# Things you know exist, but you can't seem to find anywhere

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-exist-but-you-cant-seem-to-find-anywhere/276047>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [November 22, 2004, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-exist-but-you-cant-seem-to-find-anywhere/276047 "2004-11-22T04:39:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 18\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-exist-but-you-cant-seem-to-find-anywhere/276047/41 "2004-11-23T06:57:27Z")

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Doesn’t seem to be him, well singing it at least.

But when I scrounged for him on allmusic I found [Ranch Romance](http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47C1FD24BA57420D6913745C7BA53F504DF4AF6C01D2F4749DDBB364D810475B040A4D8D2B3F96AB679AFFB62A6500FDBC0EC55ECAD1B&sql=10:iga9kent7q7b) which is who I was looking for.

Don’t know why I didn’t think of AllMusic before (actually I think I may have looked, but not that hard). Thanks for the help 🙂

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**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-exist-but-you-cant-seem-to-find-anywhere/276047/42 "2004-11-23T11:24:48Z")

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Jello brand’s Chocolate Silk Pie. our local supermarkets stopped carrying these a few years back… but Jello claims they’re still available. Somewhere.

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**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-exist-but-you-cant-seem-to-find-anywhere/276047/43 "2004-11-23T11:36:22Z")

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> [@SPOOFE](#):
>
> Pipe cleaners. I have a pipe to clean, but I can’t find any cleaners. Consarnit!

I had this problem recently, when I experimented with pipe tobacco. Go down to your local head shop – for a couple of bucks you can get a big ol’ pack of a bunch of disposable pipe cleaners that work great on wood pipes. (Cleaning glass pipes with them takes a little more creativity, due to the more curved and arbitrary shapes such pipes often take.)  
I don’t know about anywhere else (I didn’t notice them in San Diego, but then I didn’t smoke pipe tobacco when I lived there), but the major local headshop chain (sounds weird, doesn’t it?) also sells relatively cheap ($1.60/oz IIRC), decent flavored pipe and cigarette tobacco. Flavored wraps and papers too, if you’re into the whole rolling gig.

> [@Melandry](#):
>
> Miniature lighted reindeer (Christmas decorations). I saw these in a few yards in my grandparents’ neighborhood in Arizona. They look like those grapevine lighted deer sculpture but were only about 8 inches tall, not 3 or 4 feet tall. If any Doper has seen them, please let me know! I really want a set for a friend with an extremely small yard, but I can’t find them online or in the stores here.

Where in Arizona? I haven’t seen these in Tucson.

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**Author:** ![RunSilent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@RunSilent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RunSilent)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-exist-but-you-cant-seem-to-find-anywhere/276047/44 "2004-11-23T12:38:33Z")

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1920s Style Death Rays.

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**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-exist-but-you-cant-seem-to-find-anywhere/276047/45 "2004-11-23T13:09:44Z")

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> [@bouv](#):
>
> I also cannot seem to find a lunch bag. You know, an insulated bag that zips up I can put my lunch in. I have looked in a K-Mart and a couple Wal-Marts. The closest I found was the second Wal-Mart had a small area on a shelf with bags, but all were for children. They had Spiderman, Pokemon, or what have you on them. :mad:

As others have said, try Target or Wal-Mart, but look in the camping section. I needed a new lunchbox this year, but put it off till the end of September and by then all the school supplies (including lunch boxes, both “kiddie style” and plain) were gone. I found a basic plain blue insulated lunch box at Target in the camping section. I think it was about $8.

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**Author:** ![Hot\_Buttered\_Toast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b38774/32.png) [@Hot\_Buttered\_Toast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hot_Buttered_Toast)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-exist-but-you-cant-seem-to-find-anywhere/276047/46 "2004-11-23T13:13:46Z")

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Lemon soda. I used to drink it a lot about five years back, then it mysteriously vanished from shelves here. I remember it came in a can that was slightly taller than the average soda can.

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**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-exist-but-you-cant-seem-to-find-anywhere/276047/47 "2004-11-23T13:35:41Z")

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Jewel cases. Not the extra thin ones, the regular sized ones that come with commercially sold CDs. I have a bad habit of leaving CDs on the floor. I inevitably step on them and break the cases. I have probably ten or fifteen jewel cases broken in some way, and I can’t freaking find new ones! I’ve bought them in the past, why are they so impossible to find now?

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**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-exist-but-you-cant-seem-to-find-anywhere/276047/48 "2004-11-23T13:44:19Z")

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I remember seeing pens with one half of them made of clear plastic (hollow). These were flled with water, and various stuff floating in them. It was probably a way for bored executives to pass the time…staring at the miniaiture shells, olympic rings, corporate logos, floating in the water.  
Haven’t seen one in years…couldit be that they posed a danger to kids? Were they filled with deadly acid, like those deadly golf balls of yore?

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**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-exist-but-you-cant-seem-to-find-anywhere/276047/49 "2004-11-23T13:51:44Z")

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> [@ralph124c](#):
>
> I remember seeing pens with one half of them made of clear plastic (hollow). These were flled with water, and various stuff floating in them. It was probably a way for bored executives to pass the time…staring at the miniaiture shells, olympic rings, corporate logos, floating in the water.  
> Haven’t seen one in years…couldit be that they posed a danger to kids? Were they filled with deadly acid, like those deadly golf balls of yore?

Nope, they’re filled with mineral oil. [Here’s](http://www.floatart.com/misc/history.html) more than you ever wanted to know about “float pens,” including history and picture gallery. [Here’s](http://www.floatabout.com/) one place where you can buy some.

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**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-exist-but-you-cant-seem-to-find-anywhere/276047/50 "2004-11-23T14:00:19Z")

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> [@BiblioCat](#):
>
> As others have said, try Target or Wal-Mart, but look in the camping section. I needed a new lunchbox this year, but put it off till the end of September and by then all the school supplies (including lunch boxes, both “kiddie style” and plain) were gone. I found a basic plain blue insulated lunch box at Target in the camping section. I think it was about $8.

Well, there’s no Target 'round here, and I looked in the camping section, too, and nada. I’ll probably just have to get it online…like the chipotles.

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**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-exist-but-you-cant-seem-to-find-anywhere/276047/51 "2004-11-23T14:18:33Z")

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> [@Kyla](#):
>
> Jewel cases. Not the extra thin ones, the regular sized ones that come with commercially sold CDs.

Try the dollar store – three or four for a dollar.

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**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-exist-but-you-cant-seem-to-find-anywhere/276047/52 "2004-11-23T14:22:57Z")

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> [@Kyla](#):
>
> Jewel cases… I’ve bought them in the past, why are they so impossible to find now?

You can get a box of 50 at CompUSA for $15. I get them 100 at a time, from another seller, although the shipping is about the same price as the cases!

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**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-exist-but-you-cant-seem-to-find-anywhere/276047/53 "2004-11-23T14:31:53Z")

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> [@Rico](#):
>
> Got a laptop? Try [this](http://www.download.com/3000-2053-10071498.html).  
> Or if you still want a pocket h:m:s calculator, [here you go](http://www.calculator.com/shop/item.php?m=tools&s=calculated%20industries&ASIN=B000055WEO).  
> Courtesy of an old time radio man who had an old Casio back in “the day…”

Thanks a lot! I’m going to recommend the hand-held ones to our engineer. We still have some money in the budget that has to be spent before the year is out.  
I tried to download the other one, but the originating page seems to have disappeared. What a shame. I appreciate the help!

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**Author:** ![Melandry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Melandry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melandry)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-exist-but-you-cant-seem-to-find-anywhere/276047/54 "2004-11-23T15:22:44Z")

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> [@fetus](#):
>
> Where in Arizona? I haven’t seen these in Tucson.

This was in the Phoenix area. We looked at Walmart and Target while we were there but since it was immediately before Christmas selection was not so great. I hvaen’t had any luck online, either.

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**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-exist-but-you-cant-seem-to-find-anywhere/276047/55 "2004-11-23T15:33:05Z")

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Paper drinking straws. They existed years ago, but now they can only be found holding the sweet dust of pixy stix.

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**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-exist-but-you-cant-seem-to-find-anywhere/276047/56 "2004-11-23T15:40:36Z")

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> [@Martin Hyde](#):
>
> I know the Zagnut bar exists but I can never find it.

Here in South Florida, at Dollar Tree, you can still pick up Zagnut bars! Also Nik-L-Nips!

🙂

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**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-exist-but-you-cant-seem-to-find-anywhere/276047/57 "2004-11-23T15:46:05Z")

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> [@bouv](#):
>
> I know that chiplotles exist. I, however, cannot find them.

Chipotle is dried jalapeno pepper! I read a short while back that every pepper used in Mexican cuisine has another, different name for when the pepper is dried. I can’t think think of any more examples, though…

D

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**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-know-exist-but-you-cant-seem-to-find-anywhere/276047/58 "2004-11-23T17:47:21Z")

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> [@bouv](#):
>
> I also cannot seem to find a lunch bag. You know, an insulated bag that zips up I can put my lunch in. I have looked in a K-Mart and a couple Wal-Marts. The closest I found was the second Wal-Mart had a small area on a shelf with bags, but all were for children. They had Spiderman, Pokemon, or what have you on them. :mad:

To continue a trend…

Have you tried the dollar store? They often have this kind of thing, printed with some random company’s logo. They’re usually plain other than that. I guess they are extras or misprints from someplace that screen-prints corporate doodads.

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