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  Image by Biljana Jovanovic from Pixabay Keeping New Years fun during "COVID time" It's difficult to think about being grateful or happy during New Year celebrations when there's a pandemic going on. With the stress of social distancing, naysayers, government turmoil, and anything else that 2020 decides to rain down on us, IT ...IS ...REALLY ...HARD! I couldn't agree more! But, dig deeper and pat yourself on the back because we made it. The human race continues to survive up to 2021 and as much as we think the world is at its end, it's still spinning and we're still kicking. So, with the ailments of 2020 how do we celebrate? How do we have fun safely? Hopefully I can give a few good ideas.  1. The Rose Parade is cancelled 😭 Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash The Rose Parade is cancelled?!?!? Well, sort of. They are still planning to have a T.V. special which sounds different and exciting. So far a lot of virtual T.V. specials, due to the pandemic, have ...

Image by, ME! 😜   My Top 5 Christmas Movies! It's cold, a good time for hot cocoa and ideal for snuggling up without excuses! Gather your kids, your dog, your favorite Snuggie and get ready to dust off those Christmas movies. Ah, but there are so many to choose from! Hopefully I can provide some good recommendations to get you started! Again, like my Halloween list, the scale I've tipped these movies on are based mostly on appropriateness and fun, not entirely best to worst.  1. Klaus (Rated PG) *Ages 5+ Image by Netflix borrowed from IMDB This movie is great! Oftentimes I don't expect much from Netflix productions but this one turned out pretty good and is rightfully number one on my list.  The movie to me feels like Disney's the Emperor's new groove and MGM's Adams family were best friends and met up for a Christmas party. Klaus is a reimaged story of how Santa Claus came to be. It has a few parts of the story explaining some of the stories that make Santa, S...

Photo by  Tessa Rampersad  on  Unsplash Safe, affordable, Christmas-ing! Amongst the rest of the holidays this year, everything is different, very different. We are surviving and making things work! Christmas, without a doubt, is not an exception and it is very important to stay safe. Thankfully some communities and companies have put together some wonderful drive through Christmas experiences but, here at Ridiculously Ben, I like to keep my eye out for affordability and ease. Here are some suggestions to have a very merry Christmas and safe Christmas experience in the Los Angeles area. Where can I see some lights? I've been seeing a lot of drive through Christmas venues out there, which are nice, but not too affordable. Starting from $50 to well, the sky's the limit. With some folks out of work or on a budget from Christmas shopping...

Image by composita from Pixabay Make Money While You Walk? Photo by Sahand Hoseini on Unsplash Still recovering from that thanksgiving feast? Need a plan for that all day course meal on Christmas? Maybe some incentive could help!  Many apps out there will tell you or advertise with videos that you'll get paid to do nothing but a simple walk in the park, but is it true? Is it even possible? Is it really possible to make some extra cash idly while walking, jogging, running, or anything that involves these types of exercises? What if I told you yes??? Exciting right? I'll give you the truth for the average Joe like myself and before I get started on this post I'll give you the short answer: Is it poss...

I mage from Microsoft  support vc_runtimeMinimum_x86.msi, a file supposedly missing and never found! Here's the once and for all fix! (Quick Post) 2020 is full of problems, problems with playing computer games or streaming SHOULD NOT be one of them. Recently, maybe with the most recent windows update , I've been running into an issue with installing and running certain games. It's even happening with my streaming and desktop recording programs. A mysterious and ugly "missing" registry key for C++ in relation to vc_runtimeMinimum_x86.msi. So, what is this and how do we fix it? Here's the solution! What is Microsoft visual C++ redistributable? (Skip fluff?) I'll try to make this as simple as possible. Visual C++ Redistributable is what many programs, that use the C++ programming language, use as quick references to pre-made functions and ...

Photo by Kiy Turk on Unsplash 2020 has been a CRAZY year! What can we possibly be thankful for? (Quick Post) For a year of uncertainty and for many, despair, it is hard to find things to be thankful for this year. With COVID-19, politics, protests, and violence it is hard to even imagine some positivity. At the end of the day, there is a lot we can be thankful for but, for some of us we have to dig deep and shovel the bad to the side. Hopefully, my list of what I'm thankful for can help you reflect on what you can be thankful for! 😉 Lets start with the worst of it COVID-19 When we put aside the beliefs, anger, stress, illness, and death there are a few things to be thankful for from this experience. Here's a list! Photo by  Anna Shvets ...

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash I'm not going to tell you to vote. I'm going to tell you HOW to vote. First of all, I'm not going to tell you to vote, like the rest of the world and the internet does. A huge problem I'm seeing with myself and the rest of the United States is that they look to others on who and what to vote for. I'm here to tell you that you shouldn't get all worked up about it! Also, it should be 100% your decision, not someone else's. I've seen over the years that people really don't know how to vote (as in the action of doing so, not who or what). Allow me to convince you with a little "food for thought", if you haven't voted already. Now, as promised to myself, I would reserve my blog for a few political posts a year, but overall I try to stay out of it. So when would be a better ...