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Dear Heloise: I changed the light bulbs in my garage unit to LED light bulbs, and the open and close buttons on the rearview mirror in both of our cars stopped working when we backed out of our garage or when we came home. Sometimes it worked, sometimes not.
After two weeks, I went back to having regular light bulbs in our garage, and our buttons are now working fine. It is great that I didn't have to call a repair serviceman or take our cars to a mechanic. -- Dave V., Englewood, Ohio
Dave, good catch! LED bulbs can interfere with certain transmitted signals, so the garage door may not always open reliably. -- Heloise
TWO HINTS IN ONE
Dear Heloise: I have a couple of hints to share! First, if you are going to visit someone who is elderly, be sure to allow 3 to 4 minutes to go by after you ring the doorbell before you decide to leave. Many elderly people need time to get up and walk to the door, and for many of us, it's not as easy as it once was. I walk with a cane, and just getting up from a chair is a little difficult at times.
Second, as a crossword puzzle fan, I often find my eraser gets rather "cruddy" from the newspaper ink. To clean it, I use an old emery board. The results make my eraser look like new! -- Kitty, in Kansas
WARNING BELLS
Dear Heloise: My wife and I live in Florida, and we have seen our fair share of hurricanes over the 25 years we've lived here. When we're told to evacuate immediately, we do, and that has probably saved our lives a number of times. Sadly, some of our neighbors haven't listened to the warnings to move inland or to higher ground, and some have lost their lives because they said they'd ride out the storm.
Please tell your readers that when you are told to leave, pack up your pets (never leave them behind) and go. Nothing you own is more important than your life or the lives of your family members and pets.
And that brings me to another problem. Too many people leave their pets behind when they evacuate an area. That's cruelty in the worst way possible. Your pet is also a family member, a living creature and your responsibility. -- Liz and Henry R., Jupiter, Florida
Liz and Henry, thank you for your letter. I couldn't have said it better! -- Heloise
TRAVEL SAFETY
Dear Heloise: After years on the road traveling for my job, I've discovered some safety tips that other road warriors like me should be aware of. They're very simple:
1. Try to avoid traveling at night.
2. Never hitchhike.
3. Do not draw attention to yourself when checking into a hotel.
4. Make copies of all your travel documents.
5. Keep family and friends updated on your whereabouts, when you expect to be home and any meetings you might have.
6. Be very wary of using a public Wi-Fi network.
7. Buy an alarm to hang on the inside door handle of your hotel room. You can usually find these online or in stores that sell alarm systems.
8. Never give out your personal information to strangers you meet on the road. No one needs to know where you live or the names of your family members. -- Road Traveler, via email
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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.