Dear Heloise: Being a senior who is responsible for my family’s help, I compiled a list of my contacts — utilities, libraries, credit card companies, banks, medical offices, subscriptions, organizations, insurance companies, Medicare, pension, hairdressers, attorneys, computer apps that I pay for, etc.

I include the ID number, address, phone number, and special instructions for some so that they can easily be contacted or cancelled. I was amazed at the total amount of contacts I had! — Annie, in Houston

AN ONION SANDWICH LOVE STORY

Dear Heloise: I enjoyed reading about peanut-and-onion sandwiches in your recent column. My mother and her neighbor commuted to college together in the late 1920s. We have been told of the delicious onion sandwiches on homemade bread that sustained them during economically slim times.

Following their graduation, the two of them taught together in a one-room schoolhouse. Twenty-five years later, his son and I were married, and we enjoy onion sandwiches to this day! What goes around comes around! — Susan, Oxford, Ohio

OTC MEDICATIONS

Dear Heloise: Recently, a reader suggested that people who go to the hospital should bring their over-the-counter (OTC) and prescribed medications. If you bring prescribed medications, show them to the nurses so they can note them. Then the meds can go home. You can also bring an up-to-date list of your meds instead of the meds themselves.

The doctors in charge will prescribe the medications they want you to be on. These medications will be drawn from the hospital supply, along with any OTC medications that are needed. It is unsafe to take medication that the medical staff is unaware of; it might conflict with any new medications. Also, the doctors may want to stop some medications during the time of your hospital visit. The hospital staff will be very upset if you are taking medications that they are not aware of and not controlling.

Love your column! — Patricia Baker, Registered Nurse in The Villages, Florida

GROCERY CARTS DOUBLE AS MOBILITY DEVICES

Dear Heloise: While I think Frank A. made a good point about often seeing women carrying heavy things or pushing heavy carts while men are otherwise unpreoccupied, I’d like to point out something he may not have noticed:

Many of the women who are pushing carts in the supermarket are seniors who are using them as mobility devices as well as grocery baskets.  It’s a lot easier to grab a cart (often available right next to my handicapped parking space) than it is to wrestle with a cane or a walker. Even if I’m only buying one or two items, I always hold onto a cart! — Barbara, California

JUST GOOGLE IT

Dear Heloise: Another idea for when you don’t have the original booklet that came with your appliance is to just Google it. The same goes for whenever you have something that needs fixing — just Google it!

Our furnace wouldn’t come on during the dead of winter, but I Googled the brand model and problem. I found instructions on YouTube on how to wipe off the temperature sensor, and voila! It came on. It was cheap, and I didn’t have to wait around for a repairman. — J.S., via email

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Hints from Heloise run occasionally in Lifestyles. Readers may send a hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000, fax it to 210-HELOISE, or email: Heloise@Heloise.com. Letters won’t be answered personally.