When It is Cheaper to Buy a New Printer

Best Buy at Mall of America sells affordable printers under $100.

The way things are made nowadays, it’s often easier to buy new than to fix something. Although, if you ask my husband, he will say fix it and keep using it until it completely disintegrates. One of the goals I unintentionally developed during my trip to Minneapolis for my Aunt Dolores’ funeral was to get my sister a new printer.  Her printer was so old that my equally old Mac laptop could not recognize it. Since she needed a new computer, I gave her my old Mac. Too many viruses on her former PC. May as well chuck it.

Although my old laptop features all of the recent updates, there was no way I could locate her printer, regardless of what I tried. Wireless connection just wasn’t gonna work. I spent about an hour trying to figure it out, inserting IP addresses and attempting a series of calculated moves to get it to work to no avail. This is when you start to say, hey, my time is worth more than it would cost to buy a new printer.

Where can I buy a new printer, I asked Siri. You know, Siri has been fairly worthless lately. I changed my Siri from an American diction to an English woman, whom my sister calls Posh Siri but I prefer to think of her as the Prime Minister. Not to go off on a tangent, but my niece Laura selected a male Australian Siri. She says he freaks her out with loud and aggressive driving instructions, when he suddenly screams, TEARN RIIIIIIIIIIght. In that Aussie accent. Prime Minster Siri keeps me much calmer, especially when I don’t know where I’m going, which is often.

I’ve just had so much real estate stuff on my mind. Coming back to Sacramento yesterday, I sat in the wrong row on the plane, in the bulkhead, instead of my preferred row 2. Just wasn’t thinking about seating, answering emails. Bulkhead lady seemed annoyed. I don’t usually sit in the bulkhead because I don’t like to stick my near-and-dear belongings in the overhead compartment. I want it easily accessible on the floor. And there is no place to put your feet. Row 2 is so much better. Who knows why I plopped myself there?

When we landed and I made my way to baggage claim I texted my husband that I had arrived. He asked if there was luggage on the conveyor belt.

Nope, no bags. Just hoardes of people, I said. I wasn’t in the bathroom, either, in case he was wondering. Definitely, I was standing in baggage claim. This is why I enjoy traveling with my husband more so than alone. Traveling with him means I can simply follow him while focusing on my work.

Which brings me back to the fact it’s cheaper to buy a new printer than figure out how to connect an older model to wireless. My sister and I drove to Mall of America. I remember when that place opened and people lost their cars in the parking deck. It was shiny and new then. Now it’s a bit rundown and stores are vacating. The days of retail are numbered.

But we found a new printer at Best Buy. Connected it for my sister. We installed a new dehumidifier for her in the basement too. She should be set for the summer now. And I’m ready to jump back into Sacramento real estate without the distractions of a personal life again. You can’t do the volume of business I do and lead a normal life. It’s not possible.