The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Facts and Figures for July Fourth 2020

It's an unusual year for the annual July 4th celebration in the United States. The coronavirus pandemic has changed everything, and now that cases throughout the nation are spiking, it's time to rethink things again.

The best plan for celebrating is to stay home. If you invite people for a barbecue, keep the number small and have them bring their own food and drinks. Set tables up in your yard with social distancing.

Hopefully, things will be better by next year.

Source: WalletHub

Copyright 2020, Rita R. Robison, Consumer and Personal Finance Journalist

Fourth of July Sales and what to buy and not buy in July

What are your July 4^th plans?

This year, three-quarters of consumers plan to celebrate Independence Day, down from 86 percent in 2019, according to a survey conducted for the American Retail Federation. Much of the decline is because fewer consumers plan to go to traditional celebrations such as a fireworks show. Only 24 percent said they plan to celebrate the Fourth by attending a community celebration, compared with 41 percent last year.

Consumers plan to spend $76 on average, which about the same as previous years. And more than half of consumers expect to plan a cookout or BBQ.

Independence Day sales

July 4^th sales are underway. It’s a good holiday for discounts and brings savings on many items, according to DealNews.com.

Bayer to pay more than $10 billion to settle cancer lawsuits

Bayer agreed to pay $10 billion over claims its herbicide Roundup causes cancer in people in a settlement announced Wednesday.

Most of the money will be sent to four leading plaintiffs’ law firms, who will distribute it to nearly 100,000 clients who were diagnosed with cancer after prolonged use of the weed killer. Bayer still faces at least 30,000 claims from plaintiffs who haven’t agreed to join the settlement.

The settlement also includes $1.25 billion for potential future claims from Roundup customers who may develop the form of cancer known as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Individuals, depending on the strength of their cases, will receive payments of $5,000 to $250,000, according to a New York Times article.

Facts and figures for Father’s Day 2020

The first Mother's Day was celebrated in 1914, but a holiday honoring fathers didn’t become official until 1966, when President Lyndon Johnson declared that the third Sunday in June would be Father's Day. President Richard Nixon made this proclamation permanent in 1972. However, Father’s Day was celebrated before then.

The idea for Father's Day is attributed to Sonora Dodd, who was raised by her father after her mother's death during childbirth. While listening to a sermon at church on Mother's Day, she thought about all her father had done for her and her siblings and decided fathers should have a day, too. Because Dodd's father was born in June, she encouraged churches in her area, Spokane, Washington, to honor fathers that month. The first Father's Day was celebrated in Spokane in 1910.

Over the years, the idea spread, and people lobbied Congress to establish the holiday.

Shopping

This year three-quarters of consumers say they plan to celebrate Father's Day, according to the annual survey conducted for the National Retail Federation. While fewer consumers expect to take their dads out for Father’s Day, they’re planning other ways to celebrate.

Tips for Father’s Day 2020

My dad was really good at guessing what was in his presents. One time, to fool him, I bought him a magazine subscription and I put it in a toy jack-in-the-box. When he turned the handle, boom. The clown delivered a note about the present. He was really surprised.

This year, in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic, a lot of the activities we’d usually do with our dads, wouldn’t be a good choice for this year. For example, getting on an airplane to visit your dad is risky. Also, going to a restaurant with a large group of people isn’t advisable. Nor or hugs, unless you’ve been staying at home together.

But, you can order a present and make plans for a get together later.

Some gift ideas include:

• Tech gadgets. Apple iPad, Kindle or Nook, digital camera.
• Tools. Drills, rakes, hoes.
• Clothing. Shirts, ties, t-shirts, jackets. (For some dads, but not others.)
• Sporting goods. Book on sports, sports paraphernalia, new gear.
• Books. Check AARP’s list of summer reads.
• Music. Smart speaker, Apple AirPods.
• Photos. Favorite family photos, digital photo frame, photo book.
• Gift basket. Golf, fishing, grilling, baseball, brewing, coffee, beer, wine.
• Gift card. O.K. if you’re out of ideas.
• Limited funds. Small pocket knife, coffee mug with your photo, framed photo of you and your dad.

Be sure to plant a vegetable garden this year

It’s not too late to plant a great garden and enjoy wonderful organic vegetables throughout the summer and into fall.

In May, I usually go to Madrid and visit my daughter and her family. However, this year, due to covid-19, I’m not traveling.

Deane Rimerman, the forester who helps me with my pruning, offered to build me a cold frame, a cover for my raised-bed garden, so the seeds would sprout sooner and the seedlings would grow faster. See the photo above.

I’m already eating salads from my garden. It’s fabulous because I haven’t been ordering lettuce and greens from my local co-op due to concerns about possible contamination.

Early June isn’t too late to plant a garden. It’s when I usually do it when I get back from Spain. This photo is from 2018. As you can see, I had a very healthy, productive garden.

Even if you don’t have a space for a garden, you can grow a lot of vegetables in pots on your patio.

To get some ideas on what to plant in a garden, see my report from 2017 “My Garden Is in Full Production.”

Also see the article “9 Reasons Planting an Awesome Vegetable Garden Can Improve Your Life.”

Copyright 2020, Rita R. Robison, Consumer and Personal Finance Journalist

Don’t use Mueller Austria’s onion chopper pro to avoid injury, CPSC and company warn

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Mueller Austria are urging consumers to immediately stop using some of the company’s onion chopper pros, model #M-700. The versions in question feature a locking tab that needs to be pushed towards the blades to properly lock into place.  

The product’s locking tab can detach from the rest of the unit during use, causing hands and fingers to slide into the blades. About 72,000 affected units were sold to consumers on Mueller Austria’s website www.muellerdirect.com and Amazon.com between September 2016 and December 2019. The cost was about $20. 

Mueller Austria introduced a new chopper in December 2019 with a different locking tab configuration. This notice only applies to the older versions of the onion chopper that feature a locking tab which slides toward the blades.

Genetically engineered and gene edited plants face less oversight under the Trump administration’s USDA

A majority of genetically engineered and gene edited plants now will escape any oversight from the U.S. Department of Agriculture under revised regulations issued recently by the agency.

Despite comments from environmental groups, consumer organizations, biotech crop developers, and food industry stakeholders asking the USDA to eliminate a provision allowing crop developers to self-determine whether their products are regulated, the Trump administration refused to require developers to even notify the agency of products they believe are exempt under the new regulations.

“The result is that government regulators and the public will have no idea what products will enter the market and whether those products appropriately qualified for an exemption from oversight,” said Gregory Jaffe, biotechnology project director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest. “They will stealthily enter our food supply at a time when consumers want greater transparency, leading to potential consumer backlash and acceptance problems, even for safe and beneficial products. That is why many industry members supported increased transparency.”

Best wishes on Memorial Day

This Memorial Day is unlike any other in American history. At least 1,636,000 people have contracted the coronavirus and 90,000 have died.

I’m going to be staying home and working in my yard and on my book about my journalism career. In an article I wrote Friday, I advised people to have a barbecue with people in their neighborhood and skip going out to a restaurant or to the beach. I also suggested camping in your yard, taking a drive in your neck of the woods, or ordering a special dinner.

As for going to a cemetery, call to find out if it’s open to family members and when it opens so you can go early and avoid any crowds.

Healthy Choice frozen chicken and turkey bowls are being recalled by Conagra Brands due to contamination

Conagra Brands is recalling about 276,872 pounds of frozen chicken and turkey power bowls because they may contain small rocks, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said Friday.

The recall has been expanded to include the following Healthy Choice power bowls: Chicken Feta & Farro, Unwrapped Burrito Scramble, and Turkey Sausage & Egg Scramble produced on various dates. The power bowls were produced at two different establishments.

The following additional power bowls are being recalled: