Tag: odd reason

My Zeus E-Juice Has Arrived!

On By Michel McDonaldIn E-Cigarette, HealthLeave a comment

My Zeus E-Juice has finally arrived in the mail today.  I got 8 flavors total, all in 5ML bottles with NO nicotine and 50/50 VG/PG.  I don’t know if this is true or not, but I read on a website that 1ML is basically 1 pack of cigarettes, so basically I have 4 cartons of cigarettes on my desk all in the form of e-liquid, but they taste better and they won’t kill me.

I am still waiting for my Joye eGo-T eGo Tank 1100mAh e-cigarette Starter Kit to arrive all the way from Singapore.  I bought it from DH Gate through eBay because it was only $32.75 with free shipping.  I can’t afford to spend $50-$100 on an e-cigarette when I don’t even smoke.  I only bought it to help me lose weight and I don’t even know if it’s going to work or not, so I couldn’t justify spending too much money on something that may not even work for me.  Unfortunately they haven’t given me, nor are they going to give me a tracking number as it is untrackable for some odd reason.  When I check on the progress, it says it will take 20-50 days to arrive.  YIKES!  But I was reading the reviews where someone said that they got their product in 10 days, but I don’t know where that person lives so that doesn’t give me any information.

I don’t understand why the starter kits are so expensive.  I personally think they should sell them for $20 for 1 e-cigarette plus the charger and the 5 cartridges instead of making you buy 2 e-cigarettes.  That way it would be easier on someone who is trying to transition from smoking cigarettes to vaping to help them quit smoking.

The flavors of e-liquid that I got are Chocolate, Toasted Marshmallow, Caramel Cappuccino, Vanilla Ice Cream, Raspberry, Caramel Apple, Strawberry and Zeus Juice.  I can’t taste them, but I opened all of the bottles and smelled them and they smelled really good.

I am very impressed that all of the bottles have a child proof cap on them, not that I need to worry about that.  They also have printed right on the label an expiration date and how much nicotine is in them, although mine doesn’t have any nicotine in them so I don’t have to worry about addiction.  The bottles are plastic, which is something that I was kind of worried about since they were mailed to me.

Edit: I said glass is better based on the fact that people are always complaining about plastic taking a long time to decompose, but I just realized that you can’t squeeze glass to get the e-liquid out of the container and into the cartridge.  Plus, these can be sent back to be refilled again.

I saw a friend and his wife at the grocery store last night and was quite surprised to see that she was on oxygen and was using the Albertson’s motorized wheelchair to shop.  She told me that she hasn’t smoked a cigarette in 96 days, she had to quit cold turkey because of her health issues from smoking cigarettes all her life.  I went to tell them about e-cigarettes, but she already has one.  It’s not the same one that I will have, but it’s a good thing for her that she has switched over.

So I look forward to getting my Joye eGo-T e-cigarette in the mail one of these days so I can try these wonderful flavors lol.

The Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen

On By Michel McDonaldIn TVLeave a comment

Roasts are the one time that being a bully is allowed and encouraged because everyone knows that it’s all for fun.  I had been looking forward to the Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen since I first heard about it and it was on last night.

15 minutes before the roast came on, there was a red carpet event with all of the celebrities coming in to the theater to take their seats and some of them stopped to talk with the cast of Comedy Centrals Workaholics; Anders Holm, Blake Anderson and Adam DeVine.

The show starts and we see our roastmaster is the creator of Family Guy, American Dad and the Cleveland Show Seth Macfarlane.  He was really funny but he made a joke about the recently deceased Amy Winehouse.  I know I’m told that I shouldn’t feel sorry for her, that she did it to herself so somehow that makes it right.  But… I still think it’s too soon.

The roasters were Jon Lovitz who was very funny.  He always cracks me up so go Jon.  Then Kate Walsh who was in Private Practice and is now in Greys Anatomy.  I’ve never seen those shows.  For some odd reason there were 2 jokes at William Shatner’s expense about his “Grey Anatomy” (his balls).  It was funny the first time and when the 2nd comedian heard it said he (or she I forget) should have crossed that off of their joke list.  It’s only funny once.  William Shatner who was just so hilarious.  I didn’t think he had it in him but he was pretty funny.

Then there was the always funny Jeff Ross who was dressed as a dictator, funny.  Mike Tyson, scary but he turned out to be funny until the end when I thought he was going to rip someones head off.  Anthony Jeselnik who I think is hilarious despite the fact that I’ve never seen him on anything but the last couple of roasts.  I guess I missed his stand up special.

Steve-O who wasn’t quite as funny as the rest of them but he was humorous.  He decided that he was going to do what he does best and do something stupid like running into Mike Tysons fist hoping to get a black eye.  At the very last minute of the show he did it again but this time he broke his nose.

Amy Schumer… who is this broad?  I’ve never even heard of her.  She was funny right up until she made that really sick joke to Steve-O about Ryan Dunn.  That crossed the line.  I vaguely remember her joke now but she basically said that she was sorry that Ryan Dunn died and that she thinks that Steve thinks that it should have been him and everyone else wishes it were him that died.  I’m sorry but that is not funny.  Not funny and not cool.

Then the last roaster was Patrice O’neal who was such a good sport with all of the racist jokes at his expense.  Most of the jokes about him were about his weight, the unknown Amy Schumer even said something about his foot having to get cut off because of his diabetes.  Is that funny?

Then at the very end Charlie Sheen came up and roasted everyone.  He basically said you can tell all the little jokes you want about me and it’s not going to bring me down.  Good for you Charlie.

I don’t endorse, condone or agree with everything that went down but it’s really none of my business to decide whether he did anything wrong or not.  Who am I?  He’s Charlie effing Sheen.

The Roast was hilarious as they always are and I wish Charlie Sheen well in his future adventures with whatever it is that he does with the rest of his life.

Nook Replacement

On By Michel McDonaldIn NookLeave a comment

I picked up my Nook on July 1st to load up a new e-book to read and was a bit confused when I noticed what looked like a little bug icon on the screen.  When I turned it on it started doing a system update so I thought that maybe that wasn’t a bug but an asterisk (*) but when the update completed, the symbol was still there.  Then I thought, maybe I have a virus and for some odd reason its showing me a bug icon (LOL).  I haven’t been online with it besides going to the Nook store.  How could I get a virus?

I looked at it in the light and turn it so I can see the screen and I see a little dot on the outside.  What I think happened is that something fell on the screen and that little black bug like image is e-ink from the tiny crack in the screen.  I don’t remember anything falling on it.  I usually have it sitting upright and not laying down on the desk so I don’t know when that happened.  I did have it laying down a few times but it’s not always laying down.

So I called Barnes & Noble and they have me do some troubleshooting.  She has me turn it off then hold the button for 20 seconds 6 times (twice).  Nothing happens because it’s not a software error, it’s a crack on the screen.  I told her that and I guess they have to troubleshoot just to make sure.

Thank goodness I have a warranty to cover this because if I didn’t I’d be stuck with this forever.  She told me that since it is covered on my warranty I’ll get a replacement and it will only take 3 days to get to me.  But before they send a replacement to me they have to take my credit card number so that if they don’t get my Nook within 14 days they can charge my credit card for the replacement.

That was July 1st which was a Friday.  They didn’t actually ship the Nook until July 5th and I’m supposed to get it today, July 8th.  So there is 1 week, I have 1 more week to get my Nook to them.

I had to unregister my Nook and remove everything I put on it like screen saver and wallpaper images and ebooks.  While I was at it I deleted my contacts (which I never did anything with) and all of my shelves.  It’s all ready to go.  It’s basically all in the box waiting to go out.

My replacement Nook finally arrived today and it wasn’t a refurbished one, it’s brand spanking new.  Wow, that was surprising.  I thought for sure it would have a few scratches on the case or there would be some blemish but it’s shiny and new.  It even smells like it just came off the production line.

I waited until now to call UPS to pick it up because I was under the impression that UPS was going to be delivering it.  They sent me a UPS tracking number to track it and it said it was in Bakersfield yesterday.  I figured, I could open the box, take the Nook out and replace it with my Nook, tape the label on it and give it back to the UPS driver to ship out.  But instead, UPS handed it over to the post office to deliver to me today.  So, that went out the window.  I had to call UPS today and they charged me $8.16 on my debit card to pick up despite the UPS label that Barnes & Noble emailed me to print with its own tracking number.  I thought for sure they were paying for the shipping.  Oh well.

I scheduled the pick up with UPS and they are going to come get it on Monday.  The cut off date is Thursday, that will be my 14th day so if they don’t get it by Thursday then I may see a charge on my checking account.  But I’m sure once they get it, they will remove the charge so I’m not worried in the least.

I am very satisfied with my Nook and with the way they handled my situation.  I highly recommend anyone interested in buying an eBook to get theirs from Barnes & Noble.  It doesn’t matter which Nook you buy, know that if anything happens, even the slightest problem, if you have bought a warranty with them you will get a new Nook.

So now I get the fun task of hooking this new Nook up to my computer with the USB cable so I can put my books back in there and my screen saver to match my skin.  Fun times…

AT&T’s New DSL Data Cap

On By Michel McDonaldIn NewsLeave a comment

I saw this story on Attack of the Show on G4 today and went over to Engadget to find more information on this oh so glorious (NOT) news. Apparently, AT&T has decided to give all of us DSL and AT&T U-Verse users a monthly data cap.

AT&T will cap DSL and U-Verse internet, impose overage fees – Source Engadget

So if you have regular DSL from AT&T, you have a cap of 150GB per month and if you have U-Verse you get 250GB which somehow doesn’t include video for U-Verse customers which I assume means they stream from the internet. I wouldn’t know, it’s not available in my area.

So I guess it had to happen sooner or later and I probably don’t have anything to bitch about considering I don’t even play online games anymore. Although, I had planned on starting again, this has squashed that idea.

The Engadget article says that AT&T will be sending emails to their DSL customers next week telling them of this new suckfest with instructions on how to check your data usage so you will be able to tell how much bandwidth you are using so you don’t go over. If you do go over you get charged a penalty of $10 per 50GB you use over your cap.  They send you an email warning you that you are about to go over a certain percentage so you can either turn off your computer or switch to the Verizon 3/4G on your phone or CR-48.

They say that 98% of their customers won’t have an issue with this because they only use maybe 17GB per month. Well, to that I say that those people must only check their email and maybe go onto facebook and twitter once per day unlike those of us who like to play online games for hours, watch movies, YouTube videos, tv shows on Hulu and Tweet about it all about the same time.

Since they haven’t emailed me the data usage tool, I won’t know where I stand but I’ll bet it’s almost at the data cap. I have my Desktop going for TweetDeck, Lord of Ultima (online game), MS Money and whatever else and my CR-48 netbook for email, FB, Blogging and looking at websites with.

And to think, I was going to cancel our cable for internet TV via the Roku box to stream our tv shows and movies directly to our TV’s. So much for that idea. I’m sort of glad it didn’t pan out for us now because I’m sure we would have gone over our 150GB data cap the first week of the month.

Ugh, I feel like we’re living in the electronic age depression now lol. I’ll be standing in the data lines instead of the 1920’s depression bread lines. Then in about 40 years, if I’m still alive, I’ll tell kids “why when I was your age we had to wait in line for our data and we had to walk 5 miles to school uphill both ways in the snow.”

I can’t wait to see my data usage, I will update this post when I get my email from AT&T.

News and Image Source Engadget.

Update: I finally got the email today and this is the url that they gave me to see my usage www.MyUsage.att.com but they say in there that my usage will not be calculated until I’ve gone over 70% so that doesn’t show me anything.

I’ve installed the “Lord of the Rings Online” MMORPG game so I’ll play that for a few days and see what happens.

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.

My LinkSys Nightmares

On By Michel McDonaldIn Computer, TechLeave a comment

I don’t know if anyone else has the same issues with LinkSys routers that I do but maybe I’m not alone. Here is my problem. All of a sudden out of nowhere I get signed out of whatever IM service or website that I’m on and my router tells me that I’m not online. This happens on a monthly basis.

I have to load my router software which is the LinkSys EasyLink Advisor and it tells me that it doesn’t recognize my router and I have to run the setup. Yes, monthly basis… So I run the setup and what I end up having to do is turning off my DSL modem and unplugging my router. Turn my modem back on after 10 seconds then wait 60 seconds before I can plug the router back in then wait 30 seconds to click next.

Once I have it all set up again I’m good for at least another few weeks or month but should I have to go through that so often?

Well, that pales in comparison to what happened to me yesterday. First on Saturday I went to pay my phone bill and for some odd reason I put the wrong password in the website and I went into a full-blown panic when I couldn’t pay my bill so I emailed AT&T and I got a call yesterday. The guy told me I must be using the wrong login and password and I swore up and down that I’ve been using that same password all these years and have never had any trouble. Well, I was using the wrong user and password and due to too many failed attempts, my account was locked. Apparently, my AT&T bill, my AT&T login and my AT&T router login are all different passwords. I don’t know why but I totally forgot and thought I had the same for everything.

So here is what happened last night. When my router insisted on doing its setup, I put in the wrong password and when it was finished setting up it automatically brings up the AT&T website on Internet Explorer which is not my default browser. It’s telling me that I used the wrong password but don’t panic, we can help you change it. I went through the steps in changing it but for some reason the boxes that I type my info in weren’t working so it kept saying that I’m entering the wrong information.

Finally at 3am I figured it all out. I got my password straightened out but just couldn’t get it to login to the internet. I decided I was too sleepy to do anything else, I mean literally I couldn’t keep my eyes open at that point.

This morning when I woke up, before I did anything I turned my monitor on to get us back online. It didn’t take too long but my LinkSys EasyLink Advisor kept saying I wasn’t online despite the fact that I was online. UGH!

I don’t know how I found it but I found the new LinkSys EasyLink Advisor. They have a free version which comes with all new routers and they also have 3 different ones that cost money. Naturally I can’t afford to buy it so I downloaded the free one and installed it and it’s totally different.

I love it. It’s so much cooler than the one I had before and it actually says I’m online unlike the other one. So I’m going to burn this program to a CD and keep it with the other CD that came with my wi-fi router so that if something happens and I need to reinstall it (like if I reformat again) then I won’t have to search the internet for it, or when my internet isn’t working.

I love this new router software, I keep loading it and looking at it… oooohhhh shiny…

I’m just glad to be back online. I was really sweating over using the wrong password twice in one weekend for AT&T lol. I don’t know what I’ve been thinking to do that. I just hope that this new LinkSys EasyLink Advisor program will keep me online all month and not make me do the setup to get me back online so often.

My Freaky Spirit Board Story

On By Michel McDonaldIn crafts, HalloweenLeave a comment

For some odd reason, last year I was addicted to the idea of making a spirit board. So I learned how to do wood burning after a friend bought me a wood burner. I bought all this irregular wood (it’s cheaper) along with some other wood burning accessories.

I printed out the pattern that I wanted to make it with and traced it all out on the wood then I burned it on. I cut a planchette from a cheap piece of wood that I bought from Wal-Mart and found that it was too big for my board so I cut it down to half its size.

When everything was cut and everything was burned I was ready to put lacquer on it all. The odd thing is, the planchette was missing. I searched all over my bedroom, all over the tool shed, all over the back yard. I could not find it anywhere.

At first I thought maybe I should just make a new one but then I started thinking that perhaps it’s gone for a reason. If I made a new one who knows what might happen. Is it gone because someone took it? And when I say someone I don’t mean a living person, I mean a spirit who doesn’t want me to use the Spirit Board.

So, I never made another planchette and the board sits in the same spot untouched collecting dust.

I would still like to use it some day and I guess I’m waiting for the planchette to return to me, giving me permission to use it. Does that sound silly? I mean, I could just make another one or I could use a shot glass if I really wanted to use it.

People are always saying that you are opening a portal by using one of these and I don’t know if that is true or not. People are always saying these are evil but I think that all depends on who is using it and how they are using it. I don’t believe in good or evil, I just believe there are ghosts out there and I want to communicate with them.

The reason I haven’t used it yet is just in case there is a possibility that someone may be right and I was wrong. I don’t want to end up bringing some bad juju in my house ya know?

It’s been over a year now and Halloween is coming which is when you would use one of these but I’m still not sure I should even though I want to.

I’m Sorting Things Out Easier

On By Michel McDonaldIn Books, eBookLeave a comment

When I decided that I wanted to write a book about my life, I never thought it would be as difficult as it’s turning out to be. I thought I could just start typing my memories and the words would just come onto the screen. I never thought that my brain would confuse the sequence of events so much.

For example, when we lived in the trailer in 1985/86, we lived in several different places and for some odd reason I thought we were living with my parents friends Cindy and Ron then the trailer parks but I got it all wrong, it was the other way around.

So what I thought I would do to make it so much easier is to type out a list of all the stories that I have then go through the list one item at a time. Type out each story then print them out on 3×5 cards and put them in an organizer.

Yeah I know, my handwriting sucks

This way, when I have all the stories typed out I can sort the story cards in the correct sequence.  I also thought that I would store all the individual files on a USB memory stick and keep that inside this box so if my hard drive crashes I’ll still have all my files.

I’ve never written a book before and this is a system that I think will work for me. I don’t know if this is something other writers do but it’s what I’m going to do.

When I save the files I might just save them to html files. This way when I’m ready to create the epub file, I can just import all the html files then I won’t have to worry about copying and pasting anything. I can just sort the stories in Sigil according to their timeline after I have sorted the hard copies out.

Maybe it will be simpler than I thought it would be.

Beast Legends at 1am?

On By Michel McDonaldIn TVLeave a comment

Every Thursday night I turn to the SyFy channel to watch Destination Truth then Beast Legends.  For some odd reason Ghost Hunters is on instead.  Last week Ghost Hunters took Beast Legends time slot as well and I thought something was very strange about that but I didn’t investigate it until tonight.

I went to the Beast Legends page on the SyFy website and the first thing that I noticed was the time change on the image (above) that says 1am.

1am?  Really?  Did it get that bad of a rating that they had to change it to 1am?  I mean sure, the fictional characters they are looking for are far fetched from reality but you could say the same thing about Destination Truth as well.

I wasn’t too impressed with Beast Legends but I did watch it because I thought that the 3D graphics they were creating to build the beasts was kind of cool.  Then they had the little 1 or 2 minute movie at the end which only reminded me of an original SyFy movie lol.

If they are moving it to 1am permanently then I’m not even going to bother watching it anymore.  Yes I’m usually up at that time anyway but I’m not going to watch it if it’s so bad that they had to move it to 1am.  I’m loyal to some shows but not that one.

It’s too bad because the concept of the show was interesting.

My Free Nook Cover

On By Michel McDonaldIn Books, crafts, eBook, NookLeave a comment

Last night while we were at Barnes & Noble, after I had already paid for the Nook, Darrin asked if I bought a cover for it. Well naturally I didn’t. I had only saved up just enough money to buy the Nook. I didn’t even buy the extended warranty (which I have 30 days to buy), how could I afford a cover?

We went over to the Nook display and I was looking at their prices. Some of them were $50. Some were as low as $10 but those were rubber and didn’t cover the book like a book cover. I don’t want that. We left with the thought that ‘I will eventually buy one’ in mind.

I’m sitting here looking at the Nook and thinking, I really wish I had a cover for it because now that I’m thinking about it, it starts to worry me. How can I possibly feel safe with the limited warranty that I get if I don’t have a cover to protect it if something happens.

As I’m looking at the covers available I’m noticing that they are basically just cardboard with plastic or fabric sewn onto them. I could do that. Could I do that? Yes, I think I can.

For some odd reason we still have the big box that Chips HDTV came in. The cardboard is really thick but it’s not too thick and it’s not too thin either. I want the cover to be strong enough that it won’t bend easily. I cut the top flap and the side in a book V shape. Although I needed to add another bend because this thing is a bit thick and I need it to wrap around in more of a U shape.

I have these book covers that I bought at the grocery store in 2007 when the final Harry Potter novel came out. Luckily it came out around the same time they started stocking the back to school stuff. It’s a stretchy fabric so it starts out small but stretches enough to fit a big history or science book. I bought 2 of them, black and red. They were cheap so I bought 2. They had some other colors but black and red were my favorite.

I’m really glad I’ve held onto them all these years because I was able to finally utilize one of them. I got the cardboard cut up perfectly so it’s just the right size for the Nook. I stretched the book cover over the cardboard and although it’s a bit long it fits and it kind of looks cool at how loose it is. It looks like it was on purpose that it’s so loose.

Ok, now I have a cover but how the heck is this thing supposed to really hold it? I’m gonna need some corners to hold onto it. How do I do that?

Solution. You know Rexlace? You know, the stuff that you use to make those cool key chains? Well, in 2004 (I think) I remembered how I learned how to make those key chains when I was in the cub scouts and I wanted to see if I could learn again. I bought a bunch of rexlace, even megalace. I thought the megalace would be really cool but it turns out that it was even more difficult to make that I thought.

I’ve held onto all that rexlace and megalace all these years. When I buy craft stuff, I may not use it all up right away but eventually I will have a need for it and tonight I had a need for it.

I have some black megalace and I pulled some of it out and held it up to the corner and measured how much I would need and cut 4 pieces. Ok, I have the pieces but how to sew it on? I started using a needle and thread but that was very difficult and time-consuming and the thread kept breaking.

Solution. I have a sewing awl. AHA! That works perfectly because the needle is thick enough to go through the cardboard and the handle makes pushing it through a breeze and the wax thread is thick enough that it will hold better than plain old sewing thread.

It took me awhile and since the thread was black, the megalace was black and the book cover was black, it made it very difficult to see in the poor lighting in my room. But it worked out. I have my book cover, the nook stays in place and I saved $50.

The only issue that I have is that the cover won’t stay closed so in order for it to stay closed I have to lay it down so that the weight of the Nook lies on the front cover to keep it closed. That’s fine though. I may eventually figure out a way to sew a latch on the front and back, like a buckle or something. I don’t know. I will figure it out, I always do.

So now my Nook is protected when not in use and when in use as well. I am very happy and satisfied with my handy work.