Scary times indeed. It might be funny to say nobody wants to be us etc., but the truth is...for anyone who has a decent credit score and open accounts of any type, credit card, banks etc. are at risk. It really sucks that regular good people like us who work hard and try to do what is right can have it all crash down on us when people who live to prey on others can live the high life on our dime, never be brought to trial or prosecution and in most cases never even sought after! Why not live a life of cyber crime! Hell....you can get away with it! The card companies would rather write it off...and thus increasing our fees and interest rates. It truly is the disgrace of our digital age. They say most of the perpetrators are overseas and they can't prosecute if they could find them. Bullcrap!!!!!!!!!! The government has satellites fixed on most of us. If they wanted to find these people they would. I guess I'm going off on a conspiracy tangent now with no proof. But there is something very fishy going on with all of this. Anytime big money is made at the expense of people who are helpless in any defense to recoup the money....something big is going on behind the scenes. Duane

Most of these tips, I do them on a daily basis. I love the banana peels tip for the roses too! I'm going to start on it. Here's my tips. Find something to laugh each day. It'd turn your white hair back to dark & erase wrinkles from your face ;o) Most of all, it'd add years to your life! Flue & cold season is around. If, unfortunately, you get it, stop taking daily vitamins except for vitamins C. Daily vitamins & minerals will strengthen your cold or flue. On the other hand, during the illness, take at least 1000 mg of vitamin C to ease the symptoms. Reduce the dosage to daily recommended dosage as you get over it. Happy Monday!... whatever is left of it =o)

Chicagoans, your egg story is as funny as Marcolo's pie weights! (My own ketchup story is just sad, not funny.) For those who've never heard of them, pie weights (which have been around in one form or another for at least a hundred years), beans, rice, or a second pie tin, are put in a pie shell that one is pre-baking to keep it from bubbling. There are some kinds of pie that you make in the raw dough, and some for which you bake the (bottom) crust before filling. From Chef's Catalog:

Wow, these are some fun ideas. In the US we think of hearts for Valentine's day, but they are Christmas decorations in Scandinavia. Woven hearts can be either simple enough for toddlers or complex works of art (check out some of the other designs at the link below) and can be made from colored paper or scrap paper of any type. We like to use old tax forms *grin*. Glad Jul! -Lena Here is a link that might be useful: Woven Paper Hearts