Month: July 2009

Warehouse 13

On By Michel McDonaldIn TVLeave a comment

The new SyFy show Warehouse 13 aired a few nights ago with their 2 hour pilot.  I watched it when it aired but I really didn’t know how I felt about it so I didn’t want to blog about it just yet.

It’s been on just about everyday since so I’ve seen it 3 times (including right this minute watching it yet again).  I’m still on the fence about the characters.  The 2 secret service characters I like but the guy with the curly hair (yeah, I don’t know names yet lol) seems a bit over the top.  I mean, he over reacts a bit too much lol.  Maybe that’s the way they wrote the character or maybe the way the actor is portraying that character and he is a great actor, I just find it a little neurotic that’s all.

Other than that it just seems to me like Eureka 2.  I know it has nothing to do with Eureka but I kinda feel like they needed a show that was similar to Eureka since they are having success with that so here is this show.  Or maybe I’m just thinking about it too much lol.

As I said I don’t want to judge the show too much just yet because it was only the first episode which was kinda cool and all so I’m gonna give it another episode or 3 before deciding for myself.

Update: I am in love with this show after watching the first few episodes.  And what I said about Arty being too neurotic, well yeah he is but that’s the character.  It’s a great show and I can’t wait to see the rest of the season and hope it comes back for another next summer.

I Got Wood…

On By Michel McDonaldIn craftsLeave a comment

… for wood burning lol.  What were you thinking?  You dirty birds.

My package from Walnut Hollow came tonight with 4 medium pieces of wood and 2 large pieces of wood.  I also got a book and the numbers and letters as well as some fun shapes to burn with that all screw onto the wood burning tool.

I was going to do my own font for the Spirit board but considering the large wood is a bit smaller than I thought it would be I’m gonna have to use the smaller letters and numbers and since I bought letters and numbers then why not use them right?  Then once I’m done with it then I can just do some other designs on the board.  Although, now I need to make a smaller planchette lol.  I have another piece of wood so no biggy.  I want to make a different one anyway without the hole inside with just a pattern on the top of it.

Anyway, I can’t wait to see what I’m going to make.

New Tires For My Bike

On By Michel McDonaldIn BikeLeave a comment

We went to Sports Authority today when Darrin came home from work and he bought me 2 new tires so I don’t just have a replacement for the front wheel but one for each.  He said when you buy tires for a car you don’t just buy 1, you buy 4.  Good thing I didn’t need 4 because these tires were $20 each.  Plus he bought me 2 new tubes even though I just bought 2 new tubes.  But the ones that I just bought can be backup for these lol.

Edit: I would just like to add that the new tubes that Darrin bought me to go with these new tires were difficult as HELL to pump air into lol.  They have “Presta Valve” which means I gotta start using my Nashbar pump again lol.  The pump I am referring to is the pump I bought from Nashbar.com, it’s not a nashbar brand.  Anyway, it has both regular and presta so I can use that now.  The reason I haven’t been using it is because it wasn’t working with the regular tubes, it was always letting the air out while I was pumping so I could only get 20PSI into the tires with that pump.  I had to go to my old pump to put 60PSI into my tires.

Anyway, with the “nashbar” pump it took me forever to put the air into them.  I should be in bed by now asleep and in dream land but instead I’m still awake.  It’s almost 11pm and here I am blogging about how I’m still awake.  UGH!

My Bike Must Be a Teenager

On By Michel McDonaldIn BikeLeave a comment

I guess my bicycle must be a teenager because the front tire has a pimple on it lol.  I was riding along this morning and all of a sudden it felt like I was hitting bumps in the road but I knew there weren’t any bumps at all.  I couldn’t do anything about it either because the sun wasn’t up at all so I had to wait until I got to my halfway point which was when the sun starts to come up.

As I’m riding I pass this baby stroller on the side of the bike path and I looked at it while I was passing it and saw 3 heads get up and turn to look at me as I’m passing.  I could’ve sworn 2 of those heads were dog heads while the 3rd one was a bald headed man lol.  The pimple in my tire was making noise and it woke them up.

So I get to my halfway point and I really don’t see anything wrong with the tire.  Then I see this bulge sticking out of the side of the tire and the top of the tire too so the top of the tire was slanted in that one spot lol.  I figure I can’t do anything until I get home because I’m probably going to have to remove the tire and the tube and adjust it.

I finish my 10 minute break and start to head back, I look at my computer and it says I’m going 35 then 40mph lol.  WHAT?!  There’s no way I’m going 40 lol.  I pull over again and see that the pimple is rubbing the wire going to my computer and it’s stripping it exposing the wiring inside.  I definitely have to fix the tire now.  I pull the wire tight so it isn’t going to get pulled by the tire again then I turn the bike upside down and let the air out of the tire.  I sort of adjust the tire but really, there isn’t anything I can do.  I’m not gonna start taking everything apart right there on the side of the bike path road.  I started putting air back in and see the pimple blowing up again so instead of filling it all the way with 64psi I just stop at 30.  That will get me home for sure.

My tire pressure in both tires doesn’t have to be the same.  My front can really be 30 or 40 and I’ll be fine but my back tire must be either the standard 64 or 60 is good.  The reason my front tire is doing that is because the wheel is 26×2.0 but the tire is 26×1.95 so it’s not the same.  So now I need a new tire for the front wheel so when I get some money I will buy the exact tire that I need for the front wheel.

Poor Lonely Laptop

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

In 2004 I got a Dell Inspiron 1100 laptop.  It has served me very well over the years and this year it was time to renew my warranty but I didn’t have the money and because it’s fairly old I just decided that it wasn’t worth it to keep paying to renew it.  Instead I could just let it lapse and if something goes wrong with it then I guess I will have to start saving money to get a new one. In the meantime it’s been turned off and sitting on my desk with the lid closed for the last 6 months.

I think that it’s time to turn it on and start transferring all the documents, pictures, music, videos etc over to the desktop just in case it does crash.  Once that’s finished then I’m going to reformat it so it’s got a nice fresh Windows installation so it’s fast again.  Maybe if it’s fast then I might use it again.  That’s one of the reasons it’s been closed all this time because I turn it on and it takes about 20 minutes before I can even go to a website.  It’s so frustrating to have to wait that long.

One of the main uses for the laptop these days is for when we travel because I have the Microsoft Streets & Trips with USB GPS.  I would much rather have a TomTom or a Garmin GPS though because it’s too hot to have a laptop on my lap during a 6 hour trip lol.

This is going to take awhile lol.

By the way, when I say it’s on my lap for 6 hours I mean as the passenger lol.  I don’t drive…

Fresh Air Fund – Half Marathon

On By Michel McDonaldIn Charity1 Comment

Here is something interesting that came to my inbox today.  There is this half marathon going on this August 16th, 2009 and they are looking for not only runners but also sponsors to help out in their fund raise.

Visit Half-Marathon for more details.

I really wish that I could be there to run but I’m certainly in no shape to run.  Ride a bike yes, run no.  Here is a quote from the website.

“Last summer’s NYC Half-Marathon Presented by NIKE was a huge success for The Fresh Air Fund, and we couldn’t have done it without all of our Fund-Racers! Thank you to the dedicated runners who participated through our team and to everyone who came out to support us! We raised more than $125,000 which will go directly to our free programs for NYC children.”

I believe in what they do.  And what is it that they do you ask?  Well, since 1877 they have been providing summer vacations to more than 1.7 million children from low-income communities in New York.  I sure do love summer camp.  Summer camp is the best way for kids to make friends and get away from their parents for a few weeks.  And believe you me, it’s not just a break for the kids but also for the parents too.

So if you live in the east coast, more specifically in the New York area please help these kids by entering as either a runner or perhaps you can donate some money to sponsor a runner so these kids can go to camp this summer.

New Bicycle Seat

On By Michel McDonaldIn BikeLeave a comment

I’m still waiting for this new bicycle seat to come.  Hopefully it will come soon.  They guy who runs the website I bought it from emailed me to tell me that his parents passed away and that he would ship it to me in 4-5 days.  Well, it’s been 7 days now.

This morning after I came home from my bike ride and I took my shower I decided to lay down for a bit.  Well, I just got up and saw in my email that he placed the order on July 2nd 2009.  But I didn’t get a UPS tracking email yet.  I’m sure that will come soon.  I wonder why I’m just now getting the email though if he placed the order on Tuesday and today is Thursday.  Oh well, no matter.  As long as he placed the order that’s all I care about.

I’m hoping that I get it soon though because I’m having real pain shooting down into my thigh from my crotch area.  I need that seat stat.

Edit: I got my confirmation email from USPS that my package will be shipped out today but there is no tracking since the guy from that website used the USPS website to print out the shipping label.  So technically he still has the seat until the post office picks it up from him.  When they pick it up then I will be able to track it to see what day it will come.

I’m really super excited lol.

Google Chrome OS?!?!

On By Michel McDonaldIn Computer, CR-48, Google ChromeLeave a comment

This is coming straight from the Google blog…

Official Google Blog: Introducing the Google Chrome OS

Wow.  That’s so cool.  This is going to be neat to be able to turn your computer on and once it gets past all those tests that you see, you know, where it shows how much memory you have, then all of a sudden you’ve got desktop.  No more waiting for the Windows screen that shows that animated bar at the bottom of the screen.  Instead you are instantly taken right to your desktop so you can immediately start browsing the web.

The only thing that concerns me is if this will allow me to install my Windows programs like the Sims, EverQuest, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Adobe Premiere Elements, Autodesk 3DS Max 2008, my webcam software, my mp3 player software etc.  And will it allow my hardware like my webcam and my Kodak printer?

One of the things that I really look forward to is if this will allow me to play my old Win 98 games that Win XP won’t let me run.  I just hope that this isn’t something like Mac and Linux where you have to buy the Google OS software only which will probably only be a few programs at first and will always only have 10% of the software compared to the 100% that Windows offers.  That’s always been an issue and why I won’t ever have a Mac or Linux again because I want to be able to buy whatever program I want.  It’s really depressing when you go to buy software and the aisle for that OS is just a shelf while the rest of the store is for Windows.

Of course I’ll have to wait until the 2nd half of 2010 for this to become available so I look forward to all of the blogs and pictures and possibly videos showing how well it is on Netbooks.

Edit 2011-02-15: I have been using Google Chrome OS CR-48 since mid December and it does not allow me to install anything and it does in fact have apps that you can install from the Google Chrome store.  They apps install a link to your desktop which are basically just a link to a website.  There are also tons of extensions that you can use and it does work with my printer through the cloud.  No I can’t play those games I listed above but there are other games I can play that are web-based.

I would not want this to be my desktop, it works great as a netbook only in my opinion.  You would still need your regular desktop for your other programs and MMO games.

New Purpose for Stakes

On By Michel McDonaldIn craftsLeave a comment

Years ago we bought these stakes from the garden section of the local hardware store.  No, we don’t have a vampire problem.  We were putting grass seeds on the grass to grow new grass and to prevents people from walking all over the new grass we put the stakes in the ground and used this green tape on the stakes.  Although, that didn’t do much good, people broke the green tape and walked on our lawn anyway.

We still have all these stakes though and don’t really know what to do with them so they just sit on the patio collecting dust.  I just got an idea today…

I’m going to take the sander and sand the sides of them then use those zig zag type of metal nail things that you hammer into 1 piece of wood on the side then you hammer another piece of wood onto the other side of the zig zag nail to join the 2 pieces of wood.  I’m going to put some wood glue in there and attach maybe 5 of the stakes together then press them tight and let the pieces dry.  I’m going to do this with several of the stakes so I have more than just 1 or a few pieces.  I’m going to keep 1 stake for every board that I make so I can use them to stake the board into the ground.

Why would I need to stake boards into the ground?  Because I’m thinking that maybe I can use these boards for wood burning projects.  I can wood burn patterns for gardens as gifts for Christmas.  I think it will be neat.  I could burn maybe a picture of fairies sitting on or flying around mushrooms or maybe some gnomes or something lol.  I think it’s a neat idea and it gives me free wood to burn on since we already have the wood lol.

Busy Body Wal-Mart Employee

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

We went to Wal-Mart the other day so I could buy some tubes for my bike and when I got to the register this cashier was bitching to us about how these people bought some soda pop using an EBT card.  EBT is like food stamps but in the form of a debit card.

What she said was she told the person buying soda “I don’t think that’s right that you are buying soda using this card because it has no nutritional value.  You should be buying food with that, not soda”.  While I agree with her that they should be using that money to buy things like bread, dairy, cereals, meat etc, it’s not her place as a cashier to tell a customer that she doesn’t think that it’s right that they are buying soda.

It’s really none of her business.  Her argument was that food stamp money comes out of her taxes so in a way it kind of is her business but on the other hand she has no right telling that to the customer as an employee of Wal-Mart.  And… I don’t want to hear that.  I don’t want to go to a cashier and hear them bitching about the previous customer.  Again, I agree with her but I don’t want to hear it.  Now if she was off duty and at home then sure, go ahead and bitch about it to your friends and family but don’t take it out on the customers.

Her argument was that she can’t afford to buy a bottle of water and these people are using her tax dollars to buy soda.  First off, she has no right buying water that is free.  All she has to do is bring a bottle with her to work, like a sports bottle or something, and then fill it up with the water cooler or drinking fountain.  Or fill it up at home with your Brita filter and bring it with you, bring a couple of bottles with you in your purse and keep them in your locker.  Don’t keep buying bottled water.  That’s not very green.  Me personally, I fill up those 3 gallon bottles, like the sparkletts or arrowhead bottle and I have a ceramic bottle holder with a spout that I use to drink my water.  Now that’s green.