Which advice should you take with a pinch of salt?
Anything unsolicited, as from meddlers or marketers.
Richard Orlando, Westmount, Quebec, Canada
• Advice urging you to put money into investments that seem too good to be true. They almost certainly are.
Lawrie Bradly, Surrey Hills, Victoria, Australia
• Anything that’s fishy.
Edward P Wolfers, Austinmer, NSW, Australia
• A tequila a day keeps the doctor away.
Rhys Winterburn, Perth, Western Australia
• Your financial adviser’s.
Pat Phillips, Adelaide, South Australia
• Eat your vegetables.
Margaret Wyeth, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
• Any advice peppered with unhelpful suggestions.
Margaret Wilkes, Perth, Western Australia
• That revenge is a dish best served cold.
Jennifer Rathbone, Toronto, Canada
• That given by a politician.
Philip Stigger, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
• Your doctor’s advice to use less salt.
Peter Rosier, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
He’s liable to get charged
What do we do when we can’t charge the battery?
Call it a day.
R De Braganza, Kilifi, Kenya
• Change the charge to assault.
Noel Bird, Boreen Point, Queensland, Australia
• Try to remember how you managed before you bought that particular device.
Joan Dawson, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
• Insert a negative electrode such as zinc close to a positively charged electrode such as copper into a potato, and power will flow.
David Tucker, Halle, Germany
• We get so flat that we can no longer flatter.
John Anderson, Pukekohe, New Zealand
• Unwind, smell the roses and when you’re ready, try a new activity.
Ursula Nixon, Bodalla, NSW, Australia
Vegetable quandary
When is choice not a luxury?
Rocks, hard places, devils or deep blue seas. Or, as my daughter might put it: spinach or broccoli.
Diana Purvis, Auckland, New Zealand
Where did I put that thing?
What is so complicated about old age?
Leaving the Age of Discretion to become firmly entrenched in the Age of Losing Things.
Lynne Weinerman, Fort Bragg, California, US
• Anything related to my computer and remembering passwords. But if you happen to have a 15-year-old in the house, then nothing is a problem!
Doreen Forney, Pownal, Vermont, US
Sounds like a great trade
Why do people hate waiting in line even though they’re not in a hurry?
In the Soviet Union, waiting in line was a way of life; people hated it. But an unusually long lineup signalled the joyful unexpected availability of some scarce consumer item. You always lined up because what was being sold would not be available again for a long time. If you already had the item, you would still buy, then trade it for something else.
One Estonian relative once traded a hair dryer for four opera tickets and 10 litres of petrol.
Reiner Jaakson, Oakville, Ontario, Canada
Any answers?
Why do the rich need so much money?
Doug Porteous, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
What meaning do matters of the heart have?
R De Braganza, Kilifi, Kenya
Send answers and more questions to weekly.nandq@theguardian.com
