ArcaMax

Dear Annie: I'm not sure if you print household tips, but the following was really helpful to us this summer:

After reading my small air conditioner unit's owner's manual, I always thought that I just needed to clean the filter monthly with a vacuum. After removing the front panel, however, I realized that more extensive cleaning needed to be...Read more

Dear Annie: I am 66, and my boyfriend is 71. I have been divorced for 16 years, and he has been a widower for 10 years. Our problem is his children.

With my divorce, I receive spousal support for life as long as I do not marry. I have my own home, and so does my boyfriend. We go back and forth between our houses, but we each pay our own bills...Read more

Dear Annie: My 11-year-old niece is a wonderful young lady. She's respectful, full of love and just a great kid.

Since Covid, she has been dealing with some anxiety that she did not have pre-pandemic. Her parents, my sister-in-law and brother, are addressing these issues with her doctor. She's adjusting.

Their neighbor has a daughter the ...Read more

Dear Annie: My sister and her husband are both in their mid-80s and live on a farm. He is disabled. They insist on retaining horses and livestock, which my frail 90-pound sister feeds daily.

On a recent visit, I observed her moving amongst the animals without her hearing aids and without her cellphone to use to call for help should she be ...Read more

Dear Annie: I've had a HUGE sweet tooth all my life. I have also always been very active, and I eat healthy foods. However, I'm nervous that this is not enough to balance my intake of sugary goodies.

Now that I'm older, I realize that I can't keep eating so many sweets. Diabetes is common in my family, and my grandfather passed away from it ...Read more

Dear Annie: I have worked in the same office for 18 years. For many years, there were five of us in our division: three women and two men. One of the men left for a different job a year ago, and he was replaced by a woman, "Carla," who is very difficult to work with. In fact, I'm convinced that she is a liar and a troublemaker.

The only man ...Read more

Dear Annie: I consider myself to be a self-aware social media poster. However, there is a family member on Facebook who posts her childcare needs at least once a week. She posts the day and time she needs and has said the names of the children who need a sitter. She has three children.

Her circumstance is difficult as she is going through a ...Read more

Dear Annie: Finding topics of conversation can often be difficult during long visits. Since "Grinding My Teeth" feels that this may be the last time she and her husband will visit with these in-laws, why not take this opportunity to encourage these people to talk about their lives?

When they arrive, ask the in-laws if they would be willing to ...Read more

Dear Annie: My husband of 42 years discovered a new way of breathing, and it has made me scared to death. I am afraid that he might die in his sleep.

"Charles" had asthma and allergies in his childhood, and he was prescribed all kinds of medication. He mostly outgrew his asthma as an adult, though he would frequently get terrible allergies and ...Read more

Dear Annie: My wife left me a little over a year ago. She handled all the finances and was a stay-at-home mom while I worked to earn money. After six months of counseling and her refusing to budge, it was evident the marriage was over.

Upon review of my finances, I discovered that over the last four years of our marriage, she spent 55% of my ...Read more

Dear Annie: I am married to a man who thinks it's OK to take other women out to eat repeatedly, at times, monthly. He pays the tab for dinner. He usually pays when we go to dinner, too, but I am required to pay half of all the other bills. He says these women make less money than him, so he should pay, but I make much less than him, too. He is...Read more

Dear Annie: Somehow, sometime, it was determined by my family members that since I was living at home after being disabled, that I would be the sibling (out of six) who would be responsible for caring for our parents until their death.

My father passed away about 12 years ago, while Mom is still with us. However, she requires more care than ...Read more

Dear Annie: I'm a 16-year-old girl who will turn 17 in four months. I just started my junior year of high school; school's busy, but I'm doing a pretty good job so far.

My dilemma is that I'm worried that I'll never lose my virginity in my 20s because I don't have "experience." And whenever I read stuff about people saying that they don't ...Read more

Dear Annie: My boyfriend of five months has a female co-worker, "Leslie," who he has known and been close to for five years. She is also a single parent of two kids under 10.

I have met Leslie several times, and she has always been kind. I've never felt threatened by my boyfriend's relationship with her.

Last week, he asked me to meet him at...Read more

Dear Annie: When my mother was in a coma, dying, my brother closed her safety deposit box. He was co-executor of the estate. Life insurance policies, jewelry and all her personal and important belongings were gone.

I was stuck listing, cleaning and selling her home. There are a total of four children, and I had to drive nearly two hours to ...Read more

Dear Annie: I read the letter from "Cat Lady," whose mother-in-law brings unwelcome and ill-behaved dogs to her home. I agree that this is the husband's discussion to have with his mother, but another solution occurred to me.

Maybe the daughter-in-law and son could hire a pet walker to come by the house when the mother-in-law brings her dogs....Read more

Dear Annie: My husband and I have been married for 26 years, and we both are in our 60s, and neither one of us is in good health. When we married, I had three girls and he had two girls. My husband's girls are very jealous of me and my girls. I have always tried to love his girls, but they haven't been very lovable. My girls and I have been ...Read more

Dear Annie: My husband and I have been married for eight years and share two beautiful children. About four years ago, I found him gambling, using substances and going places behind my back while he was supposed to be at work.

We have been in therapy since early 2020, both individually and as a couple. Since that time, he has repeatedly made ...Read more

Dear Annie: A month ago, I received some troubling news from my doctor. She said I have a rare bone marrow disorder and have five years at the most to live. What was troubling was that my wife of 35 years started to withdraw from me as if she is already readying herself for a life without me. I tried to tell her how I feel, but she turns it ...Read more

Dear Annie: I have a complicated relationship with my siblings. I'm the youngest of four. Now, in my late 40s, I don't speak to any of my siblings or their kids. It's like I'm an only child and they don't exist. My dad has passed, and I'm close to my mother, and there's always been jealousy due to that. Jealousy growing up, jealousy with my ...Read more