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One parent’s dream, another’s heartbreak

Dear Annie: My husband and I are in a painful disagreement about our children's education. He went to boarding school as a teenager and says it was one of the best things that ever happened to him. He talks about the independence, friendships, the sports, the teachers and the confidence it ...

Skip the overpriced hair treatment

Dear Heloise: Years ago, when I was growing up on an Iowa farm, my hair would dry out because I was outside so much of the time. We also had what people called “hard water,” which would dry out each strand of hair. Instead of buying an overpriced hot oil treatment, my mother would warm up ...

Holding the office together alone

Dear Annie: I work in a small office where our boss is almost never there. She comes in late, leaves early, works from home whenever she feels like it and is often "unavailable" when problems come up. Meanwhile, the rest of us are expected to answer clients, meet deadlines, handle emergencies ...

Explaining the significance of Z- and T-scores in DEXA scans

DEAR DR. ROACH: I'm a woman of 54 with somewhat limited mobility due to back pain. Perhaps for this reason, my primary care physician ordered a DEXA scan in 2023 and again in 2026. I was alarmed when the recent scan showed osteopenia in five of the six areas that were tested. I thought the ...

Draining a water heater

Dear Heloise: I just bought my first house, and I need to learn how to take care of it now. Do I still need to drain my water heater? The former owners said that the heater was 4 years old, and they never drained the sediment in all this time. — Ashly W., in New Castle, Pennsylvania Ashly, ...

Mother in the middle

Dear Annie: I'm writing for advice about a dear friend, "Meg," who we've known for more than 40 years. She has a son, "Rodney," who went to high school with our son and who has always been on the edge of being an outlaw. Over the years, we've seen Rodney continuously depend on his parents ...