'It cures everything'

Bargain alert!

There are great buys to be had right now -- some in Buffalo, some elsewhere as well.

At Tops, Carrington brand chamomile tea is $1 for 20 bags. Twenty bags!! It is not fancy Celestial Seasonings, but chamomile is chamomile. I bought two boxes and am going to go back for, oh, 150 more. I get a kick out of Tops. It is the only supermarket that survives from when I was a kid and though you have to know how to play them, they have great stuff.

It is worth it in itself just to use Tops' animated checkout. How entertaining is that? This robot talking to you: "Do you have any coupons?" Yessirree I do!

So, Buffalo Leonard Pennario fans, get to Tops, get that cheap chamomile tea which, as the Germans say, alles zutraut. It cures everything!

Another thing, CVS is giving away pens.

You go there and buy this big pack of ballpoints and they give you your money back as Extra Bucks. You will see the sign. Go find them.

Plus there are notebooks four for a dollar. Back to School is the greatest time of year! I am telling you.

Yesterday I picked up four of those notebooks just to luxuriate in them. I got home and picked out one with a bright green cover, and I opened it, picked up one of my free pens, and wrote:

"I will finish my book on Leonard Pennario in 2011."

There is nothing like getting something like that in writing! It works magic in your head, is what I think.

Then I turned over a new leaf -- literally I mean, and wrote "To Do." I started listing everything I had to do to tie up loose ends and pull this masterpiece together.

I made a cup of my cheap Carrington chamomile tea and slept like a stone and this morning I was up early and at it, checking things off.

Already the magic is working!