Fax pas!

Dear Friends: We recently printed a hint from a reader with a reminder on faxing. The reader said to be sure to always put the name of the person to whom a fax is being sent on the fax, or at least a department where it should be directed.

Well, the other day when we checked our fax machine, there was a vacation confirmation along with a person's credit-card information! There was a return fax number on it, so we faxed it back. Well, guess what? This morning, the same fax was on the machine yet again.

We determined that the person was forgetting to press the number 1 before dialing a long-distance number, and it just so happened that the number, without the 1, was the same as the Heloise fax machine -- 210-HELOISE (435-6473)!

So please use caution when faxing something. You might want to request a confirmation, just so you will know that the fax arrived at the correct destination. -- Heloise

RECYCLE, RECYCLE, RECYCLE

Dear Heloise: Don't know what to do with all your plastic grocery bags, paper rolls, butter tubs, etc.?

Contact a preschool in your community. Many will be pleased to take these and many more no-longer-needed items to use in art projects and other activities they do.

Old newspapers are also needed to cover tables and floors when the budding geniuses are busy creating. It's a win-win situation. -- A. Southard, Yorba Linda, Calif.

HOORAY! STAIN-FREE

Dear Heloise: After dinner and before taking the tablecloth off the table, treat any stains with a stain stick.

The spots are easier to see, and the tablecloth launders perfectly! Don't forget the napkins.

Giving a tablecloth as a gift? Add a stain stick! -- Joan Weber, Timonium, Md.

Please be sure, if the table is wood, that the stain stick doesn't penetrate through. -- Heloise