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Unprofessional service provider

Dear Heloise: In response to Diane T. in Arizona, I had the opposite happen to me. I had been going to a hairdresser for many, many years. It was my hairdresser who started to not be on time. My time is important to me. I booked appointments on my day off from work. I am a morning person, but she did not open until 11:00 a.m., so I was making my appointments for 11 or 11:30. Several times over the last year that I saw her, she was the one arriving late. She would call me to tell me where she was and why she was late. The reasons she gave did not sit well with me. Plus, she didn’t ...

On this Date

In 1890, President Benjamin Harrison appointed Alice Sanger as the first female White House staffer at a time of a growing movement for women’s rights. In 1942, the Philippine capital of Manila was captured by Japanese forces during World War II. In 1959, the Soviet spacecraft Luna 1 launched, becoming the first spacecraft to escape Earth’s gravity. In 1971, 66 people were killed in a crush of spectators leaving a soccer match at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow, Scotland. In 1974, President Richard Nixon signed legislation requiring states to limit highway speeds to 55 mph as a way ...

Put peace first in 2026

Dear Readers: Before we rush into a brand-new year, I want to pause and say thank you. Thank you for reading, for writing in and for trusting me with the parts of your life you don’t always share at the dinner table. Thank you for letting this corner of the page be a place where we can talk about the messy, meaningful work of being human. I don’t take that lightly. And if no one has told you lately, I’m glad you’re here. New Year’s Eve has a funny way of making us feel two ways at once: hopeful and raw. Hopeful because we get to begin again. Raw because we can’t help but ...

On this Date

In 1879, Thomas Edison first demonstrated his electric incandescent lights for the public by illuminating some 100 bulbs in and around his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey. In 1904, New York’s Times Square saw its first New Year’s Eve celebration, with an estimated 200,000 people in attendance. In 1972, baseball player Roberto Clemente, 38, was killed when a plane he chartered and was traveling on crashed shortly after takeoff from Puerto Rico while carrying relief supplies for earthquake-devastated Nicaragua. In 1985, singer Rick Nelson, 45, and six others were killed ...

Life’s messy moments count the most

Dear Annie: Every December, my life starts to feel like one of those “year in review” videos -- only mine looks more like the blooper reel. Back in January, I sat at my kitchen table with a brand-new planner, a cinnamon latte and all the determination in the world. I even wrote, “This Is Jenna’s Year” in big blue letters on the first page. I was going to lose 15 pounds, pay down the credit card, stop doomscrolling at night, clean out the garage and be more present with my kids -- “Scarlett” (16), “Mick” (13) and “Lucy” (8) -- instead of snapping at them while ...

Scheduling a doctor’s visit

Dear Heloise: I sympathize to some extent with the writer in a recent column of yours lamented how doctor’s offices will say the appointment is at 10:00 a.m. but ask that you arrive at 9:30 a.m. for paperwork. However, I think it actually makes sense to do it this way. Ten a.m. is the time you could actually get called back to be seen. If you arrive late for the paperwork appointment, you could theoretically catch up by filling the paperwork out quickly. I don’t think medical offices really expect everyone to arrive the full half hour early for paperwork, but you do need to be ...