Tag: bicycle

Why does Target want my social security number to help me save 5%?

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

target logo

So I finally got a new rim and tire for my bicycle so I can start riding my bike again, but I didn’t get a tube, so we went to Target.  The new tubes were only $4.99 each and I bought 2.  At the check stand, the checker asked me if I was saving 5% with them and I said no and she asked me if I wanted to apply, it’s free, so I said eh, why not.  Naturally she had to void everything and start all over.  She asked for my ID and she asked me to tap something on the screen that you pay with a credit card on, then she asked me to type my social security number.  RED FLAG!  No, nope, nuh uh, no way, forget it, not gonna happen Baby Jane Hudson.

Why does Target need my social security number to help me save 5%?  It makes absolutely no sense.  I can see if I were applying for a credit card or if I were applying for a job, but she said it’s a rewards card, not a credit card.

She had to cancel it all out again and start over.  I paid for the 2 tubes and a bottle of soda and we left, grumbling about it all the way to the door and out to the car lol.

I just don’t understand why Target needs my social security number for that.  I had a rewards card with Albertson’s and all they asked me for was my home address, phone number and email address.  No problem.  I don’t mind giving out that information, but when it comes to my social security number I become suspicious.  Where is my tin foil hat?

I love Target, I really do.  I was upset when I couldn’t shop there because they had donated money to an anti-gay politician and was thrilled beyond belief when I could shop there again.  I was thrilled when they started carrying LGBT t-shirts and had a gay wedding registry.  I have always loved Target since I was 16, but this is just going too far.

So no Target, you can’t have my social security number to help me save a measly 5% on my future purchases.  Perhaps someone can explain to me why they need that.  I would love an explanation.

Earrings for Men

On By Michel McDonaldIn crafts, Etsy, Hobby, NoomLeave a comment

checkered 1

I’ve been so focused on making the keychains and keychain style earrings for women that I totally forgot that I actually wanted to make earrings for men so I could make some for myself.  I finally figured out how to make the studs out of the plastic lanyard “gimp” by only making a couple of stitches before gluing them and sticking them to plastic studs.

black and white 3

This is the pair that I made for myself, I made another pair to sell.  When I was a kid, my parents bought me a pair of Vans with the black and white checkered pattern and for some reason I’ve been a fan of the checkered pattern ever since.  I made one in every color, except for orange because when I mix the orange with black, the orange is translucent so it turns brown.  It’s not pretty.  So I have red, yellow, green, blue, purple and white with black.  I made them in all those colors to sell, but I will be making myself one in each color.

gold and silver I also have a pair in silver and a pair in gold.  The silver is a solid silver ribbon with a mirror finish in clear gimp.  The gold is different though in the sense that it looks gold, but it’s sparkly.  When you look at it and tilt it, you see the little color spots seem to change color with the lighting.  I honestly don’t know how else to explain it.  I would have liked to have bought some solid gold like the solid silver with the mirror finish, but they didn’t have any.  They had the same type of silver as the gold, but I wanted solid silver.

These studs aren’t just for the studs, ladies can wear them too, of course.  I also have the Breast Cancer Awareness pink color in solid pink, pink and white and pink and black.  Anyone can wear those actually.  You don’t have to be a woman to wear them, you can be a man who wears them in solidarity, or whatever reason you have for wanting to wear them.

pink 1

I am quite proud of my ability to make these earrings.  I have listed them on Etsy for a mere $3 a pair.  I didn’t want to ask too much for these earrings because I am not a professional, these are just a hobby and the only reason I am selling them is to help pay for a new bicycle so I can start losing more weight with Noom.  Which reminds me, I’m going to make some solid green earrings for myself for when I start riding my future bike.

So to respond to the men who have asked for earrings, here you go.  If you would like a specific color combination, there is a link in every pair of earrings listed for requesting a custom color.  Just tell me know which two colors you would like and I will make them.

Week 23 with @Noom

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, Health, Noom, WeightLeave a comment

week 23 profile

Today is the first day of my second week with my second goal and I have lost less than 2lbs.  I was so hoping to lose 2lbs or more.  On the last day of my first goal I was 200lbs on a Friday, two days later on Sunday, I weighed 199 and a day or two later 198.  So, to still be at 198 sucks.  If I was 198 on a Tuesday, then wouldn’t you think that by Saturday I would be 197 or 196?

I am not going to stress myself out over this because at least I lost weight this week.  I could have hit a plateau and I could still be 200lbs, or worse, so I am going to take this as a positively as I can.

My profile says that I have 0 workouts per week, and that is because I never plan a workout since I don’t have a bicycle.  My back is always in pain and if I decide I want to go for a walk then I will do it, but I don’t want to feel pressure to do it by my phone.  I have an app called Squats that is constantly beeping and reminding me to do squats, but I am always in too much pain to even get out of my chair or get out of bed, so I just ignore the reminder.  When I do go for a walk, I am in agony the entire time.

My pain:

I have not really explained the pain I feel with degenerative disc disease.  I am not a scientist or a doctor, so I can’t really know for sure that this is happening, but with degenerative disc disease, your discs are well, degenerating, they are wearing out, they are thinner than they are supposed to be so it feels like my spine bones are grinding together.  It feels like I am getting 10 shots all in the same spot all at the same time.  I also have nerve damage in my back, so I can’t feel the skin on my back, so when I am touching my back in the area that I am having pain, it’s like I am touching someone else’s skin.  I wish that it was in reverse, where I can feel the skin but not the pain in my spine, but it is what it is.

So now you know what happens when I try to take a walk.  I go out and I am fine for the first 5 minutes, but then my pain starts to come on gradually, by 20 minutes the grinding is intense.  These walks might take 30 to 40 minutes so you can only imagine how I am feeling by the time I get home.  Oh and that’s only 2 miles by the way.  It’s not really that far.  This is what my walk looks like.

walk 2013-06-08_10-45-10

This is the last walk I went on.  I went to the post office to drop off a package, and then I decided to just keep walking.  You can see where it says Oleander/Sunset, that’s where I live, where I started walking, the bottom right is the post office.  I went South to the post office, then West, then North, then East and then South to come back home.  That is a typical walk, and that is only 2.07 miles.

It’s not a lot of distance, but it’s way too much for my back to handle.  I insist on walking this far because I want to succeed.  No pain, no gain, right?  Although the pain they are referring to is from muscle tearing while you are working out, not your spine grinding, but still.

I would love to go for walks everyday and for a lot more distance than just 2 miles, but it’s just too painful, so I can only do it a couple or a few times per week.  I wish that I could fix my bicycle or buy a new one, but I just can’t afford it right now, so walking is my only cardio option for now.

I am hoping to lose more than just 1.8lbs next week, but I am not going to put pressure on myself if I don’t because I can only do so much with what I have.  Like I have said in the past, at least I haven’t hit a plateau or gone back up in weight.  Let’s see where I am at next Saturday.

Exercise

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, Exercise, Health, Noom, WeightLeave a comment

may 29 walk

I have really been neglecting my exercise throughout this entire diet that I’ve been on using the Noom app on my Android phone.  I have no excuse, but I really do lol.  With my degenerative disc disease in my spine, it’s difficult to walk long distances and I don’t have a bicycle anymore since my last accident which caused me to break my arm.  So the only thing I can really do is walk, which again is hard on my back.

Yesterday I took a vicodin and went out and just walked as far as I could with my Noom swag on.  I was in pain from the minute I left the house until I came home, except the pain was excruciating by the time I came home.  But, what other options do I have?  As you can see from the picture above, I walked 2.21 miles at an average speed of 3.4 miles per hour for 39 minutes and 30 seconds and I burned a total of 263 calories.  It’s not much, but it’s the best I could do.

I hope to get a new bicycle some day, but money is always tight so it’s really difficult to save anything.  I am selling the keychains on Etsy and whatever I get from that will be saved so I can buy a bike.  Of course, I probably won’t sell very many.  I’ve only sold 1 and the profit from that was like $1.87 or something.  So yeah, I don’t expect that to help me buy a new bike.

Until I can buy a new bicycle, all I can do is walk.  It’s free, although I don’t know how free because it does come with a huge cost, and that’s back pain.

I plan on going out again today because I know I should get SOME exercise lol.

My Cycling Accident on March 16th

On By Michel McDonaldIn Bike, Health, Noom, Weight4 Comments

map to store accident

So this is how it happened. As you can see from the map on the left, I ride my bicycle with the blue line towards Albertsons going south on Chester. I lock my bike, go to the store, come out, unlock the bicycle and then head North on Eye street (now in red). I could go all the way back to my street, but I have bullies that live in the apartment building (note the X on Eye street). If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have broken my arm.

Anyway, I turn right on second Street, ride through the parking lot of the restaurant to get to the sidewalk on Chester Avenue. I normally ride along the sidewalk in front of the church until I get to their parking lot then I ride through the parking lot until I get back to my street behind the market.

What happened instead was that I hit the sidewalk bumper in front of the tax place. As you can see from the Google Map it does not exist, so it’s new. Here is the picture to prove it.

bike accident curb

I hit the corner of the little curb with my front tire and went head over handlebars and landed with all of my weight on my left shoulder. Here are the x-rays to show where my injury is and the bones broke in 3 places. There are only 3 x-rays.

xray1 xray2 xray3

I had my MRI today which took about 45 minutes. Most people probably don’t like to sit in a machine for 45 minutes, but thanks to my friend Jeff, I was able to meditate the whole time. The attendant mentioned something about breathing hard making blurry pictures and I learned how to take small breaths in meditation so I took small breaths and she told me that nobody has ever done that before and that she wished all of her patients did that.  I won’t know anything until April 2nd, so i will blog again then.

Someone showed concern about my weight loss program. Because without the bicycle, with a broken arm, it’s going to be difficult to get any exercise. Well, to be honest I haven’t been really doing much exercise and I lost 35 pounds. So I really don’t see how it’s going to be any different. I’m positive that I will continue to lose weight because I will continue to eat healthy as long as my arm is broken. That’s not going to change. My motivation is still here, I am still 110% motivated to lose this weight. Just wait until Saturday when I weigh in.

I broke my arm

On By Michel McDonaldIn Bike, Health3 Comments

So funny story…  I broke my arm.

What happened was, last night I rode my bicycle to the store and on my way home I was riding through a parking lot to go to the sidewalk on Chester Avenue. In the parking lot of the restaurant is a tax place and they put in a walk way to the front door. For some reason they decided to put a curb on both sides of the walkway. There’s really no reason for it. Long story short, I was riding through the parking lot and it was dark so I really couldn’t see the curb and I rode right over it . I went head over handlebars and landed on my left arm. All of my weight broke my arm.

I sat there on the ground for a few minutes because I couldn’t move. My arm was in so much pain that it hurt to even flinch. I decided that I had to get up, but it was very difficult. I got up anyway and went for my phone which was in my left front pocket. Of course I couldn’t pull it out with my left hand, so I had to reach over with my right hand to pull my phone out. I called home and said “help I’ve been in an accident.” I told my partner where I was and he drove right away to pick me up.

He put my bicycle in the car and drove home because I insisted that he put the groceries in the refrigerator and freezer. He drove me to the emergency room at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital and they took me to get x-rays almost immediately. It took maybe an hour and a half before they finally called me to go into a room to tell me the results of the x-ray. I just assumed that he was going to tell me that I dislocated my shoulder or just badly bruised my arm, but he told me that I did in fact break my arm. He didn’t put me in a cast and I didn’t have any surgery, he said that the bones were in place, so I just need to keep my arm in a sling for the next month.

I feel very stupid for not paying more attention because I have gone that way a million times and nothing like that has ever happened before. The thing that upsets me the most is that I’ve never broken a bone in my body my entire life. 42 years with not one broken bone. Oh well, I guess I was due lol.

Well, the positive thing about this is that I am able to type this by using my voice on my android cell phone lol. So I guess most of my computer activity is going to be with my voice. On the plus side, I don’t have to do any chores for a while lol. I can find a silver lining in anything.

The doctor said it will take a month to heal.

New Years Resolutions – MyGofer

On By Michel McDonaldIn AdLeave a comment

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of mygofer.com for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Every year we make a new years resolution to do something that will make our lives better and easier.  Eat healthier, lose weight, exercise, quit smoking, quit drinking or whatever it is that you have issues with.  My personal resolution is to lose weight.  I have tried so many things in the past but it’s very difficult to lose weight when all of the weight loss products are so expensive at the grocery store.

I think that the issue that some people have is time management.  You are stuck at work all day long and when you get off work you are too tired to go shopping.  Wouldn’t it be neat if there were an easier way to get all of your shopping done that doesn’t require a lot of your time that you could be spending at home with your family?

MyGofer is a service from Kmart/Sears that will definitely make your life easier.  You go to their website and browse through the products that they have at your leisure, maybe on your lunch break or during down time, or maybe when the boss isn’t looking.  Don’t worry, I won’t tell.  You can browse the website and add items to your list.  When you are ready to make your purchase, simply buy them and drive to the store and either go to the customer service counter or pull up to the designated curbside pickup location and they will hand you your items in bags right in your window as late as 9pm, even on weekends.  It’s really that easy.  There offer same day grocery delivery or shipping them to your home.

I mentioned earlier that I made a resolution to lose weight, well I can do that with my weight loss coach app on my phone, but what I need are the weight loss foods and fitness equipment.  I actually have a bicycle, but I need to buy some accessories for it.  I was looking through their bike accessories and found quite a few things that I need, like some new tubes, those are expensive, but they are cheaper with MyGofer.  I also need a new pump and a new kickstand and I definitely need new brakes.

They have so many departments for you to browse though, like food and groceries, prescriptions, health and wellness, beauty, baby and nursery, pet foods and other departments like home, bedroom, kitchen, electronics, fitness, office, tools… the list really goes on.  There are simply too many departments to list.  If you need it, chances are they have it, and in most cases cheaper than anywhere else.

I think their website is great, but if you aren’t at your computer and you simply want to browse their products and add things to your list  you could download the app on your phone.  They have one for Android, iPhone and Blackberry.  It is definitely something to look into if you are too busy to go shopping.  I mean, it couldn’t hurt, right?  Check it out!

Visit Sponsor's Site

EverQuest Bonus Exp.

On By Michel McDonaldIn EverQuest1 Comment

If you have been playing EverQuest lately, you know that they have doubled experience for their 13th Anniversary.  Well, you know what that means right?  It’s a Power Levelers dream!

When I started playing again after 5 years of being MIA, I realized that I had to relearn the game from the ground up because I had totally forgotten everything.  You know how they say it’s like riding a bicycle?  Well, it’s sort of true, but you have to take a refresher course to get you back on track.  What I did was I started playing my Necromancer who was level 12 when I began in late February.  I played for a few hours then I couldn’t play it for a week.  Then when I finally did get to start playing it again I got hooked on the game again and now in less than one month my level 12 necromancer is level 47.

When I first started playing EverQuest in 2002, it took me 6 months to get Xanapus to level 16 and I gave up on him and created other characters.  When I started playing Xanapus again it took me another 6 months or possibly a year to get to level 50.  I have done in less than one month what I couldn’t do in 2002/2003.  You see how frustrating that is for me?  But it isn’t my fault that the game is much easier now than it was 10 years ago so that does make me feel a bit better.

My guild is still MIA, I only see someone on every once in a while.  Even though I am the only member of my guild who plays every day, or at least that’s the way it seems when I get on, I am not about to abandon them because I am still loyal despite the fact that they are all gone lol.  Besides, I don’t want to have to start all over with new people, and who knows if I will even continue playing in a month from now, I might get bored with it and quit again and I will have left my guild for nothing.

I started thinking today that I have abandoned Lord of the Rings Online for EverQuest so I tried logging in today and every time the launcher tries to launch the game, it crashes and I am unable to play.  They did an update on it so perhaps the update doesn’t work with HDMI for some reason.  I will have to plug the VGA back into the TV so I can see if that will work. It’s kind of frustrating because I’m almost positive my [hobbit] house maintenance fee needs to be paid for lol.

I am having fun again in EverQuest and that is a good thing.  I quit for many reasons but one of them was that I was bored to death.  I mean I would literally fall asleep while playing, that isn’t good is it?  So thankfully I am not bored now and I hope it can keep my attention for a bit longer.

My Net10 Phone Works

On By Michel McDonaldIn Cell PhoneLeave a comment

Two weeks ago I bitched that my Net10 phone was rubbish and I would like to give an update on that issue.

Last year I bought my Net10 cell phone because my old T-Mobile phone had been disconnected for a long time because I just never used it.  It was an old phone I bought in 2002 and it wasn’t working anyway so I just let my service lapse.  I bought my new Net10 phone so that I could ride my bicycle for exercise without worrying about not having the ability to call 911 if I had to.

On December 1st Darrin bought me a $25 phone card for my phone.  I normally buy the $20 cards because they only have 200 minutes and the $25 card is a monthly plan with 750 minutes that don’t roll over.  I don’t use my phone enough to need that many minutes, but it was a nice gift and I accepted it.  I just assumed that I would keep the $25 plan so I wouldn’t have to worry about buying a card every month, I could just let Net10 charge me automatically with the plan.  Bad idea.

On January 1st, Net10 was supposed to charge my debit card, but they didn’t and I was unaware until January 3rd.  I went to make a phone call and my service was deactivated.  I went to the Net10 website and clicked reactivate which brought me to the menu to buy time.  I started up the $15 plan which is 200 minutes that don’t roll over.  I figured, if I am going to do a plan, I might as well go with the cheapest since I don’t use my phone that often, but that didn’t work because my phone never activated.

I called Net10 and told them what happened and they told me to wait 1 to 24 hours for it to activate, but it never did so I called them on the 5th.  They walked me through the process of reactivating the phone by going into the code entry mode.  I punched all these numbers in and did everything the guy told me to.  We were on the phone for a little over an hour and he came to the conclusion that my phone was the issue.  He sent me a new phone and told me that it will come with an envelope to send my phone back to them.  I wasn’t happy about that because I lost all of the games that I had bought for my phone.

I had to wait until Monday when the FedEx guy delivered my new phone.  I activated it, but I thought I must have done it wrong because it didn’t activate.  I waited an hour but nothing so I called them and they told me to wait 1 to 24 hours.  If after 24 hours it doesn’t come on then call them back, and I did.  They told me to wait an hour and if it isn’t working call back, which I did and the woman told me to wait another hour and I said no, I want my phone on NOW!  Not in 1 hour, not in 24 hours, I want it on NOW!  She walked me through the code entry bull again and it changed my phone number.  Now all of a sudden my phone number was gone, but she told me it was ok, it will go back to my phone number, but it didn’t so she told me that I needed a new SIM card.  UGH!

I had to wait for my new SIM card to arrive, when it came I called Net10 to activate it and they told me 1 hour.  I called back in an hour saying it’s not working, so they said 1 hour.  What the hell is up with them and 1 hour?  I was sick to my stomach and Darrin had called and said he wanted to go to dinner.  I didn’t want to go because I was too upset to eat, but he wanted to go so we went.

Saturday I called them as soon as I got up and I was on hold for 2 1/2 hours.  I got so tired of waiting so I just hung up and watched Grimm on Hulu since I missed it because we went out to eat.  I called them back and was lucky that I only had to wait 10 minutes.  I spoke to a guy for 90 minutes and he kept telling me that I need to buy a new phone card.  I kept explaining to him that I paid $15 and that was all I was willing to pay because why the hell should I keep buying phone cards if my phone isn’t working?  He tried my debit card and despite the fact that my bank had $400 in it, the card declined so I gave him my master card number and that also declined.  He told me that I need to call the bank and I told him absolutely not.  2 different cards from 2 different banks are not going to just decline when I know both accounts have money in them.  The problem isn’t me, it’s you.  He wanted to hang up on me because he didn’t know what to do and I told him to connect me with a supervisor.

I talked to a supervisor for at least 30 minutes and she couldn’t figure it out so she connected me with a tech person.  Um… aren’t they all supposed to be tech people?  I talked to him for another 30 minutes and he told me that there was an error with my account.  He told me he was going to personally try to fix it and if he does by that night he would call me, if not he would call me the next day.

This morning I woke up and tried my phone and it was still not working.  I went to the Net10 website and saw that the new and old phone were in my account so I called that direct number and was connected immediately.  I asked them if I bought a new phone card and entered it, would my phone work?  They said sure, go for it, so I did and it didn’t.  I called back and gave the guy the whole story from the beginning and he walked me through the code entry mode BS again with 3 different codes.  I gave him my phone card code and viola, time appeared on my new phone.

My phone works and I have 30 days with 200 minutes.  That $15 card that I got never got put on my phone, but at this point I don’t really give a crap, I just want my phone to work and that’s all that matters.  My phone number is different, but I didn’t really give the number to too many people so it doesn’t matter.  All that matters is that my phone works and I will never do the plans again, I will just have to buy phone cards every month and deal with that.

I know what people are going to say, drop Net10… blah blah blah.  Look, I was already told on Google Plus that I should just drop Net10 and go with a reputable phone company, but what people don’t realize is, I can’t afford to pay a reputable phone company for their expensive prepaid service.  I hardly ever use my phone so I can’t afford to spend $50 or $100 a month for a phone I never use.  I can’t really afford $20 either, but that is the only way to keep my phone active.  As long as I keep up with buying phone cards, then I will be fine with what I have.

Now that is solved so I can go back to worrying about other things.

 

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?