Dear Heloise: I see a lot of cars with a taillight or brake light out, which can create safety hazards. I have no way to contact the drivers and tell them this, and I suspect that they don’t know of it. So, I suggest that drivers check their taillights regularly, picking dates like when the time changes or when they check their fire alarms twice a year.

I read your column daily in the Spokesman-Review and have not seen this addressed before. — Shirley, in Spokane Washington

Shirley, without knowing it, my taillight had gone out, but a kind lady told me about it. If she hadn’t, I could have very easily gotten a nasty fine for my negligence. — Heloise

SILICA PACKETS

Dear Heloise: The little silica packets are useful for many things. I use them in any product with a shaker to keep the product from clumping. It works great, even in products that are already clumped up. — Priscilla W., via email

Priscilla, I like to keep them to use inside of a suitcase, a hat box, dresser drawers, and other places that can collect moisture. Whenever I find one, I just store it in a small plastic container for future use. — Heloise

INVENTIVE IDEAS

Dear Heloise: I’m an 80-year-old woman. I have some suggestions for inventors out there:

— Someone needs to invent a medicine bottle that can dispense one pill at a time, kind of like a Pez dispenser. When you try to take a pill, you either get 0 or 20, and sometimes they end up on the floor. It could still be made childproof with a little ingenuity.

— Someone needs to make something that can fit under a bathroom or kitchen sink and hold about 1 quart of water. This water would be constantly kept at room temperature, say 70 degrees Fahrenheit. This way, you can wash your hands immediately when you turn on the faucet.

If you want cold water instead, you could just turn the faucet to cold. If you want hot water, turn it to hot. I’ve seen some of your readers give hints about what to do with the water while they’re waiting for it to get warm, like saving it to water plants. But why should we have to wait in the first place? (And a lot of us don’t have gardens or plants.)

— Someone needs to design a freezer with a turntable shelf, like a Lazy Susan, where you can put frozen food that you just bought the day of, then turn it around to use the food that has been in the freezer for a while. Again, your readers have given suggestions on dating food and wearing gloves to pull out the food, but why can’t manufacturers just make it easier for us? — A Devoted Reader, from Salem, Ohio

Devoted Reader, I’m especially fond of your first idea. While childproof caps may be ideal for those who have children, for others with weaker hands, this can mean that they can’t open their medication bottles. — Heloise

RECEIPT WASTEBASKET

Dear Heloise: I have a handy hint on being able to find the right receipts when needed. I bought a medium-sized wastebasket and put it next to my desk. Every time I come home from shopping, I throw the receipts I need to save in this basket. No more lost receipts. — A.M., in California

SANITARY PRACTICES

Dear Heloise: I just read a recent column of yours and wanted to comment on the woman who washes her hands before and after putting away her groceries. While this is a good practice to do, putting grocery bags on the counter is not. Those bags come into contact with the dirtiest of places, like the conveyor belt area at the store, the trunk of the car, and other areas. Just saying. — Irene, in New York

SHALLOTS VERSUS ONIONS

Dear Heloise: I work as a chef at a restaurant, and while trying to train a new chef on how to prepare certain dishes, he said he didn’t know that there was a difference between shallots and white, yellow or red onions.

If a recipe calls for shallots, it’s best to use them instead of substituting them for another type of onion. While it’s true that shallots are a member of the onion family, they have a flavor somewhere between onion and garlic.

Also, if you cook shallots for too long, they can taste bitter, so never overcook them. Instead, cook them just until they’re brown. No more. — E.H., in Florida

ANTS IN PET FOOD BOWLS

Dear Heloise: Use baby oil to keep ants out of pet food bowls. Spray or rub it only on the outside of the bowl and the ground around the feeding area. It works on most ants. — A Reader, via email