For the last several days I have been suffering buyer's remorse for thinking I had got a good deal on a smaller but better equipped printer than the one that had given me many years of good service. This "good deal" was an HP J4550 Office-jet All-in-One printer for - get this, (who could resist it) $36.00. The problem was not its phenomenal gobbling of ink but, when I bought an XL cartridge the message the machine gave, every time, that it was not an approved HP cartridge although it was bought in an HP package. But, enough of that. I spent many hours over three days trying to get the machine fixed through internet connections (hence the many friends I made - they all, except the one in Alabama are having weather problems, too), but even with friendly intentions - no one had the answer and I made the hard decision to tell the supervisors (many were involved behind the scenes) to take back their machine (a third one) and give me my money back. I think this has been accomplished but the holiday season may cause a delay in shipping and refunding of monies spent on the printer and the really relatively inexpensive cartridges - except for the machines' propensity to gobble up the ink.
But, enough about printers: here are the two pre-New Years' Resolutions:
1. I am going to finish transcribing my notes made aboard ship on our recent cruise. I wrote them while waiting for customers to come and have their left profiles sketched while whiling away the time sharing their life's stories to me. The notes are hard to read or understand and I will be rewriting them and the story as new ideas occur and work their way into the narrative. This is not impossible but I have delayed because of a sneaking suspicion that nothing will help this story. I can't get the heroes to fit my early enthusiasm for their heroic qualities nor have I been able to capture the true villainous nature of the villains who must be bested so the story has a reasonable ending. Of course the subplot of a love story is muddy for I don't see how I can get the two protagonists together in a clearly possible way - but, they may have to dissolve their relationship even as it progresses. But, enough about that. I will TRY to transcribe those notes and get the story filled out enough to let Rose-Mary's friends in the editing and publishing business have a whack at it. Nebuchadnezzar's Pillar is out there and I am just trying to find it with my cast of bumbling scholars, odd characters from Quinter, Kansas and rings of looters and smugglers who flit in and out of the story.
2. I am going to buckle down and learn my part for my 2nd Bar Mitzvah.