HELPFUL HINTS

DEAR READERS: OK, guys, it’s time to get ready for no-shave November. Likely, you’ll soon begin to see many fuzzy faces out there, and you’ll probably wonder, “What’s going on?”

During November, participants forgo shaving and take the money they would have spent on shaving and donate it for cancer research and education.

The idea is to cherish your hair, which cancer patients can sometimes lose during treatment.

Starting a conversation is a good way to grow awareness. Ask at the office if growing a beard is OK.

Check out noshave.org for more information.

P.S. No-Shave November was started officially 10 years ago in Chicago by a family who’d lost their dad to colon cancer.

DEAR READERS: Here are some follow-ups on the befuddlement of using “Dear” in a business letter:

“Your item about the use of ‘Dear’ in a business letter might benefit from the explanation that the word has evolved over the centuries and has several meanings, some of which have been lost to time.

Prior to the 20th century, one of these now-obsolete meanings of ‘dear’ was ‘noble.’ ‘Dear Sir’ (or ‘Madam’ or surname) might be said today as ‘Noble Sir.’ Another extrapolation might include ‘Honorable Sir.’”

— David K., Farmington, Pa.

“I have started using ‘Greetings’ as the salutation for emails and letters. It is friendly and less ‘dated’ than ‘Dear.’”

— Janet S., Washington

DEAR HELOISE: What can you tell me about the material safety data sheet? What is it? Where can I get one? — A Reader, Toledo, Ohio DEAR READER: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Labor, requires the manufacturers of chemicals to provide an easy-to-read safety data sheet (SDS), formally called the material safety data sheet.

The SDS provides info about the product, its makeup, what to do if the product spills, how to store the product and its date of manufacture, among many other things.

The SDS should be available through the product’s website, or there is normally a phone number on the packaging that you can call to request the SDS.