Tag: freak

Solution To My Video Card Issues

On By Michel McDonaldIn Computer2 Comments

I got my new video card yesterday and was freaking out about how it doesn’t turn on right away.  I was afraid that I would be stuck with it because I had already cut off the proof of purchase from the box to send in to get my $15 rebate.

Last night when I went to bed, instead of turning it off I just put it in sleep mode.  At least if it’s in sleep mode the whole night I can see in the morning if it wakes up fast, slow or at all.  Well, it woke up fast so I don’t have to freak out that my computer isn’t coming back on.  I’ve heard that it’s better for your computer if you put it in sleep mode rather than turning it off so this is what I will have to do from now on.  When I reboot the computer, it comes on right away, it’s just when I turn it off completely that it doesn’t seem to want to come back on for a few minutes.

Also, I learned that when I have Lord of the Rings Online loaded without my TV cloned it runs perfectly fine.  It’s when my TV is cloned that I have issues where the screen resolution changes from 1280×768 down to 848×480.  When I have the tv extended so it’s the tv on the left and monitor on the right and I try to load LOTRO, nothing happens.  The game doesn’t even try to load.  When the tv is extended so it’s the tv on the right still, nothing happens.  So, I guess I can never use the tv to play my game.  I think if I had a secondary monitor it might work but I don’t have one so I will never find out.

Another thing that I learned is that I have a program on my computer called Boxee.  I guess I forgot about that.  I can clone my tv with the computer and watch Boxee on my tv.  Boxee is very similar to the Roku box, it has all the same apps, give or take, and the software is free for my computer.  So, that’s awesome.

I don’t have to worry about returning my card or feeling like I’m stuck with it anymore because I have made it work for me.  As long as I never turn it off, with the exception of the occasional reboot that is, then I am fine.  Just put it to sleep when I’m not using it and it turns on just as quick as my Chromebook comes on.  So that’s actually even better that I don’t have to wait but a few seconds to start working on my computer.

YAY ME!

Good Reads

On By Michel McDonaldIn Books, eBookLeave a comment

I was talking to my favorite e-book author Marguerite Labbe a couple of days ago on Twitter, don’t you just love how I name drop?  She told me about a website called Good Reads.

I joined the website immediately upon her tweet and started adding only the books that I have read and the book I am reading right now.  What I like especially about the Good Reads website is that my list of books can be sorted.  I have been a member of aNobii for years and their website is nice and all but you can’t sort your books.

Like, if you want to sort them alphabetically or by date read or bought or whatever.  I think that has to be my favorite feature only because I have been wanting that for such a long time.  I’m keeping aNobii which means I’ll have to keep both sites up to date whenever I buy a new book.

You can also add your books into shelves, like if you are reading a series like the Sookie Stackhouse series, you can put them in their own shelf.  I read a lot of series books like Xanth, Cique du Freak, Sookie Stackhouse etc. so that is handy.

Your friends can join you so it’s very much like Facebook, but for readers.  You can see on your home page what your friends are saying and what books they are adding to their shelves.  I think that’s a very cool feature.

There are also groups that you can join.  Think of it as a book club but with a message board and with thousands of people.  You can discuss a certain book you are reading or have read with the people in the group.  If you are a member of a book club in your town then you already have people to talk to but I am not in a book club, mainly because I don’t want to be told what book I have to read because I’ll bet you it’s never anything I want to read.  So this way I can read a book that I want to read and then talk to people about it.

It’s a great website and if you are an avid reader I encourage you to join.

The Search for Childhood Friends

On By Michel McDonaldIn Friends and Family1 Comment

When I got my first internet enabled computer in the late 90’s, I figured it would help me find all of my childhood friends. The ones that I could remember their names anyway. I joined websites like Classmates but they weren’t a huge help because you have to pay them every month. I can’t afford that.

So I’ve basically just been doing a search every year since 1997 and usually with no luck until now. Last year I found 2 friends from the late 70’s, Marla and Jeff. When I was 9, Marla was 5 and Jeff was 10. I considered Marla to be my best friend at the apartment building and I didn’t really get to know Jeff until maybe months before we moved away but when I did get to know him he was my best friend. It was too bad we moved and didn’t become even better friends. I feel like I really missed out on a good friendship.

But I also had a best friend from school named Larry who I’ve searched with no results until last night. Just like when I found Marla and Jeff, I went to Facebook and typed Larry’s full name and I found him. He has been on Facebook for a whole year and I didn’t know. I think that I did find him last year but he didn’t have enough information for me to decide to email him. Also he is a jr. and his name doesn’t say that in his Facebook profile so I wasn’t sure if it was him or not.

I emailed him asking him if he is who I think he is from the late 70’s living in my city and going to my school and even cub scouts with me. He said it was him but he needed more information because he could only remember 2 people from back then. I sent him 2 pictures of me from 1979, 1 in cub scout uniform and another lounging with my older sister. Plus I gave him a huge email explaining why things happened the way they did with me quitting the cub scouts and us moving etc.

That was last night at like 1am and I was tired so I might have over shared with maybe a little too much enthusiasm but I’m sure it didn’t scare him off lol. I tend to do that to people, freak them out with my enthusiasm. I don’t mean to though lol.

I haven’t heard back from him yet but I’m sure I will hear from him tonight and see if that really is him or not. If so then I am so happy that I finally found him after all these years.

Thank you internet and Facebook for bringing people back into my life.

New Cell Phone from NET10

On By Michel McDonaldIn Cell Phone, Products I Like, TechLeave a comment

I was about to start watching Cirque Du Freak earlier today and before I could hit play on the DVD remote control, Darrin told me that he had to go to Sears to pay his Sears card.  While we were there he said “I wonder if they sell cell phones” because he has a job interview tomorrow (he finally got a call back) and if he gets the job then he will need a new cell phone.  My old 2002 Nokia 3390 cell phone isn’t working out anymore.  The battery never keeps it’s charge anymore and it’s just too old for him to look professional.

So we get there and see a display for Verizon with prepaid cell phones and their phone cards.  The phone itself was only $20 but it was only 1 style of phone.  We went downstairs to the electronics department where they have many different wireless providers.  We were looking at the pamphlets for Verizon and the plan was too confusing.  Next to it was Virgin Mobile but they only had expensive phones.  One was a Kyocera Loft and the other was an LG Rumor Touch.  I don’t remember what it was, I do remember how expensive it was though.

Darrin went and got a sales clerk to get the Virgin Kyocera Loft phone out so he could buy it but thought to ask which company was better.  The sales clerk pointed out that each phone call was .25¢ per minute.  That’s a bit much and it was a good thing that he found that because Darrin was about to buy it.

He asked which one has the least cost per minute and the sales clerk pointed out the NET10 display.

It was a good thing that he showed us the Net10 phones because number 1 they were cheaper.  Darrin almost spent $70 on the Virgin Kyocera Loft and he almost spent $100 on minutes for it.

The phone that he did buy was the Samsung T401G which has a slide out QWERTY keyboard.  It was on sale for $59 (normally $79) and he also bought a $60 phone card which is 600 minutes.  He got a bonus of 170 minutes as well when I activated it.

For some reason it didn’t have a memory card so he’ll have to buy that extra if he wants to take pictures.  He just needs it for making/receiving calls at work, he doesn’t need games.  He connected to AOL from his phone already but it used minutes so that’s not a good idea for him.  If he had a monthly plan with unlimited web then that’s one thing but he chose pre-paid.

Text messaging is only 3¢ per text which is ok.  I don’t know who he’s gonna text though since I don’t have a cell phone lol.

I hope that he gets the job, keep your fingers crossed.

Update: He did get the job and he is very happy there.

Noisy Neighbors

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

UGH! My neighbor has been cutting all the branches off of his tree right outside my bedroom window which makes it 100% impossible for me to concentrate on anything today. He’s been at it for the last 2 hours and he’s only maybe halfway done, he has 2 trees and one of them so far is just a stub now lol. It only has a few branches on it and it looks so funny. Darrin says that your supposed to do that to that type of tree this time of year. So far 1 down 1 to go.

So since I can’t read I thought maybe I might watch a movie, I rented Cirque du Freak from the Red Box at the grocery store so I’ll be enjoying that for now. I wanted to wait until I’ve readall the books first but since I can’t read right now and I kind of want my fix, I’m going to watch it.

I think watching it will help me put a voice to all the names in the book because when I first started reading the first book yesterday, when it came to the vampire, I had a typical Transylvanian Dracula voice in my head complete with accent. As if all vampires talk like him. I remembered who played that role so then I pictured him as the vampire but I kind of forgot his voice so I made one up to what I think I remember how he sounds.

Anyway, he’s starting his machine up again so I’m going to start mine… my DVD machine that is.  Volume cranked all the way up to drown out his noise.

Cirque du Freak

On By Michel McDonaldIn Books, Movies, NookLeave a comment

(This is not a book review)

I have wanted to see this movie since it was first released in theaters but since one us in the house doesn’t like horror, the other (me) never gets to see it until it’s either on DVD, HBO or Showtime. Although, I still have yet to rent it from the Red Box at the grocery store. I seriously don’t know why I haven’t seen it yet. But right now at this very moment as I sit here typing this out, I’m glad I haven’t seen it yet.

This morning I wanted to start reading a book and I had chosen to start reading the 2nd book of the Belgariad but then I decided it wasn’t going to fit with the theme of this very day, Halloween. I mean sure it has witches and lots of magic but is it Halloween worthy? I think not. I have a queue of books that I want to buy and read and so I searched through the queue and remembered Cirque du Freak.

I got on the Nook store and found the first book for $1.99 for the e-book version. Perfect! I don’t have that much money in the bank for another few days but I have just enough that if I could buy a few of these volumes at $2 each. But I only bought the first one which is called Living Nightmare.

I started reading it after breakfast. It has fewer pages than the paperback version does as mostly all ebooks do but it also had way less than my regular books do. I can usually read 50 pages of a book which probably equals out to 75-100 regular paper back book pages and since this one was 149 pages, I thought, this is going to take 3 days, no problem. If I read half of it then I can shorten it to 2 days no biggy. But, after the live Ghost Hunters investigation was over I figured I’d at least give it a shot and see if I couldn’t just finish this book. And you know what? I did.

The story reeled me in, hook line and sinker. Whatever that means, some fishing term I don’t know. Anyway I was immediately hooked.

Here I am typing this out so late at night after spending so many hours reading, my eyes are tired and blurry and I’m having to squint to read, closing one eye making it easier lol. But I want to make my point before I go to bed and forget about it in the morning.

It was the most awesome $2 book I have ever taken a full day to read. Actually, it’s the first book that has taken me a full day to read. I love it and I can’t wait for the next one.

I wonder though, should I just go ahead and rent the movie or read the next book tomorrow and can I read the whole thing tomorrow like I read today? And is this a new trend for me? Reading these books one a day? How many are there? Do I need to read the entire series before seeing the movie?

Ok I’m too tired for all these questions since it’s 1:30am. I need to rest my eyes. I just wanted to let it be known that my dyslexia, ADD and learning disability didn’t prevent me from getting through this book, well, it was touch and go but other than that it was pretty easy to read and that is the kind of book I like.

I will start with part 2 tomorrow and hopefully the DVD will either be at the red box tomorrow or I can go into the HBO or Showtime on Demand and find it. I like to watch the movie first, it makes voices in my head for each characters easier so I cam impersonate their accents easier.

To be continued…