I Finished Writing My Book

On By Michel McDonaldIn BooksLeave a comment

I am happy to report that I finally finished writing my book.  I have edited the hell out of it about 20 or 30 times but it’s finally done.

I sent the file to 2 friends to proof read and send me bug reports if you will lol.  Basically, they are beta testing my book for the lack of a better term lol.

The book in doc format is only 181 pages but in epub format it is 289 pages.  I don’t know why there is a huge difference but there you have it.

I have learned a boatload of stuff about myself while writing this autobiography.  For example, I remembered things that I had blocked because they were too painful.  I don’t know how I remembered them but I’m glad I did.

The timeline of some memories were wrong in my head and it took writing it for me to remember when everything happened.

Well, I am just exhausted from writing.  My eyes are killing me from staring into a white screen for 6 to 8 hours a day.  I can’t even imagine this being my regular job.  I mean blogging is my job but I’m not doing it for 6 to 8 hours non stop day after day.  Some weeks I’m lucky if I have 2 posts written.

To celebrate my victory today I decided to play Lord of the Rings Online.  I finally did an epic quest so I can check that off of the list of things I have to do in the game.

The book won’t be published until my beta testers have read through the whole thing and given me their input.  When they do then I will have to read it one or two more times before I send it out just to make sure it’s right.  Who knows, I may even have more editing lol.

I’m pretty sure that it is finished so I do plan on getting it copyrighted this or next week so that I can sell it through Amazon and Barnes & Noble as ebooks.  If they sell enough copies then I will have it printed for those who don’t have a Kindle or a Nook.

Wish me luck!

RoboStir

On By Michel McDonaldIn Products I LikeLeave a comment

Have you seen this new product advertised on TV?  Well, I’m a huge sucker for new inventions but I didn’t really think that I would have a need for one of these until recently.

I was making some gravy from the packets (because it’s cheaper) and it says in the instructions that you have to stir it constantly.  Well, I have carpal tunnel syndrome so stirring isn’t a great thing for my hands.

Oddly enough my hands and wrists aren’t what is bothering me when I stir, now I have a new pain in my arms just below my elbows.  It’s not just my stirring arm, it’s both arms.

I’m having trouble picking up every day things like the milk carton or the tea jug.  I’ve even had trouble picking up a cup of coffee.  So if I have pain picking things up, then just imagine how much pain I am in when I try to stir things.

So I decided yesterday that I would buy a RoboStir because it was only $9.99 at Albertson’s.  I didn’t use it right away but I did turn it on and it looks hilarious bouncing around the empty pain.

I wanted to try it today so I made some oatmeal for lunch and had this thing stirring while it was cooking and it was hilarious to watch.  I mean, it did a good job, it was just funny to see it in action.

If I had my eyes closed, I could swear that someone put a vibrator in my food.  That’s how funny it sounded to me.

RoboStir did the job it was paid to do and I did not regret for one minute the money I spent on this new toy.  It wasn’t a frivolous purchase because I had thought about buying it ever since my new arm pain started developing.

I totally recommend this for anyone who has any pain in their arms.

*not a paid endorsement

Finishing My Book

On By Michel McDonaldIn BooksLeave a comment

I have been working hard on my autobiography for a couple of years now.  It has taken me so long because I would feel emotionally overwhelmed by the memories that I was forcing myself to recall just to write one chapter.

I had 3 chapters half written last year and gave up.  This year I thought, I am going to write and finish this book and I don’t care how much pain it causes me to do it.

I had written maybe 12 chapters that were anywhere from 10 to 16 pages each when a friend told me that most autobiographies are around 30 chapters even if a chapter is only 4 pages long.  So I decided to take that advice and I’m glad I did.

Those 12 chapters turned into 30 chapters and I still hadn’t finished.  I found it easier to write a chapter with 4 or 5 pages in them after that.

I have finished writing more than 40 chapters.  I have an introduction page, 40 chapters of my life then there is a resources page at the end.

I can’t believe that I am finally finished writing.  Now all I have to do is just proofread it from my Nook and if I see something that needs to be edited which could mean changed, removed or added, then I will hop on my computer and do it there.

I’m doing from my Nook because my eyes can’t take any more staring at my computer screen lol.

Anyway, I am glad that it’s finally written and ready to be edited and then of course sent to a friend to edit before copyrighting it and sending it to a publisher.

It was a lot of work to write this book, especially since I’m not a writer.  My only experience in writing has been my blog which has helped me with the skill of writing since 2007.

By the way, it’s 275 pages on my Nook so it’s going to take me a few days to read it lol.

Allen Gregory

On By Michel McDonaldIn TVLeave a comment

This new show on Fox called Allen Gregory has been so hyped up because it was co-created by Jonah Hill.  I saw him in an interview on Attack of the Show a couple of weeks ago talking about how awesome this show was going to be.

I have seen previews for movies that he was in but they never interested me enough to go see them.  Since I haven’t really seen him in anything, I didn’t really know him well enough to judge whether I would like the show or not.  I figured that because he was so popular that I was sure it would have to be hilarious.

Tonight was the series premiere and I was so beyond mortified.

From what I could tell, Allen Gregory who was adopted by a gay man voiced by French Stewart has been home schooled by his adopted fathers “boyfriend” who turns out to really be straight.

His adopted father is going broke so he was forced to send Allen Gregory to public school with his adopted sister who nobody really likes and comedy is supposed to ensue.

Because his father is going broke, he is forcing his “boyfriend” to get a job but he doesn’t want to get a job.

Allen Gregory and his adopted father treat everyone like they are second class citizens while they are the superior beings.  They brings bullying to a whole new low.

I thought it was going to be so great that TV would finally have a gay couple who were raising children but it turns out that it was all a big fat lie.  Only one of the two in the couple are gay, the other one is being forced to be gay against his will and I am feeling sick to my stomach thinking about how wrong that plot is.

Dear Jonah Hill, don’t bring gay people down in your sick twisted show by making them out to be these horrible people who are forcing straight people to be gay so that you can get a laugh out of it.  It isn’t funny at all.  And you are not helping anyone’s causing with all of the bullying in your cartoon either.

I won’t even go into how disturbed I was that a so-called 7-year-old child was sexually attracted to his principal who was in her 60’s.  What was that?  Reverse pedophilia?

Come on Jonah Hill, I don’t know you but I know you are better than that.  Oh and you French Stewart, I can’t believe that you would be involved in this garbage.

I won’t be watching this show next week, I can’t wait for Bob’s Burgers to come back on.

Halloween Pumpkins 2011

On By Michel McDonaldIn HalloweenLeave a comment

We made our decision last night on which pumpkins I was going to carve today.  Wicked Witch of the West and Frankenstein.

I haven’t carved a pumpkin since 2007 and I’m glad I could finally add 2 more to my album.

By the way, I bought these 2 patterns at the Zombie Pumpkins website.

Zombie Pumpkins

On By Michel McDonaldIn Halloween1 Comment

People are always talking about my pumpkins as if they are these great works of art.  I mean, they really aren’t but I’m not complaining because I love the attention.  Ok so they aren’t always talking about them but you know what I mean.  They talk about them occasionally, happy now?

I used to buy the pattern books at the drug stores like Walgreen’s and Rite Aid but then I discovered that you could get them for free online so I started downloading patterns.  I even bought a pumpkin carving CD which allows you to custom make your own design.

I have also found sites such as Zombie Pumpkins where you can buy patterns which you will never see in the pumpkin masters books.  They are constantly updating them to add new patterns so every year you will have fresh new designs.

I haven’t made a new pumpkin since 2007, although I did buy an Edward Cullen pattern from Zombie Pumpkins last year to make for a friend of ours.  I was rushed to finish it so I didn’t even have time to get a picture.

This year I have been asked to carve a pumpkin for one of the ladies at the doctor’s office so I am going to search through the Zombie Pumpkins catalog and find 2 new patterns and this time I will get a picture.

I’m having trouble deciding which one I should make though.  She told me to choose so it doesn’t really matter to her which one I pick, just as long as it is fabulous.

I’m thinking that I want to do a semi traditional pumpkin face but I hate tradition so I want to go with a pattern.  I’m thinking of the Bicycle Girl Zombie from AMC’s The Walking Dead or this cool unique creation called Root of All Evil.

On the other hand, there is nothing wrong with tradition so if I do a face I was thinking either Hammy or Horton.  I really want to do Happy Jack from The Nightmare Before Christmas so maybe I might do that one.

UGH I’m so indecisive.  I have until Thursday to make a decision because on Thursday afternoon we will be taking the pumpkin to the doctor’s office to give to her.

I’m thinking that since I am going to be buying 2 patterns for $2 I will just go ahead and buy 2 pumpkins.  This way she will have 2 awesome pumpkins to display on her porch for Halloween.

There are a lot of cool patterns on that website.  I just wish I could make all of them.  If I could, I would have some pretty cramped up hands.

I will try to decide before tomorrow night so that I can have the patterns bought and printed before I carve them Thursday morning.  I want them to be as fresh as they can be since they will be sitting out for the weekend.

As soon as I finish carving them I will post the pictures.  Well you didn’t think I would keep them to myself did you?

West Palm Beach Real Estate

On By Michel McDonaldIn AdLeave a comment

Since the housing market crashed, people have been buying up real estate like crazy.  Investors and flippers are buying them cheap then selling them higher.  It would be crazy to not to take advantage.

The housing market is the same all over the country including West Palm beach Florida. Check out the West palm beach luxury real estate website where you can search houses based on your price range and area.  You can even look at the maps to see where you are buying the house.  Hint, the maps one is easier.

By using the maps, I found hundreds of 3 bedroom townhouses for $50,000 and up and they are almost right on the beach.  I mean, you cannot beat that price that close to any beach in this country and you would be crazy to think otherwise.

Heck, I’m even thinking of moving to West Palm beach Florida now lol.

My Computer Finally Works

On By Michel McDonaldIn Computer2 Comments

What a bad time I have had with my desktop lately.  I will give you a quick recap of my situation.

First my video card stopped working so I bought a new one but it wasn’t nvidia like I should have bought, it was Radeon.

It didn’t work right away and I should have returned it to get an nvidia but I was so thick headed that I said no screw that, I want Radeon.  It worked but only if I didn’t turn my computer off but then the PG&E turned it off to install a new pole.  When our power came back on I couldn’t turn the computer on at all.

I read message boards that told me that if nothing showed up on the screen then my problem is power supply and I looked in the Radeon website and found out that my new video card needed a specific power supply.  I had to wait a month to buy it when I had the money.

The power supply came and it still didn’t work so back to the boards for help I went.  I read that it was the motherboard so I had to wait to buy that.  Darrin loaned me the money this week and it came on Wednesday and my computer turned on but it wouldn’t load Windows from my hard drive.

I discovered that my hard drive is ATA-100 and the book says it will accept ATA-133 but someone told me that ATA-100 is backwards compatible so it should work but it didn’t.

So on Wednesday night I bought a new hard drive and it showed up at my house yesterday.  I installed it and ran the Windows CD and it copied the Windows setup files to the new drive and rebooted.  When it rebooted nothing happened and my heart sank.

When the Windows setup came on the screen with mouse support I was ear to ear smiles.  But I wasn’t going to celebrate just yet, not until I had the desktop up on the screen and was able to start installing drivers and programs.  That is why I haven’t blogged about it until now, I didn’t want to jinx myself lol.

So I FINALLY have my computer back after 2 months of waiting.  I am so beyond happy right now.

My Computer Still Doesn’t Work!

On By Michel McDonaldIn Computer1 Comment

I am so beyond frustrated at this point.  It all started when…

*Enter the dream sequence*

In the middle of July, my video card stopped working so I had to wait until I got my August check to buy another one.  I bought the wrong one but since I had to wait a week for it to arrive from Tiger Direct, I decided I would just deal with it.  I didn’t want to have to wait another week for them to receive it so they would send me another one yet another week later.

It did work, sort of.  I couldn’t turn off my computer then the PG&E turned it off for me much to my dismay and it wouldn’t turn back on.

I read in the message boards that it won’t turn back on because I needed a new power supply so I had to wait until I got the money which was the beginning of October.  I bought that from NewEgg and still nothing.

I read in another message board that I needed a new motherboard so I waited for 2 weeks when finally I was loaned the money for a new motherboard which I also bought from NewEgg.

*Exit the dream sequence*

Fast forward to today and my new motherboard arrives and it turns on Hallelujah!

It won’t freaking read my hard drive.  NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

If I had just taken the god damn tower to the god damn computer store to begin with, I would have had it fixed by now instead of having to replace all of my god damn computer components.

I was so sick to my stomach today that I couldn’t eat.  Darrin made some chicken and I was so upset that the smell of it was making me dry heave.

Ok.  So this is what I’m going to do.  I’m going to call New Egg tomorrow and tell them what my problem is.  On one hand, I don’t want to have to return the motherboard, but on the other hand I don’t want to have to buy another hard drive either.

I will let them tell me if everything else is compatible.  If it is and it’s just the hard drive that isn’t compatible but I can still use it as an external drive then I will buy a new hard drive that is compatible in November.

I just wish I could have my computer working now, you know what I mean?  I’m so sick of waiting because I haven’t been able to use it in 2 months.  I can only take so much of having to use an internet only netbook with a tiny screen for so long.  It’s killing my eyes!

So, the sun’ll come out… tomorrow.  Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow… I’ll call NewEgg…

You know what the difference between Tiger Direct and New Egg is right?  A FREAKING WEEK!  It takes a week to get anything from Tiger Direct but when I buy something before 4pm from New Egg, I get it the next day.  That’s so much better than anticipating for a whole week because at least if I have to return something, it won’t take more than a day to get to them because they are only 2 1/2 hours away from me.

So until tomorrow…

Oh, here is my new configuration if anyone out there wants to tell me what is compatible with what BEFORE I have to call NewEgg.

My new motherboard was the only thing they had that was compatible with my CPU, memory and video card.  I didn’t even think to check to see if it was compatible with my hard drive brand or DVD burner.  Although it reads the DVD drive since it was able to attempt to reinstall windows for me.

  • Motherboard is ASRock A785GM-LE
  • CPU is AMD Sempron 3400+ Socket AM2 1.80Ghz
  • Memory is Kingston 1GB PC2-4200 CL4 240-Pin DIMM…  that’s what it says on the case, I know it’s a DDR2.
  • The video card that started this shit is Radeon HD 4650
  • Hard drive is Maxtor 320GB EIDE HD 7200/16mb/ATA-100
  • DVD Burner is LiteON… I know it’s a Sata drive
  • Windows XP Home which is installed but the hard drive won’t boot.

By the way, I read today on another message board after futzing with it for 2 hours that I needed a fresh windows installation.  It said that it won’t read the hard drive unless I install a fresh installation of windows but I wasn’t willing to wipe my hard drive.

I did try to install windows over itself and it copied all of the installation files to the hard drive but when it rebooted to begin the installation, it wouldn’t read the hard drive so it would go back to trying to install windows from the cd again to either reformat or install windows the way I had already tried.  It just will not boot from the hard drive.

Oh and I tried to go into safe mode but I guess since it won’t read the hard drive windows installation there is no way it’s gonna go into safe mode.

I hope this is enough information and I hope to GOD that someone reads this and tells me what the hell to do.

Thanks for listening.

Update: I think I might have pinned down my issue.  My hard drive is an ATA-100 and I am looking in the manual for the new motherboard and it says that ATA-133 is compatible.  So… that means I need a new hard drive to work with the motherboard.  NewEgg has a 160GB ATA-133 hard drive for $25.  So… I will just buy that and put my other hard drive in a USB case to use as an external hard drive for storage.

Forced Days Off

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

I’ve been writing my autobiography which takes a long time, especially for someone who is still learning how to write.  I think I’m doing a pretty good job.

Yesterday I couldn’t get anything done because I got a phone call from a friend of mine in the mid west who likes to talk on the phone for a long time.  We were on the phone for over an hour.

I tried to go back to editing a chapter and I start hearing “BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP” because the city was resurfacing the street in front of my house.  So instead of working I decided that I would get on the instant messenger and see who was online.

I talked to someone for an hour then went to the store to buy some lunch.  Frozen pizza by the way.  It was good.

I didn’t get anything done yesterday.

This morning I get up and walk the dog and the city men are back.  They are working on the other side of 3rd street.  They sprayed the oil on the street so the resurfacing stuff, whatever the heck it’s called will stick to it so they can spread it out and smash it down.

“BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP” is all I am hearing right now from my bedroom window.

I can hardly concentrate on writing or editing anything right now.  I can barely write this.

My new motherboard is coming today between 2-4pm via UPS so when that comes I will be able to transfer all of my chapters to my Open Office word processor so I can continue writing on that instead of my Chromebook.

Tomorrow is Chips day off which means another day off because there is no way I will be able to write with him home.  So… back to work on Friday lol.