RS - the bottle thing is a hefty scaremongerer that places a few truths inside a maze of ridiculous hype, if it's the same one I've seen.
Plastic bottles are fine for water IF they are not exposed to high temperatures. This includes not leaving them in the car on a sunny day - the temp will definitely exceed the tested-for limits of the PET plastic (39 deg C and 90% humidity, or that's what it was when I was doing it) and you are likely to get leaching of the plasticisers into your water. The plasticisers have xenoestrogenic properties - that means that they are foreign oestrogen-like chemicals, which may have an effect on the oestrogen-receptors in the bod. This may or may not trigger oestrogenic activity, which may or may not influence oestrogen-affected cancers. On the whole better to be avoided.
Plastic bottles need to be changed regularly as well as they can harbour bacteria - however, the majority of the bacteria are either from your mouth or from the water you would be drinking anyway so that's not really an issue; but the moulds ARE an issue as the spores that are everywhere can 'hatch' or germinate and start to grow. So change the bottles regularly, especially if they have a drinking spout top. I strongly believe the "do not reuse bottles" thing is propaganda by the bottled drink companies - it's reducing their profits if you don't buy a new one each time. I use mine until the plastic starts to look cloudy - if they've had juice in them, I wash them out in 60 deg water (boiling water will deform the bottle - actually, so will 60 deg if you leave it in there long enough) which gets rid of all vegetative organisms (and the skin off your hands, so don't be touching the water!). Usually about 3 uses per bottle, at a guess.
It is better to use a bottle that has been manufactured for fizzy drinks for juice, because fizzy drinks have acid in them too. I don't know whether or not different formulations of PET are used for those bottles but they propably are and it is therefore a good idea to keep water in water bottles and acidy stuff in acidy stuff bottles. Or use a thermos/glass bottle instead.
HTH - and if you get any more of these scary emails, look them up at snopes.com for their hoax value (although I think Snopes writes this particular one off as a hoax entirely, which it isn't exactly)
oxeye - I am having similar ishoos with miniThumb right at this moment - an endless refrain of "Mummy, cuds" and trying to stroke my left arm/hand to stop me typing - most annoying! He is cuddled up to me now though, with his hand tucked into my elbow and strict instructions not to interfere with my typing, poor little thing.
CMOTD - a horse share - wow, lucky you! My best friend got a horse when she was 9 and her mum asked mine if I would like to share - of course I would have but Mum said no, partly because of the cost and partly because my friend and I would both be wanting to ride the horse at the same time, so it wouldn't work.
A&O - have a great 90th birthday party - one of those things where events take precedence over money worries, I think. I went to America to a friend's wedding while I was a student in re-training and pretty penniless - but it was worth it (Dad agreed and he was the one who had to lend me the money to cover my fees while I re-built my finances after)
amber - sorry to hear about the dizziness - inner ear infections are a bugger to deal with, just have to wait for it to pass. Usually 3-5 days - if you're still dizzy after more than a week there might be something else going on as well, like a minor displacement of a neck vertebra.
LOL at small boys and the things they like/are scared of - miniThumb has taken agin the Aardman penguin, mole and pigs (the former in W&G, the latter two in Shaun the sheep). They all have small black beady eyes in common so I'm guessing that's the problem. Whereas he was up last night while I was watching CSI (I had my hand over his eyes for any nasty bits) and he pushed my hand away at one point and said "man dead!" which was scarily perceptive of him. The only contact with screen death he has had, afaik, is Lion King - unless MrThumb has been watching more of his violent movies with miniThumb there as well, something he has an extremely unfortunate tendency to do - although a bit hypocritical as I watch CSI and House and Law& Order with miniT going to sleep next to me . I really need to get a handle on this bedtime thing more.