Now before I get nasty comments on this I would just like to say that at age 17 I was homeless for 10 months, 1.5 months after my 17th birthday all the way until about 1.5 months before my 18th birthday so I know what it's like being homeless. That being said here you go...
So I'm riding on the bike path last week and I stop at the Manor St. rest stop which has about 4 cement benches, 1 of them has like a bus stop roof so if it's raining you can sit in there out of the rain. 2 of them have no cover and those 3 are all in like a half circle (see my bikecam video at the end). Then the 4th bench is separate from that little half circle, more like across the "street" hehe.
Anyway, so I'm riding the bike path last week (as I said lol) and I go to the stop and it's dark because the sun hasn't come up and I see this darkness over by one of the benches. So I don't go around the half circle and sit in the middle like I normally would, instead I just pull in on the other side and sit on the bench at the end. I look over and see a face staring at me. It's a homeless guy in a sleeping bag next to the bench but on the ground. I sat there for my 10-15 minute break and then leave.
Next day he's not there and then the next time I go there he isn't there but the sun has already come up and it was the day after Michael Jackson had passed away. So I go sit down on the bench and as I'm taking off my helmet I can see in my helmet mirror this guy all of a sudden standing like 15 feet away from me, staring at me. This kinda freaks me out because he wasn't there when I stopped and when I sat down, almost as if he teleported there lol.
He slowly creeps towards me and is now in front of me and I know that he's the guy sleeping in the sleeping bag over by the bench and I'm not quite sure I trust him. He has this scar on his neck from having his throat slashed. I'm not sure what that was all about but I'm going to give him the benefit of a doubt. He comes up to me and starts talking about Michael Jackson and I sat there talking to him about all the recent deaths and about how MJ is getting all the attention while Caradine, McMahon and Fawcett get no attention.
So anyway, after about 10-15 minutes I'm ready to go so I said well breaks over and start getting my gear back on, camelbak, gloves, skull cap, helmet, earbud's and I look in my helmet mirror and he's back where he was when I first spotted him. Standing 15 feet away from me, arms folded, staring at me.
The last 2 days (yesterday and today) I could see him in his sleeping bag, I'm leaving really early and so I get there before the sun even has a chance to come up. But I've decided I'm not going to take any chances. Instead of stopping there and sitting down I'm just gonna go through that tunnel and go about maybe 1/4 of a mile away and rest there. I'm having to rest standing up now which kinda bites but that's fine, I'd rather have to stand then worry about having my throat slashed.
Now, as I said above about being homeless, I know what it's like and not everyone should be judged based on their scars and I don't want to judge "the content of his character" as Martin Luther King Jr. would say but at the same time I really don't know this guy and I'm not taking any chances.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Wood Burning Shading
A friend of mine bought me a Creative Versa-Tool wood burner but I never bought a book for it because the Michael's in town has a very small wood burning section. So I was looking around and asked someone about it. I asked if I am wasting my time with this cool tool or should I save up for the expensive big boy tool and this person told me that I can just get a lamp dimmer and use that. Well, I just so happen to have one of those. I tried it and it works great.
The only issue that I have with this light dimmer is that it doesn't really have a dial, it has buttons instead. Like "Bright" and "Dim" so I had to plug in a lamp into it and press the dim button while counting lol. It does 0 dim to 15 bright so when I use the wood burner with it I have to just count lol. I think it would be a good idea to buy a piece of wood and trace like a checkerboard and number it 1-15 and just do shading in each of those boxes so I will get a better idea of what each shade looks like so in the future I will know the exact shade I need lol. Good idea eh?
If someone has a Creative Versa-Tool wood burner, I would love to hear your comments if you have some good suggestions on how to do things.
The only issue that I have with this light dimmer is that it doesn't really have a dial, it has buttons instead. Like "Bright" and "Dim" so I had to plug in a lamp into it and press the dim button while counting lol. It does 0 dim to 15 bright so when I use the wood burner with it I have to just count lol. I think it would be a good idea to buy a piece of wood and trace like a checkerboard and number it 1-15 and just do shading in each of those boxes so I will get a better idea of what each shade looks like so in the future I will know the exact shade I need lol. Good idea eh?
If someone has a Creative Versa-Tool wood burner, I would love to hear your comments if you have some good suggestions on how to do things.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Ed McMahon, Farah Faucett and Michael Jackson
Yesterday morning on my bike ride I was listening to the radio instead of mp3's and they said that Ed McMahon died from cancer. That was sad but I knew he was dying so I hope he is at peace. My condolences go out to his family.
But I just heard that Michael Jackson died! What?! OMG I can't believe it. That was so unexpected. Wasn't he just going to make his 10th come back? Well, same goes for him as with Ed, he is at peace now and he doesn't have to worry about his looks anymore or his pedophile charges anymore.
Ok if that wasn't enough then I heard about Farah Faucett. Ok now they've gone too far. Farah is dead too? That is so sad. Ok I also knew about her cancer and I thought she was doing good. My condolences go out to her family.
They say it always happens in threes right? Well, I hope that Blanket and MJ's other kids go to a good home, like maybe their mother who they should've been with the whole time.
As I said, my condolences go out to the family of all the recently deceased.
But I just heard that Michael Jackson died! What?! OMG I can't believe it. That was so unexpected. Wasn't he just going to make his 10th come back? Well, same goes for him as with Ed, he is at peace now and he doesn't have to worry about his looks anymore or his pedophile charges anymore.
Ok if that wasn't enough then I heard about Farah Faucett. Ok now they've gone too far. Farah is dead too? That is so sad. Ok I also knew about her cancer and I thought she was doing good. My condolences go out to her family.
They say it always happens in threes right? Well, I hope that Blanket and MJ's other kids go to a good home, like maybe their mother who they should've been with the whole time.
As I said, my condolences go out to the family of all the recently deceased.
WordPress Update
If anyone tried visiting my blog today they may have noticed that it wasn't accessible. I was trying yet again to update my WordPress blog to the next version which is supposed to be better. I really don't care about the new features, what I care about is getting that stupid notice at the top of the screen off. Also one of my plugins is telling me that it won't work until I update WP to 2.8.
One of the things that I was told to do before updating is to deactivate all my plugins before attempting to update and for some strange reason that keeps slipping my mind. I don't know why but I've deactivated EVERYTHING so that I may proceed. If it doesn't work again then screw it, I will just deal with my plugins not working and with that warning at the top of my control panel.
UPDATE: Ok, I finally got it all working again and the upgrade is installed. Here is what happened. I am a hard headed idiot who cannot follow directions that's what happened.
The first time I tried doing the upgrade I read the full instructions and at the very beginning it said clear as day "deactivate all your plugins first" so what do I do? I don't deactivate all my plugins, I just proceed with the upgrade. Then I had to delete it all and reupload my backup then I tried upgrading again WITHOUT deactivating my plugins then again it didn't work so I had to delete it all and reupload my backups.
So today I did the same exact thing lol. Finally after I made the above post I did it again lol. Then after I reuploaded everything AGAIN I decided to deactivate all my plugins and did the upgrade and it worked. However, as I was reactivating plugins things started going south again so I was luckily able to click back and deactivate them. So I went and reactivated them one at a time while looking at the blog site in another tab, I kept hitting the refresh button to make sure it was all working. There were a few plugins that I lost that were not compatible with WordPress 2.8 but I don't mind.
Those plugins are:
So that's it. I'm going to try to get number 1 and 2 back soon.
One of the things that I was told to do before updating is to deactivate all my plugins before attempting to update and for some strange reason that keeps slipping my mind. I don't know why but I've deactivated EVERYTHING so that I may proceed. If it doesn't work again then screw it, I will just deal with my plugins not working and with that warning at the top of my control panel.
UPDATE: Ok, I finally got it all working again and the upgrade is installed. Here is what happened. I am a hard headed idiot who cannot follow directions that's what happened.
The first time I tried doing the upgrade I read the full instructions and at the very beginning it said clear as day "deactivate all your plugins first" so what do I do? I don't deactivate all my plugins, I just proceed with the upgrade. Then I had to delete it all and reupload my backup then I tried upgrading again WITHOUT deactivating my plugins then again it didn't work so I had to delete it all and reupload my backups.
So today I did the same exact thing lol. Finally after I made the above post I did it again lol. Then after I reuploaded everything AGAIN I decided to deactivate all my plugins and did the upgrade and it worked. However, as I was reactivating plugins things started going south again so I was luckily able to click back and deactivate them. So I went and reactivated them one at a time while looking at the blog site in another tab, I kept hitting the refresh button to make sure it was all working. There were a few plugins that I lost that were not compatible with WordPress 2.8 but I don't mind.
Those plugins are:
- Global Translator which I can find another one that will work for those who read my blog but do not speak english.
- Custom Smilies... what? I can't smile in my posts anymore? Well I'm gonna have to find some new ones then aren't I?
- Flickr - This actually didn't cause any issues but I just never use it so I got rid of it.
- WordPress Greet Box - This is something that would greet my visitors from any website they came from like for example if you came here from Google it would say hi google person or whatever it would say lol. Yeah, I don't need that.
So that's it. I'm going to try to get number 1 and 2 back soon.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Atlah Worldwide Church
Check out this video from YouTube called Hail Hilter, Hail Obama.
The preacher compares Barack Obama to Hitler and talks about how Obama has hypnotized people just the way Hitler did. And he also tells his followers NOT to like Obama.
Ok, I don't really want to get into a debate with anyone about this because it is both religion and politics all rolled into 1 post but you know I just think that people should be allowed to make their own decisions. I don't think that a church should be able to influence people to vote how they want them to vote, to like who they want them to like, to ban movies that the church doesn't like. I think that as individuals, we as people should be allowed to make our own choices.
I remember when the DaVinci code movie came out I asked the lady at the post office if she read the book and if she was going to see the movie and she said "well you know I asked my pastor if it would be ok if I read the book but he told me that I can't". Are you kidding me? You mean to tell me that a church pastor is going to tell someone that they cannot read a fiction novel? When I asked her about Harry Potter she gave me the same response. Her church doesn't like Harry Potter because they use magic in the movie, not because the story has gotten dark because of Lord Voldemort but because they use magic.
Whether I like Barack Obama or not is not the issue here. I think that if someone likes him they should be allowed to. The pastor in that video was using like a whiny voice where he was making fun of one of his church members who was saying that they liked Barack Obama and "I know you said that I can't like him but I just don't know what he is doing to me but I can't help it" and you know, just generally mocking this person in front of them.
I seem to remember when people were comparing George Bush Jr. to Hitler as well. What is it with people comparing the president to Hitler?
Well, that's all I have to say about that. Watch the video and decide for yourself whether or not you think that this pastor is right or wrong.
The preacher compares Barack Obama to Hitler and talks about how Obama has hypnotized people just the way Hitler did. And he also tells his followers NOT to like Obama.
Ok, I don't really want to get into a debate with anyone about this because it is both religion and politics all rolled into 1 post but you know I just think that people should be allowed to make their own decisions. I don't think that a church should be able to influence people to vote how they want them to vote, to like who they want them to like, to ban movies that the church doesn't like. I think that as individuals, we as people should be allowed to make our own choices.
I remember when the DaVinci code movie came out I asked the lady at the post office if she read the book and if she was going to see the movie and she said "well you know I asked my pastor if it would be ok if I read the book but he told me that I can't". Are you kidding me? You mean to tell me that a church pastor is going to tell someone that they cannot read a fiction novel? When I asked her about Harry Potter she gave me the same response. Her church doesn't like Harry Potter because they use magic in the movie, not because the story has gotten dark because of Lord Voldemort but because they use magic.
Whether I like Barack Obama or not is not the issue here. I think that if someone likes him they should be allowed to. The pastor in that video was using like a whiny voice where he was making fun of one of his church members who was saying that they liked Barack Obama and "I know you said that I can't like him but I just don't know what he is doing to me but I can't help it" and you know, just generally mocking this person in front of them.
I seem to remember when people were comparing George Bush Jr. to Hitler as well. What is it with people comparing the president to Hitler?
Well, that's all I have to say about that. Watch the video and decide for yourself whether or not you think that this pastor is right or wrong.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Spoke Wrench
I just came back from Snider's Cyclry, I had to get a spoke wrench for my bike. I was going to wait until I got my check then have them "true" the wheel but I wasn't sure how expensive it would be. The guy at Snider's told me it would only cost $17 but probably more depending on how bad it was and it's pretty bad lol.
He asked if I've ever "trued" a bike before and I said no but I've been doing a lot of research on how to do it with watching YouTube videos and reading tutorials and stuff because I've read if you don't do it right you can screw it up and you'll have to buy a new wheel. He said yeah and he showed me how to do it which was nice.
He said that a truing stand would cost like $75 or so which I don't have that kind of money but he told me that you can put the wheel in your front fork where the front wheel goes and put a zip tie on the fork about where the top of the wheel is as a guide so when you are moving the wheel near that zip tie you will be able to see if it needs to go in which direction.
I'm not quite sure I remember everything he told me but I'm going to do my best. I just want to save the $17 or so so I can buy my seat next in 2 weeks.
Well, I'm off to go try to "true" my back wheel in the front fork hehe. Wish me luck. And as always I will edit this post when I'm finished with a YAY I did it or oh crap I screwed it up and now I can't ride my bike until I can get a new wheel lol.
Edit: I am happy to say that it worked out. I didn't totally 100% true my back wheel but it doesn't wobble anymore. I tried doing what he said by putting the back wheel on the front fork but it's not the right size because of the freewheel (the thing that the chain goes on) made it too big. So what I did was I put the zip tie on the fork for the front wheel and did a little practice test on the front wheel. That worked out perfectly because the front wheel needed to be trued a little too. So then I put another zip tie on the back wheel and I trued that as best as I could and then went out on a test ride and perfection. Well, 95% perfection lol. I didn't want to mess with it too much and end up screwing it up. But it was much easier than I thought because of that zip tie.
He asked if I've ever "trued" a bike before and I said no but I've been doing a lot of research on how to do it with watching YouTube videos and reading tutorials and stuff because I've read if you don't do it right you can screw it up and you'll have to buy a new wheel. He said yeah and he showed me how to do it which was nice.
He said that a truing stand would cost like $75 or so which I don't have that kind of money but he told me that you can put the wheel in your front fork where the front wheel goes and put a zip tie on the fork about where the top of the wheel is as a guide so when you are moving the wheel near that zip tie you will be able to see if it needs to go in which direction.
I'm not quite sure I remember everything he told me but I'm going to do my best. I just want to save the $17 or so so I can buy my seat next in 2 weeks.
Well, I'm off to go try to "true" my back wheel in the front fork hehe. Wish me luck. And as always I will edit this post when I'm finished with a YAY I did it or oh crap I screwed it up and now I can't ride my bike until I can get a new wheel lol.
Edit: I am happy to say that it worked out. I didn't totally 100% true my back wheel but it doesn't wobble anymore. I tried doing what he said by putting the back wheel on the front fork but it's not the right size because of the freewheel (the thing that the chain goes on) made it too big. So what I did was I put the zip tie on the fork for the front wheel and did a little practice test on the front wheel. That worked out perfectly because the front wheel needed to be trued a little too. So then I put another zip tie on the back wheel and I trued that as best as I could and then went out on a test ride and perfection. Well, 95% perfection lol. I didn't want to mess with it too much and end up screwing it up. But it was much easier than I thought because of that zip tie.
Monday, June 22, 2009
ZipIt Wireless
I'm at YouTube watching another installment of Fred the episode where he is swimming lol. Anyway at the end of the video he is texting on this device called the ZipIt Wireless. There was a link at the end of the video which goes right to ROFL w/Fred but you can click ZipIt Home and it takes you to the websites homepage (or just click here).
I like this device. It's only $50 for the device and of course you have to pay a monthly fee of $9.99 a month or $109.89 for a full year and you get 1 month for free. Go ahead, get your calculators... I'll wait.
Ok now that you have verified that you get 1 month free you'll want to know what it is. This is a device that you can buy either for yourself or for your kids. It has unlimited texting and IMing to any cell phone or any device. Basically you can chat on AOL/AIM, Yahoo Messenger or MSN Messenger or cell phones. There are no other fees.
But it's not just a messenger, you can view your photos on there and listen to mp3's that are on a miniSD card which is very nice. It also streams radio stations too.
Personally, I don't have enough friends that I chat with online to require needing to carry this with me everywhere I go. If I had a job that I went to everyday that I couldn't chat with on my work computer, or if I didn't work in front of a computer then maybe but I don't.
I am a huge fan of IMing with friends/family and I think the amount of money the cell phone companies rip you off for is terrible and $10 a month is great for kids because it gets them off the family computer and it helps out with the cell phone bill in this economy.
But this thing has parental controls too so you can feel safe knowing your kids aren't talking to creeps from Dateline NBC. You can make it so they can only talk to certain people and you can also set a time limit so you know they aren't wasting their life IMing everyone around the universe all freakin day and night. Obviously you don't want them going to school with it so when they get home you can set it for maybe 2 or 3 hours or so AFTER they do their homework of course lol. Sorry kids, I know you are calling me names right now. Stay in school and just say NO to drugs, cigarettes and alcohol!
So, it would be smart to buy one of these if not for your kid then for yourself. Don't drive and text PLEASE!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Land of the Lost the Movie
We went to see Land of the Lost today at the movies. Yeah I know it's been out for awhile but I can't just go to every movie premiere. What do you think I'm made of money?
Ok so I loved it because I watched the show when I was a kid on Kroft Super Stars in the 70's. I was rather disappointed that they did change a few things but I think they did it to add some spice to it. Although I did find it rather disturbing that Rick Marshall was kissing Holly because in the original 70's show Holly was his daughter.
I did love the woman who played Holly, she was in Pushing Daisies so I already knew I was going to like the movie because she was in it.
Chaka was hilarious getting to second base with Holly lol. And him getting high with the guys and almost making out with Rick Marshall was hilarious.
As we were leaving the theater all I heard from people behind me was "boy that was the dumbest movie I've ever seen" and "oh my god that was so stupid". Sorry, I don't know what to say but I liked it lol. I have a sense of humor and some people just don't and they probably weren't that into the show in the 70's so they just didn't get it.
I mean, come on, the acting in this movie was 20 times better than the original series so you gotta give the movie some credit. Not to mention the fact that they used real dinosaurs, I mean come on, you know that the T-rex is a primadonna.
Wait, one sec.... what's that? You say it was CGI? What? But I thought...
Oh eh hem... was this mic on that whole time? Um what I meant to say was the CGI graphics in this movie was amazing. They must've gotten the same people who did Jurrasic Park and Walking with Dinosaurs to do the CGI.
Well anyway, I thought it was good so poopoo on anyone who doesn't like it.
Ok so I loved it because I watched the show when I was a kid on Kroft Super Stars in the 70's. I was rather disappointed that they did change a few things but I think they did it to add some spice to it. Although I did find it rather disturbing that Rick Marshall was kissing Holly because in the original 70's show Holly was his daughter.
I did love the woman who played Holly, she was in Pushing Daisies so I already knew I was going to like the movie because she was in it.
Chaka was hilarious getting to second base with Holly lol. And him getting high with the guys and almost making out with Rick Marshall was hilarious.
As we were leaving the theater all I heard from people behind me was "boy that was the dumbest movie I've ever seen" and "oh my god that was so stupid". Sorry, I don't know what to say but I liked it lol. I have a sense of humor and some people just don't and they probably weren't that into the show in the 70's so they just didn't get it.
I mean, come on, the acting in this movie was 20 times better than the original series so you gotta give the movie some credit. Not to mention the fact that they used real dinosaurs, I mean come on, you know that the T-rex is a primadonna.
Wait, one sec.... what's that? You say it was CGI? What? But I thought...
Oh eh hem... was this mic on that whole time? Um what I meant to say was the CGI graphics in this movie was amazing. They must've gotten the same people who did Jurrasic Park and Walking with Dinosaurs to do the CGI.
Well anyway, I thought it was good so poopoo on anyone who doesn't like it.
Merlin
Tonight Merlin was on NBC. There were 2 1 hour episodes and considering magic is one of my most favorite things to watch on TV I just had to watch it. I was a little bit disappointed that the King banned magic or face death but I guess it will make it even more interesting to watch.
As I said there were 2 1 hour episodes. I completely forgot it was going to be on so I almost missed it. I IM'd a friend of mine who I know wanted to see it so I reminded her and she didn't even know it was 2 hours either so she had to go into the program on her VCR to add the extra hour. She records it then watches it the next day. I on the other hand have to watch shows on their premiere night so I can turn around and come here and post my comments.
I liked it. There, I said it. Keep in mind that my kind of show is more of a modern day show with cars and computers and the use of telephones instead of horses, abacus and shouting at each other but it was good.
The actor who played Merlin looks very young like he's 17 or 18 years old, he's very skinny but he plays the role great. I loved how at the beginning he didn't have to say anything to cast spells, it just happened. That was pretty cool.
Now next week he will be exposed and face death but you can't believe he will because they just started the show, why would they throw the towel in after 3 episodes? Now when I say exposed, I mean the King finds out he is a wizard, not that he dropped his towel in front of someone lol. Come on people, get your mind out of the gutter. Oh wait, that was my mind.
Anyway, hope everyone else enjoyed/enjoys Merlin Sunday's on NBC. Ding ding ding.
As I said there were 2 1 hour episodes. I completely forgot it was going to be on so I almost missed it. I IM'd a friend of mine who I know wanted to see it so I reminded her and she didn't even know it was 2 hours either so she had to go into the program on her VCR to add the extra hour. She records it then watches it the next day. I on the other hand have to watch shows on their premiere night so I can turn around and come here and post my comments.
I liked it. There, I said it. Keep in mind that my kind of show is more of a modern day show with cars and computers and the use of telephones instead of horses, abacus and shouting at each other but it was good.
The actor who played Merlin looks very young like he's 17 or 18 years old, he's very skinny but he plays the role great. I loved how at the beginning he didn't have to say anything to cast spells, it just happened. That was pretty cool.
Now next week he will be exposed and face death but you can't believe he will because they just started the show, why would they throw the towel in after 3 episodes? Now when I say exposed, I mean the King finds out he is a wizard, not that he dropped his towel in front of someone lol. Come on people, get your mind out of the gutter. Oh wait, that was my mind.
Anyway, hope everyone else enjoyed/enjoys Merlin Sunday's on NBC. Ding ding ding.
My Spirit Board
I've been wanting to make a spirit board for a very long time. I don't want to buy one because I want it to be personal, something that I made. Perhaps when I die I might be attached to it some how lol.
I just haven't had the money to go out and buy all the stuff for it. A friend of mine, Alyce, bought me the wood burning kit which I am totally grateful to her for because it's a $30 kit and even though I can afford to buy that I just would've never been able to because there is always something that is going to take precedence over a hobby.
All I need now is to buy the piece of wood to burn the letters and numbers. I've mainly been waiting all this time because I wanted to practice wood burning to make sure I'm good at it before I even try to attempt it for fear of screwing it up.
So when Alyce first sent me the wood burning kit we went to Walmart looking for cheap wood to burn on and I found these little pieces of wood in the craft/hobby section for .99¢ but the wood is so difficult to burn on so I just figured that since it's so cheap I will do my best to try but no guarantees on it. Well one of the pieces I ended up using to cut the Planchette with yesterday and I burned the Charmed triquatra on it.
It's not perfect by any means but it's mine. Of course I'm going to stain it a little and put lacquer on it to keep it clean. Then I've got to put the bottom pieces on it to make it slide easily on the board. Here is what the board is going to look like:
I like this wood, I like that it has the bark on it and I think it's about $20 or $30 at Michael's. I don't remember. Of course I want a very big piece. I think the piece that is probably the better size because it is paper size is about $15 or $20. I want it to be bigger than paper to give the planchette a lot of room to work with. Also I don't want the letters/numbers to take up the whole board because eventually I'm going to add a pattern around the whole thing to give it character.
Ok I know what people are going to say about spirit boards. They are dangerous and they open up a portal that you cannot close blah blah blah exorcist yadda yadda yadda. Whatever. I don't believe in all that. Personally I don't think this is going to work with just 1 person anyway and I can't ask Chip because he doesn't believe in the spirit world. He is taught as a born again that the only spirit he is supposed to acknowledge is the "holy spirit" despite the fact that he has had an encounter with a ghost cat in my bedroom. He knows they exist but he's not allowed to acknowledge that because of his religious beliefs.
Well, I don't go to church, I don't believe in organized religion. I don't believe that if "God" does exist that he would want us to sink all of our money into a church to worship him/her/it when we can do that at home. But that's a debate for another time or never lol. My point is, I do believe in ghosts and no church is going to tell me that I can't believe.
Well, in July I'm going to buy the board to make this because I want to. I've already made a commitment to buy some other things like a new seat for my bike which is about $30 - $50. I'm thinking of just buying the cheap $30 one even though it's probably hard as a rock but then in August I can buy the sheepskin cover for it. And I've also made a commitment to buy a cigarette kit for Chips cousin for her birthday on July 4th. It's the injector for around $5 plus a cartons worth of tubes and a can of tobacco which should only be about $25 total. So I'm pretty sure that after all that I can still afford to buy this wood to burn on. Plus I want to buy some other wood burning accessories to go with it all lol.
Of course when I make this I will post the board picture.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
New PSP Videos
I've just uploaded 4 new PSP game play videos.
Beowulf for PSP gameplay
Lego Batman for PSP gameplay
Star Wars II: Battlefront for PSP gameplay
Untold Legends: Warriors Code for PSP gameplay
Plus I have lots of other game play videos on My YouTube page.
Beowulf for PSP gameplay
Lego Batman for PSP gameplay
Star Wars II: Battlefront for PSP gameplay
Untold Legends: Warriors Code for PSP gameplay
Plus I have lots of other game play videos on My YouTube page.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Bike Seat Issues
Lately I've been coming home from my 2 hour bicycle ride numb in an area that would normally make me blush to mention. I know that it's my seat that is causing the problem because of the "nose" of the seat (yes, my crotch sits on a nose for 2 hours lol).
I have one of those gel cushions for my seat because the seat (they call them "saddles") is really hard and I refuse to sit on a seat that hard with my body weight. I can't recall how much the gel seat cost me, maybe it was about $10 I'm sure, I bought it from Nashbar and that is how much they charge for them. I've been using that all this time, last year for a couple of months and now this year for a couple of months.
It hasn't bothered me before but lately I've come home from my bike ride and go to use the restroom and notice I can't feel anything in my appendage (giggle I said appendage).
So I decided that it's time to find out what's going on and what to do about it. Apparently it is a common thing for men who sit on a bicycle for hours and hours. It can cause temporary impotence (YIKES!) in men and it may also probably lead to serious problems in the future because you are pressing down on your arteries and your colon so you can expect problems.
There is a solution and it is a new type of a seat which has no nose, instead your butt takes all of the impact. Here is a picture:
This seat is going to cost me $63 plus shipping of course because it's coming from Canada. It is called Spongy Wonder and frankly I can't wait to get it. It is going to relieve a lot of my issues and I won't have to keep standing on my peddles during my ride to relieve myself down there all the time. They have an optional seat cover for an additional $16 which I will not be able to buy right away but perhaps in August I can buy that. I'm going to have to wait until July to buy this seat because I am flat broke right now but there's only 2 more weeks until I get more money so I can wait 2 weeks.
Other models I have seen cost around $79 and up and this is just the right price. The cheaper the better. Well, cheap in price but hopefully the same good quality you know? I'm probably going to be bashed for buying outside of the US during our bad economy but I really don't care because I need something that I can afford and I really need this now because it is becoming a medical issue. I will be looking at other websites, after all, I do have 2 weeks to decide before I place my order. If I do find another place that is US based then I will choose that and of course you know I will be making a post about it lol.
Update: I am looking at the 2 other noseless seats and the one that is $79 is also from a Canadian website Tesco-Shopping and it looks exactly like the $63 one. Then there is the Spiderflex which is $110 plus $12 shipping so I definitely will not be buying from them. I don't know if they are in Canada or not, they aren't releasing that information but they ship there and to Europe but in their shipping page they do show a map of the US showing delivery times lol. I'm pretty sure that these 3 companies are the only ones who are selling these seats but I will keep looking. I'm willing to pay $63 because it is a small price to pay to prevent colon problems and/or impotence lol.
I found it! Bicycle Seats | Ergo Seats this is perfect. It's basically the same as my regular seat but without the nose so it's basically a half seat. The positive of this is the price. It's the right price for me at $30 - $50 plus $30 for a sheepskin cover (optional). I'm thinking maybe I can get the seat in July then the sheepskin cover in August. That is if the seat is really that hard that I need to buy the sheepskin cover. This is the perfect seat. Check out the link for pictures. Oh and by the way, this website is in Washington State!
I have one of those gel cushions for my seat because the seat (they call them "saddles") is really hard and I refuse to sit on a seat that hard with my body weight. I can't recall how much the gel seat cost me, maybe it was about $10 I'm sure, I bought it from Nashbar and that is how much they charge for them. I've been using that all this time, last year for a couple of months and now this year for a couple of months.
It hasn't bothered me before but lately I've come home from my bike ride and go to use the restroom and notice I can't feel anything in my appendage (giggle I said appendage).
So I decided that it's time to find out what's going on and what to do about it. Apparently it is a common thing for men who sit on a bicycle for hours and hours. It can cause temporary impotence (YIKES!) in men and it may also probably lead to serious problems in the future because you are pressing down on your arteries and your colon so you can expect problems.
There is a solution and it is a new type of a seat which has no nose, instead your butt takes all of the impact. Here is a picture:
This seat is going to cost me $63 plus shipping of course because it's coming from Canada. It is called Spongy Wonder and frankly I can't wait to get it. It is going to relieve a lot of my issues and I won't have to keep standing on my peddles during my ride to relieve myself down there all the time. They have an optional seat cover for an additional $16 which I will not be able to buy right away but perhaps in August I can buy that. I'm going to have to wait until July to buy this seat because I am flat broke right now but there's only 2 more weeks until I get more money so I can wait 2 weeks.
Other models I have seen cost around $79 and up and this is just the right price. The cheaper the better. Well, cheap in price but hopefully the same good quality you know? I'm probably going to be bashed for buying outside of the US during our bad economy but I really don't care because I need something that I can afford and I really need this now because it is becoming a medical issue. I will be looking at other websites, after all, I do have 2 weeks to decide before I place my order. If I do find another place that is US based then I will choose that and of course you know I will be making a post about it lol.
Update: I am looking at the 2 other noseless seats and the one that is $79 is also from a Canadian website Tesco-Shopping and it looks exactly like the $63 one. Then there is the Spiderflex which is $110 plus $12 shipping so I definitely will not be buying from them. I don't know if they are in Canada or not, they aren't releasing that information but they ship there and to Europe but in their shipping page they do show a map of the US showing delivery times lol. I'm pretty sure that these 3 companies are the only ones who are selling these seats but I will keep looking. I'm willing to pay $63 because it is a small price to pay to prevent colon problems and/or impotence lol.
I found it! Bicycle Seats | Ergo Seats this is perfect. It's basically the same as my regular seat but without the nose so it's basically a half seat. The positive of this is the price. It's the right price for me at $30 - $50 plus $30 for a sheepskin cover (optional). I'm thinking maybe I can get the seat in July then the sheepskin cover in August. That is if the seat is really that hard that I need to buy the sheepskin cover. This is the perfect seat. Check out the link for pictures. Oh and by the way, this website is in Washington State!
Thumb Sucking Adults
What is up with thumb sucking adults? I've seen teenagers with a pacifier in his/her mouth or sucking their thumb. Today we passed this lady in her car sucking her thumb while driving.
I'm not here to make fun of anyone but I just want to know why they do it? I've been reading up on it and apparently it's all psychological. But there are problems associated with thumb sucking. Such as your teeth grow so that your thumb can stay in your mouth and your tongue gets this white coating on it. Your thumb also can get sores on them where the teeth are biting down on them as well as your skin becomes red and infected because of the constant moisture from the inside of your mouth.
Not only that but your fingers are digging in your purse or pocket, intermingling with objects outside of the mouth such as poles, door handles, money... etc.
It's a disgusting habit and these adults need to grow up and stop sucking their thumbs and teenagers especially, it doesn't look cool to either be sucking your thumb or have a pacifier on a necklace around your neck. Come on, seriously, pick up a different habit because you look like you belong in a psycho ward. It's hard to look like a thug with a pacifier in your mouth. If you come up to me with your jeans around your knees showing me your boxers with that street thug strut, don't expect me to take you seriously when you have a pacifier or your thumb in your mouth.
I'm not here to make fun of anyone but I just want to know why they do it? I've been reading up on it and apparently it's all psychological. But there are problems associated with thumb sucking. Such as your teeth grow so that your thumb can stay in your mouth and your tongue gets this white coating on it. Your thumb also can get sores on them where the teeth are biting down on them as well as your skin becomes red and infected because of the constant moisture from the inside of your mouth.
Not only that but your fingers are digging in your purse or pocket, intermingling with objects outside of the mouth such as poles, door handles, money... etc.
It's a disgusting habit and these adults need to grow up and stop sucking their thumbs and teenagers especially, it doesn't look cool to either be sucking your thumb or have a pacifier on a necklace around your neck. Come on, seriously, pick up a different habit because you look like you belong in a psycho ward. It's hard to look like a thug with a pacifier in your mouth. If you come up to me with your jeans around your knees showing me your boxers with that street thug strut, don't expect me to take you seriously when you have a pacifier or your thumb in your mouth.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Fly Problem
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 existance. 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!
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 existance. 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!
Star Struck or Struck by too many stars
This guy (left) named Rouslan Toumaniantz tattooed 56 stars on this girls (also left duh) face after she asked for stars to be tattooed to her face. Here is a quote:"Toumaniantz claimed that Vlaeminck agreed to have the tattoos done: “Kimberley agreed to everything, she was very happy with my work. I have a witness who saw everything.”
Now she says that she is ugly, disfigured and can't even go out anymore, not even to work.
By the way, she fell asleep during this procedure. She fell asleep. How the heck do you fall asleep while someone is putting needles on your skin especially on your face? The only way someone is going to fall asleep and endure this much pain is if you have numbed your pain with some kind of drug or alcohol. That is why it is illegal to tattoo someone while they are intoxicated because they can't be responsible for the tattoo they are about to ask for because they might have been influenced to get it and they don't remember.
Here is another quote:
He said that it was only when Kimberley’s dad saw his daughter that she changed her mind.
But the Franco-Russian body artist has now offered to meet the cost of a laser operation.
Belgian newspaper ‘7s7’ quoted him as saying: “It will cost around €3,000, but I’ll pay for it. I’m not a criminal and I don’t want to start a fight with anyone.”
Toumaniantz, whose own face is full of piercings and covered in tattoos, said that he has learnt from the incident: “That was the first time that I’ve tattooed a customer’s face. I won’t do it again without written permission.”
The amount of money that she will have to pay to have the stars removed is $13,000 (converted to US dollars - according to fox news) and he has agreed to pay for half of it. If he has a witness stating that she was happy with it and she asked for it then I don't see why he should have to pay a dime. But considering it was on the face and she wasn't covered like he is with tattoos then he should've had her written consent first.
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFEKjl0OOcU
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
BikeCam Video
Here is that video on YouTube. Yesterday I inserted it into my previous post but I figured it deserved it's own post so here it is. Note that it's better to watch the video through YouTube because you can comment, rate and subscribe to my channel hehe.
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYOZZi156CM
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYOZZi156CM
Monday, June 15, 2009
Bike Cam Vid Done
I got my bike cam video on the computer without issue (YES!). I found 3 good songs to put in the video and used my Adobe Soundbooth to mix them like a DJ would lol. I added the song then sped up the 20 minute video to 8 1/2 minutes so it fits with the songs. It's all ready to go, I just need to get it on YouTube.
I was a bit disappointed that the video was shaking so much, I mean from side to side because of the handlebars but when you are riding a bike you can't keep it from doing that lol. It is physically impossible to get the video to be still constantly the entire time. Especially when it's mounted to the handlebars. If it were mounted on my helmet then perhaps that would be different but on the other hand every time I move my head up or down or left or right or behind me, the video moves too so it sees everything I look at which would be way more annoying lol.
I was a bit disappointed that the video was shaking so much, I mean from side to side because of the handlebars but when you are riding a bike you can't keep it from doing that lol. It is physically impossible to get the video to be still constantly the entire time. Especially when it's mounted to the handlebars. If it were mounted on my helmet then perhaps that would be different but on the other hand every time I move my head up or down or left or right or behind me, the video moves too so it sees everything I look at which would be way more annoying lol.
Bike Cam Video
I went back on the bike trail today with my camcorder hooked up to my mount that I made and when I came home I immediately hooked the camcorder up to the computer and it didn't fail the import, it failed on Saturday morning. I'm still confused as to why it did that but that's ok because watching the video showed me how much I need to stop moving the bike from left to right so much when video taping lol.
It's always a learning experience right?
So anyway, now that I have it on the computer I can make it go fast and add some music to it. It's a 20 minute video but I'm going to speed that up so it fits about 2 or 3 songs so hopefully about 8 or 9 minutes. I don't want to bore people too much but at the same time I don't want it to go so fast that you can't see what's happening you know lol.
So, I'm going to be working on that for awhile. I can't upload it to YouTube until I get some money because this program that I use which is the best program, Pinnacle VideoSpin. It's a free program with conditions. You get I think 2 weeks free use out of it then after that you have to pay $15 for the codec, otherwise you won't even be able to import your video into the software. I've tried other programs like windows movie maker, I also bought Adobe Premiere Elements 3 and those 2 programs won't let you make your movie for YouTube to be able to have it in widescreen. Your video ends up having the bars on top and bottom but also on the right and left. That's no good.
So, until I get the codec for it when I get money then I will upload that video. I'm also going to take the opportunity to do some other videos while I'm at it of some video games then just do them all on the same day.
It's always a learning experience right?
So anyway, now that I have it on the computer I can make it go fast and add some music to it. It's a 20 minute video but I'm going to speed that up so it fits about 2 or 3 songs so hopefully about 8 or 9 minutes. I don't want to bore people too much but at the same time I don't want it to go so fast that you can't see what's happening you know lol.
So, I'm going to be working on that for awhile. I can't upload it to YouTube until I get some money because this program that I use which is the best program, Pinnacle VideoSpin. It's a free program with conditions. You get I think 2 weeks free use out of it then after that you have to pay $15 for the codec, otherwise you won't even be able to import your video into the software. I've tried other programs like windows movie maker, I also bought Adobe Premiere Elements 3 and those 2 programs won't let you make your movie for YouTube to be able to have it in widescreen. Your video ends up having the bars on top and bottom but also on the right and left. That's no good.
So, until I get the codec for it when I get money then I will upload that video. I'm also going to take the opportunity to do some other videos while I'm at it of some video games then just do them all on the same day.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Bike Video
I brought the video camera today on my ride and when I got to the bike trail I hooked it up and started recording. My starting point was Truxton and Mohawk and my ending point was Manor St. The whole video was 20 minutes and 25 seconds.
I turned the video camera off and put the camcorder back in the camera bag inside the grocery bag on the side of the rack. I get home and watched it on the dvd player (which is actually a dvd recorder, I deleted a scene with me talking because my head was cut off) then I put the dvd back in the camcorder and hook it up to the computer to upload it. Failed import. I don't know why or what happened. I put the dvd into the dvd drive and it also failed.
So what this means is I gotta do it again lol. I was hoping to be able to take the mount off and put it in the camera bag for future use if I ever wanted to use it again somewhere else but I guess it will have to stay on the handlebar until I get it right.
I formated the mini dvd-ram (that's what my camcorder takes, mini dvd's, a dvd-ram is better though) so that tomorrow when I go back out there won't be any reason for it to do that to me again.
I turned the video camera off and put the camcorder back in the camera bag inside the grocery bag on the side of the rack. I get home and watched it on the dvd player (which is actually a dvd recorder, I deleted a scene with me talking because my head was cut off) then I put the dvd back in the camcorder and hook it up to the computer to upload it. Failed import. I don't know why or what happened. I put the dvd into the dvd drive and it also failed.
So what this means is I gotta do it again lol. I was hoping to be able to take the mount off and put it in the camera bag for future use if I ever wanted to use it again somewhere else but I guess it will have to stay on the handlebar until I get it right.
I formated the mini dvd-ram (that's what my camcorder takes, mini dvd's, a dvd-ram is better though) so that tomorrow when I go back out there won't be any reason for it to do that to me again.
Friday, June 12, 2009
My Weight Loss Journey
Ok, I know that I said that I wasn't going to do any bragging because that always screws it up but I just can't help it.
Ok, here is how it has been going down. Last year in October I started riding my bike with the intention of eventually getting to the bike trail. I was doing 1 mile a day and gradually I went to 3 miles then 5 an so on until eventually I was doing 10 miles a day on average. Then I had my accident. Ok so I started out at 244 and then I went down to 227. That's 17lbs. Pretty good right? Well then because of the accident I stopped riding until April.
From November 20th the date of the accident until April 14th when I finally started riding again I had gained 10lbs. So I was now 237. So I start riding again and now it's June 12th, today was weigh in day and I weighed in at 221lbs. Well, if you count starting in October at 244lbs then my weight loss is 23lbs total.
Or, you could think of it this way, I gained 10lbs and I lost it again so technically I lost more than 23lbs lol. Ok yeah I didn't think that would fly. Or you might think well technically since April at 237 and now I'm 221 I've only lost 16lbs. Well, whatever, I could from 244 to 221.
But, that was my weight this morning. You are supposed to weigh yourself in the morning after you do your "duty" in the bathroom lol. Who made up that rule? Ok so that was 221 BUT... before dinner I weighed myself again and I was 220 WOOHOO lol.
My point is, I made it out of the 240's, I made it out of the 230's and now, I'm almost out of the 220's and that is all that matters. I cannot wait to get into the 210's so that I can get into the 200's and so on.
Ok, enough bragging for one day. If I keep bragging then I will jinx myself and I don't want to risk that lol.
Ok, here is how it has been going down. Last year in October I started riding my bike with the intention of eventually getting to the bike trail. I was doing 1 mile a day and gradually I went to 3 miles then 5 an so on until eventually I was doing 10 miles a day on average. Then I had my accident. Ok so I started out at 244 and then I went down to 227. That's 17lbs. Pretty good right? Well then because of the accident I stopped riding until April.
From November 20th the date of the accident until April 14th when I finally started riding again I had gained 10lbs. So I was now 237. So I start riding again and now it's June 12th, today was weigh in day and I weighed in at 221lbs. Well, if you count starting in October at 244lbs then my weight loss is 23lbs total.
Or, you could think of it this way, I gained 10lbs and I lost it again so technically I lost more than 23lbs lol. Ok yeah I didn't think that would fly. Or you might think well technically since April at 237 and now I'm 221 I've only lost 16lbs. Well, whatever, I could from 244 to 221.
But, that was my weight this morning. You are supposed to weigh yourself in the morning after you do your "duty" in the bathroom lol. Who made up that rule? Ok so that was 221 BUT... before dinner I weighed myself again and I was 220 WOOHOO lol.
My point is, I made it out of the 240's, I made it out of the 230's and now, I'm almost out of the 220's and that is all that matters. I cannot wait to get into the 210's so that I can get into the 200's and so on.
Ok, enough bragging for one day. If I keep bragging then I will jinx myself and I don't want to risk that lol.
Free Bike Tripod
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 it's 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:
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.
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 it's 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:
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.
WordPress 2.8 Upgrade Issues
Just giving a heads up that yesterday I tried to upgrade my WordPress to version 2.8 and it gave me nothing but problems. Before I did the upgrade I backed my entire blog folder onto the computer just in case and it was a good thing that I did because I ended up having to delete the blog folder completely and replace it.
It's not back to the way it was though, I'm having issues with uploading photos and when the blog loads in internet exploder there are errors on the page.
I am going to wait a week to see if WordPress decides to fix the issue and give us a new file to download. I say "us" because apparently I'm not the only person having issues with it.
It's not back to the way it was though, I'm having issues with uploading photos and when the blog loads in internet exploder there are errors on the page.
I am going to wait a week to see if WordPress decides to fix the issue and give us a new file to download. I say "us" because apparently I'm not the only person having issues with it.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Downtime
Sorry about that. Today I went to blog something and noticed at the top of my WordPress dashboard there was a notice saying there was a new version available and I tried to have it update itself but it wouldn't, it said that the file was too big even though it was only a couple of megabytes.
I did a backup of my blog then started doing the manual upgrade and it didn't work too good so I had to delete everything and try to put the backup back in. Unfortunately, I kept getting errors so it wouldn't allow me to return my backups.
I've been working all day trying to get it all back in. Hopefully it will all be back soon. Thank you for your patience.
I did a backup of my blog then started doing the manual upgrade and it didn't work too good so I had to delete everything and try to put the backup back in. Unfortunately, I kept getting errors so it wouldn't allow me to return my backups.
I've been working all day trying to get it all back in. Hopefully it will all be back soon. Thank you for your patience.
More Kodak Printer Problems
Chip bought me my Kodak EasyShare 5300 printer for Christmas in 2007. In July 2008 I started having issues with it. Here is my post in August for that:
Kodak All-In-One Printer | Mike's Blog
It's happening again. 11 months after my issue originally started which was 6 1/2 months after getting it. It's not printing certain colors at all, it's printing white lines in the pictures but here is a new issue, the black ink looks smudged like someone ran their hand across the paper after I printed something out.
I emailed Kodak support again to find out if they will help me the same way they did last year which was by sending me a new print head with new black and color ink cartridges. I'm hoping they will honor their product by sending this to me again. If not then I will just get another printer (when I can lol).
I have never had this issue with any other printer that I've had in my life. My first printer was, well that was a dot matrix printer in 1989 lol. I had nothing but problems with the paper slipping, it was back when the paper was all attached and it had those holes on both sides. Anyway, my next printer which was in 1997 was an Epson printer, never had an issue with it. That is until I spilled my beer on my desk and it got into the printer. Then I bought an HP and I never had problems with it. Then my next one after that was a Dell all-in-one printer. The only issue I had with that was that they didn't sell their ink at the store, only online. Then Chip bought me this and this is the 2nd time I've had the same issue.
I would still recomend the Kodak EasyShare all-in-one printers because I really like how it has the SD card slot on the front so I don't have to upload my pictures from my camera to the computer just to be able to print a picture to a 4x6 glossy sheet of photo paper. And I like how their software has the Kodak auto fix or whatever it's called.
I also love that their ink is cheaper than other brands. The black is $10 and the color is $15. The ink package I just bought from Walmart was $27 with taxes and it had 1 black and 1 color cartridge in the box. Very inexpensive. My Dell ink was $21 for the black and $25 or something for the color so I was spending almost $50 on ink.
I'm waiting for their response so hopefully it will be positive and not them saying well since this is your 2nd issue you have to buy a new print head but instead ok, we will send it right out to you. I will edit this post when I get the email.
Edit: I got the email from them saying they are going to send me a new print head. YAY!
Kodak All-In-One Printer | Mike's Blog
It's happening again. 11 months after my issue originally started which was 6 1/2 months after getting it. It's not printing certain colors at all, it's printing white lines in the pictures but here is a new issue, the black ink looks smudged like someone ran their hand across the paper after I printed something out.
I emailed Kodak support again to find out if they will help me the same way they did last year which was by sending me a new print head with new black and color ink cartridges. I'm hoping they will honor their product by sending this to me again. If not then I will just get another printer (when I can lol).
I have never had this issue with any other printer that I've had in my life. My first printer was, well that was a dot matrix printer in 1989 lol. I had nothing but problems with the paper slipping, it was back when the paper was all attached and it had those holes on both sides. Anyway, my next printer which was in 1997 was an Epson printer, never had an issue with it. That is until I spilled my beer on my desk and it got into the printer. Then I bought an HP and I never had problems with it. Then my next one after that was a Dell all-in-one printer. The only issue I had with that was that they didn't sell their ink at the store, only online. Then Chip bought me this and this is the 2nd time I've had the same issue.
I would still recomend the Kodak EasyShare all-in-one printers because I really like how it has the SD card slot on the front so I don't have to upload my pictures from my camera to the computer just to be able to print a picture to a 4x6 glossy sheet of photo paper. And I like how their software has the Kodak auto fix or whatever it's called.
I also love that their ink is cheaper than other brands. The black is $10 and the color is $15. The ink package I just bought from Walmart was $27 with taxes and it had 1 black and 1 color cartridge in the box. Very inexpensive. My Dell ink was $21 for the black and $25 or something for the color so I was spending almost $50 on ink.
I'm waiting for their response so hopefully it will be positive and not them saying well since this is your 2nd issue you have to buy a new print head but instead ok, we will send it right out to you. I will edit this post when I get the email.
Edit: I got the email from them saying they are going to send me a new print head. YAY!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
No More Corresponding
Remember the day when you would sit at a desk and write a letter to someone with an actual pen and paper? Sometimes you mess up so you have to crumble up the paper and throw it away and the trash can would be halfway full of crumbled up paper. You wanted to get it right because there was no delete button and there was no spell check. Then once you were finished you folded it up and stuffed it into an envelope and wrote your address and their address and put a 10¢ stamp on it then put it in your mailbox to go out the next day. Remember that?
Well, then the internet came along and that made it so much easier to sit at your home computer (mac or pc) and you could email your letter instead. You sat there thinking what you wanted to say so you didn't sound too weird or something. Now of course you could delete and spell check then the person gets it in the blink of an eye.
What happened to that? It seems that I don't get any emails from family or friends anymore except for the ones that are forwarded to me from other people which have either jokes, funny pictures of dogs or cats or some old lady comic strip. Most of the emails people forward to me are all telling me about some kid who has cancer and you have to forward it to 10 people. Or about being careful not to get out of the car with the keys in the ignition because you see a note in the back of the car.
For once I'd like to get an email from someone telling me how their day or week was. An email saying hi how are you. I email people constantly and sometimes they actually respond but then that's it. If I don't start a conversation then the conversation never gets had.
What is the point of having email if nobody will actually email you something that they wrote instead of just using other crap people have sent them.
I think that's one of the reasons why I blog so much because I've gotten to the point where nobody emails me so why should I email them. So if I have something that I want to get out, I'm just gonna blog it and if someone cares enough to read it then they can respond either in email or they can leave a comment.
I know someone out there knows what I'm talking about.
Well, then the internet came along and that made it so much easier to sit at your home computer (mac or pc) and you could email your letter instead. You sat there thinking what you wanted to say so you didn't sound too weird or something. Now of course you could delete and spell check then the person gets it in the blink of an eye.
What happened to that? It seems that I don't get any emails from family or friends anymore except for the ones that are forwarded to me from other people which have either jokes, funny pictures of dogs or cats or some old lady comic strip. Most of the emails people forward to me are all telling me about some kid who has cancer and you have to forward it to 10 people. Or about being careful not to get out of the car with the keys in the ignition because you see a note in the back of the car.
For once I'd like to get an email from someone telling me how their day or week was. An email saying hi how are you. I email people constantly and sometimes they actually respond but then that's it. If I don't start a conversation then the conversation never gets had.
What is the point of having email if nobody will actually email you something that they wrote instead of just using other crap people have sent them.
I think that's one of the reasons why I blog so much because I've gotten to the point where nobody emails me so why should I email them. So if I have something that I want to get out, I'm just gonna blog it and if someone cares enough to read it then they can respond either in email or they can leave a comment.
I know someone out there knows what I'm talking about.
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Nashbar Townie Basket
Last week I bought this product for my bicycle from nashbar.com for carrying my groceries. I got the rack for my birthday from Chips cousin and her girlfriend so all I needed was the bag.
The bag I got is called a Townie Basket and it's small enough to carry a bag of groceries so I don't have to keep wrapping the bags around my handlebars. The more specific grocery I wanted to use this for was for the 2 gallons of milk I always buy because it's cheaper to buy 2 gallons than 1 at $3.69.
So I got the bag today and put it on immediately which only took maybe a minute to figure out how it goes on. I went to Albertson's right away and got my 2 gallons of milk along with some other things that I needed which I ended up having to carry in my grocery bag on the handlebars... I'm gonna need another one for the other side lol.
The only problem is that with 2 heavy gallons of milk it was sagging outward. I was petrified that they would fall out as soon as I hit a bump in the road or a pot hole, not paying attention to the road and watching the milk instead might make me accidentally hit a pot hole or a CAR lol.
Well, here are the pictures of the bag. The first one is of the bag folded up on the rack, the 2nd one is the bag open and the 3rd one is of it with it's handy dandy rain coat or as I like to call it, it's shower cap.
Ok, now to fix the problem with this bag sagging outward I had to think about how I was going to do this. I remembered the metal with the holes I used to make it so the rack was secure on the bike so I grabbed the roll of that stuff and held it up then bent the top of it over then I held it on the clamp in the tool shed and cut off a piece, then I cut a 2nd piece. Then I went back over to the patio table and started drilling holes in the hard plastic in the bag so I could screw these things in place and then I put it on the bike rack. Viola, it doesn't sag anymore so I don't have to worry about anything falling out lol. Well, for now anyway.
It's a really dark picture but you can see that it's not black, it's the silver or gray thing on the right. Not only does it stay on the rack but because I used the pliers to curl it over the rack bar I know nobody will be able to steal it lol. It's too much trouble to be able to steal now. I mean because it's only on with bungee at the bottom in the 2nd rack hole then with the 2 metal pieces (the black one on the left) so it's very easy to steal but not anymore.
So if I have any other problems I'm going to have to put a hole on the outside of the bag into the plastic and put a hook there so I can hook a bungee on the outside then hook the other side of the bungee cord to the other side of the rack to make damn sure nothing falls out.
Edit: While I was watching Stargate SG-1 today I was thinking of how I could make this even more secure to the rack, not so that it doesn't make my milk fall out but secure as in security. How do I keep people from trying to steal it? Bracket it to the rack. See, there are these straps at the bottom that you are supposed to put the rack through, the metal sticks that get screwed to the wheel part of the frame, those are supposed to go through these straps and you would think that those would be velcro so that just in case your rack doesn't allow you to put them through, then you could just undo them with the velcro. So I came up with something a little more permanent.
This picture is taken from the inside of the wheel, as you can see the spokes on the right and left side. I bracketed the bag to the rack so it would never be easy to seperate. Well, I mean it would if I was trying to but a theif couldn't easily do it and the guards at the grocery store know me and my bike so they would know if someone was trying to take something off my bike anyway. But this would definitely slow them down lol.
And to top it all off, I put an eye hook in the outside of the bag, you can see in the first 2 pictures, there is a little silver rectangle, that is the logo of the company I bought it from. Well, I screwed the eye hook just below that logo so that I could easily attach a bungee cord to it then the other end of the bungee could attach to the other side of the rack. This way everything will stay inside the bag and not fall out. The neon yellow shower cap will be able to protect it with the bungee cord in place so that isn't an issue.
The bag I got is called a Townie Basket and it's small enough to carry a bag of groceries so I don't have to keep wrapping the bags around my handlebars. The more specific grocery I wanted to use this for was for the 2 gallons of milk I always buy because it's cheaper to buy 2 gallons than 1 at $3.69.
So I got the bag today and put it on immediately which only took maybe a minute to figure out how it goes on. I went to Albertson's right away and got my 2 gallons of milk along with some other things that I needed which I ended up having to carry in my grocery bag on the handlebars... I'm gonna need another one for the other side lol.
The only problem is that with 2 heavy gallons of milk it was sagging outward. I was petrified that they would fall out as soon as I hit a bump in the road or a pot hole, not paying attention to the road and watching the milk instead might make me accidentally hit a pot hole or a CAR lol.
Well, here are the pictures of the bag. The first one is of the bag folded up on the rack, the 2nd one is the bag open and the 3rd one is of it with it's handy dandy rain coat or as I like to call it, it's shower cap.
Ok, now to fix the problem with this bag sagging outward I had to think about how I was going to do this. I remembered the metal with the holes I used to make it so the rack was secure on the bike so I grabbed the roll of that stuff and held it up then bent the top of it over then I held it on the clamp in the tool shed and cut off a piece, then I cut a 2nd piece. Then I went back over to the patio table and started drilling holes in the hard plastic in the bag so I could screw these things in place and then I put it on the bike rack. Viola, it doesn't sag anymore so I don't have to worry about anything falling out lol. Well, for now anyway.
It's a really dark picture but you can see that it's not black, it's the silver or gray thing on the right. Not only does it stay on the rack but because I used the pliers to curl it over the rack bar I know nobody will be able to steal it lol. It's too much trouble to be able to steal now. I mean because it's only on with bungee at the bottom in the 2nd rack hole then with the 2 metal pieces (the black one on the left) so it's very easy to steal but not anymore.
So if I have any other problems I'm going to have to put a hole on the outside of the bag into the plastic and put a hook there so I can hook a bungee on the outside then hook the other side of the bungee cord to the other side of the rack to make damn sure nothing falls out.
Edit: While I was watching Stargate SG-1 today I was thinking of how I could make this even more secure to the rack, not so that it doesn't make my milk fall out but secure as in security. How do I keep people from trying to steal it? Bracket it to the rack. See, there are these straps at the bottom that you are supposed to put the rack through, the metal sticks that get screwed to the wheel part of the frame, those are supposed to go through these straps and you would think that those would be velcro so that just in case your rack doesn't allow you to put them through, then you could just undo them with the velcro. So I came up with something a little more permanent.
This picture is taken from the inside of the wheel, as you can see the spokes on the right and left side. I bracketed the bag to the rack so it would never be easy to seperate. Well, I mean it would if I was trying to but a theif couldn't easily do it and the guards at the grocery store know me and my bike so they would know if someone was trying to take something off my bike anyway. But this would definitely slow them down lol.
And to top it all off, I put an eye hook in the outside of the bag, you can see in the first 2 pictures, there is a little silver rectangle, that is the logo of the company I bought it from. Well, I screwed the eye hook just below that logo so that I could easily attach a bungee cord to it then the other end of the bungee could attach to the other side of the rack. This way everything will stay inside the bag and not fall out. The neon yellow shower cap will be able to protect it with the bungee cord in place so that isn't an issue.
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Pimp your bike
I just saw this article on the Dvice website.
Pimp your bike with MonkeyLectric LED wheels
This is so cool. I used to have a little fan that did the same thing, I don't know where that fan is but they sell them at the store for like $3. But, who cares about such a small fan when you can have this on your bicycle on both the front and the back wheels.
It has 16 led lights on each side and it straps right to the spokes on the inside of the wheel so it's not sticking out. You can put 1 on your wheel or you can put 4 on your wheel or 1-4 on each wheel. It's really cool for teenagers at night so they can woo their friends and also be very visible to cars so they don't get hit... from the side? Cars can't really see this from the back.
I wonder if this is street legal though. I can see it being bicycle trail and skate park legal but what about the street?
This product from MonkeyLectric is only $60 per board and it takes 3AA batteries which are good for 30 hours.
Too Cold To Ride
Well, it seems that Summer isn't quite yet here. I have been waking up nearly every morning at 4am to go out bike riding thinking that it would be in the 90's or 100's during the day so I'm basically trying to beat the heat. Well, we had heat for maybe a week but then it was gone.
The last 3 days (including today) it has been too cold to ride. Yeah I could've just gone out when the temperature was in the 70's but I've gotten so used to riding when there are no cars when the sun isn't up yet that I don't want to go out during the day.
Friday I checked the weather channel application on my computer and it said that there were going to be thunderstorms so I didn't go out. Yesterday when I went outside to go bike riding it was raining, well more like sprinkling but you know how it goes. It starts out with a sprinkle then next thing you know it's raining hard. So I just stayed in. This morning it was so cold outside and I just decided to wait until when it was warmer and now it's too warm even though it's only 68 lol. Well, the weather channel says 68 but it's warmer than that outside.
Hopefully tomorrow it will be ok. It's supposed to be 85 during the day and it says that I should wear pants and a jacket at 7am for exercising because it will be 65 but that is a good temperature in the early morning to exercise for me.
I never thought I would say this but I wish the heat would come back lol.
The last 3 days (including today) it has been too cold to ride. Yeah I could've just gone out when the temperature was in the 70's but I've gotten so used to riding when there are no cars when the sun isn't up yet that I don't want to go out during the day.
Friday I checked the weather channel application on my computer and it said that there were going to be thunderstorms so I didn't go out. Yesterday when I went outside to go bike riding it was raining, well more like sprinkling but you know how it goes. It starts out with a sprinkle then next thing you know it's raining hard. So I just stayed in. This morning it was so cold outside and I just decided to wait until when it was warmer and now it's too warm even though it's only 68 lol. Well, the weather channel says 68 but it's warmer than that outside.
Hopefully tomorrow it will be ok. It's supposed to be 85 during the day and it says that I should wear pants and a jacket at 7am for exercising because it will be 65 but that is a good temperature in the early morning to exercise for me.
I never thought I would say this but I wish the heat would come back lol.
Thursday, June 04, 2009
The Next PSP
Sony ready to unveil it's PSP Go at E3 tomorrow | Dvice
PSP Go Video Game, E3 09: Conference Footage 2
Ok so here we go, they have a new PSP out which is their 4th gen called PSP Go. This PSP is smaller, same wide screen but it flips up so you can use the control buttons below the screen instead of on the sides of it. It then closes so you can watch movies or TV shows or even use it as an mp3 player and not have any buttons pressed while it's in your bag.
The PSP Go has a 16GB flash memory as well as a Memory Stick Micro slot which is a different name from the one that is currently in the PSP which is Memory Stick Duo so no you can't use the one that you already use in your current PSP. They took away the UMD slot so all those games that you bought you can't use anymore. You have to buy all your games via the PlayStation store online.
It also has Bluetooth Support. I don't know what that means for the PSP though. When I think of Bluetooth I think of a cell phone earpiece. What does Bluetooth mean for a PSP Go?
On the video (which is the 2nd link above) at the E3 the guy talks about how people like to buy the actual physical product. There will be a new media manager for PC so I'm guessing that maybe you plug your PSP 2 or 3 into your computer via the USB and it probably converts the UMD into files that you then upload to your PSP Go. But that is just what I think that means, I don't know for sure. Who knows, but he did mention something about being able to buy the UMD even though you can't use it in this thing.
I don't know about this one. I like my PSP 2000. I didn't upgrade it to the PSP 3000 when that came out because the only upgrade it had was a mic on the front so you don't need a headset to call people with Skype and it had a more matte finish on the screen so you don't get glare from lights or the sun. With a $250 price tag I'm still not convinced that I need to upgrade to the PSP Go.
I kinda prefer having a UMD and being able to put it in the UMD slot when I want to play a game which of course means searching for the game I want but that's perfectly fine by me. I don't know if I want to fill my 16GB flash memory with games then have to use a memory stick to add more. Call me old fashioned lol.
PSP Go Video Game, E3 09: Conference Footage 2
Ok so here we go, they have a new PSP out which is their 4th gen called PSP Go. This PSP is smaller, same wide screen but it flips up so you can use the control buttons below the screen instead of on the sides of it. It then closes so you can watch movies or TV shows or even use it as an mp3 player and not have any buttons pressed while it's in your bag.
The PSP Go has a 16GB flash memory as well as a Memory Stick Micro slot which is a different name from the one that is currently in the PSP which is Memory Stick Duo so no you can't use the one that you already use in your current PSP. They took away the UMD slot so all those games that you bought you can't use anymore. You have to buy all your games via the PlayStation store online.
It also has Bluetooth Support. I don't know what that means for the PSP though. When I think of Bluetooth I think of a cell phone earpiece. What does Bluetooth mean for a PSP Go?
On the video (which is the 2nd link above) at the E3 the guy talks about how people like to buy the actual physical product. There will be a new media manager for PC so I'm guessing that maybe you plug your PSP 2 or 3 into your computer via the USB and it probably converts the UMD into files that you then upload to your PSP Go. But that is just what I think that means, I don't know for sure. Who knows, but he did mention something about being able to buy the UMD even though you can't use it in this thing.
I don't know about this one. I like my PSP 2000. I didn't upgrade it to the PSP 3000 when that came out because the only upgrade it had was a mic on the front so you don't need a headset to call people with Skype and it had a more matte finish on the screen so you don't get glare from lights or the sun. With a $250 price tag I'm still not convinced that I need to upgrade to the PSP Go.
I kinda prefer having a UMD and being able to put it in the UMD slot when I want to play a game which of course means searching for the game I want but that's perfectly fine by me. I don't know if I want to fill my 16GB flash memory with games then have to use a memory stick to add more. Call me old fashioned lol.
Big Brother Good or Bad
No I'm not referring to the reality show Big Brother but the real reality of Big Brother.
I went to the grocery store yesterday and paid $59, then I went home and paid my cable bill, my phone bill and then I paid for 1 month of EverQuest to keep my account alive. SOE had 2 transactions of $1 each basically to verify my account but then those 2 charges disappeared. But as soon as I paid for that I got an email of suspicious activity on my checking account.
I call the number in the email and go through the process of pushing buttons to verify that yes I did make those charges and it was all fine and dandy, or was it? I tried to buy something from Nashbar for my bike and it kept declining my debit card. I just figured that they have a debit card limit and I've probably passed that limit so I waited until today.
So today comes and I come home from my bike ride and go to Nashbar's website again to buy my bag for the rear bike rack and a new skull cap so in the middle of my ride I can switch to a dry cap to make me more comfortable. It declines me again so I just ended up using PayPal to generate a temporary credit card number then I called the bank.
After finally getting to an associate I told him what was happening and explained I was just paying bills, he puts me through to one of the fraud analysts who just wants to verify every transaction.
The woman who I spoke to was very nice, she had a nice voice and she was very helpful. I told her what happened and that yes I did make all of those transactions. She asked me about each item. SOE. She asked what that was. I told her it's Sony Online Entertainment. She said she has seen SOE before but she never knew what it was. Then we talked about the 2 $1 transactions and she said that they do that to verify that it is my debit card then they erase them.
Then we get to Brighthouse. She had no clue what that was and of course if you have never heard of it then yeah you aren't going to know but it's my cable company. Then I said to her you will see ATT DES, that is the phone company. So then she mentioned Bike Nashbar which I had just paid with PayPal and I was like oh wow that is already showing up on the bank site? I just paid for that. I told her I had to use PayPal to pay for it because my debit card was declined.
Oh well, she unlocked my debit card so I can use it again. You know, I have mixed feelings about all of that. She said that they locked my card out because it was unusual spending for me. Well, the day I get my check every month I pay my bills and buy something from a website so how is that unusual spending for me when I do it every month on the same day, the 3rd of each month. On one hand I'm happy that the bank is looking out for my best interest but on the other hand I'd like to not be embarrassed if I had to go back to the store with a grocery cart filled with food then have my card be declined you know?
Oh well, I'm sure this post was totally unncessary but who cares lol.
I went to the grocery store yesterday and paid $59, then I went home and paid my cable bill, my phone bill and then I paid for 1 month of EverQuest to keep my account alive. SOE had 2 transactions of $1 each basically to verify my account but then those 2 charges disappeared. But as soon as I paid for that I got an email of suspicious activity on my checking account.
I call the number in the email and go through the process of pushing buttons to verify that yes I did make those charges and it was all fine and dandy, or was it? I tried to buy something from Nashbar for my bike and it kept declining my debit card. I just figured that they have a debit card limit and I've probably passed that limit so I waited until today.
So today comes and I come home from my bike ride and go to Nashbar's website again to buy my bag for the rear bike rack and a new skull cap so in the middle of my ride I can switch to a dry cap to make me more comfortable. It declines me again so I just ended up using PayPal to generate a temporary credit card number then I called the bank.
After finally getting to an associate I told him what was happening and explained I was just paying bills, he puts me through to one of the fraud analysts who just wants to verify every transaction.
The woman who I spoke to was very nice, she had a nice voice and she was very helpful. I told her what happened and that yes I did make all of those transactions. She asked me about each item. SOE. She asked what that was. I told her it's Sony Online Entertainment. She said she has seen SOE before but she never knew what it was. Then we talked about the 2 $1 transactions and she said that they do that to verify that it is my debit card then they erase them.
Then we get to Brighthouse. She had no clue what that was and of course if you have never heard of it then yeah you aren't going to know but it's my cable company. Then I said to her you will see ATT DES, that is the phone company. So then she mentioned Bike Nashbar which I had just paid with PayPal and I was like oh wow that is already showing up on the bank site? I just paid for that. I told her I had to use PayPal to pay for it because my debit card was declined.
Oh well, she unlocked my debit card so I can use it again. You know, I have mixed feelings about all of that. She said that they locked my card out because it was unusual spending for me. Well, the day I get my check every month I pay my bills and buy something from a website so how is that unusual spending for me when I do it every month on the same day, the 3rd of each month. On one hand I'm happy that the bank is looking out for my best interest but on the other hand I'd like to not be embarrassed if I had to go back to the store with a grocery cart filled with food then have my card be declined you know?
Oh well, I'm sure this post was totally unncessary but who cares lol.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Testosterone Overdose
I don't know what's going on but all of a sudden it's almost like I got an overdose of testosterone from all the bike riding I've been doing. It's like all this energy is inside me now.
That rear bike rack that I got for my birthday wasn't the right size but I figured out how to make it the right size by rigging it to the seat and using old brakes to screw it into the frame at the bottom. Today I went to the store and could hear it creaking where I attached it to the seat post so I drilled a hole into the seat post and put a screw in there to make it more stable.
I also finally thought of a way to get the bar on my home gym back on. When I got it (it's a Weider Total Body Works 5000) that little plastic thing at the bottom (you see it in the picture from that link) which holds the bungee cords, the screws snapped off of it, when? I have no idea. It was loose in the box. I didn't send it back because I bought it from Wal*mart's website and it was shipped to me. So I didn't want to pay for shipping just to get that replaced so I just left it.
So I was sitting here and I got a brain storm. What if I use the Dremel tool to cut into the screws where they snapped off at the bar so that I can use a flat head screwdriver to unscrew them and take them out and finally get that plastic bungee cord holder back into place. So I did and it worked. OMG!!! Finally! I've had that thing for a couple of years now and it always put a bad taste in my mouth that I couldn't use those bungee cords to add more resistance because I didn't want to have to keep raising and lowering the darn thing, it's too heavy to have to do that. It would be easier to use the bungees which is why they put them in there in the first place.
So now I can. Boy, I feel so butch these days lol.
That rear bike rack that I got for my birthday wasn't the right size but I figured out how to make it the right size by rigging it to the seat and using old brakes to screw it into the frame at the bottom. Today I went to the store and could hear it creaking where I attached it to the seat post so I drilled a hole into the seat post and put a screw in there to make it more stable.
I also finally thought of a way to get the bar on my home gym back on. When I got it (it's a Weider Total Body Works 5000) that little plastic thing at the bottom (you see it in the picture from that link) which holds the bungee cords, the screws snapped off of it, when? I have no idea. It was loose in the box. I didn't send it back because I bought it from Wal*mart's website and it was shipped to me. So I didn't want to pay for shipping just to get that replaced so I just left it.
So I was sitting here and I got a brain storm. What if I use the Dremel tool to cut into the screws where they snapped off at the bar so that I can use a flat head screwdriver to unscrew them and take them out and finally get that plastic bungee cord holder back into place. So I did and it worked. OMG!!! Finally! I've had that thing for a couple of years now and it always put a bad taste in my mouth that I couldn't use those bungee cords to add more resistance because I didn't want to have to keep raising and lowering the darn thing, it's too heavy to have to do that. It would be easier to use the bungees which is why they put them in there in the first place.
So now I can. Boy, I feel so butch these days lol.
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Fine For Watering Lawn
I don't know if it is just Kern County or if it is all of California or what but I saw on the news today that the city is banning watering of the lawn except for Mondays and Thursdays before 5am and after 4pm. You cannot water your lawn except on those 2 days or you will get a $300 fine.
Well if that's the way it's going to be then our lawns are going to die because I'm never going to remember that. I'm probably going to remember to water the lawn on a Wednesday at noon then start watering. Then I will probably hear the doorbell ringing and have it be Bakersfield Police with a ticket for watering my lawn. Bogus!
What about back yards? They can't monitor peoples back yards. I just think the whole idea stinks. I can understand the drought problem and I respect that they are trying to save water but $300 fine for forgetting that I can only water 2 days a week only before 5am and after 4pm? That's stupid to do that. They don't realize that in Bakersfield it gets so hot and so dry that the lawn dies if it's not watered everyday. Twice a week isn't going to keep my lawn alive.
Well, maybe that's a good thing then because then I won't have to mow it as much.
Well if that's the way it's going to be then our lawns are going to die because I'm never going to remember that. I'm probably going to remember to water the lawn on a Wednesday at noon then start watering. Then I will probably hear the doorbell ringing and have it be Bakersfield Police with a ticket for watering my lawn. Bogus!
What about back yards? They can't monitor peoples back yards. I just think the whole idea stinks. I can understand the drought problem and I respect that they are trying to save water but $300 fine for forgetting that I can only water 2 days a week only before 5am and after 4pm? That's stupid to do that. They don't realize that in Bakersfield it gets so hot and so dry that the lawn dies if it's not watered everyday. Twice a week isn't going to keep my lawn alive.
Well, maybe that's a good thing then because then I won't have to mow it as much.
Monday, June 01, 2009
Wheel Fixed
Well I had to bring my back wheel to Snider's today to have them tighten the freewheel (the thing that holds the chain and has different gears) but it wasn't that it needed to be tightened, the tech guy said that they all wobble like that. So I told him about the cracking sounds and so he looked at it and said that the problem is that the metal in the screw that holds the ball bearings in place is worn down and so they had to replace the rod and ball bearings altogether. That was only $18.
I'm so glad it wasn't that much money. I would rather just have them fix the issue than have to spend $25 or $30 on all the tools needed to screw the freewheel tighter just to have it still have the same old problem lol.
That's why I shouldn't try to diagnose my own problems because I don't know jack about that dren.
Chips cousins girlfriend Venda drove me there and ended up buying me a rear rack and a pair of gloves for my birthday which I so didn't want her to do because the gloves themselves were $40 and the rack was $25. After I got my wheel on I tried to install the rack and they didn't supply any screws darnit. Plus there are no holes in the frame for the top bars to go into so I have to return the rack and get a different one.
--Edit: I got the rear rack on. I had some old brakes that I kept for some strange reason. I just couldn't throw them away lol. Can you say pack rat? Anyway, those fit on the bottom so I don't need those screws now. But the top still didn't fit so I went into the tool shed and there was a roll of this metal with holes in it so I cut a piece the size I needed, wrapped it around the seat post and took some bolts and washers and nuts and screwed them to the top of the rack. Then I took another bolt with washer and nut and screwed the piece of metal together tight so it doesn't go anywhere. See? I am handy once in awhile lol. It is secure enough now that I don't have to worry. End Edit--
The gloves on the other hand are really good. I didn't realize that I needed these gloves instead of just any regular glove because these are specifically meant for people with Carpel Tunnel Syndrome which I have. This is what it says on the cardboard that the gloves were attached to:
I'm so glad it wasn't that much money. I would rather just have them fix the issue than have to spend $25 or $30 on all the tools needed to screw the freewheel tighter just to have it still have the same old problem lol.
That's why I shouldn't try to diagnose my own problems because I don't know jack about that dren.
Chips cousins girlfriend Venda drove me there and ended up buying me a rear rack and a pair of gloves for my birthday which I so didn't want her to do because the gloves themselves were $40 and the rack was $25. After I got my wheel on I tried to install the rack and they didn't supply any screws darnit. Plus there are no holes in the frame for the top bars to go into so I have to return the rack and get a different one.
--Edit: I got the rear rack on. I had some old brakes that I kept for some strange reason. I just couldn't throw them away lol. Can you say pack rat? Anyway, those fit on the bottom so I don't need those screws now. But the top still didn't fit so I went into the tool shed and there was a roll of this metal with holes in it so I cut a piece the size I needed, wrapped it around the seat post and took some bolts and washers and nuts and screwed them to the top of the rack. Then I took another bolt with washer and nut and screwed the piece of metal together tight so it doesn't go anywhere. See? I am handy once in awhile lol. It is secure enough now that I don't have to worry. End Edit--
The gloves on the other hand are really good. I didn't realize that I needed these gloves instead of just any regular glove because these are specifically meant for people with Carpel Tunnel Syndrome which I have. This is what it says on the cardboard that the gloves were attached to:
Patented Technology
With technology designed by Dr. A Robert Spitzer, a neurologist, Spenco® cycling gloves feature a unique, patented groove over the carpel tunnel nerve that channels away pressure and road shock to reduce hand numbness and fatigue.
So that's what I needed all along. Every time I ride my hands get numb with the gloves I wear now and even without the gloves and I have to shake both my hands (not at the same time of course lol) to shake the numbness out. So thank you Vedra and Venda for the new gloves.
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