Tag: 11 years

My Dry Skin

On By Michel McDonaldIn Health3 Comments

I don’t know if it’s because I live in the desert or what but my skin has got to be the driest it has ever been since we moved to Bakersfield 11 years ago.

In my entire life I’ve never had to worry about my skin being so dry that you can see where I scratched myself on my leg.  Also my feet are so dry that they are constantly cracking.  I know it’s not a beautiful image but there you go.

My hands are especially dry probably because when I do the dishes I don’t use any gloves to protect my hands.  The reason for that is they don’t make rubber gloves for men with thick fingers and big hands.  I have bought the large gloves and they are still too tight.  As a result, the skin on my fingers bubble up and then the skin dries out or gets scratched or peeled off and the remaining skin dries up and scratches me when I touch my face.

I grew up to think that body lotion was for girls, actually any lotion is for girls.  It is acceptable to put lotion on your hands when they are dry every once in a while but the way I was taught was even then you do that in private and never EVER let anyone know you used lotion.  My family sure did screw me up didn’t they?

So screw all that noise.  I am so tired of my dry skin so I went to the store I would say about a week ago and bought some Suave body wash and it came with a little bottle of Suave body lotion.  I used it all up on my hands but then started thinking about my feet and my legs.  When that was all gone I bought a big bottle of Suave Cocoa Butter w/Shea body lotion and I use it on my whole body after every shower.

I’ve used it for the last 3 or 4 days and I gotta hand it to them, my legs don’t show scratch marks anymore, my hands are nice and soft and the skin doesn’t bubble after dishes anymore and my feet are starting to look normal again.  The cracks in my toes and my heels seem to be healing.

And to top it all off I smell really good.  I know, men don’t smell like cocoa butter w/shea, only girls do right?  Screw that, who says that men can’t smell good too?  I don’t care what anyone tells me, I like it.  I like how soft my skin is and I like how I smell now.

I think it takes a real man to take care of his skin, I don’t care what people tell me.  It’s happening!

Bakersfield is Number 2 in Toxicity

On By Michel McDonaldIn News1 Comment

I just heard yesterday that Bakersfield is in the number 2 spot for the most toxic cities and i just so happen to live in Bakersfield so I thought I would weigh in.

America’s 10 Most Toxic Cities – Source Forbes.com

Number of unhealthy air quality days (2009): 43

Pounds of on-site toxic releases reported (2009): 2.2 million

EWG top water concern: N/A

“The EPA says when the Air Quality Index for an area climbs above 100 (ratings range from zero to 500, with zero being the best) it can bring on respiratory problems for people with lung disease, children and older adults. Above 150, everyone can suffer. Most cities don’t even have a single day each year when the AQI is above 100. But Bakersfield, Calif., which ranks second on our list, had 43 such days in 2009, Fresno (No. 3) had 29 days, and Los Angeles (No. 6) had 14.”

For the last 11 years that we’ve lived here in Bakersfield, we’ve seen that they show on the local news the air quality level for burning wood, that is during the cold seasons, and it surprises me because most nights they tell you that you can’t burn wood in your fireplace.  The people who ignore that will get a ticket.  I assume if a cop sees smoke coming out of someones chimney they will write the ticket then ring the doorbell and give it to you and tell you to put the fire out.  I haven’t had that experience so it’s just a guess.  We don’t burn wood since our living room TV sits in front of the fireplace covering it from ever being used.

What I do notice about our air quality is that you can smell how nasty it is.  What it smells like to me is, well you know how hose water tastes?  That’s how it smells.  Sometimes it smells like that leftover food that you left in your fridge for over a month and decided that it’s time to toss it out because the smell is getting so bad.  I smell that smell every Tuesday night which is trash night in our neighborhood which leads me to believe that every week someone has discovered some old food and decided to toss it with their trash.

They didn’t even mention our water quality which is a huge issue for me because our water smells and tastes like hose water and it looks white when you pour water from the tap into a glass.  I suppose it has gotten a little better but it still smells and tastes bad.  Where is Erin Brokovich when you need her?

I hope this is a wake up call for the city of Bakersfield.  Clean up your act!  If I see one fish with 3 eyes I’m outta here!

New iPod Touch

On By Michel McDonaldIn Gadgets, MusicLeave a comment

When I was 11 years old I got my first walk-man which played audio cassettes (and sometimes ate them). That was in 1981. In 1989 when I was 19 years old I bought my first CD player walk-man. It was big and bulkier than the cassette version but it was pretty darn cool and I was paranoid to let anyone see it for fear of it being snatched.

In the late 90′s I remember seeing the first mp3 player, I think it was the Rio(?).  It only stored a few cd’s which to me is bogus for the price but whatever. Then the iPod came out and that was pretty darn cool.

In 2005 I got the Dell DJ but I wish that I had gotten an iPod instead.

What a long way we have come that we now have an mp3 player that not only plays music but also video games, records HD video, views websites and now has a new thing called FaceTime which allows you to have a live video streaming phone call with someone. And it’s not even an iPhone either, it’s an iPod, a music player. The walk-man of the 21st century if you will.

Amazing!  What will they come up with next?