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Greensboro's Edward McKay, which buys and sells used stuff including books, CDs, movies and games, reopened Friday in new, more spacious digs, News & Record business writer Michelle Jarboe writes in Sunday's Savvy Shopper column.

So I'm watching the local news and I started to get really hungry for some reason.

Must have been WFMY News 2 doing a segment on Beef Burger in Greensboro celebrating its 45th birthday by selling burgers for 45 cents and cheeseburgers for 55 cents through today.

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Recipe for success? "Really, anybody can put mustard, ketchup and pickle on a sandwich but they can't put our sauce on it," owner Ralph Havis told WFMY.

But word has spread. Television footage from Monday showed a long line outside the restaurant, so be prepared to wait.

There's a baseball game going on, but who cares?

As Amy Dominello writes in tomorrow's News & Record, the Greensboro Grasshoppers are playing second fiddle at home on Thursdays.

That's because it's Thirsty Thursday at First Horizon Park, an event sponsored by Natty Greene’s Pub and Brewing Company. That means 12-ounce beers are $1 and $2.

And it's becoming quite the social event of the season in Greensboro, Amy writes in tomorrow's article. Some of those interviewed for the article - gasp - say they don't even watch the game.

An article in today's Wall Street Journal (registration required, but free access to all articles, at least temporarily) says there's an abundance of meat on the market.

And that is pushing down the prices companies charge and profits they make, David Wessel writes in his column "Capital."

Not that meat-eating consumers are dancing in the streets.

Wessel ends his piece by posing this question: "What is happening to the prices consumers pay for beef, pork and poultry? The short answer: They are down some, but not enough to compensate for the rising cost of gasoline."

Dealnews.com mentions Circuit City is having a sale on gadgets - up to 50 percent off with 163 items under $10.

Some you might find handy. Some, well, not sure. Take, for instance, a sale on a tissue holder that also serves as a radio for $6.

And they think of everything - comes with an alarm siren, which is described this way: "Need a little help from a friend? Activate the siren to get some assistance."

Holy freakin' free comic books, Batman.

Today is "Free Comic Book Day." I kid you not.

It's when comic book shops across country and elsewhere give out comic books for free.

Free comics, courtesy of John Hitchcock, owner of Parts Unknown the Comic Book Store, will also be distributed at the Greensboro Central Library at 219 N. Church St. today from 10:30 a.m. to noon to encourage kids to read.

We'll also have a story about it in Sunday's News & Record.

Some consumer electronics companies have been trying to take a bite out of Apple's dominance in the portable music player market in the past few years.

Take iRiver's H10 20GB portable digital player as one example. Office Depot has it on sale for $150 (regular $300), a competitive price.

But is it the real deal or not worth your hard-earned bucks?

Dealnews.com describes an online coupon as "the largest percent-off discount we've seen in years from The Sports Authority."

You save 25 percent off merchandise with no minimum amount required, according to dealnews.com

MyKidsEatFree.com mentions The Melting Pot fondue restaurant in Greensboro has a special on Tuesdays for parents: Kids 14 and under eat free with one paying adult.

It seems today, that all we see, is overpriced programs sold on DVD.

But where are those good old fashioned bargains, upon which we used to rely?

Lucky for us, volume 2 of the third season of Fox's cartoon series "Family Guy" is on sale, dealnews.com points out.

It's $14.97 at Amazon.com. Dealnews.com says "it's the lowest price we could find by $12."

Shipping adds $2.98 but is free on orders over $25.

Gas stations in Mebane and Haw River have the best prices in the Triad, or $2.61 a gallon, according to gasbuddy.com.

They are the Pilot and Fuel City in Mebane off Interstate 85/40 (exit 152), and the Flying J in Haw River (exit 150).

Dealnews.com mentions you can get $20 off purchases of at least $220 using an online coupon from Overstock.com

Coupon expires Monday 4 p.m.

Something you might want to consider if you're thinking about getting a new video camera: going tapeless.

In other words, check out the new line of video cameras that feature harddrives, so no need to buy tapes and discs.

Circuit City has a JVC camcorder for $540 (regular $600) that includes a 20-gigabyte harddrive.

Best Buy, by comparison, has it for the same price when you order it online. You pay $600 at the store but you get a $50 gift card.

Irvin Dorsey Tyndall is loaded with golf balls - more than 11,000 them. And he's willing to sell, for example, an average quality Top Flite 3000 for 40 cents "if it's in perfect condition," so says News & Record staff writer Eric J.S. Townsend in an article in today's paper.

Nelson Kepley/News & Record

No matter how you slice it, that's a deal. Heck, I used to sell used golf balls my brother and a friend found for 50 cents a pop, and that was more than 20 years ago. I still remember my high school classmates hounding me for more.

Mykidseatfree.com notes on Tuesdays two kids eat free off the kids' menu with the purchase of each dinner entree at Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon.

Gander has a snorkel kit on sale for $20 (regular $30). Includes adult or youth size mask, snorkel, fins and a carry bag.

Get an appetizer at T.G.I. Friday's for free if you spend at least $15 using an online coupon, according to dealnews.com.

Circuit City and Best Buy have 42 TVs on sale this week. But one is LCD while the other is a plasma.

Best Buy has a Philips plasma HDTV for $2,000 (regular $2,500).

Circuit City has a Sony grand WEGA LCD projection TV for $1,800 (regular $2,000).

Not sure which is better - plasma or LCD? Picture quality and life spans can be about the same, but differences depend on that particular TV's specs, according to a comparison tip sheet provided by Wal-Mart.

Sales end Saturday.

This might be a good place to take the family for some Mexican dinner tonight - scratch that - make that Sunday (the restaurant switched nights, kidsfree.com told me.).

On Sundays, two kids eat free off the children's menu at Villa Rosa in Greensboro with the purchase of each dinner entree, according to mykidseatfree.com.

The Sports Authority has men's or women's New Balance 411 running shoes for $30 (regular $50).

Sale ends Saturday.

The best sports drink is Gatorade Lemonade, according to an article in the June issue of Men's Health magazine ("125 Best Foods").

"Tastes like lemonade - but packs added electrolytes," according to the article.

Best price?

Food Lion has a 10 for $10 deal on 32-ounce Gatorades.

For those of you looking for something basic to surf, maybe compose letters or save documents, this desktop special from Office Depot might be the right deal for you.

It's an HP a1400 e for $200 (regular $630). Includes 80-GB hard drive, 256 MB of memory, 15-inch LCD monitor and printer. Downside? The price you pay up front is $530. You get the rest in the form of mail-in rebates. A pain, sure, but might be worth it if you can handle paying that much up front because it's a good price.

The Sheetz in Mebane has the cheapest in the Triad area, or $2.59 a gallon, according to gasbuddy.com

Update:
All good things...News & Record colleague Eric Dyer, who drives by that Sheetz on the way to work, tells me it's up to $2.63 a gallon. So Sheetz gets bumped down a few notches as of late this afternoon. Gasbuddy.com is now reporting Murphy USA and Shell, both in Mebane, are now at the top of the list at $2.60 gallon.

News & Record "Short Orders" columnist and Bargain Blog fav Carl Wilson tipped me off that Krispy Kreme is celebrating - I kid you not -"National Doughnut Day" on Friday.

That means you get a free doughnut of choice at participating Krispy Kremes.

Carl says he confirmed area Krispy Kreme locations are participating (that's the Triad area of North Carolina for our friends reading this from afar.).

Now, some info. to impress your friends at the next cocktail party:
National Doughnut Day was established in 1938 by the Chicago Salvation Army to raise much-needed funds during the Great Depression and to honor the work of World War I Salvation Army volunteers who prepared doughnuts for thousands of soldiers.

The more you know (cue in NBC jingle).