Goodbye Bicycle

On By Michel McDonaldIn CyclingLeave a comment

Well so much for exercise.  I went to the grocery store and as soon as I got on the bike to come home something felt a little strange with the chain.  I rode in front of the store from where I locked my bike at and tried to fiddle with the pedals to find out why the chain was giving me trouble but I couldn’t figure it out.

So I was fine to ride to the street I turn right on but then it started acting a little strange, the wheel didn’t feel right, it was wobbling.  I got off the bike in the middle of the street and had to walk it over to the sidewalk.  At first I thought the townie basket was coming off and was pushing against the wheel so I took the heavy groceries out.  That wasn’t it.

I still didn’t see it because the sun was almost finished going down so it was too dark to see, but then I saw it.  The bolt that goes all the way through the wheel was sticking out too far on the left.  The 2 nuts on the ride side were gone, I don’t even know what happened to those.  So since there was no long bolt to hold on to the frame on the right side the wheel couldn’t keep me balanced since it was only holding on the left side.

I had to walk the rest of the way home carrying 1 heavy grocery bag on my left hand and 1 light but still annoying grocery bag on my right hand while both hands held onto the handlebars.  The entire time I was walking the back wheel was rubbing against the brakes and making this awful noise which I can’t explain how it sounded.  Well, it sounded like some deep voiced animal either dying or giving birth.

I have 2 missing bolts and no idea where they are and no money until next week to be able to do anything about it.  It’s not going to be expensive, well, I don’t think it will be.  I mean it’s just a matter of screwing the bolt centered again and buying 2 nuts right?  Maybe?  I’m sure the nuts aren’t too expensive at Home Depot or maybe the bike store has them cheap.  Or who knows, maybe I have to bring the back wheel to the bike store and have them fix it and charge me $20 for it.

I wonder how this happened.  Last weekend when I rode the bike on my 22 mile trip I tightened everything .  In fact I did a full maintenance job on the entire bicycle to get it ready to ride with no issues.  How in the heck could that bolt screw itself all the way to the left?  It doesn’t make any sense at all.

Whatever, it doesn’t matter.  I’ll get it fixed and everything with be fine… blah blah blah.

Update 2011-01-28: As of this date I still do not have a new back wheel.  I just can’t afford it.

No Zombie Book For Me

On By Michel McDonaldIn BooksLeave a comment

On June 30th I got an email from GetGlue saying I won a book for being the guru of the book Zombies for Zombies .  Well the book that I won “ The Living Dead” by George Romero is apparently not really happening.

I haven’t really been that focused on getting it on a certain day or week because I know when you win things it could take a month or longer.  But since it has been over 3 weeks I thought maybe it might come soon.  I waited for the mail like a little pup but once again, no book.

I decided to go onto Amazon and get more information about the book, maybe read some reviews.  What I see is confusing because it says that this book is available for pre-order and that it has not been released yet. Hmmm , ok well I go down and see in the product details that it was released on July 1st 2010.  Well that’s odd.  So I scroll all the way down for the discussion section for this book and find out that in the post at the very top that this book is not even real.  It was actually someone who responded to the post titled “ Exciting! “.

Someone on July 13th said there was an interview on YouTube of him saying it’s not real and another person on the 24th said they would like the link to that.  I searched and found it.  I had to watch the first part of the interview then watch the second part of the interview to see and it was the very last question all the way at the end of the interview.

The question was asked at 6:09 and he responded at 6:25 that you can’t listen to what you read on IMDB, he responds about amazon at 6:51 saying you can’t believe any of the “shit” you read on amazon.

Seriously?  I really don’t believe this.  The Q&A session he did in this video was posted on YouTube on May 12 2010 by a woman who clearly sounded annoyed by the video game and novel questions and she clearly had her nose so far up George Romero’s ass, it was any wonder you could hear her chuckling at the questions being asked.

Anyway, I am a bit disappointed that the one thing I did win from GetGlue might never arrive, it was fun to think that it would though.  I guess I can stop waiting for it to come in the mail now.

My Day in Xanth

On By Michel McDonaldIn BooksLeave a comment

I spent the day with an ogre and his 7 female companions.

That sounded silly but it’s true.  I sat in my desk chair the entire day reading Ogre, Ogre by Piers Anthony which is the 5th book in the Xanth series.

Earlier this year I committed to starting this book but only read 1 chapter and stopped.  A couple of days ago I finally picked it back up and started reading it again.  I only read 2 chapters then yesterday 3 chapters but today I really got into it and read 5 chapters.  The only reason I stopped reading it was because I had shows on tonight.

What I have left to read of the rest of the book is actually the same amount that I read today.  Actually it’s only 4 chapters but the amount of pages is the same.  I am so tempted to read another chapter tonight but I want to save the rest for tomorrow.

I love the Xanth books because they draw me into the adventure and I don’t want to leave.  I can picture everything that is happening as I’m reading and I can imagine what it would look like if it were a CGI movie.  Although it would be a very long movie but it would be well worth the watch if it were made .

In this story, the Ogre named Smash goes on a trip with a Nymph and despite the fact that being an ogre he eats women, he has made a promise to safely guide her through the very dangerous land of Xanth to help her find what she is looking for.  Along they way he helps 6 other women.

Yesterday as I was reading he was collecting the women and today chapter by chapter most of the women found their mates and the end of their adventures. The point that I’m at he still has 3 more women although I have a feeling one of those women has found her mate and the end of her adventure since she has found the male of her species.

Tomorrow when I finish this book I can finally check another book off my queue then add “Night Mare” which is the 6th Xanth novel.

Reading isn’t as exciting to everyone and who blogs about reading a book but I find it an accomplishment since I have Dyslexia, LD and ADD.  I also find that reading helps me with my writing.  It broadens my vocabulary and helps teach me good grammar, if that makes any sense.

You can see my aNobii profile which shows the books I have read and have yet to read but I will get to eventually.  I want to finish all the physical books before I get to the eBooks then I have a reason to buy a Nook.

We Cheated with Taco Bell

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, HealthLeave a comment

When I was a teenager we used to go to Taco Bell and we would have about 2 or 3 tacos each and we never gained any weight.  Why?  Because we were fit already and we were athletic so we could eat all the tacos we wanted as long as we remained active.  Although, even back then we didn’t go ALL the time, we went once in a while.

Taco Bell was never my downfall.  I don’t see Taco Bell as being the cause for my weight gain because during the time it took me to get fat Taco Bell was never on the menu.  Every once in a while it was but it is not what made me fat and I can’t say it contributed to it either.  Actually fast food was never what made me fat.  It was always what I bought from the grocery store and made at home.

In the 10 weeks that I’ve been on this diet we have had a no fast food policy.  Although, we don’t regularly go to fast food restaurants anyway, we just figured that if we never went at all then we would be ok.  I would say that in a year we would probably have maybe 4 trips to a fast food restaurant.  So it’s not like I’m depriving myself of something that I never have.

Today I was thinking about Taco Bells new fresco menu on the approved SparkPeople list for fast food restaurants.  I looked at the calories for the fresco soft taco and it was basically the same as a regular soft taco.  Well, the Fresco soft taco is 180 calories, the regular soft taco is 200 calories.  It doesn’t matter if it’s beef or chicken, it’s the same amount of calories.  I didn’t really want the fresco because the salsa they put on it has onions which I cannot stand.  So, I chose those extra 20 calories each.  I had 2 soft tacos for 400 calories and I don’t regret it at all.  And if you think about it, that’s only 40 calories more than if I chose fresco.

The reason I don’t regret eating 400 calories in 1 sitting is because it’s today only.  I’m not going to have Taco Bell again for maybe another 6 months or maybe longer.  I can’t say when we will have it again but I do know that it won’t be any time soon.

If you deprive yourself of things that you like to eat then one day you will end up bingeing on it.  So, it’s good to eat the things you like every so often.

I’ve lost 31lbs so far and believe me, I don’t plan to gain it all back so by eating taco bell tonight and getting the craving over now will make sure that my weight loss continues.

Weigh In Day

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, SparkPeopleLeave a comment

This is week 1 of my 2nd goal and I have lost 2.8lbs.  It’s funny because I weighed in at exactly 222.2.  I would’ve liked to have been 222.0 because then I can say that I have lost 30lbs total but since I have that .2 hanging over me I’ve actually only lost 29.8.  But that’s ok.  I’m just gonna go with 30lbs lol.

I have to say that my weekly weigh in’s are getting old though.  I mean it’s one thing to have to enter my weight and measurements with SparkPeople but then to turn around and blog about it is what’s getting old.  Mainly because I don’t really know what to say anymore about it so this will be my last post about it.  If you want to see my progress I will just continue to weigh in but put my scale in my SparkPeople page (link at the top under the banner).

Gay Kiss in True Blood

On By Michel McDonaldIn TVLeave a comment

Last night during True Blood there was something that was probably very shocking to some viewers of the show.  Lafayette and his mothers male nurse Jesus shared a kiss in his car.  Then they went to Lafayette’s house and started to kiss before drug dealers bashed in all the windows of his brand new car that Eric bought for him as a gift.

At first I was giddy because I was happy for Lafayette for finally being able to have a boyfriend but then I started to think, that was a very risky thing for the show to do.  It’s one thing to have a gay character but then to have him flaunt it on screen might drive some of the viewers away.  I along with the entire gay community who actually watch the show were probably so thrilled to see this happen but I can just imagine all the clicking sounds of the remote control in all the anti-gay homes.

I’m sure the writers knew what they were getting into when they wrote that into the script and I applaud them for that.  However, many people out there are still very anti-gay and would probably ban watching the show henceforth.

I personally love that there is not only a gay character but he’s getting action on screen.  Good for him, good for True Blood, good for us who care to see that on our tv’s.  It shows that if straight people are bold enough to push their sexuality in our gay faces that we should be able to do the same thing and get away with it just as they have gotten away with it since the inception of television.

Unfortunately, when Jesus found out that Lafayette was a drug dealer who dealt not only Crystal Meth but also “V” (vampire blood), the date was over, he wanted to be driven back to Merlotte’s for his car so he can leave.  Oh well, it didn’t last very long.  Maybe Lafayette will get another love interest in the show in the future.

The Fresh Air Fund

On By Michel McDonaldIn CharityLeave a comment

Remember when it was summer and time for summer camp?  Well the Fresh Air Fund worked hard at the beginning of summer this year to raise enough money so that 8,000 children could go to camp in the New York area.  Here are some highlights.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8Vs1R3JYzA

It looks like the had a lot of fun.  As you can see in the video they did a lot of tie dye which is actually a fun activity.  We did that when I went to band camp in 1981 so I guess it’s something that never goes out of style.

What I’m most happy about is that they got to go swimming.  Well, for them anyway.  Me, I had to suffer.  Why can’t they have adult camps?  Hehe I kid.  No but seriously, where are the adult camps?

Hey if you want to follow the Fresh Air Fund check them out on Facebook and Twitter and you can also visit their website www.freshair.org.  Perhaps next year will be the year that you help an underprivileged child go to summer camp.

PVC Teardrop Bicycle Trailer

On By Michel McDonaldIn Bike, Tech, TravelLeave a comment

Awhile ago I posted a link from Dvice.com where this guy built a trailer for his bicycle to go to Burning man:

Tiny bicycle-towed house is self-sufficient

Ok so when I looked at the article in the Dvice website it had a link for Ecofriend so I clicked that then scrolled to the next link for TinyHouseDesign.  I scrolled down that article about the same trailer until I found that this person created a PVC teardrop bicycle trailer design.

pvctrailerIsn’t that just the most awesome thing you ever seen?  And someone is building it right now.  Roy the PVC guy is building it in his garage.  He just has all the PVC put together but scroll down to the comments section on that page to see my comments.  I offered a couple suggestions that I think will make it more interesting.

I’ve been thinking about this WAY too much.  If I didn’t read the Dvice.com website I would’ve never found this.  I don’t know if that’s good or bad because now I’m obsessed.  I don’t know if it’s a good obsession though lol.

I can see some practical applications with this.  If you are traveling the country like Crazy James from Big Brother 9 then this can come in handy because you can just pull over wherever you are and go to bed.  You don’t have to set up a tent or get a motel room, just pull over, climb in and go to sleep.

The guy who went to Burning man, his trailer had solar panels so during the day it collects electricity I’m guessing into a battery and that powers the fan and it could charge your cell phone, mp3 player, keep your laptop powered up etc.  He also had a built in urinal but you have to stand outside to use it.  You pee into a funnel that goes into a 1 gallon water bottle.  I can see a problem with that, indecency maybe?  I mean especially if a cop was driving by and you were peeing into a trailer on the outside lol.  All you would need is one of those urinal things that they give you in the hospital, you just sit inside the trailer, close the door, open your shorts and pee lol.  But he doesn’t have anything for #2 but I’m sure you could find a way.

Actually if you go to campmor.com they sell camp gear and they have a toilet that you can sit on but it’s afoldable chair with a hole in it with a tent and you can poop into a plastic bag then tie the bag up when you are finished and throw it in the trash.  You could also dig a hole, crap in the hole then bury it lol.  Also they sell these shower enclosures so you can take a private shower with a 5 gallon water bottle that you fill with the lake water then let it sit in the sun all day so you can take a warm shower.

Well I don’t have a real reason for having one of these trailers but it really does look neat.  I think that it would be great for a homeless person to have one of these, that is if they can’t get their hands on an EDAR.  I can see building one of these just in case you know?  Just in case I fall under hard times and all of a sudden I’m out on the street with nowhere to go.  I’d at least have a little trailer to live in.  I could take it over to the bike trail where there are all those trees at Manor St.  I see a homeless guy sleeping on the ground in a sleeping bag.  I hope it never comes to that but you never know what might happen.

DJ AM Dies

On By Michel McDonaldIn CelebritiesLeave a comment

DJ AM Dies – Source TMZ

Wow I just heard the news via friend update on Facebook.  DJ AM died of an alleged overdose of drugs and was found dead in his New York apartment this afternoon.  Friends haven’t heard from him in days and someone went to check on him and there was no answer at the door so the friend called the cops who gained entry and found him dead with some drugs nearby.

I remember hearing about him being in the plane accident with Travis Barker which was horrible that they went through that.  I think that was around the time or maybe after Travis Barkers reality show.  I’m so glad that they survived the crash but it’s really sad to hear that he died in this manner.

My heart goes out to DJ AM’s friends and family during this difficult time.

Kidnapped 18 Years Ago, Found With 2 Kids

On By Michel McDonaldIn NewsLeave a comment

California Girl Kidnapped 18 Years Ago Kept as Sex Slave in Couple’s Backyard – Source Foxnews.com

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASx5ThZLMzQ

This poor girl was kidnapped 18 years ago by a sex offender and kept as a sex slave in this couples back yard.  The man who kidnapped her fathered 2 children who are now 11 and 15 years old.  None of them have been to school which is a real shame.

This poor girl, now woman, is going to need a lot of therapy and so are her 2 children.  This whole story makes me sick that she was kidnapped and kept as a sex slave.

The couple and the kidnapped victims all walked into the police station where the couple turned themselves in.  It’s just too bad it took 18 years for them to do the right thing.  This should’ve never happened.  Now the man is claiming that he is a different person and that he’s changed yadda yadda yadda.  He is a registered sex offender, how did his probation officer never search the property?  I think they should start searching the property of all these sex offenders every so often.  You never know what your gonna find and they just might save lives.