Vol. 18: #48 • Chess • (11-27-2022) Tidbits of Coachella Valley

TIDBITS SETS THE BOARD FOR

by Janet Spencer

Chess is one of the oldest and most popular of all board games. This challenging game of strategy is played by two opponents facing a checkered board with specially designed pieces of contrasting colors, usually white and black. The sole objective of the match is for one player to capture the opponent’s king through a variety of moves and strategies. So pull up a chair and follow along as Tidbits explores the most-played table game of all time -- including modern video games!

THE ORIGINAL MODEL

• Chess is a game meant to simulate warfare: the king sits behind the ranks of the army; if he dies, all is lost. Pawns are expendable soldiers who guard and die for the king. Knights, rooks, and bishops are dangerous and powerful. But the most powerful piece on the board, capable of outmaneuvering and overpowering all others, is the queen. The queen can move across as many unoccupied spaces as she wants in any direction, vertically, horizontally, or diagonally.

TRIVIA NEWSFRONT

1. TELEVISION: At which popular restaurant does Penny work in “The Big Bang Theory”?

2. ASTRONOMY: Which one of Jupiter’s moons has active volcanos?

GEOGRAPHY: The Tiber River flows through which famous capital city?

LITERATURE: Who wrote the novel “The Martian Chronicles”?

U.S. STATES: Which river forms the eastern border of Iowa?

U.S. PRESIDENTS: Who was the first president to give a televised address from the White House?

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: What image on Canada’s flag is a recognizable symbol of the country?

MEASUREMENTS: Which ancient civilization used palms, digits and cubits to measure length?

MOVIES: Who voices the charac ter Princess Anna in “Frozen”?

ANIMAL KINGDOM: An ele phant has the most muscles in which part of its body?

• In early July 1947, rancher W.W. “Mac” Brazel found wreckage on his ranch near Roswell, New Mexico. Because several “flying saucer” stories had appeared in the press recently, Brazel thought that the wreckage might be something of that sort. He brought some of the material to Sheriff George Wilcox of Roswell, who in turn brought it to the attention of Colonel William Blanchard, the commanding officer of the Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF).

• The next day, the RAAF released a statement which declared, “The many rumors regarding the flying disc became a reality yesterday when the intelligence office of the 509th Bomb Group of the Eighth Air Force, Roswell Army Air Field, was fortunate enough to gain possession of a disc through the cooperation of one of the local ranchers and the sheriff’s office of Chaves County.”

• According to that statement, Major Jesse Marcel, an intelligence officer, oversaw the RAAF’s investigation of the crash site and the recovered materials.

• The following day, July 9, 1947, the RAAF released an updated statement declaring that the debris recovered from the crash site had actually been a weather balloon.

• Two hours west of Roswell, the first atomic

bomb was detonated. There was ongoing atomic research at Los Alamos. Researchers at facilities at nearby White Sands were testing captured German V-2 rockets. And the first atomic bomb squadron was headquartered in Roswell.

• There was a lot of top-secret activity going on in the area, and the release of the statement that a flying saucer had been recovered there would have been excruciatingly painful for the higherups who did not want to draw unwanted attention to the area, whether it was true or not.

• The matter seemed resolved, and the incident faded into the background for several decades.

• Then, in 1978, a UFO researcher interviewed Jesse Marcel, now retired. Marcel had been in charge of transporting the material from the debris field to the authorities. But now his story changed. He claimed the debris was “not of the Earth.”

• Marcel’s statements contradicted those he made to the press in 1947. He said he had been forced to stick to the weather balloon story, and that photos of him posing with actual balloon fabric had been set up after the fact. The real material had a “super strength” and included strange writing.

• His explosive interview was included in a documentary about UFOs, rekindling interest in what became known as The Roswell Incident. Still more interviews followed; theories were proposed; books were written.

• His son, who had been 11 at the time, was one of the few people who saw the material. He concurred with his father’s statements, and wrote a book in 2007 called “The Roswell Legacy.”

• The government clapped back with a number of ever-changing stories. Finally, in 1994, they admitted that the weather balloon story was fake, claiming it was a cover story for the fact that the wreckage was actually a device meant to float above the USSR in order to detect atomic explosions and monitor nuclear activity. The new report claimed that because it was a covert operation, a false explanation of the crash was necessary to prevent giving away details of their spy work.

• Today, the Roswell Incident remains a defining aspect of the area’s identity. The town boasts a UFO museum and research center, a flying saucer-inspired McDonald’s, alien-themed streetlights, even an extraterrestrial “family” stranded in a broken-down UFO on the side of State Route 285, waiting for a jump-start. And local business owners are smiling all the way to the bank with their tourism revenue. □

760-320-1630

• The queen was not always so powerful. Original rules left her nearly helpless, able to move only one square at a time, diagonally. Her increase in power came as a result of changes on the political landscape, as female rulers came into their own. There was Spain’s Queen Isabella in the late 1400s, who financed Christopher Columbus and was one of the most powerful rulers in Europe. Then there was Margaret of Austria, Catherine de Medici in France, and Elizabeth I of England. Russia was the last to adopt the power of the queen in chess, and that didn’t happen until Catherine the Great became Russia’s longestruling female leader in the late 1700s.

CHESS TERMS ETYMOLOGY

• The word “check” originated with the Persian word “shah” meaning “king” as in “the Shah of Iran.” The word was commonly mispronounced by sea merchants. The Persians played a game that featured game pieces including a piece called the King. This game, and the mispronunciation of the word for king, ended up giving the English language many words and terms.

• The game was over when the King piece was captured by the opponent, and the opponent was required to call out “check” (“shah”) as soon as the king was put into jeopardy. If the king piece was captured, the opponent exclaimed “shah mat” meaning “the king is dead” denoting victory and the end of the game. The French mispronounced this as “éschec mat” which evolved into “checkmate.”

• The French adapted the word “échec” to mean “defeat” and the plural “échecs” turned into the English word “chess.”

• The French term morphed into “exchequer” which came to mean the place where the King kept his money, possibly because if you stole

Tidbits of Coachella Valley

all the king’s assets, the king would be defeated. It then began to stand for “the government treasury,” and next “the town accounting,” and eventually “the bank.”

• Therefore, “exchequer” is the origin of the English word “check” with many meanings springing from both the game of chess and the world of banking.

• It gave us the word checkers, which is played on the same checkered board as chess. Now we have checkered tablecloths and a checkered past.

• When you write a check (originally spelled “cheque”) you are keeping track of your banking.

• When you make a checkmark, you are ticking off accounts that have been paid.

• When you check on the kids, or check on the progress, or check out the girls, you’re paying attention to the situation that your king is on the game board.

• When you ask for the check in a restaurant, you’re asking for an accounting.

• When you put something in check, you’re protecting your king from damage.

their first year, a term which now denotes other newbies in their chosen fields. Rooks are often the last pieces to be moved into play, as are rookies.

• The French word “estale” meant “standstill.” When players are locked in and cannot make a legal move, the game comes to a standstill.

“Estale” turned into the English word

QUIZ BITS

• If you make sure the checks and balances are even, you’re balancing your accounting.

• A checker at a grocery store is keeping accounts straight.

• If you’ve asked for a “hat check,” a “baggage check” or a “rain check” you’re asking for an accounting of what you are owed.

• When a hockey player checks an opponent hard enough to knock him down, there’s a problem with the king on the chessboard.

MORE CHESS WORDS

• The rows on a chessboard are called the ranks, and the columns on the board are called the files: rank and file.

• The lowliest piece on the board is called a pawn, from the same Latin root word that gives us “peon.” In German and Spanish, the piece is called either a peasant or a farmer rather than a pawn.

• The rook comes from the Persian “rokh” meaning chariot. Today, “rookies” are chess players in

The first game to ever be played in space was chess in June of 1970. The Russian Soyez-9 crew played against members of their ground control team and made headlines worldwide. The game ultimately ended in a draw. They used a specially designed chess set made for zero gravity because magnetic playing pieces are not allowed onboard spaceships.

1. What country has more chess grandmasters than any other country?

2. About how many people know how to play chess worldwide?

By Lucie Winborne

* Finnish Ph.D. students graduate in style! Along with their hard-earned diplo ma, they receive a sword and top hat.

* Within a week of stealing 16 statues from an Indian Hindu temple, the thieves responsible believed their subsequent nightmares and bad luck were a direct re sult and brought back some of the proper ty with a note asking for forgiveness -- but still held on to two of the statues anyway.

* Baby elephants suck their trunks for comfort.

* Do you like tequila? Thank a bat. Seri ously. Bats are the main pollinators of the agave plant, which is the key ingredient in tequila. No bats, no agave, no tequila!

* On Jan. 20, 2022, a U.S. hacker man aged to bring down North Korea’s entire internet. In addition, he performed this feat in great comfort, while wearing his pajama pants, watching “Aliens” and munching on spicy corn snacks.

* James Cameron came close to cast ing O.J. Simpson as the Terminator, but ultimately decided the athlete was “too pleasant” to portray the character.

* If you attended the University of Wis consin-La Crosse, perhaps you partici pated in a Thanksgiving tradition known as Frozen Turkey Bowling. And yes, it’s essentially what it sounds like: A bunch of folks hurling oiled frozen turkeys down a grocery store aisle at a set of bowling pins.

***

Thought for the Day: “For me, becom ing isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end.”

-- Michelle Obama

Everyday CHEAPSKATE®

by Mary Hunt

13 New Uses for an Old Credit Card

12. Guitar picks. The material in a credit card is perfect for guitar picking and strummng. You can buy a pick punch or just cut several of them out with scissors.

13. ID label. Your credit and debit cards have your name embossed on them. Cut out that portion to label your belongings. You’ll need strong glue or double-stick tape.

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Everyday CHEAPSKATE®

Before you cut up an expired credit card -- or toss away that silly fake one you got as junk mail -- here are some (rather tongue-in-cheek) suggestions for all the useful things you can find to do with it!

by Mary Hunt

1. Bookmark. It’ll keep your place and act as a handy straightedge for underlining or high lighting.

2. Glass scraper. A credit card is just the right size to scrape ice from your car’s windows and algae from the walls of an aquarium.

3. Neat caulk. Run the rounded corner of a credit card across the caulk bead for that professional look.

4. Unlock doors. Certain types of locked doors can be easily unlocked by slipping a card between the jamb and short bolt, and then coax ing the door open.

5. Cheese grater. The raised numbers on a credit card really work in a pinch to grate hard cheese like Parmesan or Romano. Don’t laugh. It works.

6. Paint trim mask. It’s what the pros use to make a neat trim line when painting in an es pecially tight spot.

7. Shim. Use a credit card or two under the leg of an uneven table or to fill a small gap when nailing up molding.

8. Battery cover. An old credit card is the perfect material for fashioning a substitute bat tery cover on the back of your remote control. How clever. Now the batteries won’t fall out every time you pick the thing up.

9. Garden markers. Have you ever noticed that the seed packet doesn’t really work well to mark the contents of your garden? It fades and curls when it gets all icky wet. Use an expired credit card instead. Paint it first with white acrylic paint. Then write on it with a Sharp ie. There you go: labels for each starter pot or row.

10. Credit card bracelet. This works well with credit cards, debit cards and gift cards, too! Being debt-free never looked so chic.

11. Earbud holders. OK this is just way too cute.

Mary invites you to visit her at Everyday Cheapskate.com, where this column is archived complete with links and resources for all recommend ed products and services. Mary invites questions and comments at https://www.everydaycheapskate. com/contact/, “Ask Mary.” This column will answer questions of general interest, but letters cannot be answered individually. Mary Hunt is the founder of EverydayCheapskate.com, a frugal living blog, and the author of the book “Debt-Proof Living.”

COPYRIGHT 2022 CREATORS.COM

WILY WARNING

• A woman lived near the mouth of a canyon in a rural area of Colorado. She was tending her garden when she heard a raven squawking from some distance away. As she continued to work, the raven grew closer and closer, squawking up a racket all the while. Finally the sounds of the raven’s calls were close enough that she decided to stand up and look around to see why it might be causing such a commotion.

• Suddenly, she spied a cougar in the tall grass, creeping towards her only some 50 feet away. She screamed for her husband who came racing out of the house, scaring the cougar away. “Thank goodness for that raven calling out and warning me!” she exclaimed. Her story went out in the newspapers, carrying the heartwarming tale of how the calls of a raven warned a suburban woman of her imminent danger.

• Later, an ornithologist explained that ravens often team up with large predators such as cougars in order to lead them to potential prey, so that the raven can feast on the leftovers. It’s far more likely, but much less newsworthy, that the raven saw the woman as a potential meal for himself.

FEATHERED FILCHERS

• In Britain in the 1930s, milk was delivered to the door with each bottle sealed with a crimped paper lid. The milk was not homogenized, so the cream always rose to the top. Suddenly the local

dairy started fielding complaints that the cream was being stolen from the milk bottles while they were on the doorstep. Local birds called blue tits make their living by peeling back bark on trees and eating bugs they find beneath. In captivity, they will peel back wallpaper in search of bugs. At some point, one blue tit peeled back the paper lid on a milk bottle and discovered cream beneath. When another blue tit watched him do this, it quickly started the same practice. Soon the entire blue tit community was stealing the cream from every porch in town – and then, every porch in England. It took ten years for the dairy to design sturdier lids that could not be raided by blue tits.

• Songbirds are born with a genetic program of what song they should sing, yet they are unable to learn the song if they don’t first hear it from another bird. Cowbird chicks are born with the imprint of a cowbird song, but because cowbird eggs are laid in other bird’s nests, the chick is also designed with ability to mimic another bird’s songs so that they are not identified as imposters by their foster parents, even though their appearance is different from their stepsiblings.

BUILT-IN BIRD BIAS

• Carotenoids are the pigments that give plants their color, such as turning tomatoes red and carrots orange. Birds with brightly colored feathers tend to eat more carotenoid-rich foods, compared to birds of the same species that do not. Dull colors on a bird that should be brightly colored indicates that the bird is either in ill health, or is not having much luck finding or competing for food. A female will always choose the male with the brightest colors.

• Likewise, a male bird who can sing enthusiastically for long periods of time indicates a bird in better health than one who cannot sustain the concert for very long.

• Up to a quarter of eggs in any given bird nest may have been fertilized by a male inhabiting a neighboring nest. Apparently the female likes increasing her chances of raising babies that have the right set of genes.

• There are about 200 species of the small tit bird, with the males of one species sporting a black stripe on their chests. The birds who have a wider stripe make better parents to nestlings, and females almost always will choose the males with the widest stripes.

• A bird’s eye takes up about 50 percent of its head; our eyes take up about 5 percent of our

head.

• The chicken is the closest living relative to the Tyrannosaurus Rex. □

To be comparable to a bird’s eyes, our eyes would have to be the size of baseballs.

by Dana Jackson

Q: Who is the actress playing Princess Diana in the current season of “The Crown”? I know she’s different than the actor who played her the last two seasons. Both have done a fantastic job. -- L.L.

A: Elizabeth Debicki, who is Australian, began playing Princess Diana in season five of the Netflix series “The Crown,” opposite Dominic West as Prince Charles. Debicki is a statuesque 6 feet, 3 inches tall, and with her big blue eyes, she physi cally inhabits the tragic character of the Princess of Wales.

Debicki’s first big role was a supporting one in Baz Lurhmann’s “The Great Gats by,” starring Leon ardo DiCaprio. In 2016, she starred alongside Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie in the British miniseries

“The Night Man ager,” and before landing “The Crown,” she starred in acclaimed director Christopher Nolan’s twisty thriller “Tenet.”

Emma Corrin, who is British, portrayed Di ana in season four of “The Crown” and was nomi nated for an Emmy. She’s only 26, but her career has taken off quickly. Corrin played Esme in the first season of the HBO Max series “Pennyworth,” which is the origin story of Batman’s butler, and she can also be seen in “My Policeman,” a recent film starring Harry Styles. ***

ven Spielberg about his own life? Also, how many Oscars has he won as director? -- S.P.

A: Steven Spielberg, one of America’s greatest directors, recently told Lesley Stahl on “60 Minutes” that every one of his movies is a personal movie. However, he admits that his new film, “The Fabelmans,” is semi-autobiographical. It’s about a boy, like him, who was obsessed with making mov ies and whose mismatched parents divorce when he was a teenager. Paul Dano plays the engineer dad in the movie and Michelle Williams his freespirit mom, and their respective personalities mir ror Spielberg’s own parents.

Spielberg has two Academy Awards as di rector for “Saving Private Ryan” and “Schindler’s List,” both released in the 1990s. He has a slew of nominations, however, the most recent of which was “West Side Story” earlier this year, but he lost to Jane Campion for “Power of the Dog.” ***

Q: When is the Elizabeth Holmes film coming out starring Jennifer Lawrence? I know she had a baby recently. Did she finish filming already? -- P.N.

A: Jennifer Lawrence’s career has slowed down the past few years, but for good reason. She

fell in love and married Cooke Maroney, an art gal lery owner, and gave birth to their son, Cy, earlier this year. Professionally, she was working on per fecting the deep voice necessary to play fallen tech tycoon Elizabeth Holmes in an upcoming film “Bad Blood,” directed by Adam McKay.

However, Lawrence recently announced she’s exited the project after seeing how well Aman da Seyfried did in the same role for “The Dropout,” a limited series on Hulu. Seyfried won an Emmy for her portrayal as well, and Lawrence felt “we don’t need to redo that.” It’s uncertain whether the role will be recast or if the project has been scrapped.

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Send me your questions at NewCelebrityExtra@ gmail.com, or write me at KFWS, 628 Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL 32803.

(c) 2022 King Features Synd., Inc.

King Features News Syndicate

Q: Is the new movie directed by Ste

Good Recipes from

Meal-in-a-Bowl Minestrone

The ideal antidote to a dreary day, this protein-packed soup is as tasty as it is nutritious, with broccoli, carrots, zucchini, green beans, to matoes, cannellini beans and macaroni simmered in light chicken broth.

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 cup chopped onion

1 tablespoon minced garlic

4 cups water

1/4 cup water

1 can reduced-sodium fat-free chicken broth (1 3/4 cups)

1 cup small whole-wheat pasta (such as elbow macaroni)

1 medium carrot, cut in 4 pieces length wise and diced

1 can no-salt-added cannellini beans

8 ounces broccoli rabe, cut bite-size

1 medium zucchini, cut in half lengthwise and diced

4 ounces green beans

1 cup packed parsley leaves

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan

1 pound plum (Roma) tomatoes

1. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a heavy 5- to 6-quart pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Stir in onion; cover and cook 5 minutes or until golden, stirring occasionally. Add 2 teaspoons garlic; cook 30 seconds until fragrant.

2. Add 4 cups water and the broth; bring to a boil. Add pasta and carrot; boil 5 minutes. Reserve 3/4 cup of the cannellini beans; stir rest into pot along with broccoli rabe, zucchini and green beans. Return to a boil and boil 5 minutes or until pasta and vegetables are tender.

3. Meanwhile puree remaining beans, 5 teaspoons oil, 1 teaspoons garlic, 1/4 cup water,

parsley and the cheese in a food processor or blender.

4. Remove from heat; stir tomatoes into soup. Stir in the parsley mixture or serve it along side. Serves 4.

TIP: Broccoli rabe stems cook tender, meaning that unlike collards and kale, you don’t need to pull the leaves off the stems. Cut off (and discard) the stems just below the string or wire tie binding them. Remove the tie, and hold on to the bunch as long as you can while you slice the stalks and leaves. Wash well before cooking. A bunch of broccoli rabe usually weighs around 1 pound.

Roasted Almond-Crusted Plums

This tasty dessert is perfect with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

6 large plums (4 to 5 ounces each), each cut in half and pitted

3 tablespoons butter or margarine, soft ened

1/3 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/3 cup sliced natural almonds

1. Preheat oven to 425 F. In shallow

baking

2. In medium bowl, beat butter and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in flour until blended. Stir in almonds. Sprinkle mixture evenly over plums. Bake until plums are tender, 25 to 35 minutes. Makes 6 servings.

 Each serving: About 204 calories, 2g protein, 31g carbohydrate, 9g total fat (4g satu rated), 16mg cholesterol, 64mg sodium.

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For thousands of triple-tested recipes, visit our web site at www.goodhousekeeping.com/food-recipes/. (c) 2022 Hearst Communications, Inc. All rights reserved

NEST HEADS

By John Allen

DIAMOND

by Brett Koth

Dog Talk with Uncle Matty

By Matthew Margolis Creators News

The Shy Type

“Scientists have found the gene for shy ness. They would have found it years ago, but it was hiding behind a couple of other genes.”

-- Jonathan Katz, American humorist

Shyness can be crippling. But some of the most presumably outgoing people are also the most famously painfully shy: Robert De Niro, Lucille Ball, Barbara Walters, Johnny Carson -- to name a few.

So if people can overcome it, what about dogs?

The following letter from a reader chroni cles the difficulties for a dog burdened with shy ness -- and demonstrates the patience required of its owner.

“I adopted an Australian/German shepherd mix almost two years ago. She is about 5 years old and very attached to me, but it’s taken a long time for her to come out of her shell.

“When I first got her, she trusted nobody and would run away and hide all the time. I don’t know whether she was socialized as a puppy. I’ve put everything into getting this dog to trust me and can honestly say she now does. She rarely takes her eyes off of me.

“The problem: She’s insecure with every one else. When my kids (10 and 14) are home, she stays in my room. I have to close the doors to all the rooms to keep her from hiding. At that point, she stays right by my side or under my feet, always happy to see me, but never excited for anyone else. She will take treats from my husband, but she runs behind the chair to eat them. If she is panicked, she won’t take treats from anyone. She’s scared to death when walking on a leash with my husband or my kids, but walks great with me. If I’m out side with her, she’s pretty good, but if anyone else comes into the yard or she hears a strange noise, she runs to the door to go inside. She’s afraid of all noises.

“I don’t understand why she is afraid, espe cially after all this time. I was going to take her to obedience classes to socialize her, but I don’t think

SENIOR NEWS LINE

by Matilda Charles © King Features Synd., Inc.

Protect Yourself Against Holiday Shopping Scams

It’s that time of year again when we do holi day shopping, much of it online. It’s also the time when more scammers come out. And what is it scammers want most? They want as much of your personal information as they can get. They are scheming experts in turning your social security and banking account numbers either into cash or for making fraudulent purchases at your expense.

Here are a few tips for you to heed to avoid getting scammed online this holiday season:

Beware sales emails that include links, even if the email is from a store you usually use. Thieves are very good at making their scam pages look genuine. Don't click the link they provide. Instead, open a web browser and go directly to the website itself. Sometimes the email will request that you update your account information. Instead, call the store and ask if they’ve sent out that request. You will quickly find out that they did no such thing.

Beware the tracking emails you get with updates about packages that you’re expecting. Remember that genuine FedEx and UPS emails won’t ask for any personal information from you.

The Art of DESIGN

by Joseph Publillones

Colorful or Full of Color?

So often during the summer months or during holidays, we take vacations to visit family or to faraway places to get a bit of respite from work, school or from life in general. On any out ing, you might visit a restaurant, a hotel lobby, museum or historic home that inspires you and gives you the desire to re decorate or to paint the walls of your home. Now the ques tion is what color. And once you have decided on a color palette, the other dilemma is whether you want your home to be colorful or full of color. These are two distinct ap proaches on how to integrate color into your home.

One approach is to paint each room of your home a different color. This will give you rooms that are distinct in their flavor and can each be decorated in their own style in accordance to the color pal ette chosen. This will result in a home full of color. The colors can either contrast or complement each other from room to room as the homeowners desire.

Some prefer an obvious transition from room to room including drastic color changes that some may consider shocking, like a yellow room next to a glowing fuchsia room next to an apple green room. It takes some confidence and real knowledge of colors and decorating to pull this off. Of course, the latter is an extreme example to demonstrate a point, but the same holds true

Don’t click the links in their email. Go directly to their website.

Be careful where you shop online. Check reviews to see what others have to say. Avoid those with few or low ratings.

Consider using Amazon for most of your online purchases and having a Prime membership. Amazon is good at protecting customers when it comes to you receiving damaged items or not re ceiving any items at all. A Prime membership now costs $139 a year, but it includes free shipping, free movies and videos, and more.

If you are scammed, report it. Call your bank and the police, and then notify the Elder Fraud Hotline at 833-372-8311.

Here's another bit of advice: Make it a goal for 2023 to intentionally visit your bank now and then to make some transactions in person, and get acquainted with one or two tellers. Yes, it’s easier to just use the drive-up window for deposits and cash withdrawals, but there is a lot to be said for letting them put a face to a name. Once they know you and your banking habits, they’re better able to quickly identify anything having to do with your account that might seem suspicious. You'll find it reassuring to know that you have a personal rela tionship with the people inside rather than simply being a name and account number.

Matilda Charles regrets that she cannot personally answer reader questions, but will incorporate them into her column whenever possible. Send email to columnreply2@ gmail.com.

(c) KingFeaturesSyndicate

for more subdued combinations -- say, a pale sage room next to a rose pink room followed by a baby blue room. Whether you contrast or com plement colors, the transitions from room to room allow each one to read as individual and unique in style. Historical homes and estates have used this bold color preference for centuries, mainly in formal rooms.

Another approach with regard to color is the sprinkling of colors in small bits. Regardless of whether your walls and backdrop are safe and tempered neutrals or more strident colors, you can always use this approach, as it is relies on colors extrapolated from your works of art, acces sories and other items such as your case goods or hard furnishings. This method of using color is most versatile, as it allows you to change the fo cused color over time.

This second approach is for those who may be hesitant to commit to a bold color but like col or enough to weave it in through different rooms. For those who rent an apartment or home, this may be the best way to decorate with a favorite color without the permanence of the color being on the walls.

So, as you may see, there is a difference between a home full of color and a colorful home. Not everyone may like an orange room like I do, but there is always room for touches of the color here and there. Col or is an exciting way to express your personality. Let yours shine through like the notes of a trom bone or as light as the plucking of a violin’s string.

Joseph Pubillones is the owner of Joseph Pubil lones Interiors, an award-winning interior design firm based in Palm Beach, Florida. His website is www.josephpubil lones.com. To find out more about Joseph Pubillones and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and car toonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.cre ators.com. COPYRIGHT 2019 CREATORS.COM

Cody’s Corner (from page 9)

she would do well being around so many different people and pets. Do you have any ideas?”

Build confidence. This is the key to combat ing shyness in a dog. Depending on the dog’s age, the degree of shyness and the reasons behind it, this process can take weeks, months or years. But every effort will help.

How do you build confidence in a dog? De sensitization and obedience training using love, praise and affection.

Desensitization is the process of gradually introducing the dog to those things he is afraid of: people, noises, places, objects, circumstances. The trick is to introduce the frightening situation and let the dog approach at his own pace. Do not force anything, but rather, reassure your dog that you will not push him too far past his comfort zone.

A method of training steeped in love, praise and affection is what I recommend for all dogs, but especially for the nervous, shy or timid. Stern or angry words will only backfire when working with these personalities, and your success with desensi tization depends on the dog believing he has an ally in you.

For a more in-depth examination of canine shyness and techniques for relieving it, check out “When Good Dogs Do Bad Things” and “I Just Got a Puppy. What Do I Do?” or visit www.unclematty. com.

Woof!

* * *

Dog trainer Matthew “Uncle Matty” Margolis is the co-author of 18 books about dogs, a behaviorist, a popular radio and television guest, and the host of the PBS series “WOOF! It’s a Dog’s Life!” Read all of Uncle Matty’s columns at www.creators.com, and visit him at www.unclematty.com.

YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY

by Tom Margenau

Happy Birthday, SSI!

I was playing one of my morning online word puzzles when up popped a little blurb from a senior citizen advocacy group announcing that the Supplemental Security Income program has recently turned 50 years old. I’m sure most people who see a reference to SSI would say something like “Supplemental Security what?” And that’s because SSI is not very well known to most peo ple. And as I’ve pointed out umpteen times, a lot of folks probably just figure, given its name, that Supplemental Security Income is some kind of supplemental Social Security benefit. It is not. So, I guess it’s time to dust off and update some of the columns I’ve written in the past that explain the SSI program.

To begin with, here is just a short history lesson. Back before the early 1970s, there were hundreds of different welfare programs in the country. Sometimes states administered welfare programs. Other times, counties had their own wel fare programs. And in some places, cities or other jurisdictions had their own welfare programs. It was a mess.

Some officials in the Nixon administration had a good idea. They decided to federalize and standardize this hodgepodge of welfare programs into one national program. But then they had two bad ideas.

The first bad idea: They gave this new pro gram to the Social Security Administration to run. On the one hand, I suppose it made sense. The SSA had a network of field offices around the country, and it had the computer infrastructure necessary to manage a big national government benefits pro gram. On the other hand, they messed up a nice, clean government operation used to dealing most ly with grandpas and grandmas and saddled it with the task of running a big, messy welfare system.

And their second bad idea was the name. Some people somewhere in the Nixon administra tion decided to call the new program Supplemental Security Income. I understand what they were try ing to do. They wanted to remove the negative con notations of the word “welfare” from the minds of potential program beneficiaries. But this act of po litical correctness has led to problems ever since.

On a related side note, I remember the be ginning days of the program when the government was first introducing it to American citizens. Social Security Administration employees (like me) were absolutely forbidden to use the word “welfare” when explaining SSI to people. The closest we could come to being open and honest with them was to say it was a “needs-based program.” I recall many an interview with potential applicants (usu ally older and poor men and women) who would look at me blankly when I used the term “needsbased.” So, I’d then kind of whisper to them and say, “I’m not supposed to tell you this, but it’s a wel fare program.” Then I’d see some degree of recog nition in their face. Despite its connotation, people at least know what “welfare” is. They don’t know what “needs-based” means.

Anyway, they called the new program Sup plemental Security Income, and they gave the pro gram to the Social Security Administration to run. And almost everyone back then in the 1970s, and almost everyone still today, thinks that Supplemen

tal Security Income is some kind of supplemental Social Security benefit.

But as I said, it’s not. SSI is a federal wel fare program that has absolutely nothing to do with Social Security other than the fact that it happens to be managed by the Social Security Administra tion. SSI payments are funded out of general tax revenues -- NOT Social Security taxes.

Gosh, how I wish they would have called SSI something like the Federal Welfare Program. And gosh, how I wish they would have created a new federal agency to run it and called it something like the Federal Welfare Benefits Administration. OK, I got that off my chest! Now, let me explain how SSI works.

In a nutshell, it does just what its name says. It “supplements” someone’s “income” to give that person some degree of financial “security.”

To qualify for benefits, you must be 65 or older, or you must be disabled. (That latter category includes disabled children.) And most importantly, you must have limited assets and income. These in come and asset rules are WAY more complicated than I will be able to explain in a short column. But here they are in a very general sense.

The asset limit is $2,000 for one person or $3,000 for a couple. Assets include cash, bank accounts, personal property, etc. Essentially, any thing you could readily convert to cash and use to pay for food and shelter. (Usually, the value of your home and car don’t count toward these limits.)

The income rules are a little messier. The basic federal SSI payment is $841 per month. Some states add more money to that federal payment, so the SSI benefit could be higher where you live.

So, the SSI program supplements your in come up to that federal or combined federal and state income level. For the following example, I’ll just use the federal payment of $841.

Let’s say 72-year-old Myra gets a Social Se curity widow’s benefit of $750 per month, and that is her only income. She owns her home and has a few hundred dollars in the bank. If she applies for SSI, her $750 Social Security check would be supplemented up to $841 -- meaning she would get

$91 per month in SSI benefits. But there is a little twist that says the first $20 per month of income she has doesn’t count toward the SSI limit. That means they would only apply $730 against the SSI threshold. So, she would actually end up getting $111 per month in SSI benefits.

That was a very simple example of the rules for an extremely messy welfare program. For ex ample, there are different payment levels for peo ple who live in someone else’s household and who don’t pay any rent. And there are also complicated rules about “deeming” income and resources from other family members.

Anyway, happy birthday to a messy and misunderstood government program! * * *

If you have a Social Security question, Tom Mar genau has two books with all the answers. One is called “Social Security -- Simple and Smart: 10 Easy-to-Under stand Fact Sheets That Will Answer All Your Questions About Social Security.” The other is “Social Security: 100 Myths and 100 Facts.” You can find the books at Ama zon.com or other book outlets.

To find out more about Tom Margenau and to read past columns and see features from other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syn dicate website at www.creators.com.

1. The book of Samaritans is in the a) Old Testament b) New Testament c) Neither

2. Solomon said what "biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder"? a) Woman's scorn b) A guilty conscience c) Wrath of God d) Wine

3. From Acts 7, who was the

now available in stores and online.

(Answers on page 16)

For comments or more Bible Trivia go to www.TriviaGuy.com © 2019 King Features Synd., Inc. © 2022 King Features Synd., Inc.

M.D.

Supplement With Good Potential Still Needs to Be Better Studied

DEAR DR. ROACH: I have a friend with multiple health problems, mostly digestive and throat issues, who has recently discov ered the supplement astaxanthin through his treatment with a nutritionist. He is extremely optimistic that this supplement is his ticket to better health. He said it was developed by a biochemical engineer.

As a doctor, would you recommend this for your patients? He says it is a power ful antioxidant and reduces inflammation. He also believes it will destroy any cancer cells. -- N.H.

ANSWER: Astaxanthin is a naturally occurring pigment related to vitamin A that was first isolated from a lobster in 1938. It indeed has both anti-inflammatory and antioxidant proper ties. It has been used as a coloring agent in salmon, and is also naturally found in salmon. Most astaxanthin sold commercially is synthe sized from petroleum products.

As a supplement, astaxanthin has been best studied to treat and prevent skin damage from aging. Multiple small studies have shown that it can improve skin appearance and func tion when used orally or topically. There is also some evidence it can reduce DNA damage from ultraviolet light.

The ability to reduce the type of damage that may ultimately lead to skin cancer is a far cry from the ability to “destroy any cancer cell.” There is no secret or hidden cure to cancer. The Food and Drug Administration categorizes astaxanthin as “generally regarded as safe.” As I have often said, since supplements are not tightly regulated in the United States, you must rely on the manufacturer providing you with what they say they are, and there have been many, many instances where that has not been the case (in general, not about astaxanthin in par ticular).

Being conservative, I would say this supplement has potential, but I can’t recommend it until it has been better studied.

***

DEAR DR. ROACH: My hair is falling out. What can be done about it? I take biotin and saw palmetto, but it hasn’t stopped the hair loss. The older a lady gets, the more her hair falls out! -- L.

ANSWER: I have learned not to under estimate the psychological effects of hair loss in women. Female pattern hair loss is a common problem affecting older women. The diagnosis can be made for certain by your regular doctor or a dermatologist after an exam. The most com mon pattern is thinning of the hair, often initially in the midline and worse on the top of the scalp (vertex). There are other causes of hair loss, so it is important to get a correct diagnosis in order to choose the right treatment.

I have not seen much success with over-the-counter supplements. Topical minoxidil (Rogaine) is the most common treatment, but I

have started to try very low-dose oral minoxidil in some of my women patients.

Spironolactone (a blood pressure medi cine that also blocks testosterone receptors) and finasteride (used in men both for enlarged pros tate and for male pattern hair loss) are also used by experts for women. It takes months to see if these are working.

VETERANS POST  

by Freddie Groves

The PACT Act and You

The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics, also known as the PACT Act, adds a num ber of important modifications to veteran health care.

Among other benefits, PACT requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to do a toxic expo sure screening on each veteran who’s enrolled in VA health care. That’s a good start. Additionally, it extends eligibility for veterans who were exposed, adds more exposure locations for radiation and Agent Orange, and adds over 20 more presumptive conditions for AO and other toxin exposure, as well as exposure to burn pits.

That word “presumptive” is key. It means you don’t have to fight tooth and nail to prove that an illness came from being stationed at a particu lar location. It’s “presumed” that your illness came from being there and that the surrounding condi tions were the cause. You don’t have to prove a thing.

If you’ve been getting VA care for several years, the name can be confusing because “PACT” used to mean something else: Patient Aligned Care Teams. In that incarnation of PACT, personalized primary care was the objective. It started in 2010 with the creation of teams made up of nurses, pro viders, social workers, pharmacists, nutritionists and many others. They would employ e-health vis its, phone calls, monitoring at home, group visits, the whole medical gamut, to give individualized care to veterans. Surveys done then indicated that the program was modestly successful, at least when it came to reducing the number of urgent care visits (33%) and hospital admissions (12%).

Let’s just hope that the current incarnation of PACT is at least that successful.

To read about the current PACT, go to va.gov/resources/the-pact-act-and-your-vabenefits. You can read about eligibility of various eras, screenings, filing claims, info for survivors and more.

For specific help with how you can file a claim, call them at 800-698-2411. Or go to va.gov and file Claim Form 21-526ez online.

--

How Leg Pains May be an Early Sign of Heart Attack or Stroke

DEAR SAVVY SENIOR: I started a walking program a few months ago to help me lose weight but I've been having prob lems with my legs and hips hurting during my walk, although they feel better once I stop. I thought it was just because I’m getting old, but my neighbor was telling me about a leg vein disease she has called PAD, and thinks I may have something similar. What can you tell me about this? --Limping Linda

Wright Capital Group 1/3 pg BW 26x disc. Friday, Sept. 16, 2022

who smoke or used to smoke, have elevated cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, are overweight, or have a family history of PAD, heart attack or stroke. African Americans are also twice as likely to have PAD as Caucasians.

If you’re experiencing any symptoms or if you’re at increased risk of PAD, you need to be tested by your doctor or a vascular specialist. He or she will probably perform a quick and painless ankle-brachial index test, which is done by mea suring your blood pressure in your ankle as well as your arm and compare the two numbers. Your doctor may also do imaging tests such as ultra sound, magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), and computed tomographic (CT) angiography.

valleybits@msn.com Fax: 760-320-1630

With early detection, many cases of PAD can be treated with lifestyle modifications includ ing an improved diet, increased physical activity and smoking cessation.

Traveling with Medicare

Before

Dear Linda: The health condition your neighbor refers to is known as “peripheral arte rial disease” (or PAD), which is an "under-theradar" disease that affects approximately 8 to 12 million Americans.

It happens when the arteries that carry blood to the legs and feet become narrowed or clogged over the years with fatty deposits or plaque, causing poor circulation.

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If lifestyle changes aren’t enough, your doctor may also prescribe medicine to prevent blood clots, lower blood pressure and choles terol, and control pain and other symptoms. And for severe PAD, the treatment options are an gioplasty (inflating a tiny balloon in the artery to restore blood flow then removed), the insertion or a stent to reopen the artery, or a graft bypass to reroute blood around the blockage.

You may not have considered your vaca tion plans when choosing health care coverage, but you should. Knowing if you will be away from home, for how long, and how often, are important considerations when choosing a Medicare plan or re-evaluating your Medicare coverage.

Does Medicare Work Anywhere?

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Contact your Tidbits representative immediately with changes or corrections.

The short answer is, “No.” Medicare cover age isn’t equal anywhere you go. Some Medicare plans don’t provide for coverage beyond the state or county where you live and where the plan was purchased. That may be a concern for people who travel a lot or who live half the year in one place and half the year in another. You may fly south to winter in a warmer locale or travel north in the summer to escape extreme heat.

Office: 760-320-0997 email: valleybits@msn.com Fax: 760-320-1630

But you also need to be aware that because PAD is a systemic disease, people that have it are also much more likely to have clogged arteries in other areas of the body like the heart, neck and brain, which greatly increase the risks of heart attack or stroke.

Few Symptoms

Unfortunately, PAD goes undiagnosed and untreated way too often because most peo ple that have it experience few, if any symptoms. The most common symptom, however, is similar to what you’re experiencing: pain and cramping in the hip, thigh or calf muscles, especially when walking or exercising but usually disappears after resting for a few minutes.

To learn more about PAD, visit the Na tional Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at NHLBI. NIH.gov/health-topics/peripheral-artery-dis ease

* * *

Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior. org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book.

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Another reason PAD is under-diagnosed is because many people assume that aches and pains go along with aging and simply live with it instead of reporting it to their doctor.

Other possible symptoms to be aware of include leg numbness or weakness, coldness or skin color changes in the lower legs and feet, or ulcers or sores on the legs or feet that don’t heal.

Are You at Risk?

Like most other health conditions, the risk of developing PAD increases with age. Those most vulnerable are people over the age of 50

Property

(760) 320-0997 valleybits@msn.com

If you spend a good portion of the year somewhere other than your home state, you have some decisions to make about how you want your Medicare coverage to work and what you’re willing to pay.

Traveling with Original Medicare

If you’re traveling within the United States, or any of its territories, and you have Original Medicare (Parts A & B), this coverage travels with you. You can see any doctor or go to any facility that accepts Medicare and new patients. In most cases, you don’t need a referral.

Outside of the country though, most medi cal services won’t be covered except in special circumstances. Original Medicare will cover the following international items:

• Emergency services in Canada if you’re go ing between Alaska and another state, your travel route is direct and without unreasonable delay, and the closest hospital that can treat you is in Canada.

• Medical care on a cruise ship if the ship is in U.S. territorial waters when you receive care.

• Non-emergency inpatient services (under Part A) if the foreign hospital is closer to your home residence than the nearest U.S. hospital.

Traveling with Medicare Advantage or Part D

When it comes to Medicare Advantage or Part D plans, traveling can get tricky. Unlike Original Medicare, Medicare Advantage and Part D plans can be limited by the plan’s service area, and if you leave it, your plan may not cover you.

For Medicare Advantage and Part D plans, you’ll want to contact your plan provider to under stand your options while traveling.

Medicare Plans Will Always Cover Emergency Care The

by Jim Miller

by Anne McCollam Creators

Nucut Glass a Cut Above Pressed Glass

Q: This exquisite looking small cut-glass dish is 6 inches in diameter and in perfect condition. The word “Nucut” is marked in the center. It has been in our family for many years, but I am not sure when or where we obtained it.

I would appreciate any information you can tell me about this piece and its maker. I'd particularly like to know something about its history and value.

A: Although your dish appears to be cut glass, it is actually a high quality pressed glass. Located in Bellaire, Ohio, Imperial Glass Co. introduced their “Nucut” line in 1914. It was created to be a cut glass look-a-like. Cut glass was very expensive -- Nucut was marketed to those who couldn’t afford the real thing.

Your dish was made in the early 1900s and would fetch $20 to $30 in an antiques shop.

rule, many included a flour bin with a sifter, a bread drawer, a cutting board, storage space for pots and pans, plus racks and hooks for utensils.

Sellers Kitchen Cabinets were made in Elwood, Ind. Most cupboards were made of solid oak with traditional early-1900s designs, making your Art Deco cupboard very unusual.

Your cupboard was created around 1920. I recently saw one selling in an antiques shop for over $1,200.

***

Q: This mark is on the bottom of my porcelain figurine. Standing approximately 4 inches tall, the figurine is a young girl holding a basket of flowers. She is wearing a green dress, a yellow apron, a pink scarf and stands on a pedestal.

I have been trying to find information on the maker and value for quite a long time. Your help would be greatly appreciated.

A blue crown over a “N” mark was used as early as 1740.

A: The blue crown over an “N” has been used by several companies in Europe. Capo-di-Monte located in Naples, Italy, was the first to utilize it around 1740. They sold their molds to Ginori Factory in Doccia, Italy, around 1820. Ernst Bohne and Sons in Thuringia, Germany, and Sandizell Porcelain Factory in Bavaria, Germany, also used the mark.

Based on the image of your mark, your figurine was made by Bohne and Sons. It would probably be worth $50 to $75.

Antiques expert and columnist Anne McCollam has recently retired and no longer receives inquiries nor answers reader letters. Due to the popularity of her col umn, this publication will continue to reprint previous col umns of interest to our readers.

To find out more about Anne McCollam and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoon ists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators. com

* On Nov. 29, 1972, Atari released the table tennis-themed arcade video game Pong. While originally designed as a training exercise by creator Allan Alcorn, Atari’s founders were pleased enough by its quality to manufacture it. The first commercially successful video game, it would prove instrumental in launching that entire industry.

* On Nov. 30, 1982, Michael Jackson re leased his sixth solo studio album, “Thriller.” Earning a record 12 Grammy nominations and ultimately becoming the best-selling record album in music history, the title song’s video is the only one to be inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.

* On Dec. 1, 1891, our beloved sport of basketball was created by Dr. James Naismith, a physical education instructor at the YMCA In ternational Training School in Springfield, Mas sachusetts, after he was asked by his boss to create an indoor game that would help athletes stay in shape during cold weather. Peach bas kets served as the hoops, along with a soccerstyle ball, and each time a point was scored, the game was paused so the janitor could fetch a ladder to retrieve the ball with a ladder.

* On Dec. 2, 2020, the U.N. Commission on Narcotic Drugs removed cannabis from the list of most dangerous drugs of the international drug control treaty, which included such highly addictive substances as heroin, opium, mor phine, methadone and cocaine, although the U.N. still considers cannabis a controlled sub stance.

* On Dec. 3, 1926, mystery novel maven Agatha Christie pulled a disappearing act from her home in Surrey, England. She rematerial ized nearly two weeks later at a hotel in the spa town of Harrogate, where journalist Ritchie Calder found her using her husband’s mis tress’s surname as a notable pseudonym.

Q: I have a white Hoosier cupboard that was made by Sellers. There are two doors at the top and three drawers at the lower portion, which are above two doors. It has red Bakelite handles, Art Deco decals and a white porcelain workspace that pulls out. It has the original finish and is in excellent condition. What can you tell me about my cupboard?

A: Hoosiers cupboards were first made in Indiana, the Hoosier state, around the turn of the last century. As demand grew, other companies also manufactured the step-saving cupboards. As a

I'm enormously tired of having no career and thus struggling financially. I need a vocation!

* On Dec. 4, 1875, William M. “Boss” Tweed, who notoriously led New York City’s Demo cratic political machine, escaped from his cell at the Ludlow Street Jail and went into hiding even as a civil case for misuse of city funds proceeded against him. Found guilty in absen tia, Tweed fled again, to Spain, but was quickly captured there and returned to New York to serve his sentence.

(c) 2022 King Features Synd., Inc.

"Considering your vicious hook combined with the frequency of your slice, your ridiculous stance and propensity to top the ball on your drive swing, plus factoring in your number of lost balls, the odds against any probability of you ever hitting a hole in one are astronomical."

Imperial Glass Co.’s Nucut glass serves as an imitation of cut glass.

CHESS THROUGH HISTORY

• Chess began in India around the year 500 A.D. It’s gone through many changes since. Modern rules were set down in the 1800s.

• The oldest recorded chess game in history is from the 900s AD, between a historian from Baghdad and his student.

• A rule book written in Latin around the year 997 AD was found preserved in a monastery in Switzerland.

• The oldest surviving chess sets were found in northern Scotland, dated to the 12th century.

• The first chessboard with alternating light and dark squares appeared in Europe in 1090.

• The folding chessboard was originally invented in 1125 by a chess-playing priest. Since the church forbade priests to play chess, he concealed his chessboard by making a folding one that looked like two books together.

• The move where the pawn can progress two steps instead of one was introduced in Spain in 1280.

• The reason traditional chess pieces don’t look like actual soldiers, bishops, kings, and queens traces back to before the game reached Europe, when it had first passed through the Islamic world. Islam forbids making statues in the likeness of animals or people, so chess pieces became vague-looking and stayed that way when the game moved into Europe and beyond.

Game Changers

by Jason Jenkins

will assist in correct hip positioning as well.

CALL FOR A TEE TIME: CALL FOR A TEE TIME: Great Golf, Food & Spirits Only 30 min. from Palm Springs! Open Daily 7 am 55100 Martinez Tr. • Yucca Valley *12 or 18 holes w/cart Anytime - Mon. Thru Thurs. PLUS With this AD. thru 11-15-22 ADVERTISING PROOF Final Changes DUE: 5:00 p.m.. Please review carefully. Double check:  Phone Number(s)  Spelling  Prices  Hours Office: 760-320-0997 email: valleybits@msn.com Fax: 760-320-1630 Contact your Tidbits representative immediately with changes or corrections. FREE The Neatest Little Paper Ever Read 4 Million Readers Weekly Nationwide! of Coachella Valley Property of AdVenture Media, Inc. Phone: 760.320.0997 Fax: 760.320.1630 valleybits@msn.com All Rights Reserved ADVERTISING PROOF Final Changes DUE: 5:00 p.m.. Please review carefully. Double check:  Phone Number(s)  Spelling  Prices  Hours Office: 760-320-0997 email: valleybits@msn.com Fax: 760-320-1630 Contact your Tidbits representative immediately with changes or corrections. FREE The Neatest Little Paper Ever Read of Coachella Valley Advertising Call (760) 320-0997 valleybits@msn.com Property of AdVenture Media, Inc. Phone: 760.320.0997 Fax: 760.320.1630 valleybits@msn.com All Rights Reserved Hawk’s Landing c/o Cindy Melland Golf Caddy - Prem. Position Oct. 23, 2022 Vol. 18 - No. 43 Friday night is PRIME RIB and Live Music night! Hawk’s Landing GOLF CLUB 760-365-0033 760-365-0033 Unique Course Design Fun & Challenging Golf! $$40 40 ONLY ONLY per player • GREAT GOLF! • GREAT FOOD! • GREAT PRICE! • GREAT GOLF! • GREAT FOOD! • GREAT PRICE! Sun- Wed: 7am - 5pm • Breakfast & Lunch Thur - Sat: 7am - 9 pm • Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Only 30 min. away! MAKE A DAY OF IT! TUES., OCT. 18 Call for Reservations PAY LESS to PLAY MORE GREAT GOLF!* * Includes Beverage of Your Choice & Free Bucket of Range Balls 11-30-22

A good finish should have the left leg straight, the right thigh up close to the left leg, the right foot up on the toe, and the upper body arching back slightly. The trick is that the hips are now “tucked under” the upper body or the stomach is pushed forward. Many beginners, or players who don’t have good core strength, will finish with their hips pushed out behind their upper body. Learn to correct the finish by tucking the hips under or pushing your belt buckle forward in order to feel the correct position. Good leg

One of the common basics that any top level golfer learns early in their devel opment is a consistency of how the club is aligned to themselves. The grip end of the golf club should be pointed somewhere between the zipper line and the crease (or middle) of the left leg. This zone is quite small, but it does allow for a little variance among players.

Poor set up positions usually favor the grip end pointing too centered, although it may be just as destructive to have the grip end pointing well left of the body. By keep ing the clubface square to the target line and the grip end in its zone, you’ll gain more consistency with clubface control throughout your set of clubs. Interestingly, the clubshaft may appear to lean differently with irons and woods due to ball position changes. This will be normal from the golfer’s point of view.

Game Changers

Jason Jenkins was a 16-year member of the Jim McLean Golf

teaching staff and was one of GOLF Magazine’s Top 100

Nominees 1999-2010. He was named one of the Golf

Poor

Jason Jenkins was a 16-year member of the Jim McLean Golf School teaching staff. He was one of GOLF Magazine’s Top 100 Teacher Nominees 1999-2010 and has been named one of the Golf Digest Top Teachers in California. Jason teaches at GOLFTEC

CENTER in Indio. Contact him at jjenkins@golftec.com