The worst dollar store bargins

No. 1: Toothpaste
Dollar Store Diva Says:
A 2.54 ounce tube of tartar control or cavity protection Crest or Colgate cost a buck, obviously, and that seems like a lot less than you'd pay for a full-sized tube in your local drugstore. But the same brands, in the same size, cost only 63 cents a tube at my local Wal-Mart store, so it still pays to shop around and read your local store flyers to find the sales and the best everyday prices for your favorite brand of toothpaste.
· A Word of Caution on Toothpaste ...


No. 2: Nestle Bottled Water
Dollar Store Diva Says:
I can get four 16.9 oz. bottles of water for $1 at the dollar store. That's great, but, if you use a lot of bottled water, it's better to buy it by the case. Wal-Mart often has sales on this brand, selling a case of 24 bottles for $2.65, which means you're only paying 11 cents a bottle, as opposed to 25 cents at the dollar store. Costco sells Nestle bottled water in a case of 35, 16.9 oz. bottles for $4.95 or 14 cents per bottle, a significant savings over the dollar store.

No. 3: 1-Ply Napkins Dollar Store Diva Says: At a penny a piece, getting 100 napkins for a buck is a pretty good deal. But, as with many things, the more you buy, the more you'll save. Buy a package of 350 napkins at Wal-Mart for $2.94 and you pay less than a penny per napkin. If you've got kids and go through a lot of paper products, the savings can really add up.

No. 4: Sandwich Bags
Dollar Store Diva Says: The dollar store sells Hefty zipper seal sandwich bags in a package of 13 for $1 or about 8 cents per bag but, again, it pays to buy in bulk. Costco sells Ziploc sandwich bags, four packages of 150 bags each, for $12.58. That means each sandwich bag costs only 2 cents each. And, if you pack lunches on a regular basis, you won't soon run out with 600 bags on hand.








No. 5: Sugar Substitute
Dollar Store Diva Says:
Sugar Twin comes in a box of 40 packets for $1 at the dollar store. Wal-Mart sells Sweet 'n Low in boxes of 100 packets for $2.25 and you can get 800 packets of Equal at Costco for $16.84. Compare the costs: .025 cents at the dollar store, .023 cents at Wal-Mart and .021 cents at Costco. Not huge savings but every little bit helps, and if you prefer one of the bigger name brands of sugar substitute, you may not find it at the dollar store.

No. 6: Foam Cups
Dollar Store Diva Says:
Stocking your office? Having a brunch party? If you stock up, you can save. At the dollar store, you can get a package of 45 7 oz. foam cups at the dollar store for $1 or .022 per cup or shop at Costco where you can go big and go home with 1,000 foam cups for $12.18 or .012 per cup.




No. 7: Foam Plates
Dollar Store Diva Says:
Also an essential on your party-planning list are disposable plates. At the dollar store, a stack of 20 foam plates (9-inch size) are 5 cents per plate. That equates to $4 for 80 plates at the dollar store, but a package of 75 plates at Wal-Mart costs only $2.75 -- or just under 4 cents a plate. So you'd save about a dollar after accounting for the five fewer plates in the Wal-Mart pack.




No. 8: Dishwashing Liquid
Dollar Store Diva Says:
In order to sell brand names for a $1, dollar stores are reduced to selling these products in the smaller bottles. Thus, a 10.99 oz. bottle of Sunlight dishinwashing liquid isn't as cost-effective as the larger bottle in most supermarkets. I saw a 32.123 oz. bottle of Sunlight for $1.97 in my neighborhood grocery store. That's more than 21 oz. more soap for an extra buck. No contest.



No. 9: Bag Candy
Dollar Store Diva Says:Got a sweet tooth? You're better off buying a 2 lb. tub of jujubes or gummy worms at Wal-Mart for $2.94. You'd be paying $4 for the same amount of candy at the dollar store because there, an 8 oz. bag costs a buck. So, if you want to buy enough to treat the family, leave those four 8 oz. bags on the shelf and save $1.06 by buying the 2 lb. tub. How sweet is that?




No. 10: Batteries
Dollar Store Diva Says:Dollar stores sell good quality AA or AAA batteries from Panasonic and Sunbeam for $1 for a package of four. That's 25 cents per battery. Wal-Mart sells Maxell batteries in the same sizes in bulk. So, for $9.88 you can have a supply of 48 batteries for only 21 cents each. With that many batteries on hand there'll be no more rooting around in the junk drawer looking for something to put the spin back in your Spin Brush.

Dust-Off-Truth

If you have children or grandchildren, PLEASE read this officer's story carefully. You can also verify the story at http://www.snopes.com/toxins/dustoff.asp Dust Off (or a variant of the product) is available everywhere there's a computer. Kyle, the 14-year-old who died inhaling Dust-Off-Truth! Kyle, the 14-year-old who died inhaling Dust-Off-Truth! First I'm going to tell you a little about me and my family. My name is Jeff Williams. I am a Police Officer for Cleveland which is known nationwide for its crime rate. We have a lot of gangs and drugs. At one point we were # 2 in the nation in homicides per capita. I also have a police K-9 named Thor. He was certified in drugs and general duty. He retired at 3 years old because he was shot in the line of duty. He lives with us now and Istill train with him because he likes it. I always liked the fact that therewas no way to bring drugs into my house. Thor wouldn't allow it. He wouldtell on you. The reason I say this is so you understand that I know about drugs. I have taught in schools about drugs. My wife asks all our kids atleast once a week if they used any drugs. Makes them promise they wont. I like building computers occasionally and started building a new one in February 2005. I also was working on some of my older computers. Theywere full of dust so on one of my trips to the computer store I bought a 3 pack of DUST OFF. Dust Off is a can of compressed air to blow dust off a computer. A few weeks later when I went to use one of them they wereall used. I talked to my kids and my two sons both said they had used themon their computer and messing around with them. I yelled at them forwasting the 10 dollars I paid for them. On February 28 I went back to thecomputer store. They didn't have the 3 pack which I had bought on sale so Ibought a single jumbo can of Dust Off. I went home and set it down beside my computer. On March 1st, I left for work at 10 PM. Just before midnight my wife went down and kissed Kyle goodnight. At 5:30 am the next morning Kathy went downstairs to wake Kyle up for school, before she left for work. He was propped up in bed with his legs crossed and his head leaning over. She called to him a few times to get up. He didn't move. He would sometimes tease her like this and pretend he fell back asleep. He was never easy to get up. She went in and shook his arm. He fell over. He was pale white and had the straw from the Dust Off can coming out of his mouth. He had the new can of Dust Off in his hands. Kyle was dead. I am a police officer and I had never heard of this. My wife is a nurse and she had never heard of this. We later found out from the coroner, after the autopsy, that only the propellant from the can of Dust off was in his system. No other drugs. Kyle had died between midnight and 1 AM. I found out that using Dust Off is being done mostly by kids ages 9through 15. They even have a name for it. It's called dusting. A take off fromthe Dust Off name. It gives them a slight high for about 10 seconds. Itmakes them dizzy. A boy who lives down the street from us showed Kyle how todo this about a month before. Kyle showed his best friend. Told him it was cool and it couldn't hurt you. Its just compressed air. It can't hurtyou. His best friend said no. Kyle was wrong. It's not just compressed air. It also contains apropellant called R2. Its a refrigerant like what is used in your refrigerator. Itis a heavy gas. Heavier than air. When you inhale it, it fills your lungsand >keeps the good air, with oxygen out. That's why you feel dizzy, buzzed. It decreases the oxygen to your brain, to your heart. Kyle was right.It can't hurt you. IT KILLS YOU. The horrible part about this is there isno warning. There is no level that kills you. It's not cumulative or an overdose; it can just go randomly, terribly wrong. Roll the dice and if your number comes up you die. IT'S NOT AN OVERDOSE. It's Russian Roulette. You don't die later. Ornot feel good and say I've had too much. You usually die as you'rebreathing it in. If not, you die within 2 seconds of finishing "the hit." That's why the straw was still in Kyle's mouth when he died. Why his eyes were still open. The experts want to call this huffing. The kids don't believe it'shuffing. As adults we tend to lump many things together. But it doesn't fithere. And that's why it's more accepted. There is no chemical reaction. nostrong odor. It doesn't follow the huffing signals. Kyle complained a few days before he died of his tongue hurting. It probably did. The propellant causes frostbite. If I had only known. It's easy to say hey, it's my life and I'll do what I want. But itisn't. Others are always effected. This has forever changed our family's life. I have a hole in my heart and soul that can never be fixed. The pain is so immense I can't describe it. There's nowhere to run from it. I cry all the time and I don't ever cry. I do what I'm supposed to do but I don't really care. My kids are messed up. One won't talk about it. The other will only sleep in our room at night. And my wife, I can't even describe how bad she is taking this. I thought we were safe because of Thor. I thought we were safe because we knew about drugs and talked to our kids about them. After Kyle died another story came out. A Probation Officer went to the school system next to ours to speak with a student. While there he found a student using Dust Off in the bathroom. This student told him aboutanother student who also had some in his locker. This is a rather affluent school system. They will tell you they don't have a drug problem there. They don't even have a dare or plus program there. So rather than tell everyone about this "new" way of getting high they found, they hid it. The probation officer told the media after Kyle's death and they, the school, then admitted to it. I know that if they would have told the media and I had heard, it wouldn't have been in my house. We need to get this out of our homes and school computer labs. UsingDust Off isn't new and some "professionals" do know about. It just isn't talked about much, except by the kids. They all seem to know about it. April 2nd was 1 month since Kyle died. April 5th would have been his 15th birthday. And every weekday I catch myself sitting on the livingroom couch at 2:30 in the afternoon and waiting to see him get off the bus.I know Kyle is in heaven but I can't help but wonder if I died and went to Hell.

You were born July 18, 1963

If you were born on 7 / 18 / 1963 which means you are 44 years old and about:

46 years 8 months younger than Walter Cronkite, age 91

42 years 0 months younger than Nancy Reagan, age 87

39 years 1 month younger than George Herbert Bush, age 84

31 years 10 months younger than Barbara Walters, age 76

29 years 8 months younger than Larry King, age 74

23 years 5 months younger than Ted Koppel, age 68

20 years 0 months younger than Geraldo Rivera, age 65

17 years 0 months younger than George W. Bush, age 62

12 years 0 months younger than Jesse Ventura, age 57

7 years 9 months younger than Bill Gates, age 52

2 years 11 months younger than Cal Ripken Jr., age 47

2 years 11 months older than Mike Tyson, age 42

7 years 0 months older than Jennifer Lopez, age 37

12 years 5 months older than Tiger Woods, age 32

18 years 11 months older than Prince William, age 26
and that you were:
38 years old at the time of the 9-11 attack on America

36 years old on the first day of Y2K

34 years old when Princess Diana was killed in a car crash

31 years old at the time of Oklahoma City bombing

30 years old when O. J. Simpson was charged with murder

29 years old at the time of the

93 bombing of the World Trade Center

27 years old when Operation Desert Storm began

26 years old during the fall of the Berlin Wall

22 years old when the space shuttle Challenger exploded

20 years old when Apple introduced the Macintosh

19 years old during Sally Ride's travel in space

17 years old when Pres. Reagan was shot by John Hinckley, Jr.

16 years old at the time the Iran hostage crisis began

12 years old on the U.S.'s bicentennial Fourth of July

11 years old when President Nixon left office

8 years old when Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace was shot

6 years old at the time the first man stepped on the moon

4 years old when Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated

2 years old during the Watts riotnot yet

1 year old at the time President Kennedy was assassinated

Florda Power is hiring

The gator is/was 18' 2" long.The rattlesnake roundup totaled 87.FP&L shared these pictures.

They said I could have this house as long as I could deal with the snakes...




















WHATEVER, I'LL PASS

Too Smart for first grade

A first-grade teacher, Ms. Brooks, was having trouble with one of her students.The teacher asked, "Harry,what's your problem ?"Harry answered, "I'm too smart for the 1st grade. My sister is in the 3rdgrade and I'm smarter than she is !I think I should be in the 3rd grade too !Ms. Brooks had had enough. She took Harry to the principal's office.While Harry waited in the outer office, the teacher explained to theprincipal what the situation was. The principal told Ms. Brooks he wouldgive the boy a test. If he failed to answer any of his questions he was togo back to the 1st grade and behave. She agreed.Harry was brought in and the conditions were explained to him and he agreedto take the test.Principal: "What is 3 x 3 ?"Harry: "9Principal: "What is 6 x 6?"Harry: "36".And so it went with every que stion the principal thought a 3rd gradershould know.The principal looks at Ms. Brooks and tells her, "I think Harry can go tothe 3rd grade."Ms. Brooks says to the principal, "Let me ask him some questions."The principal and Harry both agreed.Ms. Brooks asks, "What does a cow have four of that I have only two of ?"Harry, after a moment: "Legs."Ms. Brooks: "What is in your pants that you have but I do not have ?"The principal wondered, why would she ask such a question !Harry replied: "Pockets !Ms. Brooks: "What does a dog do that a man steps into ?"Harry: "Pants"Ms. Brooks: What's starts with a C & ends with a T, is hairy, oval,delicious and contains thin, whitish liquid ?Harry: "Coconut."The principal sat forward with his mouth hanging open.Ms. Brooks: "What goes in hard and pink then comes out soft and sticky ?"The principal's eyes opened re ally wide and before he could stop the answer.Harry: "Bubble gum"Ms. Brooks: "What does a man do standing up, a woman does sitting down and adog does on three legs ?"Harry: "Shake hands."The principal was trembling.Ms. Brooks: "What word starts with an 'F' and ends in 'UCK' that means a lotof heat and excitement ?"Harry: "Firetruck"The principal breathed a sigh of relief and told the teacher, "Put Harry inthe fifth-grade, I got the last seven questions wrong

George Carlin's Views on Aging

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excitedaboutaging that you think in fractions. "How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!" You're never thirty-six andahalf. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key.

You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead. "How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be 13, but hey,you'regonna be 16!

And then the greatest day of your life . . you become 21.Eventhe words sound like a ceremony . YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you soundlikebad milk!

He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now,you'reJust a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed? You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put onthebrakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 andyour dreams are gone. But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would! So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's aday-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday! You get into your 80s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; "I Was JUST 92."

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a littlekid again. "I'm 100 and a half!"

May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height.Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay "them "



2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.



3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening,whatever. Never let the brain idle. "An idle mind is the devil'sworkshop."And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.



4. Enjoy the simple things.



5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.



6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person,whois with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you arealive.



7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family,pets,keepsakes, music, plants , hobbies, whatever. Your home is yourrefuge.



8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it isunstable,improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9 Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the nextcounty; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.



10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.



AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.