HELPFUL HINTS
DEAR HELOISE: Last month, the power was cut off OPINION in our neighborhood due to an emergency. My next-door neighbor and I went to check on an elderly HELOISE neighbor to make sure she was OK and take her a sandwich and flashlights. Then, my neighbor had a great idea. She pulled two of the solar-powered garden lights (the inexpensive kind that are on a single stake) out of her garden and put one in the elderly neighbor’s kitchen sink and put another in the bathtub. This gave our neighbor some additional ambient light until the power came back on.
— Hedy Williamson,
via email DEAR HELOISE: After reading a recent letter in your column about listing medical contacts, I thought I would add my two cents. Since I have to make appointments and insurance calls for my mother-inlaw, I list her doctor’s office and insurance companies under “Mom’s Dentist” and “Mom’s Health Insurance.” This way, I don’t get confused with my own doctor’s contact listing beginning with “Dr.” And, if my husband or daughter need to find either of our information — and I’m not physically (or mentally) able to — they won’t get confused either.
— Marianne, via email DEAR HELOISE: The letter from Eldon W. of Falstaff, Ariz., in your column mentioned the “If found …” labels that he uses in case his items get lost. I wanted to add what I do for the labels on my various cases of glasses. I label which glasses they are and the date I received them.
When I get new glasses, I put the previous pair in my motor home. If something breaks (frame or lens), I have a second pair to fall back on, and this way, I don’t lose track of which pair is the backup. — Kathryn Bassett,
Pasadena, Calif. DEAR HELOISE: I had to write in about the recent advice recommending that women leave their purses in their cars while shopping and taking only their credit cards into the store. This is really bad advice. I did this once and returned to find my car window smashed as well as my purse and other items gone.
Someone then told me that thieves watch for women in parking lots who leave their purses in their cars. It’s better to carry a small, cross-bodytype purse that holds just the essentials so that you can wear it comfortably while shopping, rather than risk leaving a purse in the car.
— Mary, in Texas
Send a money- or time-saving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000; fax to (210) 435-6473; or email