Duct Tape

Home Tip--Tough Tape--Need something hardier than duct tape? Gorilla Glue's Gorilla Tape is thicker and sticks to most surfaces. $9.99 for 35 yards.

"You know, even idiots grow up." Theo Epstein Boston general manager, on the Red Sox's image "Even the most well-stocked hardware store runs out of duct tape and baling wire every so often, and that might be the case for the heretofore resourceful Patriots." Len Pasquarelli Of ESPN.com "I've got to give Melo the `best summer' award. He's been in the gym with our coaches as much as anybody. He's listened." George Karl Denver Nuggets coach, on Carmelo Anthony

LIKE GENERALS BRAINSTORMING future wars, disaster preparedness planners cannot help but be heavily influenced by the last major battles. After 9/11, attention and resources were aimed at tightening airline security. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the focus became the need for timely evacuation of residents and early deployment of military resources. After that saved lives during Hurricane Rita last weekend, emergency management officials in Maryland and across the country are now under pressure to re-examine their disaster plans - with an eye on plans for mass evacuations.

LET'S SAY YOU come out to your car every morning and find the gas gauge is lower than when you parked the night before. Your mechanic says there's nothing wrong with the gauge and no holes in the fuel system. But just as sure as the sun comes up over Ocean City and sets over Deep Creek Lake, every morning that needle is closer to "empty." Do you: a) Clean the garage clutter and put the car inside at night. b) Check the police blotter in the newspaper to see if others are reporting gasoline thefts.

Americans like curves. We're talking Marilyn Monroe, Jessica Rabbit-style curves, the kind that Queen Latifah has but Halle Berry does not. That's according to a recent survey that showed that five out of 10 men think curvaceous women are sexy and two out of five men are actually more attracted to curvaceous women. The survey of 1,000 adults done by lingerie-makers Curvation, also found that 73 percent of American women want the term "plus-sized" replaced with the term "curvaceous." The more than 60 million curvaceous women in the U.S. know that making the most of nature's curves takes the right kind of lingerie.

One of your readers complained about music she heard playing in her head. I want to reinforce your advice to see a neurologist. I was healthy and active at the age of 60. For several weeks I heard music in my head and ignored it. Then I had a brain stem stroke. I don't know if promptly seeing a neurologist would have helped me, but I wish I had been aware that this could have been the symptom of something serious. We have heard from neurologists and other patients that when a person suddenly starts hearing music in his or her head, it is important to get a complete evaluation.

It's been a bitterly cold winter. Chances are your heating system has been working overtime. And like many of us, you probably still have that one room that never quite gets toasty. You've tried space heaters, but they're best suited for small spaces. For large, cold rooms, there's the new Vornado whole room heater. Portable and compact (about 12 inches by 12 inches), the DVH (shown at right, $100), a digital vortex heater with automatic adjustable heat output, and the VH2 (above, $80)

I am a podiatrist, and I would like to comment on toenail fungus and treatment. When you write "Home remedies don't always work," you imply that sometimes they do work. This is untrue. Home remedies rarely work. There are real, doctor-prescribed, FDA-approved, clinically tested medications to treat toenail fungus. These include topical Penlac or oral Lamisil or Sporanox. I have successfully treated hundreds of patients with these drugs. The unproven treatments you mentioned are little more than urban legends.

LOW ON emergency supplies? Worried about Isabel coming our way, cutting power and depriving us of normal, pleasant living for a few days? Just reach for your post-9/11 supplies, all the stuff you put away during the anthrax scares. Can't find the post-9/11 supplies? Then use your Y2K reserves, the bottled water, batteries and Spam you put away in anticipation of turn-of-millennium chaos. If you can't find any of this stuff, relax. It's probably all downstairs in the basement and will float up to the kitchen in a day or so. Dogged defense I have been to Parking Court.