, but mul-
tiple graduate degrees. Rather
than “cringe” and hide the fact
that you are not an alumna from
the district, discuss this with the
administrators, so the error can
be corrected.
DEAR ABBY: My hus-
band and I have been mar-
ried for seven years. He pro-
vides financially for our family,
while I work part-time. My hus-
He thinks it’s rude not to tell
people what we pay for things
and how much we make and save.
Is it common practice to discuss
personal finances with others?
— PRIVATE LADY IN NEW
MEXICO
DEAR PRIVATE LADY:
Rude?! Nowhere is it written that
people “have” to discuss their
finances with anyone other than
one’s spouse, immediate family or
CPA. Keeping quiet about finan-
cial matters is not a breach of eti-
quette; it’s good judgment. What
your husband is doing could be
perceived as bragging, which
creates resentment and jealousy
rather than impresses others, and
anyone who reads my column
knows it can drive people away.
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
Postal hike doesn’t stop catalogers from stuffing mailboxes
this time of the year is
from The Vermont Country
store.
“Catalogs do seem a bit
old-fashioned. They’re so
analog. But I think it may
be their only way of getting
visuals in front of you,”
said Kaplow, who hasn’t set
foot in a store in years.
Nonetheless, catalogs
remain expensive to print
and mail.
The U.S. Postal Service
gave a one-two punch to
the industry this year with a
3% postage increase in Jan-
uary followed by an addi-
tional, unexpected increase
of nearly 9% implemented
in August.
But consumer spending
remains hot and catalogs
are a way for retailers to
differentiate themselves, so
it makes sense for retailers
who can afford to distribute
catalogs to do so, Lipsman
said.
Catalog numbers
dropped about 40%
between 2006 to 2018,
when an estimated 11.5 bil-
lion were mailed to homes,
but they’ve stabilized and
are showing signs of an
uptick in volume, according
to Miller at the ACMA.
Miller said catalogs
won’t be going away any-
time soon, partly because
they have staying power
compared to the fleeting
impact of email, online
advertisements and other
digital communication.
“People are used to
clicking and moving on, but
the catalog is still sitting
there on your coffee table.
It’s going to continue to
entice you to shop,” he said.
The Associated Press
PORTLAND, Maine —
A big postal rate increase
over the summer hasn’t
stopped catalog retailers
from stuffing mailboxes
this holiday season.
The U.S. Postal Service
says more than 300 million
catalogs flooded into peo-
ple’s mailboxes last month,
and the overall number of
catalogs has grown 12%
over last year, officials said.
The boost continues a
positive trend for catalogers
that are defying those who
predicted their demise in a
digital world.
“The industry is not
dying. There are plenty
of companies that are still
aggressively mailing cat-
alogs,” said Paul Miller,
vice president and deputy
director of the Amer-
ican Catalog Mailers
Association.
Some online retailers
like Bonobos, Amazon and
Wayfair began mailing cat-
alogs in recent years. A
few that went away, like
the Sharper Image and J.
Peterman, have returned.
Heavyweights like
Lands’ End, Hammacher
Schlemmer and L.L. Bean
never wavered.
Several factors are
working in favor of catalog
retailers.
For starters, digital
advertising on e-commerce
websites has grown as
much as 20% to 40% this
year even as privacy policy
changes — Apple’s efforts
in particular — have made
it more difficult to target
ads and measure their
The Associated Press, File
A selection of catalogs are displayed in Freeport, Maine. A big postal rate increase over the summer hasn’t stopped catalog retailers from
stuffing mailboxes this holiday season. The U.S. Postal Service says more than 300 million catalogs flooded into people’s mailboxes last
month and that overall the number of catalogs has grown 12% over last year.
effectiveness, said Andrew
Lipsman, retail analyst at
eMarketer.
Further, some find
online shopping difficult
to navigate — a space that
is jumbled thanks to algo-
rithms, marketing and
advertising, analysts say,
making it hard for people to
find what they want.
Jonathan Zhang, a pro-
fessor of marketing at Col-
orado State University, said
another important factor
is that catalog and store
shoppers are more loyal
to brands than people who
shop online only.
His research found a
weather
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browsing in a store or cat-
alog, he said.
New York shopper Helen
Kaplow acknowledges it’s
easier to thumb through
catalogs and circle items
of interest or dog-ear the
pages, rather than scrolling
through websites. One of
her favorite catalogs around
higher return on investment
from catalogs because those
shoppers buy more than
online-only shoppers.
The internet’s clutter
tends to produce shop-
pers who search for spe-
cific things, preventing the
“serendipitous discoveries”
that shoppers make while
AROUND OREGON AND THE REGION
Astoria
Longview
37/46
Kennewick
37/44
St. Helens
38/43
39/44
38/43
40/43
40/45
39/44
Condon
SUN
MON
TUE
WED
A little late-
night snow
Cloudy with a
little snow
A rain or snow
shower
Partly sunny
A snow shower
possible
23 33 23
34 21
33 19
34 24
Eugene
0
1
0
45/48
39 28
39 25
39 31
3
2
2
La Grande
0
31 36 32
Comfort Index™
Enterprise
0
0
0
28 39 30
Comfort Index™
2
41 27
41 31
4
5
4
ALMANAC
NATION (for the 48 contiguous states)
High Thursday
Low Thursday
High: 90°
Low: -15°
Wettest: 1.82”
32°
22°
36°
30°
38°
31°
PRECIPITATION (inches)
Thursday
Trace
Month to date
0.30
Normal month to date 0.45
Year to date
5.31
Normal year to date
8.66
0.08
0.64
1.02
10.62
16.54
0.16
2.77
2.02
24.81
24.20
AGRICULTURAL INFO.
HAY INFORMATION SUNDAY
Lowest relative humidity
Afternoon wind
Hours of sunshine
Evapotranspiration
60%
S at 7 to 14 mph
0.1
0.04
RESERVOIR STORAGE (through midnight Friday)
Phillips Reservoir
Unity Reservoir
Owyhee Reservoir
McKay Reservoir
Wallowa Lake
Thief Valley Reservoir
49/54
1% of capacity
19% of capacity
15% of capacity
14% of capacity
13% of capacity
12% of capacity
STREAM FLOWS (through midnight Thursday)
Grande Ronde at Troy
1100 cfs
Thief Valley Reservoir near North Powder
0 cfs
Burnt River near Unity
14 cfs
Umatilla River near Gibbon
179 cfs
Minam River at Minam
168 cfs
Powder River near Richland
20 cfs
Zapata, Texas
Wolf Point, Mont.
Texarkana, Ark.
OREGON
High: 51°
Low: 14°
Wettest: 0.37”
North Bend
Burns
North Bend
WEATHER HISTORY
Wind-driven lake-effect snow accumulated
to 2 feet in northwestern Pennsylvania on
Dec. 18, 1981. In 1984, this date seemed
more like its April counterpart, with tem-
peratures in the 60s in Pennsylvania.
SUN & MOON
SAT.
Sunrise
Sunset
Moonrise
Moonset
7:27 a.m.
4:11 p.m.
3:45 p.m.
7:13 a.m.
SUN.
7:28 a.m.
4:11 p.m.
4:30 p.m.
8:11 a.m.
MOON PHASES
Full
Dec 18
Last
Dec 26
New
Jan 2
First
Jan 9
Brothers
45/51
32/43
Beaver Marsh
28/41
Roseburg
47/51
Burns
Jordan Valley
24/41
Paisley
25/43
Frenchglen
27/42
Grand View
Arock
24/38
19/36
Fields
39/47
Klamath Falls
23/41
Lakeview
19/38
McDermitt
16/33
RECREATION FORECAST SUNDAY
MON.
Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W
46/40/c 47/41/sh
48/35/r 50/35/c
39/26/c 37/23/c
51/45/r 54/43/c
38/22/c 35/19/c
53/46/r 51/44/sh
46/39/r 47/38/c
35/27/sn 35/24/c
37/33/sn 39/23/c
48/42/r 48/41/c
44/34/r 39/34/c
43/36/r 41/35/r
41/36/sn 43/34/c
44/37/r 44/36/c
38/32/sn 41/30/c
41/33/r 36/33/c
41/24/c 41/26/c
38/17/c 39/17/c
Diamond
23/43
22/36
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
Boise
22/39
Shown is Sunday’s weather. Temperatures are Saturday night’s lows and Sunday’s highs.
SUN.
23/41
Silver Lake
28/41
Medford
Brookings
Juntura
17/38
44/51
46/51
Ontario
25/35
26/44
Chiloquin
Grants Pass
Huntington
23/40
Bend
Coos Bay
21/35
29/38
Seneca
41/48
Oakridge
Council
23/33
31/44
39/52
Elkton
THURSDAY EXTREMES
TEMPERATURES Baker City La Grande Elgin
24/35
John Day
40/51
Sisters
Florence
Powers
23/32
Baker City
Redmond
41/46
46/50
Halfway
Granite
41/46
Newport
49/53
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.
38/47
43/47
42/45
47/51
40 27
0
Corvallis
Enterprise
28/39
31/36
Monument
40/44
Idanha
Salem
TONIGHT
Comfort Index™
Elgin
31/37
La Grande
41/45
Maupin
Baker City
40/41
Pendleton
The Dalles
Portland
Newberg
39/46
38/40
Hood River
44/46
TIllamook
Lewiston
Walla Walla
39/41
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
SUN.
MON.
Hi/Lo/W
40/35/sn
44/40/r
36/31/sn
47/37/c
46/43/r
43/37/c
35/26/c
41/34/r
46/31/r
45/43/r
54/42/r
51/33/r
51/43/r
45/43/r
35/25/c
43/37/r
41/33/sn
41/33/r
Hi/Lo/W
39/34/r
45/39/r
40/26/sn
46/38/c
49/40/sh
41/35/sh
37/23/c
37/31/c
36/31/i
46/39/r
51/43/sh
49/29/c
51/42/c
48/40/sh
32/25/sn
41/34/sn
45/30/c
34/31/sh
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
Periods of snow
Snow
25
24
34
25
MT. EMILY REC.
BROWNLEE RES.
Periods of snow
Snow to rain
30
29
38
32
EAGLE CAP WILD.
EMIGRANT ST. PARK
Snow
Snow, up to 1”
25
23
36
28
WALLOWA LAKE
MCKAY RESERVOIR
Periods of snow
Periods of rain
38
32
48
32
THIEF VALLEY RES.
RED BRIDGE ST. PARK
Snow
A bit of snow
33
23
36
32