New red panda cam connects fans with endangered wildlife during Zoo closure

While the Oklahoma City Zoo is closed due to the unprecedented COVID-19 public health emergency, it remains committed to connecting people to its animals and expert caretakers, and creating moments of wild wonder for all to enjoy during these uncertain times. Beginning Tuesday, March 24, enjoy an exclusive real-time look at the Oklahoma City Zoo’s red panda family with the Zoo’s new red panda cam online at www.okczoo.org/redpandacam. The Zoo’s red panda cam will stream live daily through Friday, May 1, with optimal viewing from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., weather permitting. When temperatures reach 90 degrees or higher, the red pandas are given exclusive access to their indoor habitats, outside the camera’s field of view.
Experience a virtual visit to the OKC Zoo’s red panda habitat at Sanctuary Asia from the ease of your smartphone, computer or tablet to watch Thomas, 6, and Leela, 5, plus their offspring Khyana and Ravi, 9-months, play, eat and engage with their caretakers. Youngsters, Khyana and Ravi, are always on the move climbing and exploring their habitat, providing hours of viewing enjoyment. In October, Khyana underwent an amputation of her hind, left leg, due to a congenital deformity. She is thriving and continues to do everything her four-legged brother, Ravi, can do–watch and see!
Known for being great climbers, red pandas spend most of their lives in trees, even sleeping in branches. Red pandas grow to be about the size of a typical house cat. Their bushy, ringed tails add about 18 inches to their length and serve as a type of blanket keeping them warm in cold mountain climates.
Though previously classified as a relative of the giant panda, and also of the raccoon, with which it shares a ringed tail, red pandas are currently considered members of their own unique taxonomic family—the Ailuridae. The red panda is listed as an endangered species. Only an estimated 10,000 remain in the wild, and their habitats in remote areas of the Himalayan Mountains, from Nepal to central China, are being threatened by deforestation, agriculture, cattle grazing and competition for resources. The OKC Zoo participates in the Red Panda Species Survival Plan, developed by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) as a cooperative effort among AZA-accredited zoos throughout North America to help promote genetic diversity through species management.
Stay connected to your Zoo each and every day with “OKC Zoo @ Two”. This new digital series provides an online safari of the Zoo through caretaker chats, veterinary exams, behind-the-scenes animal encounters and more! Segments are posted on the OKC Zoo’s social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube) and at okczoo.org/okc-zoo-at-two daily at 2 p.m. CT. They include pre-produced stories as well as live broadcasts allowing viewers to submit their questions to be answered by Zoo caretakers. On Thursday, March 26, red panda fans won’t want to miss a special red panda caretaker chat featuring more information about this unique species and their new habitat at the OKC Zoo!
Fans wishing to support the OKC Zoo and mitigate the significant cost of the temporary closure can pre-purchase general admission tickets and Zoo-It-All tickets online at okczoo.org/tickets at a 20% discount. These tickets will be valid to use any day before March 31. 2021. The public can also support the OKC Zoo by making a donation at okczoo.org/donate towards the Zoo’s general operating fund or by becoming a ZOOfriends members at zoofriends.org/membership. All active ZOOfriends memberships will be extended for the length of time the Oklahoma City Zoo is closed to the public, including those purchased or renewed during the closure.
Indefinitely closed to the public for the well-being of Zoo guests, team members, ZOOfriends members, volunteers and, of course, the animals in our care, safety is our top priority every day at the OKC Zoo, particularly with the emergence of COVID-19. Zoo officials will continue to closely monitor this developing situation and follow guidance from federal, state and local health officials to determine the Zoo’s reopening date.
Get all the cuteness you can stand with the Zoo’s Red Panda Cam! Located at the crossroads of I-44 and I-35, the Zoo is a proud member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the American Alliance of Museums, Oklahoma City’s Adventure District and an Adventure Road partner. Stay up-to-date with the Zoo on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and by visiting Our Stories. Zoo fans can support the OKC Zoo by becoming Oklahoma Zoological Society members at ZOOfriends.org or in-person at the Zoo! To learn more about these and other happenings, call (405) 424-3344 or visit okczoo.org.

Hawaii and just enjoy the atmosphere. Janice Hanna

I was going to say Hawaii, too. Just lay on a beach and stare at the sky. Melanie Wright

Probably Ireland because I’ve never been. Janet Gatlin

The Carolina Coast. Lots of beach and lots of food. Connie Bailey

Photography and Text by Terry “Travels with Terry” Zinn t4z@aol.com

You may think it odd that I would be telling you about the virtues and short falls of a cruise line, in an atmosphere of distrust and downright boycott of any cruise at this time of health issues. And I agree. However in recent memory Celebrity Cruises has not had any mass ship borne infection with its passengers as had other lines in the news.. Maybe due to luck, maybe due to good hygiene, as on my January cruise there was hand sanitizer at every turn of the corner and at every group gathering.
Lets face it: travel comes with risks. In most cases the risk is out weighted by the rewards of comforting destinations, emotional and intellectual satisfaction, and identifying with world wide humanity. The risk was there when I took my first international trip to Egypt and Greece in the early 1980s; as we traveled between the assassination of middle east leaders. Now the Cruise lines are suspended and booking now for the future of 6 to 9 months ahead is not available or even thinkable. We were so glad we had our Egypt adventure, as I’m sure you have had looking back on your completed trips.
The Celebrity Equinox has many extras that secured my vote and my deposit for a cruise in January, booked in September. In retrospect there were so many more pluses than minus to the cruise. It was a joy to board the ship. There was lots of walking from curbside to security, check in and off to the cabin which was available on time, not always available on other cruise lines. And in short time, the luggage arrived, there was ice, the pre-ordered flowers were delivered as was the shower bench and we were introduced to our cabin steward, Revlon, who throughout the cruise was quite efficient.
A short coming was the mini non insulated ice bucket. While there are ample drink stations on many floors, none on mine, as it’s nice to take a soft drink from the nicely stocked mini fridge ($3/soft drink) for a quick pick me up or beverage enjoying the view from your own veranda. Yes a small inconvenience, but hey, it’s your cruise and should be without bumps that could be corrected.
All of my prepaid tours, events and dining extras were executed without exception, and it was easier than I thought, to add more once boarded. I have been on cruises where if you did not book your most wanted extras, there were sold out upon boarding, not so with Celebrity.
The tours offered on line before the cruise were minimal, but plentiful in the brochure on board. We had a most delightful three stop food and beverage tasting in St. Thomas. There was a trek over uneven streets to arrive at the 3 locales, but once there each were atmospherically and deliciously different. One was a tasting of local foods in an historic family owned and operated restaurant. The second was beverage making in a quaint bar, and the third a make shift banana fosters show and tasting. Each locale was near, but off the beaten track, and if you didn’t know it was there, you could miss it, which made the tour mysterious and inviting. It was a pleasant tour, and only disappointing in that on that tour, was that we were not driven to the photo sight so often seen in brochure that looked down upon the white sand St. Thomas crescent beach.
I had heard from other cruise veterans that Santa Domingo was a beautiful tropical place, so I was looking forward to my tour. There were several choices but most sounded too strenuous for this cane carrying senior, so I picked one that was on a small bus to three spots of interest. I just knew one would be a local beach from a resort or such, and I could just take in the lux surroundings with a tropical view with beverage in hand. As the saying goes,”Expectations are the road to disappointment.”
I was not happy with the non destination our small bus of cruisers were taken. One was a long drive to a large parking lot where off in the distance a sunken dilapidated wooden pier could be seen. The history, if there was some, was lost on me. Next was a park with a small bandstand where costumed dancers were waiting for the recorded music to start. Most got off the bus to see this local amateur folkloric dance-dozen swooshed their skirts and stomped there feet. Next was a primitive open air eating place, where the driver had his dinner of rice and such. The rest of us, could buy bottle coca cola and such and wondered what was next on this tour. It was a stop at a gentrified and not yet completed colorfully painted strip mail of sorts, where over priced souvenirs could be purchased before returning to the ship. Needless to say this was no beautiful, tropical enchanting tour. I’m sure other tours which included hikes and snorkeling were well received. I gave this one a 1 on a scale of 10 as high, on the subsequent emailed evaluation.
The Equinox has many venues for entertainment. The top deck boasts a real live green grass lawn where bowling can be enjoyed or sitting in chairs and watch an outdoor movie after sunset. I preferred the more structured performance by the exceptional talent displayed at three different jute box musical in the main theater. There really were no bad seats and if you got there early you can order soft drinks and the like. The production shows usually had well known songs sung live with an array of costumes and a thin story line. I was not always thrilled with the content but the execution ans energy of the performances were without equal.
Besides memories of near gourmet meals in the premium based specialty restaurants, the Hot Art Glass blowing experience was fun and offered a real home grown – your breath – take away souvenir. I had done this on a limited basis before, but there is nothing like putting your lips on the end of blow pipe where on the other end was a glob of glass at 2,000 degrees. Scheduling this event can be tricky as the on line booking App does not register your exact reservation time, and you must sign up for a time in person. This was one of their prepaid options I made at home before the cruise.
You may think I was hard on my Equinox evaluations, but as stated before, I got no compensation from the cruise line and my honest, picky evaluation, might prepare you in your booking. I heartily endorse Celebrity Equinox, as the highest compliment, is that I look forward to booking again.
Celebrity offers at; (www.celebritycruises.com) and 1-888-751-7804)

There has been a lot of information out about COVID-19 novel coronavirus, and it’s important to decipher through to find accurate information that can help you and your family be as safe as possible. Here are four things you need to know about COVID-19 from experts at INTEGRIS Health.
1. Practice the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) COVID-19 Safe Guidelines
* Hand Hygiene. Protect yourself by frequently washing your hands with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, then use a 60% alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Make sure that hand sanitizer is not replacing thorough handwashing if available.
* Face. Also avoid touching your eyes, mouth and face as much as possible. If you cough or sneeze, don’t do so into your hands. Cough and sneeze into your elbow or upper sleeve.
* Social Distancing. Stay away from public gatherings of more than 10 people. Put a six-foot distance between yourself and other people where possible. If you can, work from home and limit time spent in crowded public spaces.
2. Signs and Symptoms of COVID-19
* Fever, cough, muscle aches and shortness of breath.
* A runny nose or a sore throat, these are not common symptoms of the COVID-19.
3. How, When and Where to Get Care for COVID-19
Most people with COVID-19 will not need to come to a doctor office, ER or hospital for care.
The following are places you can get care if you have COVID-19 symptoms:
* At Home Care. There is no treatment to cure COVID-19 at this time. Staying home and letting the illness run its course is what most people will need to do.
* Call Ahead or Use TeleHealth. To limit exposure to others, if you feel you need additional help beyond your home care, please seek care in the following ways:
– E-visits with your provider – visit www.INTEGRISandMe.com
– INTEGRIS Virtual Visits. Using INTEGRIS Virtual Visits allows clinical experts to conduct an initial screening for COVID-19.
You can download the app for iPhone and Android, or use on your computer at www.integrisvirtualvisit.com
Emergency Room (ER). Only come to the ER for COVID-19 if you are experiencing difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, persistent pain or pressure in the chest, new confusion or inability to arouse and bluish lips or face.
4. The Need for Testing
* World-wide Shortages. COVID-19 testing kits and personal protective equipment (mask, gowns, etc.) are in short supply due to the worldwide demand.
* Testing appropriateness. The treatment for COVID-19 is not different for confirmed versus suspected COVID-19 patients. Because of the short supply, basic COVID-19 symptoms will not be tested.
* Testing Centers. As COVID-19 testing kits and personal protective equipment become more available, a drive through testing center will be created.

Story and photos by Darl DeVault

Seniors either retirement privileged or close to that status face an important question around the world as we now see the importance of aging in place brought on by COVID-19-driven orders to shelter in place.
The question for those trying to add to the quality of life they have built for themselves throughout their decades of hard work and life experience is do they allow themselves to become dependent?
Seniors have grown up in an age of independence, of individual rights for those pulling for the greater good.
We have recently heard many directives from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during this COVID-19 Global Pandemic. The CDC says during a COVID-19 outbreak in your community, stay home as much as possible to further reduce your risk of being exposed.
Perhaps for seniors the CDC’s definition of aging in place “the ability to live in one’s own home and community safely, independently, and comfortably, regardless of age, income, or ability level” should define their future.
A member of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, Kara De La Pena, who owns a metro urgent care mobile practice, is advising her patients to make changes to their home to compensate for their disabilities. This allows them to age in place.
And yet many healthy, disability-free seniors have chosen to amass in retirement communities. With 15 years of delivering medical services, De La Pena has seen a downside to this choice recently while delivering urgent care to her patient’s home.
“The number of patients with serious complications I have seen recently during this pandemic is astounding—often times requiring careful consideration of sending them to a higher level of care or leaving them to manage their symptoms,” said De La Pena, an advanced practice registered nurse whose practice is based on making house calls.
Her certifications in advanced cardiac life support, basic life support, and pediatric advanced life support allow her to fully evaluate her senior patient’s situations. De La Pena has been adding aging in place expertise to her delivery of medical health care as the owner of NP 2 Go.
She says although centers that cater to disability free seniors have a great array of services and amenities, they also come with a serious medical restriction.
Those places are only as medically secure in a pathogen pandemic as the least informed and observant of warnings of social distancing among that population.
While these retirement communities tout wonderful food, convenience, comfortable-bus special excursions to cultural events they fall short in medical privacy. Someone trying to self quarantine cannot prevent other seniors from ignoring the scientifically established demand to stay in their area during a pandemic.
It is not physically possible for self-quarantining seniors to live in a totally private area in a retirement community. Even the milder restriction of shelter in place is impossible when others can insist on inflicting their social visits.
Sharing beautiful common areas can be a minus, just as the pressure to attend a variety of planned activities can short circuit the best intentions to be safe. Some residents may not be able to resist the temptation to socialize with friends and neighbors every day.
Seniors trying to do the right thing in a pandemic are at the mercy of those people who have the least ability to understand science. Some people do not understand the gravity of the situation, or exercise social inhibitions in a time of emergency.
If a senior remains in their home, aging in place, they are far more likely able to avoid a medical emergency based on the spread of a pathogen.
“Sheltering in place is nearly impossible in communal living, which is why aging in place is of utmost importance-now and in the future,” De La Pena said. “Our physical health and mental health often meld together for a balance which creates a homeostasis that directly affects our personal health. Aging in place provides independence, prevents communal illnesses, and promotes self-care.”
Aging in place means solving safety and inappropriate accessibility issues. It creates home living that is safe and accessible without sacrificing individuality. With our leaders calling this pandemic a war, why be on the front lines when you can choose to be a non-combatant by sheltering in place?
“For my older patients there are no potentially promising treatments available in this COVID-19 crisis. Sheltering in place is the only course of action that reliably gives seniors the possibility of a treatment benefit,” De La Pena said. “If seniors have already given up their right to age in place, they have no confidence that the possibility of a treatment benefit is in the offing.”
Now many seniors and retirees can see had everyone been able to truly shelter in place from the outset of the COVID-19 crisis, there would have been far fewer deaths in their demographic.
Instead, because of illness and disability and the choice of leaving their homes, many seniors were extra vulnerable while amassed in facilities other than their homes.
The concept of aging in place is as new as the agenda of collective living in retirement and yet it is lagging in importance. A major reason the concept is not widely advocated is business cannot make a great profit from sharing this information with the public.
Business can make a profit by building facilities and luring people out of their homes to be a part of a larger collective.
America has just received an enormous wakeup call about how dangerous this collective living can be. Again, if everyone deemed vulnerable who did not require daily medical attention could have self-quarantined our nation’s COVID-19 virus stats would look much better.
The government has created a new phrase in the last few years—disability free aging.
With the new pathogen pandemic connectedness apparent in the world it begs the question. Shouldn’t those seniors and retirees who are disability free be clinging to the independence and relative safety of living in their own homes.
“Again, while I visit a cross section of ages as patients in their homes, I am very concerned for our senior population with COVID 19 spreading. Aging in place is the safest form of defense for seniors now,” De La Pena said. “I plan on highlighting more government initiatives and programs to help seniors stay in their homes as long as possible. By performing aging in place assessments, I hope to empower more seniors to find ways to age in place as long as their home is a viable sanctuary.”
She recommends everyone with questions about the aging in place agenda visit this informative section of the federal Web site: www.nia.nih.gov/health/aging-place-growing-older-home
Steve Persa, 77, is staunchly an aging in place advocate in Oklahoma City. He sees this pandemic through the eyes of a retired Oklahoma Blood Institute employee who helped solve Oklahoma’s blood supply problems for decades.
“As long as I am healthy and mobile, I will continue to live in my home,” Persa said. “This latest COVID-19 shelter in place episode reinforces my resolve to do so.”

www.arborhouseliving.com

*As of this advisory, there are 481 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in Oklahoma. New counties with cases include Beckham, Cotton and Love counties. These counties will now be required to come into compliance with Governor Kevin Stitt’s “Safer at Home” executive order that calls for non-essential businesses in counties with COVID-19 cases to temporarily suspend services until April 16.
* There is an additional death in Cleveland County: a male in the 50-64 age group.
* There are 17 total deaths in the state.
* Governor Kevin Stitt issued Sunday evening a sixth amendment to Executive Order (EO) 2020-07, requiring travelers from six states to self-quarantine for 14 days, to include New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, California, Louisiana, and Washington.
* Governor Stitt’s amended Executive Order also requires delivery personnel to submit to screenings when making deliveries at hospitals, clinics, long term care facilities and daycares. The EO also protects health care workers and their families from discrimination in housing or child care.
* REMINDER: Governor Stitt’s “Safer at Home” order includes the following guidelines for all 77 counties until April 30:

* No gatherings in groups larger than 10 people.
* People age 65 or older or those with a compromised immune system must shelter at home.
* PLEASE NOTE: Some local municipalities, to include Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Norman, have put into place law enforcement efforts to enforce the Governor’s order as well as the cities’ additional “shelter in place” policies.
* On both statewide and municipal levels, individuals can still leave for essential errands such as to grocery stores or pharmacies. Please call 2-1-1 or visit covidresources.ok.gov for resources and information.
* For more information, visit coronavirus.health.ok.gov.
This update is as of March 30, 2019.

Dear Savvy Senior, Amid all the troubling coronavirus news, I’ve also read that there are various coronavirus scams going around right now taking advantage of innocent people who are afraid of getting sick or are worried about those that have. What can you tell me about coronavirus scams and what can I do to protect myself? Scared Senior

Dear Scared,
Unfortunately, coronavirus scams are spreading nearly as fast as the virus itself, and seniors are often the most vulnerable.
These con artists are setting up websites to sell bogus products, and using spoofed phone calls, emails, texts, and social media posts as a ruse to take your money and get your personal information.
The emails and posts may be promoting awareness and prevention tips, and fake information about cases in your community. They also may be asking you to donate to victims, offering advice on unproven treatments, or contain malicious email attachments.
Here are some tips to help you keep the scammers at bay.
Click carefully: Don’t click on coronavirus-related links from sources you don’t know in an email or text message. The same goes for unfamiliar websites. When you click on an email or download a file, you could get a program on your computer that could either use your computer’s internet connection to spread malware or dig into your personal files looking for passwords and other information.
Ignore bogus product offers: Ignore online offers for coronavirus vaccinations or miracle cures. There are currently no vaccines, pills, potions, lotions, lozenges, or other prescription or over-the-counter products available to treat or cure coronavirus online or in stores. If you see or receive ads touting prevention, treatment, or cure claims for the coronavirus, ignore them because they’re not legitimate.
Beware of CDC spoofing: Be wary of emails, text messages or phone calls claiming to come from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and/or the World Health Organization (WHO). These scams could take several forms – such as fake health agency warnings about infections in your local area, vaccine and treatment offers, medical test results, health insurance cancellation, alerts about critical supply shortages, and more.
For the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus, visit CDC.gov/covid19.
Beware of fundraising scams: Be wary of emails or phone calls asking you to donate to a charity or crowdfunding campaign for coronavirus victims or for disease research. To verify a charity’s legitimacy use CharityNavigator.org. But, if you’re asked for donations in cash, by prepaid credit card or gift card, or by wiring money, don’t do it because it’s probably a scam.
Beware of stock scams: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is warning people about phone calls and online promotions, including on social media, touting stocks of companies with products that supposedly can prevent, detect or cure coronavirus. Buy those stocks now, they say, and they will soar in price.
But the con artists have already bought the stocks, which typically sell for a dollar or less. As the hype grows and the stock price increases, the con men dump the stock, saddling other investors with big losses. It’s a classic penny-stock fraud called “pump and dump.” Making matters worse: you may not be able to sell your shares if trading is suspended.
When investing in any company, including companies that claim to focus on coronavirus-related products and services, carefully research the investment and keep in mind that investment scam artists often exploit the latest crisis to line their own pockets.

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

Story by Susan Slater

How Seniors Can Trust They’ve Found a Reputable Roofer
A lot of companies say they specialize in working with seniors. But Dennis Helm, of Smooth Finish Roofing & Construction, shows it.
Dennis is an industry partner and a member of OKALA (Oklahoma Assisted Living Association). He also has industry partnerships with several important senior organizations: Oklahoma’s Senior News and Living, The Oklahoma Senior Journal, Senior GuidePost, and The VillagesOKC. When Dennis says he enjoys working with seniors and wants to help them, he means it!
Dennis has been a senior advocate for as long as he’s been a business owner of Smooth Finish. He came about this from a place of caring for those who may be vulnerable to scammers because of difficulties he faced as a child.
How Smooth Finish can help seniors
1) If you are working with a senior who would like to stay in their home, Smooth Finish can install a good-quality roof on their home that will last.
They can also help with other repairs and modifications on the homes of seniors who want to age in place. Besides roofing, Smooth Finish can do ceiling leak repair, guttering, siding, garage doors, fencing, painting, and more.
2) If you have a client who is moving into a senior living center and needs to sell their home, they may likely need a new roof or other repairs. Smooth Finish will do excellent work at a fair price, so your client’s home can pass all the inspections required for a sale.
3) Smooth Finish is not only certified and licensed* to do roofing for residential homes, but for senior living facilities as well.
Owner Dennis Helm—a true senior advocate
With his sincere desire to help seniors, Dennis always works to encourage people to use only local, licensed, and insured roofing contractors with hundreds of verifiable references. There are just too many terrible stories of things going wrong when people don’t.
Warning: roofers may not be who they seem to be!
“I’ve heard it many, many times,” Dennis says, “most people don’t trust roofers. That’s because in this industry there are a lot of fly-by-night roofers. They come in town, start a ‘company,’ get magnets on their car, and in 24-hours they look like a legitimate business. But they’re not.”
Unreliable scammers always rush into town after a storm has hit to solicit people who need roofing services. These unscrupulous “companies” many times will claim to be local, even though they’re not, and may go to great lengths to look like they’re hometown guys.
Dennis tells about having a man from out of town contact him after a bad storm hit the Oklahoma City area. This man wanted to “buy” the Smooth Finish company name, and use Dennis’s address and phone number for six months. He offered a good price, too! He wanted to appear to be a local, established company when soliciting roof jobs.
Dennis warns people to not be fooled. He says, “I wasn’t about to go for that deal, but other companies will.” He continues, “I want people with roofing needs in Oklahoma City to rest at ease. I want them to know that when they use Smooth Finish Roofing & Construction, they’re getting an honest, reputable company. I’m a lifelong resident and have 32 years expertise in this business.”
Ask for licensing numbers and for references, and then check them out! Dennis explains that reputable roofers live and work in the same city where their business is located. “We don’t go out of town, except for previous and existing customers. There is always more than enough work for us right here in the 620 square miles of Oklahoma City.”
Your clients will thank you for a Smooth Finish recommendation
You can feel confident in recommending Smooth Finish Roofing & Construction to the clients you’re helping. For the homeowner, Dennis can work on the rooftop, the floor, and everything in between. He’s licensed General Contractor for the City of Oklahoma City* and has been in business for 32 years.
Since 1987, Dennis has been helping customers with decisions concerning their homes. Many times, he’s found simple solutions for complex problems. He works to keep the costs fair and reasonable, and lives by the Smooth Finish motto: “Where quality craftsmanship meets fair pricing.” Give Dennis a call on his personal cell phone at (405-923-5127).
He’ll be happy to come visit you for a free consultation, inspection, and estimate. And he’ll be glad to give you references so you can check with people who have used his services! Dennis adds, “We are proud of and enjoy our solid reputation. We enjoy serving seniors, military, and single mothers—and we only move forward with a job when you’re comfortable.”
*Oklahoma CIB #0242 and City of Oklahoma City license #13705

www.smoothfinishroofing.com

by Nick Thomas

Turning 97 in March, Carl Reiner shows no sign of slowing down. “I wake up with ideas!” the veteran actor, writer, director and producer says from Los Angeles says.
One of those ideas was to colorize episodes of his crown television jewel, “The Dick Van Dyke Show.” Two color episodes were produced in 2017 and last year Reiner selected a couple more favorites, with plots loosely based on his family’s experience, which aired on CBS over the holiday season.
“I’ve done a lot in my life but have to say that show is what I’m most proud of,” Reiner says. “We couldn’t afford to shoot it originally in color and make a profit, but I’m so pleased with the colorized episodes – they look fantastic.”
In “Where Did I Come From?” young Richie (Larry Matthews) questions his parents about his birth, much like Reiner’s own children did, while in “Never Bathe on Saturday,” Laura (Mary Tyler Moore) gets stuck in a hotel bathtub, ruining a vacation for hubby Rob (Dick Van Dyke).
“I wrote that based on the time my wife and I were away, and she noticed the faucet dripping while taking a bath and wanted to get a plumber,” Reiner recalls.
Reiner says it was important to produce colorized versions close to the originals.
“Luckily some enterprising photographers were on hand during the original filming and took color photos of the set and actors,” he notes. “So some colors are very accurate, like the rooms. Colorization has come a long way and I wish we could do all 158 episodes, but it’s very expensive.”
Reiner’s 2017 HBO documentary “If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast,” in which he narrates a series of interviews with active nonagenarians, was also recently released on DVD.
“In my opening section, I’m reading the newspaper obituary section and remark if I’m not in it, I’ll have breakfast,” he says. “They thought that would make a good title.”
The documentary features 90-plus-year-old guests still active in areas such as sports, fashion, music, comedy and acting such as Dick Van Dyke, Kirk Douglas and Reiner’s longtime cohort in comedy, Mel Brooks. “Truly a collection of remarkable people,” Reiner says.
But of all the people Reiner has known, he has the highest praise for his late wife, Estelle, to whom he was married for 65 years.
“While you do live in your memories as you get older and especially after losing a spouse, if you’ve had a good marriage it sustains you,” he says. “She was perhaps the most extraordinary woman I ever met and could do everything better than anyone else. I think about her every night I go to bed, so she’s still alive in me, no question.”
A prominent comedy writer throughout his career, Reiner also continues to work on new book projects this year.
“If you have something to do every day, you’ll hang around,” he says.

by Greg Schwem

For 30 years I’ve made my living as a standup comedian. I’ve stood on iconic stages including the Grand Ole Opry and the Chicago Theatre. I’ve gazed out at crowds as large as 10,000 and as small as six. We won’t talk about the six.
My moods following my performances have run the gamut from elation to despair. From feeling like I’m the first person to set foot on an uncharted planet to wanting to jump into a recently dug grave and instructing the backhoe operator to “just bury me now.”
The one commonality to all these shows was a live audience. The coronavirus has, for the immediate future, taken away my ability to perform.
Or has it?
Enter the concept of virtual entertainment, an idea that has never really taken off considering that, despite the available technology, most people ultimately think it’s weird to watch a hologram of Prince or another deceased rock star “playing” live on stage. The connection a performer feels to an audience works in reverse too; the audience must feel that same connection.
So when a show I was scheduled to perform for 1,200 members of the dairy industry in Madison, Wisconsin, joined the scrap heap of cancellations on my calendar, I was not hesitant, rather overjoyed, when the organizers said they wanted to me to perform virtually.
Of course, that would mean performing standup comedy to a camera, without a crowd. The audience, I was told, would watch from bedrooms, hotel rooms and home offices, surrounded, most likely, by nobody.
Not exactly the ideal audience for a comedian. Still, the show must go on.
At 8 p.m., I entered a conference room that looked as if preparations were in place for some sort of invasion. A half-eaten takeout pizza sat on a round table big enough to seat 10. Snacks, drinks and sandwiches purchased from an attached hotel represented lunch for the staff tasked with running the virtual operation. Dinner too.
A few IT personnel stared intently at laptops as another virtual presenter, speaking from God only knows where, gave a speech entitled “Practical Proven Systems for More Profitable Innovation.” I heard his voice and saw the PowerPoint slides he had assembled for his talk, but I didn’t see him.
Instead I saw an empty stage and a single camera pointed at it.
“That’s where you’ll be,” the conference organizer told me.
When the previous speaker had concluded, another member of the organizational team grabbed a mic and said, “We have some questions.” These questions, I assume, were submitted by attendees watching virtually. Of the 10 people in the conference room, nobody raised a hand.
The unseen presenter answered several questions and then it was time for me. Like a normal show, a tech clipped a lavalier microphone to my shirt; like a normal show I stood slightly offstage awaiting my introduction. And, like a normal show, I bounded onstage when I heard my name.
The next 45 minutes were left to my imagination.
The conference room participants — seven staff members and three techs — did their best to laugh at my jokes, which, naturally, included a few references to the massive elephant in the room.
“I’m staying in a very nice hotel here in Madison,” I said. “I only live two hours from here, so I don’t really need a hotel. But I was out of toilet paper and the hotel had some.”
Strangely, the longer I performed, the more confident I was that somebody was laughing somewhere. A few laughs from the 10 people in the room were all I needed to keep going. Yes, there were some uncomfortable moments, but it’s also uncomfortable doing standup at a party in the hull of a Catamaran. OK, I brought up the audience of six. Sorry.
I hope there will be no more virtual shows in my career. I hope to be back on stage soon, where I can see and converse with real audience members.
But COVID-19 has taught me one thing: Laughter cannot be quarantined.
(Greg Schwem is a corporate stand-up comedian and author of two books: “Text Me If You’re Breathing: Observations, Frustrations and Life Lessons From a Low-Tech Dad” and the recently released “The Road To Success Goes Through the Salad Bar: A Pile of BS From a Corporate Comedian,” available at Amazon.com. Visit Greg on the web at www.gregschwem.com.)
You’ve enjoyed reading, and laughing at, Greg Schwem’s monthly humor columns in Senior Living News. But did you know Greg is also a nationally touring stand-up comedian? And he loves to make audiences laugh about the joys, and frustrations, of growing older. Watch the clip and, if you’d like Greg to perform at your senior center or senior event, contact him through his website at www.gregschwem.com)

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