DEAR ANNIE: I really enjoy reading your column. I have a problem of my own I’d like some help with. I have two daughters in university. When they’re home, they stay in their rooms or maybe talk to friends on the phone. They hardly talk to me. They go back to school and I’m home alone. I ...

DEAR HELOISE: If you can’t get the cap off a pill bottle on the first time, use something like a dull knife blade or a bottle cap opener to pry out the plastic insert inside the cap, and then replace the cap on the bottle. It’s much easier to open. — Christa, in Huntingdon, ...

DEAR DR. ROACH: I had a routine ultrasound to check my kidneys because my father (who is 80) has kidney disease, and his urologist said that it is genetic and that my sister and I should get a baseline screening. I am 50. My doctor called me the following morning saying that there was an ...

This deal occurred years ago in a high-stakes rubber-bridge game. Looking at only the North-South cards, it is hard to believe the eventual outcome. Certainly, North had a tough choice of responses after his partner opened with a game-forcing two-heart bid and West cramped the bidding by ...

DEAR ANNIE: I’m writing because I feel embarrassed even admitting this, but I’m starting to dread parts of my own life that I worked hard to build. I’m 52, married for 24 years, and we have two grown kids who are mostly launched. Our son is across the country, and our daughter lives ...

DEAR HELOISE: First, I’d like to say that I enjoy reading your hints each day. Here is a novel idea my late mother once said to me: “Why don’t you give me flowers now when I can enjoy them, not when I am dead and cannot?” I find it rather sound advice. What say you? Thank you. — ...