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From Screen To Screen

Dear Heloise: In a recent column, a reader mentioned finding an app whereby television viewing was possible on their smartphone. You mentioned that was great, but you were restricted to the small screen. Actually, that might not be true. Many phones have the ability to “cast” what is on the screen to a smart TV. This allows the video on the phone to be watched on the larger screen of the television. Tablets frequently have this ability too, as well as direct cabling ability if they have the appropriate output on the tablet, an HDMI port. One might need the assistance of someone ...

Careless Son-in-Law Leaves Trail of Chaos In His Wake

DEAR ABBY: My son-in-law “Kirk” has issues with closing doors, kitchen cabinets and refrigerator doors. Three times my daughter has had to throw out food because it spoiled. He doesn’t close cereal boxes, bags of candy or chips, either. My husband and I tolerated Kirk’s behavior until a recent visit to our home. He again left the door to our garage open, where our inside cat could have escaped. He was rough when opening our recliner, and he also didn’t turn the cap all the way down on the seltzer bottle, but I know better than to shake the bottle before checking the cap ...

Night Urination Is a Sleep Disruptor

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a male, 67 and I have difficulties urinating during the night. I get up three or four times from bed to do so, and the flow is very weak. I have no issues urinating during the day. Is there a reason to be concerned? — K.S. ANSWER: By far, the likeliest reason for that symptom (called “nocturia” for the Latin word for “night” and Greek for “urine”) is benign enlargement of the prostate gland. This gland is a walnut-sized organ in the male pelvis that urine flows through. I can’t answer why some men have low flow only at night, but it does seem that ...

Widower Dating Again Wants to Leave the Past In the Past

DEAR ABBY: I’m 35 and have been a widower for almost five years. I began dating about two years ago. In my adventures of dating I have encountered a lot of divorced moms. I met someone very special (I’ll call her Rose) a year and a half ago. She’s great. We share lots of laughs and goals, but she does something that drives me crazy. She’s constantly showing me Facebook memories/photos of her daughter when she was young. I never got the chance to have children and rarely bring up my past because I feel that’s behind me. Rose’s ex is “toxic,” according to her, and ...

Understanding Social Security Survivors’ Benefits

We are here for surviving family members when a worker dies. In the event of your death, certain members of your family may be eligible for survivors benefits. These include widows and widowers, divorced widows and widowers, children, and dependent parents. The amount of benefits your survivors receive depends on your lifetime earnings. The higher your earnings, the higher their benefits. That’s why it’s important to make sure your earnings history is correct in our records. You can do this by creating a personal my Social Security account at www.ssa.gov/myaccount. A my Social ...

Just Answer The Questions

Remember when you were in school and the teacher surprised you with a “pop quiz?” He or she would hand out a paper with 10 or 15 questions and slap it face down on your desks. With a groan you flip over the page and wait for the signal to begin. Your disdain for this quiz quickly turns to a more positive experience when you see that the teacher has posed the questions so that you have only to answer true or false. OK, this isn’t so bad. You figure you have a 50-50 chance of answering the questions correctly. And sometimes, guesses are better than not knowing the answers ...