HELOISE:Bookmark should be fun, but not valuable

Dear Heloise: I saw your hint in a column about fun things to use as bookmarks. Please add a word of caution about using such items in library books, and especially if they are something you want to keep.

I work in a library, and you would not believe the important papers that people leave in books when they return them. Yesterday, we called someone about a beautiful handmade bookmark we found, but I also have found money, credit-card receipts, MRI results, bills/invoices and lease agreements. Last week, a gentleman asked if we had found two envelopes with checks to the IRS stuck in a book. Our library does make an effort to track down the owners of such materials, but perhaps other libraries don’t have the time or staff to do that.

Helen in Colorado

Oh my! Your hint is one that I hope folks will pay attention to! Readers, think about using disposable bookmarks for library books, such as a folded page from a magazine, the front of a greeting card or even a slip of ribbon.Heloise

Dear Heloise: Your item on what to do with plastic grocery bags brought to mind what I do with mine:

I flatten them in a box, and when full, I drop it off at the local food bank. Some charity resale shops accept them.

Major grocery stores have plastic-bag recycling boxes by the doors.

Use wadded-up plastic bags for padding in packing stuff to ship.

Good for storing some kinds of food or placing messy garbage in until it can be thrown away.

Good for storing nonfood items or carrying your wet swimsuit and towel back from swimming.

Milicent, via e-mail

Dear Heloise: The other night when I took my shower, the water would not shut off. I had to call a plumber to help. I feel every member of a household needs to know where the water and gas shut-off lines are. Now I know where mine are, and I marked them. This could happen not just in the shower but in the clothes washer. What a mess that would be.

Dorothy J., Youngstown, Ohio

Dear Dorothy: It’s very important for homeowners, and especially women who live alone, to know where the main water cutoff is! And to know how to shut off the water to the toilet. Look for the cutoff valve coming out of the wall going to the toilet. Also, mark it with red tape or nail polish so that you (or anyone else) can spot it quickly when needed. Heloise

Dear Heloise: It really bothers me to go to a restroom and find that someone has carelessly forgotten to flush the toilet. It is a common courtesy to do this. I encourage all moms of young ones to train their children to flush the toilet after using it.

A Reader, via e-mail

Send a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000, or you can fax it to (210) HELOISE or e-mail it to Heloise@Heloise.com.

King Features Syndicate