Pete & Jay's Tip O Da "Day"

So, you've cashed in on our tip about finding free CDs and DVDs , and well, now you have approximately 800 blank CDs and you're afraid that they're going to run out of style before you can use them all. So here are some suggestions on how to use them, thanks to JewelBoxing : Totally legal backup copies of your music and movies for your personal use only Song you recorded about your ex-girl/boyfriend Mostly 1's and 0's 40 million credit card numbers a really sappy video triute to my dad blackmail photos from the offic eChristmas party The trip to Alaska where the "unfortunateness" happened 1,029 "borrowed" albums Your friend's reel, which you're passing off as your reel More proof of the moon landing hoax The alphabet! on disc! All of my different versions of helvetica Photos of youy rusty metal object collection The stuff you did in the 90's that used to be on my Zip Drive™ Images of painte...

Who or WHAT steals the mates to our socks when they come out of the dryer? The world may never know . I feel like every time I do laundry I'm missing at least one sock. Rather than getting mad, I decided to get even (to my socks.) I have a large repository of "mateless" socks that I keep. So, anytime another sock turns up missing, I'll check it against my extensive database . I have actually matched a few socks back up this way -- sometimes I think the dryer just gives you your socks back late! In addition, if you have a lot of running/athletic socks, some may get worn out, and you can just replace them with one of the socks in your arsenal. In addition, mateless socks can be used to dust with! Just put them over your hand and you've got a fantastic dusting brush!

With the 4th of July just around the corner, those of us at Pete and Jay's have been testing the hottest new prototypes for cool light and sound making gadgets. And folks, we have the best product ready to show you. Grab a free-after-rebate blank CD-R from Office Max, and you're about to have a light show that rivals Thunder O'er Louisville. Put the CD in your microwave, and nuke it for about 30-seconds. What you'll see will shock and amaze you. Now, we haven't verified the safety of this tip, so you may not want to try this at home. Try it at your apartment if you know you're leaving in a month, or something. What's best is that when you've completed this venture, you'll have a SWEET coaster to put in your living room too.

If you ever encounter two feisty cats in a stand off , remember a broom is a great weapon to break up the excitement . Compliments of Jen and Renee and their cat kennel.

For those of you taciturn people like me who don't know what Brobdingnagian words mean, and have ameliorated to OS X 10.4 "Tiger" you can just select a word and right click on it and you'll see "Look Up in Dictionary" [Special thanks to the Tiger's built in Thesaurus for making this tip inscrutable]

Do you ever get toe cramps, where one or more toes attempt to contort themselves into a pretzel and stay that way (not this kind )? Theories range on what causes this: It could be anything from an electrolyte imbalance (sodium and potassium) from sweating and dehydration, muscle fatigue, overexertion , lack of fitness, or even genetics. Drinking a lot of water, eating well to get the right balance of electrolytes, progressing gradually when increasing the intensity or duration of your exercise, and stretching the offending areas can help fend off these cramps , according to doctors. I've also heard that eating bananas will help (there's some of your Potassium, kids), and apparently you can do foot exercises too, to fend off the painful cramps .

Cleaning is already a big enough of a pain, why make it any bigger than it already is? You know you'll need to clean the bathroom again in the future, why not leave some paper towels and other cleaning accessories under the sink. That way when it needs a quick touch up you don't have to romp halfway the house just to dig up some Comet . This is especially helpful if your house has stairs. The added bonus of having two or three of everything in the house, is when that toilet really needs to be cleaned and you're all out, there is still some bowl cleaner somewhere in the house. This tip works great for cookies as well.

And by this I mean the Greenhouse Effect, kids. It's obvious certain things shouldn't be left in the car this time of year (among them dairy products, electronics, and anything that breathes). Other things you might not be so quick to remember. Take, for example, a $15 bottle of Olive Oil from Williams-Sonoma sitting in a gift basket for some friends who just got married. I knew something smelled like it was cooking in the backseat for a couple of commutes. Luckily, the pricey cooking medium got on nothing important but the leather seats, and we all know they could use a little conditioning every now and again. Truly, this could've been a much uglier experience--the cork on the bottle did not pop. So is there anything that's likely to cook in your vehicle's back seat? Bring it inside, man.

This is the last in our five part series on skimping. Thanks to Dark Scrivener for this excellent guide! Skimp Away Ramen— This could have been lumped in with the others one item up, but it represents a key point: Yes, the difference between name brand and generic is only two cents in the case of ramen , but that's 20 percent of the total cost! Real cheapskates need to keep the big picture in mind. Pay the Piper Pseudonyms —If you're going to pick a pseudonym , at least pick a decent one . Spend some time with it before releasing it on the world [PG-13 Link, don't say we didn't warn you] . I mean, the Dark Scrivener ? Please. The Cheapskates Guide to Parsimony Part IV The Cheapskates Guide to Parsimony Part III The Cheapskates Guide to Parsimony Part II The Cheapskates Guide to Parsimony Part I

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, I cooked dinner. When a few of my guy friends came over and inhaled it , their version of a compliment to the chef was to say, "Wow; your marriagability just went up, like, ten points ". My response? " Wow , yours just went down." Gentlemen, my tip is this: when offering approval for something a woman has done, make every effort to mask your intention to stuff your future Mrs. into indentured servanthood . Much of the wind is removed from the sails of a lovely compliment when its giver is scheming, "Wow; you could, like, sit at my house and do chores for me for, like, the rest of our lives ( dear )". A genuine thank you will suffice. If you feel any assemblance of the words, "what a good little wife you would make" leaving your lips, stop the train before you derail .

If you are 1.) a graphic designer, 2.) work at an ad agency, 3.) put ads in newspapers and/or magazines or 4.) have ANYTHING to do with advertising, you need to NOT make ads like this: This, dear friends, is an actual ad for an audiometric testing clinic. Obviously this ad is many levels of disturbing, but I for one am glad this is not an ad for any other kind of doctor! Now, I understand what they're going for, but let's be honest. Who wants to have a little mini-guy crawl into their inner-ear? So disturbing! I also would like to see the before and after of what the little guy looked like if the ear had excess wax buildup! Attention grabbing, yes; Acceptable, ABSOLUTELY NOT!

Hey, are you thinking to yourself, I thought all of Pete & Jay's Tips were free? Well there are, but this one is about getting free stuff! May stores, especially along the office and electronic varieties are in harsh competition with each other. So they send out all those sunday circulars. Well hidden with many of those are genuine free stuff. That's right, they'll actually let you but something and then give you the full purchase price back via a check and an overly complex process in only 6 to 8 weeks (aka. half of forever). It is things like this as to why Pete & Jay have more black CDs then we'll use in the foreseeable future. It also makes for a great after church activity. But get there easly cause many items sell out quickly. Office Max is one of my personal favorites, and you don't have to even buy the paper, every store has the weekly ad on their website. Or you can take the easy route and check dealnews and FreeAfterRebate.info .

There comes a day when your coffeepot is in the running dishwasher and you don't have the hardware handy to make your much anticipated Saturday morning cup of coffee. My tip is this: Get your hands on a bodum coffee press (sometimes called a French press coffee pot or a Brazil set). I had one of these back in college (it suffered a terrible demise on the dish drying rack of a shared suite bathroom), and just recently replaced it after being spoiled rotten with fantastic French pressed coffee every morning in England and Ireland. All you need to do is grind your beans (or have them ground ) a little coarser than what you would use for auto drip, and heat some water on the stove. Put the ground beans in the bottom of the "beaker," pour almost-boiling water on top, slowly, and stir. Set the top and the plunger on top of the beaker and let it sit for 3-5 minutes. Then slowly push the plunger (no, actually, THIS kind of plunger) down to the bottom, effectively pressing...

I have always had a hard time spelling the word "hors d'oeuvres," for the times I've sent out party invites. And it's a pain in the tush to try and find it on M-W.com. So here's a good way to remember how to spell it: HORSE (but no"E") + DOE+ UVRAYS (But spelled like it's pronounced by Julie Andrews in the D0-Re-Mi song on the Sound of Music...UV UV+RE...silent H...S) Then remember there's an apostrophe after "D." Or, if you took French (I did not), apparently "oeuvres" means "works," if you can remember that (I'm not putting money on it, because I just used freetranslation.com ). Here's a fun article on food spellings .

So, we know that some people are more prone to forgetting to zip up their flies than others. I've compiled a few ways to tactfully tell a gentleman that his fly is down, with a touch of humor. This is only if you don't have a shirt like this or a hat like this that will automatically make them check. Remember, it is best to say these things in a discreet manner as to not alert the entire fellowship hall about the situation. Let's get the tried and true ones out of the way: XYZ (eXamine Your Zipper) Barn door's open And some new ones just for kicks: You've got Windows in your laptop You've got a security breach at Los Pantalones Ensign Hanes is reporting a hull breach on the lower deck, Sir! Jason, you know that thing that you always forget about, well it happened again Now kids, I had some help from a very, very funny site. I've left out the borderline-shady ones. But if you care to do more research, click here . If you have others, feel free to add the...

Skimp Away Milk, Shredded Cheese and Packaged Vegetables —Do I really need to say anything here? There is really no difference between a name brand of any of these and the store brand , so save yourself some money! The list could go on here, of course. Pay the Piper Tips —I didn't really mean this kind of tip, but that works too. Only get the best quality tips from Pete & Jay ! But what I really meant was the sort of tip you give a waitperson . Those of you who have worked in foodservice or have friends who do already know this, but please don't be stingy with your tipping . These people are trying to earn a living , too, and they're counting on 15 percent . If the person is slow and gives unimpressive service , start there. If she gives great service and slips you her phone number , go at least to 20. This is absolutely essential if you obviously pray before your meal— Christians have a notoriously bad witness through their miserly tipping. The Cheapskates Gui...

Alright, many of us have invested in the iPOD shuffle as of late, and gosh, I don't know if you've noticed, but when sporting the armband during your run, well, let's just say we sweat . So, what can we do about that armband? Well, it's taken me a while, but I've finally found a workable solution. After every run, simply wipe it down with any kind of disinfecting wet wipe . You can clean every part of it, and it doesn't smell so bad. For those of you who were wondering, what was I doing before I found this nifty solution? Was I sporting a stinky armband? Nope, I was rinsing most of it under the sink, and spraying it with Lysol...trust me, this new solution works much better!

Sometimes in IM world, there's a need to have an "adult" conversation. For example, you may need to pseudo-swear someone out. Or perhaps you'd like to tell an off-color joke. Either way, if this is you, you need to first check out the buddy icon of the person you're about to IM. Sometimes people will put a picture of their child, or one of their baby pictures as their buddy icon. Therefore, if, as in the image below, you're trying to swear at Pappy, who just so happened to feature a photo of an ugly baby, innocent "walkers by" will think you are actually swearing at a child. So be careful. Another example below. Let's say Matt replaces his icon with one of his idols, the Olsen twins. (Not a huge stretch from reality). If you tell him an off-color joke like this, people will be like, "Eww, you sicko. Why are you saying stuff like that to Mary Kate (or Ashley) Olsen?" Then they will ask you which one it is, and who can tell them apart any...

Live Wires are Often Shocking By: Bazooka Joe

If you're Mac/OSX junkies like those of us at Pete and Jay's, you need to know about some fun downloads Apple has for their latest operating system, Tiger. They're called widgets, and if you click here , you can download sweet looking little programs that do everything from find movie times , to flip a virtual coin for you! The illustrious Teri Jarrard found a widget that automatically pulls lyrics for whatever song you're listening to ! Pretty amazing!