page a2 10 22.qxp - Clayton Pioneer

Page 8 Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com October 22, 2010
Learn to Ride
Children, Teens, Adults
English, Western & Trail
Established 1971
1350 Castle Rock Rd.
Walnut Creek
(925) 937-7661
TThaannksggiviing
WWeeek Campp
November 22
23, 24, 26
Scout Sessions/Rider’s Badge
Approved by Girl Scouts of N.
California with required insurance Birthday Parties
See website for details
www.castlerockarabians.com
Meet the Rep Day
Oct. 28: 11:30 am to 2 pm
at
Cruise Adventures Unlimited
Serving all
cruise lines
since 1987
Enter to win a $500 gift certificate
Celebrity Cruises Special Offers, 10/28 - 11/04
• $100 OBC for Veranda bookings made 10/28
• $50 per person value booklet
• $80 Spa Robe for any Europe booking
• $50 OBC for Europe Sailings
• $200 OBC for Alaska Cruisetour bookings
Royal Caribean Special Offers, 10/28 - 11/04
• Reduced Deposit on all sailings
• Passport to Savings Booklets
(valued up to $150)
• Bath Robes for any Junior Suite or higher
RSVP to
(925) 935-7447
Owners Valerie O’Connell
(Clayton resident, 30 years)
1610 Locust St., Walnut Creek & daughter Colleen O’Connell
www.cruiseadventuresunlimited.com
Law Offices of
Richard A. Littorno
Since 1979
Legal Services:
�� Probate and Trust Administration
and Litigation
�� Living Trusts and Wills
�� Medi-Cal & VA Planning
�� Elder Abuse Litigation
�� Conservatorships
�� Tax Planning & Preparation
�� General Business Transactions
�� Asset Protection Strategies
Clayton Office:
6160 Center St., Suite D
Clayton, CA 94517
Phone: (925) 672-6463
Richard@LittornoLaw.com
CST 2074362-40
My family is thinking about
Q installing a pool in our back
yard. We have plenty of room in
our yard and we all love water
activities. We have never had a
pool before. Would this be a
good investment?
A pool is not a financial
A
LYNNE FRENCH
REAL ANSWERS
investment, but it is an
investment in your quality of life.
Since you have never had a
pool before, you should investigate
what it might entail both in
expense and upkeep. In an area
like ours, where you will get
many months’ use, a pool can be
an attractive feature when selling
a home. Some buyers only want
a home with a pool.
On the other hand, some
buyers won’t consider a home
with a pool. These are often people
who have had a pool in the
past and don’t want the upkeep
any longer.
Pool is a fun option,
if you consider all costs
If you simply want one for
your family’s enjoyment, then go
for it after checking out the actual
expense.
The first thing, of course, is
installation fees. On the very low
end, that could be $25,000-
$50,000 and up, depending on
the options you want. Experts
estimate that pools can cost
$3,000-$5,000 in maintenance a
year. If something goes wrong,
say the filters or pump need to
be replaced, costs can quickly
add up. When it needs to be
resurfaced, it could cost more
than $10,000. If you wanted to
upgrade the tile, decking or plaster,
that could cost up to
$20,000. If at some point you
wanted to remove the pool, it
can cost more than $15,000.
Knowing all this, pools are
still always in demand. They may
be costly, but quality of life is
priceless.
What is all this I am hearing
Q about banks suspending
foreclosures? Is this a strategy to
improve the housing market? I
am trying to time the sale of my
house.
This moratorium on fore-
Aclosures isn’t a strategy to
control the market, but it will
definitely affect the market. In
California, most foreclosures
are conducted as non-judicial
foreclosures or trustee sales.
This means that they don’t
involve a court process to foreclose.
Twenty-three states that
have judicial foreclosures are
suspending them due to problems
with the signing of declarations
in connection with
these.
Bank of America, however,
has suspended theirs in 50
states to see if lenders have
complied with other legally
required procedures. They want
to insure that homes weren’t
improperly foreclosed on and
are following state law. Other
banks may follow suit. Some
legislators are pushing for a
nationwide moratorium on
foreclosure sales.
In the short run, this could
improve the market because
there won’t be as many foreclosed
properties on the market
for competition. The problem is
the “shadow inventory” will still
be increasing. These moratoriums
will postpone the recovery
because we need the inventory
to be absorbed to begin normal
appreciation.
Are there any new “health
Q and safety” items I need to
know before I sell my home?
One new law is coming up
A
soon. Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger recently signed
into law Senate Bill 183, which
will require the installation of
carbon monoxide detectors in
single family homes by Jan. 1,
2011.
Send your question and look for
your answer in a future column. Email
Lynne@LynneFrench.com.
French is the broker/owner of
Windermere Lynne French &
Associates and a Clayton resident. For
any real estate needs or questions, contact
her at 672-8787 or stop in at
6200 Center St., Clayton.
What doesn’t kill them makes them stronger
The kids are back to school
and I am not sure if I am happy
about it or not. On one hand
they are out of the house for 7
hours a day, but on the other
there is homework, school
projects, soccer, piano, etc. I
can’t keep up. Then I think on
Pittsburg Office:
2211 Railroad Ave.
Pittsburg, CA 94565
Phone: (925) 432-4211
www.LittornoLaw.com
the other facet of fall. Those
little Petri dishes we call children
are repeatedly passing
germs amongst themselves and
bringing them home. It makes
me want to put up a decontamination
room in our entryway
for the kids to go through
when they get home each day.
Fall is also the time of year
where we see a rise in the number
of patients who travel to
their doctor’s office and to the
emergency room requesting
antibiotics for a cough, runny
nose etc.
Remember back in the day
when you would go to your
doctor and they would give you
antibiotics at a drop of the hat?
“You have a cough and runny
nose for one day? Here, have a
10 day course of antibiotics.”
“You feel like you may be
getting sick? Let me write you
a prescription.”
Well, the times have
changed. Now in order to get
antibiotics, you practically have
to beg, plead, and cry.
However, your doctor should
hold firm to the American
Medical Association criteria,
the CDC and the World Health
Organization’s recommendations
by withholding such
antimicrobials unless they are
absolutely indicated.
DR. DAVID BIRDSALL
YOUR HEALTH
OVERUSE CREATES
SUPER BUGS
The reason for this is that
we have created, and we are
continuing to create, a legion of
super bugs; bacteria that are
resistant to many and sometimes
all of our antibiotics –
bacteria like MRSA (methicillin
resistant staphlococcus), VRE,
gonorrhea, penicillin resistant
streptococcal pneumonia, and
some strains of tuberculosis.
These bacteria are mutating
at alarming rates far exceeding
our ability to create new antibiotics.
The medical community’s
overuse of antibiotics has set
about Darwinism on a cellular
level. What doesn’t kill them
makes them stronger.
As in animals, bacteria
select out and propagate those
traits that improve the chance
of survival for all like bacteria.
For example, if an antibiotic
doesn’t kill a bug because of
the bacteria’s cell wall make up,
that bacteria will create more of
its kind. This leads to super
bugs. The more super bugs
there are the more likely they
will share their special resistance
genes among bacteria and
the more likely they will spread
among humans. Likewise, the
overuse of broad-spectrum
“strong” antibiotics (those
antibiotics that kill a number of
different bugs) can lead to
cross-resistance. This means
that if certain bacterium is
resistant to a certain antibiotic,
it will also be resistant to other
antibiotics in the same class.
That is why if your doctor does
choose to use antibiotics it is
important for her to use antibiotics
that have a narrow spectrum
of activity so that if
resistance does develop it will
be to fewer antibiotics.
It is important to note that
antibiotics are only effective
against bacteria and not viruses
such as the common cold and
your typical stomach flu. As
well, not all bacterial infections
See Health, page 17