Tag: Bakersfield

New river park area aims to attract visitors, wildlife

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

New river park area aims to attract visitors, wildlife – Source Bakersfield.com

A train whistle sounded in the distance as Bakersfield Mayor Harvey Hall cut a thick blue ribbon Wednesday, signifying that the Uplands of Kern River Parkway is open to the public.

“Imagine it on a 60-degree day instead of a 110-degree day,” Hall joked to a small crowd of mostly city and county officials who stood under a canopy overlooking the Kern River.

While the Uplands park — which was funded with a $1.4 million state grant from Proposition 50, $314,000 from city Park Improvement fees and $275,000 from the city’s agricultural water fund — seemed more desolate than lush, officials were optimistic the park will come into its own….”

Some time in the beginning of June I started riding my bike to the Bakersfield bike trail.  I didn’t make it too far before heading home.  Around mid-June I took it to the next level and continued along the bike trail all the way to Manor and noticed these new seating areas.  Only one of them is different from the others, it has a telescope, none of the others have that.  They were all closed but they opened on June 22nd.

They are really nice aren’t they?  It’s too bad I can never use it.  Why you ask? Take a look at this:

No bicycles, skateboards, roller blades, in-line scooters or horses.  So, if I’m riding on the bike trail, I can’t pull over for a rest.  Or does that mean that I can’t “ride” the bike in there?  Do they have any rest stop police to make sure I don’t get to sit in there?  Uh no.  They don’t have anything saying so.

I’m not quite sure what this sign means.  Am I allowed to walk my bike along the wooden path in the dirt then prop it up on its bike stand then go sit down and rest?  Probably not because it’s apparently not intended as a rest stop but more as a bird watching area.

It says in that article from the city of Bakersfield that they want to encourage more animals to come:

“The whole purpose is that once the trees mature, it’ll draw some animals and birds to that area,” said Hoover, “birds and animals that people can watch and just observe.” She said kit foxes, beavers, egrets and blue herons, among other native species, will likely return to the area.

Is that really such a good idea to have more animals along the bike trail?  As it is there are a ton of squirrels in the parks over by Yokuts and Beach Park that run across the bike trail and get squished by bicycles.  There are tons of jack rabbits and lizards that get squished along the bike path just where these new parks are too.  I squished one lizard already (and I felt terrible, just terrible about it) and I’ve seen people who were in a group of like 10 bicycles that have squished a jack rabbit.

When you are riding your bike on the bike trail at such fast speeds, you can’t slow down or stop for an animal.  If one person starts to slow down or comes to a complete stop because of a rabbit or a fox or a beaver, the whole lot of the riders will crash and some could end up injured and in the hospital.

I don’t encourage more animals along the bike trail because that just encourages more accidents and dead animals.  If they are going to put in a fence to protect the animals then that is one thing but I don’t see that happening.  And they can’t stop people from riding their bikes on the “bike trail” because that’s what it was intended for.

What I wish they would have spent the money on is bathrooms.  There aren’t any bathrooms along the bike trail, couldn’t they have spent some of that money on porta-potties?  Or maybe perhaps building mens and women’s restrooms with those fancy new seating areas?

If you start out at Beach Park then you have a bathroom to go to.  If you ride your bike all the way down to China Grade Loop you will notice that there is not 1 bathroom.  I’m not saying I have to go to the bathroom too often but I mean seriously, I’m drinking 2 liters of water over 18 miles that I ride every day.  I haven’t had to go pee but there have been times that I had to go number 2 and it would’ve been nice if I had a bathroom to go to.  I try to go before I leave the house but it doesn’t always happen at 5:30am.

The new seating areas are nice and all but I just see them as a huge waste of money.  Also, I haven’t seen 1 person sitting in one of them.  I saw an old couple who I see walking every morning walk into one but I’m sure it was to look around and see what they have.  I can see this as being a fun thing if it weren’t so close to the bike trail.

Stepping Up My Bike Rides

On By Michel McDonaldIn Bike, Cycling, ExerciseLeave a comment

bike trail water.jpg

I’ve been riding 15 miles every time I ride on the bike trail.  As soon as I get to my halfway point which is at Manor St., my legs are ready to give and I have to stop and rest.  Instead of going further I usually just head back home.  I think 15 miles is a good ride.  But I think it’s time to step things up and go the distance so I kept going today and rode for a total of 18 miles.

This picture above is what I see on the Bakersfield Bike trail on the other side of the bridge from Beach Park.  I thought it was too beautiful to not take a picture.

Herbie.jpg

And here’s Herbie hehe.  I saw this just as I was coming into Beach Park this morning.  I have seen this car driving throughout Bakersfield since at least 2000 when we moved here.  Every time I see it I want to take a picture and I never have a camera with me and it just so happens that now I have a cell phone that can take pictures lol.

I’ve already weighed myself and I have lost a couple lb’s so I think adding miles to my bike ride is going to help me lose more weight.  It doesn’t have to come off faster, just as long as it comes off, that’s all that matters.

My legs are jello right now and my back is in pain so that’s all I have for now.

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!

Moon Glow

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

Darrin went out to the car then came in the house and told me to come look at the moon.  I was like yeah yeah yeah I’ve seen it and he said no really, come look, it has a cool glow around it.

I went in the house and got my camera but it didn’t come out too great so I had to do a video in order to take a screenshot to get a good image.  The glow was so huge that my camera couldn’t get the whole thing in the frame so I just got the bottom of it.

I don’t know if this is visible to everyone but it certainly is visible here in Bakersfield right now.

Borders Sad Chapter 11 News

On By Michel McDonaldIn Books, News1 Comment

I was watching Attack of the Show today and they spoke for 10 seconds about Borders filing for chapter 11 and closing some of their famous book stores but they didn’t go into as much detail as this email that I got today did.

Click the image to see it full sized to read the sad news.

My guess, and this is just an uneducated guess, is that they are doing poorly because of the rise of eBooks via the Amazon Kindle and the Barnes and Noble Nook. Borders does sell their own eBook reader called the Kobo as well as many other e-book readers like the Sony and Velocity Micro Cruz (which I have never heard of).

The main reason I bought a Nook was because of its online store ability as well as it’s ability to allow me to upload epub files from other websites which the Kindle would not allow. The Kobo and Sony readers were in my pro and con list but unfortunately didn’t meet my criteria due to the lack of an online store which I’m finding out now that the Kobo has. I don’t think it had it when I was making my decision.

Well as far as I knew they were doing great because we’ve been to the Borders over on Stockdale Hwy here in Bakersfield and they are always busy, then again it could’ve been that day but who knows. I’m almost positive that this is just a temporary economical setback and that they will eventually recover from it and be as strong as they always have been because they are a great store to go in to.

It is sad news to hear because I love to read and I think it’s very important for parents to teach their kids the joy of reading at an early age so they enjoy reading in their child, teen and adult years as much as I love to read today. Maybe knowing that they aren’t doing so great people will make the trip to their local Borders store hoping for a sale which might end up boosting their business causing the opposite of what is happening now.

Don’t let your local Borders store go out of business, go shop there for some books, movies, video games, toys and whatever else they sell. Install the Borders app on your cell phone and start buying e-books from them too.  Show them that you want them to stay by giving them some sales and keep those people from being out of a job. Times are tough and the last thing we need is for more people out of work.

A Golden Retriever Was Hit on H Street in Bakersfield

On By Michel McDonaldIn Pets2 Comments

Tonight at around 6:15pm we were driving along H Street here in Bakersfield going to Hometown Buffet (which we didn’t know is closed for renovation, we ended up going to Denny’s) and we passed the saddest thing.

Among all the speeding cars driving around 40-50mph, there was a Golden Retriever laying on the ground between 2 parked cars. He (or she, I don’t know) seemed to be alive, he was laying down but sitting there panting with his head up. There were 2 people standing by the cars and it looked like they were on the phone.

Since we didn’t pull over I don’t know the full details of what happened but I can only speculate that the dog went out into the street and got hit. I can only speculate that the person I saw on the phone may have either seen the dog get hit or they are the driver that hit him. I don’t know. They may have been calling the owner of the dog if the dog had tags on the collar or they might have been calling for help for the dog. Again, I don’t know.

What I do know is that my heart goes out to that dog tonight. I am a very sensitive person, especially when it comes to animals because they aren’t that bright sometimes. We’re always seeing dogs and cats in the street wandering around confused and lost. I don’t know if it has to do with the fact that they were sheltered in a house then suddenly kicked out into the world that they are very confused by or if they just don’t have a lot going on up there.

I know they run out when you least expect it and if you stop suddenly you could end up causing a huge accident so I understand why they end up getting hit. I just wish people would keep their dogs and cats inside the house or inside the fenced in yard. And if you can’t keep the dog then at least find them a new home so there aren’t so many strays out.

There is a house in our neighborhood on 2nd and Eye st. where the dogs have a chain link fence but the driveway gates don’t close tight so the dogs are always running around the neighborhood chasing and barking at people who walk by.  And they are little dogs which is how they were able to get through the driveway gates.  I saw one of them dead over on Chester and 2nd street in the gutter.  I hate seeing dead dogs in the street, especially when you know that dog has a home, their owners just don’t care enough about them to keep them either in the house or get the fence fixed so the dogs don’t go wandering around.

When we came home from dinner I picked up our dog Flower and hugged her and kissed her. Sometimes you don’t appreciate something (or someone) until they are gone, that doesn’t only apply to people either.

An Idiot Abroad on Science Channel

On By Michel McDonaldIn TV3 Comments

I totally forgot this new show An Idiot Abroad was supposed to be on today. It’s on during one of my shows but being on basic cable it repeats. I thought about it tonight and luckily it was on demand so I could watch it instantly.

If you haven’t seen The Ricky Gervais show on HBO then you probably don’t really understand why they are making fun of him on this show. I have only really seen a few episodes, last night I watched 2 episodes on HBO On Demand to catch up a little on the 2nd season so I can prepare myself for what I’m going to see in An Idiot Abroad.

All I have to say is that Karl Pilkington is HILARIOUS! Some of the things he says is so out there that you just can’t help but to laugh out loud, literally out loud. So loud that your neighbors are like, what the hell is he laughing about over there?

Other times during tonight’s episode I was thinking, if he’s an idiot for saying some of the things he said then I must be an idiot too because I would’ve said the same thing. I mean for instance, he was in the bathroom in China and there were no toilets, actually there was 1 toilet but I’m sure it was for older people who can’t squat. The other stalls were just holes in the ground, or ground level toilets. There were walls separating them but no doors.

I agree with him on the doors part, but mostly I agree with the squatting thing. I am so glad we don’t have those kind of toilets here in the states. Also, no toilet paper… what’s up with that? Can you imagine going to the bathroom and not cleaning it up then going back to work with a stench? Uh no, I don’t think so.

We do have stalls here in Bakersfield in the parks that don’t have doors.  When I was riding my bike to the bike trail for exercise, sometimes I would have to go really bad and trust me, that’s the only way I will ever use a park bathroom, if I just can’t wait to get home.  I’d go in there and there are no doors.  Sure the walls are really high but that doesn’t help me.  I need a door for privacy.  What if someone walks in and passes me?  So I use the one on the far end so nobody can pass me then I have my bike kind of sitting in there so I can hang onto the front wheel if someone tries to steal it.  So imagine me sitting on the toilet while holding my front wheel with no door on the stall.

I don’t think that Karl is an idiot, I mean to the degree they are calling him one. I think that he says some pretty smart things and I applaud him for being able to go out of his comfort zone against his will and just deal with it and do what he was told because there is no way I would’ve been able to do that.

The food alone is a reason I wouldn’t be able to do that. I have so many food issues, I’d end up starving. Or I’d end up getting fatter off all the potato chips. I’d have to pack loads of energy bars just to keep me from starving when I refuse to eat the frogs or the bugs.

Well this is a show I will be adding to my TV page I so I don’t forget to watch it every week.  It’s on Saturday nights at 10 e/p on the Science channel.

Update 2011-02-02: I spelled his name wrong, it’s Karl, not Carl.  Who’s the idiot now?  It looks like I am.

In Memory of Vedra Jean Luttrell

On By Michel McDonaldIn Friends and Family, PeopleLeave a comment

We have recently suffered the loss of a great friend and family member; Chips cousin has unexpectedly and wrongfully passed away at the age of 62.

I first met Vedra in the mid 90’s when Darrin and I would travel from Hollywood to Bakersfield to visit his mom for Mother’s Day. Every year Vedra would send a flier in the mail telling us about the family reunion and pot luck in the park and it was something that I always looked forward to, not just for the good food but to see her since we clicked so well.

We moved to Bakersfield in 2000 so we were able to see her more than just once a year but little did I know, she only lived 2 blocks from us.  When I learned that she lived so close, we started to see her more often and we met her life partner Venda.  Next thing you know, we’re all trading birthday gifts with each other.

The circumstances with which Vedra has left this world is very painful and I will not go into any details as I would like this to be a celebration of her life but let’s never forget the tragedy for why she is not with us today.

There won’t be a funeral but there will be a celebration of life party at one of Vedras sisters house in mid November.  I like celebration of life parties because you aren’t just mourning her death but also celebrating her life.  I have been to 3 such parties in my life and it’s a better way to say goodbye with a smile and a tear at the same time.

We will miss you and never forget you Vedra.

Drunk Bus Station People

On By Michel McDonaldIn Doctor, Health, PeopleLeave a comment

Since Darrin is working now and my bicycle is missing a wheel, I have to take the bus to my doctors appointments and anywhere else that is too far to walk. I don’t mind taking the bus, in fact, I recommend it to anyone because it’s green.

Unfortunately, our city has a station in Downtown Bakersfield where all the busses come.  If you have to transfer then you just go downtown and walk over to your next bus. If it’s there great, if not wait.

So I took the bus to my doctor’s appointment, all is well with bus travel. I leave and have to go to the bus station to transfer to the 2. It’s not there so I have to wait.

I’m sitting in one of the seats waiting and the number 2 (going in the opposite direction that I need to go) comes and people get off. I hear a guy taking his bike off the bike rack in the front and turn around and look at how nice his bike is and watch him struggle to put the rack up.

Out of nowhere, another guys face is literally 1 inch away from my face. He said “why were you looking at me just now?” and I could smell the beer on his breath. “I wasn’t looking at you, I was looking at the guy taking his bike off the rack” as if I owe him an explanation.

He backs away and sits across from me, staring at me.

Uncomfortable, I get up and walk 40 feet away. I’m staring off into the distance so that it doesn’t appear that I’m looking at anyone or anything in particular. I don’t want to get accused of looking at anyone again.

I feel like I’m being watched and I turn around and he’s sitting down 2 feet behind me.

Are you serious?

He comes up to me, again 1 inch from my face but whispers into my ear “I bet you watch anus videos all day long, don’t you?” I smell the beer on his breath and it is not pleasant.

“Uh, no, I don’t think so” I say to him with a dirty look on my face. Trying to convey to him that he has the wrong impression of me and hoping he’ll leave me alone.

I’m trying not to look at him, not even for a second and he tries to start a conversation with me but I’m giving him 1 word answers, trying to let him know that I am uninterested in talking to him.

He asks if I have a badge.  Why are people always asking me if I’m a cop?  I mean seriously!  Does a Lego Indiana Jones t-shirt scream cop?  No, it screams video game geek.  I tell him “I don’t have a badge, if I did have a badge it would say ‘The Nerd Herd’” (you know from Chuck) and he laughed and said “well at least your honest.”

He’s asking me questions and finally I said “Look, I don’t want to get into a fight with you, I just want to go home” but apparently that was the wrong thing to say because now he starts laughing as if I just told the funniest joke. “You think you can take me HAHAHAHA that is so funny because I will kick your ass so hard….”

I just walked away. I figured, he’s not going to just let me walk away and wait for my bus, no he’s going to stalk me until my bus comes. And for all I know he might get on the bus and follow me home. Then he would know where I live. I can’t have that. So I left.

I left the bus station altogether. I just kept walking until I got to the corner that City Hall is on right next to the police station. Not to go make a complaint, the bus stops there.

I didn’t have to wait long but if he were on that bus I would’ve hoofed it all the way to the house which is about 25 blocks. My leg is still injured and walking to that bus stop which was about 5 blocks was causing a lot of pain but I would rather suffer a bit of leg pain to avoid that guy knowing where I live.

What makes people do things like that? I looked at the time on my cell phone when he was harassing me and it was only 11am and he’s already piss drunk. I don’t understand alcoholism.

First of all, I don’t know if he was hitting on me or if he was trying to find a gay person to beat up. You can never tell anymore what someones motives are. He didn’t look like a typical gay person, he looked like a typical red neck which Bakersfield is most known for.

And if he was gay trying to get a piece of this action (yeah right, that’s hilarious) why wasn’t he a little nicer about it? I mean seriously, you catch more flies with honey that with vinegar.

Anyway, I NEED to either get my bike fixed or get a new bike before my next appointment because I am NOT taking the bus again. Period! End of discussion.

Bearded Lady Reunited with Long-Lost Son

On By Michel McDonaldIn AmplifyLeave a comment

I didn’t amplify the entire article because it is too long but go to the AOL News page to read the rest….

http://www.aolnews.com/weird-news/article/bearded-lady-vivian-wheeler-finds-her-son-after-33-years/19631453

I am posting this because I have seen her in Bakersfield. When I was riding the bus every day to the Gym over in Green Acres (no joke) I saw her just about every day on the bus. I overheard her talking about writing a book or being in a book about her life as a side show in the carnivals about being the bearded lady.

One night we (Darrin and myself) were having dinner at Hometown Buffet and they sat us at this table that was right next to another table where they sat Vivian and another man in a wheelchair. It wasn’t a booth next to their booth, it was 2 tables pushed together so it was as if we were all 4 in the same party but we were each at our respective tables. Whenever they seat us at those tables we’re pretty much quiet during our meal.

Even though we were basically sharing a meal with them, we treated it as if we were at our own table so there was no need for idle chit chat or introductions. Although I’ve wanted to meet her, I refrained out of fear that she would think that I’m only talking to her because of her beard so I basically just left it alone. Does that make sense or does that make me sound like a snob? LOL I don’t mean it to, I just mean that I was respecting her privacy.

I think her story is amazing and I wish her all the best with her newly found son.

Amplify’d from www.aolnews.com

Bearded Lady Reunites With Long-Lost Son

(Sept. 16) — Every adopted child wonders who his biological mother is. Movie star? Rock star? Maybe a big-shot CEO? For Richard Lorenc, she turned out to be the last thing he ever imagined: a sideshow bearded lady.

The 33-year-old Kansas man had always been curious about his birth parents, but with a wife and two young daughters, he was busy making a life of his own. After a recent back injury led to multiple medical exams and many questions about his family medical history, he decided it was time to start digging.

His search began this past spring, when he filed a request with the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services to find his biological parents.

Courtesy of Richard Lorenc After 33 years, Richard Lorenc has reunited with his biological mother, a bearded woman named Vivian Wheeler, in Bakersfield, Calif.

Six weeks later he received a letter from the department saying it had the identity of his mother: Vivian Wheeler, now 62.

It also informed him that both his mother and his maternal grandmother had hypertrichosis, known as werewolf syndrome. Each had facial hair, even as children. The letter further stated that his mother was born a hermaphrodite, with both male and female reproductive organs.

Wheeler’s facial fuzz had appeared at birth with an inch and a half of light hair covering her cheeks and chin. She says her mother wanted a daughter, and doctors were instructed to remove the male parts.

Wheeler claimed her father was humiliated by his bearded little girl, but it didn’t prevent him from capitalizing on her condition. She began working in sideshows at an early age, earning money to send home to her family.

See more at www.aolnews.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/aos7