Month: July 2009

Back Meds

On By Michel McDonaldIn HealthLeave a comment

I went to the neurologist today for my regular appointment for my carpel tunnel syndrome and I mentioned the problems with my back and they gave me a steroid and a muscle relaxer.

I have to take one of them every 8 hours and the other one I have to take 6 pills today, 5 tomorrow 4 day after, 3 day after that, 2 day after that and then 1 on the last day.

I really hope this pain is gone at the end of this because I really want to resume my exercise.  I’m going to add strength exercises as well because I think that my back muscles just were not prepared for this new seat.

Back Pain

On By Michel McDonaldIn HealthLeave a comment

Well apparently this back pain is a bit more severe than I thought.  I just called the chiropractors office that I used to go to in 2005 and had to leave a message so I hope they get it by tonight so I can make an appointment to hopefully come in tomorrow morning.  I have a doctor’s appointment with the neurologist for my carpel tunnel syndrome near where they used to be but they aren’t too far from there so I will be able to walk there from my neurologist.

I was thinking of bringing my bike with me but I don’t have the proper locks and I’m afraid that my new seat and/or my wheels will get stolen.  I don’t have the money to buy 2 new locks/chains so I’m screwed and have to walk there from the bus stop in pain lol.  Maybe I can think of something though, we have some padlocks that maybe I can borrow from what they are locking and look for some chain that I can use.  Now that I think about it I’m going to start looking for those so I can at least chain up my seat for now.  I really don’t feel like walking all that way tomorrow especially with this back pain.

Cyclone Diet

On By Michel McDonaldIn DietLeave a comment

cyclonediet2I don’t remember when I bought this, maybe 2002 or 2003.  But it’s supposed to help you lose 10lbs in 48 hours.  I’m not sure if it worked or not, I highly doubt it though.  I think that you are supposed to drink 3 packets a day for 2 days and nothing else for the rest of the time and you will lose 10lbs.

It’s basically something that will clean out your system.  You know when you have to get prepared for a colonoscopy?  You have to drink this liquid for a certain amount of hours the night before your test and you are going to the bathroom every 5 minutes.  It’s basically the same concept except I don’t exactly remember going to the bathroom as much.  Then again it was so long ago.

The best thing I liked about this diet was that it comes with a cup that has a blender in it.  It’s not a blender in the respect that it crushes ice but more like it just blends a powder into a liquid.  I use it for mixing my slim fast when I’m not using ice when I just want to mix the powder into the milk.  I suppose you could do the same thing with your iced tea lol.  Just add your ice and your tea then put your sugar or sweetener and press the button and it mixes the sugar.  No need for a tea spoon.

Since this product has been discontinued what else am I supposed to do with the cup?

Stackable Fridge

On By Michel McDonaldIn TechLeave a comment

unifridgeGot roommates who just won’t stop eating your labeled food?  Here is a solution.  This is a really good thing for roommates especially ones who are in college.

They don’t have locks on them and that’s probably a good idea to put on them but other than that it’s a pretty good idea.  It also saves energy because it has 1 power source which is on the bottom.  When you open 1 little compartment you aren’t letting out all the cool air.

I just wish that I was in college because I wouldn’t mind having one lol.  This would actually be great for work, you could have your own cube fridge with your name on it at work so you can leave your lunch in there and maybe even some other food and not worry that someone is stealing your food while you aren’t at work.

Cool Stackable Refrigerator Concept | Toxel.com

My Spirit Board Finished

On By Michel McDonaldIn craftsLeave a comment

Well I finally did it.  I made a spirit board.  No, not a “Ouija” board because that name is copyrighted.  This is my own personal creation.  Although I copied the idea, I burned it.

The font I used for the letters and numbers is Captain Howdy and the yes, no, hi and bye is obviously Comic Sans.  I didn’t want to have big words like Hello and Goodbye and I’m sure Hi and Bye are perfectly acceptable.

I added the sun and the moon because I read you are supposed to ask the “spirits” if they are from the sun or the moon.  Sun meaning good, moon meaning not so good.

Look, I don’t know if a spirit board works or not and I don’t know if or when I will ever use it, I just wanted to make one lol.

I showed awhile ago my planchette that I made but it was too big for this board so I had to cut a smaller one out of it and I am not going to drill a hole in it, instead the “spirits” can use the point from the top of it to point to everything.  I could drill a hole the size of a nickel but it’s not necessary.

For now I am finished burning but I’m not completely finished with it.  I still need to put some lacquer on it.  I’m waiting until I can buy a spray lacquer instead of wasting yet another brush that I can’t clean.  Also I’m sure spraying is smoother than brushing.

I hope you like it.  Oh by the way, the wood is the “irregular” from Walnut Hollow’s website so it was only $2.25 and it measures 13.5″W x 10.25″H.  Pretty good price for a spirit board right?

myspiritboard

Hump Day or Ghost Day

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

When I was in school Wednesday was hump day.  Well now as a grown up and as an avid Sci-Fi (now SyFy) channel watcher, Wednesday is Ghost day.

Today it’s not just Ghost Hunters though, from 8am to 4pm SyFy channel is airing Scariest Places on Earth. Then 4pm is Lost, 5pm is Stargate Atlantis, 6pm is Stargate SG-1 then from 7-11 is Ghost Hunters.  Well, they are adding Ghost Hunters but it’s mainly Ghost Hunters International.

I’m not too crazy about Scariest Places on Earth because I’m sure those are all rigged up because those people are just regular people who are spooked for no reason so they won’t know if there is a real ghost or if it’s string tied to a rocking chair and being pulled via remote control.  Plus they are always doing these rituals where they have to call the ghosts to wake them up.  Bullshit!  Also the guy at the beginning who tries to scare them by telling them just how haunted the house or mansion is.  Shenanigans!

I like Ghost Hunters because they don’t scream (Donna) or run (Brian).  They mostly stick around if something happens because they want to find it.  They usually run toward the activity instead of running away from it because they want to debunk it.  They have actually found speakers in this one place so they knew it was shenanigans.  And they also found shenanigans on the queen mary when someone pulled the covers and paused the tape.

What am I doing sitting here blogging?  I’m MISSING it!

Edit: What are the odds that I would blog about something this morning at 7:53am and it happens later in the day?  I said in this post:

“They have actually found speakers in this one place so they knew it was shenanigans.”

And that episode is on.  I’m watching the East coast SyFyHD channel so I’m seeing it 3 hours before it really should air in CA so it’s the 8pm episode called “Widows Watch”.  Jay and Grant just found the speaker in the ceiling of the ladies room, when you open the door there is a sensor that activates the speakers and there is also a mirror with a face behind it that illuminates when someone is near it so when you are looking at yourself you see another face over your own.

I had no idea that episode would be on when I posted that this morning lol.  I must have ESPN or something.

Bored

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

I get bored easily, real easily.  When I find an interest in something it’s all I can think of, talk of, even dream of.  But as with everything I get bored with it after awhile.

The boredom graveyard:

Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, EverQuest, crafts, Snood, Just video games in general, the internet… my computer….  my bike?  Maybe soon.

I don’t know, I still visit those websites I’m bored with hoping to find something that will spark an interest again, except for EverQuest because that’s not free to explore.  They charge you $15 a month so it’s not good to be bored with something that you have to pay to play.

I guess I’m just bored with everything, life included.  I’m bored with people who think they are funny.  Wait a minute… I think I’m funny.  Am I bored with myself?  Good lord, I’m bored with myself!  UGH!  I need to make myself laugh and if I can’t do that then I have no hope for humanity.

Yummy Pigeons

On By Michel McDonaldIn RecipesLeave a comment

I found this a couple of years ago in the kitchen with a lot of other recipes and I just couldn’t resist scanning it lol.  I’m not sure if Opal ever made this but just reading the recipe will make anyone cringe and laugh at the same time.  I don’t know how old this is but I’m certainly glad I didn’t live during the time that it was acceptable to eat pigeons on toast with gravy.

Back Problems

On By Michel McDonaldIn HealthLeave a comment

I don’t know what’s going on with me lately but it seems that since I got that new bicycle seat I’ve had nothing but back problems.  It could be that I still don’t have it adjusted right, I don’t know for sure.  I’m sitting back in my desk chair with the vibrate turned on the upper back selection and it does help some.  Sometimes I go sit in the shiatsu massage chair and that just hurts.  I have to sit funny for it to even get to my shoulders.

What happened is a few mornings ago I wasn’t wearing my bipap machine mask because sometimes I can’t breathe with it on so I have to go without for 1 night.  So when I sleep without it I sleep on my stomach and I sleep so weird that it puts a crick in my neck.  So I can’t put all the blame on this new seat but it doesn’t help my back either.

Yesterday I went on my morning bike ride despite the bad neck/shoulder pain but this morning I decided I was in too much pain to go out so I stayed home.

I’m really thinking about going to the chiropractor again because I get massages 3 days a week and they make me use their gym which helps with my weight loss lol.  The last time I went there I think I lost 10lbs in 1 month from using their gym doing the machine exercises as well as the ball exercises.  Maybe that will help me out some then I can learn what exercises I can do at home on my home gym so I will start using that again.

The only issue right now is that I’m broke.  I mean totally broke.  I have $1.75 available in the bank lol.  So I can’t take the bus there and they moved to across the street from the DMV which is a very long bus ride.  I wouldn’t want to take my bike because well, I’m going there because of my bike and I don’t have the proper locks for my bike yet until I get money.  So I’m kind of stuck until I get money.

I hope the pain will go away soon because I don’t have any pain pills or the money for them.  I do have a couple ibuprofens still for my carpel tunnel syndrome and I’m seeing that doctor on Friday so hopefully he will renew that for me.

Walnut Hollow Hot Tool Issues

On By Michel McDonaldIn craftsLeave a comment

July 15th 2009:

I just emailed Walnut Hollow with this query but I wanted to post it here as well.

I have a Creative Versa-Tool wood burning kit.  Sometimes the points get black from being used so much or maybe from being turned on for extended periods of time.  The points I can sand with a very fine metal sandpaper which I usually use when needed but the threads on the points also get black.  I can use a wire brush to get the black off the threads on the points but what about the inside of the tool?

I’m having issues getting the points on and even taking them off.  I have to use a pair of pliers to put the points on and take them off because it’s so tight from all the black on the threads.

So while I await their response I’m going to save this post as a draft so I don’t have to edit my post.

I am still waiting for their response but while I was waiting I decided to try my own little experiment.  I tried looking for a wire brush, it looks like a tooth brush but it’s wire instead of the normal plastic bristles your tooth brush has.  I wasn’t so lucky but I did find something that is a bit longer than the average tooth brush with longer bristles and is meant for use in the kitchen.  So I grabbed that and also a can of WD-40 meant to keep my bicycle lubed up at all times.

I sprayed some of that on 2 of my points and it soaked the In ‘N Out Burger napkins on my desk so the bottom of my desk is now an oily mess.  I proceeded to scrub the shit out of the points with the brush and even though I could see some blackness going onto the bristles, the threads didn’t change.

I then squirted some WD-40 into the chamber where you screw the points, not too much, I flipped it over and tapped it on the napkin so in case I put too much in there then it would drip out.  I then tried screwing a point on and unscrewing, you know, to grease the threads and it seems to have helped a little but not too much.  Maybe it just needs that to be done several times to get that shit out of the threads on the inside and on the points.

It’s too late now to get a response so back to the draft this post goes until I get a response hopefully tomorrow (Thursday).

July 20th 2009:
Dear Michel,

I believe that the ‘black’ on the Points and threads is due to a reaction when the metals get hot from the tool. To remove this, you can use fine grade sandpaper. As for any difficulty you have changing the Points using pliers, try using powdered graphite (found at most hardware stores) to help with changing Points on the tool. Powdered graphite is mostly used in locks to make keys slide in and out easier – works on our hot tool threads also.

Hope this helps,

Chris