Mar 05

Like always, visit my site at: http://www.thomnichols.com/
Good news and bad news. The good news is that I completely finished the River of Magic last week. (That was why there wasn’t a blog entry last week. I wanted to get it finished and didn’t do anything else.) The bad news is that I couldn’t get it printed. We got a new printer and it’s really nice. It’s an HP Officejet 4500 G510g-m. The old printer was a dog. It would have taken me all day to print it, so when I started I was glad we had the new one. I printed the first page, a cover page, to test it and watched to make sure everything was going correctly. So, I stared at it and stared at it, but nothing came out. I checked everything. It was connected correctly, and since it is a work printer and I’ve seen things printed from it before, I began to grow concerned. I tried printing a test page from a different document and my first page printed out. Wearily, I tried to print another page. It worked and it came out a little faster. So, concerned about getting it all printed because this one looked like a dog too, I started pumping out the pages. I didn’t them one at a time because I was printing on both sides. I managed to get 18 pages printed before I ran out of ink. I put in a new cartridge and it actually picked up speed. I printed all the way to page 104 before I ran out of ink again. Putting in another cartridge, I began to grow concerned again. This was the last cartridge and I still had 150+ pages to go. I knew that there wasn’t going to be enough ink. So, I printed out up to page 168 before I stopped. I couldn’t run work out of ink or someone might start wondering what I was doing. So, now I’m stuck. I don’t have anywhere to print out the rest of the pages. I tried logging into the maintenance computer downstairs. I set it up and put a slow, but sturdy printer on it. When I got down there, I tried my old password, but someone had changed it. I found the new one written down, but I must have typed it in wrong because I ended up locking up the sign on. So, I decided to wait until after the weekend and try again today. Either they changed it from what they have written down, or I’m just an idiot because I locked it up again. My brother offered to print it for me, and I might have to use him as a last resort. But, I’m going to try a few more things here before then.

While I’m waiting on getting River of Magic printed, I’m going to start working on Gremlin Planet again. A new book has been rattling around in my head. It’s going to be called Sliders. But, I’m not really ready for it yet. But, from what I’ve been thinking, it sounds pretty good.
More good news, it is baseball season finally. So far, I haven’t been able to see any games. If they’ve televised any, I’ve missed them. But, I did have to work some overtime this weekend, so I have an excuse. I tried pulling up a spring training schedule for the Rockies tonight just to see what they’ve been doing and catch up on their news. But, I had a lot of trouble finding it. The only thing so far that I was able to get score wise was their win today. I know they tied their first spring training game, but I couldn’t find it written down anywhere. When I’m done with this blog, I think I’ll continue looking. That way I can find any games that are going to be televised before I go crazy.
My brothers and I went down to my mom’s house today. It was the first time we’ve all been together in a long while. We were supposed to have a get together on Super Bowl Sunday, but my youngest brother couldn’t make it. So, we spent all morning talking. Like all families, they had their ups and downs. But, overall, I think everyone is ok. Then, I took my mom out for lunch to this new for me little Mexican fast food restaurant. My mom had been there before and it was pretty good. I might have to go back. I would put the name in here, but I don’t remember what it was. It was something like Fresh Something or Something Fresh. Like all restaurants, however, the pictures they put up on their menu board was much better than the actual meal. But, it was good.
Last week my son and daughter in-law bought their first car. It was a 2007. Everyone kept asking what kind and stuff like that. All I know was that it was red and it looked nice. The best part of the car buying experience was that they provided complementary cookies, granola bars, popcorn, and water. My granddaughter and I went out of there with stuffed pockets. (Oh wait, that might have just been me) But, they also had a really nice massage chair. We played around in that for quite a while. We probably would still be there but some other people came in that were buying a car and wanted to use it. So, we spilled popcorn all over the place and went out to eat our cookies. The kids did pick a really nice car though. It was big and roomy, but small enough to hopefully get good gas mileage. They said that it had some get-up-and-go and my wife said that she could do the tune ups because she found the spark plugs easily. I was lost on the technical side of the conversation, but I did notice that I could easily fit someone in the trunk. It was huge.
My eldest daughter had a good interview with a little Italian restaurant downtown here at the 16th street mall. She’s going for a delivery person. (They make a butt-load of money in tips because they deliver to all the huge office buildings downtown) But, they might find a place for her in a different capacity. She went over the interview with us and it sounded like she did really well. She’ll know by Wednesday. I hope she gets it, and not just because of their spaghetti. (Which was wonderful)
I fulfilled my main goal last Monday. I’ve been trying to convince myself to get more exercise. So, I made a resolution to bring the glider upstairs and actually use it for something besides a coat rack. My goal was to have it upstairs by the weekend, but I didn’t actually get it upstairs until Monday. But, I did take it for a spin. I planned on using it for an hour every day as soon as I wake up. That has always been the best time for me to exercise. I missed Tuesday and Wednesday, but I did get a good half hour in on Thursday. I’m not sure what happened on Friday. But, this week, starting on Tuesday, I’m going to use it religiously. If I can continue with it for a month, I’ll be alright. I just can’t let myself talk myself out of doing it. (That’s the hard part)
Well, I guess I better get going and do some work. I’m putting Guns and Roses, Rush, and Tesla in the playlist tonight for background music. I should add the Scorpions in there as well. The Scorps and Tesla is coming to Red Rocks soon. I heard it on the radio. That would be a good concert.
Well, until next Monday night, See ya.
-Thom