System keeps luggage from getting lost

Dear Heloise: If you ever have had an airline lose your baggage, you know how frustrating the process of recovery is (if it is recovered at all). I have found a way to ensure that my baggage can’t stay lost long.

I bought some plastic name-badge holders with clip attachments. On my computer, I designed a card to fit into it. The card has information about my flight, destination, contact information, etc.

Behind the first card, I insert my return-flight information on another card. At the bottom of that card, it says “final destination” and has my home address.

I clip the badge inside my checked bags. This way, if my bag is ever lost or separated from the flight I am on, whoever opens it will very quickly be able to determine where it should be.

I keep the information stored on my computer and just have to change the information appropriate to my current travel arrangements. B.J., via e-mail

Dear Heloise: The other day, my husband let a pot burn on the stove, and even after airing out the house, we still had a residual smell of smoke. A friend who works at a hotel told me that whenever there is a guest room with a strong odor, a cup of vinegar is left out to absorb it. Well, it worked: We left a cup of distilled white vinegar out overnight, and the smoky odor completely disappeared. Lee Cone, Kihei, Hawaii

Don’t you love vinegar? It’s fantastic to use as a cleaner and deodorizer, and it has so many money-saving uses around the house, for everything from an ant deterrent to cleaning soap scum. You’ll find these and tons of others in my six-page vinegar pamphlet that you can have by sending $4 and a long, self-addressed, stamped (58 cents) envelope to: Heloise/Vinegar, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, TX 78279-5001. Heloise

Dear Heloise: After a recent move, I was setting up the kitchen. I wanted to put some greenery and figurines above the cabinet tops. I noticed that it was a little deep and was trying to figure out something to do. Then I noticed a bunch of the kids’ board games in boxes. Since they usually just sit on a shelf, I decided to use those for platforms for my figurines. They worked perfectly. Brenda Graboski, New Braunfels, Texas

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