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Dear Heloise: As a shower gift before my wedding, a friend of mine gave me a pizza cutter. I smiled and said, “Thank you.” We eat pizza, so I knew it’d get some use. And it sure did! I cut brownies, cookies, noodles, play clay, and a couple of ribbons, and I even opened some boxes with it! What a useful gadget a pizza cutter happens to be. — Patsy L., in Fargo, North Dakota
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Heloise@Heloise.com
NO MORE FOGGY MIRRORS
Dear Heloise: I hated it when my bathroom mirror would fog up after each shower. Finally, a neighbor told me to combine shaving cream and rubbing alcohol, mixing them very well until they form a thick, foamy texture. Then you just clean your bathroom mirror with this mixture. No more foggy mirrors! — Ava K., in Englewood, Florida
OIL-BASED POLISH
Dear Heloise: I clean my stainless steel appliances with oil-based furniture polish, and it works great! It cleans them and protects them against water damage. — Cindy, in Auburn, New York
AVOID A MESS WHEN PAINTING
Dear Heloise: I have a way to keep rims on paint cans clean; it saves trying to pry lids off or allowing the paint to dry under the rim. First, buy a plastic paint pouring lid (costs just over $1), attach it to the inner rim, and use it to pour the paint into another container. This keeps the paint from getting into the rim.
I also use it to wipe the brush, which, again, keeps the rim clean. The same one works on both gallon- and pint-sized cans. They can be washed clean after each use. — Julie H., in Manhattan, Kansas
Julie, what a great way to avoid a mess and save money! Thanks for writing in. — Heloise
WHEN BLOCKING UNKNOWN NUMBERS
Dear Heloise: I just read the hint about stopping spam calls by blocking all calls that aren’t from someone who’s in your contact list. This is fine until a medical facility is trying to reach you. I work in an area where we register surgical patients. The loved one who’s expecting a call from a surgeon and a recovery nurse often doesn’t receive it because the unknown number is either considered spam, or they just don’t pick up because they don’t know the number.
It isn’t as easy as us telling them a number to add because we don’t know which phone the surgeon will call from. We also call the patient a few days ahead of the procedure to review their information and make sure that no prior authorization is required. — Ellen B., via email
Ellen, thank you for taking the time to share this perspective. You make a very important point about the potential challenges for medical facilities and their patients when people block unknown numbers. This may work for some people, but not for all of us.
It’s certainly not my intent for readers to miss critical medical calls, so I appreciate you bringing this to my attention. It’s helpful feedback to keep in mind for future columns. — Heloise