Column

I have the privilege of organizing events for the seniors at my church.  One of the monthly events is, drum roll, a movie night complete with every kind of movie theater junk food you would ever want.  It seems to be the monthly splurge! 

Earlier this month, we were pleasantly surprised when the younger adults in our church decided to bless us with a Christmas Dinner before our movie night.  Wonderful, I said.  Then the dreaded compromise, a movie we picked or a movie the younguns’ picked.  I had planned on a more current film but “low and behold” they all wanted to see It’s a Wonderful Life.  Most of them had never seen it and I had seen it so many times I actually had the DVD.  Most of the other Seniors had seen it so many times they could quote parts of the dialogue.  Now comes the tricky part.  So, I dusted off my DVD and decided the decision deserved a good analysis. 

Wow!  Somehow I had lost sight of the poignancy of this film.  It’s a Wonderful Life is truly timeless, including today.  I say that because times are tough, times are unpredictable.  It seems like we are being hit from the left and from the right with dictates not of our choosing, or at least not of our liking.  If you are like me, I sometimes feel out of control.  But folks, we are in control.  Not of the world, the country or even our state but we are in control of ourselves.  We are in control of our feelings and our attitudes, if not our circumstances.  So I offer up a movie review from the young and old, fit for the wealthy and the wealthy in spirit.

Released in 1946, It’s a Wonderful Life is a sweet breath of fresh air.  A movie for the ages or at least the ageless.  A movie with joy, angst and the path to overcoming.  I am a movie junky.  That’s why I love DVD’s.  They often have the most amazing “bonus” segments supplementing the actual film.  It often leads me to some truly “aha” moments.  It’s a Wonderful Life wasn’t the extreme box office hit that we know today.  It did well, but not originally Director Frank Capra’s greatest hit.  The copyrights for movies had to be renewed every 28 years.  Somehow this was not tracked or at least accomplished for this film.   What transpired was a gift to humanity.  When it became unconditionally (no payment) available to the open market, the television stations took it and ran with it.  For decades it has been available for viewing every Christmas starting with Thanksgiving on virtually every channel and most subscription services.  In the bonus segment of the DVD, Frank Capra is being interviewed by his son and when questioned about the release of the copyright, he simply said it was the best thing that could have happened. A beautiful story free to all!

The original story line was written as a short story but never published.  The author ended up printing up a few copies to include in his Christmas cards to friends and family.  One of the big studios saw it and bought the rights for $10,000 but never really did anything with it.  They later sold it to Frank Capra for exactly the same amount, $10,000.  He hired three different script writers to expound and each write their own story. Capra then meshed all three to come up with the final script.  With the acting of Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed and a host of other amazing actors, Capra created pure gold! 

If you’re young, like the younguns’, you may have never watched this insightful film or you may be just old and haven’t watched it in years.  Either way, I encourage you to find it, watch it, and enjoy it!  It will be time well spent in a wonderful life. 

As always, I value your opinion. You can reach me at carolyn@carolyngastings.com 

Q. I want to transplant my blooming Christmas Catcus into another pot, but I’m scared to touch it. Can I move a blooming plant to another pot without shocking it?

A. It’s okay to transplant a Christmas Cactus and most other plants while they are in bloom. This is when an evergreen plant is technically dormant, as it’s not actively growing. There is no reason why you have to wait until it finishes flowering. I’d transplant it carefully as not to damage the flowers. 

Christmas Cactus is also known as the Zygocactus or crab cactus because of its segmented leaves. Along with Cyclamen, they are a great red and white alternative to poinsettia during the holiday season. Zygocactus and Cyclamen are not sensitive to warm rooms, as is a Poinsettia, so the foliage doesn’t discolor quickly and has a long blooming period.

Q. I’m not sure when to prune my Raspberry plants. When should I? They still have lots of foliage and some fruit.                                           

A. The best time to prune Raspberries is after the berries have been harvested. Also, Blackberries are pruned the same. The timing varies depending on the variety, as some varieties bear two crops while others only one. If the remaining fruit hasn’t ripened by now, I don’t believe it will. So go ahead and prune anyway. If the fruits are very hard and only half have turned color, you have a Berry Mite problem. Berry Mite is only controllable during the dormant season with Bonide All-Season Oil or similar Horticultural Oil. The pruning technique is straightforward if the plants are being grown on a trellis. The fruit-bearing canes are removed entirely by cutting them off at the ground, as they’ll never produce berries again. The next crop will be borne on the new shoots found at the base of the plants. They’re tied to the trellis structure. A fence makes a very poor trellis for berry vines. Your next store neighbor will not appreciate the thorny and aggressive habit exhibited by the intruding vegetation. Berry vines are best grown four feet off the fence line to control the underground stems called rhizomes. It is recommended you be pro-active in keeping the vines under control to prevent a costly neighbor dispute. Many yards are too small to grow cane berries effectively. 

Q. I bought a ph test kit to check the soil around my Wisteria because it has not been doing well. I was surprised that the soil pH tested around 4. I expected it to be low because I’m using well water. How would I raise the pH to about 6.5?

A. Raising the soil pH is not a question that I frequently receive. It’s more of a problem in the Midwest or where Acid Rain is prevalent. Our clay soil tends to be alkaline, so gardeners are more likely to lower it, and a 4.0 reading from well water is unusual. That being said, you increase the soil pH by adding lime or limestone, calcium carbonate, a naturally occurring rock. Agricultural Lime or “Aglime,” is crushed limestone, and you’re likely to find it at an independent garden center than a Big Box Retailer or online. Limestone again, calcium carbonate is not to be confused with hydrated lime, calcium hydroxide. They’re not the same. You’d apply five pounds per hundred square feet in clay soil, which more than you need around a single plant. So, I’d spread a three to four generous hand full under the canopy of the Wisteria. It’s then cultivated into the soil, and you let the winter rains do the rest. It’s very dusty, so use a mask. I also have found Wood Ashes and Baking Soda could be used as a short-term solution. The quantity necessary is a bit shaky, so I’d stick to Agricultural Lime.

Q. Our lemon tree seems to be dying as the leaves are falling off. It started after our Hot Tub developed a significant leak. Bromine and other chemicals in the water flooded the area. What will the bromine do to the tree? 

A. Lemons do not tolerate high levels of bromide, and it’s the cause of the leaf drop. The stems and branches then turn brown and die. The immediate solution would to water heavily with clean water to leech the bromine out of the root zone. However, the area was flood with contaminated water, so that isn’t an option. The rainy season will help, but it may be too late. There isn’t much else you can do but wait for spring. If you don’t see any new growth by next May, I’d replace the lemon,

As we near the end of another year and anticipate what the new year will bring, it is time for my annual Outlook. I titled my 2021 Outlook, “Less Stress, More Fun in 2021.”  My 2022 Outlook theme is “Welcome the New in 2022”.

If you would like a copy of my 2021, just let me know. For this year’s final Investor’s Edge column, I am happy to share my insights and forecasts for the global stock market and world economy in the new year ahead. This column will be a summary of the 2022 Outlook provided to my clients, due to space constraints here. Here’s the highlights of what to expect in 2022.

What will be new in 2022? New stock. New trends. New Fed policy. New Jobs. New consumer behavior. New health.

2021 was a record year for new stock offerings. New public stock issues between IPO’s and SPAC’s (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) shattered the previous new public stock listings set in 1999. Expect that to continue in 2022. More new stock will go public. A couple of highly anticipated names are Impossible Foods and Instacart.

Persistent inflation pressures will spark new trends in market sectors such as gold, oil, housing, and other real assets. The Consumer Price Index jumped to a 12-month rate of 6.2% through October 2021. Overall, the cost of living is rising at the fastest pace in almost 40 years. Oil soared by roughly 80% in 2021 through early November and gold, at around $1,800 per troy ounce, is still below its August 2020 high over $2,000. Expect both to hit new highs in 2022. At least through the first half of 2022, expect the housing market to climb to new highs. The continued combination of lower rates, easier lending standards, low supply and high demand will remain strong tailwinds.

The Federal Reserve Board and its decision-making committee, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), has been at the forefront of investors’ attention seemingly everyday for the last decade and beyond. Even the Board’s chairman has been a topic of market speculation in 2021. We now know President Biden will let Chair Jerome Powell keep his job going into 2022. Expect the FOMC to announce new interest rate policy next year. My forecast for interest rates is they go higher sooner.

Want a job? They’re plentiful. An October jobs market report noted there over 10 million job openings. Many will likely be filled in 2022, driving down the current unemployment rate. Employers, though, will probably have to offer more pay to fill them. I expect the fastest wage rate increase in a long time in 2022. This in turn will fuel higher inflation.

More workers making more money should result in more spending. That should be the story for consumers next year. What could be new next year is where and how consumers spend. While wages will rise, the prices of goods and services could rise more. American consumers will likely shop more at discount stores in the year ahead. Assign this shift in consumer behavior to inflation. Transactions at Dollar Tree climbed 65% in 2021 compared to pre-pandemic 2019. I expect that consumer choice to stick in 2022.

The best for last. New (good) Health. As of this writing, the country of Austria is in lockdown. The World Health Organization is concerned and warns new Covid cases are rising sharply on the continent. Germany is considering similar measures. With about 65% of Austria’s population vaccinated, it is one of the lowest in Western Europe. While this is NOT good, new GOOD health should be the best new year’s gift in 2022. We have a booster. We have antiviral drugs, and many millions of Covid vaccine doses. 2022 is hopefully the beginning of the end for the pandemic. Beyond pharmaceutical help, some expect a new Covid variant is unlikely next year. Hopefully, there will be no new wave of Covid-19 in 2022. 

ENJOY THE NEW IN 2022.  HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It’s that time of year again. Time to deck the halls and break out the good cheer. The world has opened back up and families and friends are once again allowed to come together and celebrate the season. How marvelous! If you’re planning a little holiday get-together with your nearest and dearest and worrying about which wines to serve, fear not. Proper wine pairings can easily be found for your holiday meal, from a Partridge in a Pear Tree to a Whoville-style Roast Beast, and beyond!

Wine can make people nervous. No one wants to be exposed as a wine dilettante. It’s easy to be intimidated by the world of fine wine. Upon first glance, it appears to be a somewhat exclusive club, made up of highly educated snobs who effortlessly mix French words into casual conversation and seem to innately understand esoteric wine terms like ‘minerality’ and ‘autolytic complexity’. Not exactly welcoming.

For that reason, many people stick to the same old humdrum wines they’ve been drinking for decades. They know they’re safe and they know what to expect. Better boredom than a faux pas. Others may take a chance and purchase extremely expensive wines, in the hopes that their guests might be impressed with the labels, if not the wines. Neither is a great solution but take heart! A little knowledge can go a long way. You can shake things up this year without breaking the bank and you’ll be the toast of the town.

The bottom line is, there are no ‘right’ wines. Beauty is in the palate of the taster. Everyone has different taste preferences, and those change with time. Just because a wine is pricy doesn’t mean you will like it, and likewise, just because a wine is inexpensive doesn’t mean it’s bad. Often, the perception of a wine has little to do with the wine itself. The best wine professionals always keep a handful of tricks conveniently up their sleeves to ensure the success of every soirée.

Before you consider buying the wine, take a good look at your stemware. If you’re serving your guests in cheap wineglasses from the grocery store or old spares embossed with the names of vineyards you’ve visited in the past 20 years, it’s time to make a change. Wine tastes better in crystal. Even a cheap wine is somehow elevated when sipped from a crystal goblet.

Crystal is elegant and beautiful. It makes your table sparkle in the candlelight and raises the quality of the overall dining experience in your home from so-so to truly divine. Crystal stemware comes in all shapes and sizes. Buy the best you can afford. Riedel from Austria is a personal favorite of mine and can be found in fine shops and online. Your stemware reflects you. Be fabulous.

While you’re buying that new crystal stemware, go ahead and purchase a crystal decanter as well. Pouring a bottle of wine into a decanter exposes the wine to oxygen and opens up the flavors and aromas. Most wines improve markedly from decanting, the exception being very old wines, which are sometimes too fragile to be decanted.

If you are on a strict budget and have purchased inexpensive wines or wines in larger format bottles, decanting is a great way to conceal the bottles from your guests. No one considers the price of a wine being served from a stunning crystal decanter.

Seek out wines from different parts of the world. The professionals in your favorite wine shop likely have a few favorites they can share with you. Generally, the more unusual the wine, the lower the price. There are hidden gems in obscure regions. It’s about knowing what you’re looking for and looking outside the box. There are bargains to be had and every bottle is a new adventure.

Look for Furmint from Hungary, Txakoli from Spain, Morellino di Scansano from Italy, Malbec from Argentine, or Xinomavro from Greece. You’ll find new flavors and terrific quality for a fraction of the price of a fancy brand.

Consider the temperature of the wine you are pouring. Wine served too warm or too cold loses its endearing qualities. Most red wines should be served at room temperature, about 68 degrees Fahrenheit. As we tend to keep our homes much warmer than that, always lightly chill your reds before serving. The wine may eventually rise to the ambient temperature of the dining room but by then, your guests will already be enjoying it.

Whites, rosés, and sparkling wines are meant to be served chilled.  However, if you serve them straight out of the fridge, they will be too cold, and their delicate aromas and flavors will be subdued. Chill your bottles for 15 minutes before serving in a bath of 50/50 ice and water. Never put bottles in the freezer as subzero temperatures can damage wine.

Let the holidays be filled will good wine and good cheer this year. May all the joy of the season be yours.

Cheers!

      It is ironic when Democrats complain about sensational use of language.

      Thanks to progressives, practically every white person in America has been labelled a racist.

      But now Democrats are screaming because Republican Sen. John Kennedy suggested that Saule Omarova, whom President Joe Biden has nominated to head the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency — the nation’s top banking regulator — might be a communist.

      Kennedy opened his questioning of Omarova at her Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs confirmation hearing asking if he should call her “professor or comrade.”

      Distinct from the labels and charges we regularly hear from progressives, there is substance to the senator’s suggestion about Omarova’s proclivities.

      No, it’s not that she was born in Soviet-controlled Kazakhstan, or that her degree is from Moscow State University, or even that her doctoral thesis is entitled “Karl Marx’s Economic Analysis and the Theory of Revolution in the Capital.”

      It is about how she views the world.

      This is someone who will oversee our nation’s banking system that wants to “end banking as we know it” and transfer vast parts of it to government control.

      Maybe we must read Omarova’s doctoral dissertation to get a handle on the fine points of what we call communism.

      But if turning our financial services system over to government control is not communism, suffice it to say it certainly is not what America is supposed to be about.

      She proposes that the Federal Reserve, the least accountable entity in the federal government, take over a vast swath of private banking functions, with private banking accounts being replaced by accounts run by the Fed.

      If there is a microsecond where you might think this is a good idea, look at what’s happening now to prices at the gas pump and at the supermarket, where we see inflation at a 30-year high. Consider where this is coming from.

      Yes, the Federal Reserve. Journals and newspapers burst with warnings from private economists over recent years that Federal Reserve monetary policy will lead to inflation, and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has been poo-pooing these warnings.

      Now it’s happening. And this is who professor/comrade Omarova thinks should be taking over the full scope of our financial lives.

      If you think turning over your financial security to the wise stewardship of the Federal Reserve is a good idea, consider that the Federal Reserve was created in 1913 with motivations not that different from those of Omarova. The whole idea then was that giving a government entity control over our monetary system would bring stability.

      Under this great government stabilizing influence, we have been through the Great Depression of the 1930s, double-digit inflation and interest rates in the 1970s, and, most recently, a severe financial meltdown in 2008.

      Since the Fed’s creation in 1913, per economist and blogger Mark Perry, the consumer price index has increased by “27.25 times which has caused the U.S. dollar to lose 96.3% of its value/purchasing power.” The 1913 dollar is today worth 3.67 cents.

      There are notable other areas where Omarova wants much more government power, such as giving government planners vastly more power over climate control policy — to the extent of intentionally driving small oil and gas businesses to bankruptcy.

      Maybe why so many Democrats, including our president, take offense at Kennedy’s communist labeling is because they take his accusations personally.

      The Wall Street Journal calls the Build Back Better multitrillion dollar spending frenzy, just passed in the House, “the biggest expansion of the entitlement state since the 1960s, and maybe ever.”

      We have two competing views in America today. One sees private property, individual freedom and personal responsibility as the answer to our problems. The other sees it as the source of our problems.

      The first view I call American. The second — well, if not communist, certainly it is not American.

      Please, Senators, do not confirm Saule Omarova to oversee our nation’s banking system.

Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and host of the weekly television show “Cure America with Star Parker.” To find out more about Star Parker and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2021 CREATORS.COM

      In 1974, when I walked out of an alley in Boston’s Back Bay, it was pretty much “just me.” Of course, millions of women were raped (we didn’t have a word for sexual harassment then), but it wasn’t something you talked about or reported. The stigma was sufficiently bad that when I told my mother, she insisted that I tell no one because no decent man would ever have me.

      Maybe so. But I told everyone. 

      I told the guys at the bar I worked at and will always be grateful to Somerville’s Winter Hill Gang (made famous by Whitey Bulger, but run then by Howie Winter, who gave the order) for protecting me while I bartended my way through nearby Harvard Law School.

      I told the judge I clerked for, the late, great J. Skelly Wright, and in 1977, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals overruled the requirement that the testimony of a rape victim (unlike victims of every other crime) must be corroborated. “This one’s for you,” he said, and I was on my way.

      I told the criminal law class I was teaching at Harvard in 1981 (and every such class I have taught in the 40 years since), and the death threats started. The police tapped my phone. The dean and his wife sat with me. I wrote my tenure piece on rape. Then I wrote a book. I told my story. 

      #MeToo didn’t just happen. It was decades in the making. We called ourselves victims. We changed the law. Courageous women, men who came forward to support us, judges willing to take a second look, prosecutors creating special units, police admitting they needed to change. We created the Victim Rights Law Center. We insisted that no means no. Then we demanded that a woman must say yes.

      To those who say #MeToo has gone too far, I beg to differ.

      The problem is, as with any movement, the users. The liars. The women, and men, who are trying to pervert half a century of struggle into a seven-figure payout. 

      I’m not talking about the close cases that we have yet to sort out: the ones involving young people and drugs and alcohol, the ones involving force that is not physical. I’m not talking about the borderline cases in the workplace — cases of inappropriate comments, vulgar jokes, friendly/not-so-friendly hugs, gestures that are potentially ambiguous. In almost all of these cases, drawing lines is complicated by issues of proof. 

      No, the users and the liars are those who would turn relationships that are private — consensual relationships between adults, however appropriate or inappropriate some of us might think them to be — into opportunities to dig for gold. I’m talking about cases like the one I’ve just filed, against an enterprise that used a completely unsupportable, utterly fictitious label of “rapist” to get even more money than the millions they had already extorted, or at least “cancel” my client in the process.

      Consider these facts: A woman invites her lover to come to her apartment to tuck her in, and could he please bring some wine, and she texts him the next morning that “this is love.” And then, seven years later, claims that actually, he barged into her apartment and raped her that night. Confronted with her own texts showing her complaint to be a total lie, she and her law firm came up with an even “better” story of being kidnapped and taken to Jeffrey Epstein’s house in Florida for sex. Except that never happened either: This time, the flight logs proved the fantasy. So then they found a Jane Doe who supposedly once gave a massage to my client at Epstein’s house. Twenty years ago.

      I’m glad that “rapist” carries the power it does. For years, decades, I’ve been telling women, “Don’t say no; say rape. Use the power.” 

      But powerful weapons must be handled with care. That means resisting the urge to convict based on accusations. 

      To find out more about Susan Estrich and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2021 CREATORS.COM

            Earlier this year, Ford sent me a new (2021) F-250 pickup with the also-new 7.3-liter monster motor to test drive. This week, I have the same basic truck again — but this time, it’s a 2022 equipped with the 6.7-liter monster torque motor.

            Call it the Battle of the Super Duties!

            What It Is

            The F-250 is Ford’s three-quarter-ton (2500 series) pickup truck, one notch up in capability from the half-ton (1500 series) F-150. The two look similar because the current half-ton F-truck emulates the Super Duty appearance of the F250, including the tall bed walls and such that used to be specific, and exclusive to, the latter.

            But looks only pull so much.

            If you need to pull at least15,000 pounds then you’ll probably want the F-250, which can pull as much as 22,800 pounds via gooseneck, if equipped with the monster torque (1,050 ft.-lbs of it) 6.7-liter turbo-diesel Power Stroke V8.

            Prices for the F-250 start at $35,200 for the base XL trim regular cab with 2WD and an 8.2-foot bed. This one comes standard with a 6.2-liter V8 that makes 385 horsepower; that isn’t available in the half-ton F150.

            Two other V8s are available, optionally.

            The first is a gas 7.3-liter V8.

            Opting for this engine adds $2,045 to the price.

            The second is physically smaller but also much bigger.

            This one being the 6.7-liter Power Stroke turbodiesel that makes more than twice the torque of the 7.3 liter gas V8.

            And 475 horsepower.

            What’s New

            A 12-inch LCD touch screen is available with Lariat, King Ranch and Platinum trims.

            What’s Good

            Even the standard engine is still a V8.

            Optional V8s are available in every trim/bed/cab combo.

            About the same length and width as a same-configuration half-ton F-150 but much more capable.

            What’s Not So Good

            Like the F-150, the F-250 has an aluminum body that’s lighter than steel but easier to dent — and harder to fix.

            No manual transmission available with any of the V8s.  

            Both the F-150 and F-250’s ride height and bed walls are so high that it’s not easy to reach into the bed.

            Under The Hood

            One of the chief draws of current 2500 series trucks like the F-250 is that these are the last trucks on the market that still come standard with V8 engines.

            Big ones.

            The F250’s standard V8 is 6.2 liters and makes 385 horsepower and 430 ft.-lbs. of torque.

            The F-250’s optional engine is a 7.3-liter V8 that makes 430 horsepower and 475 ft.-lbs. of torque at 4,000 RPM.

            There’s one more engine to consider. It’s the F-250’s strongest engine, though not its largest engine.

            It’s a 6.7-liter turbodiesel V8 that makes 475 horsepower and a copy-editor-checking 1,050 ft.-lbs. of torque at 1,600 RPM.

            On The Road

            Floor it and the 6.7-liter Power Stroke doesn’t rev — much.

            It’s a diesel, of course. Redline is around 4,000 RPM vs. over 6,000 for the V8. But you don’t need to rev when you’re making 1,000-plus ft.-lbs. of torque at fast idle — and more horsepower than the gas V8 makes however much it revs.

            The diesel endows the F-250 with explosive acceleration — just over 7 seconds to 60 mph being pretty impressively explosive for anything weighing almost 7,000 pounds without a driver behind the wheel — without afterburners. It simply bullies its way forward, and down the road, like a 320-pound linebacker sacking a quarterback.

            An F-250 with the 7.3 monster motor is close behind but makes more of an issue of it. More revs and, interestingly, more noise. The diesel is remarkably quiet.

            The gas engine, having to rev, is louder under full throttle.

            It also can’t go as far. The diesel’s range on a full tank is around 600 highway miles — about 150 miles farther than the gas-engined truck can go before it has to stop.

            At The Curb

            No matter which big V8 you end up with, you will end up with a big truck. More precisely, a tall truck.

            An F-250 regular cab is only marginally longer (231.8 inches) than an F-150 regular cab (227.7 inches) and both are just as wide (105.9 inches, with the oversized extending side mirrors), which means they both need every inch of road on either side.

            The tested Tremor model seems even bigger because it is even taller. It stands on 35-inch knobbies and has a factory lift kit that ought to include an oxygen feed.

            On the one hand, this thing has so much clearance (and capability) it could probably crawl over Mount Rushmore. On the other hand, it is so big it is constrained by the amount of room available off-road, which is often not much. In terms of tenacity, this thing is the peer of Wrangler Rubicons (and new Broncos).

            But its bigness imposes limits.

            The Rest

            The F-250 has straightforward manual/hand controls for most major functions. including the four-wheel-drive settings, as well as an analog gauge cluster. You can even still roll down the windows manually, if you prefer.

            But it is also a luxurious truck, which can be outfitted with a Bang & Olufsen ultra-premium audio rig and rides like a jacked-up Cadillac.

            The Bottom Line

            You want a standard V8? More V8? A truck like the F-250 has both.

            And then some.

Eric’s latest book, “Doomed: Good Cars Gone Wrong!” will be available soon. To find out more about Eric and read his past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.

The 1,251 gingerbread houses displayed at the New York Hall of Science in 2017 holds the Guinness World Record as the world’s largest gingerbread village, but the people of Bergen, Norway, might like to have a word about that. Each year around Christmastime, Bergen residents work together to build what they call the world’s largest Pepperkakebyen (“gingerbread city” in Norwegian), an elaborate construction with streets and lights and moving parts, fantasy buildings and replicas of actual structures consisting of about 2,000 delicious creations in all.

Which of these women was known as “Ginger Spice”?

A) Melanie Brown

B) Emma Bunton

C) Melanie Chisholm

D) Geri Halliwell

Leslie Elman is the author of “Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous and Totally Off the Wall Facts.” Contact her at triviabitsleslie@gmail.com.

COPYRIGHT 2021 LESLIE ELMAN

            In the journal JAMA Network Open, research on the long-term effects of contracting COVID-19 shows that at least 50% of COVID-19 survivors experience numerous physical and psychological health issues lasting six months or more after their initial recovery. According to The Washington Post, while the adverse health effects vary from person to person, more than half experienced a decline in general well-being and the onset of pain. “Cardiovascular issues — chest pain and palpitations – are common, as are stomach and gastrointestinal problems,” reports the Post.

            While some doctors see these post-recovery symptoms as largely psychosomatic, what such a diagnosis conveniently sidesteps is the greater issue. There is a lack of understanding of what exactly is triggering the infirmities, making the approach to treatment a guessing game. The Post goes on to say that other disabilities lacking a clear treatment, such as chronic fatigue syndrome, are hopeful that current research into long COVID-19 may unlock some answers to their condition as well.

            This got me to thinking about our concept and understanding of pain. What the Free Dictionary describes as “an unpleasant feeling that is conveyed to the brain by sensory neurons. Discomfort that that signals actual potential injury to the body.”

            It is important to remember that pain is also subjective to the person experiencing it. It comes in many forms, and with thoughts of Veterans Day fresh in mind, comes the memory of those Americans whose service to our country has left them not only with many forms of lingering disabilities but loss of limbs. They know pain all too well. According to DAV, a nonprofit charity that provides support for veterans and their families, integrated data from the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense show that “after leaving military service, over 80% of amputees also have diagnoses in each of the following categories: mental disorders, diseases of the nervous system and sense organs, and diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue.”

            They also suffer from “phantom pain,” which the National Center for Biotechnology Information clinically defines as “the perception of pain or discomfort in a limb that no longer exists.” It is something that veteran amputees have in common with those on the receiving end of what the Center estimates to be the 30,000 to 40,000 amputations performed each year In the United States

            According to the website Neuroscientifically Challenged, phantom pain doesn’t just occur in limbs, it has also been recorded after the loss or removal of other parts of the body. In one study of 5000 American veterans, “78% of them reported experiencing phantom pain in their amputated limbs.” It is a condition that remains not well understood by medical professionals, even though they have had a long time to work on the problem.

            As reported by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, “phantom limb sensation” was first described by French military surgeon Ambroise Pare in the sixteenth century. His writing on the subject is believed to be the first recorded description of this condition. Neuroscientifically Challenged says, the term phantom limb wouldn’t be used until the Civil War — more than three centuries later.

            Today, there are several pharmacological treatments for phantom limb pain. High on the list is opioid drugs (and we all know by now how that approach has turned out).

            Among the alternate treatments available is “mirror therapy.” This is a technique where a mirror is situated between the missing and intact limb, so it reflects the patient’s intact limb. ‘This creates the illusion (from the patient’s perspective) that they have two intact limbs,” says Neuroscientifically Challenged. “They can move their intact limb and observe the illusory limb moving in the same manner. It is thought that this imagery may help to reduce some of the discomfort caused by the lack of visual feedback from a missing limb that the brain has maintained an internal representation of. Although studies support the effectiveness of mirror therapy, the mechanisms underlying why the approach works are not fully understood.”

            As stated by the Mayo Clinic, today “no medications specifically for phantom pain exist” and “no single drug works for everyone, and not everyone benefits from medications.”

            Another form of pain, not to be confused with phantom pain, is “referred pain.” This “refers” to pain that you experience on one part of your body that is not the actual source of the problem. Healthline explains it this way: “When your body experiences a pain stimulus, your nervous system carries the signal to your brain. The brain then sends a signal to your body that you’re experiencing pain. Sometimes, because of how nerves are wired in your body, your brain will send a pain signal to a different part of your body than the area where the pain stems from … Researchers are still working to understand the exact mechanism and reason why your body has this type of reaction.”

            One example of referred pain given by U.S. News — and a good reason we should not ignore such pain — is a sign of a heart attack can appear as a sensation of pain in the jaw. “That doesn’t mean there’s a problem with your jaw. It’s a problem with your heart that is ‘referring’ pain to the jawline.” Another example is pain in the upper back area right below and between your shoulder blades. It could be an indication that you have a stomach condition.

            Say a U.S. News report, a relatively common example is when the first and only sign of a problem with the hip joint is the onset of knee pain. As with phantom pain and other health conditions, researchers are still working to understand the exact mechanism and reason why the human body has the reaction it does. As to adverse health effects of long COVID-19, medical science may have a clue or two as to why, but we have no answers.

Write to Chuck Norris (info@creators.com) with your questions about health and fitness. Follow Chuck Norris through his official social media sites, on Twitter @chucknorris and Facebook’s “Official Chuck Norris Page.” He blogs at http://chucknorrisnews.blogspot.com. To find out more about Chuck Norris and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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            Can you feel the tug? It’s the strong pull of the culture that works hard to get the best of us this time of year, to get us to spend more than we should. The best way to counter that force is to have strategies in mind ahead of time, before we feel we have no choice but to give in one more time, one more season.

            CONSUMABLE GIFTS

            If your social circle is anything like mine, your gift list is a fairly long one and includes at least some people who are difficult to buy for. The problem with hard-to-buy-for people is that any gift will end up in a closet or the donation box, and that just makes the whole endeavor a big, fat, expensive waste of time and money.

            The best solution is to give consumable gifts that are meant to be used up and enjoyed. That’s a gift that delivers a message of love and joy that will remain with the recipient long after the gift has been consumed. That’s a win-win. You lose the guilt and anxiety that insists you must come up with the “perfect” gift that each recipient will treasure for a lifetime, and your recipient loses the obligation to like it, use it, wear it or display it.

            Some of my best gifts over the years have been homemade: Madagascar vanilla extract, bacon onion jam, sweet pepper onion relish and freshly roasted Costa Rican coffee beans. Each of these gifts is pretty inexpensive and, although some of them do take some time, most are ridiculously simple to make.

            If making a gift isn’t your style, give an edible gift of some kind: a nice bottle of wine, a couple bars of delicious chocolate, summer sausage and cheeses, gourmet popcorn and seasonings. There are so many edible gifts that people will sincerely appreciate.

            DECORATE IN 1, 2, 3

            If you have little time and even less money to dress the house for the holidays, no problem! Use what you have and concentrate on just these three areas:

            The front door: Drape a garland intertwined with twinkle lights, hang a wreath and you’re done.

            The table: Start with a tablecloth, runner, place mats — anything festive and beautiful. Add a big centerpiece. Set the table with the best things you own. Get out the china and crystal. Go all out and reset after every meal.

            The mantel: Remove everything. Start with any kind of greens like pine, juniper or magnolia. Step outdoors and look around. If it’s green, it works! Add candles, ornaments, ribbon, cards and something red: Christmas balls, apples, pomegranates, candles or fabric. Note: If you do not have a mantel but you have a staircase, make that your third area of concentration.

            CARDS ARE GREAT

            Not every occasion requires a gift. Sending a card with a well-thought-out handwritten message can perfectly convey the sentiment of the occasion. If you take the time and put out the effort, the message you write will be the gift. Caution: This tactic seldom works with individuals under the age of 16.

            SECRET SANTA

            At some family holiday celebrations, everyone is expected to give a gift to everyone else, so the end result is that everyone has several cheap gifts while also feeling financially tapped out because of all of the gifts they are obligated to buy.

            A much better approach is to adopt a Secret Santa exchange. Have everyone draw a name out of a hat of someone else in the exchange (or one designated person can do this for the group), then assign a financial limit. The end result is a lot of fun, unique gifts. Everyone spends less overall and everyone winds up with just one gift that they may actually really like.

            HOLIDAY SUPPLIES

            Wrapping paper, ribbon, bows and other holiday supplies are so stinking expensive starting late November and into December. Never pay full price again with this one trick: Buy those kinds of items right after Christmas, when the stores put their wrapping paper, bows, tags and other such holiday items on steep discount in order to clear their stock.

            Buy plenty for the following year then store it with all of your holiday decorations. But do one more thing: Make a note and write it in your calendar for November 2022 that will remind you what you bought, how much you bought and exactly where it is.

            You will bless the day you decided to adopt this strategy. It won’t be this year but next.

            FINAL THOUGHTS

            There are so many clever little things you can do throughout December to save on the holiday season. These strategies, which only scratch the surface, are the ones I have used successfully to cut back on the costs of the holiday season without sacrificing the joy.

            Hopefully, some of these moves will help you keep more of your money in your pocket or help you to direct it to areas that you find more fulfilling.

Mary invites you to visit her at EverydayCheapskate.com, where this column is archived complete with links and resources for all recommended products and services. Mary invites questions and comments at https://www.everydaycheapskate.com/contact/, “Ask Mary.” Tips can be submitted at tips.everydaycheapskate.com/. 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.”

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