Breaking News

Columns

What Is the Value In Testing a Healthy Person for COVID-19?

DEAR DR. ROACH: In the coronavirus pandemic, many people are getting tested for 1) active illness and 2) antibodies. What’s the value of an asymptomatic person getting tested for an active infection? Do we even know if having antibodies gives you any protection? I’m reluctant to get tested for either if it can’t really alleviate the need to distance. What am I overlooking? — B.E. ANSWER: You weren’t missing anything. There’s really no reason to be checking for the virus (the swab test is a PCR test looking for active infection, while antibodies look for past infection) ...

Happy Love Life Turns Best Friend Into a Debbie Downer

DEAR ABBY: I have been lucky enough to have fallen madly in love with the most wonderful man in the world. We have been together for two years and have been living together for almost a year. I’m in my mid-30s; he’s in his mid-40s. We both have had plenty of experience in love — enough to feel sure that we’ve found the person we want to spend the rest of our lives with. My best friend has been very disparaging of our relationship and makes rude comments about it. If I tell her how happy we are in spite of the pandemic, she says it’s because we’re still in the “honeymoon ...

No More Weevils

Dear Heloise: How do I get rid of weevils in my pantry? — Janice in Indiana Janice, first take everything out of your pantry and cabinets. Destroy boxes and bags that have any trace of weevil activity in them. Check everything, including cereal, flour, spices, dry pet food, pasta, dry beans, etc. To destroy unhatched eggs, place items in which weevils are not visible in the freezer for four days. Next, scrub your shelves with hot, soapy water. After that, spray shelves and doors with an insecticide, making sure you get every crevice. Close the doors and leave the pantry and ...

Toddler Uses Foul Language She Learned From Her Dad

DEAR ABBY: Although he has never hit me, my husband has been emotionally and verbally abusive ever since our wedding five years ago. One of his favorite names for me when he’s angry is “F----n’ B----.” I know this is my fault because I have tolerated it. Today, my 2 1/2-year-old daughter (who is usually a good girl) threw a tantrum and called me the same name twice. I try to discipline her, but she doesn’t understand that she’s saying something bad if Daddy can call me that. How can she? He blames me for her talking that way, saying he hasn’t called me that in a month. ...

Look for A Badge

Dear Heloise: A warning for your readers: A big online retailer sells T-shirts and baseball caps preprinted with names of some of the big delivery companies! It is possible for someone with bad intent to don these clothing items, knock on your door and possibly gain entry to your home. An unsuspecting person wouldn’t know the difference. Legitimate employees will wear a photo identification badge. Look for it, and don’t open the door to someone you don’t know, isn’t identifiable or isn’t expected. — Henry in Texas TECH TALK TUESDAY Dear Readers: Seniors need and enjoy the ...

Hound Is Nothing But Trouble During his Owner’s Vacations

DEAR ABBY: My daughter and son-in-law’s dog, “Zeke,” is a poor houseguest. We have kept him several times while they were vacationing. This last time, a long weekend, was very stressful. Zeke is a hound dog (58 pounds) and stubborn. He jumps on furniture, jumps up to the kitchen counter and dining table trying to steal food, urinates in the house (not all the time, but often enough), doesn’t want to stay outside in the backyard unless someone is out there with him and, when he is outside alone, he constantly howls. He also chases our cats. Whenever it’s muddy in our ...