HELOISE: Did your driver’s license expire?

Dear Heloise: Please advise your readers to check their driver’s license expiration date. I never bothered to check the date, as I expected to receive a renewal notice when the license needed to be renewed; however, I was told that Texas doesn’t send renewal notices anymore. Mine is now renewed, but the renewal was very late.

A Reader from San Antonio

We checked with the Texas Department of Public Safety, and it sends out renewal notices randomly, as a cost-cutting measure. According to the department, it is the driver’s responsibility to check the expiration date. Check the guidelines for your state.

Heloise

Dear Heloise: The seat in my preformed shower stall is very slick when it’s wet. A piece of rubberized shelf liner cut a bit larger than the seat is a perfect solution. It’s nonskid and porous enough to dry.

Virginia Opocensky, Omaha, Neb.

Dear Heloise: Our family has always enjoyed sharing a jigsaw puzzle after dinner at Mom’s. So here’s our hint: Keep an active jigsaw puzzle under a plastic tablecloth on the dining-room table, and after dinner and clearing the dishes, remove the tablecloth to continue the conversations while completing the puzzle together!

Millicent Scanlin, Red Lodge, Mont.

This brought back happy memories for one of my assistants. Her granny always had a jigsaw puzzle going, and whenever you would stop in for a visit, you would work a little on the puzzle, and it was always enjoyable!

Heloise

Dear Heloise: Here’s an easy way to remove gummy labels from bottles: Fill the bottles with very hot water. Be careful not to get the label wet. Let the hot water sit in the bottle for about a minute or two, then pour out the water carefully, not getting the label wet. Then just pull the label off in one piece.

Dee Perina, via email

This does work on some labels, and with others it doesn’t. It all depends on the glue!

Heloise

Dear Heloise: You know how those small, individual fruit cups have a plastic pull-off cover? Well, the covers can sometimes be hard to pull off and can make a mess. Open the cups away from your body, so juice won’t be all over you!

Kelly in Texas

You learned my hint when opening salad dressing that comes in individual cups and even ketchup or mustard packets.

Heloise

Dear Heloise: When I am changing all the batteries around my home, I use the same pen to mark an “X” on each battery before I remove it. I don’t get the used batteries mixed up with the new ones in the middle of the task.

Sue, via email

Send a money-saving or timesaving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, TX 78279-5000, fax it to 210-HELOISE or email it to Heloise@Heloise.com.

King Features Syndicate