Printing, technology difficulty level 1? Really? REALLY?

There has been one constant in all my years after graduating from college. Printers never just work - especially on a network. One time, before I knew much about technology and upgrades, our IT department upgraded the accounting software. They forgot that accountants print stuff. A lot of stuff. Accounting is a one-industry climate wrecking machine. We destroy forests because we cannot stand not being able to tick a number with a red pen on paper. They fixed the problem, but we almost had to hire a psychologist to deal with the fallout in our office.

I work from home now. My network is pretty basic. Actually, given my level of technology expertise, it's a miracle I can see my Mac mini from my Macbook and from my very old Windows laptop. I really think it's the simplicity of the Mac environment that has made this possible. Stuff just works. I even hooked up my Apple TV without any problem. Enter the WiFi-enabled printer. Should just work, right? Well, at first, it did. Actually, for several years, it just worked. Everything connected. It was always there. No issues other than eating ink, but that's probably my fault. 

Yesterday, my internet connection goes down - the WiFi is still active - I can see the Mac Mini from the Macbook. But not the printer. Temperamental little shit. Internet comes back and now the printer won't find my router. It's 3 flippin' feet away from the router and all it would find was my neighbor's WiFi. I was beyond annoyed. The proper sequence is as follows: 

1. router off
2. printer off
3. router on
4. printer on
5. printer off
6. router off
7. router on
8. printer on
9. printer off
10. walk away
11. printer on
12. cuss
13. printer off
14. eat dinner
15. hit printer
16. threaten it with replacement
17. printer on
18. Print before it changes its mind

Weekend Travels

I made a quick trip to California this past weekend. I visited friends in Palm Springs and then on to Long Beach for a 66 2/3 birthday party. It was a great trip. I've possibly recruited 3 couples for my African Safari trip next year. My friend Bill and I have been planning to go for some time and now my other travel buddies might be interested. Don/Diane and Jon/Barb were with me in Vietnam and Don/Diane and Louis/Carol were with me in the Caribbean.

In Vietnam (2012), from left: Bonnie, Roger, Diane, Don, Barb, Jon, Sheri

Palm Springs was lovely. It's just about to get too hot, but the mornings and evenings are wonderful. They hold a Thursday night festival that was fun. Most of my time was spent with Jerry because Bill was working out of town. Jerry doesn't like plane travel so he won't go with us to Africa. 

Jerry, Bill and Savannah

Thursday night market

Savannah

Relaxing with coffee and a newspaper

Drinks before dinner

     I drove to Long Beach on Saturday for the birthday party. Sunday was the day I set aside to visit with Don, Diane, Louis and Carole. Louis let me drive his 1955 T-Bird that he's restored. It's won several medals in car shows. He doesn't let many people drive it. I was a little nervous, but it was a really cool car to drive. Don gave me the nickel tour of Long Beach. It's much nicer than I expected. I'm not a big fan of Southern California normally.  

Cinco de Mayo Breakfast

Cinco de Mayo Dinner

Louis and his baby

My flight back on Monday was uneventful for the most part. I was almost late for my flight from LA because of the rental car bus and I was almost late for my connection because my LA flight ended up delayed. Thank goodness for CrossFit - I only had moments to spare. I was doing my best OJ Simpson Hertz commercial at O'Hare getting from terminal B to terminal C. 

Sightseeing in Long Beach

MALS

For the longest time, I've been wanting to get a Masters in Liberal Studies (MALS) degree. Just before I decided to leave California, I found a program I really liked. I moved before I could start the program. After I moved back to Florida, I researched programs. There were none in driving distance and limited options online. Most online programs are geared toward getting an MBA or some other degree that will help you make money. My goal is to learn interesting things. 
I've had it in the back of my mind to sign up for a class for quite awhile. I took an online class with UNC-Greensboro a couple years ago. The class was great, but most of their offerings at that time were not interesting - at least not the online options. They had plenty of great MALS content, but most of the best options were in-class rather than online. That has changed recently and I thought about applying to the program. As an out-of-state student, the cost is pretty high. 
The degree itself is not what is important to me. I'm interested in learning. I don't need a structured program. In fact, structure is the antithesis of what I want. 
I periodically receive an email from Coursera.org because I looked into their classes when they first announced their website.The first group of offerings weren't that appealing. Most of the classes were technology-related or medical. Neither of these were really what I wanted. I'm looking for more psychology, literature, global issues, etc. Subjects that will make me a more well-rounded person. I've signed up for two classes. In my next post, I'll discuss my choices.