Which countries should we not go to?
Dear Heloise: My friend and I want to go traveling over the next three months, but we don’t know where we aren’t allowed to go or which countries are too dangerous to set foot in right now. How can we find out which ones are safe and which ones aren’t?
— Doug and Jason in Salem, Oregon
Doug and Jason, you can contact the U.S. Embassy in the countries you want to visit, or you can go online to www.usa.gov/americans-abroad. But before you travel anywhere, tell family and friends where you are going and when you expect to be back.
— Heloise
Blackout
Dear Heloise: We recently had a bad storm come through here, which caused a power outage. I had some short candles but no candleholders. I took coasters, placed foil cupcake liners on the coasters and flattened them down so that the flame wouldn’t touch the edges. There was enough of a curve to catch the wax drippings. These provided enough light until we had power again.
— Rochelle in Detroit
Readers, be sure to never leave a burning candle unattended.
— Heloise
Passwords
Dear Heloise: I always have difficulty remembering new passwords for my computer. Many sites warn people to change their password once or twice a year, but it gets confusing. So I remembered the phone number of the home where I grew up, and that is my password. My brother uses the house number and street name of where we grew up as his password. Unless someone knew me well enough, they could never guess these things.
— Becky in Ohio
New uses for tea bags
Dear Heloise: I wonder if you or any of your readers have any uses for tea bags. I use a lot of tea bags, at least two a day, and would like to find some use for them.
— Ruby N., Montgomery, Alabama
Ruby, there are several uses for used tea bags:
• Take a used tea bag and add it to the water in which you plan to cook pasta or rice.
• Place a tea bag in water and bring to a boil. Let it cool, then water your garden with the weak tea.
• Place on tired, puffy eyes.
Hope these ideas are helpful!
— Heloise
A safety hint
Dear Heloise: The corners of my bedspread drape down onto the floor at the foot of my bed and become a tripping hazard. To remedy this, I fold the corner of the bedspread way up underneath and fasten it with a safety pin. The bedspread is now off the floor, so there’s no more tripping, and it looks nice, too.
— Sharon F., Torrance
Plaster repair
Dear Heloise: When you fill a crack in plaster, it’s best to fill from the inside out, pressing the plaster in with a putty knife. This is especially true if it’s a wide crack.
— Jake R. in San Antonio
Send a great hint to:
Heloise
P.O. Box 795001
San Antonio, TX 782795001
Fax: 1-210-HELOISE
Email: Heloise@Heloise.com