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Last Year Wasn’t All Bad

In this week’s Antique of the Week column, Maureen Zambito has an interesting article about collectible clocks and calendars. I don’t know about you, but I plan to burn all my 2020 calendars in the outdoor fire pit as we stand around and wish the year farewell. And what a year for all of us. It’s not easy to look back and recall all the good things when so much ink was spent on the pandemic that disrupted our lives in so many ways. However, I looked over my calendar, especially the past 10 months, and realized there were positive things that happened and good times shared on ...

Couch Potato Seeks Assistance for All-Over Arthritis Pain

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 72-year-old male disabled veteran. I started work out of high school in a factory where I did hard but not brutal work. Then went to Vietnam, where I injured my knee and had to be operated on. Next, I worked for an airline as a baggage handler then became a licensed aircraft mechanic, both of which were hard physical labor. I have had one knee and one hip replaced, which was brutal and only slightly successful painwise. I now find myself with arthritis in most of my joints. My feet, knees, hips and back keep me from being active at all. I take 90 mg of narcotics ...

Jealousy Creates A Barrier Between Biological Siblings

DEAR ABBY: I’m an American man who was adopted as an infant. Several years ago, I found my birth parents. They are not from America. My mother came here to give birth and left. Sometime later she married my father and had more children. I’m in touch with the entire family, but mainly my birth parents. My biological siblings are jealous of my success in life and make it plain they don’t approve of much that I do. They also make sure I know I’m not REALLY part of the family because we didn’t grow up together (although we are, by blood, 100% siblings). I deal with this the best ...

Handling Stress in 2021

Q: I know it may be wishful thinking, but I am SO ready for the calendar to change and put this year in the past. At the same time, I'm worried about how the stress of 2020 has affected me. Do you have any advice for handling whatever comes in 2021? Jim: We're all running as fast as we can, and it's not easy to slow down. Pandemic aside, society rewards us for being on the go all day, every day. Working a job, building a strong marriage and raising a family are hard work. Some days keeping up with all that life demands of us is the best we can do. A season of busyness is one thing. But ...

Microwave Dishes

Dear Heloise: I have some plastic and melamine bowls I use in the microwave. They always have a hard substance around where the food is and I can’t get it off. Could you tell me what to use on it? — Ila V., Grant, Mich. Ila, you no doubt have a residential brand of melamine instead of a commercial brand, which is expensive and not easy to find. That means you should never microwave anything in your melamine. The substance that you refer to as being stuck on the bowls has more than likely etched itself into the bowls. It’s not recommended for microwaving foods. In the future, ...

Attention From Married Man Plays With Woman’s Emotions

DEAR ABBY: I’m someone who doesn’t get noticed often by the opposite sex. So when I do receive attention, it’s a very nice feeling. The problem is, I am getting that attention from a man who is married. In the beginning, I didn’t know he was married. He doesn’t wear a ring, and he never mentioned a wife until one day while we were chatting, he let it slip. I don’t think he meant for it to happen. When someone is married, I back off. But for some reason, I’m not backing away from this. I’m starting to have feelings for him. I’m leaving it up to him, though. If he ...