Lifestyles

Dear Annie: Husband married to tube, not his wife

DEAR ANNIE: My husband is one of those people who always needs the TV on. Eating dinner? TV on. Getting dressed? TV on. Even working, he’ll have it on — muted if necessary, but on. I’m not anti-TV, but I do feel it steals from the quality time we could be sharing. When we eat, he looks at the screen instead of at me. Beyond that, I worry about why he’s so uncomfortable with silence. I meditate almost daily and find stillness important. His constant need for distraction looks like running from his own thoughts. How do I bring this up without sounding like a nagging wife? — ...

Hints from Heloise: Fun way of making magnets

DEAR HELOISE: I receive magnetic calendars from charities. After the year has ended, I carefully remove the front picture, leaving the paper backing. I then glue on school pictures of my grandchildren. After the glue dries, I cut out each picture and have fridge magnets of their smiling faces. I read your column in the Union Leader. — Frances R., in Manchester New Hampshire DEAR HELOISE: When I travel in the United States, I often use shipping boxes in the opposite direction. For example, if I’m going from colder weather to warmer weather, I’ll box up my heavy jacket, plus ...

To Your Good Health: Restarting treatment important after ONJ recovery

DEAR DR. ROACH: I’m currently in the final stages of recovering from osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ). Getting a diagnosis took two months, all of which I spent in excruciating pain. I finally found someone that has knowledge of ONJ. Can this condition recur if I continue taking Prolia? — N.L. ANSWER: ONJ is a rare side effect of denosumab (Prolia), with one large trial finding the equivalent of about 5 cases per 1,000 people after 10 years. Another trial found that it may be as high as 28 cases. There’s a very low risk of recurrence of ONJ if you were to restart Prolia. In ...

Thursday evening TV

Bridge by Steve Becker

Familiarity with card combinations and how to deal with them can be helpful to the defenders as well as to declarer. Most combinations do not present much of a test, since they repeat themselves time and again, but the less frequent ones are sometimes a challenge. Take this case where West ...

Great pie for the Fourth of July

For the Stars and Stripes pie in my cookbook, “50 Pies, 50 States,” I wanted something that would be a showstopper at any Fourth of July barbecue. I got fancy, using foil as a divider when filling the pie to mimic the color blocking of the flag. I used two fillings — strawberry and ...