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HINTS FROM HELOISE: Don’t let dryer run when you leave home

Lifestyles

DEAR HELOISE: This is a word of caution to never put things in the dryer and leave the house. Maybe you’ve done it in the past without problems, but I did and nearly burned my house down. A neighbor saw smoke coming from my home and called the fire department. The kitchen was damaged where the washer and dryer were located, but thankfully, the rest of the house was OK. It was due to a problem with the wiring. The thought of losing my whole house with all the things inside makes me want to cry. I made a foolish error. Don’t make my mistake. — Terry B., in Kansas DEAR HELOISE: ...

DEAR ANNIE: Mom worried about bad influence at kids’ camp

Lifestyles

DEAR ANNIE: My 13-year-old daughter recently came home from two weeks at sleepaway camp, where she became very close to another girl in her bunk. At first, I was thrilled. My daughter has always been a little shy, and she came home talking nonstop about how funny, confident and “grown-up” this new friend seemed. A few days later, I learned that the girl had been encouraging my daughter to kiss boys during evening activities and had tried to convince her to sneak alcohol from an older camper’s bag. My daughter insists that she did not drink anything, but she admitted that she ...

Why would Absorbine Jr. help cure athlete’s foot?

Lifestyles

Q. You’ve written about itching, redness and peeling associated with athlete’s foot. Fungus is not the only condition that can cause these symptoms. As a physician, I never prescribed oral medication without laboratory confirmation (culture, microscopy, etc.) of the diagnosis. I can’t tell you how many patients came to me on oral terbinafine (a prescription antifungal medicine). In some cases, they’d been taking it for many months to treat a condition that obviously was never fungal in origin. Even in cases of proven fungus on the feet, symptoms between the toes may be due to ...

Bridge by Steve Becker

Lifestyles

Assume you’ve reached three notrump on the bidding shown and West leads a spade to East’s jack, which you win with the king. You can now count eight sure tricks, and your only chance for a ninth lies in the club suit. Without any opposing bidding, the percentage play in clubs would be to ...

Tanning is getting hot again

Lifestyles

Nichole Sims started using a tanning bed at 15 because she said everyone around her was doing it, especially before events like homecoming dances and prom. Eight years later, she was diagnosed with melanoma — a potentially life-threatening skin cancer. During that time, Sims has seen ...