Tag: light bulb

Fly Problem

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

I don’t know what it is about summer but all of a sudden there are fly’s all over the kitchen window above the sink.  It’s like that every year at this time.  When I go to take the dog out in the back yard I usually open the back door then we walk to the back gate and I let her out then I go back into the kitchen and close the door.  But even if I’m not opening the door they come in through the front door when we answer the door or when we are coming or going.

So about a week ago I was sitting in my room watching tv and the saying “you catch more fly’s with Honey than you do with Vinegar” came into my head.  I wasn’t thinking about the fly’s so I don’t know where that came from but it was like all of a sudden a light bulb turned on above my head.

I went into the kitchen and we had these honey packets from KFC from awhile ago that we never used, yes I’m the guy who saves ketchup packets and all the other “packets” lol.  Anyway, I put some on a napkin (yes, from Taco Bell lol) and put it on the ledge above the kitchen sink and left it.  Well, after a few days the honey had soaked into the napkin so you couldn’t even tell it had any honey on it, it just looked wet.

I threw the honey napkin away like 2 days ago and cleaned the honey off the tiles.  During the entire time I had that honey sitting there it was like all the fly’s had disappeared from existence.  They were gone.  None of them took the bait and landed on the honey and got stuck but they just disappeared.  That’s why I removed the honey but it’s been 2 days, the fly’s are back in full force.  So, I went to look for more honey packets to put on a little plate but we didn’t have any more, I’d used the last 2 but we did have some syrup.

Yes, I know what you are going to say, ants… well, they didn’t come when the honey was there so hopefully they won’t show up for the syrup lol.  But since I put the syrup out about maybe 10 minutes ago all the fly’s are gone again.  It’s almost as if they were offended by it or something lol.

Oh speaking of fly’s lol have you heard on the news about Obama killing a fly during an interview and then PETA came out against him saying he murdered an innocent fly on TV lol.  OMG hilarious.  They said he should’ve used this thing called Katcha Bug which is a stick with a little pyramid looking dome that you catch the fly in then set it free outside lol.  Ok whatever you say PETA.  I believe that dogs, cats, birds, elephants, lions, tigers and bears oh my all have souls but I mean come on, who freakin cares about a house fly whose life cycle is only 15-25 days anyway.  Who cares, KILL EM!

Free Bike Tripod

On By Michel McDonaldIn Bike2 Comments

It seems that our tool shed attached to the back of the garage seems to be more useful than I ever thought.  Before Stargate SG-1 came on today I went out there hoping to be able to make a homemade tripod for the bicycle handlebars and I wasn’t quite able to make something that was acceptable.  There was a 50/50 chance that it could still fall off and break lol.

So I came in the house and watched SG-1 and while I was watching it I started thinking more about it.  I wondered if maybe there was a screw that would fit in the camera on the bottom.  So I patiently waited for it to end then ran out there lol.

I was right, there was one that was the perfect size and it was long enough, although it could’ve been longer but it ended up being the right fit.

I was going to use the technique that I found here and I tried, I had an old dollar light that the light had broken years ago and I kept the mount for it for this very purpose.  I got the nut out, drilled the hole in it no problem.  But, when I put the screw in and then tried to tighten it the plastic broke so that was no good.

So then I went back into the tool shed and I started thinking what to do next.  I have a new dollar light so I thought well, I guess I’m just going to have to use that and just buy another one.  However, as I was trying to take out the nut I glanced over at the cabinet in the indoor patio which has tools in it and saw the garden hose repair stuff.  A light bulb turned on above my head.  I looked at the light mount and told it that it was its lucky day and that it has gotten a reprieve, for now.

So I grabbed the green garden hose piece that has 2 screws, 1 on each side and it mounts on the outside of the hose then I took it out to the table in the back where my drill was already set up with the right size drill bit and I held the hose piece inside my finger while I drilled into 1 of the screw holes.  Perfect.

I put a little piece of rubber inside the top part of it then put it onto the handlebar and screwed in 1 side with the screw it came with then I put in my long screw that fits perfectly into the camera and I put a nut on and tightened it at the perfect angle.  Then I put another nut on the screw so when I put the camera onto the screw then I just tighten the 2nd nut to keep the camera in place.

Here is a picture:

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So tomorrow when I go out on my bike ride I will have the camera inside the camera bag right inside the Townie Basket and then as soon as I get to the bike trail I will mount the camera and then start filming from there.  It’s much safer to ride with the camera attached while on the bike trail.  I’m just too paranoid that I’m going to have an accident on the streets then have the camcorder fall and break into 10 million pieces.  Besides, I’d rather just focus the video on the bike trail and not the streets.

Bike Light

On By Michel McDonaldIn CyclingLeave a comment

I think it was the day before yesterday or something but I noticed that the light generator wasn’t touching the tire when you flip the switch and so I fixed it and then checked out the lights to make sure they were ok by pushing the peddles.  I noticed that the back red light was working fine but the headlight wasn’t working at all.  I flipped the bike upside down and pushed the peddles with my hand to make the back tire turn and the light was just not coming on.

I took the light fixture off the bike and took it apart to see if the light bulb was just out and when I went to turn it to remove it the glass part came off and the metal was just not unscrewing at all.  I’m pretty sure it’s because the light set that I bought was old, it was made in 1991.  I searched high and low trying to find a new bulb, I went to Albertson’s, no go.  I went to Walgreens, not there.  I figured that maybe an auto parts store might have them because they have little tiny lights too but alas the car lights were the same size but no threads.  The guy at the counter told me to try Home Depot or Floyd’s hardware store.

I decided that since I can’t use my bike anyway I might as well wait until I can to worry about it.  But then I noticed a Halloween tap light sitting in a drawer and noticed that the light bulb looked the same.  I unscrewed the 3 screws on the bottom and was able to unscrew the bulb and sure enough, the exact same light bulb.

I brought it to the bike area (this was yesterday) and screwed it in and flipped the bike over and plugged the wire into the generator and pushed on the peddles but unfortunately it didn’t turn the light on.  I put it back in the tap light and put some batteries in there and tapped it and it turned on just fine.

I went searching in a computer drawer with old computer stuff and found some old mic’s from when I got my first computer and never used the mic’s and was all ready to strip the wires to use it but it was late at night and I couldn’t find my scissors so I waited until today.  This morning after Darrin went to church I got up and went out there and my scissors were by the bike so I got all the stuff ready and sat down on the stool out there.  I tried it one more time with the wire that came with the light set but this time I stripped the wire that touches the light to see if it was just messed up there but no go.  I then thought, well what if the light has to be on the bracket on the bike frame so I just placed it on there and turned the peddles and sure enough the light came on.

At this point I’m not quite sure if it’s just sheer stupidity or if my ADD is really that bad lol.  At any rate I’m glad I finally figured it out and got one more problem out of the way so I can get back on with my life.