Month: July 2011

My Faster Bike Rides and New Goals

On By Michel McDonaldIn Bike, Cycling, Exercise6 Comments

I was riding my bicycle this morning and was paying close attention to my average speed.  Lately it has been 11.5 mph give or take.  Today it was 12.5 mph.  That meant that I got home 30 minutes earlier than I usually do.  Riding faster doesn’t just mean that I will exercise faster, it also means I will burn more calories every time I ride.

I have these index cards which I used to use to keep track of my bike riding.  I would write it out so I had a hard copy because digital seems to get deleted a lot.  I first started writing it down on November 3rd 2008.  My average speed was 10 mph and I only rode for 38 minutes burning 345 calories.  Gradually over time I can see that my speed goes up to 10.7, 10.9, 11.1 etc.

My last entry was when I hurt my shoulder and I stopped riding, that was July 20th 2009.  My average speed was 14.0 mph.  That of course was doing 23 miles in 1 hour and 38 minutes.  Of course I was probably gone from the house for 2 hours with breaks but I don’t seem to recall.  I also see that I started riding in October 2009, I only got 3 bike rides logged then stopped, my shoulder was still in a lot of pain but I wanted to get exercise.  Then my shoulder got better and I started riding again and had 2 entries in July 2010 for 23 miles each but the next day after my 2nd bike ride my back wheel broke and the log entries end right there.  Of course I wasn’t used to riding anymore so my average speed was only 11.9 and 11.0.

I will add all of those old logs to my Bike page soon.

Today my average speed was 12.5 mph which has gone up from 11.2 since July 6th, 2 weeks ago when I started logging my cycling times again.  I had been riding since early June but couldn’t get my bicycle computer to work since I put the tire on backwards which meant the magnet was on the wrong side.  Oopsie.

I think that I am progressing very well and I’m sure that it won’t be too far off when I’m going 14 mph again, or even 15 mph.  The riding times will get shorter even though I will still be doing the same 23 mile route.  If that becomes the case then I will step it up and continue on to Hart Park.  That will add 10 miles to my route, 5 miles each way.  I have mapped it out:

That start point (A) is my halfway point where I stop riding and rest for a few minutes so this still might be a resting point before I continue on to Hart Park.  Once I get used to the ride then I will probably just continue on until I get to Hart Park and rest there.

Of course I’m probably talking many months before I’m in enough shape to do it but I will eventually do it.  When my average speed gets up to 15 or 16 mph then I will definitely do it.  In fact, I was ready to start doing it just before I had to stop riding because of my shoulder in July 2009.  I made a video and put it on YouTube that showed my bike ride from where I get on the bike path over on Truxton all the way to Manor St. and made a sequel from Manor all the way to China Grade Loop.  I wanted to do a 3rd video from China Grade Loop to Hart Park but… my shoulder and all.  So that never happened.

My goal now is to continue as I am now (training) until I am not in as much pain from the bike ride so that I may ride to Hart Park.  The day that I plan on that is the day I will bring my video camera with me to film it.  I know it’s boring to most people but it is an achievement to me and I’m sure to others.

I can’t wait to see how many calories I will burn from riding 33 miles every day.  The fat will just melt off, I hope lol.

My So-Called “Fake” Blog from Reviewme

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily Blog2 Comments

I have been using 3 specific websites to get paid to blog with over the last couple of years and have made quite a bit of penny from it.  I’ve been broke lately and haven’t gotten as many paid blog offers as I used to so I thought I would go searching for some more websites to sign up with to make more money.  Times are tough and you do what you have to do right?

So I found this website on the Google search engine – 26 Sites That Pay You to Blog

I am looking at the list and thinking, wow, I had no idea about any of these sites.  So I start with number 1 and sign up, number 2 and number 3.  It gets boring having to fill out so many forms so I figure 3 is enough for today.  I’ll see what happens with these 3 for now and if I don’t get as many offers as I had hoped for then I will sign up for more later.

One of the sites that I signed up for called Reviewme sends me a rejection email.  I’m ok with a rejection email as long as it’s a legitimate reason for rejecting me.  These are their reasons for rejection:

– The website is a suspected fake.
– The website does not have enough link popularity.
– The website does not have enough traffic.

Fake?  Seriously?  I can see the link popularity or the traffic issue but fake?  Do they seriously think that I would create a fake website to sign up for theirs?  Really?

I bought this domain name sometime in 2002, the name Xanapus is based on a character that I played in the MMORPG game “EverQuest”.  It was a very odd name which is what attracted me to it.  I liked it and I’ve been using it all over the internet ever since to sign up for websites.  I didn’t start blogging with it until around 2007.  I have spent many hours every day over the last 9 years on this website and 4 years on this blog and to have them tell me it’s a suspected fake is just insulting.

I emailed them telling them this:

“You think my website is a fake?  I have had this website since I believe 2002.  It is my own personal website.  I started blogging in 2007.  I have spent many hours of my life every day over the last 5 years on my blog and to have it called a fake is an insult to me personally.  Thank you, I now have a new blog post to write about.”

I was so mad that I forgot that it had only been 4 years since I’ve been blogging but whatever.  This is their response to me:

“When reading the below e-mail, it states these are the most popular reasons for rejection, not the reason/s it was rejected.  I would suspect the traffic was lacking and that is why it was rejected.”

Whatever reviewme.com, screw you! There are 25 more websites in that list that I can sign up with to make money to feed my family with.  Yes, 2 dudes and a dog is a family to me.

Our Trip to San Diego

On By Michel McDonaldIn Friends and FamilyLeave a comment

We went to San Diego this weekend to celebrate Chips brothers 50 year anniversary with his wife.  We left Bakersfield on Friday before lunch time, got gas, got food, then got more gas from the food then drove down to San Diego.

Because the I-405 was closed all weekend, the I-5 was congested more than usual.  It’s normally always congested due to LA traffic but it was even more so this time so it took us about 7 hours to get there.

The night we arrived there was nothing to do but talk and reconnect with who was there for a couple of hours before everyone went to bed.  We all got up at 6am and had breakfast before setting everything up for the party.

Since they live on 1 acre of land there was a lot of work to do.  There was setting up tables on the front lawn and setting the tables with the champagne glasses (for Martinelli’s hehe) and the plastic silverware that actually looked silver but felt plastic.  I had all the plates on the table put down before being told it was buffet style, everyone had to grab their plate at the food table.  Oopsie.  No big deal getting the plates stacked up again.

There were candle centerpieces which weren’t really lit up since the sun didn’t go down until after the dinner was all eaten.  There were Chinese lanterns with battery-powered lights in them.  There were 3 large Styrofoam boards with pictures stapled to them which were all screwed to the garage door.  The buffet table had tons of great food to eat.  It was a great party.

They have this block of cement on the side of the house that is meant for a flat even surface for like a picnic table for summer BBQ’s but it’s big enough to use as a dance floor so they rented a wooden floor to put on top of it.  It was really cool and the couple had their first dance on it, actually they shared 2 dances before anyone else came to dance on it.  At first there weren’t anyone on it but eventually there were many people on it.

I don’t dance.  Plain and simple.  In order for me to dance I must have 1 thing, Rhythm, which I don’t have.  I was being dragged to the dance floor and was like whoa, hey no I uh, I don’t think so.  Of course that made her a tad upset and disgusted with me but whatever.  I don’t dance, especially with girls lol.

I sat on the bench near the dance floor watching and people were telling me to come dance and I had to decline.  No means no people!  I did eventually do the cabbage patch in my seat which is about the best I can do.  I’m not a complete fuddy duddy.

The party was very fun and even though I was a bit antisocial because I didn’t really know 85% of the people there I still had a good time.

The cake that you see in the image above was made by one of the family members who is a baker.  She used fondant which I have never actually had before.  I’ve seen them using it on all of those cake shows on tv but I’ve never actually tasted it before.  My first thought was, boy this stuff is hard.  It was very difficult for the person who was cutting the cake to cut it because of how hard the fondant was.  I mean she was having a heck of a time.  I think she needed a serrated edged knife like a steak knife to cut it.

I did like the fondant though, it wasn’t too sweet, although Darrin would disagree with me on that one because he said it was too sweet, then again everything is too sweet for him.  The cake was good too, I don’t know what was inside of it but it had a texture of like pudding in the middle.

I got lots of pictures and I got a few things on video which were very dark since there wasn’t a lot of lighting out there so I’ll have to fix all that in editing on my desktop.  I would like to get other people’s pictures and make it into a slide show with some music and add the videos into the slide show then put it on a DVD and send it to them.  They can add that to their photo album.

I’m glad we went there to share their happy day with them.  I applaud people who have shared 50 long years together.  It’s very rare to find a couple who can last more than a few years, let alone 50.  So that’s pretty cool.

We were given an alternate route to go home which was a really good route too.  We didn’t have to stop once.  I mean, besides stopping at the gas station and jack in the box for lunch.  The traffic wasn’t at a stand still which is what it usually is on the I-5.  We got home 1 hour earlier than we would have if we had gone the way we came.  I’ll definitely have to keep those directions for future visits.

Edit: I don’t know why I said “40” in the first paragraph, it was their 50 year anniversary.

Google Plus

On By Michel McDonaldIn Social Network1 Comment

Do we have enough social networking websites or are there not enough?  It all started with MySpace, not everyone was on board with it at first but people started flocking to it when they found out how cool it was.  Then Facebook came along and proved that it was better and it literally killed MySpace which people stopped using.

Google Plus is one of the newest social networking websites and it doesn’t seem like anyone really wants to give it a chance because they don’t really want to leave Facebook.  I think they think that they can only do one social network and that’s it but that’s simply not true.  You don’t have to limit yourself to one.  Heck, I should know because I’m using Twitter and Facebook every day and now I have added Google Plus.

What I like about Google Plus is the circles feature.  You can put certain people in your circles and when have friends and family who have such different interests as I do, you need to segregate them into those groups when you post the crap that I do.

Some of my friends and family love my sick sense of humor, while others think I’m disturbed and have even threatened to block me so they don’t see the things that I post.  I also don’t want everyone to see my posts from my blog which is why I have created a Facebook fan page and only invited those whom I want to read my blog to like the fan page so the others don’t see it.  With circles you can post whatever you want and you can choose which circles get to see it and which circles can’t.  That is what I’ve been looking for.

There is another feature which I absolutely love.  You can start a hangout, which is a cool new webcam tool, and invite people to join you.  It’s not just a video conference tool for 1 on 1, it’s a group video conference so you can invite as many people as you want.  I’m sure there is a limit, I don’t know what it is though.

When you are in a hangout, it adds a post on your wall saying that you are hanging out with 1 or 2 people or whatever the number is.  There is a button that says “join this hangout” so other people can join without inviting them.  I’m pretty sure that the only people in the circle you invited when you started the hangout can see that invitation though.

What’s great about the hangout is that when someone starts talking, the video focuses on them.  When someone else starts talking, it automatically switches to that person.  If you click someones video then you can’t get out of that auto switching for some reason and you have to leave the hangout and come back to allow the auto switching to continue.  Also, sometimes someones video will freeze and the only way for that to fix is for that person to exit and come back.  Other than those 2 issues it’s perfect.

I love the hangouts because I think that will be a great way to have a family reunion with family members you haven’t seen in a long time.  Or you can have your book club join via hangout.  Or maybe you just want to chat with a bunch of people.  Whatever the reason is, it’s a very cool tool.

I think that Google Plus will eventually catch on.  It doesn’t have games like Facebook does but given time I’m sure it will eventually.  I don’t care about games as much as I care about connecting with people.  At least that’s how I use social networking websites anyway.

I personally hope that it catches on because I really like the circles and hangout feature.  I’ve been telling people about it but so far I only have a few friends.  Hopefully they will come over and allow me to segregate them in my wall posts (LOL) and hang out with me in a group video chat.

Join me in Google+  If you can’t get in, ask me for an invitation via Twitter @xanapus.

True Blood Season 4

On By Michel McDonaldIn True Blood2 Comments

I have been watching True Blood since the very first season in 2008.  Let’s just say that any tv show with anything that is supernatural is my cup of tea.  Well, this isn’t just any supernatural show to me, it’s an obsession.

I didn’t actually start reading the books until last year at the end of the 3rd season because I couldn’t afford to spend $60 on the book set at the book store.  It just so happened that a couple of months later I bought a Nook so I was able to buy the ebooks 1 at a time.  They were oddly still $60 for ebooks 1-8 (although I’m sure they’ve gone up by now) but I could still only afford one at a time.

I read the first one and was shocked at how different it was from the first season but kinda glad in a way because it was giving me an alternative to the story.  There were some characters and storyline that the show didn’t have and vice versa.  It was like I was watching one show while reading about an alternate dimension of the same show.

Then I read the 2nd, then the 3rd and the 4th and so on.  Well, this is the 4th season and now that I’ve already read the 4th book and I’ve seen the first few episodes, the feeling that I’m having about that alternate world has totally changed for some reason.  Now I’m thinking, hey, that person isn’t supposed to be dead, they were in the 6th book.  It’s just like how Lafayette died at the end of the first book but they kept him in the show, well, there are people being killed off who were supposed to still live in future seasons.  I wonder how they will get around all of that.

I’ve been asked if I like this new season because of how Jason is being bitten by Crystal and her fiance/brother/cousin Felton.  Well, that happened in the book.  The same with Eric losing his memory, or having them taken away from him by witches.  Those are the 2 parts of the story that were supposed to happen.

The thing with Tara sort of shocked me but it wasn’t a bad thing.  I just wasn’t expecting that to happen.

Andy being addicted to “V” really threw me for a loop.  I remember at the end of the 3rd season when he looked at the blood in the bottles and then put them away again in a hurry but I never expected him to become such an addict.

Jason becoming a cop was totally unexpected for some reason but he looks good in a cop uniform.

Bill becoming King of Louisiana and how he became the King really shocked me.  In the books he’s not the King because Sophie Anne is still the Queen but he is an authority figure, don’t ask me to remember what he does lol.

Then finally, the whole 12 1/2 month passing was kinda strange and Eric buying Sookies house.  That was totally unexpected.

Well, no matter how many changes they make, I will still be obsessed with the show and I will continue to read the books and watch future seasons.  When I am loyal to a show, I will continue to watch no matter what curve balls they throw at me.  In fact, it’s the curve balls that keep me watching so keep it up Alan Ball (get it?  curve balls… Alan Ball… no?).  Thanks for making such an awesome book into an awesome show.

Oh and did anyone notice how whenever they show someone reading a book it’s always by Charlaine Harris?  I don’t know why but I always get the chills and I wonder what book that was so I can read it.  I know she’s not reading the Sookie Stackhouse books.  Wait… she’s not right?  Just checkin’.

Nook Replacement

On By Michel McDonaldIn NookLeave a comment

I picked up my Nook on July 1st to load up a new e-book to read and was a bit confused when I noticed what looked like a little bug icon on the screen.  When I turned it on it started doing a system update so I thought that maybe that wasn’t a bug but an asterisk (*) but when the update completed, the symbol was still there.  Then I thought, maybe I have a virus and for some odd reason its showing me a bug icon (LOL).  I haven’t been online with it besides going to the Nook store.  How could I get a virus?

I looked at it in the light and turn it so I can see the screen and I see a little dot on the outside.  What I think happened is that something fell on the screen and that little black bug like image is e-ink from the tiny crack in the screen.  I don’t remember anything falling on it.  I usually have it sitting upright and not laying down on the desk so I don’t know when that happened.  I did have it laying down a few times but it’s not always laying down.

So I called Barnes & Noble and they have me do some troubleshooting.  She has me turn it off then hold the button for 20 seconds 6 times (twice).  Nothing happens because it’s not a software error, it’s a crack on the screen.  I told her that and I guess they have to troubleshoot just to make sure.

Thank goodness I have a warranty to cover this because if I didn’t I’d be stuck with this forever.  She told me that since it is covered on my warranty I’ll get a replacement and it will only take 3 days to get to me.  But before they send a replacement to me they have to take my credit card number so that if they don’t get my Nook within 14 days they can charge my credit card for the replacement.

That was July 1st which was a Friday.  They didn’t actually ship the Nook until July 5th and I’m supposed to get it today, July 8th.  So there is 1 week, I have 1 more week to get my Nook to them.

I had to unregister my Nook and remove everything I put on it like screen saver and wallpaper images and ebooks.  While I was at it I deleted my contacts (which I never did anything with) and all of my shelves.  It’s all ready to go.  It’s basically all in the box waiting to go out.

My replacement Nook finally arrived today and it wasn’t a refurbished one, it’s brand spanking new.  Wow, that was surprising.  I thought for sure it would have a few scratches on the case or there would be some blemish but it’s shiny and new.  It even smells like it just came off the production line.

I waited until now to call UPS to pick it up because I was under the impression that UPS was going to be delivering it.  They sent me a UPS tracking number to track it and it said it was in Bakersfield yesterday.  I figured, I could open the box, take the Nook out and replace it with my Nook, tape the label on it and give it back to the UPS driver to ship out.  But instead, UPS handed it over to the post office to deliver to me today.  So, that went out the window.  I had to call UPS today and they charged me $8.16 on my debit card to pick up despite the UPS label that Barnes & Noble emailed me to print with its own tracking number.  I thought for sure they were paying for the shipping.  Oh well.

I scheduled the pick up with UPS and they are going to come get it on Monday.  The cut off date is Thursday, that will be my 14th day so if they don’t get it by Thursday then I may see a charge on my checking account.  But I’m sure once they get it, they will remove the charge so I’m not worried in the least.

I am very satisfied with my Nook and with the way they handled my situation.  I highly recommend anyone interested in buying an eBook to get theirs from Barnes & Noble.  It doesn’t matter which Nook you buy, know that if anything happens, even the slightest problem, if you have bought a warranty with them you will get a new Nook.

So now I get the fun task of hooking this new Nook up to my computer with the USB cable so I can put my books back in there and my screen saver to match my skin.  Fun times…

Is it Divine or Psychic?

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

Last night when my shows were finished I had to go to the grocery store so that I would have some body wash to wash myself with this morning after my bike ride.  I’m standing in front of the body wash trying to find which one was more affordable since they skyrocketed in price.

This very tall guy came over to me and asked if my name was Bill, I looked up at him and said nope, it’s Mike and he said ok thanks and walked away.  Half a minute later he and 3 other people, 2 women and another guy came over to me.  One of the women introduces herself to me and says that the 2nd guy wrote down the name Michael and Michelle.

I’m thinking, what the hell is going on?  Why do they care what my… then it kicks in, they’re bible beaters.  They had decided they were going to go “pray” for someone and so they thought ok, let’s write down some things and see if we can find a person who resembles anything we write.  The two guys wrote down different things so they were looking to see who would be right.  I don’t know if it was a bet or if they were just going to see who would be more on target than the other.

They wrote down first names, the one guy wrote Bill and the other guy Michael and Michelle.  They wrote down a place to go, Albertson’s and McDonald’s.  They said they were going to go to Denny’s but decided let’s try the Albertson’s/McDonald’s combo, they’re right across the street from each other and Denny’s is across town.  They also wrote down a few other things.

Ok so getting back to it, when the 2nd guy said Michael/Michelle I said well actually, both are correct.  Let me explain.  My name is Michel.  That’s pronounced like Michael here in the US but it’s pronounced Michelle in France.  It’s a french name.

When they told me they were going to go to McDonald’s I told them, well my last name is McDonald.  They were blown away.  I told the first guy, you said bill right?  Well, my sisters first boyfriends name was Bill.  They were blown away again.  I thought it was hilarious.

The second guy said they were looking for a guy in khaki shorts which I was wearing.  He also showed me that he wrote down the word Superman, they were looking for someone possibly wearing a superman t-shirt.  Well, I wasn’t but I am a huge superman fan.

I didn’t tell them this but when I say I love superman, it’s not like when someone says they love something.  I really REALLY love Superman.  Ok not sexually but I am a HUGE fan.  I watched every episode of the Adventures of Superman with George Reeves from the 50’s but in the 70’s.  I LOVED that show.  I have seen every Superman movie.  I missed Lois and Clark in the 90’s, I’ve seen a few episodes and I’d like to see it from beginning to end.  And I have seen every episode of all 10 years of Smallville.  I read some Superman comic books in my childhood.  Not every issue, only what my parents could afford to buy me.  I LOVE Superman lol.

Oh the first guy, the tall guy said the word “Burgerstan” which threw me for a second.  I said that we (when I say we I mean Darrin and his brother) used to own a house on Berger Street.  Burgerstan, however it’s spelled sounds very similar to Berger Street.

As I’m confirming all of these things I’m getting chills.  I knew that at some point it was all leading to them praying for me and even though I don’t really like that, I figured, they got all these things right, or I helped them interpret them as right, I may as well let them do what they were going to do.  You know?  I don’t like it but I let them, as if it was their prize or something lol.

So it all eventually lead to it and they asked if they could and I said yeah, might as well but do it before the store closes lol.  So the second guy is praying and he finishes but then one of the girls wanted to pray too and I’m thinking oh god, just get it over with so I can get home.  I saw in my peripheral vision a store employee look over at us and I mouthed “help me” but he walked away.  DAMN HIM!

I tell you, I was a bit freaked out.  I asked them if they were all psychic and they said no it’s the power of god or divine something or other, which I don’t believe in but whatever.  I believe that there may have either been some psychic energy happening or it was all coincidence.  Who knows.  I thought it was creepy but also amazing at the same time.  I didn’t need to be prayed for, no, I didn’t WANT to be prayed for lol.

Whatever, there you have it.  My freaky night last night lol.