ShowMeBlog

The T takes you places

  When I lived in Miami I got a bus and rail card that let me ride for free because I was over 65 years of age.  That was nice.
  I live in Fort Worth (TX) now and because I am old I have a pass that lets me ride for half price.  A normal bus rider day pass is $3.00 a day.  So I can get a bus pass for the day for $1.50 and that is not bad.

  Well The T (Fort Worth Transportation Authority) has a service called MITS for Mobility-Impaired Transportation Service.  They pick you up at your door and take you were you want to go and then bring you back when you are ready. 
  If you are approved I found out something… MITS passengers pay $2.75 one way so it is not cheaper.  But if you are approved for MITS you can get a MITS +1 card and then you can ride on their regular bus routes for free.
  I think I will see if I can get approved for MITS and then get the MITS +1 card.
  Now to be approve for MITS I have to have a verified disability that prevents me from riding the regular city bus service. 
 
  My “disability” would be that trips that take two or three buses are a real problem for me.  My bladder does not empty completely so I go often.  It is a real problem for me to go anyplace if there is a delay.  I have to not drink anything for hours and hours before I go but even then it is a problem. 
  Now my mobility is not bad… I can move pretty fast when I am trying to find a bathroom. 

  But my doctor has a couple of places that he sends people for tests and there is no bus line near the test site.  So I have to take a cab and it is about $25.00 each way.
  So I think I can get him to fill out the form for me and if I am approved I will just use it when I need to use it.
  We will see what happens.

   I miss the bus and rail service in Miami.  The bus service here is pretty good but what was nice about Miami  was the rain service that cut across the city. 

Supermoon tonight

"It's Supermoon Saturday, and Twitter is abuzz with tweets and twitpics of our moon captured from nearly every angle.

What's all the commotion?

At 11:34 p.m. EDT, the moon will appear 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than its smallest and dimmest form, as it approaches perigee, or the period where it is closest to Earth in orbit. The moon will then line up with the sun (making it a full moon) one minute later. For more information on the best place and time to see the supermoon, click here.

Some people will look at the moon tonight and think "What's the big deal?" But let's be honest—it's not about the moon being slightly bigger. This is about a great excuse for people all over the world to stop for a second, gaze upwards, and remember just how amazing life on this planet really is. When something as magnificent as the moon is there every night, it's easy to take it for granted and lose sight of its beauty..."  
The Huffington Post 

 

  It is 8:14 PM and still light here in Fort Worth but I am going out later and check out the moon.

 

Gallstone pain

  Last few days I been having more pain from my gallstones.  I have not had a lot of problems from the gallstones.  Just very mild pain in that area. 
  I did a post “Foods to avoid with gallstones.”  I eat all the wrong foods and I have not been paying any attention to that list of foods to avoid.  I think I am starting to pay the price.
 

  From that post here are the foods I should be eating:

“Foods to Choose

• A diet high in fiber-rich foods is one of the best ways to prevent gallstones or a painful attack. Among the best choices are: fresh fruits and vegetables, especially broccoli, spinach, carrots, beets, apples, lemons and watermelon; low-fat, low-cholesterol proteins such as turkey, chicken and fresh fish, and foods with high levels of calcium, magnesium and potassium, including baked potatoes, brown rice, yogurt and soaked or sprouted grains…”

Read more: Foods to Avoid With Gallstones | eHow.comhttp://www.ehow.com/facts_4826361_foods-avoid-gallstones.html#ixzz1MPXL8n2v

 

  I am going to try and do better.  I do not want gallstone pain. 

Charter to add 28 HD Channels soon

  I turned on my cable TV and could not get any channels.  There was just a message saying Your Digital Service has been disconnected and to call 1-888-438-2427.
  I checked and my Internet service and phone service was still working.
  I knew I had paid my Charter Cable bill but I logged into Charter just to make sure.  I am all paid up.

  So I called the number and got a live person and they sent a signal to my box and fixed the problem.  Odd problem.  I have never seen that problem in the past.

  I checked everything and everything seems to be working.
I did notice that now EPIX 490 has the normal sort of screen that you see when you don’t get a pay channel.  The one that tells you that you can upgrade and how much it cost a month ($10).
 
  You will remember that I blogged about their free three day demo and that it lasted longer that three days but the entire time the channel would be buffering all the time and you could not watch anything on it. 
  Not sure what is going on with EXIP. 

  I see that in some areas of the United States that Charter is moving their channels around.  I suspect that Charter is getting ready to add new channels or do something and that they are making changes. 
 

  OK I just did a search again and it looks like Charter is adding 28 new HD channels and when they do that they appear to be moving channels around.
  They are doing that in MO and other areas so it will come to Dallas/Fort Worth soon I am sure.
 

Is Jim a fat cat?

  I am looking around at what I can cut to save a few dollars.  I cancelled a wiget site that I was paying a few dollar each month to for their wegets.
  I just cancelled the hosting company that I been using for years and years.  That was Hostgator.  I have had excellent service from them for many years.  But my blogs are now running on TypePad and Blogger.  I think I can put photos, images and other stuff that I need access to on other sites such as Google Drive.  We will see how it works out.
  Killing the two things saves me less than $15.00 a month.  But it is a start.

  Well at end of last month my Google commission was $90.00 and so I will not get any money from them this month.  You have to have a commission of at least $100.00 before they pay you.  
  I am not even sure why I use Google AdSense.  The last time I got any money from them was January 25, 2012 and that was $100.91 so I am not making any money from them.  Keep in mind that includes YouTube money.  I am a “partner”, of course now they say everyone is a partner, so I am not making money from my videos.  I did get a lot of hits from the Trayvon Martin/Zimmerman videos but I did not turn on advertising for those videos. I did feel that would be right.

  There are people doing YouTube videos that are making a living.  Also YouTube had given thousands of dollars from time to time to partners to help them make better videos.
  I am not sure if they have done it or not yet but they are giving some partners $15K, I think was the amount, so they can buy hardware and software.  I signed up for that give away but I am sure I will not get it. 
  If I got it I would buy a desktop computer, a couple of monitors, a new camera and lights and green screen hardware.  I have never owned an Apple I wonder if that would be the type of computer to get.  
  
  I live on a very limited income. 
  There is something you do not know about me.  I don’t tell anyone… I am a liberal Democrat and I feel guilty about it.  I own some stocks!  Please don’t tell anyone… I feel so guilty about it. 
  Am I a rich fat cat?  No, far from it.  I own a few penny stocks.  I own a number of stocks and my total investment is less than $1000.00 (in fact less than $750.00 to be honest).  That is the total amount of savings and investments that I have.  If I died my family would have to use that for my cremation.  Why do I say “if I died” because I should say when I die.
  I am new to penny stocks.  I been doing it less than six months.  They are very speculative and very high risk but I am thinking now that people would be better off buying penny stocks than buying lottery tickets.  What do you think?
 
  I been sleeping, a lot, during the day time and then I am up all night not able to sleep.  It is 2:36 AM.  I guess I will go outside and take a little walk.  I hope I do not run into a George Zimmerman. 

Postbox - first class email

  I am using a new email program.  I have used them all over the years.  I never heard of Postbox but decided to give it a try.  They had a 30 day free try and I was going to do that ... but after just a few minutes I went ahead and paid for it.  
  I am glad I did.  They had a special offer and it was only $19.00 for it.  

  I use GMail for but I have other accounts.  I pull them all into one email box.  GMail works OK doing that and I could just go to their web site but right now I am using Postbox.
 
  If this post has some strang links I am trying Zemana again.
It may help me find links faster for you.  We will see how it works.
 

  

Bodybuilding in Afghanistan

  OK OK.. I do not want to make any bodybuilders mad.  Please to not kick sand in my face.

  I just saw a photo story on CNN and it says that bodybuilding is the fastest growing sport in Afghanistan.  It was even permitted under the Taliban regime! 

  I have always felt like bodybuilding is a bit gay.  (Not that there is anything wrong with that.)
  See why I said I did not want to piss off any bodybuilders?

 

 

 

  When I was a kid I was skinny.  Well not just as a kid.  When I had to go and take my Selective Service physical I was about 5 foot 11 inches and my weight was 115 pounds.  There were 200 of us there for the physical and we all had to get nude and stand around for the entire exam.  The SS doctor came over and asked me if I had been sick.  Because I was skin and bone. You could see all of my bones.  I looked like someone from a WWII Nazi concentration camp.
  They sent me a 1-A card by error. I went right down to join the Army but they called the SS center and the center saw their error and sent me a new card and it was 1-Y.  Later the SS made all 1-Y cards 4-F.
  But when I was younger I tried everything to gain weight.  Well that is not true.  I did send for the Charles Atlas books.  But I did not stand around posing or go into bodybuilding.
  I was skinny because my mother did not cook.  She was to busy drinking and talking on the telephone to family members drunk.  
  My father was a union man and made good money all his life and my mother worked all her life. So we were not poor.
  I was just lazy and stupid.  I lived on Swanson TV dinners and Coke.  It took 30 minutes to cook a TV turkey dinner.  That was before the invention of the microwave.

iTunes Store

  I was here at my computer… Like I am all the time. 
I saw notice of an email that just came in and it was a email from PayPal saying that it was a receipt for my payment of $32.98 to the iTunes Store.

  I never got anything from the iTunes Store.
  I do have an Android cell phone and I think that I have it setup so that I can buy an  android application or music or something using my cell phone and have them take it out of my PayPal account.
 
  Well I went to PayPal and filed a report of an unauthorized transaction.
I also went into the PayPal settings and cancelled my billing agreement with the iTunes Store (Pro/Virtual Terminal).

  This time of the month, end of the month, I am always broke.  Thank God this withdraw did not cause my bank account to have a over draft.

  If you are setup with the ITunes Store you better be careful.

  I do not like having things taken direct out of my bank account.
In order to be a approved PayPal, I forget what they call it, user you have to have a bank account setup with them so that they can take money out of your bank account.  If you are not a certified or whatever they call it user then it causes problems for you as a PayPal user.

Update:  05/04/2012
  PayPal  Says that they have finished their investigation of my dispute.  They have issued a refund of the payment to me.  
  I do not see the refund in my account.  I will wait a few days and see it it turns up.
  I still do not know what I was charged for or who created the charge. 

I ordered the Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920

  I just ordered the Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920 from Amazon.  My grandson has a Prime account so I would have got it on Friday with free shipping.
  But I went ahead and paid $3.99 and I will get it tomorrow.  Pretty neat.

  I have and been using the Logitech C910.  It also does HD 1080p videos and is an excellent camera.
  So why am I getting the C920?  Well the C920 has built in H.264 compression.
  With the C910 if I do a 1080p video of say 10 minutes after I am done it will have to compress the video and that takes about the same amount of time as your video.  So for 10 minutes it sucks all the life out of my computer CPU.  I sometimes take a nap when it is doing that.  But the C920 has built in hardware that compresses the video as you shoot it.
  The C920 also a 20-step autofocus that will work well for me.  The C910 autofocus is good but the C920 should be better.
  The C920 also has a tripod mount on it.  I like tripod mounts and it will let me move the camera around a little better.

  I will make a YouTube video with it and a little review of it when I get it tomorrow.

I know it is Monday

  On Monday the lawn crew shows up at this apartment complex.  They mow the lawn.  They use a weed eater.  They then use a blower. 
  I am glad the apartment people keep the place looking nice but I am an old man and I need my naps. 

  Then I got an unwanted phone call.  A robot call wanting to sell me a home security system. 
  My number is on the national and Texas do not call list but it does not seem to matter.  Plus I think I read that the FCC had issued an order that no robot telephone calls were to be allowed.

  I know… I am just getting old.. and everything upsets me….