With the rising cost of gas prices…and no end in sight…everyone wants to save as much money at the gas pump as they possibly can. You may not be able to control the price of gas but you can change certain habits and follow some basic guidelines to help you save as much money as possible.

Rising gas and oil prices each year mean that the average driver, who travels approximately 15,000 miles each year in a car that gets about 20 miles to the gallon, will pay more at the end of the year for his gas costs.

When you have finished filling up your gas tank try turning the nozzle of the hose a full 180 degrees.

This will drain a bit more gas into your tank; in some cases up to an entire half cup that would otherwise be a bonus to the next gas customer.

Once you get into the habit of turning the hose you’ll find yourself doing it without thinking. That extra half cup that you get each time that you fill your gas tank can add up to a lot of extra gas at the end of the year that you never have known about.

Also try to avoid “topping off” at the gas pumps. When you purchase just a bit of gas at the gas station the pump doesn’t have enough time to really activate, resulting in short bursts of fuel that may short change you from the amount of gas that you are purchasing.

The best time to replenish your gas tank is when you have half a tank or less left in your vehicle, or when you find a gas price that you just can’t afford to miss.

One more thing for now. Avoid running your gas tank too close to empty

Try not to drive your car when the gas gauge is on empty.

You may think that you using very little gas when your car is on empty, but you are in fact using more gas because your vehicle is running less efficiently as it tries to accelerate and decelerate in a normal fashion.

Keep your gas level above the quarter tank mark if at all possible.

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3.2

Last night we decided to check out Caesars Windsor casino.

We arrived in Windsor about 7PM and headed north on Howard ave past the Devonshire mall, past Tecumseh road and as we got closer we could see the new tower of Ceasers Windsor all lite up in the evening sky.

Like a moth we focused on the light becon and navigated toward it until we arrived at the casino’s parking garage. There was a lot of traffic around the casino. My first response was hey this is good, it looks busy around here, the casino must be doing good.

I turned on the street just to the south of the parking lot so that I could get over to the main entrance. That is when I discovered that you had to be a “7 star member” to enter here. This must have been a change since the reopening as I recall that this was the entrance to general parking in the past.

No problems however, there was a sign right there telling us to go around the block as general parking is now on the other side off of the parking garage on Glengary Ave. As I turned the corner there was a line up of cars in the curb lane waiting to get into the garage. We waiting about 5 minutes in this line, inching our way closer to the entrance. We were about three cars away from entering when a Ceasar’s Windsor employee approached us an said that we needed a players car in order to enter the parking garage. There was a Michael Bolton concert at the casino and I guess when they have a big name act they close the parking garage for their preferred guest. You know, the ones who come in with a lot of cash and donate it.

I told him that I would gladly get a players card once inside. This was our first visit to the new Caesars Windsor so we didn’t have one yet. The guy told us that we would have to go and park in the “off site” parking lot and take the shuttle. He then instructed us to follow the signs south on Glengary.

So we start to following the signs. They lead us all the way back to Wyandotte where there is a sign telling us to to turn right. We are now heading west on Wyandotte towards the Windsor / Detroit tunnel and Ouellette Ave. Along the way there are a few signs telling us to keep going. Then the signs stop. Somewhere along the way we must have missed a sign pointing us in a new direction.

We are not big gamblers so I didn’t expect Caesars Windsor to kiss my ass. Our plan was to go to Caesars Windsor for a nice dinner and then try out luck out in the casino. Well our plans changed. I wasn’t going to circle the block again looking for the mystery off site parking.

We decided to go to the Keg instead and we had a wonderful dinner there. I guess I should thank Michael Boton for saving us a couple hundred dollars in the end as we never did get a chance o make a donation to Caesar. Our bill at the Keg came to just a little over $120. I did order a bottle of wine at the restaurant, asking for a nice local bottle of red wine. Local wine at the Keg means tht it is from the Niagara region, not Essex County … but that is another story.

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3.2

Well we finally did it. After reading about how much fun these Disney Criuses are this morning I went online and booked a 4 night Disney Criuse. Now we can begin counting down the months, weeks and finally the days until we set sail.

I did some research before booking our Disney vacation on the seas. Disney Cruise Line offers a seven-night cruise from Port Canaveral, Florida at Disney Magic. Sailing the Caribbean islands, including Castaway Cay, Disney, which is private island resort and theme, this festival combines the best of both worlds – a relaxing and enjoyable cruise for adults, and a fun adventure for children.

Cruise Disney Magic and Disney in particular are geared towards families, and among the many activities available to children are the Theatre of Walt Disney, Buena Vista and the Studio Theatre Wednesday Furthermore, there are three pools, one for children, one for adults and one for children and adults. I wonder if my wife and i will find some free time to visit the adult pool area?

More importantly, the cabins are bigger than normal and with half bathroom and sleeps up to six family members. This was important to me. This will be our first cruise and I was very worried that the rooms would be too small. I have heard that rooms on most cruise lines are like big closets. Many seasoned travellers will say that you don’t spend a lot of time in your room so it is no big deal. sure, no big deal until you try and share a closet with my teenage daughter.

The Disney characters, Mickey and his friends are all the attractions of the cruise. There are a variety of playgrounds for children of all ages, including sports games, and the club where Oceaneers autographs Mickey and his friends can be purchased. While my kids are getting a bit too old to hang around with Mickey for a long time, they still love to get their photo taken with him and any other Disney character.

There are seven restaurants, fitness center, spa and full service center. something for everyone. I am sure that we wil get good use out of many of features on our Disney Cruise. There is also a cinema, which offers the latest Disney releases. I am not sure yet if this is something we will take time out to enjoy as it is something we can do at home. Who knows though. A nice break from the go go go pace might be good for us.

For children aged 3-12, Disney Magic offers Oceaneers Club. This Laboratory Oceaneers Club including activities such as: sports games, arts and crafts, dance classes, and computer time.

Our kids will be more interested in what is offered for teens 13-17 years, Disney Magic offers the stack, which is designed specifically for teenagers and guided by boat advisers who provide music, movies, video games, big screen plasma TV, a living room, track dancing, Internet cafe and teen-only activities.

Disney has designed this boat exclusively for children and adolescents (although there is plenty for adults to do so). According to tradition Disney, Goofy pool at Disney Magic became special occasions to host a new 24-by-14 foot jumbo LED screen attached to the ship’s funnel with interest. You can enjoy the films of the pool, along with enhanced entertainment and outdoor deck.

Ports of call include St. Maarten, St. Thomas (ideal for shopping), St. John and Castaway Cay. Departures are Saturdays and early booking is strongly recommended. Passports are required.

A Disney cruise of this magnitude is the best family vacation, you can imagine. Leave your cares behind and enjoy all this cruise has to offer, while knowing that their children will have the time of their lives!

Can’t wait to experience the Disney Magic!!

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3.2

I wouldn’t have made this statement about a year ago when the lap top I bought came with Windows Vista but I am really starting to hate lately. The sidebar thingy is nothing but a memory hog and I have no idea how I did it but I managed to add about 15 calendars to the side bar cauing my lap top to freeze ever time I start it up.

I was able to disbale the sidebar and eventually remove it from the start up options.

Windows Vista takes up a lot of memory and when not available your computer is going to suffer by slowing down. I never had any problemss with Windows XP. Never ever!

I HATE Windows Vista. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. There I feel better now that I have said it.

Gary

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3.2

I have a beef with Tim Hortons. For those who do not know what a Tim Hortons is well it is a chain of coffee shops that started here in Canada and can now be found in several states in the USA that is named after a famous NHL hockey player

Every morning I hit the drive through at a Tim Hortons. I order a medium black coffee and an everything bagel toasted with butter.

My beef is not that I have to check to make sure they didn’t put cream or sugar in my coffee. They have but it that has been on rare occasions.

My beef is not that sometimes they put too much butter on my bagel. They have but not too often.

So what is my beef? Look when I order a bagel and there is butter on it I am going to need something to wipe off the butter off of my fingers when I eat it. You would think that when you order a bagel with butter that they would automatically put one in the bag. Sometimes they do but more often they don’t. McDonald’s, Burger King and even Taco Bell remember to put at least one napkin in the bag when you order through the drive thru!

I try and check the bag before leaving the drive thru to make sure a napkin is inside the bag or sometimes I will ask for one.

It is a simple request with a simple solution. Put a napkin in every bag for drive thru customers. Unfortunately once you are hooked on Timmy’s coffee getting your morning coffee at Mickey D’s just isn’t the same so I can’t boycott Tim Horton’s!

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3.2

Looks like Microsoft founder and chairman of the board Bill Gates has announced that on June 27th, 2008 he will step aside from his position.

While I personally like the new Microsoft Windsow VISTA system that was released in January of this year not many share my opinion. I wonder if the VISTA flop has anything to do with Mr Gates tossing in the towel?

Or maybe it was Microsoft’s failed bid to take over Yahoo? It hasn’t been a good year for Bill Gates and Microsoft so his timing is not good for the company. Maybe it is time for a change at Microsoft and Gates knows that the change must start at the top. Happy retirement Mr Gates. You have earned it.

Gary

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0.0

Alex Catalogue of Electronic Texts:
This is an amazing collection of public domain titles that you can put to good use.
http://infomotions.com/alex/?cmd=titles

World Wide School Library:
Great public domain resource for school related text such as geography, history, social science and religion.
http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/catalogs/bysubject-top.html

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0.0

When I heard a school principal recently say that ten years ago we didn’t have ipods, cell phones, and MSN in schools. He was speaking to a group of students who were graduating and getting ready to head off to high school.

He asked then what will the world be like ten years from now? … and his question to the students got me thinking about 10 years ago on the Internet.

Back then simple static web pages were ok. There was no such thing as Word Press, MySpace, FaceBook and all of these other social networking sites. Static sites with a bunch of links just do not work anymore. Web pages have become interactive.

I wonder what the Internet will be like ten years from now. I don’t know but if it is anything like the past ten years it is going to be very exciting.

Gary

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0.0

Childhood years are the best times to learn. Somehow, a person’s comprehension is at its peak during childhood. Parents should take advantage of these learning years to ingrain the values of life in their children.

If you’re a parent, teach them positive habits so that they will know and see the beauty that life has to offer. Make them enthusiastic about life. Instill into their hearts and minds all the wonders and magnificence of being alive by living life to its fullest in a positive way.

There’s a startling difference between children learning through self-discovery, and children learning through self-discovery with proper guidance. The first things that children learn are usually the things that stay with them and mold formative years until they reach adulthood.

Let us suppose you let your children learn through self-discovery. To a certain extent, self-discovery is good since it develops full independence and self-reliance. However, the learning process might be slow. In a sense, it is like a trial and error experience for children. They have to segregate the good from the bad, the right from the wrong, what they like and what they don’t. It is most likely that what they will like are the ones that come easy to them or the ones that they enjoy the most. And the ones that they enjoy the most might not necessarily be the good ones. Without proper guidance, what they like and enjoy the most might actually be hurting them although they are not aware of it. Perhaps later, if they find out that they picked the wrong choices, it may be too late.

With self-discovery through proper guidance, you will be able to leave room for them to develop independence and self-reliance. At the same time, show them what is right and what is wrong. Explain to them why. If possible, cite instances or examples based on true-to-life events to make them more convincing and realistic. The more realistic they are, the more easily the children are convinced. Likewise, try teaching them in a friendly and humorous atmosphere. Children are more attentive and eager to learn when all (both teachers and students) are in an easy mood. You will know and feel their eagerness to learn through the sparkle in their eyes and by the way they answer your questions. You can be sure that what they learn from you is acceptable to them and will stay with them. That is why, as a parent, you must show enthusiasm in life to your children.

There’s a third method of making children learn. That is through proper guidance leaving negligible room for self-discovery. But there are drawbacks. You take away from them the benefits of self-reliance and independence. The guidance you devote to them may be good and well intended, but they must not rely on you on almost everything they do. They become decision-dependent on you. There are instances wherein this type of guidance might be worse than giving no guidance at all.

There are parents who underwent hardships during their childhood, strived, and became successful financially. Although they are financially in the position to guide and assist their children to a better life, they prefer that their children undergo the same difficult experience they underwent during their younger years. Their reason: so that their children will value and experience the same things they went through. This may be applicable to stubborn and rebellious youngsters, but not to disciplined ones. Why must their sons and daughters repeat the same difficulties? There’s no reason to. This is like punishing the innocent. Instead of repeating the experience, they should learn from it. Life is too short to repeat unsavory experiences.

One of the best ways to broaden your children’s knowledge about life is by traveling. The world – its varied people, places, and cultures – has a lot of information to offer. It is perhaps as important as the conventional classroom. If you are financially able, traveling is one of the best educational experiences you can give your children. Look for exhibits or world fairs, and take your children there. Books are the next best things. It’s traveling by reading.

Fill your children with thoughts of self-importance, confidence, and positive attitude so that there will be no room for negative thinking. More importantly, fill their world with laughter, love, and understanding. You‘ll never go wrong.

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