My latest technological leap forward has me wishing for simpler days, for some “old-timey radio music” performed by the Soggy Bottom Boys long before computers, laser printers, drivers and wireless routers made my life so much easier.
The leap began with the switch from an ink jet to laser printer, a good move my more technologically advanced friends said, considering how much printing of rough drafts I do these days. One look at the installation manuel, and I knew the double leap to a wireless laser printer was too much for me.
I spent most of last night confirming what I suspected: the quick and easy installation process was not what it claimed to be. Much of the morning was spent on the phone with a rather snippy, androgynous-sounding member of the Brother support system. By the end of the call, he/she had me feeling like a first grader on the way to the principal’s office (though he/she told me to have a great day), and the printer was still not hooked up.
At that point, I gave up on the wireless installation and followed the quick and easy directions for a USB cable hook-up instead. Those directions lived up to their name, and within seconds I was printing off the crisp, clear copies promised in the promotional literature.
So my leap forward has a happy ending, though the effort exhausted me. I want to take the afternoon off and watch one of my all time favorite movies Oh, Brother Where Art Thou?. But I can’t, because we only have the movie on VHS. At this particular moment, our VCR is disconnected because Hiram ran out of time to put things back together yesterday after he tore everything apart while trying to improve the reception on our TV. The reception’s been horrible since we installed our converter box to keep up with the HD technological leap forward.
Suddenly, I am very, very tired. Dapper Dan, where are you?
