DEAR READERS: Those "enhanced security questions" a website may ask are meant to be an extra layer of protection. Most of these are public information that's easy to find, i.e.:
• Father's first name?
• Last four digits of your Social Security number?
• Mother's maiden name?
• Where was your mother/father born?
The last four digits of my Social Security number? Really? Gee, anyone can find these out. Sometimes these are just too easy if someone really wants to "hack" an account, especially a financial one.
To be extra-careful, make up a set of answers that only you know, and use these. Or make up a fake person or "avatar" (as I have done), such as Sean N. (no middle name) Smyth. No, this is not my alter ego!
Pick a birthday (9/09/1999) and some "fake" answers that are easy to remember: Dog name, DOG; cat name, CAT; and so on.
Please use caution, and don't provide too much personal information to just "any" website you might want to use.
Use the "other you" for other websites.
DEAR HELOISE: My mother and I are close, but live far away from each other. I send her a birthday card on my birthday saying, "Thanks, Mom, you are the reason I'm here."
-- Hazel S.,
Bar Harbor, Maine
DEAR HELOISE: A friend has T-shirts from all the places she'd visited. She became bedridden, and her daughter cut the shirts down the middle of the back. They are easy to put on in bed. When visitors come, she feels more comfortable in the T-shirts than in a hospital gown.
-- Karen in
Greenville, Ohio
DEAR READERS: Planning a kitchen remodel or update? Keep these hints in mind for the "old" cabinets:
• Add wheels for a portable workstation for the laundry room or the garage.
• Use for storage for toys and games in kids' rooms or the family room.
• Make a desk with an old door propped over two cabinets.
DEAR HELOISE: I cut peaches and pears into bite-size pieces and can them in 8-ounce regular-mouth jars. They are just the right size for a single person or couple, people in assisted living or college students. They are also great for gift baskets and bazaars.
-- Dianne in Oregon
DEAR READER: As long as you are "canning" them correctly so there is no chance of bacteria, I say go for it. Come cold November, some "fresh" peaches and cherries will taste spectacular.
DEAR READERS: In my office, we have new technology and older, tried-and-true office equipment. Yes, a typewriter and large paper cutter. I use a piece of sandpaper and go over the blade on the paper cutter in the same manner used to sharpen a knife. It works on scissors, too. No sandpaper? Use an emery board.
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
Weekend on 08/06/2015