COFFEE BREAK
B6 — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
THuRSDAY, FEBRuARY 3, 2022
Food fight results in friendship’s bitter end
DEAR ABBY: When a friend
of mine “makes dinner” for
invited guests, it’s either takeout
Chinese food or delivered pizza.
Frankly, I am sick of it. Last
Thanksgiving, they invited me
and several others over for dinner.
You guessed it! Chinese food. I
told my friend I was surprised and
not in the mood for Chinese food,
offered my apologies and left. We
didn’t talk for four months.
This past year I was again
invited to Thanksgiving dinner.
I declined and, when asked why,
said, “I’m sick and tired of what is
being offered.” The response was,
“Then I guess I’ll stop inviting
you. And I don’t need your friend-
ship.” I replied, “Glad we are on
the same page!”
Abby, this “friend” knows how
to cook and could certainly order
something different. Was I out of
line? I have no regrets the friend-
ship has ended. — FED UP IN
THE WEST
DEAR FED UP: When
someone accepts an invitation to
someone’s home, rather than crit-
icize the menu, they should be
grateful for the hospitality being
extended. Were you out of line?
The way you phrased your reason
for declining was rude. You could
have inquired about the menu and
asked if you could bring some-
thing more “traditional.” It’s
fortunate you have no regrets
that your relationship with your
former host has ended. I’m pretty
I want to find someone. In fact,
I yearn for a life partner. I’m on
dating sites, and my question is:
How should I describe myself? It
seems most men want sex. Should
I include my lack of interest in sex
in my profile so they know what
they’re getting? I don’t want to
waste anyone’s time, especially
not my own. But this feels so
weird and awkward to address. —
EVERYTHING BUT THAT IN
NEW YORK
DEAR EVERYTHING
BUT: It would benefit you to go
online and search for dating sites
for people who want romance
only, without sex. These sites do
exist, and it may comfort you to
know that you are DEFINITELY
not alone. If you do try one, I
hope you find the man you are
looking for.
in their home, even though she
may very well be a neighbor in
this small neighborhood. How
could I have handled this better?
— NO SOLICITING
DEAR NO SOLICITING:
The person who came to your
door had an agenda; it wasn’t a
social call. In a situation like the
one that was thrust upon you,
good manners did not require
you to offer an apology. Frankly,
you should have closed your front
door SOONER.
DEAR ABBY: I’m a
65-year-old woman who has never
enjoyed sex. I’ve had lovers, and
I’m a very affectionate person,
but the act itself has never been
comfortable for me. Now that I’m
post-menopausal, it’s practically
impossible.
I have never been married, but
sure the feelings are mutual.
DEAR ABBY: On Sunday
evening, a much older woman
I’d never met came to my door
saying she was a neighbor and
was there to recruit me to partic-
ipate in a political lobbying event
her church was sponsoring. This
is not something I wish to do.
I tried to refuse nicely. But
then she said several times she
required my name, email address
and phone number so she could
send me more information as well
as opportunities to pass the infor-
mation to other people. I asked
for her information instead, but
saying “no, thank you” and trying
to excuse myself to get back to
my children didn’t lessen her per-
sistence. Eventually, I apologized
and closed the door on her.
People should not be harassed
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
Meet Methuselah, the oldest living aquarium fish
“There are simply no
words to express our deep
regret and disappointment,”
the company’s statement
said.
The arrest warrant for
the ships is part of a law-
suit accusing the cruise line
of failing to pay $4.6 mil-
lion for fuel. A federal judge
issued the warrant for the
ship Jan. 20, a maritime
practice in which a U.S.
Marshal boards a vessel and
takes charge of it once it
enters U.S. waters.
Some passengers on
the voyage, a long expedi-
tion that was originally set
to end in California in late
May, said they were glad to
leave.
“I’m delighted to be
off that ship,” said Barry
Shulman, 75, of Las Vegas.
The Crystal Serenity
departed Miami on Jan.
17, but passengers were
informed several days later
that the ship had to cancel
port calls at the last minute.
The company announced
it was suspending opera-
tions through late April,
canceling or cutting short
itineraries for the Crystal
Serenity and two other
ships, to “provide Crystal’s
management team with an
opportunity to evaluate the
current state of business and
examine various options
moving forward.”
One of the other ships,
the Crystal Symphony, was
supposed to return to Miami
last week but also remained
in the Bahamas. That ship’s
passengers were also fer-
ried back to South Florida.
The Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO
— Meet Methuselah, the
fish that likes to eat fresh
figs, get belly rubs and is
believed to be the oldest
living aquarium fish in the
world.
In the Bible, Methuselah
was Noah’s grandfather
and was said to have lived
to be 969 years old. Methu-
selah the fish is not quite
that ancient, but biologists
at the California Academy
of Sciences believe it is
about 90 years old, with no
known living peers.
Methuselah is a 4-foot-
long, 40-pound Australian
lungfish that was brought
to the San Francisco
museum in 1938 from
Australia.
A primitive species with
lungs and gills, Austra-
lian lungfish are believed
to be the evolutionary
link between fish and
amphibians.
No stranger to publicity,
Methuselah’s first appear-
ance in the San Fran-
cisco Chronicle was in
1947: “These strange crea-
tures — with green scales
looking like fresh arti-
choke leaves — are known
to scientists as a possible
‘missing link’ between
terrestrial and aquatic
animals.”
Until a few years ago,
the oldest Australian lung-
fish was at the Shedd
Aquarium in Chicago. But
that fish, named Granddad,
died in 2017 at the age
of 95.
Jeff Chiu/The Associated Press
Senior biologist Allan Jan feeds Methuselah, a 4-foot-long, 40-pound Australian lungfish that was brought to the California Academy of Sci-
ences in 1938 from Australia, in its tank in San Francisco, Monday, Jan. 24, 2022.
“By default, Methu-
selah is the oldest,” said
Allan Jan, senior biologist
at the California Academy
of Sciences and the fish’s
keeper. Methuselah’s care-
takers believe the fish is
female, although it’s dif-
ficult to determine the
species’ sex without a
risky blood draw. The
academy plans to send a
tiny sample of her fin to
researchers in Australia,
who will try to confirm
the sex and figure out the
fish’s exact age.
Jan says Methuselah
likes getting rubbed on
her back and belly and has
a “mellow” personality.
“I tell my volunteers,
pretend she’s an under-
water puppy, very mellow,
gentle, but of course if she
gets spooked she will have
sudden bouts of energy.
But for the most part
she’s just calm,” Jan said.
Methuselah has developed
a taste for seasonal figs.
“She’s a little picky and
only likes figs when they
are fresh and in season.
She won’t eat them when
they’re frozen,” said Jea-
nette Peach, spokes-
woman for the California
Academy of Sciences.
Organic blackberries,
grapes and romaine let-
tuce are rotated into her
daily diet, which also
includes a variety of fish,
clams, prawns and earth-
worms, said Charles Del-
beek, curator of the muse-
um’s Steinhart Aquarium.
weather
| Go to AccuWeather.com
2nd cruise ship
remains in Bahamas
over lawsuit
The academy has two
other Australian lungfish
that are younger. Named
for their sizes, “Medium”
arrived at the museum in
1952 and “Small” in 1990,
both from the Mary River,
in Queensland, Australia,
said Delbeek. They weigh
about 25 pounds and 15
pounds, respectively.
The Australian lungfish
is now a threatened spe-
cies and can no longer be
exported from Australian
waters, so biologists at the
academy say it’s unlikely
they’ll get a replacement
once Methuselah passes
away.
“We just give her the
best possible care we can
provide, and hopefully she
thrives,” Jan said.
MIAMI — Crystal
Cruises said Tuesday, Feb.
1, that a second of its ships
diverted to the Bahamas,
avoiding a U.S. judge’s order
to seize one of its vessels in a
legal dispute over fuel bills.
The Crystal Serenity
arrived in Bimini Monday
after the ship was denied
entry into Aruba on Jan. 28,
a company statement said.
All passengers were
transferred by a fast ferry to
Port Everglades and taken
to a Fort Lauderdale hotel
Jan. 31, and the passengers
will be reimbursed for any
applicable airline change
fees, spokesman Vance Gul-
liksen said.
AROUND OREGON AND THE REGION
Astoria
Longview
40/48
Kennewick
37/43
St. Helens
35/43
34/45
36/47
37/47
36/47
35/46
Condon
Mostly cloudy
Baker City
0
Mostly sunny
and chilly
Partly sunny and
chilly
32 16
31 16
33 14
Eugene
3
1
0
34/49
38 20
36 24
37 24
3
1
1
0
0
0
19 36 24
Comfort Index™
MON
2
42 24
38 26
4
6
4
2
ALMANAC
TEMPERATURES Baker City La Grande Elgin
NATION (for the 48 contiguous states)
High: 83°
Low: -33°
Wettest: 1.70”
31°
3°
37°
23°
39°
26°
PRECIPITATION (inches)
Tuesday
Trace
Month to date
Trace
Normal month to date 0.02
Year to date
0.38
Normal year to date
0.72
0.10
0.10
0.04
1.37
1.71
0.29
0.29
0.09
4.22
3.36
AGRICULTURAL INFO.
HAY INFORMATION FRIDAY
Lowest relative humidity
Afternoon wind
Hours of sunshine
Evapotranspiration
45%
S at 8 to 16 mph
0.2
0.05
RESERVOIR STORAGE (through midnight Wednesday)
Phillips Reservoir
Unity Reservoir
Owyhee Reservoir
McKay Reservoir
Wallowa Lake
Thief Valley Reservoir
35/56
2% of capacity
28% of capacity
20% of capacity
37% of capacity
22% of capacity
36% of capacity
STREAM FLOWS (through midnight Tuesday)
Grande Ronde at Troy
1310 cfs
Thief Valley Reservoir near North Powder
1 cfs
Burnt River near Unity
15 cfs
Umatilla River near Gibbon
143 cfs
Minam River at Minam
133 cfs
Powder River near Richland
69 cfs
Zapata, Texas
Van Buren, Maine
Springfi eld, Mo.
OREGON
High: 53°
Low: 3°
Wettest: 0.17”
Brookings
Baker City
Tillamook
Snag, Yukon, has the record for the cold-
est Canadian temperature ever, with 81
degrees below zero on Feb. 3, 1947. The
same day, temperatures in the interior
of Alaska dropped as low as 75 degrees
below zero.
SUN & MOON
THU.
7:11 a.m.
5:02 p.m.
8:58 a.m.
8:14 p.m.
FRI.
7:10 a.m.
5:04 p.m.
9:19 a.m.
9:25 p.m.
MOON PHASES
First
Feb 8
Full
Feb 16
Last
Feb 23
Beaver Marsh
34/53
New
Mar 2
Burns
Jordan Valley
Paisley
Frenchglen
25/44
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
48/38/sh
54/24/c
36/20/s
57/40/pc
39/17/s
51/37/c
49/37/c
28/17/pc
35/27/sn
49/39/c
46/41/c
47/43/sh
44/27/sn
45/21/pc
37/24/sf
45/36/c
51/19/pc
48/19/s
Hi/Lo/W
50/35/pc
54/22/s
34/20/pc
65/42/s
42/17/s
58/36/s
50/30/pc
38/11/c
38/18/pc
50/32/pc
52/30/pc
50/35/pc
47/24/c
40/22/pc
38/23/pc
51/28/pc
52/16/s
51/17/s
Grand View
Arock
20/36
21/40
23/45
Klamath Falls
18/51
Lakeview
18/48
McDermitt
Shown is Friday’s weather. Temperatures are Thursday night’s lows and Friday’s highs.
SAT.
Diamond
23/43
Fields
28/59
FRI.
Boise
20/40
21/53
18/47
Medford
Brookings
22/34
20/36
31/61
39/57
Juntura
18/39
Silver Lake
Chiloquin
Grants Pass
Ontario
22/36
20/52
19/39
RECREATION FORECAST FRIDAY
REGIONAL CITIES
WEATHER HISTORY
Sunrise
Sunset
Moonrise
Moonset
24/48
17/48
Roseburg
Powers
Brothers
31/53
Coos Bay
Huntington
20/38
29/54
Oakridge
15/28
24/34
Seneca
Bend
Elkton
Council
17/30
27/45
26/53
Florence
TUESDAY EXTREMES
High Tuesday
Low Tuesday
21/36
John Day
27/54
Sisters
34/51
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.
18/31
Baker City
Redmond
39/49
36/50
Halfway
Granite
33/49
Newport
34/51
39 19
27/45
32/50
36/49
Corvallis
Enterprise
19/36
26/34
Monument
33/50
Idanha
Salem
SUN
Afternoon snow Times of clouds
and sun
26 34 25
Comfort Index™
Enterprise
SAT
17 30 16
Comfort Index™
La Grande
FRI
Elgin
24/35
La Grande
32/48
Maupin
TONIGHT
30/40
Pendleton
The Dalles
Portland
Newberg
36/48
30/44
Hood River
31/45
TIllamook
Lewiston
Walla Walla
30/45
Vancouver
Forecasts and graphics provided
by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022
City
Lewiston
Longview
Meacham
Medford
Newport
Olympia
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Powers
Redmond
Roseburg
Salem
Spokane
The Dalles
Ukiah
Walla Walla
FRI.
SAT.
ANTHONY LAKES
PHILLIPS LAKE
Hi/Lo/W
44/34/sn
43/40/sh
35/26/sn
59/27/c
49/39/c
48/41/sh
36/18/s
43/33/c
45/37/pc
47/40/c
56/37/c
54/25/pc
53/35/c
49/39/c
36/29/sn
47/43/c
40/26/c
40/37/sn
Hi/Lo/W
49/29/c
48/29/pc
37/19/pc
58/29/pc
52/38/pc
51/34/pc
37/19/pc
51/29/pc
51/28/pc
51/33/pc
61/38/s
53/21/s
52/30/pc
52/32/pc
37/26/c
51/35/pc
42/22/pc
46/31/pc
P.M. snow showers
Mostly cloudy
Weather(W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice
26
23
34
24
MT. EMILY REC.
BROWNLEE RES.
P.M. snow showers
Some sun; chilly
31
26
38
21
EAGLE CAP WILD.
EMIGRANT ST. PARK
P.M. snow showers
Afternoon snow
27
16
35
24
WALLOWA LAKE
MCKAY RESERVOIR
P.M. snow showers
A shower
37
24
49
35
THIEF VALLEY RES.
RED BRIDGE ST. PARK
Cold
Afternoon snow
30
16
34
25