The Price of Tea

On By Michel McDonaldIn Products I LikeLeave a comment

In my blog I talk about things that I find interesting or disturbing. My blog is more like a bad episode of Seinfeld. So… now I’m going to talk to you about the price of tea lol.

I went to the grocery store to buy some tea bags. I grew up on it and I like to make it as an alternative to soda. In my opinion it’s cheaper than anything else out there, all you need is a coffee maker, a tea jar and some sugar or sweetener. My mom used to brew it in the sun but I find it much faster to brew a pot of water in the coffee maker with the tea bags clamped on the coffee pot lid. I had an aunt who used to boil the water on the stove in a large saucepan then steep the teabags in the water then pour it into the jar. I like my way better.

I was a little confused about how much they charge for their teabags though because it didn’t make any sense. I was looking at the 100 count box which was $3.99. Ok that is a bit high but it’s not that bad I guess. But, I don’t need a big box, I just need enough to get by until Next week when I get some money. I looked at the box with 50 bags and it’s $3.49. What? It’s only .50¢ less? Well that’s not right. It’s half the bags, it should be half price right? $2! Then I looked over at the one that only had 25 tea bags and that one was $5.49 WHAT?!? How can it be possible? It has 1 quarter of the bigger box. How can it possibly be more? The box with 25 tea bags should cost $1 not $5.49.

Then I look and see all these boxes that only have like 10 tea bags and they cost more than the box of 100 bags. What is wrong with this picture? Why is tea so expensive when it’s in a smaller package? Why is this big box of 100 tea bags so cheap compared to the other ones? I don’t understand. And the box of 50 and 25 was the same exact brand and same exact flavor as the box of 100 bags.

Lipton, Lipton, Lipton, can we have a chat please? Is there something we can do to fix this? It just doesn’t make any sense what you are doing here. I just don’t see your logic in charging so much money for smaller packaging. It should be less but you charge more. Why? Is it because you are going broke? Is it because the packaging cost more than the tea itself? Maybe we can think of a cheaper way of packaging the tea bags then. I just can’t understand why you would charge so little for 100 bags but then jack up the price for the smaller boxes.

I’ve been a Lipton fan since I was a kid and I remember in my 20’s buying the smaller boxes of 25 bags and they were only $1.50 per box. I’m sure there was a mistake in pricing at the grocery store but it looked like it had the correct label so I don’t know. I just think that it’s a big waste of tea bags and packaging if nobody is going to buy the smaller boxes when they can get the bigger box so cheap. You know what I mean?

Ok, my tea bag rant is over lol. I’m stepping off my soap box now. Carry on.

Yes… that just happened.

Yardsellr Negative Comments

On By Michel McDonaldIn Products I Like8 Comments

I’ve posted in here several times that I am on Yardsellr now.  Well, I have been noticing some disturbing trends happening over there.  Apparently it’s not just happening to me but other people as well.

People troll the Yardsellr website then leave nasty comments in people ads.  The other day 3 people left negative comments in my Pedi Paws ad saying the product is not worth your money, don’t waste your time etc.  Uh excuse me but I’m trying to sell it.  I don’t care what you think it’s worth.  Don’t go on my ads telling potential customers of mine that it’s a piece of crap and make me lose a sale.

Another person posted a comment on a video game of mine saying the game was gay.  I didn’t delete the comment but then he came back and posted another comment accusing me of deleting his prior comment and saying “gaaaaaaaayyyyyyy”.  Where were these people raised?  In the forest by wolves?  Don’t people have manners anymore?  First off, I didn’t delete your first stupid comment and second of all, I should just delete both your comments on principle.  I don’t even know why I didn’t delete them, I guess I figured if I deleted them I would get more spam in my other ads which I don’t want.

I clicked the “feedback” button so I could make a suggestion that they add a link or button to “report abuse” so that perhaps if a person gets reported enough times, their account might get banned from either commenting or using the website.  That’s when I ran into another persons feedback saying they are having the same issue as me.

Look, I’m all for leaving comments saying a product isn’t worth a damn but do it on a website that actually makes money.  Don’t leave those comments on a website where people are trying to sell their useless crap so they can scrape enough money together to buy groceries or pay their bills.

Besides the report button, I think they should also add a way for me to approve a comment before allowing it to be posted, just like in my blog and/or YouSayToo.  After so many nasty comments I have decided to make it impossible for people who aren’t members of YST to leave a comment and even members comments have to be approved before they be allowed to be seen.  On my blog the comment is not seen period until I approve it and that’s how it should be everywhere.  If I think a comment at Yardsellr is going to help me make the sale then I should be able to approve it but if it’s negative then it’s my prerogative to delete it and I shouldn’t be hassled by people who have too much time and negativity on their hands.

I wish people would grow up and stop with the internet bullying.  It doesn’t serve any purpose to be jackasses online.  My mother used to tell me that if I don’t have anything nice to say then don’t say anything at all.  I know it sounds corny but it’s true and should be applied to the internet too.  And parents, please monitor your children’s activity a little better.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

On By Michel McDonaldIn Books, MoviesLeave a comment

When Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows came out in 2007, I read it for 8 hours a day for 4-5 days.  I was just so into it that I couldn’t tear myself away.  What I love about these books is that they are so easy for me to wrap my brain around it despite the disabilities that I have to reading.  The Harry Potter books are truly what gave me a passion for reading so when I see a Harry Potter movie after I’ve read the book I get very emotional about it.

I was watching the commercial for this in the living room and you would’ve thought that I just lost someone by the way I was crying lol.  If you haven’t read this book then I don’t want to spoil it for you but someone dies in this movie and someone else loses an ear.  Yes, I was crying over an ear too lol.

I’m afraid to go see this movie in the theater because I know I’m going to be making a scene.  When we went to see Lord of the Rings Return of the King, you could’ve heard 1) a pin drop and 2) me crying.  I am such a big baby, I don’t know why.  I get so wrapped up in the characters that it makes me emotional.

Part 1 of Harry Potter and the Deathly is in theaters on November 19th.  I might have to bring my sunglasses and a box of tissues when we go see this because I have a feeling I’m going to be crying so I’ll need the sunglasses to hide my red eyes as we’re leaving lol.

Nook Color with Touch Screen

On By Michel McDonaldIn Books, eBook, Nook, Products I Like, TechLeave a comment

I think I’m going to have a heart attack and die right now.  I just got an email from Barnes & Noble with this subject:

“Introducing NOOKcolor — The Amazing Sequel to the NOOK You Love.”

Oh really?  Are you joking me?  If they could’ve told me this in September BEFORE I spent $150 on the Nook Wifi, I would’ve had an incentive to wait a little bit longer.  This new NOOKcolor is $249 and has many more features than my current Nook doesn’t have.  Such as it’s a color touch screen, you can see magazines and newspaper in color, kids books come alive at the touch of a finger (like I care) and one thing I saw in the video when I clicked the link in the email is that you can have it read to you and it’s NOT a robot voice like the Kindle.

This one is way better than mine because it can do portrait and landscape which the Kindle can do but the Nook I have can’t.  It has an 8GB card along with the ability to add another.  Mine only has 1GB but I can still add to it.  Although, I don’t see that I would ever need to but with the NOOKcolor I can see needing a bigger card because I’m sure the books with audio are bigger files.

Another cool feature is videos in your books…  In the video they showed a cookbook and you can read the recipe but then the image for it is a video where you can see how to make the recipe.  That would be so cool.  What would be even cooler is newspapers where the image for the article is an actual video of what happened.  The newspaper could set up a news station type set with anchors who read the articles with video of what happened at the scene, just like the news on tv has.  Or a magazine could have a video of the interview with the stars and their ads could be a video commercial.

I see in the Barnes & Noble website a new newsstand which is “coming soon” so I think they are going to add more magazines finally.  Right now they only have a few.  I subscribe to PC Magazine for $1.49 per month (or per magazine) but I was hoping they would have a broader choice.  With the NOOKcolor they might have more magazines and I think that would be great for Darrin who loves to get the magazines from the grocery store.  I think if he had a subscription to them then he would save so much money.  But that means he has to get the new NOOKcolor, or he can use Nook for PC.

Well, it’s obvious that I can’t afford to buy it, I can barely buy groceries right now but who knows, maybe by this time next year they will have a NOOKcolor 2 for $149 that I can save up for.  Hey it could happen.  Last year the Nook was $249 and then it came down to $149 this year and that’s the one I have.  So maybe I’ll bide my time for another year and save money so I can get the NOOKcolor for Darrin for his birthday, that is if they go down.

I don’t have to have color, I really like my Nook.  I think that the new NOOKcolor is an LCD screen, it looks lit up like the little LCD screen at the bottom of mine.  I don’t think I can read from an LCD screen.  It’s too much for my eyes.  Darrin would like that I think, last night he went to read a book on my Nook and he asked me when the screen was going to light up for him to read it.  I had to tell him that it doesn’t light up, it’s e-ink, not LCD.

My Leg is Better

On By Michel McDonaldIn Doctor, Exercise, HealthLeave a comment

Just thought I would give an update about my leg. A week ago I posted about My New Leg Injury describing what happened to me on Sunday, October 17th. How I ran for the ice cream truck, ran faster then my calf muscle popped and stopped me dead in my tracks.

I was on crutches for a few days then I went to 1 crutch then no crutches. I was supposed to be out of commission for 4-6 weeks (or 6-8 weeks for my overestimation, just in case) but it turned out to be way less.

Over the last few days I’ve been walking on my foot instead of walking on my toes and limping. I think that has stretched what was tightened so that I can walk normal again. The doctor said ice for 20 minutes several times a day for the first 3-4 days then heat. Well, I did the ice and heat and it did help some but I think the best therapy is getting up and walking around. Sure it was painful as hell but no pain no gain right?

Every morning when I wake up I limp at first but once I start walking on my foot it starts to limber up and I can walk. Occasionally the pain will start up again but it won’t last too long then it’s better again. And actually I’m having pain in other places now. All the way down my leg from my knee along my shin down to my foot. I don’t know why the pain has moved from my calf to my shin but I’m sure it will go away in time.

I’m not 100% healed but I’m not too far from it. I rather enjoyed having a few days off and not having to take the dog out 20 times per day and having to make all the meals. Of course when I was able to walk on my own again I was forced to continue daily life as if nothing had happened. I could be laying in bed pretending for another 5 weeks but I’m a terrible liar lol.

AFA Hates that Home Depot Supports HRC and Gays

On By Michel McDonaldIn Gay Rights2 Comments

What has the American Family Association (AFA) become? They once used to be a respected organization but now they have turned into an alarmist group. They’ve turned into Glenn Beck!

They wrote on their website yesterday about the Home Depot sponsoring the Atlanta gay pride festival and about how Home Depot is supporting the “Homosexual Agenda” as if there is an agenda. Anything that they don’t understand or don’t want to understand must be an agenda.

Home Depot is one of the sponsors at the event and they have a booth with goodie bags to give to people. This is what’s inside the bags. As you can see in the very back the bag itself with the Home Depot logo on it. There are 2 brochures which I assume are for potential future employees, a sports bottle, a button saying “We’re Hiring” which is great because it doesn’t seem like anyone else is hiring, a Frisbee, key chain and a beer/soda can/bottle foam cooler. At least that’s what I think that is.

Ok, it’s not like they’re handing out iPads and cameras to people. But it’s not the gifts that the AFA is so worked up about, it’s the very fact that Home Depot is supporting gay people, that’s what they hate since they have become such a hateful organization. This is supposed to be an organization that helps families and I hate to tell ya but gay people have families. Lesbians are still women with a womb capable of creating life.

I once had Home Depot in my Boycott list because they were a sponsor of the so called “Dr.” Laura but I removed them because it was stupid to boycott any company who sponsored a radio show. What I realized is that they weren’t sponsoring a homophobic person so much as they were just sponsoring a person who played their ads on the radio. That’s what they are doing in Atlanta. They aren’t sponsoring the — as the AFA puts it — “homosexual agenda”, they are sponsoring the Human Rights Campaign and by handing out these goodie bags, they are handing out free advertisements for themselves.

My reason for boycotting Home Depot was for similar reasons as the AFA BUT once I realized they weren’t her sponsor for the reason I thought, I removed them. Same with all her other sponsors. I still have the boycott page only because I don’t want to spend money on gay haters. The AFA is doing the same thing that I am doing but in reverse. It just so happens that the AFA is listed in my Boycott page lol.

The AFA is asking people to call Home Depot and “Let the manager know that you will not be shopping at The Home Depot until the company stops supporting the homosexual agenda.” Then they have a link for the Home Depot website so people can find the phone number of their local Home Depot.

Look, it’s a 50/50 risk Home Depot is taking. 50% of Americans are anti-gay and 50% are pro-gay. I assume this based on the Prop 8 results in California where it was 51% for prop 8 and 49% against prop 8. So if they offend the straights by supporting the gays then they still have 50% of their customers. If they offend the gays then they still have the other 50%. I guarantee you that people won’t give a rats ass whether Home Depot supports the HRC and will continue shopping at Home Depot because they really don’t care.

It’s like when I had them listed in my boycott page. How many people am I going to convince to boycott anyone on that page? 1, maybe 2 people? Nobody reads my blog enough for me to convince anyone of anything. I personally believe the same thing about the AFA’s website. I’ve never even been to their website because I don’t care about them since they have no impact on how I live my life. Never have, never will so why should I go to their website?

Why am I writing about their website now? Well, I first saw this story on the (G-A-Y) Good As You website through Twitter. They wrote out a post and I couldn’t help but chime in and give my 2¢ on the subject. Here is the AFA’s hate post about Home Depot giving gifts to thousands of homosexual activists.

The Human Rights Campaign by the way isn’t just a pro-gay organization, they are a pro-human being organization. Any time a person is being wronged whether they are black, white, gay, straight or whatever, they are there to support your rights as a human being.  Get it? Human rights! Gay people are humans and we are being denied the same rights as straight people and that’s what the HRC is trying to fight for us.

Windows Live

On By Michel McDonaldIn Products I LikeLeave a comment

A couple of years ago I got sick of using Outlook Express as my email client because it didn’t have a junk filter. I started searching for a new email program and after a few failed ones that added banner ads at the bottom of every email I found Windows Live Mail and I’ve been using it ever since.

Today I kept getting these messages saying something about my server not responding and I got sick of it so I thought, I wonder if there is a newer version of Windows Live Mail so I went to Google and found it. I was using the 2008 version and found that there is a 2011 version. Unfortunately for me, that is for Windows Vista and 7 only. They did have a version for XP users which is the 2009 version. Yes, I get to use last years model. But it’s still an upgrade for me considering I’ve been using the 2008 model anyway. I’m still having that issue with the server but it has nothing to do with my email client but more to do with my ISP.

It gets better though because I got a few new programs along with it. Not only did I get Windows Live Messenger — which is basically MSN Messenger which I got with the 2008 version — but I also got Windows Live Call, Family Safety, Photo Gallery and Writer.

Windows Live Call opens Windows Live Messenger so I can only assume you can make Skype like calls. Not video calls, well you can do that too but I mean calls to a persons actual telephone.

Windows Live Family Safety is great for families with children especially if you don’t want your children being exposed to the dangerous world of the internet. It allows you to prevent certain websites from being viewed by anyone on the computer. I haven’t tried it because I’m not a child lol. Well, it’s debatable.

Windows Live Photo Gallery is not unique but it is a useful tool for photographers and anyone who wants to organize their photos, or just look at them. I don’t know. I don’t really have a need for that program.

Windows Live Writer. Now that’s something that I can use because it’s a bloggers tool. It doesn’t have certain things that I would like for it to have like oh I don’t know, a grammar check for example. It has a spell check where it gives you that wavy red underline but nothing for my bad grammar and punctuation. It also has something like 158 plug-ins available that are useful. Some that I already use in my Word Press blog. There are some other plug-ins that I wish were available for it but I’m sure they will become available in the future.

I am using the Windows Live Writer to write this post and if it looks good in my blog then I may consider switching. It works with many websites like WordPress, Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad, Community Server and many more. I have a Blogger account but I never use it because I hate having to copy/paste posts.

I know I’m late on all of this info but it’s new to me.

Official Book Club Selection

On By Michel McDonaldIn Books, Celebrities, eBook, Nook, People, TVLeave a comment

I started reading this book on October 17th and just finished reading it today.  It took me awhile to read it because it was so big but I enjoyed every minute.

I wanted to read this book not just to read all about Kathy’s life but I also wanted to read it as research for my own autobiography and it helped out a lot.  It also gave me encouragement to include a few things that I was afraid to, but not too many things.

I was touched in chapter 4 when she talked about her brothers friend sexually assaulting her, yes it was only a kiss but he was 28 and she was 13, that is sexual assault, rape and child molestation.  Then she talked about her brother almost molesting her too.  I was actually in tears throughout most of that chapter.

Then when I got to chapter 9 where she was talking about doing Suddenly Susan and talked about her co-star David Strickland I started crying because I liked him.  I heard about the drugs but I didn’t know the whole story.

When I first heard on the news that he killed himself I just remember crying because I loved him on Suddenly Susan.  When I hear that an actor who I loved killed themselves, it makes me sad and upset.  He had some pretty funny lines and he was so cute and I just couldn’t see him killing himself especially when he’s working on a TV show.  It was just really sad.

But then she got to Woz, co-founder of Apple and then she had all these emails in that chapter.  I think I fell asleep about 3 times.  I just couldn’t stay awake.  It took me longer to read that chapter than any of the other chapters.  I don’t know why she put them in there.  I mean, she could’ve just made up a story of how things progressed based on her recollection of the emails but she thought it would be better to just show them.

I was glad when the next chapter was going back to the story though.  By the time I got to the end of the book, there was an interview with Kathy from Random House.  Again, I was bored to tears.

I love Kathy Griffin to death and I was happy that I finally got to read her book.  I laughed, I cried and then I fell asleep.  Despite the boring parts, I still give her props for writing it.  She could’ve left the world in the dark but she chose to let us in on that private part and for that I thank her.

I think that if a person doesn’t like Kathy Griffin for her humor, read this book and it just might change your mind.  Maybe you might all of a sudden be able to remove the very long and very thick stick out of your ass and realize how funny she really is.

Let me tell you how D-list she really is.  I went to put in the tags for this post and let yahoo suggest tags and it didn’t even show her name as a tag.  Hello, how many times is her name listed in this post?  You would think that her name would’ve shown up in the tags.  I thought that she if anyone would appreciate the humor in that.

My Leg Is In Good Shape Considering

On By Michel McDonaldIn HealthLeave a comment

I am a quick healer. I don’t know what it is about me but when I get a bump or a bruise you wouldn’t know I got it by how fast it disappears. That’s one thing that is in my book is how my step-dad was able to get away with child abuse because within half an hour of giving me a bruise, it was already gone so there was no evidence of it which was very difficult to claim that I was being abused with no marks to show for.

I hurt my leg on Sunday and here it is Friday night, Saturday morning, not quite a week but we’re almost there and I’m already walking on both legs.

To recap what happened; I was running for the ice cream truck on Sunday, saw he wasn’t looking in his mirror and since he was driving at the same speed I was running I decided to pick up the pace and that’s when I heard and felt my calf pop. It feels like a constant charlie horse. Imagine having a charlie horse for a week straight.

Ok the first couple of days I was on 2 crutches but the 3rd day I nixed the 2nd crutch because I was doing fine on 1. Then day 4 I’m able to walk with a limp without the assistance of a crutch, although I take it when I go outside and when we went to the store just in case. Although I didn’t need it, I felt it necessary so I wouldn’t have to explain a limp. Although, I was asked what happened, why I was using a crutch lol.

Today I’ve been walking directly on my left foot instead of limping and even though the calf is still tight, or what’s the word, taut? Even though it’s still taut and has some pain I feel I should give it some exercise.  Anyway, occasionally I’ll get a stinging pain then I have to limp for a minute then go back to my foot flat on the ground.

The doctor gave me an estimated down time of 4-6 weeks and I overestimated that to 6-8 weeks just in case, you never know. And I guess my overestimation was a good call because I figured if I overestimate it will be way less and it’s turning out to be way less.

I can’t say it’s over because it’s still like a constant charlie horse but not as painful as one would normally be and I still have to limp when I rest my leg for too long. You can’t just start walking normal after you’ve been sitting or laying down for a few hours.

I have been getting dizzy though which is unusual. I’m very dizzy right now but that’s because I took the medicine. The muscle relaxer. I think it’s relaxing my brain which is why I’m getting dizzy. I also took an ambien so maybe that’s what’s causing the dizzy, it doesn’t usually though so I think it’s a combo. But that means I gotta cut this short.

HA you’re thinking SHORT? Yeah, too late for that pal.

No but seriously, I will continue with the updates again soon.