Tag: long time

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.

Cycling Again

On By Michel McDonaldIn Bike, Cycling, ExerciseLeave a comment

Last month I bought a new back wheel for my bicycle so that I could start getting exercise again.  The same exact day, Chips deceased cousins girlfriend bought a vintage 10-speed road bike because I told her I was getting my new wheel and that if she had a bike we could go bike riding together.  We rode exactly 2 times together last month.  I didn’t ride on my own though.

This month we rode once, yesterday and I told her that if this is going to work we are going to have to do this more often, like every day at least.  Since we are both out of shape then perhaps every other day until our leg muscles are more used to it.

I spent a long time figuring out the perfect route for bike riding and unfortunately she doesn’t like my route because it’s the same thing every time and she likes to take short cuts, which defeats the purpose of the ride.  My route has no heavy traffic to cross, all neighborhoods and when we are on the busy roads they have bike lanes.  I pride myself on my organization skills whether anyone likes it or not, typically nobody likes it but me.

My cell phone hasn’t worked in years and I really need to keep a cell phone with me at all times when I’m out on the bike trail so I bought a refurbished Samsung T401G from Net10 which is the same exact phone Darrin has, only I paid $25 for mine since it was refurbished and it comes with a $25 phone card.  Basically I got the phone for free hehe.  But it’s a very nice phone compared to what I would have gotten had I gotten the cheaper phone if I had gone to Sears to buy it today.

Even though we are going to ride every other day, I am going to ride every day if I can (as soon as my new phone arrives) because I have more weight to lose than she does and I am determined to lose it.

I will be suggesting an alternate route for her which is her car.  We were crossing such heavy traffic yesterday and it really freaked me out so if she wants to do this she can drive her bike there and I can meet her on the trail.  I think that is a good plan.  I get more exercise and she gets the amount of exercise she is satisfied with, it’s a win win for everyone involved.

Did I Have A Mini Stroke?

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily Blog2 Comments

Ok I know someone is going to call me a hypochondriac but this happened to me last night and I want to know what happened to me.  I might have had a mini stroke, at least that’s what someone told me.

Last night I was watching Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles on SyFy channel and I sneezed.  It wasn’t a small sneeze, it was one of those sneezes where you scream AAAAAACHOO nearly at the top of your lungs.  Right when I sneezed, my left ear popped.  You know how when you are driving for a long time going uphill and through mountains and your ears start feeling clogged up?  It was like that but in my left ear and worse than driving uphill.

I thought it would stop and my ear would pop back to normal but it didn’t.  Everything around me started spinning so I sat up.  I was looking at my desk chair and it was just spinning out of control, but it wasn’t the chair, it was my eyes, I could feel them spinning.

I sat there on the edge of my bed waiting for it to stop, thinking “what am I going to do if this doesn’t stop?”  I started yelling cuss words, although that didn’t make it stop lol.

Gradually the spinning started to slow and my ear slowly started going down, you know like how a balloon deflates from a tiny microscopic hole?  It went on for about 5 minutes or so.  I didn’t know what to do, I couldn’t move past sitting up because my balance was totally off.  You know, the inner ear thing.  It even took me a couple of minutes to sit up because of my balance.  I can’t imagine if I had to get up, I’d probably walk in circles and not get any where.

So, what was that?  Did I have a mini stroke or what?

My Tribute to Diana of V

On By Michel McDonaldIn TVLeave a comment

I was totally devastated tonight during the season finale of V on ABC when Anna killed her mother Diana.  Why such devastation?  Well, let me take you back about 27 years…

It’s 1984 and my family lost our home.  Long story short, we had to move in with my aunt and with 10 people in the house, tv time was limited to whatever everyone agreed on in the living room.

The “V” Miniseries starts and the entire family watched the first part but not everyone was into it but my mom and I.  We watched it together in my parents bedroom and it was one of 2 things that really brought us together in a long time.  I was 14 and resentful of her for all of the abuse that I had to endure, really, I hated her.  I wanted to love her and this was our common ground.

We watched the entire mini-series together then V the Final Battle, which was sort of a second mini series, then they brought us V the TV Series and we watched that together every week.  The show ended with peace on all sides and although it gave us closure for the show, it ended our “thing” that we had going.  Life back to normal.

I have to admit that even though I was rooting for the fifth column, I was also rooting for Diana because she was just such an awesome character in the show.  Not just her hair but the dramatic look on her face every time the fifth column would foil her plans for victory.  The constant fight that she had with Lydia and, well, everyone.  She was very entertaining to me.

During the early 2000’s I hear rumors of a return of V.  The rumors that I heard were not a remake or a series but a movie, sort of a “V Returns” type of thing, you know like Superman Returns where it’s 25 or so years later.  I liked the idea of a return, prefer a series but I’ll take whatever I can get.

Summer 2009 comes and I hear from the futon critic website that ABC is bringing V back as a new series and I couldn’t be more thrilled.  Naturally I watched it.  At first I wasn’t sure I liked it because it wasn’t exactly as it was in the 80’s but then I started thinking that I like it because it is a remake and the best way to remake an old show is to change everything.

I was very happy with the first season but then I heard rumor that Jane Badler was coming back to reprise her role as Diana.  What?  REALLY?  HAPPY!!!

I think she was great during her short time in the 2nd season so I was very heart-broken and devastated when Anna killed her in the middle of the season finale.  I didn’t expect the show to give her queendom back to her but I had hoped that she would have become a regular in the show again and not just a guest starring role.

I’m not truly convinced that Diana is dead, after all, Anna has brought some of her visitor friends back to life.  She brought Dale (Alan Tudyk) back (then Joshua killed him again lol) and she brought Marcus (Christopher Shyer) back.  I’m sure the fifth column could secretly take Diana’s body to a secret lab room and bring her back to life the way Anna brought those other people back to life.  The only true way to kill these new aliens is with a pill that dissolves the entire body.

This isn’t just a goodbye to Diana, this is a I will never forget you.  Not only how V brought my mother and I together before she passed away but because you talk to me on Twitter.  I will always be grateful for that, you have made my day, no, my lifetime.

This show means more to me than anyone will ever know and bringing back my favorite original character means even more than that so I thank the producers and writers for bringing my beloved Diana back to me, even though it was for a very short time.  You too have made my lifetime because I know that my mom was watching it with me every week just as we watched it together 27 years ago.  Thank you for bringing us back together one last time. </3

Updated to correct facts in the show that I missed, some nerd I turned out to be.

Sonic Scrubber

On By Michel McDonaldIn Products I LikeLeave a comment

I am fascinated by all of the “As Seen on TV” products because they all look like they are good products that will help people, especially people who have arthritis or carpal tunnel syndrome which I have.

I’ve wanted to buy this for such a long time because I hate to scrub grout and having to scrub with a regular bristle brush hurts my wrists, pinches my palms and hurts my shoulder as well.  I’ve been afraid to buy it because I’ve bought a few as seen on tv things and not all of them work out with the exception of the one touch can opener which is really good for my condition.

I saw this Sonic Scrubber at Christmas time at the Walgreens but didn’t get it because I didn’t have the money.  Well, I decided today that I would go see if they still had it because I really need to clean the grout in the shower because we have guests coming next month and I don’t want to have to scrub.  So I bought it and it really works.

I opened the glass shower door and with the Scrubbing Bubbles Extend-A-Clean Power Sprayer I sprayed the tiles where you step into the shower, it was really bad.  I gave the scrubbing bubbles some time to work and then I came back in and started scrubbing and within seconds the dirt started coming out of the grout.  That would’ve taken me forever with the regular scrub brush which is why it has gotten as bad as it is, it is too painful for me to clean so I can’t clean it and now I can.

I bought the Sonic Scrubber as well as the attachments because I figured I might as well get them while they had them.  The one I bought isn’t yellow and black like the image above, it is orange and blue, attachments are the same color combo so it all matches lol.  Also when I went to look at their website it shows me that it’s now owned by Scrubbing Bubbles – SC Johnson & Son.  This must be from when they first came out because the packaging has no mention of Scrubbing Bubbles or SC Johnson and the date on it is 2007.

This product is great and I highly recommend it if you have bad hands and can’t clean with as much elbow grease as you used to when you were younger.

If My Nook Has Skin, Is It Alive?

On By Michel McDonaldIn NookLeave a comment

I bought a Skin for my Nook from DecalGirl.com last weekend and it came today.  When I heard the mail drop into the slot earlier I got all excited and ran to the door but the large envelope wasn’t out there so I figured I’d get it tomorrow.  Then the doorbell rang and it was the mail carrier saying she saw it in the back of the truck and drove all the way back over here to deliver it.  I’m so glad she did.

Last night I was getting antsy and went on YouTube to see how easy or difficult putting the skin on a Nook would be and the person who posted a video showed how easy it was, how it’s not sticky at all and it doesn’t stick until you press on it so I had hope that I wouldn’t screw it up.  Well, mine was sticky, so sticky that the backs touched as I was taking it off the sheet it was printed on.  I almost ripped it while trying to take the pieces apart.

Putting it on was really difficult, in fact you can see some white on the sides of the front here and there where there isn’t supposed to be white but I couldn’t help that.  It stretched in some places and there is a crease at the bottom which I’m afraid to fix out of fear that I’m going to stretch it out even more.

The back on the other hand was as easy as apple pie.  Maybe because it was one solid piece or maybe because the back of the Nook is less shiny and more rubbery than the front of the Nook.  I don’t know, I just know it looks so awesome.  I was getting so sick of looking at the beige color of the Nook, I wanted something that was colorful, although this is really dark it still has color in it.  And it has a library which makes it even cooler to me.  I’ve been wanting to buy this skin for my Nook for such a long time and I thought why not, just do it and I did and I’m so happy I did.

The only downside that I see is when I’m holding it I can feel the edges of the skin on the back since it doesn’t go all the way around.  I made a stand to have it sit on so I don’t have to hold it so I can use that when I’m reading at the desk.  I also made a case for it so I will put it in there when I want to hold it.  Either way it’s a win for me.

Ok now I’m off to read more of this book I’m reading before shows come on.  Later!

Bummed But Hopeful

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

I’m a little bummed out right now. My KewlRank number keeps going down more and more every day since I lost my database. I don’t mean to sound like a bummer talking about this and I’m sure rank doesn’t mean a lot to most people but it means something to me.

That is a bummer lol.

But since I’ve been copying my old posts back over, it looks to me like that little line is coming back up. So even though I dropped like a brick, I see it coming back up little by little. It took a long time to get over 5000 and seeing that number drop bums me out but on the other hand look how fast it’s rising again. I’m sure before you know it I will have 1200 posts back on my site (despite my 1700 that I had before) and my number will be over 5000 again and I will be as happy as can be again.

I know that I have a few regular visitors and I love them for it but that’s not really where my traffic is from, it’s the Google visitors that really make my numbers go up and as long as my old links start disappearing from the search engines and be replaced with new links then I know I will be ok again. I will bounce back.

I got 27 posts copied over today and I’m up to 167 posts from 1700+.  Even though it’s not going very fast, it’s the only pace I can take since I’m only one person. I had hoped that I could do a couple hundred per day but that’s just too many considering I have to edit them all over again and add tags and give them all categories. It’s a lot of work. More than most people would probably want to do and I’m sure if that happened to someone else they would’ve thrown in the towel by now. See how dedicated I am?

Tomorrow is yet another day and I will work hard to get hopefully 30 more posts copied. Who knows, I might work overtime and get 40.

Target Commercials with Maria Bamford

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily Blog, JokeLeave a comment

wwwvh.youtube.com/watch?v=NCLyOdoBcE0

Ever wonder who this lady is in the new Target commercials?  She is comedian Maria Bamford.  I think I’ve seen all of her stand up specials on Comedy Central over the years, although she hasn’t had one in a long time.

What I love about her is her voices.  Her “normal” voice is like a little child, or at least that’s the voice she uses as her regular voice but we all know that it’s part of the joke.  She does these other voices that I’m pretty sure is her real normal voice.  I think she’s hilarious and I’m glad she’sworking at least even if it is for Target.

Happy Thanksgiving

On By Michel McDonaldIn Friends and Family, HolidaysLeave a comment

Today is a day that most people spend with their families, watching football, having uncomfortable conversations about their love life or gossiping about the black sheep (that’s me) who did or said what to who. Eat great food and open the button on their pants and unzip their zipper to let their stomach expand so they can breathe and it’s perfectly normal. There might be a fight, someone might come out of the closet, but at least you are with the ones you love.

I miss that.

We’re going to Hometown Buffet today with Venda then we’re gonna go see the movie Unstoppable. I have seen a commercial or 2 about it but I think it came out a long time ago so it’s probably in the little tiny theater. It’s not my choice but that’s what we’re going to see.

On Thanksgiving people usually say what they are thankful for. Well, I am thankful for my health (generic I know but it’s true) and my freedom. I am thankful that I have little drama in my life. You know us gays, always with the drama. Well, not this one. I try to keep all the drama out because what’s the point really? I am thankful that we have the cutest dog in the world who loves us. I am also very thankful that we have a home, a roof over our head with food in our pantry and fridge. And most of all I am thankful that I am in a relationship with the most wonderful person and that relationship has lasted over 16.5 years and is still going strong.

Well, it’s time to go. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful Thanksgiving day with your families wherever you are. Stay safe and don’t drink and drive!

Strange Activity With My Blog

On By Michel McDonaldIn Amplify, Daily BlogLeave a comment

You might have noticed there were 3 new posts with the title “Mel Gibson’s Father, As Crazy As Mel” today. That was unintentional. I was using the Amplify website to copy images and text as quotes for a post about the Prop 8 update (watch for in a few minutes) but it would automatically take my first Amplify post (About Mel) along with the Prop 8 info from Towlroad.com and post it without my permission.

The problem is a Google Chrome plugin that I have been using for a long time called Last Pass which allows my browser to automatically log in to websites with my stored passwords. For some odd reason it thought the subject line was a password and it automatically submitted my post thinking it was signing into a website.

That has never happened before and in order for me to actually continue with this blog post I had to disable that plugin.

I will try to keep that in mind next time I use Amplify to write posts.