Dress in layers to combat cold

Dear Annie: What is the etiquette when you go to someone’s home and it’s overly hot in the summer and too cold in winter?

A lot of my friends’ homes are uncomfortable for me, and I have been asking them to adjust their thermostats. A trusted pal recently told me she thought this was rude, especially when it doesn’t trouble other guests. She suggested I wear layers and tough it out. What do you suggest I do? – Too Hot or Too Cold

Dear Too: Wear layers and tough it out. Etiquette says you don’t get to tell your friends how to heat and cool their homes. And if you are the only one discomfited by the temperature, the problem is you and not the thermostat. Please see your doctor for a checkup.

Dear Annie: I had to smile at the letter from “Road Worrier.” When we started to get calls that our 92-year-old father was driving through stop signs and red lights and running into cars in the parking lot, we gave his car keys to his caregiver and said she’d take him where he needed to go.

When he died, I sent his suit to the funeral home. I later got a call saying they found a car key in the pocket. Later, we spoke to Dad’s neighbor, who said when the caregiver would go to church on Sundays, my father would come out of the house five minutes later, put his walker in the backseat of the car and drive off. He’d return 15 minutes before the caregiver came back.

We don’t know where he went for those four hours, but we’re glad nothing happened to him or anyone else. When they started to close his coffin, I put that key back in his pocket and told him, “OK, Dad, now you can drive Mama all over heaven.” – L.A.