Allan

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the exciting world of new old printers

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I found a new printer – at a yard sale – for twenty bucks.  Yes, I know, it’s not new.  It has the same printing mechanism as my old HP Photosmart C5150 except that it has no scanner and it has different letters – D7260.  Not sure if it’s the D or the higher value numbers that make it print in all colours, but this one does.  As Aaron would say, “How dope is that!?”  It print didn’t when I tried it at the yard sale [error – error – does not compute], but I was confident I could repair it, and I did.

What about the old one?  (A freebie from work a hundred years ago!)  Try as I might, I could not get the C5150 to print blue.  The weird thing is that there are two blues in it (actually, cyan) – a regular blue and a light blue – but neither of them printed.  If it were just one type of blue, I’d say the ink suction tube was faulty or the print head was damaged, but the two blues use different ink streams – cartridges, tubes, portions of the print head.  So what gives?  Short of replacing the print head (which I did for the HP Offiejet 7610, a wide-format printer), I can find no way of getting the blue to print.

Doesn’t matter now.  The D7260 prints nicely.   Happy happy joy joy.

Holy heck.  In writing this Ongoing Letter entry, I nodded off like three times.  If I find it lacking adequate excitement so as to fall asleep this many times, I can imagine how you might feel reading it.  I think it also has something to do with the heat.  It’s hotter than Arizona asphalt out there, and it’s making me dopey.

high-pitched squeaky-talk

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In reading about ocean life, as mentioned in my previous Ongoing Letter entry, I saw this article, “How to talk to little kids“.  (No, you didn’t read it wrong.  I know the two concepts aren’t related.  But there was an ad, if you can call it that, to read the article.  And of course, being a kids’ tutor, I had to click on it.)

I don’t agree with all of it, but one thing the article mentioned that also drove me a little batty when teaching kids is adults’ habit of talking in high-pitched squeaky-talk sing-song voices.  Aunts or uncles or grandparents would come by sometimes and say, in a sing-song tone, “Ohhhhh, you‘re speaking English!!!”  Not sure who it drove nuts more – me or the child.  The child, of course, would roll their eyes, get terribly embarrassed, and never open their mouth (in English) again while they were there.  Parents, on the other hand, would not.  Why?  I asked them to please not do that.  It hinders the overall process of learning to speak another language.  “Talk to them normally, (in English)” I asked.  They would, except for one really old grandmother who came by who spoke to everyone younger than her that way all the time.

life out there

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Wow.  Surprises around every corner.  This morning I read an article from NPR.

We (humans) only understand about 5% of the oceans, according to the article.  Yes, we have giant flotillas of plastic out there, but no it’s not too late to figure out what to do about it.  The oceans are still very much alive with a surprising level of diversity in so many places.

7 applications

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Today I put out seven applications for employment, some in Calgary, one in Edmonton, a couple in Lethbridge.

I was discussing this with M&F today – about taking work in Calgary.  1. There are more architectural positions there, and 2. the pay is higher there than in Lethbridge.  However, what I would pay in rent, utilities, food, fuel for longer commutes, fuel back and forth from Calgary to Lethbridge, and a few more things, it seems not worth it at all.

Bottom line – my Mom is in Lethbridge and needs help being looked after, so I’ll likely stay in Lethbridge.  Even if there is no work in architecture, there will be work in civil.

lawyer, ashes, portfolio, Mother’s Day, OA

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No word from the lawyer yet about Father’s estate.  I wonder how long this is going to take.  He did say it may take upwards of a year, so I wait patiently.  I called today to get an update, and his secretary said he’d call me back at 11:30AM, but no word.

Aunt Isobel is going to take Uncle Al’s ashes to Manitoba to the Johnston plot.  I would like to take Father’s ashes there, too, but I haven’t the funds to get there.  No work yet, and the price of fuel has gone up considerably lately.  It’s now $1.35 / litre.

I’ve put my portfolio online.  See one of my other webs, allansplace.net, to have a look.  As time goes on, I’ll put more work on and fine-tune other work.  As it is now, I’ve got Architectural and Civil work there.  There’s still a lot more to put on yet.

I gave Mom three roses for Mother’s Day a few days ago – two red for Aizlynn & I and one peach for Glenn.  She’s often said that one rose is just as nice as a dozen; it’s the thought that counts.  And, being Mom with three kids, I thought 3 roses would be nice.

OA, a coffee and college buddy, has made noises for a few months about getting his driver’s license but lacks a car to practise on.  His friends work and have little time to help him, so I’ve had him practise in my car.  We’ve gone out 3 times and need one more.  His test is next Tuesday.