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.

Todays Agenda

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

I’ve already gone out on the bike trail this morning at 4:30am and returned before 6:30am doing 20 miles.  Since I had 2 flat tires in 2 days on the front tire I’ve been leery every time I start riding after stopping at like a stop light or a stop sign because it just feels like I have a flat tire.  Then I get off the bike to check and it’s still hard from all the air pressure inside of it.

I’m still exhausted from all that work I did yesterday at the rental house next door.  I still have to do the bathroom, the bath tub, sink and toilet, the floor is already mopped.  Then I have to rake up all the leaves and dog poop that the last tenants were nice enough to leave me to clean up.  I think 3 large piles that he raked up but never actually shoveled up and thrown out.  What a nice guy right?  So now I gotta do his dirty work.  That’s it!  No more pets allowed.

Michael Jackson’s memorial service at the Staples center will be broadcast live from 9am to 1pm on almost every channel today and Darrin wants me to record it for him from CNN.  He wanted me to record it from E! but I was going through the guide on the cable but E! doesn’t show it being live until tonight so there’s something wrong there lol.  They say 10am PST but it shows the Michael Jackson True Hollywood Story being played over and over.  I think CNN will do just fine.

So at about 6pm tonight is the new show Warehouse 13 on SyFy channel.  Yes I said 6pm.  I have SyFy HD which is eastern time zone so I get to watch it as the east coast does.

My day is pretty much set already.  UGH!  I have to go fold laundry before I go next door lol.

Busy All Day

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

Wow I’ve just been busy all day long without 1 moment to catch my breath.  First off I woke up late.  I didn’t set the right time on my alarm for some reason.  The alarm clock has 2 alarm settings so if your spouse or whatever has to wake up at a earlier or later time then you can have them both set differently and both turned on.  Well, I have them both set for different times and the one that I needed wasn’t turned on lol.  I guess I just forgot to turn it on the right one.

So I woke up on my own at 5:30am and went out, Dell DJ battery was almost dead so naturally I had to charge that up.  6:30am comes and I leave the house.  I’m on my way home and my brand spanking new tube for the front tire blows.  UGH!  I’m like 5 minutes away from the house (not walking, by bike) so I have to pull over and put some air in the tube, just enough to get me home.  I come home and feel the tire and it’s goin’ down hehe.

I get in the shower immediately and then walk over to Albertsons to buy a bike repair kit.  My bike repair kit sucks, the patches aren’t patching lol so I needed a new one, one with that glue.  But Albertsons doesn’t have them so I go to Walgreen’s and get it.  Of course I had to go back to Albertsons anyway for other things.

I come home, put the new patch on the tube and I take one of my old tubes that the patch didn’t work for and I just cut it all the way around and since it has that green goop stuff (which doesn’t work by the way lol) I have to wash all that out, throw away all the chunks and then get it all off by hand in a bucket of water.  So then I wrapped that around my tube, the one that I just bought yesterday that already has a hole in it that I just patched up lol.  So hopefully this patch will keep it patched and if I run over another sticker then that extra tube in there will take the impact of it and not let it go through to the new tube.

So now it’s 11:45am, I’m going to drink my slim fast shake but then I have to go next door and clean the rental.  We were going to do it over the weekend but Darrin was just too exhausted to go over there.  He slept the entire weekend lol.

Hopefully it won’t take me too long, I’m going to bring my alarm clock and set it for 2:50pm so that I can come over here and watch Stargate SG-1 at 3pm.  If I still have more to do then of course I’ll go back but I don’t think there is too much to clean.

LATE!

On By Michel McDonaldIn ExerciseLeave a comment

ARGH!  I woke up and it’s 5:30am because I set the wrong alarm.  My alarm clock has 2 alarms on it and I set the wrong one lol.  I didn’t even wake up from the alarm, I just woke up.  I looked at the cable box to see what time it was and I was like OMG!  I’m LATE!

Then I go to fill my camelbak with ice and water and I think hmmm, I wonder.  So I turn on my Dell DJ Mp3 player and the battery is dead lol.  Great!  Perfect!  Well, it had 0 bars but it wasn’t dead dead.  I could listen to the radio on it but I prefer music.

So Since I’m already late I might as well wait until it’s charged up a little bit more.  I’ll leave the house at 6:30am which is about the same time I usually come home from riding the bike.  According to the weather channel app on my computer, 6am will be 70, 7am will be 71 and 8am will be 73.  Since I won’t be coming home until 8:30am I might as well mention that 9am will be 76 so between 8am and 9am the temp will go up by only 2 degrees so I’m not concerned about the heat catching up to me.  That’s the only reason I ride so early, to beat the heat.

Oh well, it finally gives me a chance to fully wake up before actually starting my day.  Or… does this mean that everything else this morning is going to go wrong and I should just stay home?  LOL

Me In The Simpsons – Wood Burned and Painted

On By Michel McDonaldIn crafts, HumorLeave a comment

I got bored…  LOL I went to the google search engine and typed “turn picture into simpsons character” and I found this website from Burger King called Simpsonize Me.  I thought it was a very good likeness of me lol and I got bored so I wood burned it and that wasn’t enough for me, I had to paint it too lol.  So here you go, I hope you like it.

Is Bakersfield A Safe Place To Ride A Bicycle?

On By Michel McDonaldIn Bike, CyclingLeave a comment

Is Bakersfield a safe place to ride a bicycle?

This article was in today’s Bakersfield Californian newspaper.

In my opinion it is only safe to ride a bicycle if you are a defensive rider.  If you are watching where you are going, looking both left and right, never crossing the street unless you have the green light (or in some cases walk signal).  Never riding on the wrong side of the road then crossing while a car is turning left (which happened to me).

This one time I was leaving the bike path and I was crossing the street and this pickup truck was pulling out in front of me while he was looking right at me.  He nearly ran me over.  This was about 10am in the morning too so it’s not like he was drinking and driving… that I know of at least.

I have a little mirror that is attached to my helmet and I’m constantly looking at it to see the traffic behind me so I know what is coming at me.

Now I cannot say that it is 100% safe to ride as early as I do because even at 4:30am there are probably still some drunk drivers out there but usually when I ride that early there are maybe 1 or 2 cars every 10 minutes so it’s pretty safe where and when I ride.

You also have to consider the fact that I’m not riding in the busy streets along with traffic.  I start out in a neighborhood and I’m pretty much only in neighborhoods until I get to the bike path so there is not that much danger of getting hit.  And I know a route that gets me to the mall and to Target where it’s through neighborhoods and I never have to drive with traffic.

So is Bakersfield a safe place to ride a bicycle?  I think it is during the morning or during the daytime IF you aren’t driving in traffic where there are no bike paths or where cars are parked right in the bike path.  If you try to ride through neighborhoods then you are safe.  But if you drive alongside cars then there is never a guarantee that you are ever safe.  Even if you are crossing the street you aren’t ever safe because there are always reports of people getting killed while crossing the street.  Is it safe for me to ride here?  Yes, because I am a defensive rider and I pick the best safest routes.

If you live in a city that you aren’t sure where the safest routes are, why not just go to your favorite map website, I go to google maps and I map out my route then I adjust the route so I am going through neighborhoods then I print it out and hold it while riding through that neighborhood so I learn it so the next time I have to go that way I will remember.  And if I don’t remember then I print it out again (if I threw the old map out that is).

Box for Vedra

On By Michel McDonaldIn Birthdays, craftsLeave a comment

Today was (Darrin’s cousin) Vedra’s birthday and so we went over to her house to give her the box.  I put 2 bags of Hershey’s Kisses, 2 different flavors inside the box.  I know 1 flavor was peanut butter but the other was truffle creme with dark chocolate or something like that, I forgot what the name was lol.  Anyway, she loved it.

I went to Walgreen’s and bought one of their ready-made gift bags with the ribbon on the front and the different color tissue paper inside to match the bag color.  Then I came home and took the tissue out and put the box inside of it then tucked it back into the bag.  Then of course I put the card in there too.

When she pulled the tissue paper out of the bag with the box in the paper then she peeled away the tissue the expression on her face was priceless.  She goes “OH NO!!!” hehe.  Oh No meaning I can’t believe you got me this, I love it.  I know Oh No usually doesn’t sound good but in this case I could interpret it hehe.

She looked at every inch of it and was just in love with the design and the paint job and her name being on the top.  She was really happy so that is all that counts.

Here is my original post with the video of the box on YouTube:

Wood Burned Box

Well, now that I know what kind of reaction she gave me I think I’m going to go back to Michael’s for more boxes from here on out until December buying up as many boxes as I can afford to make boxes for everybody for Christmas 2009 lol.  Well, not just boxes lol.