Tag: china

New Hypoallergenic Hooks from Uncommon Artistry on Amazon

On By Michel McDonaldIn crafts, Daily BlogLeave a comment

michaels hooks vs uncommon artistry hooks

I ordered these “Hypoallergenic” Surgical Steel Ball & Coil Earring Hooks (X100) from Amazon on July 3rd, 2013.  When I bought them, I didn’t realize they were coming from China.  If I had known that, I wouldn’t have bought them.  In fact, I tried to cancel my order right away, but they wouldn’t let me.  I was able to click the link to cancel, but the drop down menu for the reason for returning didn’t have any options, so without a reason to choose from, it was impossible to cancel.  My other reason for wanting to cancel was because of the reviews saying these aren’t actually hypoallergenic which I did not read until after I bought them.

So what I did on July 4th was I went to Michael’s and bought some hooks because I was so excited about making earrings and I wanted to buy the hooks because the sooner I could make them, the sooner I could sell them.  But I found out that they weren’t actually hypoallergenic.  I wore a pair for a couple of days to test them out and my right ear lobe started to get infected.  I decided to just keep making earrings and when I finally got some hypoallergenic hooks from Etsy, I took all the Michael’s hooks out and replaced them with hypoallergenic hooks.

The earrings in the image above are the Michael’s earrings on the left and the “hypoallergenic” surgical steel ball & coil earrings from Uncommon Artistry on the right.  When you are looking at the 2 bags next to each other, you can tell there is a huge difference in the colors.  The Michael’s is like a silver, while the Uncommon Artistry is more of a gray or like a blue gray color.  They actually look exactly alike in the image above with the exception of the curvature of the 2 earrings.

I am testing a pair out on my own ears just like I tested the Michael’s earrings because before I write a review on Amazon, I want to make absolutely sure they are hypoallergenic.  If they aren’t then I can say that they aren’t, but if they are then I can say they are.  If they are hypoallergenic then I can use them and say without a shadow of a doubt in my description that they are indeed hypoallergenic.  Otherwise, I have to note that they aren’t and indeed mention that if you have allergies, don’t buy these, buy the hypoallergenic ones.

So I’ve only been wearing them for like a minute and my right ear is already starting to pulse lol.  It’s like I can feel my heartbeat in my ear lobe.  I’m not quite sure if my ear is still recovering from the infection from the Michael’s earrings.  I haven’t worn anything in my ears for weeks, or since that first test that I did.  I started wearing plastic earrings in those holes yesterday.  When I put the plastic earrings in yesterday, both ears were a bit sore and they were hard to put in at first because I think the holes started closing up or perhaps they were closing because of the (for the lack of a better word) infection juices were causing the holes to close.  LOL I didn’t know how else to say that.  Anyway, I had to clean my ears yesterday because the earring was a little red from forcing it through the back.  They are still sore, so if something is going to happen, it’s probably going to happen fast.

For reference, I finished typing this out at 2:25 p.m. on July 17, 2013.  Will update on my findings…

bent hooksQuality:  I have been reading the reviews and more than a few said there were some that were bent and the coil and ball were missing or whatever.  Well, I was curious to see if there were any like that and as I was putting the normal ones back in the bag, I was counting them.  I counted 112 hooks and there were only supposed to be 100.  But, I think that makes up for the fact that 4 earrings were bent, well, 1 of those wasn’t too badly bent, but well, you see in the picture.  And 2 of them were hooked together and as you can see 1 is missing the ball and coil.  I think I can deal with the loss of 4 earrings and I can unhook those 2 good ones and replace the ball and coil from one of the bad ones.  I still come out on top with 108 good hooks, well 2 of which I am wearing for testing that I cannot actually sell, so 106 good hooks lol.

Update 8:39 p.m.: I had to take them out.  I’m in agony right now.  My head feels tight and my jaw is in a lot of pain, more pain on the right, but in pain on both sides.  These are worse than the Michael’s earrings lol.  At least with the Michael’s earrings I was able to wear them for 40 hours, I couldn’t wear these for more than 6 1/2 hours.  Heck, I was ready to take them out after the first minute because the pain started immediately.  I will not be using these earrings, not even for people who don’t have allergies.  These are going in the trash.  At least it was only $2.32.  Next time I will make sure I read the reviews first.

My Electronic Cigarette Arrived Today

On By Michel McDonaldIn E-Cigarette1 Comment

Well after 15 days, my eGo-T electronic cigarette finally arrived.  I bought it directly from the wholesaler for $32.75 from a website called DHgate which looks very similar to eBay which is where I got the link from.  The e-cig came from China which is why it took so long to get to me.  By the way, the price keeps changing, so you may not find it for the same price that I bought mine for.  The other day it went up to $38 and now (as of this posting) it has gone down to $36.

I have seen a review of this model and found what a piece of crap it is because you don’t get a strong hit from it at all which I find to be so true.  I taste the flavors, which was the main reason for buying it in the first place, but not as well as I had hoped.  I even shook it the way he does in the video and it’s still underwhelming.  For this review, search YouTube for “THE EGO-T FAIL” by user GrimmGreen.

When it arrived, I took it out of the box and looked at the cartridges that came with it.  They all exploded so there was e-liquid inside the plastic of each individually wrapped cartridge.  The smell was beyond nauseating.  They sent me 5 cartridges filled with what they call Marlboro flavored e-liquid  They also sent me 2 empty cartridges, but without caps.  What good were those without the cap?  As I was rinsing the first one out, I dropped the cap and guess where it went?  Go ahead… guess.  Yep, you guessed it, right down the drain.  UGH!

After rinsing out all the cartridges, I smelled them and they still smelled like the e-liquid that they came with.  I took one of the clean and empty cartridges and used one of the caps and you could still taste the gross “Marlboro” flavor instead of the sweet flavor I bought.  I was told that sometimes it takes a few hits to get rid of the gross flavor before you get the taste of the new flavor.  That ended up being true when I switched from the Zeus Juice to chocolate.  When I switched it from chocolate to strawberry, I still tasted chocolate.  I think the best thing to do is to get clean cartridges and dedicate it to that one flavor, which I did.  I bought a pack of 10 empty cartridges from Amazon over the weekend and it shipped out on Monday, so hopefully they will come soon.

Earlier tonight I vaped some of the chocolate and took a sip of my iced tea and the chocolate flavor really came out more.  I think that I will get a lot more out of it if I vape while drinking (before or after, not during).  I know that sounds nuts, but so does a non-smoker buying an e-cigarette lol.  I think that if I switched over to iced water while vaping, I might get more out of it than just vaping it alone.  I’ll be drinking what I should be drinking all this time, water, while still getting the flavor benefit which is what I wanted to begin with.

Even though this turned out to be more disappointing for me as a non-smoker trying to use it for the flavor, I still think it’s an awesome idea for those smokers who want to quit smoking or just to make the switch.

I still recommend Zeus eJuice as opposed to buying the e-liquid at the cigarette store.  My cousin Tabitha told me tonight that she saw a sign that said e-liquid was $8 for 10ML.  Most would think that’s not a bad price, but you could get a 30ML bottle from Zeus eJuice for $10.49.  Now you tell me which is the better price.  They also claim to have more flavor than other places that sell the flavors, so you get the taste and you save a ton of money.  I think it’s worth it.

I only just got my eGo-T today, so I’m going to try to use it as much as I can to get as much out of it as I can before I decide whether I want to continue with this or not.  Perhaps I might find that a better model will suit my needs more.  These batteries only last for so long before they stop working, and I have 2 so I have a long time with it before I will need to buy a new one.  Perhaps maybe I need a new atomizer that will work with this.  Who knows, but I will keep trying with what I have and see where it takes me.  Maybe I might get used to it.  Maybe…

Oh and for those interested, the LCD display shows me the battery and it shows a number.  I found out that every time I press the button, the number goes up.  I read the manual and it said that the battery is capable of 800 puffs a day, so I guess that will show you how many hits you took, but there is no way of resetting the number back down to 0 so you can start over the next day.  I can only assume that you just keep going until it resets itself back to 0, then start over lol.  My question is, who is that addicted to smoking that they would take 800 puffs a day?  I mean, you would have to be a chain smoker who is just sitting there with it in your mouth all day long taking puff after puff.  I’m getting dizzy just thinking about it.  I have only taken 28 puffs today so I think I’m doing pretty good lol.

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.

Confusion of Time Zones

On By Michel McDonaldIn BlogLeave a comment

WordPress has a different idea of time zones than I normally see.  On the Windows clock in the time zones tab it says “(GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)” but in WordPress my time zone is ULC -7.  I don’t know why but I thought we were in +8 which is china lol.  It took me a bit to figure that out and I had to change all the dates and times of my previous posts to reflect the actual time that I posted them.  When I went to make a new post it said today was September 17th and I know it’s the 16th so I was a bit confused lol.  Also it was off by many hours too heh.  Oh well, it’s all fixed.  Now my task is to finish getting as many of my old blogs archived here.