Primetimeallred

PRIMETIME of your life FREE | VOLUME 4 • ISSUE NO. 12 | DECEMBER 2015 Interesting features for our 50+ audience

Jackie Ullerich The expansive life

By Lucinda Sue Crosby For PrimeTime of Your Life

T

o paraphrase Forrest Gump, gracious is as gracious does.

This is the nuance that struck me when I met Jackie Ullerich: her accommodating manner, her understated yet polished style, her thoughtful and genuine interest in others – and let’s not forget that merest touch of sharply-observed humor. Basically, she’s a pleasure to pal around with.

CHRISTMAS TIDBITS PAGE 4

California born and raised, Jackie attended Los Angeles City College where she majored in drama.

But by the time she transferred to UCLA, she was embracing a more difficult curriculum that would broaden her horizons.

Having graduated with a secondary teaching credential, Jackie was hired

by Eagle Rock Junior-Senior High School. She remembers her excitement and how she looked forward to sharing what she had learned. In fact, her obvious enthusiasm led to a “new teacher” profile in a newspaper that hit the newsstands on the eve of the first day of the school year.

Her ninth and tenth grade students seemed to take the article in stride but her senior classes – older, with attitude, less interested in education and more interested in putting the new teacher in her place – plastered the story across a main bulletin board and behaved with disdain when they were in her class room.

CRANBERRY CRUMBLE RECIPE - PAGE 6

Jackie Ullerich “It was a rough welcome,” Jackie told me, “and at times I wondered why I was teaching. But, as I was to discover, it’s interesting how, step by step, life seems to lead you.”

She persevered and stayed on another four increasingly satisfying years.

After a disappointing end to her first serious romantic relationship, it was time for a change. She worked for several months at a Savings and Loan before landing a coveted teach-

ing job in Brentwood at a “beautifully run” middle school. Surrounded by reasonable discipline, interested students and interesting colleagues, Jackie found her feet at last and began building confidence in her own abilities that led to a resume of accomplishment. She earned “Master Teacher” status while coaching those with less experience. And she and fellow teacher Vicki Nagle helped develop the Team Teaching Continued on page 8

THIS MONTH IN HISTORY PAGE 14

TOPIC OF DISCUSSION PrimeTime of Your Life provides local editorial and advertising content for our active adults (50+).

We strive to educate and inform through lifestyle features and human interest profiles. PrimeTime is distributed throughout the Coachella Valley.

Deb Geissler - Publisher

dgeissler@desertentertainer.com

Jose De La Cruz – Editor

news@desertentertainer.com

Kimberly Brucks - Senior Marketing Specialist kbrucks@desertentertainer.com

Judy Telander - Marketing Specialist jtelander@desertentertainer.com

Sandy Cloyd - Marketing Specialist scloyd@desertentertainer.com

Agustin Alejandre - Sr. Graphic Artist

ads@dmhnews.com | ads@desertentertainer.com

Lucinda Sue Crosby Feature Writer

(760) 776-5181 | 41-995 Boardwalk, Suite L2 Palm Desert CA 92211 A Product of the Desert Mobile Home News.

Titles registered and all contents copyright 2015 by Hi-Desert Publishing Co. All Rights reserved.

2

|

PRIMETIME

|

Utah judge removed lesbian couple’s foster child, says child is better off with heterosexuals

L

Here’s some of what’s been reported

ast year, a Utah lesbian couple decided to get married. Last summer, in a decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide, the Supreme Court confirmed that this was okay. Then the couple wanted to take in a foster child. Because the Supreme Court had signed off on gay marriage, Utah child services officials licensed the couple earlier this year. And, in August, they welcomed a 1-yearold girl into their home, where she joined the couple’s two biological children. Plans for adoption, approved by the baby’s biological mother.

But, a Utah judge decided to end this plan, ordering the girl removed from her foster home be-

cause he said she would be better off with heterosexual parents.

A copy of the court order by Judge said that “through his research he had found out that kids in homosexual homes don’t do as well as they do in heterosexual homes.” When the judge was asked to show his research, he wouldn’t.

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert said he was “a little puzzled” by the decision, and that the state Division of Child and Family Services will review it and investigate.

After the Judge ordered the baby removed fromcouple, the Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group for LGBT equality,

condemned the decision.

“Removing a child from a loving home simply because the parents are LGBT is outrageous, shocking, and unjust,” said Human Rights Campain president, in a statement. “It also flies in the face of overwhelming evidence that children being raised by same-sex parents are just as healthy and well-adjusted as those with different-sex parents.

At a time when so many children in foster care need loving homes, it is sickening to think that a child would be taken from caring parents who planned to adopt.”

Update: As of press time the Judge amended his own order. A December 4 hearing had been set.

Feel free to send us your thoughts on this subject by emailing news@desertentertainer.com.

We will publish a few reader responses in the next issue of PrimeTime.

DECEMBER 2015

T

he Germans made the first artificial Christmas tree out of dyed goose feathers.

busiest time of year for restaurants such as KFC and people can even place orders in advance!

M

D

C D

A I

I

A

ost of Santa’s reindeer have male-sounding names, such as Blitzen, Comet and Cupid. However, male reindeers shed their antlers around Christmas, so the reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh are likely female. hristmas trees are also known as the Yule-tree.

id you ever wonder where X-Mas came from? X means Christ in Greek so to shorten the word Christmas was sometimes use X-Mas.

n 1836 Alabama became the first state in the U.S. to declare Christmas a legal holiday. Oklahoma became the last state to declare Christmas a legal holiday in 1907.

D

o you know why we say the Twelve Days of Christmas? It is believed that it took the Three Kings 12 days to find baby Jesus.

J

T

G

C

hile not widely celebrated in Japan, fried chicken is often eaten on Christmas day. It is the

DECEMBER 2015

C

oca-Cola was the first company to use Santa Claus in a winter promotion.

he tallest Christmas tree ever displayed was in Seattle Washington in 1950. The Christmas tree was 221 feet tall.

allmark introduced their first Christmas cards in 1915.

|

n artificial Christmas tree would have to be reused for more than 20 years to be “greener” than buying a fresh-cut tree annually.

T

H W PRIMETIME

t is estimated that the song “White Christmas” by Irving Berlin is the best selling single in history with over 100 million copies sold.

he tradition of naughty kids getting a lump of coal in their stocking comes from Italy.

et a tie from Weird Uncle Al you’ll never wear? Don’t worry, you’re among the 28% of Americans who re-gift.

|

ll letters addressed to Santa in the United States go to Santa Claus, Indiana.

ingle Bells was originally written for a Thanksgiving Celebration.

It was also the first song to be sung in space–on December 16, 1965 by astronauts Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra.

T

4

ue to international time zones, our modern day Santa Claus actually has 31 hours to deliver presents to all the children of the world. To do so, he’ll need to travel at a rate of 4,796,250 MPH!

here are three towns in the U.S. that are named Santa Claus.

One in Georgia, Arizona and Indiana.

hristmas has many, many names. Do you know some of them—aside from, of course, Christmas? How about? Sheng Tan Kuai Loh (China), or Hauskaa Joulua (Finland), or Joyeux Noel (France)? In Wales, it’s Nadolig Llawen, and in Sweden, God Jul.

W

ith plane delays, snowstorms and roasting the turkey, the holidays can be unpredictable. So it’s a good thing there are cranberries.

Unlike other seasonal fruit that can be fickle, cranberries are impressively reliable. There’s no need to pick through piles of berries to determine which are the ripest, sweetest or juiciest. Just pluck a few bags from the pile in the produce section and toss them in the freezer or fridge.

Cranberries are also impressively versatile, flavoring not just traditional cranberry sauce but also breads, salads, ice creams, and crumbles and adding a bright snap to anything they’re used in. Just remember they’re one of the tartest fruits there is, usually requiring a hefty dose of sugar. On the nutrition front, they’re high in antioxidants, low in calories and virtually fat free, making them a nutritious in just about anything you cook up.

Cranberry Crumble This cake does double duty as breakfast and as dessert. Have on hand for unexpected holiday guests.

Filling: 1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped 1/2 cup boiling water 1 (12-ounce) bag fresh cranberries 1 firm, ripe pear, cored and sliced 1 Granny Smith apple, cored & sliced 1/4 cup sugar Cake: Cooking spray 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup sugar

6

|

PRIMETIME

|

DECEMBER 2015

1/2 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 egg 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 2/3 cup buttermilk 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract Streusel: 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1/3 teaspoon ground nutmeg 2 tablespoons brown sugar 2 tablespoons old-fashioned oats 1 tablespoon water 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans 1. Preheat oven, 350F. Spray a 13 x 9-inch baking pan with cooking spray.

2. Prepare filling, combine dried apricots and water in a small bowl; let stand 30 min. Combine remaining filling ingredients in a large bowl.

Add apricots and soaking liquid; mix well. Spoon into prepared pan.

3. To prepare cake, combine flour, sugar, butter and salt in a food processor. Pulse until crumbly. Set aside 1 cup for streusel topping.

4. Add egg to flour mixture in food processor. Dissolve baking soda in buttermilk, stir well, add flour mixture. Add vanilla. Pulse to make a cake batter. Pour over cranberry mixture in pan.

5. To prepare streusel, add streusel ingredients to reserved flour mixture. Toss well. Sprinkle over cake batter and bake 40 to 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Serves 12

Continued from page 1 Program, a protocol for assisting gifted students that was adopted throughout the school district.

This new job also led to a new romantic involvement that ended in marriage to the attractive, and intelligent (then) Captain Conrad Ullerich. They had double dated casually once and both seemed to enjoy it. Then, at the July wedding of mutual friends nine months later, their fate was sealed. She caught the bouquet while he caught the garter … and they were married the following February.

Over his three or so decades as a Judge Advocate in the Air Force, Jackie and Conrad relocated every two-to-three years. Many relationships do not survive this constant uprooting and reestablishment of households and friendships but Conrad and Jackie thrived. “I loved it!” she said. “It was so exciting to experience different areas of the US and the exotic cultures of foreign lands.” She fell in love with Turkey and counts her years there, along with their term in Alexandria, VA as

8

|

PRIMETIME

her two favorite postings. “I taught English as a foreign language in Ankara,” Jackie said. “Some of my Turkish military students were as challenging those Eagle Rock seniors from long before.” But, with her added poise and tact, she managed to avoid what she laughingly referred to as “international incidents.” “You had to be so careful not to offend yet somehow get the idea across,” she said.

Not long before Conrad’s retirement, Jackie became enamored with fiction writing. She used their adventures in Greece as a springboard for her first novel Sabbatical in the Sun. Unfortunately, she was unable to get the project off the ground.

“I thought the first three chapters were terrible and eventually consigned the manuscript to a drawer, where it remained for years.”

In the meantime, other novels were springing to life in Jackie’s imagination and on the page including The Bride Stands Alone; Risk: Passion and Peril at Sea (which garnered the most positive reaction to that point); and Invitation to Death …

|

DECEMBER 2015

Conrad and Jackie Ullerich moved to Palm Desert in 2000 all of which have been published and successful. She even retrieved Sabbatical from its hidey hole, reworked it with an editor for 12 months and saw it published at last.

Jackie describes her genre as “adventures in mystery” featuring “suspense, intrigue and complex, independent, intelligent female protagonists with human flaws and strengths.” Her most recent work, Secrets, a mystery thriller about four women who receive disturbing anonymous communication about past indiscretions, is in the editorial stage.

Because of the amazing views, cultural activities and friendly people, Jackie and Conrad moved to Palm Desert in 2000. They adore visiting as often as possible with daughter Nicole, son-in-law Sanjay and granddaughter Anjoli, traveling (particularly cruises) playing golf, wine tasting, book clubs, reading “everything in sight,” dining out as often as possible and attending concerts and theater. And writing!

There’s always time for writing!

You can learn more about Jackie Ullerich and purchase her books on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

SCAM ALERT! CROSSWORD Con Artists Bank on Credit Card Chip Confusion

M

any banks are issuing new debit and credit cards with an embedded chip for additional security. The new chips are meant to reduce fraud, but the hype around the new cards is having an unintended side effect... fodder for scams.

HOW THE SCAM WORKS You receive an email saying that your new credit or debit card with the chip is on the way. But first you need to update your account. The message seems to be from your bank or credit card issuer. It may have the company’s logo and even the reply email address.

All you need to do, claims the message, is reply and confirm your personal and banking information. Or, in another version, the message instructs you to click on a link to continue the process.

Don’t do it! If you share personal information, the scammer can use it to commit identity theft.

If you click on the link, you may download malware to your device. Scammers use malware to steal your personal information, send spam and commit fraud.

PROTECT YOURSELF FROM THE SCAM • Be wary of unexpected emails that contain links or attachments. Do not click on links or open files in unfamiliar emails.

• Consider how the company normally contacts you. If a company usually contacts you by phone, be suspicious if you suddenly start receiving emails or text messages without ever opting in to the new communications. Banks and credit card issuers have secure communications channels that require you to log

10

|

PRIMETIME

into your account before you can read the message.

• Don’t believe what you see. Just because an email looks real, doesn’t mean it is. Scammers can fake anything from a company logo to the “Sent” email address.

• Check the company’s website or call them. If something sounds suspicious, confirm it by checking with the bank or credit card issuer. The customer service phone number will be on the back of the card. If you want to look on the company’s website, look for the URL on your statement or do a web search. DON’T click on any links in the message you suspect is a scam.

• Be cautious of generic emails. Scammers try to cast a wide net by including little or no specific information in their fake emails. Always be wary of messages that don’t contain your name, last digits of your account number or other personalizing information.

Learn more about this scam and the new credit and debit cards, check out this article on the Federal Trade Commission’s website.

To find out more about other scams, check out BBB Scam Stopper (bbb.org/scam). To report a scam, go to BBB Scam Tracker (bbb.org/scamtracker)

|

DECEMBER 2015

“ALLITERATIVE ATHLETES” Across

1 Door post 5 1947 Literature Nobelist André 9 Like some wings, poetically 14 Rink leap 15 E pluribus ___ 16 Direct attention elsewhere 17 Carson City neighbor 18 Place for a genie 19 “Charlotte’s Web” boy 20 Alliterative athletes #1 23 Classic film station: Abbr.

26 Bill “The Science Guy” 27 Scepter’s go-with 28 Rent 29 Target for middle management?

31 “___ World” 34 In the unique case that 36 Actor Stephen 37 Pen name of essayist Charles Lamb 41 Alliterative athletes #2 44 Common cookie 45 Have a piece of cake 46 Set up, so to speak

47 50 51 54 55

Ray of the Kinks Smithy Chest beater Funnyman Brooks “Piece of the rock” company, informally 57 Kyoto coin 58 Alliterative athletes #3 62 Strong denial 63 Willa Cather’s “One of ___” 64 Café enhancer 68 Justice Kagan 69 Comedienne Meara 70 Beast of many a fairy tale 71 Kind of calculus 72 “Working Girl” heroine 73 Regained consciousness

Down 1 Pantry container 2 Double-bladed weapon 3 Restroom sign 4 Shapeless mass 5 Full of whirlpools 6 “Gimme some time” 7 Russian assembly 8 One getting bossed around 9 Buoyant Buster 10 Strauss with the

11 12 13 21 22 23 24 25 30 32 33 35 38 39 40 42 43 48 49 51 52 53 56 59 60 61 65 66 67

denim inventory “If ___” (Beatles song) Hostess Mesta Illicit meeting Disentangle Fancy schmancy “One down, ___ go” Chairperson?

Creator of Kanga and Roo Gathering of the cloth Mountain cat’s perch Fistfight Battleship guess David of television Years old Forest quaker Pond skimmer For a laugh Lacking standards Cold-shoulders Mammy Yokum’s son English Channel port City north of Bonn Climbs Writer/editor Brown Mystical mark Not quick “Long ___ “ Nettle Booter’s aid

ANSWERS ON PAGE 12

December 1, 1955 - The birth of the modern American civil rights movement occurred as Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man and move to the back section of a municipal bus.

December 2, 1982 - The first permanent artificial heart was implanted in 61-year-old by Dr. William De Vries at the University of Utah Medical Center in Salt Lake City.

December 3, 1962 - Edith Sampson was sworn in as the first African American female judge, after she was elected associate judge of the Municipal Court in Chicago.

December 4, 1991 - The last American hostage held in Lebanon was released.

December 5, 1933 - 8th Amendment (Prohibition Amendment) to the U.S. Constitution was repealed.

For nearly 14 years, since January 29, 1920, it had outlawed the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages in the U.S. December 5, 1955 - In Alabama, the Montgomery bus boycott began in response to the arrest of Rosa Parks.

History This Month in

bor, the United States and Britain declared war on Japan.

December 8, 1980 - Former Beatle musician John Lennon was assassinated in New York City.

December 9, 1992 - Buckingham Palace announced the separation of Prince Charles and Princess of Wales, Dianna.

December 10, 1950 - Dr. Ralph Bunche became the first African American man awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, for his efforts in mediation between Israel and nearby Arab states the previous year.

December 11, 1998 - The House Judiciary Committee approved three articles of impeachment charging President Bill Clinton with perjury and obstruction of justice.

December 6, 1973 - Gerald Ford was sworn in as vice president under Richard Nixon following the resignation of Spiro Agnew who pleaded no contest to charges of income tax evasion.

December 12, 1998 - The House Judiciary Committee approved a fourth and final article of impeachment against President Bill Clinton, charging him with making false statements in his answers to written questions from Congress.

December 7, 1941 - U.S. Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, was attacked by nearly 200 Japanese aircraft in a raid that lasted just over one hour and left nearly 3,000 Americans dead.

December 13, 1991 - North and South Korea signed a treaty of reconciliation and nonaggression which also formally ended the Korean War, although actual fighting had ceased in 1953.

December 8, 1941 - A day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Har-

December 14, 1911 - Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first person to reach the South Pole.

CROSSWORD ANSWER

December 14, 1962 - Mariner II space probe sent back information from Venus, the first information ever received from another planet.

December 15, 1791 - The Bill of Rights (first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution) became effective following ratification by Virginia.

December 15, 1964 - Canada adopted a new national flag featuring a red maple leaf on a white background.

12

|

PRIMETIME

|

DECEMBER 2015

December 16, 1773 - The Boston Tea Party occurred as colonial activists disguised as Mohawk Indians boarded British ships anchored in Boston Harbor and dumped 342 containers of expensive tea into the water.

December 16, 1944 - American big-band leader Glenn Miller disappeared in a small plane over the English Channel and was presumably killed.

December 17, 1903 - After three years of experimentation, Orville and Wilbur Wright achieved the first powered, controlled airplane flights. They made four flights near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the longest lasting about a minute.

December 18, 1865 - The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified abolishing slavery.

December 19, 1998 - House of Representatives impeached President Bill Clinton, approving two out of four Articles of Impeachment, charging Clinton with lying under oath to a federal grand jury and obstructing justice.

December 20, 1956 - The Montgomery bus boycott ended after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling integrating the Montgomery bus system was implemented.

December 20, 1989 - U.S. invaded Panama attempting to capture Manuel Noriega on charges of narcotics trafficking.

December 21, 1945 - World War II General George Patton died in Germany following a car accident.

December 25 - Christmas Day, commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Although the exact

date of his birth is not known, it has been celebrated on December 25th by the Western (Roman Catholic) Church since 336 A.D. December 26 - Boxing Day in the United Kingdom and many other countries, a day of gift giving when boxes of food, clothing and other gifts are traditionally given to employees, tradespeople and other service providers.

December 26-January 1 - Kwanzaa, an African American family observance established in 1966 celebrating traditional African harvest festivals, focusing on family unity, with a community harvest feast on the seventh day. Kwanzaa means “first fruit” in Swahili.

December 28, 1947 - Victor Emmanuel III, the last King of Italy, died in exile in Alexandria, Egypt.

December 30, 1988 - President Ronald Reagan and President-elect George Bush were subpoenaed to testify in the trial of Oliver North, a former White House aide implicated in the Iran-Contra affair in which arms were secretly sold to Iran while profits from the sale were diverted to guerrillas trying to topple the Nicaraguan government in South America.

December 31, 1879 - Thomas Edison provided the first public demonstration of his electric incandescent lamp at his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey.

December 31 - New Year’s Eve, the final evening of the Gregorian calendar year, traditionally a night for merry-making to welcome in the new year.

holiday tradition. McCallum Theatre, 73-000 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert. (760) 340-2787, www.mccallumtheatre.com.

A Christmas Story. December 4 - 20. Based on the classic 2983 holiday movie. Palm Canyon Theatre, 538 N. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs. Call (760) 323-5123 or visit www.palmcanyontheatre. org for showtimes.

24th Annual Palm Springs Festival of Lights Parade. Saturday, December 5 at 5:45 p.m.

Marching bands and twinkling holiday floats adorned in thousand of magical colored lights.

Palm Canyon and Ramon Road.

Visit www.psfestivaloflights.com for more information.

The Nutcracker. Tuesday, December 15 at 7 p.m. The essential

14

|

PRIMETIME

Merri-Achi Christmas. Saturday, December 19 at 8 p.m. Colorful and traditional Mexican holiday celebration full of seasonal songs, dance and festive merriment. McCallum Theatre, 73-000 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert.

(760) 340-2787, www.mccallumtheatre.com.

Indio International Tamale Festival. December 5 and 6 at 10 a.m. Sample every type of tamale one can possibly imagine. Activities include festive holiday parade, carnival, Mexican Folkloric dancing and a variety of live entertainment. Old Town Indio, (760) 8328620, www.tamalefestival.net.

Thanks for the Memories. Saturday, December 5 at 2 p.m. Special holiday performance that pays homage to Bob Hope’s legendary Christmas shows he performed

|

DECEMBER 2015

The Nutcracker – the essential holiday tradition at McCallum Theatre for the troops. Palm Springs Air Museum, 745 N. Gene Autry Trail, Palm Springs. (800) 838-3006 ext.

1 or 2, www.brownpapertickets. com/events/2375723.

Winter Gathering POW WOW. December 11 - 13. Native Americans from across the United States, Canada and Mexico attend the gather for spectacular display of traditional handmade regalia, dancing, songs, arts, crafts and

food. Spotlight 29 Casino, (866) 377-6829, www.spotlight29.com.

Desert Art Festival. December 12-13. Featuring 100 artist presenting their original word in all mediums of two and three dimensional finer art, including paintings, etching, sculpture. Artists will be present. Frances Stevens Park, 538 N. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs. (818) 813-4478, www.westcoastartist.com.

?

KNOW DID YOU

H

ours before his death, Einstein was still attempting to prove his Theory of Everything.

D

aniel Webster, who ran for president and lost three times, declined becoming Vice President twice, thinking it was worthless. Both presidents who offered it later died in office, meaning that if he had accepted, he would’ve become president after all.

T

here is a library and an opera house that was build on the U.S./Canadian boarder. Exiting the library through the opposite entrance requires one to report to the country’s customs thereafter.

I

n Kora and Japan, there is a Cat Cafe where you can go drink coffee and hang out with cats for hours.

I

n the 1930s two psychologists adopted a baby chimp and tried to raise it as their child alongside their real infant son Donald to see if the chimp would learn human behavior. They stopped the experiment after nine months because their son actually started behaving more like a chimp.

J

ames Chadwick (the discoverer of the neutron) was a student of Ernest Rutherford (discoverer of the proton) who was the student of J.J. Thomson (the discoverer of the electron).

T

homas Jefferson was the most multilingual President of t he U.S. In addition to English, he was fluent in Greek, Latin, French, Italian and Spanish.

There is evidence he also studied Arabic, Gaelic and Welsh.

Holiday

Snow Globes in a Jar DIRECTIONS

T

he Amorphophallus tianum is known as the “corpse flower” because it emits an overwhelming stench similar to rotting flesh.

1. Peel off any stickers on the bottom of the tree. Slightly wet the bottom of your tree and the center of the inside of the lid to the mason jar.

(Gorilla Glue needs water to adhere)

T

here is a song from the 1800’s that consists of two people meowing at each other. It’s called “Duetto buffo di due gatti” which translates to “Humorous duet for two cats.”

2. Spread a thin layer of gorilla glue on the bottom of the tree (I used a q-tip) and add a small dot of it to the inside of the lid.

3. Clamp the tree to the lid and let dry for at least 60 minutes.

E

lvis Presley once asked his limo driver, “Do you own this limo or do you work for the company?” He responded, “I work for the company/“ Elvis said “Well, you own it now.” The limo was the driver’s tip.

T

here is a song that has been proven to help you sleep.

Marconi Union - Weightless “The result on listeners is slowing of the heart rate, reduced blood pressure and lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol.”

S

ir Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini knew each other personally and were good friends until they had a falling out when Houdini failed to prove to Doyle that his magic tricks were illusions. Doyle refused to accept this as he believe Houdini actually had supernatural powers.

T

he Leica Camera company smuggled hundreds of Jews out of Nazi Germany before the Holocaust, masquerading the Jews as employees being assigned overseas. The company helped each refugee find a job, gave them a Leica camera and a monthly stipend till they found work.

These would make great Christmas gifts, especially for someone who appreciates handmade presents

MATERIALS • Mason Jar, or any jar • A snowy tree, or anything else festive to add to the snow globe • Glitter • Gorilla Glue • Block of Wood

4. Once dry, add water, glitter, and whatever else you please to the jar.

Lastly, turn the tree upside down and place inside the jar. **Remember, when you place the tree in the jar it displaces some of the water, so be mindful when adding the water.

5. Press down on the lid (you may glue it if you’d like), then screw on the outer part of the lid tightly.

6. Turn the jar upside down, and you now have a snow globe!

FILLER FILES Clickbait Did you know that dictionaries add hundreds of new words to their lexicons each year, asks the Association of Mature American Citizens.

Merriam-Webster added 1,700 new words to its pages. The Oxford Dictionary legitimized 1,000 new words. And the popular Web site dictionary.com added 150 new words to its vocabulary.

Among the words that made the cut are “fleek,” which means wellgroomed, “awesomesauce,” a new

DECEMBER 2015

way to say excellent and “sapiosexual.” That last one is used to describe men or women who prefer intelligence over physical appearance in their partners.

“Clickbait,” of course, means an enticing headline you might come across as you surf the Internet.

The Association of Mature American Citizens [www.amac.us] provides the Filler Files as a service on issues of concern to Americans over 50.

|

PRIMETIME

15