Animal shelters burst at the seams
Dear Heloise: I’m a volunteer at a local shelter for animals. We are bursting at the seams with cats, dogs, ferrets, large birds, snakes, and an assortment of other pets that are no longer wanted for one reason or another. We’re not unusual, because there are animal shelters all across this country that are overloaded with strays, rejects, and litters of unwanted babies.
If you have a pet, get it spayed or neutered, have it micro-chipped, and make sure that it has all its shots. Never abandon a pet. Never dump an animal in a strange neighborhood and expect other people to feed and home what was your responsibility. When you get a pet, it’s for their entire lifetime.
— S. Boston
Poke a hole in it
Dear Heloise: I am 75 years old and find that fumbling with prescription containers gets to be a pain. Some have a tough foil on the top with tiny tabs to remove it. I used to remove the foil, then dump out several pills, or reach in and try to fish out one pill. But my patience is shorter these days.
Now I get a pointed pair of scissors and poke a hole in the foil just a little bigger than the pill. So, when I need to take a pill, I just turn the bottle and shake them out one at a time.
— M.B. California
Removing cracked glass
Dear Readers: If your window or window pane gets cracked, tackle this task carefully. To prevent cutting yourself, crisscross both sides of the broken pane or window with many strips of masking tape. Then gently tap out the glass with a hammer. The tape should contain most of the glass.
— Heloise
Scattered rugs
Dear Heloise: I would like to share a hint regarding scatter rugs. I used to take my scatter rugs outside each week and give them a good shake, like my mom always did. But I recently discovered a better way:
My dryer has a helpful “refresh” steam cycle. I put four scatter rugs in the dryer at a time for about 30 minutes. They come out nice, clean and refreshed after all that tumbling around, which is much better than shaking them outside. All the cat hair and debris is captured in the lint trap.
— L.L. San Antonio
If you found this …
Dear Heloise: Back in the day, when I lost my wallet, I was able to backtrack where I’d been the day before and get it back. It used to be that you’d look someone up in the phone book and give them a call, but cellphones have since replaced the phone book. My expensive glasses would also get lost. So, I taped a note on my wallet and in the inside of my glasses case that says: “Thanks so much for calling me at [my cell number] if you’ve found this.’
’ — M.D.E.
via email
Pet pal
Dear Heloise: My 9-year-old shar-pei-mix rescue boy, Ping, had hip surgery.
— Jacqueline
via email Readers, to see Ping and our other Pet Pals, go to Heloise.com and click on “Pet of the Week.”
Do you have a furry friend to share with our readers? Send a photo and a brief description to Heloise@Heloise.com.
— Heloise