A Timeless Reality

*Warning: This post contains a great deal of personification of inanimate objects. If you think that's weird, too bad.*


Last year I bought a Dell Inspiron 1525 and I love it! Along with the laptop, I bought a snazzy Dell printer, which I love not-so-much. Yes, it's a very nice printer and it does a great job. Well it does a great job when it's actually working...

You see, for some reason unbeknown to moi, they ("they" being the computer and printer) don't get along. They never have and I'm doubtful they ever will. I have no idea what their little feud is regarding, but they need to realize that their problems affect not only them, but the people around them (namely me). Really, how selfish can they be? Don't they notice that every time I need to print something, I have to transfer it to a flash drive and take it to another computer in the house?? How troublesome.

I must admit that on occasion they make a little peace treaty and actually cooperate. THAT is when I actually love my printer. Be aware though, that I've had this laptop/printer combination for almost a year, and they have worked together only one handful of times. That's pretty pitiful.

So as I thought about what to take with me to VT, I decided to leave the printer at home. I mean, it's not like it works, so why bother?

As soon as my dad realized that I was leaving the printer at home, he politely confiscated it (with my permission, but it's not like I could say no...) and hooked it up to his computer. Of course it works perfectly for him. Ugh not fair! I paid for it, it should be working for me. Traitor.

Anyways, yesterday I checked the Scholar (kinda like Blackboard) page for one of my classes and the syllabus made it quite clear that I would be printing handouts. Lots and lots and lots of handouts. So I get to thinking... hmm... do I really want to have to find a computer lab every time I need to print something? What about those mornings I wake up late and I've forgotten to print off these precious handouts for this 8am class? I sense that could cause unnecessary stress in my life.

Sooo... I've decided to take my printer with me and just find some technology diplomat (aka computer genius) to help the two warring parties resolve their differences. Sorry to disappoint your free-printer hopes, Daddy.

Yay problem solved... the only thing left to do this morning was to pick up a black cartridge to replace the empty one that is currently sitting in the printer. As I walked into Wal-mart, I called home to have Mom check what kind of cartridge it is. (I've never had to replace it before since it's only actually printed 5 times in the past year!!!) Mom can't find the little door to reveal what kind of cartridge it is, so she gets my brother to come look too. This goes on for a few minutes as I stand in the Wal-mart aisle laughing at the frustration I hear on the other end of the line. (This good looking guy gave me a weird look for laughing out loud...) My brother's saying "it's gotta be in the back... cuz it's not here on the front" and I'm thinking "uhh they would never put it on the back; that would be totally inconvenient". Finally I'm like "hey why don't you guys go get the printer manual and it will tell you". Then I listen as my mom proceeds to mumble the printer instructions in French as I'm thinking "if they have the instructions in French, they definitely have them in English too!".

Finally, I notice a little booklet attached to a shelf in the cartridge aisle. It lists all kinds of printers and the cartridges that they use. About the same time I find the cartridge I need, my brother announces he found the little door. It was on the front (who woulda thought?!?).

And that was the beginning of my search for my printer cartridge. Apparently Staples has a monopoly on this certain Dell cartridge, which I figured out by driving to all the other stores around. And Staples' prices are normally exorbitant, so I'm just going to order from Dell.

So yeah, printers and the cartridges that reside therein equal a major headache. And yeah, I probably got a little carried away with my laptop-and-printer-at-war analogy, but oh well, just go with it. :)

Fifteen minutes ago I started my HUGE Wal-Mart "things to buy before I leave for school" list. It took me about 30 seconds to write down 13 items. Well that was easy.

Ten minutes ago, I started straightening my hair.

Eight minutes ago, I realized I forgot to add "contact lens solution" to my list, so I walked to where my list sat (grabbing a swig of my forgotten can of Amp along the way) and wrote down this 14th item. Then I remembered I needed toothpaste. Then notebook paper. A minute later, my short, easy list was twice as long.

Not a huge problem. I'm quite good at shopping as long as I have a list in front of me. The problem is that I'm not going to Wal-mart until tomorrow. Which means my list will have plenty of time to double, quadruple, and expand to the tenth power. Lovely.

Oooh. I just looked at my reflection in the computer screen and noticed I never got back to straightening my hair. Whoops.

I've always been a goal-oriented person. I've had my career picked out since I was 5. I've had the upcoming decade of my life planned out since I was 10. I've had my huge, gorgeous log-home designed since I was 12.

I think I'm kind of a paradox because I am a very realistic, down-to-earth kind of girl, yet I love to dream and scheme. This comes down to: I know what I want and I'm going to get it. No matter what.

To achieve my goals, I put a lot of pressure on myself. That's fine; I can handle the pressure and if I didn't push myself, I would never accomplish my goals.

But this leads to a problem. Because I expect so much of myself, I also expect a lot from others. I want to be the best that I can be, so I assume that everyone else wants to be the best that they can be. Apparently this is not the case for the average American teen.

I have seen so many of my peers mess their lives up, it's ridiculous. They don't realize that there is so much more to live for then the NOW. They never think about consequences. About the fallout of their actions. About what things will be like in the morning.

It's hard for me to be merciful to my friends and loved ones when they mess up. I mean seriously, why would you hang out with those people? Why would you ever drive after drinking? Why would you talk your friends into messing up their lives too? Why don't you ever think about the future?? About what you could be? About how you could change the world instead of living your life as a nobody loser???

As I sat here thinking about all this, a familiar song started playing on last.fm. It's a song by OneRepublic. The chorus says:

Lost till you're found
Swim till you drown
Know that we all fall down
Love till you hate
Strong till you break
Know that we all fall down

Yes, we ALL fall down. Even me. People are not perfect. I am not perfect. We're only human. (Which makes me think of another song haha: Human by Jon McLaughlin...)

So please Lord... help my calm, rational self not get upset when people mess up. Help me to not get emotional. Help me to forgive in the same way You forgive. Amen.