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Dear Heloise: I have a suggestion for preserving pictures, or even contracts.
Pictures developed from film will deteriorate over time, as do yellow copies of contracts and documents. So, I scan pictures and save them on my computer to preserve them. When I sign a receipt for work done on my home, I also scan the top white page and print it for my files.
Switching the subject, I also have a complaint about the pull tabs on cans. At 87, I find it difficult to open them. A lot of the cans can't even be opened with a can opener, and I recently cut my hand on one. They are not user-friendly. -- Marilyn Jewell, Concord, New Hampshire
MOVING ITEMS EASILY
Dear Heloise: Moving heavy objects from place to place is difficult for me because I am 81 and not that strong. I've found that by placing the item (think a box of stuff, a large suitcase without rollers or, in my case, scrapbooking materials) in my desk chair makes it so much easier to roll the objects over my hardwood floors from room to room or to the garage. -- M.C., Rutland, Vermont
WEDDING DEMANDS
Dear Heloise: I read your column in today's Los Angeles Daily News, and a letter from Angry Aunt in Arlington, Virginia, caught my eye. I was beyond appalled that there is somebody who has the gall to be rude and crude enough to demand money for her wedding. It's downright despicable. -- Maureen Dumas, Calabasas, California
BURNT CRUMB SMELL
Dear Readers: To help contain the burnt smell of crumbs in the toaster oven, pour some baking soda on the bottom tray to absorb the odor. Clean the tray often.
Baking soda is a great tool to use for cleaning and deodorizing, as my six-page pamphlet on baking soda details. To order a copy of "Heloise's Baking Soda Hints and Recipes," go to www.Heloise.com.
Another way to receive this handy pamphlet is by sending $5 and a long, self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Heloise/Baking Soda, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, TX 78279-5001. -- Heloise
MUSHROOM WARNING
Dear Heloise: Regarding your hint about mushrooms, make sure you're aware of the source of the mushrooms. Get your mushrooms at a trusted source, not out of your garden. The wrong mushrooms (toadstools) can be deadly. I read your column in the Houston Chronicle. -- Patricia Roberts, Bellaire, Texas
MATH SKILLS
Dear Heloise: A reader suggested that grandparents practice math skills with their grandkids in the summer. Great idea! Every child should know multiplication at least by the time they enter middle school. During my school days, multiplication was taught in third grade and division in fourth. What is happening to education? -- O.B., Retired Teacher
Send a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, TX 78279-5001, or you can fax it to 1-210-HELOISE or email it to Heloise@Heloise.com. I can't answer your letter personally but will use the best hints received in my column.