Tag: grocery store

Is it Divine or Psychic?

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

Last night when my shows were finished I had to go to the grocery store so that I would have some body wash to wash myself with this morning after my bike ride.  I’m standing in front of the body wash trying to find which one was more affordable since they skyrocketed in price.

This very tall guy came over to me and asked if my name was Bill, I looked up at him and said nope, it’s Mike and he said ok thanks and walked away.  Half a minute later he and 3 other people, 2 women and another guy came over to me.  One of the women introduces herself to me and says that the 2nd guy wrote down the name Michael and Michelle.

I’m thinking, what the hell is going on?  Why do they care what my… then it kicks in, they’re bible beaters.  They had decided they were going to go “pray” for someone and so they thought ok, let’s write down some things and see if we can find a person who resembles anything we write.  The two guys wrote down different things so they were looking to see who would be right.  I don’t know if it was a bet or if they were just going to see who would be more on target than the other.

They wrote down first names, the one guy wrote Bill and the other guy Michael and Michelle.  They wrote down a place to go, Albertson’s and McDonald’s.  They said they were going to go to Denny’s but decided let’s try the Albertson’s/McDonald’s combo, they’re right across the street from each other and Denny’s is across town.  They also wrote down a few other things.

Ok so getting back to it, when the 2nd guy said Michael/Michelle I said well actually, both are correct.  Let me explain.  My name is Michel.  That’s pronounced like Michael here in the US but it’s pronounced Michelle in France.  It’s a french name.

When they told me they were going to go to McDonald’s I told them, well my last name is McDonald.  They were blown away.  I told the first guy, you said bill right?  Well, my sisters first boyfriends name was Bill.  They were blown away again.  I thought it was hilarious.

The second guy said they were looking for a guy in khaki shorts which I was wearing.  He also showed me that he wrote down the word Superman, they were looking for someone possibly wearing a superman t-shirt.  Well, I wasn’t but I am a huge superman fan.

I didn’t tell them this but when I say I love superman, it’s not like when someone says they love something.  I really REALLY love Superman.  Ok not sexually but I am a HUGE fan.  I watched every episode of the Adventures of Superman with George Reeves from the 50’s but in the 70’s.  I LOVED that show.  I have seen every Superman movie.  I missed Lois and Clark in the 90’s, I’ve seen a few episodes and I’d like to see it from beginning to end.  And I have seen every episode of all 10 years of Smallville.  I read some Superman comic books in my childhood.  Not every issue, only what my parents could afford to buy me.  I LOVE Superman lol.

Oh the first guy, the tall guy said the word “Burgerstan” which threw me for a second.  I said that we (when I say we I mean Darrin and his brother) used to own a house on Berger Street.  Burgerstan, however it’s spelled sounds very similar to Berger Street.

As I’m confirming all of these things I’m getting chills.  I knew that at some point it was all leading to them praying for me and even though I don’t really like that, I figured, they got all these things right, or I helped them interpret them as right, I may as well let them do what they were going to do.  You know?  I don’t like it but I let them, as if it was their prize or something lol.

So it all eventually lead to it and they asked if they could and I said yeah, might as well but do it before the store closes lol.  So the second guy is praying and he finishes but then one of the girls wanted to pray too and I’m thinking oh god, just get it over with so I can get home.  I saw in my peripheral vision a store employee look over at us and I mouthed “help me” but he walked away.  DAMN HIM!

I tell you, I was a bit freaked out.  I asked them if they were all psychic and they said no it’s the power of god or divine something or other, which I don’t believe in but whatever.  I believe that there may have either been some psychic energy happening or it was all coincidence.  Who knows.  I thought it was creepy but also amazing at the same time.  I didn’t need to be prayed for, no, I didn’t WANT to be prayed for lol.

Whatever, there you have it.  My freaky night last night lol.

Ice Cream Scoops

On By Michel McDonaldIn Products I LikeLeave a comment

I love ice cream, I love it so much that when I eat it, I don’t just have 1 serving, I usually fill a bowl with it.  I guess you could say that ice cream is my downfall.  Despite my diabetes, I can’t just say I’ll quit eating it because when I quit something then I’ll end up sneaking around and cheating.  So it’s better to continue eating but moderate how much I eat.

It’s like when I quit smoking with the patch, I didn’t toss out all of my cigarette paraphernalia because I knew if I wanted to cheat I’d end up buying another pack so I might as well keep my current pack so if I do cheat then it won’t end up costing me more money.  I did cheat, twice but I still ended up quitting and haven’t looked back, that was in 1996.

I decided to try a little experiment.  I bought some ice cream cones at the grocery store because I figured if I ate an ice cream cone then I would be ok right?  The only thing was, our ice cream scoop sucks ass.  It’s this plastic see through piece of junk that you are supposed to fill with hot water to keep it warm so you can use it but I can’t take the cover off to fill it.  So the only way to use it is to soak it in hot water but as soon as it touches the ice cream, it gets cold and is hard to scoop again.

I wanted this to work but that ice cream scoop just wasn’t working.

I’ve been looking around the internet for an ice cream scoop like the one they have at Thrifty’s drug store which we all now know as Rite Aid.  They still sell Thrifty ice cream and still use the iconical gun that has the flat top making it easy to add more layers.  What I found was the Cuisipro Scoop and Stack Ice Cream Scoop on Amazon.com for $14.99.  It has the free shipping option if you buy something else valued at $10.01 with free shipping available but that means I have to spend $25 and all I want is an ice cream scoop.

Last night I was looking at my options that would cost $10.01 because I wasn’t about to spend $8 for shipping and not get anything except for the ice cream scoop.  I’d rather spend $10 and get something I can use.  But the problem was, everything that I wanted cost either $15 or $20 which made my shopping cart higher than I knew I could afford.  All this for 1 ice cream scoop.

Screw it!  I went to Albertson’s this morning and they had this heavy-duty ice cream scoop made by Good Cook on the 50% off rack and all I paid was like $1.70.

The thing is, I have a problem with scooping ice cream because of my carpal tunnel syndrome.  My hands pinch in the palms and wrists from the stress of scooping ice cream so I have to wait for it to melt and use a spoon.  Well, the Cuisipro was supposed to be easy because I just push it down into the ice cream, pull it back up and viola, ice cream for a cone.

The one I bought from Albertson’s is actually a lot easier to use.  You know that as soon as I came home from the store that I used it to make myself an ice cream cone lol.  It was so easy to use that it made a perfect ice cream ball and my hands didn’t even feel anything.  And what was awesome was that the ice cream didn’t even stick to it like it does with my cheap plastic ice cream scoop.  I was always having to use a spoon that I had to soak in hot water to remove the scoop from the scooper lol.

All this trouble for an ice cream scoop and I end up buying one for way less than I thought I would.  I win!  I’ve already lost 11lbs in the last month because I have cut way back on my ice cream intake by having ice cream cones instead of a huge bowl of ice cream so you tell me if the experiment was worth it or not.  Actually, I also quit drinking soda, coffee and iced tea but towards the end of the month I started drinking coffee and tea again but still lose 11lbs.  I was surprised when I weighed myself this morning that I was no longer 260lbs but 249.

I can’t say that the Cuisipro ice cream scooper would have worked out for me as much as this Good Cook one does but it’s cheaper and I’m glad I didn’t rush myself to buy it from Amazon.  I read a few customer reviews of the Cuisipro one and people were leaving negative reviews so maybe I am better off with the one I ended up with.  Either way I’m happy now with what I have and I hope the weight loss continues.

It’s Our 17 Year Anniversary

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

Today is our 17 year anniversary.  We met in 1994 and we just clicked and became a couple.  Most people count their wedding anniversary, not the day they became a couple but considering gays still can’t get married in California, I count our relationship years instead.  Even if we could get married, I would still count how long we’ve been together.

Ok so the cake doesn’t look great, I was running out of frosting, you know how those frosting containers only have so much and I think I put too much in some spots but not enough in others which is why there is a hole on the side in the front but it’s ok, at least I didn’t have to pay $20 for it from the grocery store.

The cake doesn’t symbolize anything really, I just wanted an excuse to have cake lol.  Obviously I had to photo shop the rainbow heart and 17 years because it was too plain for this post, I wish I had the talent to draw that onto the cake with colored frosting.

Well… to another 17 years.  Cheers!

A New Hope For My Bike

On By Michel McDonaldIn Bike, Cycling, Diet, ExerciseLeave a comment

I was at the grocery store yesterday and I ran into a guy who I gave my old bike seat to when I bought my ergo bike seat.  We were talking about bikes and he asked if I was riding and I told him about the saga of my back wheel drama and he told me that he has an old mountain bike that he was using for parts with a back wheel that I can have (HAVE!).

The bike store was going to charge me $40 for the wheel and $10 to install it and most likely there will be taxes and chances are it’s going to be $55 or so which I can’t afford.  I haven’t had a bike in 6 months or so to even ride to the store, I’ve been walking everywhere so this will be great.

He told me he has to dig it out because it’s in the garage and I’m sure it’s deep in there so I’m not expecting it any time soon but it does give me some hope that some day I might return to the bike trail.

I know it’s a “don’t keep your hopes up” type of thing and I’m not but at the same time it gives me a glimmer of hope at least.  I won’t be holding my breath or counting down the days and I don’t expect much since he’s giving it to me for free, I really don’t even know if it will fit either so there’s that.  He said it was for a mountain bike and mine is a mountain bike so I told him it has to be a 26 inch wheel and he said he would check or bring it on by the house to compare.

Also there is a good chance that the gears might not be the same gears.  If it doesn’t have the same, what’s it called?  A cassette?  If it’s not the same then perhaps I might have trouble, or I can bring it to the bike store and say here, let me pay you that $10 to remove this from this and put it on that.

I really hope that it does happen because I really need to get my fat arse back out there and make it smaller.  And actually my bike has a weight limit of 250lbs which I am over so I’ll probably have to veg out for a week to lose 10lbs at least so I can start riding it.  God forbid I break the bike with my fat arse lol.

Wish me luck!

A Good Breakfast for Energy

On By Michel McDonaldIn Food1 Comment

When I make breakfast for myself in the morning, it’s usually a bowl of cereal.  If we don’t have any milk for whatever reason I usually moan and stomp my feet like a child before nuking myself some oatmeal.  Or I might begrudgingly put my clothes on and go to the grocery store. This morning was different because I wanted to actually make a real breakfast.

Last night I decided that I wanted to make some hash browns for myself this morning so I bought a bag of potatoes from the grocery store with our dinner ingredients and got the food processor out to shred them.  Of course I peeled them first before shredding them and they were small enough that I could just stick them in the food processor.  Normally I have to cut things up but those bags of potatoes are always tiny so that was perfect.

After I shredded about 6 I put them into these containers that I also bought at the store to store them in all night.  A friend told me to put water in them to remove the starch to keep them from turning brown and sure enough when I went to do that they were all brown.  Before bedtime I went in there and drained them all and rinsed them all off and put them back in their containers with more water and I’m glad I did because they were still brown so changing the water was a good thing I think.

This morning I got up, grabbed my Big City Slider Station and filled each compartment with sausage so I could have some sausage patties, put 3 slices of bacon in the skillet to cook and when those were all finished I put 2 slices of bacon on the plate, 2 sausage sliders and then I put all the rest in a container for another time.

I took the hash browns out of the fridge and put them in the salad spinner to get the moisture out then put them in the bacon grease.  Ok I know now that I should have used margarine or oil.  Coulda shoulda woulda.  When that was finished I scrambled 2 eggs and put cheese on top of the eggs.

I was going to take a picture but it was very sloppy and too embarrassing but I will tell you that it was very good.  It was a very rare occasion that I would ever make that kind of breakfast and I can’t say I will ever do it again but you never know.

What am I going to do with the remainder of the hash browns though?  I’m thinking that maybe I can put some butter in the big city slider station then roll up some of the hash browns and stuff them in there and see how that works out.  Then I can put them in the container with the sausages and have some hash brown sliders whenever I want.  I could also freeze them for later.

The reason I did all of this is because I really needed the energy for today because I have 61 posts to restore today from March 2009 and I’m getting so burnt out on the whole thing.  Coffee just isn’t cutting it anymore, I figured I needed a real breakfast to get me through this day.

That kind of breakfast is good but so bad but it was so worth it.

Mister Steamy

On By Michel McDonaldIn Products I Like1 Comment

I’ve seen the commercials for this steaming pile er um I mean ball and decided I would give it a go.  I really bought one because I am always forgetting about the last load that I do and it always ends up sitting in the dryer for days before I remember it’s in there.  I end up having to soak something then put it in there so it gets everything else wet so it dries everything so there are no wrinkles.  I thought this might be easier and faster.

So I bought one today and I didn’t know they are hard plastic, almost hard as a rock.  It has a sponge inside of it and you pour 2-4oz of water in there, you can’t just pour it from the tap like the commercial (or picture) shows because it says do not over fill it.  So I used a measuring cup because I don’t want to disobey a direct order from the directions lol.

The dryer only had 3 dress shirts in there and I tossed the rock hard ball in there and turned the dryer on.  Oh my goodness, it was banging in the dryer and it was freaking me out so I went into the bedroom so I wouldn’t have to hear it.  I go back in the kitchen and the dryer isn’t even going anymore.  I open the door and to my surprise everything is wrinkle free.  So all is well afterall.

So I guess if you put it in a dryer filled with towels and shirts and what not then it will be enough to keep it from banging all over the place, I highly doubt it but you never know.

I think what happened was it was so unbalanced that it just stopped.  Thank goodness it has that function to prevent the dryer from breaking down.  So I think from now on when I use it, I’ll only use it on a full load, not just 3 shirts.  Good to know.

The box was $15 at the grocery store and it comes with 2 balls.  I guess if you’re buying something with balls you need a complete pair otherwise you feel off balance.  Hmmm maybe that’s why my dryer shut down, it didn’t have the balls to finish it’s cycle.

Tom’s of Maine

On By Michel McDonaldIn AdLeave a comment

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Toms of Maine. All opinions are 100% mine.

I think I was 17 years old when I first discovered Tom’s Of Maine in the grocery store. I was already on my own at this time so I wasn’t expected to use the same product my mother always bought and I was curious about it so I bought it. I was actually pleasantly surprised that it had a very nice smell and taste and I’ve used it ever since.

I think my wicked fresh moment was when I realized I didn’t need to spray any chemicals in my mouth when I wanted to kiss someone because my breath was already fresh even hours after I had brushed my teeth. It’s not a very impressive wicked fresh moment so I’d like to hear about yours. Go to the That’s Wicked Fresh contest page and tweet your wicked fresh moment. You could win a $500 gift card for Target and other wicked fresh prizes so what are you waiting for?

Did you know that Tom’s of Maine is on and ? I’m following them because I like to hear when they have new products come out. They also tweet interesting facts about the earth since they are an eco-friendly product.  Plus they’ve been tweeting holiday recipes.  You should give them a like and a follow, it’s worth it.

Google Chrome Laptop

On By Michel McDonaldIn CR-48, Google Chrome, Products I Like, Tech1 Comment

Google announced this week on Tuesday that they are going to give 60k laptops away to groups and people so that they can test out the new Google Chrome OS. People aren’t testing the laptop, they are testing the operating system itself. These laptops have a 12.1 inch widescreen monitor, built-in webcam and mic on the top of the screen, 8-hour battery, WiFi and 3G with Verizon where they give you 100mb of data for $9.99 each month for 2 years.

The test itself is only supposed to last for 6 months which makes me wonder if they will be asking for the laptops to be returned but the statement that they are giving you 2 years at $10 a month for 3G tells me that perhaps these laptops aren’t going to be taken away after 6 months. But I can’t tell for sure. I mean, what are they gonna do with 60k used laptops? They can’t sell them and they’re not going to take the time and money to refurbish them are they?

In case you are wondering why I am blogging about this all of a sudden, well, I have one. I signed up to be a beta tester last year but I don’t know if that’s why I got so lucky. I got an email from Google on Wednesday inviting me to apply to get one. Friday morning I went to the grocery store for an energy drink and found it on my doorstep when I came home.

At first I didn’t know what it was because I didn’t order anything. It didn’t even occur to me that I got approved for a laptop. As I’m opening the box I see this diagram of a helmet that an evil scientist mouse would build for world domination. Or at least cat domination. As I opened the box I see the battery pack then the laptop itself.

My first thought was “WOW I was approved? NO FREAKIN’ WAY!”

I took a picture of the keyboard, screen, top and bottom. It looks navy blue in the image for some odd reason when in reality it’s more of a charcoal color. Click it to see it full size which is 1280×768.

By the way, this is not a product review, it’s more of a bragging post :p lol. This is not what is going to be for sale in 6 months when the beta testing will be finished and as I said I am not testing the laptop but the operating system.

One of the rules about being in this program is that I use this as my primary machine. I’m not sure if blogging about it is allowed but since I’ve seen other blogs talking about it and a few YouTube videos (as I write this 1,130 videos) showing it off and people talking about it, I figure it might be ok.  Since this is going to be my primary computer for the next 6 months I figure I might as well talk about it.

I have used Google Chrome as my default browser for over a year now so it’s not a difficult adjustment for me. Although this new keyboard and touchpad are adding to the challenge. I am getting used to it tough.

I have not actually timed it but when you first turn the computer on by either opening the lid or pushing the power button, it gives you this cool Chrome logo then within seconds you are in your login screen.  When I see my image with my Gmail account name, I type in my password and I’m in.  Instant desktop, no waiting.  When I close the lid while it’s turned on then come back to it later, it loads instantly back to where I left off.

My desktop is a Chrome browser like you would see when you first open your browser but it’s always there.  Instead of having the most used websites on that window, it has icons like you would have on your desktop.  There is a new Google Web Store where you can search for extensions, apps and themes.  When you find the one you want, just click install and viola it’s installed.  No muss no fuss.

If it’s an app then you will have a new icon on your “desktop” but if it’s an extension then you will have a new icon on the top of your browser next to the wrench and bug report link.

Since it’s a website based computer, it’s really fast.  I’m telling you, it is so fast that it puts my desktop computer to so much shame.  Like when I watch a YouTube video it’s very smooth.  It plays the video from start to finish without any interruption like my desktop does.  I’ve gotten to the point where I hate watching videos on my computer because of how they keep pausing and I’ve recently reformatted it too so this new laptop is very welcome on my desk.

I haven’t tried the webcam yet but as soon as one of my friends and/or family members logs into Skype then I can try it.  Oh, since Skype is obviously not a web-based app, I had to find a web-based IMing website that allows you to Skype.  I found imo.im in the web store and I’ve been using it for all of my IMing.

I have been able to use the webcam with taking pictures with Picnik so I can tell that the webcam built into the top of the screen isn’t very good quality.  Then again like I said, I am not testing the laptop but more the OS so it doesn’t have to be great quality, although it is much better quality than my current webcam but I digress.

I have had a few crashes but it turns out to be my fault because I’m not used to the touchpad.  It doesn’t have any buttons, it’s just a touchpad.  You can press on it and the whole thing clicks on the bottom but you can also lightly tap on it which is how you click.  The problem I have with it is that it’s so freaking huge that when I type, my hand is constantly moving the cursor and clicking things.  I have to learn to lift my right hand while I type to avoid that.

It’s an awesome computer and I will be very happy with it just as long as they don’t take it away from me lol.  I don’t know how much it is going to cost when they start selling it in the summer of 2011 but it is worth every dime considering it is the easiest computer for anyone to use.  You don’t have to know anything about computers, all you need to know is what website you want to look at.

There is still some time if you want to get in on this.  All you have to do is go to this website http://www.google.com/chromeos/ and apply for the pilot program.  The deadline is 11:59:59 on 12/21/2010.  Good luck.

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…