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 ---Ask GammiHello Everyone, My family and friends come to me constantly looking for solutions to their everyday problems. I give them good solid doses of common sense advice that some may or may not like. There is a lot of whining and crying going on over things that can be fixed so easily. One hundred years I have been on this earth and I feel I have pretty much heard it all. So if you think you can handle what I may have to say I'd love to hear from you. Be warned that some answers will not be easy to swallow. It may feel like taking medicine, it may taste bad at first but you'll be better off in the end. Send your questions to Gary at Capreolonline and I'm sure I will get them. I'm going to put on a nice pot of tea and sit in my comfortable chair and enjoy the view from my window as I wait to hear from you. |
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Love Gammi,'s column. Good advice. We could use her words of wisdom here in Mich. GVC velcrodoge@sbcglobal.net June 23 Dear Gammi, May 16, 2010 Dear Gammi,I love my Grandson dearly but ever since his parents gave him one of those new phones that do everything but make his breakfast I feel as though I have lost him. When he comes to visit and we sit down at the table to have one of our heart-to-heart conversations I am constantly put on hold should that phone beep and a text message come in. I can’t tell you how annoying this is to me. Have you any advice for me as to how I should handle this situation? Gert Dear Gert, Boy that is certainly annoying and there is nothing worse than feeling as though you are less important than a phone. You are not the only person who has this complaint. It seems that manners are seriously lacking in this age of the phone. You could ask him to turn it off while you talk and if that isn’t an option when the phone goes off just get up and get busy doing something else. See how he likes being left in the lurch especially if you were in the midst of offering him something he wanted. I talked to one Grandmother who was complaining about never being able to reach her granddaughter for their weekly phone calls. She decided that if she couldn’t reach her maybe she needed a new phone that had text messages as well. It worked for her. No matter where her granddaughter is she can always reach her with a text message. I guess that is giving into the old saying if you can’t beat them join them. Maybe you need to get a phone and text your grandson from across the table. Good luck with this problem. Gammi Dear Gammi, January 10, 2009 Dear Gammi, Dcember 12, 2009 Dear Gammi,I often entertain over the Christmas season. I was wondering if it is impolite to request that my guests not bring a gift and instead donate to one of their favourite charities. I’m just not sure if this would be a case of bad manners or not. Beth Dear Beth, You know when I was young we never had to worry about anything like this. When we got together with friends and neighbours we just brought ourselves and our best wishes. Sometime we would bring a dish or baking to contribute to the occasion. Then afterwards a nice thank you note would be appropriate. I’m thinking that maybe you should perhaps say nothing. If some of your guests bring a hostess gift just put it aside to be opened later so that those who just bring themselves won’t feel they have done something wrong. Just make sure you thank them appropriately for their thoughtfulness then and if you like follow up with a thank you note. To my mind if you ask people to make a donation instead of bringing a gift you are giving the impression that you expect something, in a way asking them to pay for the evening. It is after all their money. They may already be supporting a favourite charity during the Christmas season anyway. It was so simple in my day and wouldn’t it be nice to return there once again. I hope this helps or at least gives you something to think about. Gammi October 29, 2009 Dear Gammi, ATV’s damaging the grass and our track at the park. I wonder if you have any thoughts on what could be done to prevent this from happening? Rose Dear Rose, asked some of my fellow neighbours and friends for ideas. They came up with one idea that I think might help to keep cars off there. We think they should put some more of those beautiful large rocks around where they vehicles are getting onto the field to stop them. We know that the city truck needs to be able to get to the field house but they could put them in such a way that the truck could still get there without having everyone else get onto the field. We hope this idea helps to save our park. I’m sure others have some good ideas too. Gammi September 13, 2009 Dear Gammi, July 25, 2009 Dear Gammi, we have to seriously cut back and control our budget. We are finding that saving for a rainy day is more imperative today in our life. Our teenagers still pressure us to carry on as normal because I am one of the lucky ones who is still working for now. Who knows what the future holds job-wise. Have you any thoughts on what we can do to prepare them for the real world. We feel that we have been too lacks with them. We need to teach them what the real cost of life is. Robert Dear Robert, I am a survivor of the great depression and to this day I still practice frugality in my daily life because I survived those times. You need to set an example and stick to it. When you buy something you need to ask if a “want” or a “need” is. Present the same question to your kids. Make them realize that they aren’t going to get everything they want in this world. If they still want something, present the concept of them getting a job and buying it with their money not yours. It wouldn’t hurt to let them in on the expenses of running your home and giving them a better idea of what your hard earned wage provides for them. Also open a savings account for them and see how that goes. Good luck with this. I have found that young people are more responsible when we include them to develop solutions within the family than when we keep things from them. They need to learn now that you get what you give in this life. I’m sure because you are concerned about their futures now it will pay big dividends in their future lives. Good Luck, Gammi July 3, 2009 Dear Gammi, at the most inopportune times. I love my friends dearly but some of these calls are really unimportant and they just want to chat. I find I am getting stressed out now and I’m falling behind in my daily work routine in my home. Gammi I really need your advice on this problem before I say or do something that I will regret. Desperate Beth Dear Beth, we can control. You must learn to ask yourself two questions. If I answer the phone right now is it going to make my life more stressful or is it going to make my life easier. Sometimes it is better to just let the voice mail pick up the message and then decide if it is important enough for you to make that return call on the spot or later when you have completed the task at hand. I think you would be surprised how many people actually handle their calls this way. If you take control you will be more relaxed when you do have a chat with your dear friends. Good luck with this. Oops I just remembered I need to make a return call to my good friend Mabel. Gammi April 25, 2009 Dear Gammi, many things and I think you may be able to help me with this problem. I have found lipstick stains on one of my husbands favourite shirts. How do I get it off without leaving a mark, I’m sure there is something out there that I can use to remove it before I wash it. Lisa Dear Lisa. Wow, a lipstick stain? I would be more concerned about how it got on his favourite shirt than how to get it off. I hope that you were the one to put it there. If not you may have a bigger problem than just removing it. I checked my cleaning hint manual and they say to douse the stain with hairspray then rub hard with a bar of soap or laundry soap then put it through the wash. This should work. I hope this helps and I trust that you won’t have more problems connected to this predicament. Good luck, Gammi March 7, 2009 Dear Gammi,For the past month I have been constantly interrupted by a phone call from some long distance number at least three times a day. When I run to answer the phone no one is there. Is there any thing I can do to stop this from happening to me? It is so annoying. I even phone the number that showed up on my phone and all I got on the other end was noise like a Fax machine. How can I get this to stop? It is driving me nuts. Anne Dear Anne, I mentioned your problem to a bright young man who knows about the computer and phones and all that technical stuff. He thinks what is happening to you is what they call a Dead Air Call. It is usually a telemarketing business determining when the best time to call you is. They do this by making notes of when you pick up the phone. To me this is just a form of harassment. He said that there are two sites that you can check out for help. One is www.phonebusters.com. He thinks that on there you can make a connection to the second place, the CRTC site, where you may be able to place a complaint about these calls. The CRTC and Bell are the ones who control the “Do Not Call” list in Canada. Personally I think Alexander Graham Bell would roll over in his grave if he knew how his invention was being use to disturb people today. I don’t know much about these kinds of problems but my family advised me to have an unlisted phone number here on my cell phone. Perhaps an unlisted number will keep this from happening to you. Only the people that I want to talk to in my life have my phone number. What a shame that we have to come to this in regards to one of the neatest things we own, our phone. Even in the old days when we had party lines to contend with the people involved were courteous and very considerate. They were people we knew and they were mostly our friends and neighbours. Now we don’t even know what country a lot of these awful calls are coming in from. Only the people that I want to have my phone number now have access to it. Maybe that is what you are going to have to do too. Good luck with your problem. I really hope it can be fixed. Gammi January 25, 200 Dear Gammi, December 1, 2008 Gammi October 26, 2009 Dear Gammi,My husband and I are newlyweds. We saved our money and forfeited having a large expensive wedding on our special day. We took the money and bought all new furniture and appliances for our new home. My problem is we bought ourselves the very latest out there in washing machines and dryers. You know the ones that are front loaders and come in a selection of colours. We bought the most expensive ones on the market. The problem is now I notice that the washing machine has an awful odour to it. This mouldy smell hits me every time I open the door to do another load of washing. My question is, do you think we would be able to return this machine? We did buy extra warranty on it but we don’t know what to do about this. Gammi have you ever had to return any large purchases that you were not satisfied with? What can we do about this problem? Sara Dear Sara. Well back in my day of purchasing washing machines we never had this kind of a problem at all. Things were well build and they lasted so long that you sometimes wished they would break down so you could get something new. If you haven’t left one of your husband’s sweaty sports socks in the machine wet I think I can solve your problem. One of my grandsons works in the appliance repair business and I think I have a solution for your problem Sara. John told me that this is a common problem with those front loading washing machines. He said the seal on the door is so tight that the interior of the washing machine never completely dries out. They use less water so the machine never really gets to wash out the mould from your laundry. You need to leave that door open between washes so that you don’t have this problem, especially if you are only doing a few washes a week. He also told me that there is a product out there on the market that will clean up the machine. All you need to do is run an empty load through with hot water and this product and your problem will be solved. I don’t know the name of this product but I bet a phone call to your dealer will clear that up. Back in my day the few appliances that I had didn’t sound as complicated as this on does. What you saw was what you got. Good luck and all the best in your new life together. Gammi September 21, 2008 happen. I was going down the main aisle when a young teenager stepped out in front of me. Then he stayed there to chat with someone he knew. I waited as long as I could stand to then I asked if he would excuse me as well as the number of people with their shopping carts that had piled up behind me. His mother was nearby and took offense to my loud “excuse me” I suppose. If looks could kill I would be dead. That wasn’t the end of it she made some nasty remarks to her teenage son about me as I finally got by them. I kept my mouth shut and went on my way but Gammi should I have said something or was I right to walk away? Upset Dear Upset, system as a subject. I guess others have noticed that a lot of parents lack manners too. Gammi August 16, 2008 Dear Gammi, July 19 2008 Dear Gammi, other day that I remembered my grandmother making a lot of her own cleaners. Would you happen to know something about that topic? I wish now that I had paid a lot more attention to what she was doing. Beth Dear Beth, Heavens yes! I too use a lot of things from my kitchen cupboard to clean my house. There are too many to mention but here’s a good one that I remember making. It’s a recipe for homemade window cleaner. Mix ¼ cup of white vinegar and ¼ cup of ammonia into a bucket half filled with warm water. Fill several spray bottles or plant misters and you’ll have an excellent cleaner for windows. If you want to give it that professional look just add a drop of blue food colouring or a few drops of lemon extract to each container and shake well. That should give you a good supply. This should save you money and help the environment. Good luck. Gammi June 2, 2008 Dear Gammi,Every year once the black flies arrive followed by mosquitoes I am confined to the indoors again. Unfortunately I am very allergic to the mosquito repellents that are on the market. I have to cover up and wear those mosquito nets over my face if I want to go out into my yard. Have you any suggestions of anything I can do to make my problem easier? I am desperate Gammi. Maureen Dear Maureen, Oh, that must be a miserable problem to have. I have heard that Skin So Soft that is sold by Avon works great for some people. Also I have recently heard that Listerine is another way to get rid of those pests. Don’t put it on you but spray around where you are sitting outside or around your deck or around your windows or doors. In fact spray it around anything where you are when you are outdoors. I’m going to get myself a spray bottle and fill it up and try it out myself. Last year while I was sitting out one evening I got some bites around my eyes from those tiny pests and I had shiners that closed both my eyes and lasted for days. Makes one wonder how something so small can cause so much damage. Good luck with this. Let me know if this works for you. Gammi May 10, 2008 Dear Gammi, Mother’s Day. She is in her seventies now and tells me she doesn’t need anything. There must be something that she I can give her that would make her happy. Fred Dear Fred, You know flowers are nice and so are the cards and other gifts but once a parent March 31, 2008 Dear Gammi, heard of an explanation of why April 1st is celebrated as such? Curious Dear Curious, Well yes I am old but I'm not ancient yet. I hope to be someday if I play my cards right. Well now that that is out of the way I have heard one story that seems to make sense. However, I haven't researched it and I don't think I will In the 1500's, see I didn't hear about this by word of mouth, April 1st use to be New Year's Day. Then someone decided to change that to January 1st. It is said that there were people who did not take kindly to this change and continued to celebrate New Year's Day as April 1st. Gradually acceptance was inevitable and others began to refer to the April 1st diehards as Fools. Those who accepted this change started to play jokes on those who staunchly believe in leaving April as the beginning of the year. Thus April 1st became April fool's day. I hope that helps. Gammi February 23, 2008 Dear Gammi, I have watched people get testy about where they put their shoveled snow for years now especially once it starts to accumulate. We all look around for somewhere to put it. I have noticed that people suddenly become unconcerned about others they normally treat with respect. There's one thing I see going on around town that really raises my ire more than anything. That is when I witness people getting their driveways plowed and the fellow operating the truck takes the snow and pushes it across the road onto the growing snow bank in front of the neighbour's house across the street. Gammi, do you know if this is legal? A concerned snow shoveler. Dear Concerned, To me that is a terrible thing to do to one's neighbours. Why should the fellow on the other side of the street have to contend with his own snow plus the snow from the people that live across the street. Good grief that would be aggravating. I would think if that wasn't an illegal act that it should be, if nothing else it's inconsiderate. One way to find out is to call city's help number 311 and see if they can give you that information. Lucky me I don't have to be bothered with snow removal anymore. I'm more concerned with other things now like am I going to get up in the morning. Good Luck. Gammi February 2, 2008 Dear Gammi Gammi |
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