Month: November 2010

I Can Finally Reformat My Computer Soon

On By Michel McDonaldIn Computer, TechLeave a comment

I bought my new DVD burner earlier this week and it arrived yesterday. I was looking at it while it was still in it’s OEM packaging and I looked at the back and all of a sudden got very upset. I bought the wrong one.

I should have known to check whether I was buying IDE or SATA but I guess it’s been too many years since I built a computer or even bought computer parts that I just forgot to pay attention to that kind of thing.

I went into a complete panic attack. Things started going through my head like “I can’t return this, they have a no return policy on OEM” and “I wonder if I can sell this on Yardsellr” and “Well, I hope someone needs a new DVD burner for Christmas.”

Then it came to me. My motherboard is from 2007, it has SATA on it. So I went to the closet and dug out the box for the motherboard, found it, opened it and the first thing I see are the SATA cables. WHEW!

I turned off my computer, unplugged everything, installed it and turned the computer on. Instead of installing the DVD burner, my stupid webcam decides it needs to be installed. After about 20 minutes of looking for the drivers, I decide I don’t have time for this so I unplug the webcam and start installing the DVD driver and software.

So far I have burned 4 dvd’s and gotten at least 16GB off my computer and deleted it all so I wouldn’t re-burn things. I still have a ton of other things to burn today, maybe another 4 dvd’s worth, who knows. I got a lot of crap on my computer.

One thing that I did notice is the whole Smart Erase thing, it only works on DVD+/-RW discs. It doesn’t work on DVD+/-R. So that was disappointing. I said I must be behind the times but I guess I was wrong because my old dvd burner did that but you know, only with RW. I just thought they must’ve upgraded their technology to erase dvd-r’s.

I’m going to Chips cousins “Celebration of Life” in a couple of hours. Darrin bought me a new dress shirt since the neck of all of his are too small for my thick neck. So I better get ready now just in case I get picked up too early. I wouldn’t want to be sitting in my PJ’s when the doorbell rings.

Save the Dollar Menu

On By Michel McDonaldIn FoodLeave a comment

It has recently come to my attention (via a comment in my KFC Dollar Menu post) that there is a website out there claiming the dollar menu is going away. ”Save the Dollar Menu!” has names, addresses and phone numbers of McDonald’s executives. You can call them and beg them to keep the dollar menu.

After a little research, I have found out that this is false information. The “Dollar Menu” is not going anywhere.

I came across a news article in the Media Post news website saying McDonald’s Considers ‘Tweaking’ Dollar Menu. The problem is with the increasing prices of food ingredients, they are going to lose money so they will probably raise the price of everything in the dollar menu but they aren’t getting rid of it entirely. In fact, they are even keeping the name “Dollar Menu” even though it’s going to be more than $1.

I know I’m gonna get comments from people saying that I’m advocating junk food and I’m a fat slob blah blah blah. Well, I’m not. I’m just setting the record straight.

I think there is a pro and a con to having the dollar menu. Wanna hear them? Of course you don’t but I’m gonna tell you anyway.

Pro: Groceries are very expensive. Try going to the grocery store and buying all the ingredients just to make 1 double cheeseburger or 1 chicken sandwich. It’s expensive! If you go to McDonald’s it’s only $1. That’s what I like about the Dollar Menu, it’s inexpensive and very convenient. You don’t have to buy the ingredients for many and you don’t even have to dirty any dishes in the process. It saves time and money.

Con: The problem with the dollar menu is that people take advantage of it and end up overeating because it’s so cheap. You can buy more than just 1 double cheeseburger or chicken sandwich, you can buy 10 if you like and sit there in your car and binge on fast food. Then you get fatter and fatter. That’s a reason people are so fat but not the only reason but it’s a reason.

You can blame McDonald’s for getting fat but the only real person to blame is yourself. You don’t have to order more than 1 burger you know. The dollar menu isn’t a challenge, it’s there to help people who can’t afford to pay $4 for everything else in their menu.

So the dollar menu isn’t going anywhere any time soon. There’s no reason to panic people with stupid websites like the “Save the Dollar Menu!” website. I’m sure there are better things to do with your time than to put people in a mass fast food panic.

Lite-On Smart Erase Technology

On By Michel McDonaldIn Computer, TechLeave a comment

Yesterday I bought a brand new dvd burner to replace the one in my tower that doesn’t work anymore. I was looking at it at the Tiger Direct website and I noticed something that slipped by before. Smart Erase.

I guess I’m behind the times once again because this is not something I’ve ever heard of. I don’t have to explain what it means for you folk that are current with technology but for those of us who have been hiding in a shell for god knows how long, I will try to explain it as best as I can.

Say you have burned some highly classified information onto a disc and you are afraid that someone might find it and use it against you. Well, if that is the case then you live a very dangerous life my friend. For those of you who just want to delete files that are obsolete and you don’t want to keep the discs but you don’t want anyone else to access them either then this is for you.

You put the disc into the drive, select quick or full erase and it makes the disc totally unreadable. Quick erase is fast and it makes the disc unreadable but it doesn’t eradicate 100% of the data. If you are that paranoid then use Full erase. It takes a lot longer to completely erase a disc but for you it’s worth the time.

How it will work for me is when I do my dvd backups for reformatting my hard drive, when I’ve put all the backups back on my computer then I can erase the discs and toss them out. I’ve made backups for reformatting in the past but ended up either keeping the discs out of fear that someone might find them or breaking them and risk cutting myself. This will make it easier to just toss them afterwards.

I’m glad that I found that in the description for my new DVD burner. I just wish I were more informed than I am about new technology. I guess since I stopped reading PC World magazine years ago I stopped learning about all the cool new things available. But, I have PC Magazine now on my Nook so that will keep me better informed. Maybe.

UPDATE: When I wrote this I was under the impression it worked on DVD+/-r’s but it doesn’t.  So if you use a RW disc then there is no reason to “toss it out” as I said 2 paragraphs ago.

New DVD Burner

On By Michel McDonaldIn Computer, TechLeave a comment

Well I finally did it. I finally bought a new DVD burner. I don’t know what happened to mine but it won’t even read discs let alone burn them anymore.

The DVD burner that I have is a Lite-on lightscribe DVD burner that I bought in January 2007. After only a couple of years it decided that it wasn’t going to open easily anymore. When you press the button it makes these clicking sounds but doesn’t open. You had to keep pressing the button until it would open.

Eventually it got so bad that you’d have to put a paperclip into the little hole that allows you to force the door to open. Now, that doesn’t even open it anymore.

I don’t care about burning music or whatever, I just want to back up my files so that I can reformat my hard drive. My computer is so slow because of all the crap that I download. I’ve deleted more than half of what I’ve downloaded only because I knew I wouldn’t be able to back it up but that doesn’t help me if I can’t burn the rest of the stuff onto discs.

My DVD burner that is in there now was $50 at TigerDirect.com back in 2007 and I checked the computer store in town and they sell the same one for $46 and I went to TigerDirect.com again and they sell the same one for $19.99 now. I thought, I’d much rather spend $25 (with shipping) and wait until the end of the week for it rather than spend double and get it today.

So hopefully by the weekend my computer won’t be so slow. I can finally burn the crap I’ve been downloading as well as all of my documents and images and start fresh with a new Windows installation.

About friggin time!

In Memory of Vedra Jean Luttrell

On By Michel McDonaldIn Friends and Family, PeopleLeave a comment

We have recently suffered the loss of a great friend and family member; Chips cousin has unexpectedly and wrongfully passed away at the age of 62.

I first met Vedra in the mid 90’s when Darrin and I would travel from Hollywood to Bakersfield to visit his mom for Mother’s Day. Every year Vedra would send a flier in the mail telling us about the family reunion and pot luck in the park and it was something that I always looked forward to, not just for the good food but to see her since we clicked so well.

We moved to Bakersfield in 2000 so we were able to see her more than just once a year but little did I know, she only lived 2 blocks from us.  When I learned that she lived so close, we started to see her more often and we met her life partner Venda.  Next thing you know, we’re all trading birthday gifts with each other.

The circumstances with which Vedra has left this world is very painful and I will not go into any details as I would like this to be a celebration of her life but let’s never forget the tragedy for why she is not with us today.

There won’t be a funeral but there will be a celebration of life party at one of Vedras sisters house in mid November.  I like celebration of life parties because you aren’t just mourning her death but also celebrating her life.  I have been to 3 such parties in my life and it’s a better way to say goodbye with a smile and a tear at the same time.

We will miss you and never forget you Vedra.

Scrubbing Bubbles Power Sprayer

On By Michel McDonaldIn Products I LikeLeave a comment

Scrubbing Bubbles has really gotten my attention with this miracle product. I know it as the Scrubbing Bubbles continuous sprayer but it’s really known for it’s “extend-a-clean” feature.

Look, I don’t care how long it keeps its surface clean, I’m just impressed that it cleaned my impossible grout. Ever since we moved into Chips moms house in 2004 I have been struggling to find a grout cleaner that works but have been very unsuccessful.

I have tried countless products (which I can’t even think of their names right now) along with elbow grease and a good strong scrub brush and have had no luck. That is until tonight.

I was doing the dishes and I looked into the empty drain board and saw how dirty it was. This happens every so often where the bottom of the silverware part gets all orange and same with the bottom part of the thing and you spray cleaner on it and scrub it with all you’ve got but it just doesn’t come as clean as you would like.  It’s the best you can do so you either live with it or toss it and buy a new one.

I thought, I have this Scrubbing Bubbles continuous sprayer, I wonder… I sprayed it on and went in the bedroom for a few minutes. Went back in there and got a clean wash cloth and started wiping it off. I figured I would have to use the scrubber but I thought, let’s see where this wash cloth takes me. It wiped away as if I was wiping a fresh spill off the counter.

So as I was doing the dishes I thought, I wonder if it will work on the grout on the counters… hmmm let’s see. The grout is really bad, almost black and it looks terrible. Recently I took a picture for a paid blog post for ampm secret menu of a sandwich I created on that counter. I was mortified at it but it was too late, I had already eaten the sandwich by the time I uploaded the picture to the computer. Here it is.

As you can see on the left, the tiles are really bad but on the right they are really clean. I wish that I had known how good this scrubbing bubbles cleaner was BEFORE I took that picture which went on the Facebook page for ampm lol. I was mortified before but now I’m double mortified that it could have been prevented.

Oh well, there’s nothing I can do about it now. You can be damn sure that this is going to be my mission tomorrow, to get the rest of the grout on all the counters this clean.

The Situation With My Bike

On By Michel McDonaldIn Cycling, ExerciseLeave a comment

A couple of months ago my bike bit the dust. Well, the back wheel did. What happened was, I rode it to the store and all was ok, it started wobbling but not enough for me to stop and take notice. When I left the store, I unlocked my bike, put the groceries in the bag on the back rack and left. That’s when it took a turn for the worst. Get it? It’s a wheel… it took a “turn”… no?

Anyway, as I was leaving the space that I locked it up at, I got on it and started riding away. It was wobbling something terrible and I got off of it but couldn’t see anything wrong. I got back on it and continued to ride. All of a sudden something terrible happened and I had to get off the bike.

The sun was going down so it was hard to see what was wrong but I did notice that the long screw that holds the wheel onto the bike in the middle had unscrewed all the way over on the left side. The nuts on the right side were missing and so was everything else that was supposed to be in there. I didn’t see anything on the ground so I don’t know when that happened.

I walked the bike home which was a huge mistake, I should have gone across the street from where I was to use Chips cousins phone to have him come get me and the bike because walking it home ruined the back wheel.

The end of the long screw was digging into the middle of the wheel which screwed it up so much that the bike store told me that they can’t fix my wheel, I’d have to buy a new one which is $39.95 plus tax plus $7 to install.

I don’t know if by install they mean they will take the gears (cassette?) off my old wheel and put them on the new wheel or if he means that the new wheel has all the gears on it and installing means placing it on my bike frame. All I know is if it’s the latter, why should I pay someone $7 to do something that I can do for free.

I have put so much money into this mountain bike of mine, I just can’t keep sinking more and more money into it. The only original thing that is left on it is the frame and the chain. Everything else has been replaced.

When I had my first accident on the Oak st. bridge, I had to replace the handlebar stem and a new front wheel. I had to replace the pedals because one of them was broken because it was cheap plastic. My seat was making me impotent so I had to buy an ergo seat which gave me back problems and shoulder pain that wouldn’t go away for 8 months which is why I had to replace the handlebars with beach cruiser handlebars. My front tire got a bubble in it and broke the wiring for my bike computer so I had to buy a new computer and new tires.

I’m just going to get the new wheel and get it over with. I need my bike back for going to doctors appointments. I refuse to take the bus to visit the doctor with lunatics getting in my face at the bus station downtown. I also need it for the daily trip to the grocery store and so I can get back on the bike trail and lose this weight.

Another Diet

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, Exercise, Food, HealthLeave a comment

I went to the doctor’s office yesterday for my regular visit and found out how much weight I have gained. Over 20lbs.

Here’s the story for those who aren’t familiar. I was diagnosed with diabetes earlier this year when I weighed 252lbs. I went on a diet and went down to 215lbs.

Our diet wasn’t very inventive but it was good enough for me since it had protein, grains and vegetables. I had cut out all breads from our diets (mine and Chips) and my diet gave me so much energy that I was always cleaning.

One night Darrin said to me that he didn’t want to eat this anymore, you’re working too hard and it makes me feel bad. Well, I had lost 37lbs and by telling me that, he discouraged me. He started asking for pasta and for other things and next thing you know, he’s buying cookies and donuts.

I started gaining weight again and before I knew it I was losing all of my energy and becoming lazy again. Now, I’m 239 according to the doctor’s office. The doctor said 20lbs but that’s according to where it says 218 in my chart.

What happened was, I was 218 then went to the doctors then lost more weight and before my next visit I had already gone back up to 218 because of Darrin not wanting to continue the diet. Then I just kept gaining more and more weight.

So now that he has a job, he can’t tell me what I can make for him for dinner or to not clean and I’m going to tell him flat-out that he needs to just let me do what I’m gonna do to help us lose weight. I can’t keep up with this yo-yo dieting. I have to lose this weight.

I’ve already started cooking vegetables for dinner again so when Darrin comes home from work he has a balanced dinner to eat before he collapses on the couch for the evening. I’m going to get off my M&M’s binge and stop eating sugar and breads altogether again. I can do this, I know I can.

I have a feeling I will be hosting Thanksgiving this year which means I gotta get this house clean lol. In order to do that, I need to eat balanced meals to give me the energy. I just drank a Red Bull to give me the energy to mop the kitchen floor which takes all of about 10 minutes to do lol.

You know your energy levels are at 0 when you can’t even do the simplest chores such as mopping the floor. I seriously don’t know how I cleaned the bathroom and living room last week.

If I am hosting Thanksgiving this year then I have a lot of work to do to get this house up to snuff. I’m sure I can do it all by myself… UGH! I’m gonna need a LOT of Red Bull. I wish I had the money to hire a housekeeper a couple of days before they arrive to make damn sure this house is spic n span.

Drunk Bus Station People

On By Michel McDonaldIn Doctor, Health, PeopleLeave a comment

Since Darrin is working now and my bicycle is missing a wheel, I have to take the bus to my doctors appointments and anywhere else that is too far to walk. I don’t mind taking the bus, in fact, I recommend it to anyone because it’s green.

Unfortunately, our city has a station in Downtown Bakersfield where all the busses come.  If you have to transfer then you just go downtown and walk over to your next bus. If it’s there great, if not wait.

So I took the bus to my doctor’s appointment, all is well with bus travel. I leave and have to go to the bus station to transfer to the 2. It’s not there so I have to wait.

I’m sitting in one of the seats waiting and the number 2 (going in the opposite direction that I need to go) comes and people get off. I hear a guy taking his bike off the bike rack in the front and turn around and look at how nice his bike is and watch him struggle to put the rack up.

Out of nowhere, another guys face is literally 1 inch away from my face. He said “why were you looking at me just now?” and I could smell the beer on his breath. “I wasn’t looking at you, I was looking at the guy taking his bike off the rack” as if I owe him an explanation.

He backs away and sits across from me, staring at me.

Uncomfortable, I get up and walk 40 feet away. I’m staring off into the distance so that it doesn’t appear that I’m looking at anyone or anything in particular. I don’t want to get accused of looking at anyone again.

I feel like I’m being watched and I turn around and he’s sitting down 2 feet behind me.

Are you serious?

He comes up to me, again 1 inch from my face but whispers into my ear “I bet you watch anus videos all day long, don’t you?” I smell the beer on his breath and it is not pleasant.

“Uh, no, I don’t think so” I say to him with a dirty look on my face. Trying to convey to him that he has the wrong impression of me and hoping he’ll leave me alone.

I’m trying not to look at him, not even for a second and he tries to start a conversation with me but I’m giving him 1 word answers, trying to let him know that I am uninterested in talking to him.

He asks if I have a badge.  Why are people always asking me if I’m a cop?  I mean seriously!  Does a Lego Indiana Jones t-shirt scream cop?  No, it screams video game geek.  I tell him “I don’t have a badge, if I did have a badge it would say ‘The Nerd Herd’” (you know from Chuck) and he laughed and said “well at least your honest.”

He’s asking me questions and finally I said “Look, I don’t want to get into a fight with you, I just want to go home” but apparently that was the wrong thing to say because now he starts laughing as if I just told the funniest joke. “You think you can take me HAHAHAHA that is so funny because I will kick your ass so hard….”

I just walked away. I figured, he’s not going to just let me walk away and wait for my bus, no he’s going to stalk me until my bus comes. And for all I know he might get on the bus and follow me home. Then he would know where I live. I can’t have that. So I left.

I left the bus station altogether. I just kept walking until I got to the corner that City Hall is on right next to the police station. Not to go make a complaint, the bus stops there.

I didn’t have to wait long but if he were on that bus I would’ve hoofed it all the way to the house which is about 25 blocks. My leg is still injured and walking to that bus stop which was about 5 blocks was causing a lot of pain but I would rather suffer a bit of leg pain to avoid that guy knowing where I live.

What makes people do things like that? I looked at the time on my cell phone when he was harassing me and it was only 11am and he’s already piss drunk. I don’t understand alcoholism.

First of all, I don’t know if he was hitting on me or if he was trying to find a gay person to beat up. You can never tell anymore what someones motives are. He didn’t look like a typical gay person, he looked like a typical red neck which Bakersfield is most known for.

And if he was gay trying to get a piece of this action (yeah right, that’s hilarious) why wasn’t he a little nicer about it? I mean seriously, you catch more flies with honey that with vinegar.

Anyway, I NEED to either get my bike fixed or get a new bike before my next appointment because I am NOT taking the bus again. Period! End of discussion.

Kongregate With Me

On By Michel McDonaldIn GamesLeave a comment

Are you a big Game Stop fan?  Did you know that they have a website where you can play free video games?  It’s called Kongregate and they have thousands and thousands of games that you can play.

I’m hooked on this one game called Cursed Treasure: Don’t Touch My Gems.  It has a tutorial so you can figure out how to play it.

The object of this game is to keep your gems from being touched.  Unfortunately, you can’t prevent them from being picked up and taken away at first but as you gain level and points you will gain abilities which makes killing the enemy easier.

You have 3 types of terrain and 3 types of towers.  You have to place the green huts on the green grass, those shoot arrows.  Then place the ice towers on the snow, those shoot ice.  Then finally there are the lava/fire towers that you place on the rock, guess what those shoot.

There are 15 levels and you get trophies for playing it.  Your first trophy is for slaying 200 enemies, 2nd for getting to level 10, 3rd for completing 10 missions and the 4th one is for getting “brilliant” on all 15 levels.  That last one is difficult but easy as pie once you have all your abilities.

In each mission, if even 1 gem leaves the mission or if you still have at least 1 gem in the cave then you get a “good” but if all gems are gone you lose.  If even 1 gem gets touched but no gems leave the game you get an “excellent” but if not one gem has been touched at all by anyone, not even a champion, then you get a “brilliant”.

So far, I am level 15, I have completed 12 levels with “good” but got levels 1-5 to “brilliant”.  I have 3 more levels to get to “good” then I can go back to levels 5-15 over and over again until each of them have a “brilliant”.

What do I get out of it?  Heck if I know.  It’s fun to play though.  I really wish this game was on my PSP.  Hopefully when I finish playing this one I might be interested in playing another game.

Oh and this game is the main reason I haven’t been blogging or reading lately lol.