DEAR READERS: Here is this week's Sound Off, about emergency-vehicle courtesy:
"When people don't pull over or get out of the way of emergency vehicles, I get very frustrated. It's so selfish! If that were the mother or child of the person in the way, I'd bet he or she would want people to move so that the loved one could get help ASAP! I am a nurse and can tell you that seconds count."
-- Lisa in Colorado Springs, Colo.
DEAR READER: Thank you for writing. Seconds can truly mean life or death! It is a law in most states, so these "selfish" people, as you call them, are endangering someone's life as well as breaking the law. Readers, if you can safely pull over, stop and let the emergency vehicle pass, do so!
DEAR READERS: Other uses for old picture frames:
• Put cork board in one and make a bulletin board.
• Frame a mirror.
• Insert a screen to hold earrings.
• Glue magnets on small frames and put them on the refrigerator.
• Frame a wedding invitation as a keepsake.
DEAR HELOISE: My mother is frustrated. She had used a furniture polish on her antiques that she made from one of your recipes. She has misplaced the recipe. She does not remember the amounts, only that an ingredient had to be bought at a pharmacy. Could you reprint the recipe?
-- Julie D., via email
DEAR READER: Absolutely! Don't fret -- it's as simple as a look in your pantry (for olive oil) or a stop at the pharmacy to pick up "sweet oil," which is olive oil without any scent, etc. Simply mix two parts sweet oil or olive oil with one part apple-cider vinegar. Pour it into a spray bottle and label with the contents and the date. Give the bottle a few good shakes to mix up, spray on a cloth -- not the table directly -- and make that piece of furniture shine. This polish is great for most furniture. Just do not use on raw or unfinished wood.
DEAR HELOISE: The top of the dryer has become a shelf for miscellaneous items, like coins and a roll of paper towels. I can't seem to keep it clean. When the paper towels are down to the last few, I use the tube itself and swipe it over the top of the dryer. In no time, the dust and lint are wiped away!
-- Sherry G.,
Cecil, Ala.
DEAR HELOISE: I have a helpful hint concerning getting laundry in a two-level home to the basement. I take the pillowcases off my bed, fill them with dirty laundry and then put rubber bands around the tops. I roll them down two sets of stairs. It's so much easier than carrying it down. I simply add the pillowcase in with the rest of the laundry.
-- Barb in
Galesburg, Mich.
Send a money- or time-saving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000; fax to (210) 435-6473; or email
Heloise@Heloise.com
ActiveStyle on 12/08/2014