Tag: christmas

More Kodak Problems

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

Darrin bought me my Kodak EasyShare 5300 printer for Christmas in 2007.  In July 2008 I started having issues with it.  Here is my post in August for that:

Kodak All-In-One Printer

It’s happening again.  11 months after my issue originally started which was 6 1/2 months after getting it.  It’s not printing certain colors at all, it’s printing white lines in the pictures but here is a new issue, the black ink looks smudged like someone ran their hand across the paper after I printed something out.

I emailed Kodak support again to find out if they will help me the same way they did last year which was by sending me a new print head with new black and color ink cartridges.  I’m hoping they will honor their product by sending this to me again.  If not then I will just get another printer (when I can lol).

I have never had this issue with any other printer that I’ve had in my life.  My first printer was, well that was a dot matrix printer in 1989 lol.  I had nothing but problems with the paper slipping, it was back when the paper was all attached and it had those holes on both sides.  Anyway, my next printer which was in 1997 was an Epson printer, never had an issue with it.  That is until I spilled my beer on my desk and it got into the printer.  Then I bought an HP and I never had problems with it.  Then my next one after that was a Dell all-in-one printer.  The only issue I had with that was that they didn’t sell their ink at the store, only online.  Then Darrin bought me this and this is the 2nd time I’ve had the same issue.

I would still recommend the Kodak EasyShare all-in-one printers because I really like how it has the SD card slot on the front so I don’t have to upload my pictures from my camera to the computer just to be able to print a picture to a 4×6 glossy sheet of photo paper.  And I like how their software has the Kodak auto fix or whatever it’s called.

I also love that their ink is cheaper than other brands.  The black is $10 and the color is $15.  The ink package I just bought from Wal-Mart was $27 with taxes and it had 1 black and 1 color cartridge in the box.  Very inexpensive.  My Dell ink was $21 for the black and $25 or something for the color so I was spending almost $50 on ink.

I’m waiting for their response so hopefully it will be positive and not them saying well since this is your 2nd issue you have to buy a new print head but instead ok, we will send it right out to you.  I will edit this post when I get the email.

Edit: I got the email from them saying they are going to send me a new print head.  YAY!

How To Change A Dell DJ Battery

On By Michel McDonaldIn Music, Products I Like, TechLeave a comment

I just posted this video on YouTube.  It’s sort of a tutorial on how to change the battery in a Dell DJ-20.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svD_W3PCrSc

I got this for Christmas in 2004 but it didn’t actually arrive until the middle of January 2005 so technically the day I got it is when the warranty started.  Over the next year the battery would start to die so when I charge it it’s supposed to have 8 hours of battery life but that started going down more and more until it wouldn’t even turn on at all.

I called Dell about getting a new battery but since my warranty had lapsed (they never contacted me to renew it, I didn’t think to call them because I thought I had a 2 year warranty, that’s what I chose when we bought it through their website) so they refused to help me.  I told the person I was talking to that I basically had a $318 paper weight.  The guy said yeah I understand but without a warranty there is nothing we can do.  I asked about buying a new battery, they wanted like $75 for a new one.  I couldn’t afford that.

So it sat in a drawer until September 2008 when I wanted to start riding my bike for exercise.  I didn’t want to ride without my tunes so I went on eBay and found a battery for a Dell DJ-20.  Unfortunately it was .50mm too wide and it would’ve ended up costing me more than the battery was worth to send it back so I said screw it, I’ll make it work.

In this video I will demonstrate how to remove the old one and put in the new one.  Although mine I couldn’t put it in so I had to tape it to the back.  But it works and that’s all that matters.  I actually put the Dell DJ into a neoprene camera case to protect it.

I don’t know why but when I was video taping myself doing this my hands all of a sudden got so shaky.  I was kinda afraid of breaking it when pulling the old battery out even though I had to put it in for this video and then take it back out lol.  I knew what I was doing because I did it before but I got nervous all of a sudden I guess.

Anyway, for those people who have been searching for this, here you go.  I would’ve embedded the video in here but it just looks better at the YouTube website since it’s widescreen.

T-Minus 9 Hours

On By Michel McDonaldIn CyclingLeave a comment

Hehe I’m counting down the time before I go out on the bike.  I’m really excited about finally being able to ride my bike again.  I really hope that I don’t have any problems with the wheel.

If everything is ok then great.  But whether it goes bad or is all good I’m going to still return the wheel to the bike shop and see if they have the correct wheel.  If not then I’ll see if they have the correct tire to go with that wheel.  I just don’t want to have any issues with it. But I want to be positive about it and hope that it all goes well.

You know when it’s going to be Christmas in the morning or you know that your parents are going to take you to Disneyland in the morning so you can’t go to sleep because that’s all you can think about?  That’s how I feel right now.  I took an ambien because I know I won’t be able to sleep.  Then again I have ADHD anyway so I know that I won’t be able to sleep lol.  But you know, I’m real excited.

I am not so excited that I’m going to wear all my biking gear and clothes with shoes to bed so I can just wake up and run out the back door and not have to worry about putting on my helmet and backpack and sunglasses because they are already on.  No, I’m not THAT excited.  Just regular excited.

That last paragraph was for Sue who tried to make fun of me and I was a douche nozzle to her.  So there you go Sue.  I really hope you got a kick out of it.

Bukowski Bears Bookmarks

On By Michel McDonaldIn Books, Products I LikeLeave a comment

When I was visiting my Aunt Louise at Christmas time in 2006, one of my presents was a bookmark.  My aunt had friends from Germany staying with them and they had a present for me without ever even meeting me.  I thought that was sweet of them.  It was a bookmark that they found in Sweden of a little bear on top with feet at the bottom and it’s the perfect size bookmark for like a little novel.  I wouldn’t use it for anything bigger because the feet might not stick out the bottom.

I was using it for a book I was reading which was a Buffy the Vampire Slayer novel and then my Uncle suggested a David Eddings book, The Belgariad book 1 and so I was reading that too which meant I would need another bookmark or a post it note sticking out the top.  I wasn’t expecting her to give me a 2nd bookmark but she did so now I have 2.  A brown one and a blue one.  I use them all the time, well 1 at a time normally.  I found them online in a UK web shop at www.devongiftshop.com for about £3.50 each.

The company they are made from is called Bukowski and I went to their website but they don’t make it easy to shop there.  So I had to do a search to find them elsewhere which is how I found Devon Gift Shop.  I think the price is reasonable.  The bookmarks are furry just like a teddy bear so it’s nice to hold hehe.

I almost forgot to post 2 pictures that I took of my bookmarks.

bookmark-in-book2bookmarks

Christmas Crafts

On By Michel McDonaldIn crafts, HolidaysLeave a comment

I was looking through a drawer today and came across some plastic canvas books that were given to me last year and there are 5 books with Christmas ornaments.

I’m going to try out some of the things that I have yarn for since I have a crap load of plastic canvas to work with but I don’t have the yarn to do everything.  Some of these need gold thread which I don’t have.

It’s not all plastic canvas though, there is 1 book with filet crochet projects like an angel that stands up (which means when you finish crocheting I guess you put glue on it so it stands up.  And there are stockings and ornaments which are both crocheted and knitted.

One of the things I think is cool are the 3D christmas trees.  One of them is furry so it looks really neat.  It has little miniature ornaments sewn into the tree.

If my Kodak all-in-one printer didn’t require ink to be able to scan then I’d have pictures available but I don’t have any ink right now.  Maybe once I get some things done or a bunch of things done I will take pictures and put them in the crafts section of my main website.

Skype Video Phone

On By Michel McDonaldIn TechLeave a comment

The future is now people!  It finally happened.  A company has come out with a video phone that you can use to make free video phone calls.

Here is a demo.

It looks like you can make Skype to Skype voice calls as well as video calls.  The other person doesn’t have to have this device as long as they have Skype on their computer and a webcam.  And I saw on the demo that you can also make calls to landlines and cell phones.

It either plugs into your DSL/Cable router or you can use it via your WiFi connection at home.  It comes with a battery so maybe you can take it with you when you are on vacation and your hotel has WiFi access.

It does have a hefty price tag on it.  $299.95 but I’m sure in time that price will most likely go down.  It may have a small screen, 800×480 Pixel 7” TFT-LCD, but what are you expecting?  If you are using Skype to make video calls on your computer you will know that it’s 320×240 which is way smaller than this gadget.  And it has headphone jack so you can have a more private conversation.

Just think what you could do with this.  You could connect with friends and family and not just talk to them on the phone but actually see their faces too and if you hate to travel for business it could be used for meetings.

Since it’s a free video call what would be really cool is to call someone on their video phone at Christmas time and just have it running and have the camera looking at the kids who are opening presents.  This way the people who couldn’t come can watch the kids playing.  And whenever someone wants to come say hi to the person on video phone then they can walk over to it.

You can sit it on the dining room table and be eating while the person on the other side is also eating.  This way you will be sharing a meal.  The possibilities are endless.

Pez Dispensers

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

This Christmas I was given 3 new Pez dispensers to add to my growing collection.

I actually started this collection in 1999 when Star Wars Episode 1 came into theaters and the stores started selling the Star Wars Pez dispensers.  I decided to buy each individual Pez dispenser which were just under $1 I think.  I can’t recall.  But when we got home I didn’t have any place to put them so I placed them side by side on a very large mirror which was on the wall where my desk was so as I sat at the computer I’d be looking at Pez dispensers.

I told a few people about them and next thing you know people are sending them to me in the mail and when I visit people they are giving me these Pez dispensers.  I never asked for them but I won’t refuse it either lol.

All of a sudden I had a huge amount of these little things that I went to the hardware store to buy wood to make a shelf and found these really thin and small pieces of wood so I got a bunch and some little nails and built me a shelf.  When we moved to Bakersfield in 2000 I put the shelf up in the kitchen right next to my desk and at first there were maybe 20 Pez dispensers but now there are 104 Pez dispensers on the shelf in my bedroom.

I have 5 Pez dispensers that are in their original packaging (although the packaging is getting too old and is tearing) because they have no feet which means they are valuable.  And I have the 3 newer ones still in their tin which I will never take them out of because again, it gives them value.  When I think about it I should have never taken any of them out of their package but that’s ok, what’s done is done.

Here is a picture of all the Pez dispensers on the shelf as well as the new ones in their tin.  Click the image below for full size.

pezorange_county_pez

Christmas Eve

On By Michel McDonaldIn HolidaysLeave a comment

T’was the night b4 Xmas and all thru the house, not a psp was stirring, not even a chihuahua.

Hehe.

I just figured out how to make paragraphs with my psp so I’m taking full advantage.

Tomorrow were all going to Sarah’s house and we’re probably going to be there for a while so i will observe blog silence until we get home.

Merry Christmas to all, don’t drink too much egg nog.

More Fruit Cake?

On By Michel McDonaldIn Food, HolidaysLeave a comment

When Butch (Darrin’s brother) came home from work what was he carrying? A fruit cake hehe. Well its bed time, I’ve taken an Ambien, I’m going to start reading a very good book a very good friend gave to me for Christmas. I will blog more tomorrow after the days events.

Fruit Cake In The Making

On By Michel McDonaldIn Food, HolidaysLeave a comment

WOW! I knew there was a lot of ingredients but this is a lot. The fruit and nuts are soaking in rum right now for 3 hours then I get to mix the rest of the ingredients. It’s 5lbs. which if sold at a specialist bakery would be $100. So I’m at least satisfied with that. I really can’t wait for it to be done.

Hours later…

The fruit cake is in the oven for 3 1/2 hours.  I’m looking forward to taking it out and tasting hehe.  By the way, I said earlier that the fruits and nuts were 5lbs.  Well, with the batter it’s over 7lbs.  After I put the fruit cake mix in each aluminum container I weighed them (there are 3 cakes) and they are about 2 3/4lbs each.

Update: 1 1/2 hours to go.  Boy does it smell so good.  I keep looking at it and see it rising and see the color of the cake getting darker and just the smell makes me want to just take it out of the oven early and just take a slice.  But I gotta let it cook all the way because if I don’t it’s not gonna taste right lol.

Update: Ok, I guess I forgot to update this post way back when but the fruit cake was a complete success.  I followed the directions completely and it over cooked just a little so it tasted a little burned but that didn’t stop it from doing a disappearing act real fast.  Next Christmas I’m going to make this again since it was such a hit but not cook it for the exact complete time that it said.  Maybe slice off (pun intended) half hour.  Just to make sure it doesn’t get burned.