Free Legal Services for Seniors

I learned today (from an article in this week's Carmel Pine Cone) about a Legal Services for Seniors, a non-profit group that offers free legal representation to seniors age 60. While their focus is on low-income seniors, anyone age 60 and over who is a resident of Monterey County qualifies.

It's a non-profit organization funded by the state bar association, state and local government grants, and private donations. Their mission is to prevent elder abuse in all its forms, and a large portion of their caseload is representing seniors who have been targeted by frauds and scams. They can also help with things like Social Security disputes, heath care and housing rights, wills, probate, guardianships, and other issues primarily affecting seniors. In some cases, they'll even go to court with you.

According to their website,

Each year, an estimated 5 million, or 1 in 10, older Americans are abused, neglected, and exploited. In addition, seniors throughout the United States lose an estimated $2.6 billion or more annually due to elder financial abuse and exploitation, funds that could have been used to pay for basic needs such as housing, food, and medical care.

Unfortunately, no one is immune to abuse, neglect, and exploitation. It occurs in every demographic, and can happen to anyone—a family member, a neighbor, even you.

As much as we don't want to, unfortunately we're all getting older. It's nice to know that a service like this is available. If you know someone who could use some legal help, set up an appointment with Legal Services or stop by one of their outreach sites.

A little bit of rain

Light rain today.

Not nearly enough to relieve the drought, but every little bit helps. My garden is looking much greener.
When I started putting together The Monterey Life, it was my intention to post something at least 3-4 times a week. But sometimes life gets in the way, and I haven't done very well at keeping up with the posts. It's not like I haven't been doing anything though...I've been learning about the biggest Monterey lifestyle issue -- the looming water shortage. If we have to deal with 70% water supply cutbacks, living here is not going to be that much fun anymore.

While still living in Seattle, as we were considering moving to Monterey I became vaguely aware that there were concerns about water, and that there were plans being discussed to build a desalination plant. We came down to look at houses and our realtor, a lifelong resident, shrugged it off...."yeah, they've been arguing about that since I was a kid, and probably always will." I figured it would get sorted out in the end and didn't give it much thought since then. But with the drought dragging on, I started wondering about it, and decided to do a little research.

I started reading about the various proposals. As I read web sites and news articles, I would run across terminology, or references to past events and other projects I didn't know about, and that would take me in a new direction. Soon my head was spinning with information. I started keeping notes in One Note, and, because I can't help myself, I soon found myself organizing it all into categories. It occurred to me that others might be interested in all of this info, and an even better way to organize it would be to put it in a blog.


So I started a second blog...the Monterey Peninsula Water Spot.

The websites for various community-based advocacy groups also have lots of great information about the water supply issue. However, they are all advocating a particular position. My purpose was merely to obtain as much information for myself as I could. Eventually I will probably form an opinion one way or the other, but I still intend for the MP Water Spot be a roundup of the facts in as neutral a way as possible. The subject matter is a little dry (no pun intended), yes, but I have tried to keep it as light as possible.

Please give my new site a visit.

Ruler of the roost

Hummingbirds are a frequent sighting around here, so we decided to get a feeder to attract them when the plants in the garden aren't flowering. The lady at Wild Bird Haven explained that a male hummingbird will probably find it and decide it's his and no one else can use it. Sure enough, someone turned up within hours and claimed it.

© 2013, J. White

He has taken up residence in a nearby tree and watches it faithfully. We've seen him chasing off other hummingbirds. He's not bothered by the scrub jays that hang around hoping for peanuts (guess he knows they're not interested in sugar water), but he's not too crazy about us being around it. Approach it,there's a steady chip-chip-chip sound coming from the tree.  Settle down, little guy, we're just trying to refill it. 

© 2013, J. White

Healthcare matters

I’ve mentioned before about how Monterey is laid back and the local government is not very high tech – everything being done by phone or snail mail.  The healthcare system, though, is a different matter.  Everyone’s connected, and prescriptions, lab orders, referrals, and the like whiz through cyberspace from your doctor’s office to the appropriate service providers.

Need a prescription…it’s not written on the little prescription pads of old. The doctor enters in into the computer and it winds up at your pharmacy. Same for any lab test, x-rays, or scans ordered. Referrals to other specialists are also entered in the system – and often the specialist’s office will call YOU to schedule an appointment when they get the order.

It’s actually a good system, I just wasn’t used to it when I went to my first doctor’s appointment.  When the doctor said “I’d like you to get a cholesterol test, what lab do you use?”  I didn’t have the slightest idea.  I’m used to that kind of thing being done in the doctor’s office, or being told somewhere specific to go. No problem,  they gave me a printed “open” order with no provider filled in, and a list of labs, and I picked one and it all worked out fine.

I recently had to call my doctor’s office on a Friday afternoon when a minor problem I’d been treated for previously seemed to be coming back.  In case it got worse over the weekend, I thought, “I’d better call now.” 

I described the symptoms to the nurse, and she said someone would call back. Within the hour, I got a return call. Doctor wants me to get some lab work and also ordered some meds. She asked what lab and pharmacy wanted to use (a question that would have thrown me for a loop if I wasn’t already used to the system). I liked the lab I went before, but momentarily drew a blank on the name.  “Mmmmm, you know, it’s on Cass Street . . .  in an office park with a lot of medical offices . . .”  She knew I meant Hunter Labs (it’s a small town, after all) and said she’d send an order as well as enter a prescription. 

So I jumped in the car for the 5-minute drive to Hunter Labs. No one in the waiting room – later Friday seems to be an excellent time to go. Anyway, I told the receptionist my doctor sent an order, she glanced at the fax machine, and sure enough, there it was sitting in the tray.  In-and-out, 5 minutes.  Then over to Rite Aid to pick up my prescription, and I was back home, medicated, and feeling better in well less than an hour. Awesome.

Check out the new page I’ve added a page to this site with more info about what I’ve learned so far about healthcare in this area.

healthcare in Monterey, doctor's office in Monterey, healthcare system in Monterey, getting medical care in Monterey

Cell phone surprise

Time to upgrade your cell phone? Think you've found a great deal on a discounted phone by renewing your plan for another two years? Well, be aware that in California, you will pay sales tax on the FULL RETAIL VALUE of the phone, not the discount price.

Even though the tax code states that sales tax is based on "the gross receipts of any retailer from the sale of all tangible personal property sold at retail -- in other words, the amount the retailer received for the product -- Regulation 1585 says that when you get a discounted price by signing up for a service plan, then sales tax is based on the non-discounted price.

For heavens's sake, nobody walks in to the Verizon store and pays full price for a phone without getting a plan, and everyone knows it. The phones are priced accordingly.  Some people have even reported paying more in taxes than they did for the phone.

The state, however, argues thusly: if you were to go in and purchase a data plan without buying a phone, they would not discount the monthly rate for the plan, which "proves" that the plan does not subsidize the cost of the phone. But you pay tax on the plan as well, so this is totally bullshit. According to SFGate, the state rakes in over $181 million annually on this little gambit.

See also:  http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Beware-California-s-hidden-cell-phone-tax-2349249.php

How the heck can the state be going broke?

Finally! A garage door opener

I've had quite enough of opening and closing the garage door manually.  Heave the door up, back the car onto the driveway, get out, pull the door back down from the inside, slide the lock over, go out the side door and lock it behind, get back into the car, and finally on my way.  I'm too old for this.

We've been wanting to get an opener for some time, but with all the other projects around here, it always got pushed to the back burner. But no more.

It was all pretty easy. I ordered this "internet" garage door opener from Sears.  You can even order installation as part of the order (a bit pricey at $129 but I was willing to pay a little extra for the convenience). Just pick a date and add it to your cart.  Free shipping too.  The opener showed up just a few days later, and the day before the installation was scheduled, the installer called to let me know when he was coming.  He showed up right on time, took about an hour, and it was done.

So far it's been great.  Opens the door rather slowly, but super quiet. It's chain-drive, yet barely noticeable from inside the house.

The controller shows you the date and temperature in the garage, and a motion detector that turns the light on whenever you enter the garage. Though frankly, that's a bit of a tradeoff because it's handy at night if I need something in the garage, but during the day if I'm just going out and open the garage door, I don't really need the light to come on.

The coolest part is that it comes with a gateway so you can control it remotely from a laptop or smartphone. If you're not sure you closed the door, you can always check. You could also let someone in to the garage, for instance, to drop someone off.  Log in is required each time to use the app, so if someone steals your phone they don't necessarily get access to your house. You can even set up alerts to notify you every time the door is opened. (I guess if burglars break in though the window then open the garage door from inside so they can load up your stuff, you'd know. And you know if your spouse has gotten home before you.)

When we first bought the house, we didn't live in it full time, but would come down for long weekends, roughing it with just a few kitchen supplies and a futon while we worked on some of the major remodeling. Even after we moved in, we worked little by little on the various projects, so it still didn't feel quite permanent. Funny, but it's the garage door opener that makes it feel "real" to me now.

Best household tip ever!

I was just holding a can of Minwax wood stain when I knelt down and accidentally banged my knee, which caused me to slip and slosh dark walnut stain onto the carpet. I thought it was done for--no way wood stain will come out of carpet once it has penetrated the fibers.

In desperation I turned to my trusty friend The Internet and found this clip on YouTube.  It works! Hallelujah! It works! WD-40, who'd have thought....

Non-apology apology from the Carmel Pine Cone

Remember All the Presidents Men, the book and movie about Watergate, and the "non-denial denial"? The Washington Post staff coined this phrase when a politician confronted with some accusation of wrongdoing, would issue a vague statement that sounded like a denial of some accusation or other but actually wasn't if you really thought about the words.

I was reminded of the non-denial denial when I read this week's Pine Cone. In response to a deluge of angry letters from readers offended by the smashed-Prius-at-least-it-wasn't-a-Bentley last week, the  Pine Cone printed a non-apology apology. To their credit, they did print the letters. At the end column, an Editor's Note explains that they thought this was a fun way to "gently poke fun" at the excesses of the Concours d'Elegance, which most people understood, and if you didn't get the joke, that's YOUR fault, you humorless drudge. You're not as smart as their other readers, and since your delicate little sensibilities were offended, well, OK, they apologize.

Here's the thing Carmel Pine Cone, you're not Stephen Colbert. You're not The Daily Show. You can't pull this sort of thing off.  Most of the letter-writers stated that they did understand it was a joke--they just didn't think it was funny.

Yes, comics do joke about tragic incidents (and can be quite funny), but it's really tricky to do well. Unfortunately your attempt flopped. I can see how, sitting around the news room, someone made a comment and it seemed funny. I was just surprised that they actually printed it.

Truth be told, the Pine Cone is not the only entity guilty of the non-apology apology. I see it all the time -- some public figure says something out of line, and when confronted, says "I apologize if anyone was offended."  In other words, I'm not sorry I said it, I don't think it was the wrong thing to say, I'm just sorry that you took offense to it.

We all suffer foot-in-mouth sometimes -- saying something that just doesn't come out the way you meant it. When it happens, just admit it...don't blame the other person.

So we'll let this one go Carmel Pine Cone. Now go forth and sin no more.

Click Read more for the full text

Another day Another salad

Bell peppers are in season and have been on sale, so I've got a bunch of them to use up. Last night I made a brightly-colored salad using red and green peppers and other fresh produce. I call it Fiesta Salad.

For 2 entree-sized salads:

1 head heart of romaine, chopped
1/4 c red bell pepper, cut into strips
1/4 c green bell pepper, cut into strips
1/2 c whole kernel corn
1/4 c carrot, julienne strips*
1/4 c shredded Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese (or combo)
1/8 c thin sliced red onion, or to taste
handful of purchased tortilla strips, such as Fresh Gourmet salad toppings
fresh ground black pepper

To make it more filling, omnivores might want to add slices of cooked chicken breast, if desired.

Goes great with a red pepper vinaigrette or salsa ranch dressing.

*I like to use a vegetable peeler to quickly make thin strips of carrot

Carmel Pine Cone puts foot in mouth again

This week's Carmel Pine Cone has a front-page story about an averted disaster.  

(Carmel Pine Cone, Vol 99, No. 33, August 16-22)

Apparently a huge tree snapped at the base and fell across Highway 68 near the hospital Wednesday morning. As the article explains, Highway 68 is the main route out of Pebble Beach and is frequented by Pebble Beach residents driving expensive luxury cars. When the tree had the audacity to fall, at least it didn't hit a Ferrari or Rolls Royce...just some Prius. Near the end of the article, the Pine Cone finally remembers to tell us that no one was injured.

Some unfortunate soul had his or her car destroyed (and probably the scare of a lifetime), the highway was closed for hours, and work crews risked their own necks to cut and move the tree, but the important part -- and this is good news -- no luxury cars were damaged.
(If it had been a Hyundai, I suppose there would have been no story at all.)

Remember the "Sluts" controversy a few months ago?  Does anybody at the Pine Cone read the stories before they're published.

For full text of the story, click here.

Outdoor seating coming to Cafe Trieste

Cafe Trieste will soon have an outdoor seating area, using the two parking spots right in front. This is a pilot project as part of the downtown Monterey revitalization plan. Awesome idea. We have the weather for it, so why not take advantage? Looks like they are just about ready to go.

The little chocolate-toffee cookies are yummy -- don't think about the calories.

Installing glass mosaic tile

Part of our adventure in Monterey living has been fixing up this house, which has turned it more of a project than I think we anticipated. Isn't that always the way?

Finding contractors -- ugh, I hate it. We've had a bunch of them through here. It's not that I've been unhappy with anyone I've used, but they're hard to get hold of and not always available when you need them. Have you had the experience of contacting a contractor and getting no response, then weeks later when they've got no work they call back?  I can procrastinate like crazy on making decisions about a project, but once I have, I want to get going on it NOW.

So I took on the last phase of the kitchen remodel -- installing the glass mosaic tile backsplash--myself. The internet is full of instructions how to do it, but they always install the tile all the way up, from the counter to the bottom of the cabinets. And of course they only demonstrate the easy parts.  Since we just wanted a 4-inch strip along the countertop, I was on my own.

I think it turned out pretty good.

Click the Read more link below to see a few tips and tricks I discovered.

What's happening in downtown Monterey?

The City of Monterey has released a new video describing the new development that is getting underway. Pretty exciting, downtown needs a little revitalizing.

When we arrived here last year, a large section of Alvarado Street was blocked by a large fence with a painted mural. We wondered what happened, but didn't think too much more about it. A few weeks letter we happened to be reminiscing about a restaurant we used to like, and we realized it used to be right there. Turns out there was a big fire in 2006 and the entire building burned down. Then the recession hit, and it was tough to rebuild.

Finally some new development is getting underway, as well as some other projects in downtown. One of the most interesting parts of the downtown plan is that they are going to add a bunch of residential units. Having people live in a downtown area really adds to its vitality, as well as attracting business. If something like that had been available when we moved here, we might very well have considered it. As we get older, maybe we still will. We've always liked living "downtown"...where the action is, with everything within walking distance.

Check it out.  There's also some interesting history on how downtown Monterey got to this point.

I laughed when they guy talks about people complaining about the Trader Joe's parking lot -- I complain about it all the time. It's a tradition -- Trader Joes' always have bad parking lots. I've never been to one that didn't.

Salad!

The Salinas Valley is often called the "nation's salad bowl" with good reason.  Lots of lettuce and other veggies are grown around here.  You'd think it would be cheaper to buy, but I've found lettuce is about the same price I paid in the Seattle area.

Anyway, we had a lovely fruity salad last night. Mixed greens, with fresh raspberries, mandarin orange segments, very thin slivers of red onion, topped with crumbled pecan pieces. Add some grumbled gorgonzola to make it more substantial.

For the salad shown here, I used a combination of romaine hearts and Trader Joe's Herb Salad blend. I like the crispiness of the romaine with the softer wild greens.

Dress with fresh ground pepper and your favorite balsamic vinaigrette. I like Girard's Light Creamy Balsalmic with this salad, though the only place I've been able to find it around here is SaveMart.

Recycling

Nespresso has a new capsule recycling program in California.

We love our little Nespresso machine. For an at-home espresso without all the fuss and expense of a pump espresso machine, the Nespresso makes a pretty decent cup with a nice foamy head. And the Citiz looks pretty cool on the countertop.

But I always felt bad about throwing away the aluminum capsules. They are recyclable, but the only place around here that takes them is Sur La Table in Carmel (in Carmel Plaza, in the village), which is a bit inconvenient to get to. To drive somewhere out of the way to recycle a few capsules seems a bit wasteful.

With this new program, when you order capsules, you can also order a recycling bag (free). Fill it up with used capsules and drop it in a UPS drop box, and they're on their way back to Nespresso for recycling.

We do try to recycle as much as we can, and there are some pretty good resources around here. This new program makes it that much better.

How to get a building permit in Monterey

Today's lesson in Monterey government: Building Permits.

If you're doing any sort of renovation project, or replacing any major systems like the furnace or roof, you're going to need a building permit. A permit is required for pretty much anything you might need to do, which I suppose is the same everywhere. You can have your contractor pull the permit for you, or, as the homeowner, you can do it yourself.

I'm in need of a furnace replacement permit, and my contractor wants $90 per hour for his time to pull the permit, so I decided it might be interesting to do it myself. Here's what I learned.

Tiles going up

The backsplash tiles have started going up. I'm learning as I go. The internet is full of instructions on how to install glass mosaic tiles. Of course, it's always some smiling person standing in front of a wall to be tiled -- swoop the trowel across this way, now hold at an angle and notch the mortar, now smooth it out -- their arm sweeping across the wall in easy, practiced movements. They don't show the reality of bending across the counter trying to reach the far corner while also trying not to hit your head on the cabinets above, or tiling the little 5-inch gap between the top of the counter and the bar. With the first strip, I learned how much mortar NOT to put on. I did way too much, and when I pressed the strip of tiles against the wall as you're supposed to, mortar came squirting out between the tiles. I spent the next 40 minutes picking it out of the spaces with a toothpick. So I didn't get much done the first day. Here's what I've got so far.

Next project

Everyone is just so much more laid back here--it's part of what makes living here fun.  I was reminded it of this again because I needed to get some tiles to finish our kitchen remodeling project.  The kitchen was seriously outdated and not in great shape when we bought the house, so fixing it up was one of our first projects, and we finished the bulk of it straightaway. But with all the decisions about cabinet styles, colors, hardware, floor tiles, countertops, paint, etc., we procrastinated on choosing a backsplash. And then with other priorities, and it kept getting pushed back. (We lived for months with masking tape covering the gap between the countertop and wall--sheesh!)

Anyway, I finally got back to it, so we headed over to Monterey Tile and Marble to look at tile samples. (We were turned on to this place when shopping for floor tiles by a fellow customer in the Home Depot tile section. He saw us looking at tiles and suggested looking at MT&M as well. ) It's smallish, family-run place with zillions of samples and friendly, helpful staff. We found a few samples that we liked and asked how to check them out so we could try them in the kitchen. No problem. He wrote down my name and that was it. I kept waiting for me to ask for something else. When we did this years ago in Seattle, we always had to show ID, and sometimes even leave some sort of security like a credit card number or even a small deposit. But here, "just take 'em...bring them back in a week or so".

We picked one we liked, and went back to place the order. They gave me a great price and within a few days I had my tiles. These are the ones we picked....aren't they pretty with the granite?

Sweater weather

Seriously. The rest of the country is sweltering through a heat wave, but it's relatively chilly here. A light sweater was definitely in order today. The fog rolled in and never left today. Sitting at a stop light at Carpenter Street in Carmel, I could see wisps of fog wafting across Highway 1. I got ahead of it a bit when the road dropped into the valley, but by the time I came out of Safeway I could see it catching up. On the way home, fog all the way. Not bad fog, you understand, just a chilly misty day. Kind of moody and pretty though, driving along through the trees.

  

These little guys sure can eat!

Most of the guests at our bird feeder are finches, probably 90-95% of them, with the occasional woodpecker or oak titmouse stopping by. I refill the thing every few days now, and it takes about 3-4 cups to fill -- that's a lot of seed.  How do these little guys eat so much?

Finches tend to dominate the feeder, but I happened to be looking out when a family of woodpeckers came a-calling. Two remained on the tree branch, while the third got some food, which he then seemed to feed to one of the waiting birds. On his second visit to the feeder though, he didn't share.  Eventually the two slightly larger birds set about pushing and pecking at the one who had been fed. I can only surmise that these two, like most parents of adolescents, had decided to tell the youngster it's time to get off his lazy behind and get his own food.