How I arrived at tonight's subject, however, is a bit of a tale, having to do with a soul-eroding printer/scanner problem. You see, one day a couple of months ago, my trusty Epson suddenly sat there, saying "Won't. Won't." Since ours is a throw-away society in which it costs more to repair an item than to replace it, twas time for a different printer. I thought that my b&w laser printer would do my scanning, so I bought a Cracker Jack box sort of printer-only for color. However, b&w laser printer couldn't be coaxed into doing my color scans.
Time for a new approach. Friend had inherited an HP 3-in-1, which she passed along to me. Oops, it needed printer driver, scan twain, etc. Went to HP's web site, where I located said drivers for the Mac, but couldn't connect to the site for a download. Had to order a set of driver software on CD. Popped CD into my computer, clicked on install -- and landed in an infinite loop. All consultations with HP, both in Mumbai and in the States, were totally, completely fruitless -- essentially, their experts told me to do what I had already tried. Finally, I did the intelligent thing: I went to Amazon and had them overnight me a 3-in-1. Not an Epson. Certainly not an HP. I finished putting it together and installing the software an hour ago.
In the meantime, while waiting for the printer to arrive, I cleaned the Stygian counter in my office. Lo and behold, I found a batch of pictures that I thought had gone completely missing. Which brings me back to the Great Cats.
We'll start here in town, where I would l guess that the lion craze is winding down. And rightly so. When the King of Beasts is relegated to adorning a catch-all box for magazines, knitting, etc., it is time for a change. And I don't mean parking him to guard the WalMart ice take-away, either (below). These lions are getting no respect! None. No wonder they look grumpy.
Tigers linked together as a belt? Better than decorating a doo-dad box. Actually, kind of pretty. I found it at a rummage sale last winter and couldn't resist. Reminds me of the tigers in Little Black Sambo who circled the tree so fast that they melted down into ghi (butter).
Here is a much more serious treatment of a Great Cat -- a large puma mask that was sold for a pretty penny at a Prescott College art auction two winters ago.
And now, the entire reason for this post in the first place -- the no-longer-missing picture of me and the gold (or gilded) lion in the Forbidden City in Beijing, back in the days when I had a career. That is not a cat to be trifled with.
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9 comments:
Pretty cheeky of you to dare mention LBS without the approval of the thought police, much less link the text!!
Hermano
I love that photos of you next to the big cat. If you do get another scanner, bet one that does lots of slide at one time.
Great post, I like the way you led up to the wonderful photo of you and the big cat.
The cat belt is unique, I think I would have been unable to resist that myself.
Don't get me started on printers!
bro -- fie on the PC Thought Police -- they have no sense of history. I linked that particular LBS precisely because it was the original, which had Absolutely Nothing To Do With Africa, America or Slavery. It was written about India, for heavens' sake. The Thought Police would destroy history in order to assuage mistaken hurt feelings.
steve -- actually, that particular picture was from a print. Prints I often do several at a time, though my slide scanner only does one at a time.
jarart -- Up until recently, I have had only good luck with printers. I've no doubt that the HP is a perfectly good printer -- but its masters are lousy at customer service and don't bother to read a letter explaining problems.
Sorry about your printer/scanner. I do hope your new one works like a charm...my mouse went out yesterday too...must be something in the air.
I do love that last picture of you and the lion...and agree, they deserve much more respect! :)
What an awesome photo of you in China!
~Anon in AV.
kim -- let us hope that a new day has dawned for our techie equipage!!!
anon av -- it's one of the more memorable photos from that trip back in aught-80. I've got to send it on to the granddotter.
Yeah, let's hope! I bought the new MAC mighty mouse and am not quite sure if I like it yet...the roller ball seems to be a bit sticky...
kim -- I don't know if the mouse I got with my new/refurbished Mac is a Mighty Mouse. Probably not. It has a tether; I wound up using my previous mouse, whose touch I like just a bit better.
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