Sending daughter scavenging for important items
Dear Heloise: I was concerned that my daughter wouldn’t be able to find certain urgently needed items in my house when the time came, so I made a “scavenger hunt” for her with these things on the list:
1. Location of my bank.
2. Personal medical information and last wishes.
3. Stash of hidden cash.
4. Keys to a safety deposit box.
5. Address book.
6. List of passwords.
7. Instructions for donations (organs or otherwise).
8. Titles to my house and car.
9. Names of professional helpers (doctors, lawyers, etc.).
I gave her any needed help by using “you’re getting warmer/colder” clues. It turned a rather grim task into something almost fun, and it’s better to do this sooner than later. I hope this helps someone avoid unnecessary pain. Keep up the good work.
— Nancy Ingraham
via email
Cleaning off cheese
Dear Heloise: To clean gooey, messy cheese from dishes, utensils, kettles and brushes, just put it in cold water to firm up the mess. Then it scrapes right off. I’ve been doing dishes for 79 years and just discovered this.
— Beverly Leahy
via email
Tub mat
Dear Heloise: I use a tub mat inside the tub to avoid slipping when I take a shower. After the shower, I hang the mat over the side of the tub to dry, but I found that the underside of the mat was getting slippery due to algae. So now, after about an hour, I turn the tub mat over to expose the underside and hang it over the tub to dry. No more algae.
— Patricia Roberts
Bellaire, Texas
Thoughts on education
Dear Heloise: I taught elementary school for 32 years and wanted to give some thoughts on the reader suggestions about education. First, eliminating spring and winter breaks would be a disaster. Next, computers are not the only source of teaching in the classroom. States need to fully fund public education.
And your readers are right about one thing. Teachers need more authority and respect.
— Betty Rodriguez
via email
Preparing for winter drives
Dear Heloise: With snow on the ground in so many states, people sometimes get stuck in a snow bank or skid off into a ditch and are stuck there for hours.
For example, my son was driving home to Michigan, and at the last moment, he decided to toss his sleeping bag in the back seat. While driving, he skid off the road into a snow bank and got stuck on a lonely road out in the country.
He couldn’t see a house or light anywhere, and it was growing dark as the temperature started to drop significantly. He had a little less than half a tank of gas. He figured someone would be driving down the road, but no one came.
He got out his sleeping bag, went inside his car and stayed there. The next morning, a car pulled up, and with the driver’s help, they were able to get the car out of the snow bank. But if my son had not had a sleeping bag, he might have frozen to death. On any road trip, it’s always best to prepare for the worst kind of weather. You never know what life will throw at you. — P.H. Michigan