HINTS FROM HELOISE

Dear Readers: Today’s Sound Off is about distracting drivers:

Dear Heloise: My issue is not the fundraising itself, but the way it’s done. On street corners, children or adults hold up cardboard signs with writing to catch the attention of passing drivers and those stopped at red lights.

Those fundraising people should realize they are distracting people from their duty to be attentive drivers. To help those drivers, the letters on those signs should be larger and they should keep the sign in one position, not wave it around. A moving sign is very difficult to read. Hopefully those fundraising events at an intersection won’t cause an avoidable accident. — Fv, San Antonio, Texas

FV, I don’t like the signs any more than you do, but I ignore them. Behind the wheel of a car, every driver needs to keep their eyes on the road, the people crossing the road and weather conditions. Like you, I’ve seen unreadable signs with someone dancing around on a street corner. The signs could be for anything from fundraising to store closings. It doesn’t matter; it’s still distracting. — Heloise

Dear Heloise: I went to a store here that sells cigars and related items and bought three cigar boxes.

There are a number of craft projects you can do with cigar boxes, but I bought them to give to my three grandchildren. I put a couple of pictures of their mother in each one, when their mother was about their age, along with a small piece of costume jewelry, and told them this was their “treasure box.” They could store special items inside. They loved it!

One girl has a two dollar bill in hers, another has a ring she found on a street corner (it’s costume jewelry), and the third girl has photos of her friends in there. Sometimes the most inexpensive item can bring joy to a child.

When I bought my new refrigerator, two little boys asked if they could have the cardboard box it came in. Their mother told me they played with the box for weeks. — Helen T., Eugene, Ore.

Dear Heloise: Makeup remover can be a little expensive, so instead of using a special cloth

to take off my makeup, I use baby oil on a clean cotton pad.

I leave it on for a about a minute or two, and it not only removes my makeup, it leaves my skin soft.

I use soap and water afterward to take off any residue and pat my skin dry, followed by a moisturizer. This is what my dermatologist told me to do years ago, and I have very nice skin for a woman of 78.