Author: Michel McDonald

I live in Bakersfield with my partner of more than 30 years. I enjoy reading, crafts, sci fi, video games, and writing in my personal blog.

Bubble On The Sun

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

Yesterday I was thrown into a total panic.  Just before Darrin went to work he told me about this story he saw on the news about this bubble that is on the sun and that by 2012 there will be a solar flare that will knock out all the satellites and will end all life as we know it.

Now, when you hear this what comes to mind?  I’ve watched the Nostradamus specials on the history channel and the discovery channel all telling that he stopped writing about what will happen in the future so they think that since there is nothing after November 2012 that it will be the end of the world.  Basically judgment day right?  Well, when Darrin told me that the sun will “end life as we know it” it put me into a total panic.

I was thinking all day that you know, there’s nothing we can do about it.  There is no way we can fill up a spaceship and board it with all the humans and animals and leave because we don’t have one yet.  Stargate SG-1 is just a TV show, not a reality.  The government can’t just start gathering people and animals and take them to Colorado and bring them to the Stargate and put them on another planet.  It’s not real.

The government might have some contacts with aliens from other worlds and contact them and ask for their assistance to find us a new planet and come beam us up Scotti and take us to our new planet.  But I highly doubt they know any aliens and if they did they’d probably want to eat us.

Darrin calls on his lunch break and by then my world is in complete chaos.  In my head people are running in the streets looting stores and turning over cars.  Digging underground bunkers which would do no good if the earth blew up.  I asked him what he was talking about.

He said that the ozone layer wouldn’t be enough to protect the satellites and they would basically turn off or be disrupted or something.  That the electrical grids would probably shut off too and we would be thrown back in time by 100 years, not literally but as far as our technology.  The earth is not doomed to destruction and Jesus is not coming to claim the souls lol.

WHEW!  Basically we wouldn’t have satellite TV or radio and they would have to find a way of repairing the satellites and/or replacing them and they would have to work on fixing the electric grids to turn our power back on.  We probably wouldn’t have cell communication or email or tv or whatever.  We would have to start reading again and the stores would have to use their brains to sell things instead of a cash register because no electricity and all…  And all the food would go bad because they need power to keep cold.

But, time will tell what will happen.  Perhaps they will have it all figured out by then and they will have Solar panels more in play than they do now for grocery stores and any other business.  People will be able to afford solar panels for their houses.  I need that because of my bipap machine.  If I have no electricity then I’m going to die because I have to sleep with a mask pushing air into my lungs, no air = no life.  I die.  So this isn’t good for me.  Unless I can lose 75lbs in the next 4 years I’m pretty much screwed.  That is if the fat is what is causing sleep apnea.  I don’t know that it is or it isn’t.

At any rate, now is a good time as any to start taking this diet seriously.  I mean, dead seriously if you know what I mean.  Maybe if I can lose all this weight then I won’t need the bipap machine anymore.  That’s 1 less dependant.

As far as my electronics are concerned.  I have a little solar charger that I can plug into my electronics to charge their batteries.  They also sell backpacks that have a solar charger on them so you can charge things so while I’m riding my bike I can be charging things like my mp3 player, PSP and Kindle (if I have one by then).  If the cell phones don’t work then it won’t matter if my cell phone is charged up or not.

If the TVs don’t let us see TV anymore then we can all start talking to each other again and read books and maybe the kids can go outside and play and get skinny again.  Perhaps this would be good for humanity to shed all these pounds of fat.  If the kids can’t play with their PlayStation 6 anymore because there is no electricity then they can go play Basketball 2.0.  I mean, that’s why people have back yards right?

Maybe the bike trails will be packed with people and they will have to turn it into a 4 lane bike trail instead of it’s 2 lane bike trail.  Who knows.

All I know is that 4 years isn’t too far off.  Yeah it might seem like it is to some people but I’m 38, going on 39 in a couple of months.  These last 4 decades have gone by too fast so 4 years is nothing to me.  4 years can come in the blink of an eye so be prepared for it.

Is 17 Mature Enough for Plan-B?

On By Michel McDonaldIn Health, NewsLeave a comment

There is a new debate about the age limit being lowered from 18 to 17 for buying the Plan B pill without a prescription.  They are asking if age 17 is mature enough to buy this new drug.  This drug “Plan B” is meant to prevent a pregnancy within the first 72 hours.  It is not an abortion pill but merely a preventative measure against pregnancy.

I think that if a 17-year-old is mature enough to spread her legs and have unprotected sex with a boy, whether it be consensual or non-consensual, then she is mature enough to buy this over the counter and not need to go to the doctor’s office and have to get her parents permission.  I mean come on, by the time it takes you to get the courage enough to tell your parents that you had sex then you have to wait for the appointment (that is if you don’t go in as a walk-in) a week will have gone by and by then it’s too late.  You can only take this within the first 72 hours for it to work.

Do you really want there to be more 17-year-old mothers in the world?  Yeah, I didn’t think so.  I mean, come on, Maury Povich has cornered the market on finding out who the baby daddy is when it comes to girls who are 12 years old all the way to adulthood.  If a 12-year-old is mature enough to get pregnant I think she should be allowed to buy this too so I think that 17 is way mature enough.

The debate shouldn’t be is a 17-year-old mature enough but instead it should be how can we make sure all teenagers who are old enough to have sex get this pill?

Gothic Kittens

On By Michel McDonaldIn Animals, PetsLeave a comment

I saw this story in the National Enquirer magazine but looked it up and this is the text from that story from MSNBC but is from Associated Press:

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – Humane officers said a Pennsylvania woman marketed “gothic kittens” with ear, neck and tail piercings over the Internet. Officers with the SPCA of Luzerne County removed three kittens and a cat from a home outside Wilkes-Barre.

Officer Carol Morrison said the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals raided the home on Wednesday after getting a tip that the woman was selling the pierced kittens on eBay.

“It’s unbelievable anybody would do this to kittens,” Morrison said.

Charges are likely against the homeowner, whose name was not released.

Morrison said the woman has a pet grooming business in the basement of the home.

That is such a shame that this woman would do such a thing to these poor defenseless kittens.  She was arrested and she should never be allowed to come in contact with any animals unless they are dinner.

gothic-kittengothic-kittens

Video Calls

On By Michel McDonaldIn Cell PhoneLeave a comment

I’ve seen in tv shows where people are using an iPhone and they are talking to each other and they can also see each other. Like in Knight Rider for example. I’m curious if that really is possible. Maybe someone call respond to this question.

Since Darrin has a job now we’re both going to get a cell phone plan and new cell phones. He’s been taking our only cell phone to work but it’s a pre-paid cell phone which means for $25 he gets 2 1/2 hours to talk. He’s calling me all the time and he’s calling other places and I just have a bad feeling about it. He’s going to need a cell phone plan with an unlimited calling feature, GPS and internet. I figured that we could both have them so we can call each other for free.

I’m going to need one too because as soon as I get a new bike wheel I’m going to be riding my bike again and when he calls me I’d like to be on video phone chatting so he can see what the bike path looks like. I think that would be cool.

Anyway, please, if someone can respond to let me know which cell phone has that feature. I’d like to get blackberries but iphones will be cool too. I just need to know which phone is best for video calls. Thanks

Dog Fetishes

On By Michel McDonaldIn Animals, PetsLeave a comment

Can someone answer this?  Why do dogs eat cat poop?  That is the most disgusting thing in the whole world.

When we got our little Chihuahua, Flower, one of the first things she did was go for the litter box.  What?  Darrin was holding her and then came into my room and asked me to smell her breath and I said no thanks lol.  I could already tell that she must have done something bad.  Listen, whenever someone asks you to smell or taste something, it’s never a good smell or taste.  Just say no.

So, I had to put the litter box in the bathtub and make our elderly cat jump into the tub to go to the bathroom but she’s old, she craps all over the place because I think she’s losing it.  So we would still smell cat poop on the dogs breath.  I ended up having to put our cat on the patio (it’s an indoor patio, it’s the area between the garage and our house so it’s a patio).  My cat loves being out there so she’s happy, we’re happy, everyone is happy.

When it’s cold I bring her in the house and I have to lock her up in the kitchen because if I don’t the dog will go for her litter box and also the cat might crap all over the house so she has to stay in the kitchen.  I just brought her in and the dog was outside so I brought her back in too and the first thing Flower did was she went to eat some poop on the side of the litter box.  LOL Gross dog.

Internet Explorer 8

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

I downloaded the new Internet Explorer 8 from Microsoft’s website and installed it last night before I went to bed and this morning I loaded it. I looked at it for a few minutes and it didn’t really look any different. Other than the fact that it created a whole new toolbar for the Paypal button on its own toolbar by itself but luckily it had an X next to the toolbar so I was able to close it.

I wasn’t too impressed because it looked just like the previous IE7. I closed the browser and all of a sudden without any warning I started getting this error message and I’d close it and another one came up. I closed that one and another and another over and over again. There must have been 100 all for the same 2 errors. It would warn me about 1 error and it told me the number (which I didn’t think to write down) then I closed it and it told me about another one with its own number (again…).

The only way to get that crap from continuing was I had to reboot the computer. Yeah, I think I’ll stick with Firefox, thanks though.

$5 Footlong? Really?

On By Michel McDonaldIn Food, ScamsLeave a comment

I’ve loved Subway since the first time I ever went there when I was 18 years old when I moved back in with my parents when they moved to Quartz Hill in the Antelope Valley.  We went there all the time and I remember that I always got the same thing.  The Cold Cut Combo.  To this day that’s the only sandwich I ever get.  Sometimes I’ll be different and get a meatball sub or turkey but it’s usually always the Cold Cut Combo.  It tastes good to me.

Recently in the last few months or so I’ve been seeing the commercials for their $5 footlong.  They are competing with Quizno’s because Quizno’s has a good deal too for $5.  So they are just trying to keep or lure their customers away from the competition.  That’s fine and $5 is a good price for a 12″ sub.

We went to Subway for dinner tonight and they had their sign (or window sticker) that says “Any” which implies what?  All?  That’s what it implies to me.  By saying any that means if I want a footlong meatball sub then it’s $5 right?  Wrong.  The definition of “Any” for Subway means that they have a couple footlong sandwiches for $5.  So isn’t that false advertising?

I’m lucky the Cold Cut Combo just so happened to be $5 for the footlong because that’s what I wanted anyway but it would be nice if they had more of a $5 selection.

I think that if a sign says “Any” then everything should be $5 and not just a select few.  There were maybe 5 items on the menu that were $5 footlong.  That’s not a lot of choice.  When we got to the register to pay for our $5 footlongs they asked if we wanted chips and a drink for $2 more each and we were like screw that.  $1 for a drink and $1 for a little .50 cent bag of chips?  Are you joking?  We could go to the store across the street to buy a bag of Chips and soda which we ended up doing.  We bought 2 large bags of Doritos (buy 1 get 1 free) and 2 bottles of sparkling flavored water for .79 cents per bottle.

I like Subway but I don’t agree with this false advertisement.  I think it’s crappy because they lure you with the promise of a $5 footlong then you are stuck paying $7.59 for the sandwich you intended on buying.

Update: We were shopping today for new work clothes for Darrin and we had to go to Walgreens to pick up some things and decided that we would go to Subway for lunch.  I was bitching about their false advertising and so Darrin purposely ordered something that was not $5, Roast Beef.  It says on the menu that it’s like $6.79 or something like that and he asked is that $5 footlong? And the lady said yes.  We got to the register and the total for both sandwiches was $10.

So Subway, I apologize that I made such a quick judgement.  But in my defense if any footlong is $5 you should change all the prices on your menu board to show that any footlong is $5.  Because I would see the prices and immediately not order something because it doesn’t say $5.

Believe or Deny

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

I know this falls under the category of something I don’t like to talk about but this is just something that has been bothering me for such a long time.

Why do people believe in something that has never been scientifically proven but yet they deny something that has been scientifically proven?

The people in the middle east deny the holocaust yet there are pictures, it’s in the history books.

Some people deny the dinosaurs because of their religious beliefs.  Hello!  Dinosaurs have been dug up.  They aren’t Styrofoam bones you know, they are real bones.  They weren’t faked.  Some people think they were faked but what would that prove?  Science has proven that the earth was hot and had to cool did it not?  I’m not an expert but I have seen a few documentaries on the Discovery channel about the big bang theory (no, not the TV show although I do like that one hehe).  But just because the dinosaurs were not in the bible doesn’t mean they never existed.

Some people deny the existence of ghosts.  There is indeed scientific proof of the existence of the afterlife.  I watch Ghost Hunters every Wednesday on Sci-Fi channel and they have absolutely caught voices of children, voices of confederate soldiers, voices in other languages (GHI) plus there have been images from the thermo-cam that shows heat.

Speaking of which, I was sitting in my desk chair and Darrin was laying in my bed and he asked if our cat jumped on the bed and I looked and said no, she’s out on the patio.  Then I asked “did you feel like a cat jumped up on the bed and is walking around?” and he said yes.  His eyes were closed.  I’ve felt that so many times.  I’ve even blogged about our ghost cats.

Yet even though all these things have been proven, the religious people whether they are Muslims (who deny the holocaust) or born again Christians (who deny dinosaurs and ghosts) absolutely will not believe in them yet they believe in a god that they have never laid eyes upon or have never had any scientific proof of “its” existence.  How can you deny something that is proven yet worship and swear by something that has never been proven?  I don’t understand where the logic is in that.

There has been discussion about how you can’t see god but you know he’s there.  You can’t see the air but you know it’s there.  You can’t see space but you know it’s there.  Uh, actually, yes you can.  That again has been proven.  You absolutely can see space through telescopes.  You can see the stars, planets, galaxies.  That’s another thing, people absolutely deny that aliens from other planets might exist.  Are people that arrogant to think that of all the galaxies and of all the planets in those galaxies that we are the only living breathing thinking beings out there?

I believe in ghosts, dinosaurs, the holocaust and aliens.  I’m sorry if that upsets people but that’s the truth.

Dumbing Down in Bakersfield

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

Ok so I’m at the corner market buying eggs and a loaf of bread. I go to the counter and there are 2 women standing in front of the counter purchasing their groceries, I’m on their right and there is a woman on their left. The woman on the left asks “ok how much is 2 plus 6?” and the woman on the right says “um… 12?”

Excuse me? 12? Is that your final answer? I seem to recall covering this in elementary school and although I don’t remember everything from when I was in school, I definitely remember how to count and the correct response is 8. But my question is, why are you asking how much 2+6 is in the first place? It’s a no brainer. It’s an automatic answer in your own head. Sigh.

Gothic Chess Set

On By Michel McDonaldIn craftsLeave a comment

I mentioned the other day that there is this website which sells molds for building model castles.  Well, I’ve been obsessed with looking at all the cool projects that they have to make and I came across one that is a Gothic Chess Set.

This is the project that would probably cost a couple of hundred dollars but in my opinion is well worth the cost.  Now I personally don’t play chess but I think it would still be an awesome thing to have.  Especially if you are Gomez Addams lol.

Here is the page for the Gothic Chess Set:

http://www.castlemolds.com/chess/chess.html

They warn you that it is a monster of a project.  Yeah it is.  I’m sure it would take forever to make and it is going to cost a lot of money and a LOT of time too.  But like I said, well worth the cost, effort and time.  The chess pieces are sold from another website and each individual piece are about $7 and the pawns have 4 pieces and they are about $14 and of course you need 4 sets of pawns.

I would like to start buying the parts gradually over time and then just set them all aside until I have everything then I can start working on it maybe in 2012 lol.