October-December 2020 SETALKER
HOA NEWS AND INFORMATION
As the Summer draws to a close and we approach the Fall, we hope everyone is well, staying safe and healthy. Since the last update, there are no new cases of the Coronavirus cases reported in the community. To date, there had been one individual who contracted the virus outside of this community and the individual healed and is doing well. Considering the lack of rain over the summer months, the community is flourishing, looks well maintained and manicured. Please email HPM and copy Eileen Duffy If there are any planting requests for the Fall. Enjoy the outdoor pool in the waning summer days, as the pool will be closed at the end of September. It is the Board’s intention to open the indoor pool at the beginning of October with protocols as outlined by the Town. Look for follow-up email blast notification as to when the indoor pool is to be opened and what those protocols are. The dehumidifier project has been completed, tested and the new system appears to working very well. On August 13 we had our first Zoom HOA meeting . At that meeting we had the annual Auditor’s report presented. We additionally updated the community on key issues and responded to questions that were sent to the Board prior to the meeting. At that meeting we announced that there are two Board positions up for election; that of Eileen Duffy and George Rice. We encouraged residents to consider applying for a Board positions. Since no one applied the two incumbents are running unopposed. We do need residents to complete the proxy voting forms being sent out by HPM so we can meet the quorum for the election. Just a reminder, our new security company, Huntington Alarms, will test the smoke detectors in all buildings at the end of September. A schedule was sent to all residents by HPM. If homeowners wish to have their smoke alarm batteries changed, the charge for each battery will be $8.00 per battery and must be paid in advance by calling them at (631) 588-3500. However, if you provide your own 9-volt batteries, they will install them free of charge. In anticipation of the winter, we have contracted with Four D for snow removal on an event basis (per push). This type of contract has served the community well in the past. From a financial perspective, the reserve accounts have exceeded the $500,000 level and continues to increase. The Community is doing well with all expenses being paid in a timely manner. As a reminder, we renewed and have been approved by the FHA for the next several years. This FHA approval is good news for new buyers, with respect to financing and those interested in Reverse Mortgages. In October, the Board will commence working on the 2021 Budget and will present the approved Budget at the November 19, 2020 HOA Meeting. We are hoping that by the next Board update Setauket Meadows will be completely functional again. Stay safe and enjoy the Fall season! 
SOCIAL COMMITTEE UPDATE
by Ellen Silverman Hi, Neighbors! Just because we’re unable to get together for in-person events, it doesn’t mean that we can’t utilize Zoom to afford us entertainment and information. Here’s what you can look forward to in Zoomland: Tuesday, evening October 27, at 7:30 Don and Susan Cerce Concert Those of you who have experienced their music and their warmth know that their energy will make its way right through your computer or iPad to your heart. Saturday morning, October 17, at 10:00: Remember Dr. Sanjay Godhwani? He’s the local (soon to be even more local) rheumatologist who, along with his wife, Puja, and his PA, Kyle, not only shared important information about tick-borne diseases, fibromyalgia, and arthritis, but he brought breakfast for everyone. Dr. G was scheduled to visit again, back in June, with more information about tick bites and about other medical issues. Sadly, due to COVID, we had to cancel that in-person visit. Happily, Zoom is a available as an alternative. If there are any topics that you would like Dr. G to cover, please contact me. I received a huge amount of very positive feedback regarding Margery Marcus' Zoom presentation. 100 Years Ago: Then and Now was clearly a hit. Margery will be back soon with another one of her creations. We will also enlist other "lecturers" (in quotation marks because they're too interesting to be called lectures). We have other Zoom ideas, too! If you have any, please let me know. As always, please watch your email for Social Committee updates. See you in the neighborhood! Ellen Silverman, on behalf of your Social Committee Blwnklfrnd@aol.com 631-476-3077 (home) 631-664-1965 (cell phone) 
Three Little Stories
by Ann Razzano Faith, Trust and Hope. 
Home and/Or Computer Security Tips
by Ray Dawson Cybersecurity tips you need to know about for 2020. 1. Manage Your Passwords Wisely Create strong passwords. Use long passwords with upper and lower case letters and a variety of character types. 2. Never use a password twice. Change your passwords annually. This tip could be challenging so I recommend you use a PASSWORD MANAGER. 3. Take Advantage of Two-Factor or Multifactor Authentication Options. Simply put, it is an additional layer of security for your account. Examples are:
4. Install updates to your software. Many computers will do this automatically if you set it to do just that. Using the most up to date software will help lock out unwanted cyber threats. 5. Use a Firewall and an Antivirus Program Using a reliable anti-virus software in conjunction with a firewall is perhaps the most effective way to fight a wide range of malicious cyber threats. 6. Learn About Phishing Scams and How to Avoid Them Phishing scams may be hard to spot. Email scams may look like the real thing but don't open any links in the email. It may allow viruses and other malware to take over your computer, steal your data and hold it for ransom. I'm not making this stuff up. It happens! 7. Avoid Public Wi-Fi Hotspots. These networks tend to be unsecure, and those with the know-how can view any information you’re dealing with while connected. For example, if you were to access your bank account by using a public wi-fi hotspot, a criminal could use your login information to access your bank account and cause unimaginable harm. 8. Your mobile device is a computer and must be protected just like your laptop or desktop computer.
10. Backup Your Data Use an external hard drive to automatically back up your data. If you ever are attacked and your data is lost, your backup data can be used to restore it to your computer. Happy Computing! 
10/4 Daria Macomber
10/7 Joseph Cerullo 10/14 Harold Davidoff 10/14 Bill Ehlers 10/18 Deborah Schade 10/20 Mel Heller 10/21 Ken Hasenmeyer 10/21 Bill Macomber 10/21 Anthony Stanziale 10/23 Susan Malone 10/23 Sheri Pleva 10/23 Valerie Vigliotti 10/24 Jeannette Fresolone 10/24 Betsy Knox 10/28 Helen Constas 10/28 Marsha Schulman 10/30 Fran Gross 10/30 Nic Rakovic 10/31 Leslie Simon 11/1 Roe Keefe 11/1 Dorothy Rasullo 11/2 Cathy Konival 11/3 Donna Heller 11/6 Jane Denzer 11/6 Ran Ju Kim 11/7 Ann Marie Riley 11/8 Michael Lubinsky 11/8 Richard Lester 11/12 Marianne Fohn 11/15 Gabrielle Gianotti 11/20 Brian Koehn 11/22 Angelo Trombetta 11/24 Joan Sandstrom 12/5 Joe Falcone 12/5 Norma Mazzeo 12/8 Bea Davidoff 12/12 Rich Franco 12/15 Donna Friedman 12/15 Lois Link 12/16 Catherine Snopkowski 12/17 Bill Hammer 12/18 Claire Rathjen 12/18 Ann Razzano 12/18 Alice Sabbatino 12/22 Don Gasperin 12/26 Beverly Sarro 12/.28 Denis DeMarco 12/31 Richard Justman 12/31 Carol Stanziale |
SPEAKING OF SPORTS
by Joe Polizzi How fragile are we? During these days of pandemic I watch a lot of TV, unfortunately, and specifically I watch an abundance of sports. What else, after all this is a Speaking of Sports article. I see well trained and conditioned professional athletes at their physical piques perform their expertise on the big venue known as professional baseball, football, basketball, tennis etc. But as well toned as they are, it always happens. They pull a hamstring, strain a muscle or rupture an ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament). Then they’re put on the IL (Injured List), X-rayed, MRI’ed, rested, medicated, re-trained, built back up and sent out again to play their sport. Some never return and are finished for the season. That brings me to Setauket Meadows. We do participate in a number of demanding physical sports. So I’d like to think so. We walk, bike, golf, play tennis and pickleball etc. How well conditioned are we to perform these feats of athletic prowess? We might warm-up somewhat and stretch a little in preparation for our day’s activity. But we are not as physically ready as the pros we watch on TV. Yet we go out, once, twice or three-times a week and participate for enjoyment and camaraderie and then it happens. We tweak a muscle, ligament or tendon. Just such an injury happened to me a month ago. While playing pickleball, I stepped awkwardly and heard a myriad of sounds resonate from my heel. What could it be? But being a true competitor I tightened my sneaker laces and played on. Then after the last game I hobbled home and told my wife, Alice, “I did it again”. She gave me that forlorned stare and continued the drill. Out came the ice, the orthopedic boot, the heating pad and the extra firm pillow. You see, we've been down this road before. We didn’t have an X-ray or MRI or consult our private trainer, we just self-remedied and much to Alice’s chagrin I made it back to the pickleball court to slowly build myself up to peak athletic performance. So what is the moral of the story? Except for the new, younger residents moving into the community, the original Setauket Meadowers are probably fifteen years older and thus have to take some precautions. I marvel at the fact that there are some resident octogenarians that make it their business to get out there to compete. I am also amazed at the number of residents that have hip, knee, shoulder and back procedures and still work for the day that they can participate again. Therefore, this is my advice, if you so desire to heed it. Eat healthy, stretch and walk regularly, play within your capabilities, and when you feel the slightest discomfort ( an ache, pain, dizziness and believe me, I’ve experienced them all) stop, rest, drink fluids and go home so you can recover and play another day-easier said than done. Thus, taking some safeguards will lessen our fragility and allow us to enjoy the many things that Setauket Meadows and its community have to offer. As always stay healthy, stay safe and hitt’em straight...Joe Polizzi 
RECIPE OF THE MONTH
by Pat Dawson What could be better than watching a video about making Beef Stew Casserole! Bon Appétit! 
JOKE OF THE MONTH
by Pat Dawson The writer, Dave Barry, is a Pulitzer Prize winning humor columnist for the Miami Herald. Get ready to laugh! I called my friend Andy Sable, a gastroenterologist, to make an appointment for a colonoscopy. A few days later, in his office, Andy showed me a color diagram of the colon, a lengthy organ that appears to go all over the place, at one point passing briefly through Minneapolis. Then Andy explained the colonoscopy procedure to me in a thorough, reassuring and patient manner. I nodded thoughtfully, but I didn't really hear anything he said, because my brain was shrieking, 'HE'S GOING TO STICK A TUBE 17,000 FEET UP YOUR BEHIND!' I left Andy's office with some written instructions, and a prescription for a product called 'MoviPrep,' which comes in a box large enough to hold a microwave oven. I will discuss MoviPrep in detail later; for now suffice it to say that we must never allow it to fall into the hands of America's enemies. I spent the next several days productively sitting around being nervous. Then, on the day before my colonoscopy, I began my preparation. In accordance with my instructions, I didn't eat any solid food that day; all I had was chicken broth, which is basically water, only with less flavor. Then, in the evening, I took the MoviPrep. You mix two packets of powder together in a one-liter plastic jug, then you fill it with lukewarm water. (For those unfamiliar with the metric system, a liter is about 32 gallons). Then you have to drink the whole jug. This takes about an hour, because MoviPrep tastes - and here I am being kind - like a mixture of goat spit and urinal cleanser, with just a hint of lemon. The instructions for MoviPrep, clearly written by somebody with a great sense of humor, state that after you drink it, 'a loose, watery bowel movement may result.' This is kind of like saying that after you jump off your roof, you may experience contact with the ground. MoviPrep is a nuclear laxative. I don't want to be too graphic, here, but, have you ever seen a space-shuttle launch? This is pretty much the MoviPrep experience, with you as the shuttle. There are times when you wish the commode had a seat belt. You spend several hours pretty much confined to the bathroom, spurting violently. You eliminate everything. And then, when you figure you must be totally empty, you have to drink another liter of MoviPrep, at which point, as far as I can tell, your bowels travel into the future and start eliminating food that you have not even eaten yet. After an action-packed evening, I finally got to sleep. The next morning my wife drove me to the clinic. I was very nervous. Not only was I worried about the procedure, but I had been experiencing occasional return bouts of MoviPrep spurtage.. I was thinking, 'What if I spurt on Andy?’ How do you apologize to a friend for something like that? Flowers would not be enough. At the clinic I had to sign many forms acknowledging that I understood and totally agreed with whatever the heck the forms said. Then they led me to a room full of other colonoscopy people, where I went inside a little curtained space and took off my clothes and put on one of those hospital garments designed by sadist perverts, the kind that, when you put it on, makes you feel even more naked than when you are actually naked. Then a nurse named Eddie put a little needle in a vein in my left hand. Ordinarily I would have fainted, but Eddie was very good, and I was already lying down. Eddie also told me that some people put vodka in their MoviPrep. At first I was ticked off that I hadn't thought of this, but then I pondered what would happen if you got yourself too tipsy to make it to the bathroom, so you were staggering around in full Fire Hose Mode. You would have no choice but to burn your house. When everything was ready, Eddie wheeled me into the procedure room, where Andy was waiting with a nurse and an anesthesiologist. I did not see the 17,000-foot tube, but I knew Andy had it hidden around there somewhere. I was seriously nervous at this point. Andy had me roll over on my left side, and the anesthesiologist began hooking something up to the needle in my hand. There was music playing in the room, and I realized that the song was 'Dancing Queen' by ABBA. I remarked to Andy that, of all the songs that could be playing during this particular procedure, 'Dancing Queen' had to be the least appropriate. 'You want me to turn it up?' said Andy, from somewhere behind me.. 'Ha ha,' I said.. And then it was time, the moment I had been dreading for more than a decade. If you are squeamish, prepare yourself, because I am going to tell you, in explicit detail, exactly what it was like. I have no idea. Really. I slept through it. One moment, ABBA was yelling 'Dancing Queen, feel the beat of the tambourine,' and the next moment, I was back in the other room, waking up in a very mellow mood. Andy was looking down at me and asking me how I felt. I felt excellent. I felt even more excellent when Andy told me that it was all over, and that my colon had passed with flying colors. I have never been prouder of an internal organ. On the subject of Colonoscopies... Colonoscopies are no joke, but these comments during the exam were quite humorous. A physician claimed that the following are actual comments made by his patients (predominately male) while he was performing their colonoscopies: 1. Take it easy Doc. You’re boldly going where no man has gone before. 2. 'Find Amelia Earhart yet?' 3. 'Can you hear me NOW?' 4. 'Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?' 5 'You know, in Arkansas, we're now legally married.' 6. 'Any sign of the trapped miners, Chief?' 7. 'You put your left hand in, you take your left hand out...' 8. 'Hey! Now I know how a Muppet feels!' 9. 'If your hand doesn't fit, you must quit!' 10. 'Hey Doc, let me know if you find my dignity.' 11. 'You used to be an executive at Enron, didn't you?' And the best one of all: 12. 'Could you write a note for my wife saying that my head is not up there?' 
10/3 Edward & Anita Sutherland
10/6 Dennis & Cathy Konival 10/6 Joseph And Marie Costignola 10/7 Joe & Debi Pereira 10/9 Paul & Marcia Schulman 10/12 Sal & Norma Mazzeo 10/15 Nick & Diane Derosa 10/16 Joseph & Janice Cerullo 10/21 Lou & Donna Petix 10/27 Joe & Deborah Schade 11/3 Dan & Josephine Falcone 11/5 Bob & Jane Dieterich 11/20 William & Susan Connors 11/21 John & Lorainne Milano 11/26 Ed & Alice Bradin 11/26 Bill & Sandy Hammer 12/2 Brian & Susan Koehn 12/6 Harold & Bea Davidoff 12/15 D. Bruce & Delores Lockerbie 12/19 Mel & Sue Marks 12/19 Angelo & Maryann Trombetta 12/23 Eugene & Cynthia Russell 12/27 Joe & Beverly Sarro |