Waiting for the man. . .

I actually wanted to get out today but I have to wait around for Staples to deliver my new laser printer. That's what I get for being impulsive.

You see, I have a dell computer. I've had a few dells and they've been pretty good so I've stayed loyal. Anyways, the last time I bought a computer from them, I took advantage of a deal and bought a cheap inkjet printer off them. I rarely print graphics. If I want a photograph, I send the files to a photo shop and get them done right. Basically, I use the printer for 1) reciepts for online purchases 2) the occasional letter when it strikes my fancy (who doesn't like getting an actual ink and paper letter, especially in the email age?) and 3) printing the occasional story I may write. So a cheap printer should be fine, right?

Wrong. In an attempt to reduce the cost of the thing, the makers of the printer decided they didn't need a dedicated black ink cartridge. Which is fine, as long as you are not planning on printing black text. What this particular printer attempts to do is combine the other colours to create black. Any text I've written winds up looking kind of dark greyish on the page, kind of like using a typewriter ribbon that's on it's last legs but maybe not as faint.

It's irked me since I bought the thing but I've been too cheap to do something about it. I couldn't see buying another printer when this one sort of worked.

So yesterday I hit the breaking point. I wrote a letter, printed it and saw again how bad the quality really was. I went on the staples website because I'm kind of fond of shopping in my pyjamas and found an entry level laser printer that was on sale. I figured if I'm going to do a bunch of writing then I should look at the lasers as they apparently do the best text. Even better, there was free next day shipping on the thing.

So now I'm drinking tea, listening to some discs I haven't listened to in a while and wishing they had an option where I could just go pick it up at the store.

Progress. . .