Sam Bauman: If you’ve got the time, PCH game may be fun

I suspect many seniors with time on their hands may want to play the Publishers Clearing House game. You know what it is after seeing the many commercials on TV with a crowd waving signs, surprising somebody with the news that they have won $5,000 a week for life, or some other amount.

It’s for real; somebody does win in the PCH game. I checked it out and the PCH has been around for more than a couple of years and they do present prizes.

My curiosity was aroused when I got an email from the organization inviting me to play their game. Seemed easy enough, so I entered. And that was the beginning of a long series of emails from PCH.

The emails told me of how close I was to winning a big prize; I just had to read them and follow instructions. Nothing to buy to enter, but I was offered a bunch of products with each email.

And that’s the key to the PCH game. Pester the player with all kinds of messages, implying that if you don’t read them, you may lose a ton of money.

The emails can be imploring, begging, warning, or implied losses if you don’t respond. You, in fact, don’t have to buy anything, not even a magazine subscription (the implied offer for all the messages). But you’ve got to respond to an email or be threatened with losing big money.

I played the PCH game for a couple of days, reading each email and doing what I was told to do. But the emails kept on coming, a different threat of loss in each of them. The emails clogged my inbox and took the time to read.

I finally gave up and deleted all of them and quit playing the game. I decided that PCH was not a scam but a serious direct mail program. I’m convinced that if one plays the PCH game it is possible to win something, and I don’t think that if you buy something your odds of winning will go up.

Look out for similar contests that are scams.

Whistle a tune

If you’re a senior, it may be difficult.

A lady friend recently complained to me that she could no longer whistle. I tried it and found that my whistle no longer whistled. I could get an occasional squeak, but never a real note. And in my youth, I was a devoted whistler.

I checked the Internet but couldn’t find any information about loss of whistle as we age. Too bad, I remember in vaudeville days of the 1950s that Fred Lowery used to do a solo act during which he would whistle just about any melody from symphony to pop.

I can get the wind up, but nothing sounds like a whistle. I have no idea if this is common among seniors.

Olive Oil: benefits and storage

Ever since I lived in Italy for a couple of years I’ve used olive oil often. It’s part of the Mediterranean diet that is so often recommended.

The Mayo Clinic Health Letter recently reported that olive oil offers benefits for such as cardiovascular problems, such as stroke and heart attack and may lengthen life spans. It also helps improve your cholesterol levels and blood pressure and control blood sugar levels for diabetics.

Mayo suggests buying olive oils with the longest use dates, but the quality depends on time. Shelf life is usually limited to 12 months, but quality depends on how you use it and store it. Heat, light and oxygen degrade olive oil. Mayo suggests buying olive oil in dark or opaque containers, from the back of the shelf where light has not been as penetrating. Buy containers of a size that you will use fairly quickly. Avoid storing in clear containers or by the stove. Put a usable amount of oil in a small bottle and store the rest in the dark of a pantry.

Olive oils keep their flavor best when not used in cooking. Try saturating veggies in water, adding olive oil when about cooked.

Olive oil is high in calories, so use frugally. For me, the ideal salad dressing is some olive oil and a good vinegar in small amounts and mixed before putting on the salad.

Incidentally, there are four types of olive oil on the market: extra virgin, (the best), virgin olive oil, olive oil and refined olive oil. The latter is treated to remove micronutrients, but it keeps a healthy fat profile.

Look at olive oil labels carefully.

In my Ohio childhood, I never tasted olive oil and I lived — so far.

Sam Bauman writes about senior affairs, among other things, for the Nevada Appeal.