Month: July 2014

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

On By Michel McDonaldIn crafts, Daily Blog, Etsy, Health, Hobby5 Comments

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I was diagnosed with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in 2007 after 20 years of crocheting started to take its toll on my hands. I didn’t just have it in one hand, I have it in both hands. I was given wrist splints to wear at night when I went to bed. I was told I didn’t have to wear them during the day, that they should help me when I sleep. Okay, no problem. I’ve worn them every night since then up until last year when I stopped using my bipap machine for my sleep apnea because I didn’t need it anymore because I had lost 70lbs. Wearing the bipap mask became uncomfortable because suddenly the pressure was too high.

I wore these wrist splints faithfully for 6 years from 2007 to 2013. They did help and last year I started making keychains and opened an Etsy shop. Since then I have added dangle, hoop and stud earrings and hemp and friendship bracelets. I received an order for 8 tassels for a company who makes purses, then they placed another order for 34 tassels and that took a huge toll on my hands. Someone else ordered 60 rainbow keychains. I made 36 of those and had to stop because it was hurting too much. She wanted them for her June wedding which apparently has been pushed back to November. That gives me more time to finish the rest of them, but I’m not quite sure they will follow through with buying them from me. I’ve had several people place a custom order and then not pay for it.

I’ve been working day and night making friendship bracelets over the last week. I really love making things. I don’t know if it is a gift or a curse. A gift that I can make something wonderful out of raw material with just my hands, but a curse that something I love to do can cause so much pain.

The pain is just too much on my hands. I wake up every morning with painfully numb hands and this morning my right hand was still numb for an hour after I woke up, and it was extremely painful. I put my wrist splint on and the pain and numbness eventually went away, but I am going to continue wearing the wrist splint for the rest of the day and perhaps wear it every day and night while I take a rest. I hope that helps.

Here are just a few things that I’ve been making. I am very proud of the hard work that have been doing that is ruining my hands lol.

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I had all these plans for the camouflage bracelets. I bought the different colors to make a red version and a blue version. I also had planned on buying the different shades of brown to make a brown one. People have suggested I go with a complete rainbow and make orange, yellow and purple camouflage bracelets. I can’t see that happening now.

The rainbow braid bracelet on the bottom is actually a bracelet I wanted to make for a very long time for a specific person. I actually wanted to make 2 of them, and I made this yesterday and last night I started a second one. I listed it just because it was very easy to make and if someone ordered it, well I could make another one. But now I’m not so sure about that. I do still plan on giving this one and the other one away to the specific people just because I like to give people gifts.

Well, that’s all for now I guess. Today is the first day of my new vacation from crafting. I love what I do, so I don’t know how long I’m going to be able to stay away from it. It’s addicting for sure lol. I will try though, because my hands are more important to me than making something that no one will appreciate or even buy even though they asked for it.

California drought: $500-a-day fines for California water hogs?$500 Fine In California for Water Hogs During A Drought

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily Blog, GreenLeave a comment

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Are you one of those people who have heard on the news or read in the newspaper that you need to conserve water because California is in a drought, but you just don’t care? You think “Oh this is complete BS. They have enough water. I’ll just continue to take 30 minute showers and water the lawn for as long as I want to.” Well I hate to ruin your day sunshine, but if you still have this attitude in August 2014, you better prepare to start paying a $500 fine per day.

Source: SFGate –  California drought: $500-a-day fines for California water hogs?

I have been conserving water for years. When I take a shower, I literally only have the water turned on when I need it. I turn the water on just to get me wet, then turn it off while I lather my hair with shampoo and my body with body wash. Then I will turn the water on to rinse myself off. I probably only use a couple of gallons, if that. When I do laundry, I only do it once a week or maybe twice a month. I will wear the same clothes a few days in a row. I don’t do anything but sit at my desk in my bedroom, so there really isn’t any reason to keep changing my clothes. It’s not like I’m getting sweaty. My clothes don’t smell after a couple of days, they still smell pretty much clean. The only exception is when I do start sweating in my clothes during the summer, then I will change my clothes after my shower.

Our lawn has basically been dead for a few years. We have a huge patch that is basically all dirt because people are constantly walking on it, and it has way too much shade from the pecan tree. The rest of the lawn is dead because I never water it because of the drought. I usually water it once a week throughout the summer to try to keep it green, but I tend to not want to water because I know that I shouldn’t. I see neighbors watering all the time and think, if they can water, why shouldn’t I be able to? I’ve been watering it once or twice a week this past month or so, but now with this new $500 fine I’m not going to water anymore. Being on a limited income, I can’t take any chances. I mean, that’s more than half of my monthly income right there. I don’t know what I would do if I ever got a fine just because the water hit the sidewalk or went into the street. I would be screwed.

So this is just a friendly warning to all of my fellow California residents. Conserve your water usage or face a huge penalty. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Image Source: This is my character Edward watering his money tree in The Sims 3. Don’t you wish you had a money tree? I know I do lol.

Why do some people only respond to negative social posts?

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

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I am somewhat addicted to social websites like Facebook and Twitter. I started using social websites back in the day when MySpace was popular because friends and family were on there and it was the only way that I could see or talk to them. I am not a phone person and I don’t travel, so I very rarely see friends and family, so social media is basically the only way I’m ever going to be able to communicate with anyone.

The one thing that bothers me about Facebook and Twitter is that you can say 1000 positive things and get little to no response, but the minute you post something political, everyone comes out of the wood work to criticize you for having an opinion. Why is it that other people’s opinions are more important than mine and they have to belittle me? I see people posting political posts and if I don’t like their opinion I just ignore it and keep scrolling. The reason is because EVERYONE is entitled to their own opinion and I respect that. So why is it that I’m not entitled to mine?

My mother told me that if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. It seems like I am the only person who remembered that.

Now let’s see how many people respond to this or belittle me for having an opinion, that is if anyone even reads it. I blog and blog and blog and it doesn’t seem like anyone is paying attention. Nobody ever responds. Why am I paying for this website if nobody is even looking at it? I pay $10 a month for hosting and another $12 a year for the domain and it doesn’t seem like anyone even cares about my website or my blog. So why the hell do I even bother?