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Be warned of drained batteries

Dear Heloise: I wanted to write in response to the suggestion from Mary M., about hearing-aid batteries and her keeping them in an empty medicine bottle. One of the reasons why hearing-aid batteries are separated onto a cardboard sheet is to keep the ends of the batteries from touching each ...

Marriage has lost its get-up-and-go

Dear Annie: I've been married only a few short years. My husband and I used to go out and have fun; we'd do things like day trips to the beach or going out to eat, just to get out of the house. Over the past few years, he has decided that his favorite pastime is sitting on the sofa. If I ...

Cleaning vinyl flooring

Dear Heloise: I also have plank-style vinyl flooring, and the nonslip textured coating makes it difficult to clean effectively. After sweeping or vacuuming, I spray the floor with a cleaning agent and scrub it with a long-handled, stuff-bristled brush (like a deck brush). It's the only way ...

Apple month

ESCANABA — Apple pie, apple jelly, apple cider- October is national apple month for many sweet reasons. Every Yooper has a favorite spot to go apple hunting. Sometimes we go back to the same trees year after year. The gnarly old apple orchard behind the farm still produces some juicy apples. As old as the season of autumn, weather beaten, woodpecker pounded and wildlife mauled, some of the old apple trees on the homestead have stood the test of time. Johnny Apple Seed out did himself in Upper Michigan. From the little crab apple trees tucked away in the woods by camp to the frost ...

A trek for the minds

ESCANABA — A delegation from Michigan Technological University (MTU) set up stations in the Ruth Butler Building at the Upper Peninsula State Fairgrounds yesterday, all with the goal of getting middle-schoolers interested in fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics — ...

Son’s free ride gets expensive

Dear Annie: My best friend of over 20 years has a son that is her world. Her entire life revolves around him. What I've noticed is that he has become such a master of manipulation that either she ignores it or she truly doesn't see it. For example, he recently transferred colleges to accept ...