July 9, 2019 • Page 2 shop online at www.missourivalleyshopper.com Dave Says Helping Friends By Daris Howard The Perfect Time? Dear Dave, I’m on Baby Step 2 of your plan, and I’ll be debt-free except for my home by the end of the year. I have a friend who is very irresponsible with his money, and he often asks to “borrow” cash between paychecks. I don’t want to be cruel, but things are getting out of hand with his requests for money. James Dear Dave, My wife and I are both 46, and we have two teenagers in middle school. We were told recently that now is the perfect time for us to buy long-term care insurance. How do you feel about this in our situation? Thomas Dear Thomas, No, now is not the perfect time for you guys to buy long-term care insurance. Research shows there’s about a one percent chance of folks your age needing long-term Dave Dear James, care insurance, and I generally don’t recommend insuring I think you should tell your friend against things that have such a miniscule possibility of the truth. Let him know you’ve happening. Keep in mind that many factors, such as your decided to get control of your money, you’re trying to get current health and family history, could play into your out of debt, and you simply don’t have cash to spare. Be decision of exactly when to buy long-term care insursure to do it with a kind spirit, but sometimes you’ve got ance. to look at the big picture in these situations. You’re not However, I do strongly urge people to find a good really helping someone if you participate in their misbelong-term care policy no later than age 60. At that point, havior and enable bad habits. Sometimes, you have to the chances of something unfortunate happening begin love someone enough to tell them no. to rise each and every year. You could think of it as a gift Let your friend know how hard you’re working to get to yourself and your family. Nursing home costs are asyour finances in order, and how it’s making a big differtronomical these days, and care of that sort can deplete ence in your life. Maybe you could offer to show him the your nest egg very quickly! steps you’ve taken so far, and let him know he could be —Dave successful doing this, too. You might even try to show him how to make a monthly budget, and act as his guide * Dave Ramsey is America’s trusted voice on money and and accountability partner if he’s willing to accept this business, and CEO of Ramsey Solutions. He has authored kind of help. seven best-selling books, including The Total Money MakeoIn some cases, helping someone means offering what ver. The Dave Ramsey Show is heard by more than 12 million you know they need instead of what they want. But listeners each week on 575 radio stations and multiple digital you’re never really helping someone who’s incompetent platforms. Follow Dave on Twitter at @DaveRamsey and on with money by simply handing them cash. the web at daveramsey.com. Good luck, James! —Dave RAMSEY Damaged Wells, Septic Systems May Be FEMA Eligible The annual Fourth of July picnic was a celebration of time and freedom. We’d all watched the parade, earlier, because that’s what you do on the Fourth, and we believe in it. Our parade features Scout troops in uniform, the high school band, floats with pretty girls … well, okay, it’s actually Delbert’s convertible with signs on the doors … and little kids proudly leading their dogs down our main street. In other words, pretty much everyone. Those of us who aren’t marching have been known to say things like, “Hon, isn’t that the Delgado kid with that German shepherd? My, he’s grown.” You know. And then we go to the picnic and gorge ourselves and play softball and horseshoes and soak up the sun and laugh a lot. It’s a time for asking mere acquaintances from grocery store sightings just how they’re doing, in hopes of becoming real friends. It’s time to catch up on friends who have been solid bricks in our wall of life forever. It’s also a time to rejoice and see new bundles of babies that have joined us since last year, and feel a bit sad at those who have left us, too. It’s a time when two guys on opposite sides, politically, can just smile and talk sports and enjoy each other. There’s time enough to disagree on policies later on. No rush. And we know, deep inside, that this is the real reason we celebrate our Independence Day. Because we can set aside our differences and have fun together. We can be free to have fun together because a long time ago some men in powdered wigs were smart enough to look ahead toward … well, toward this very picnic of ours, actually. They wanted it to be fun, too. PIERRE, S.D. – Flood survivors in 16 South Dakota counties and reservations designated for federal disaster assistance could be eligible for financial help from FEMA if they have flood-damaged wells and/or septic systems. The deadline to register is August 6, 2019. Under FEMA’s Individuals and Households Program, survivors might be eligible to receive assistance to pay for pumping out septic tanks. If the system is damaged from the flooding, applicants can provide estimates from contractors for repairing or replacing the system. Damaged wells that are the sole source of water for a home might qualify as well. To be considered for this assistance, the property owner needs to register with FEMA, own the property and use the house serviced by the well or septic system as a primary residence. In addition, the property must be in one of these counties or reservations: Bennett, Bon Homme, Charles Mix, Dewey, Hutchinson, Jackson, Mellette, Minnehaha, Oglala Lakota, Todd, Turner, Yankton and Ziebach counties; Cheyenne River Sioux, Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations. The damage had to occur from March 13 through April 26, 2019. If you have already registered with FEMA and your house has been inspected but you are not sure whether the well or septic system damage has been documented, you can contact FEMA and check the status of your application one of three ways: • Online at www.disasterassistance.gov. • Via FEMA’s disaster app on your smartphone. If you haven’t downloaded the app yet, you can go to www.fema. gov/mobile-app. • By calling 800-621-3362. Multilingual operators are on duty. Phone lines are open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. (CDT), seven days a week until further notice. If you have not yet registered for FEMA, do that first. Make sure to mention that you have a private well or septic system damaged by flooding. When a FEMA inspector comes to look at your property, make sure to inform him or her about the well or septic system damage so it can be considered when FEMA makes your assistance determination. MV Shopper M I S S O U R I VA L L E Y CLASSIFIEDS IN PRINT & ONLINE To place your ad call... 605.665.5884 YANKTON SEED HOUSE Snap Up a Deal in the Classifieds Call or go online to browse, buy or sell! Cover Crops Available! Are you in need of cover crops for preventive plant acres? Give us a call! Always Open Phone: (605) 351-9651 (605) 660-5426 In Print and Online! 665-5884 • www.missourivalleyshopper.com Hours of Operation: Advancing your seed genetics www.yanktonseedhouse.com Save 10¢ Off A Gallon Of Gas When You Use Your Sinclair Card d, White Re ! ue Deals & Bl Shoes One day when I was in my mid-teens, I was helping an older lady from our community. Leona was a widow and almost ninety. She lived alone and still took care of herself. But there was some yard work that was hard for her to do, so my parents would send me to help her now and then. One day when I finished the yard work she needed to have done, she offered me some lemonade. I accepted it gratefully. I wiped the sweat from my face and sat down on her step to enjoy the refreshment. She sat in a lawn chair close to me. Leona was someone who thought deeply about things, and when she spoke, what she said always seemed wise. This occasion was no different. “Daris,” she said, “do you know what I like to look at when I look at someone?” I took a sip of lemonade and shook my head. “I like to look at two things,” she said. “I like to look at a person’s hands and shoes. And do you know why?” Again, I shook my head, so she continued. “You can learn a lot about a person by their hands and their shoes. Take you, for instance. I can see that even though you are a still a very young man, your hands are brown and calloused from hard outdoor work. Your hands show scratches and scars that indicate the work you do must be quite rough. Many boys your age have hands that don’t show that kind of work.” Leona then pointed at my shoes. “I can see that you are wearing thick, heavy work boots. They are the kind with a steel toe. That indicates the work you do is tough, physical work that might entail a little danger.” She chuckled slightly as she continued. “I’m sure you ‘ve heard people say not to judge someone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes. I say that is a good idea, because you’ve got a mile head start on them, and you have their shoes.” She smiled at me and finished by saying, “But seriously, the next time you meet someone, why don’t you see what their hands and shoes can tell you?” I noticed that Leona’s hands were wrinkled with age, and her shoes were soft, older-person shoes. As I went home, I thought a lot about what she said. A few days later was our community Fourth-of-July breakfast. As I ate, my mind was drawn to what Leona said, and I started looking at people’s shoes. Most of the farm boys in the community had heavy work boots like mine. But many of the young men who lived in town wore softer tennis shoes. There were ranchers in cowboy boots. There was a banker wearing shiny black dress shoes. There were women in high heels and others in sensible loafers. Some families with little money had shoes that were old and worn. Some shoes were meant to work hard, others were for play, and still others were for dressy occasions. The more I observed, the more diversity I saw. As we ate breakfast, the speaker talked about this great country and how it was built by people from every continent and every background coming together in a common desire for freedom. He said our differences made us strong and resilient, and our similarities made us united. I thought about how the differences in who we were could be seen in something as simple as the types of shoes we wear. It has been many years since Leona talked to me about shoes. She long ago passed from this life, but what she shared with me still lingers in my thoughts. It helps me to consider both the differences and similarities I share with people I meet. It also reminds me that those differences need not be hurdles to harmony, but instead can add variety to friendship. But most of all, it helps me to consider what it might be like to walk for a time in someone else’s shoes. Mowing Regulations For The State Right Of Way PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Department of Transportation would like to remind landowners of mowing regulations for the state right of way. Administrative Rule 70:04:06:06 states: No mowing of the right of way may begin in the west river counties of Gregory, Lyman or Tripp before June 15 and east of the Missouri River before July 10. All mowing by permit must be completed by Sept. 1 each year. In accordance with the administrative rule, abutting landowners on state highways are given preference to mow right-of-way ditches. Other persons wishing to mow must obtain a waiver from the abutting landowner. Any person wanting to mow Interstate right-of-way ditches must apply for a permit, with preference being given to abutting landowners. Other persons wishing to mow must also obtain a waiver from the abutting landowner. The application/permits needed for mowing the right of way for interstate, state-owned railroad right of way and the abutting landowner waiver are located on the DOT website at http://sddot.com/resources/forms/. The department may mow medians and areas within the rights of way prior to June 15 to control noxious weeds and provide increased safety to the traveling public. For questions, please contact the appropriate area engineer, contact information is available here: http://sddot. com/contact/, or call the office of Operations Support at 605.773.3571. 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