DEAR HELOISE: With the holidays coming up soon, many people will be traveling to visit family and friends. For those who cannot take their pets with them, hire a pet sitter or have a very reliable friend feed, water and possibly walk your pets. Do not pour out a bowl of food and tell yourself that it will be enough until you get back. Your pets deserve more consideration for their needs. When their owners are away, most pets are stressed and need attention, ample food and water. Your trip will be much more enjoyable knowing that your furry or feathered friend at home is well cared for every day.
-- Robert B.,
San Jose, Calif.
DEAR HELOISE: My husband and I travel about three months out of the year. We both wear medical ID bracelets when we travel because we know that either one (or both) of us could have a medical emergency, and since my husband is a heart patient and I have epilepsy, we just never know what to expect on a trip. We also carry a card in each of our wallets that lists our medications, our doctors with their phone numbers and a family member to contact should we be unable to make the phone call ourselves. I would urge your readers to do the same thing, just in case they ever have an emergency.
-- Patty S., Elmhurst, Ill.
DEAR HELOISE: As grandparents, my wife and I enjoy taking our two granddaughters (ages 4 and 7) to the mall. It's a cool place to have an adventure. It's their favorite lunch spot, plus they get to go to a gift shop, visit a pet store, ride on a carousel, and we all have fun without spending a fortune.
-- Tim and Sharon W.,
Spring, Texas
DEAR HELOISE: In response to the reader who tries to be green and wanted to know where he can recycle plastic foam: I recommend that the reader check with his city or county solid waste agency. Our agency's site lets us enter a product online and tells where that item can be recycled in the jurisdiction.
-- Liz B., via email
DEAR HELOISE: Judy C.'s bone china question and your answer really got the deep thoughts going. Are vegetarians opposed to eating off bone china? When a person or pet is cremated, has anyone ever considered using the bone ash to make bone china? It's no more morbid than having a loved one on a mantel over the fireplace.
-- David W., Kent, Ohio
DEAR READER: David, bone china is 25 percent kaolin, 25 percent Cornish stone and 50 percent bone ash from cows. Whether or not a vegetarian wants to eat on a bone china plate is a personal choice. As for using a loved one's or a pet's bone ash: I believe most people would find this too offensive or too morbid to even consider. Readers, what do you think?
Send a money- or time-saving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000; fax to (210) 435-6473; or email
MovieStyle on 11/03/2017