Friday, March 10, 2017

7 Quick Takes about the Weirdest Thing You'll Ever Vote For, Existential Crises For Cheap Perfectionists, and Why You Should Maybe Buy a Bluetooth Speaker

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?

1


So this is just about how this week has felt:


Except I failed miserably.

The 5-year-old now says things like, "This is a delicious snack! I hope I don't throw it up!"

2


Our printer been driving us crazy for practically as long as we've had it. It flashes error lights at us for absolutely no reason and requires you to press random buttons, fiddle with the cartridge, reboot the computer, and complete a shamanic journey to find your spirit animal before it prints anything, and we'd decided we'd had enough.

Its' 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
100 times better-looking and more user-friendly than our old one.

I'm going to throw in my affiliate link for this Epson EcoTank right here, because I love it already. It's made for people like me who die inside when they have to buy a $30 ink cartridge every other month. It has no cartridges. It comes with a year's supply of ink, and when it runs out you buy another bottle for $14 and pour it in a compartment on the side.

On the day it arrived, I may have taken it out of the box and rubbed my cheek on it while whispering, "You complete me."

3


Now there's just the matter of disposing of our old printer. Since it's too trashed to give away, I thought it might be cathartic to get a little creative, considering how it's exasperated us for years.

Comment below to cast your vote! Should we:

A) Drop it out a second story window
B) Stone it, Old Testament-style
C) Use it for BB gun target practice
D) Use it for bow and arrow practice
E) Take a sledgehammer to it

Voting closes on Thursday, March 16th. I'll tally the votes here and on the Facebook page and announce the method of execution in next week's 7 Quick Takes.

Its' 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
This beast's days are numbered.

4


When I tore through the master bathroom organizing and throwing things out a few weeks ago, I couldn't believe how much jewelry I had. If you know me you're probably scratching your head going "You own jewelry?" because I don't even wear it.

I threw a bunch of it away (I'm looking at you, beaded choker from the early '90s) and donated some and even sold one piece. Once the collection was pared down to something I might actually wear in public one day, I lined the inside of a cabinet with Command hooks to hang the necklaces on.

But I put one of the hooks on crooked, and that was the beginning of a mighty struggle between my efficient frugality and my uncontrollable perfectionism:

"Obviously the crooked hook needs to be replaced. But that's so wasteful! And not frugal! Maybe I could just get used to it. It's just one crooked hooked inside a cabinet. Wait, are you listening to yourself? It's crooked! Maybe it's not that crooked, though. Gah! Shouldn't have looked, it's worse than I thought! Is a crooked hook really a big deal, though? Will I care about this in 10 years? Yes! I mean no! I don't know!"

For now, the crooked hook is staying. But don't think I haven't revisited the question way too many times for a plastic hook that costs 40 cents.

5


Over the last few months I've been pretty good about going to bed earlier, and I sort of thought I'd turned over a new leaf. Or at least, gotten too old to stay up so late. But it turns out it was just a phase.

Phillip knows if he goes to bed without me I'll just stay up (almost) all night, so he really tries to convince me when it's time to turn in. Over the years he's gotten really creative, and I'm beginning to appreciate this about him.

One night he yelled from the other room, "Can you put a piece of paper in the new printer? I want to test the wireless." I did, since I was working on the computer right beside it, and a few minutes later a message printed out saying "Let's go to bed."

Another time he followed me around with the Bluetooth speaker blasting "Danny Boy" until I started brushing my teeth. I may actually try that on my kids in the future, because it was surprisingly effective.

6


Phillip also just got back from a horrible work trip. I share this because usually he's having a great time and I'm the one home alone with the kids going crazy trying to do everything.

First, he sat at his connection airport for 5 hours before they canceled his flight altogether. Waiting until morning wasn't an option so he hopped on a plane to the next nearest airport and had to rent a car and drive 3 hours.

Better yet, his bag did not make it to the airport with him, and with all the flight mayhem and the driving he slept for a total of 3 hours before getting up in the morning for a 13-hour work day.

When he started working there back in May, HR sent us a complementary fruit basket but the card didn't mention anything about this.

7


Meanwhile, I was sitting in the relative comfort of my computer desk chair and blogging. Some of my favorites were republished this week in LDS Living, so feel free to put them on your weekend reading list!

I'm still laughing over (and definitely planning on writing a sequel to) 19 Bizarrely Appropriate Careers Motherhood Has Prepared Me For, and my all-time most popular article on Unremarkable Files was also republished under the title Why I "Force" My Beliefs on My Kids.

Happy reading and have a good weekend! (And don't forget to vote.)

Click to Share:
Unremarkable Files

19 comments:

jen said...

Here's hoping you and your kiddos feel better!

Jen said...

I'm sure beating it with a sledgehammer has gotta be pretty cathartic, right? I vote E. :)

Unknown said...

So I see 'leave it sitting on the office floor for a year' wasn't on you list of possibilities. Cause that's what we do. We have had a lot of illnesses lately but I kept saying 'at least it is not puking or eye infections' Well we started the eye infections so now I am just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Beth (Coffee Until Cocktails) said...

Sledgehammer! I'm all for getting out aggression! And I just went back and read your stomach bug post too - girrrrrl. I hate the stomach flu with every ounce of my being. I seriously hope it is all gone. We've been fortunate to only have had cold viruses from hell this year (KNOCK ON WOOD) and I'll take all the cold viruses over that!
Beth
http://www.thebethnextdoor.com

KatieS said...

First take it apart with the kids, mine always love to see how things work, then you can take a sledgehammer to the pieces!

Unknown said...

I agree with KatieS--give the kids some screwdrivers, etc. and let them take it apart! Last year, my son had a birthday party where they took apart various small appliances. It was huge fun!

Jenny Evans said...

Thanks. It's kind of funny when I think about it now. I saw more vomit on Monday than I've seen in the last 10 years, though!

Jenny Evans said...

Ha! It has been sitting on the kitchen counter for a week and already my loathing for the thing has died down a lot. I don't think that can be said for Phillip, though!

We haven't done eye infections around here yet either, so stop saying it out loud!

Jenny Evans said...

That sounds like an awesome party. I'll have to remember that one!

Ann-Marie Ulczynski said...

I vote for taking it again, and then using a sling shot to see how far you can make them fly! Sorry he had such a terrible work trip. That's the worst.

Rachel said...

Can I give 1/2 a vote to option A, because it reminds me of dropping a computer out the window as a science experiment in the stories of "Wayside School", some of the most memorable books of my childhood, and 1/2 a vote to E, because sledgehammers are awesome.

However, you didn't have my favorite destruction method, on the list. My favorite is burning it in a bonfire pit. Angel and I burned all sorts of interesting things, including an exceedingly ancient and broken lazy-boy style recliner, while we lived in Michigan. Once Angel burned a bunch of terrible old stuffed animals that had been stored in the house and moth eaten for years (we were renting a home that had been in my family since my great-grandparents days). You could argue that a printer isn't burn-able or that it shouldn't be burned, and that's certainly a consideration...although it must be admitted that we've burned things even less burn-able than printers.

Terra Heck said...

I think any of the printer options are great but I'm partial to the stoning.
I just checked out the link for your new printer because I love that it doesn't require ink. It's a little on the pricey side but I may have to actually consider it.

Jenny Evans said...

Thanks for the vote! The cost is why we kept hesitating on pulling the trigger on this purchase for months. But we priced it out and with the money we save on ink it will pay for itself in 3 years. In the meantime we will have no hassle like our old printer used to give us (I think we messed up our old printer because we used to refill the ink cartridges to save money and the printer was trying to reject them.)

Jenny Evans said...

I was thinking of that as an option but as it has a plastic casing I think it might smell terrible. I don't want it to have the satisfaction of annoying me from beyond the grave.

PurpleSlob said...

Jenny, I have the absolute perfect answer!! Start with A. Then proceed down the list till you reach E. At that point, if there are any pieces left, burn them! (Except the plastic case of course!)
A printer that only runs outta ink once a year???!!! The Holy Grail of printers!! And refill is only $14??? I want to do a happy dance for you!! But, you know we will want an update, as to exactly how many months in, it runs outta ink!!

The Not So Perfect Catholic said...

BB gun...definitely bb gun.
What a printer!!! I now have printer envy!

Jenny Evans said...

I like the way you think! I'll let you know when I refill it. So far I love it.

Six Pack Mom said...

YES to printer woes! We always seem to have issues with our printers (as if keeping paper stocked in a big family isn't challenging enough); they get jammed, mysteriously go "offline", etc. When it's time to upgrade, I'll definitely be checking out your suggestion!

Jenny Evans said...

That blinking blue wireless button on our old printer was completely mocking me. Those days are OVER!