Heloise

Dear Heloise: There was a reader who was having difficulty keeping track of the different patient portals for each of her doctors when she wanted to email them or check an appointment or a test result. She indicated that she knew how to use the portals once she navigated to the appropriate one for each doctor; it was just that she had doctors who used different portals, and it was hard to remember which portal to go to for each doctor. Here’s my hint that works great every single time:

Log on to your computer and go to the desktop where all your icons are located. Right-click and make a new folder on the desktop. Name it “medical portals” or whatever makes sense to you. Then go to your first portal as usual and send it to the desktop. Right-click the name of the portal, go to the desktop, and rename it by including the doctor’s name. (For example: “MyChart — Dr. Smith.”) Drag the first portal onto the desktop and into the new folder.

Repeat for all your portals until you have all of them in your new folder on the desktop. If you click on the new folder, all the appropriately named portals are there so that you can click on the specific doctor’s portal that you want to contact when the time comes.

This hint will save you lots of time, effort and aggravation when you have to keep track of numerous doctors and different medical portals. — Joan, in Lake Saint Louis, Missouri MYSTERIOUS WHITE STREAKS

Dear Heloise: This is in response to a letter from Candace W. that appeared in the Villages Daily Sun. I, too, experienced white streaks on my dark laundry. I tried all the things that Candace mentioned in her post — using liquid detergent, reducing the amount of detergent, cleaning the machine — and nothing worked.

Finally, someone suggested that because I have a water-saving washing machine, I’m probably not getting enough water to dissolve the soap. They said to use the delicate cycle, as well as the extra rinse and deep water selections on my machine. I did, and the problem was solved. Hope this helps! — Ann T., in The Villages, Florida

NEAT AND TIDY BROWNIES

Dear Heloise: I love making (and eating) brownies and blondies. However, even if I wait until they’re thoroughly cooled before cutting them, the crusty part on top often crumbles and makes the pieces look sloppy. Here’s how to avoid this:

Spray the pan with cooking spray. Line it with parchment paper that is cut to fit the pan and spray the parchment paper as well. Then bake your brownies. After the brownies have cooled, loosen the sides and invert the pan onto a cutting board. Remove the parchment, but do not turn the brownies right side up! Use a sharp knife to cut them into serving sizes from the bottom, and the top of each brownie will look picture-perfect! — Andrea C., via email

PET PAL

Dear Heloise: Here is a photo of Ollie, our sweet tuxedo kitty. I was the one who wanted him, but his human person is my husband. — Bonnie Vernor, via email

Readers, to see Ollie 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

Send a money-saving or time-saving hint to Heloise@Heloise.com. I can’t answer your letter personally but will use the best hints received in my column.