How was your weekend? Mine was full of the usual cooking, laundry, and some cookie baking on Saturday. Part of Sunday was spent re-potting all of my MiL's plants. They probably hadn't been re-potted in over a decade, and while they are just run-of-the-mill houseplants like philodendron, several family members are emotionally attached. The temperature was approaching 70 degrees on Sunday, so I decided to stop being scared of the task and went to my BiL's house armed with potting soil, pots, and rooting hormone. It took me almost three hours, and I got involved and dirty, so I didn't even take any pictures. So please imagine six large pots of philodendron, four pothos, and two pots of arrowhead vine, newly potted and looking somewhat healthy. If you have a moment, please send some good plant rooting thoughts my way. I really don't want to be the person to kill my deceased MiL's plants.
spent wasted three hours on Sunday looking for a new printer. Our old one has been slowly dying, so I searched Amazon, Best Buy, and Staples, but couldn't find anything that even seemed workable. I've never successfully set up a wireless printer, so I wanted one that could print in color, scan, and copy, but also had wired and wireless connectivity. I also looked at the (shockingly high) cost of ink cartridges and didn't want one that locked me into an automatic ink subscription. That ruled out HP, and I spent way too much time looking at Canon and Epson models before narrowing my choices down to two different Canon models from Best Buy. I was about to flip a coin when Justin suggested I pour a glass of wine and think about if I really needed to buy a printer at all. He had just been to Staples to print his fishing license and said that he got three copies printed and laminated for less than $2.00. Much of what I print is taxes, and then I can go for months without printing anything. After finishing my wine, I decided to save $250 and not buy a printer. I will have to print at Staples occasionally, but they are about two miles away and open seven days a week. Justin did some quick figuring in his head and he thought I could print the few things I needed at Staples for about 15 years before I even approached spending $250. I left the printers in my Best Buy cart, but we'll see how we fare without one. The sense of relief I felt at finally reaching a decision that felt workable was worth quite a lot!This article sums up my feelings about printers quite well. (And this one, too.)
Good for you doing all the re-potting - that's a lot of work. I'm sending the healthy root vibes to all your plants. And oh wow! I so agree with you on the printer issue. I lucked out and was able to bring home my "old" laser printer from work. It is actually more compact than my original home printer. It only prints in B&W, but that is fine for me. I realize I do use it a lot...I print out recipes and I'm always printing out knitting patterns. but I don't really need to do that. I've had it now for 5+ years with no issues. When it dies I will probably just do without.
ReplyDeleteI am in awe of your repotting skills! Well done to you... and I am imagining those plants all wiggling their roots with joy!
ReplyDeleteAnd printers... yes. To all of it, and why is this such a common problem? Why haven't they improved at all?
Justin is very wise. I do print quite a lot for work, so it's important that we have a printer in the house, but the one we have is a laser printer that is only black and white, so it's a little more cost-effective. But back when I was in the office, I very rarely printed things out at home because I could print them at work.
ReplyDeleteI am sending good plant thoughts in your general direction!
Good for you with the re-potting!!! It's usually better to do a bunch of it at once (like you did. . . ) because it's messy and a bit emotionally taxing. I'll bet those plants thrive with your TLC!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you have a great solution to your printer woes (plus . . . you won't have to keep it clean). I do have a very nice HP all-in-one printer that I bought a couple of years ago. I refused to purchase an "ink subscription" and just replace the (very expensive) cartridges as I need them, so you don't HAVE to go that subscription route. (Just in case you ever decide you DO need/want a printer.) Tom needs a printer for work, and he has a laser printer. And I need the scanner for my ongoing, never-ending photo project . . .
we have a new to us printer and I'm very disappointed in it - however, I DID NOT research...so I guess I deserve it. My old one was fantastic but it met it's end.
ReplyDeleteGood for you for tackling the repotting of the plants! It's an overwhelming type of project, for sure. I feel you on the printer situation. I actually finally bought a new printer last week (right before I started March Monday Madness!), we haven't had a working one at home for ages and I need one for documenting OLW and other things and Dale really needs one since he doesn't have access to one at work. I went with the Canon TS6320. It was easy to set up, prints from my laptop or smart phone, and . . . so far, so good!
ReplyDeleteAre you the designated re-potting family member? Just curious. I wish someone would come to my house and re-pot my plants! They all need it, and one of them is a 7 ft. ficus, which is a total PIA to drag out of the house and then drag back in. Maybe that explains why I haven't done it in a while? LOL I'm sure your plants will do great with a new to them dirt. We have bought too many printers here, one model twice, yes twice, because it printed so well, but neither of them lasted very long, so consult me on the model of this Canon printer if you decide to buy one. It's a dud. We now have a Brother B&W because my husband thinks we need one. The article is right, they all suck! Here's to both of us having a non-sucky week. :)
ReplyDeleteWine instead of printer shopping seems very sensible to me !
ReplyDeleteJillxo
It was the best suggestion I heard all day!
DeleteGo Justin! And that plant makes me want one! :-)
ReplyDeleteOh I'm sending up all the best root-rooting prayers ... and just love Justin's thought process about the printer. I know I print a lot because I can, and very rarely because I NEED to. Not worrying about ink is a huge plus, too!
ReplyDeleteI'm rooting for your plants. Interesting printer commentary/information too.
ReplyDelete