I bought an HP PSC 2510. PSC stands for Printer, Scanner, Copier in case anyone was wondering.
This printer has USB, Ethernet, and Wireless interfaces so I was able to install it in my office but then every computer in our house can access it via our wireless network.
It also has slots in the front so that you can put memory cards from a variety of digital cameras into it and print directly from them.
I was able to scan a picture in no time flat and the print speed is great from black and color.
Mostly, it removes the headache of trying to keep three other old printers limping along and supplied with ink cartridges.
I considered, briefly, buying $49 printers from Best Buy but I have a problem with paying that much for a printer and then $65 for the cartridges when they need to be replaced.
There was also the "I typed this on my computer but I need to print it out on the main computer because my printer is out of ink". This would of course be a problem because someone else would be using the main computer for another reason and God forbid we get along and help someone out. Now, I don't have to referee anything because these delightful things called queues and printer memory take care of sharing for me!
Wow...I went outside last night and got to see the Northern Lights. It wasn't a matter of squinting or looking in the right portion of the sky either because the entire sky was alive with light.
At one point it looked like an explosion of light had its epicenter over our house and then radiated out from there in a myriad of red, orange, magenta, and purple colors. These lightened and then met a streams of greenish-blue colors that seemed to bursting upwards from the horizon.
The colors would start to fade and then suddenly streaks of brighter colors would appear, the pattern would shift, and another symphony of electromagnetic beauty would begin to play.
We don't have much light pollution where we live and so the stars are usually pretty bright. The Big Dipper was on its side directly across the street from us, framed by the road itself, but even those stars faded into the background as the Northern Lights took the lead in the dance of the stars.
Ok, enough of the imagery....suffice to say that it was wicked cool!
Rain splatters on the window
Wind blows, branches wave
Leaves skip across the lawn
Chipmunks scurry, nuts to save
Pillow and arm cradles my head
Sleeping mind silently crys
Silence the alarm clock before it rings
Let not night bid goodbye
Stay abed, feet tucked in
Shower skip and breakfast late
Postpone meetings, stay at home
All that work can wait
We had the first of what I hope is many wine tasting dinners last Friday night. The theme was Cabernet Sauvignon wines. We had four different cabs and one port with dessert for the evening.
I think all of them tasted pretty good which is a good thing to remember when you are buying wine since the prices were $10, $14, $17, and $35. I really liked the Clos Du Bois Napa Valley which was $14 a bottle. I liked the other ones too but I don't know if I liked the $35 wine, Clos Du Bois Marlstone, twice as much as the other one to justify the more than doubled price.
Mostly, it was a fun evening of hanging out and talking with friends.
It will be interesting to see what we do for next month's dinner...Champagne or Chardonnay?
I spent around three hours this weekend a couple of hours the weekend before doing stuff with leaves. I have an electric leaf blower which also operates as a vacuum/mulcher. The plus side is that it operates as a mulcher pretty well when the leaves are dry. I don't think it is any less work than just raking them up though.
I wanted to get what was on the ground up since rain was forecasted for the week and raking up wet and matted leaves is a pain.
I got it all pretty much done before it started to rain on Sunday so that was good. The down side is that there's still a lot of leaves in the trees that have yet to fall into my yard.
I'm having a wine tasting dinner in 10 days and we'll be tasting four different Cabernet Sauvignon wines. Good Friends asked if I was aware that a Mutual Friend is a vegetarian.
I sent her an email asking if she had any ideas and she told me about a vegetarian cassoulet recipe that she had found.
I gathered the ingredients and made that for dinner last night. Everyone (including the kids and some of their friends) liked it and it went pretty well with a cheap bottle of Cab that I had hanging around.
I think the only thing that could make it better would be the addition of some steak tips. ;-)
I called in sick today but have been pretty much working non-stop since I did. I guess that's the down side of having a home office. I have a slight fever but mostly didn't want to be stuck in a car feeling like I do.
Worked for most of the day yesterday to install the new shower. Then Beautiful Wife and I went shopping to buy "stuff" to put in the bathroom because now there is a shower in there. Every big project spawns a multitude of little projects.
I really enjoy working on the house, a lot. Youngest Daughter is using the new shower and I have a great deal of pride in the fact that I helped put in in and made it possible.
What I miss is hanging out with our Good Friends at the CCB bar or over their house.
We have two soccer games to attend today, at a tournament in York. One is at 12:30 and the other is at 3:15 so we have not enough time to go home, but plenty of time on our hands there. I hope it is going to be a nice day.
It's been a busy week for home computer stuff. I bought a couple of USB attached wireless adapters for Son's and Oldest Daughter's computers. Honestly, I couldn't believe how smoothly the installation went on Daughter's computer. The installation on Son's had to be aborted because he doesn't have a CD ROM drive. We got the computer from my mom's old job after they got bought out by a bigger law firm. Before we moved it was close enough to the wireless access point that I could use an Ethernet cable.
Anyway, I've ordered an external CD ROM drive and then we should be in business.
I also increased the RAM on our home system from 256MB to 512MB.
I hate to have word of all these upgrades make it out to the in-laws and out-laws since they'll think I'm back in the PC support business.
In-law: Bobby Kenny has a Palm Pilot he bought at a yard sale for $10. Can you fix it so he can get Internet, email, and IM his friends?
Out-law: Can you setup my car radio so that it gets Internet? It is already wireless right? I should be able to drive through the neighborhood and get Internet for free right? *evil but incredibly stupid chuckle*
On the way back the three of us got seperated and I was with the Chatty Co-Worker. She talked if I had my eyes closed, she talked if I was trying to read a book, I think she talked when I got up to use the bathroom. She read a magazine but she read it out loud and did a running commentary while reading. She pulled out last month's pay stub and wondered what all the different deductions meant.
I think you get the picture. Needless to say, catching any sleep during the 3.5 hour train ride wasn't possible.
We all drove down together so I drove from Boston to one of the co-worker's home in Hampton (Chatty One lives further north). As soon as we got in the car and I needed some navigational help...you guessed it...out like a light.
If the title sounds exciting at all, let me assure you that it wasn't. I was up at 3am to shower, dress, and then drive to a co-worker's house so that we could leave there by 4:30am. Myself and two other co-workers then drove down to South Station in one car to catch a 6:15am train to Penn Station.
Taking the train was pretty cool, but also pretty expensive. It was $200 each for business class and then we upgrade to first class because I had read on the 'net that they had wireless internet access for the entire trip. That turned out to be false so I lugged my laptop around all day for nothing.
We got there, visited the office on 5th Avenue, and then went over to the customer's office on Water Street, right near Wall Street. That meeting went much longer than expected which took away our "hang out in the city time" before catching the return train at 5pm. We did ride on the subway and the taxi ride through the streets of New York put many thrill rides in amusement parks to shame.
The downstairs bathroom used to be the laundry room too. It has a fairly large closet and the water hookups for the washing machine. Mom's Boyfriend is a plumber and said he'd be able to get a four foot shower in there so now we'll be a two shower house.
The only foreseeable issue is that we have hot water that comes right off the oil furnace on demand. It may not handle having two showers go at the same time so we'll probably have to get a stand-alone hot water heater.
Oh, and I was going to bring it through the sliding glass door so I've got to get the tree cleaned up before this weekend. I also have to take off the sliding doors, molding, and shelves in the bathroom closet that is going to be showerized.
I cut down a fairly large pine tree this weekend and it landed exactly where I wanted it to land. I was very proud of myself. I cut down a bunch of smaller trees to make way for an even bigger pine tree.
I notched it, cut it to make the hinge, and then it started to fall where I planned. Instead, a gust of wind came, the branches caught on a nearby tree, and it started to fall directly at me! I let go of the chainsaw, ran a short distance, and watched the huge tree come crashing down on the deck.
I was cutting down the tree so that sunlight could finally reach the deck and it could dry it out. That is not an issue any more once I clean up this huge freakin pine tree.
The good news is that it didn't hit the house. I also found out exactly what bad shape the deck was in before I started doing any more sanding or finishing of the thing. I tried to use a piece of the railing as a lever to move a log. I put minimum pressure against it and it snapped in my hands because it was rotted through. Also, the deck was attached to the house with nails which isn't a very safe design.
I've got a lot of clean up to do now, because this is one big tree. If it landed where planned I could have left a lot of it hidden in the woods. Now, all of it has to be cut and dragged out of the way.
The homecoming dance at the high school was last night. Middle Daughter had four friends sleep over and oldest daughter had two. Son didn't have any which is a real rarity. Youngest Daughter was at a birthday sleepover for a friend.
This house is great. The older girls were in the basement watching something down there and camped out in the finished living room. Middle Daughter and her friends had the upstairs living room and camped out there. Beautiful Wife and I were able to close the door, turn on a fan, and go to sleep without hearing a thing.
I got up and showered before any of them woke up and started to make breakfast. I fried up bacon on an electric griddle, fried hash browns in the deep fryer, and toasted frozen waffles. I couldn't believe how much food those 9th grade girls were able to put away.
They are gradually getting picked up and I'm enjoying a cup of coffee. I t is such a nice day...I think I may do some work outside.
I listened on the radio and heard about all the grief Arnold is going through because of his behavior on movie sets. Give me a break. You mean you're supposed to act like a saint when you're on a set, making millions, you're the star, unmarried, and (for the most part) women are throwing themselves at you?
Actually, except for the married part, that sounds a lot like President Clinton...
I can't even begin to imagine how my past would be spun if they got their hands on my blogs, or comments I've made on other blogs. I guess I better eschew the public life of a politician.
I was waiting in line at the checkout this morning. It is such a chilly day that I decided to buy some of those fake logs for the fireplace just to brighten things up. I've got two sick kids at home, but they're able to watch tv upstairs while I work in my office downstairs.
Anyway, I stood there and glanced at the covers of all the magazines there (Ashley Judd looked hot on one of them) when I noticed one of the Enquirer type of magazines. The headline? Osama and Sadam married in a gay marriage to each other. They pasted Sadam's face on a picture of a bride in dress and veil and they appear to be walking down the aisle arm-in-arm. I almost bough the magazine because it also contained a "bonus-bonus-bonus": an amulet that will protect you from falling meteors.
One of these times I'm going to have to buy one of them to find out what techniques will "drive me crazy."