By all means, carve up a pumpkin for Halloween. But if you don't want your celebration spooked by a clogged sink, don't put the seeds and strings down the drain — or even in the garbage disposal. "The stringy, slimy substance is too much for the disposal to handle," says Steve Allen of the Mr. Rooter O'ahu franchise. Wrap the pumpkin guts in paper or plastic and dispose of them in the garbage. Better yet, compost them! Allen suggests that you carve the pumpkin away from the sink, to avoid accidental "escapes."

— Wanda A. Adams

FINAL WORD

"When the election is over and my book tour is done, I will think about how I can be most useful to the country and how I can reconcile with being a good dad and a good husband."

Barack Obama | the Illinois U.S. Senator and Punahou '79 graduate on whether he'll run for president in 2008, in Time magazine