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Ask The Professionals Mountainview Residence owned and operated by the Summer family 83 Mill Street, Suite B, Georgetown, Ontario Want Answers... Ask Questions Drop off or mail to: The Independent & Free Press, Georgetown Market Place, 280 Guelph St., Unit 29, Georgetown, ON L7G 4B1 or e-mail your questions to: features@independentfreepress.com 5 Independent & Free Press, Tuesday, January 19, 2010 Tel: (905) 877-8668 Fax: (905) 877-4165 Marta Masley B.Sc.(PT), M.C.P.A. 222 Mountainview Rd. N. Georgetown, ON L7G 3R2 Bus: (905) 877-1800 Fax: (905) 873-9083 www.mountainviewresidence.com Q: Christoph Summer Owner/ 905-450-1850 Barbara Byckowski Investment Advisor, BBA, PFP, CFP Worker hurt in fall Rescue crews from Milton Fire and Halton EMS work to lower an injured worker down from high above the Trans Canada Halton Hills Generating station after the man fell while working on a ladder atop scaffolding at the plant Monday. He was lowered to the ground using a crane and taken to Milton District Hospital with back injuries. The Ministry of Labour is investigating. Photo by Graham Paine/Metroland West Media Group With the mild winter weather this year, I've decided to take up jogging outdoors so that I'll be ready for the spring and summer seasons. I have tried to increase my distance on a weekly basis, but now I am experiencing a setback because of pain to the outside of my right knee. It seems to be present when I'm into my 2nd kilometer of running, and just continues to increase unless I stop. What could this be? I am thinking of moving into a retirement residence. With so many variables and prices, how do I make a choice? This is a seemingly dauntless task but one that can be made easier if you give yourself the time to plan ahead. A good place to start is with residences that come highly recommended by family and friends. Secondly, residents with membership in ORCA (Ontario Residential Care Association.) have met the industry's high standards ensuring quality care. Next, do a realistic assessment of your needs. For example, what help are you receiving now and what added help would you like? Add to this, a "wish list". What added features are important to you? What type of setting would make you feel most at home? How does the home look? Is it a bright, clean, friendly place to live? Can you bring your own furniture... and so on? Compile a list of questions and fill out separate evaluation for every residence you visit. That way, you will have a consistent assessment of each home with out the worry of forgetting the details. Consider too, staying for a meal and comparing this important aspect of retirement living. You evaluation of homes can be based on all the things that are important to YOU and YOUR needs including, of course, the cost. Q: A: Email: barbara.byckowski@rbc.com I've heard about the Tax-Free Savings Account and I am wondering if I should contribute to it instead of RSPs. Can you tell me which would be best?? With an RSP, your investment earnings grow on a tax-deferred basis ­ meaning you don't pay tax until you actually start making withdrawals. You also receive a tax deduction when you contribute to your RSP. With the new Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA), on the other hand, your investment earnings grow on a tax-free basis ­ meaning you never pay tax, even when you make withdrawals. (You do not however, receive a tax deduction when you contribute to your TFSA.) Many people are wondering if they should still contribute to their RSP ­ or just go with a TFSA. In most cases is makes sense to contribute to BOTH. Your RSP is designed for a specific purpose ­ saving for your retirement. It also offers the ability to make much larger contributions. Your TFSA, is more flexible, allowing tax-free withdrawals at any time for any reason ­ and the amount withdrawn is added back to your available contribution room the following year. If you would like a complimentary one-hour consultation, please give me a call at 905450-1850. RBC Dominion Securities Inc.* and Royal Bank of Canada are separate corporate entities which are affiliated. *Member CIPF, ®Registered trademark of Royal Bank of Canada, Used under licence, RBC Dominion Securities is a registered trademark of Royal Bank of Canada. Used under licence. ©Copyright 20010. All rights reserved. Barbara Byckowski is an Investment Advisor with RBC Dominion Securities Inc. Member CIPF This article is for information purposes only. Please consult with a personal advisor before taking any action based on information in this article. Barbara can be reached at 905-450-1850. Q: A: Board apologizes for unwanted call Red-faced Halton District School Board officials have apologized for a glitch in a new autodial software system that called 25,000 Halton households early Saturday morning advising parents school was cancelled. Homes that subscribe to the board's Syner-voice Notification System-- which automaticallly informs subscribers of school closures and transportation cancellations due to bad weather-- received the unwanted wake-up call at 5 a.m. To add to the embarrassment of school board officials, the message warning of "inclement weather" went out on a balmy morning. And, on a Saturday. The trouble began last Monday when, eager to try out an updated version of the system, school board officials held a test run. An employee created an automated message advising that bad weather had forced the closure of every school in the region for the day and fed it into the system. Once the test was done, the worker thought she had deleted the message. She was wrong. At 5 a.m. Saturday, the system started calling 25,000 households. The employee who made the mistake was one of the people woken up. Realizing something had gone awry, she scrambled to fix the problem, but it was too late. By 5:30 a.m., every household had been called. Board officials promised to take steps so it doesn't happen again. --With files from Torstar News Service It sounds like you have sustained an overuse injury called the iliotibial band friction syndrome. The iliotibial band is a thickened strip of fascia that passes down over the outside of the thigh and inserts into the top of the shin bone (tibia) on that side. When the knee is repeatedly flexed and extended as in running, the iliotibial band repeatedly rubs over a bony prominence of the thigh bone (femur) that is located around the knee joint. This leads to inflammation of the band, resulting in discomfort. Symptoms commonly appear after a long walk or run, usually worsening with increased distance. Walking downstairs and jogging on hilly terrain is also particularly aggravating. A tight iliotibial band and/or lower extremity structural abnormalities are usually the predisposing factors of this syndrome. Since this is an overuse injury, the most important component of treatment is to reduce the stress to the knee. This does not mean that you have to stop running altogether, but try running a shorter distance on flat ground and shortening your running stride. Inflammation can be reduced through icing and ultrasound. When symptoms resolve, be sure to include iliotibial band stretches in your pre- and post-running routine. A: Elayne Tanner & Associates Inc. Elayne M. Tanner PhD (C), RSW, BA, BSW, MSW, Dip Soc Adm Counselling & Psychotherapy Milton 905-854-0801 www.etasolutions.com DR. MICHAEL HUTTER 99 Sinclair Ave., Suite 306, Georgetown 905-877-0107 www.dentistryonsinclair.com PROFESSIONALS WANTED to inform our readers & answer their questions Q: A: Elayne M. Tanner How do I get my child to take me seriously so that everything is not always a fight? The families of Corey Lindsay & Holly Stacheki would like to wish them congratulations on their engagement. Wedding to take place November 2010. xoxo In the past, families were hierarchical with parents at the top making the rules that the children then followed. Children were expected to be respectful and do as they were told. The parents had all the power. When these children became parents themselves they wanted to be different. They allowed their children to make choices and have opinions. Unfortunately this freedom went so far that many children now are treated as the parents' equals. While we accept that children should not live on their own or raise children we seem content to allow them to run our families and raise themselves. While I do believe that children should have choices and learn independence, there must be limits to these choices and they must not have life altering impacts. Families need clearly defined rules and expectations for children that result in positive experiences or negative consequences as appropriate. Children that already have everything they want and everything done for them have very little incentive or motivation to do things that they are not eager to do. You can love your kids' ability to disagree and to negotiate but you must teach them to do so with respect and you as the parent must ultimately have the right to have the final word and make it stick. You are the one who is the parent and has the benefit of the additional experience and knowledge. Making the changes you need to make in order to turn things around is not difficult when you take your rightful role as the parent. Together we can turn things around so that your life is not just a series of fights and `discussions' with your children. Cavities in a child are often called early childhood tooth decay. When your child's teeth are repeatedly being exposed to sugars for a long period of time, this can lead to tooth decay. This is because plaque, a sticky film of bacteria, constantly forms on teeth. When your child eats or drinks foods containing sugars or starches, the bacteria in your child's mouth produces acids that attack tooth enamel (the outer layer of your child's teeth). The stickiness of the plaque keeps the acids in contact with the teeth. After many such attacks, the enamel can breakdown, get soft and cavities can form. As soon as your child has primary (baby) teeth, you should check them once a week for signs of tooth decay. Here's what you should look for: · Dull or chalking white spots or lines on the teeth; · Brown spots on the teeth (remember to look along the gum line); · Dark teeth. Also, if your child has difficulty eating cold, sweet or hard food, this may be another sign of tooth decay. If you see any of these signs, take your child to the dentist right away. Early childhood tooth decay is preventable. A few ways to stop it include: · Never put your child to bed with a bottle or sippy cup, unless it contains only water; · Between meals, give your children water to drink; · Clean you child's gums and teeth every day. Wipe the gums with a clean cloth. Brush the teeth with a soft-bristled toothbrush. Q: A: What causes cavities in my child? Contact Special Features to find out about our booking specials 905-873-0301, ext. 237 features@independentfreepress.com