Dear Heloise: If you want to extend the life of your CELLPHONE BATTERY, try these hints:

* Be sure to charge the battery fully before first use.

* Turn your phone off if you won’t be using it for several hours. Sounds like a no-brainer, but many people forget.

* Do NOT let the battery fully discharge before recharging. Lithium batteries can be damaged by letting the battery charge get too low. A lithium battery is designed to be charged often, and the battery life can be prolonged with frequent chargings.

* Your battery will last longer if you keep it out of extreme heat, like a hot car or direct sunlight. If your battery gets extremely hot while charging, it might be malfunctioning.

* Use only a charger rated for your battery.

— Ron L., Albany, N.Y.

A HARD LESSON

Dear Heloise: My daughter flew to Canada with her boss and co-workers to a job site. Upon arriving in Canada, my daughter was informed that she could not enter the country for 10 years following a DWI.

Her offense was eight years ago! She was so embarrassed. She was put on a plane home. It was a hard lesson learned, but she will never again drive after having a drink. — A Reader, Crockett, Texas

This is a valuable piece of information, and I hope my readers will remember that a DWI stays on your record a very long time. The police are cracking down on drunken drivers, so please, don’t drink and drive. — Heloise

EGGSHELLS

Dear Heloise: Eggshells are a great fertilizer for the garden. Break them up into small pieces and mix into the dirt. — Lucille M., New Haven, Ind.

Lucille, I like to put all my eggshells in a plastic bag, then crush them up and use in a compost pile, or loosely break them up and scatter on the lawn for the birds. — Heloise

MORE MILEAGE OUT OF MESH

Dear Heloise: I have stumbled on a good use for the mesh bags that grocery stores use to package produce like potatoes or onions.

We all are aware of their value as storage containers, but you only need a few for that purpose. The rest make wonderful scouring pads.

Because the mesh used to make the bags is of various degrees of coarseness, the pads that you make will work well for a wide variety of surfaces. Making the pads is merely the process of cutting pieces of the bags into various sizes. — Verna H., Sunbury, Ohio

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Hints from Heloise run occasionally in Lifestyles. Readers may send a hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000, fax it to 210-HELOISE, or email: Heloise@Heloise.com. Letters won’t be answered personally.