YMMV

So in this post the other day I was griping about series of books where the author seems to run out of ideas early on -- this is a sort-of followup to that one.

Some stories that do NOT seem to run out -- at least for me -- are the Vorkosigan yarns, the Dorsai tales, "The Cat Who..." books -- and before anyone claims I'm just cat-centric, I will assure you that the "Sneaky Pie Brown" books do nothing for me.

Right now I'm wading through Valentine Pontifex, having danced through the pages of Lord Valentine's Castle and set aside The Majipoor Chronicles (books  3, 1 and 2, in order of mention here) as being a bit too italcized for my eyes at the moment -- italic print in large quantities is just more than I can deal with for now.

I very much enjoy the Discworld stories, though I can usually handle ONE at a time with a few weeks before the next.

Heinlein, now, I damn near worship.  Yes, he used a lot of carefully NON-explicit sex in his books, but it was necessary to the point/plot and not there merely to shock.  I started on his books from the public library and the mall bookstore (Heritage, I believe, at the River Roads Mall in St Louis) in about 6th grade.   The juveniles earlier, of course, but once I got hold of Stranger I was in a daze for days.  It just made so much sense!  (NO, I did not / do not take recreational drugs.  My reality is weird enough, thank you.)  And yes, he used some of the same patterns in more than one book -- why not?  They weren't repetitive nor shallow, and enough is changed that two society matrons could wear them to the same function without embarassment.

Spider Robinson, pretty heavily influenced by Heinlein, and every bit as good (in some ways, maybe a touch better for my reading enjoyment) though enough different to not be a "clone." 

I don't flatter myself that I'm intelligent enough to be a Heinlein heroine or one of Lady Sally's artits artists.  I don't analyze things well as theferrett or present ideas as well as ozarque . 

I DO know when a book is being used only as an excuse to write about unrealistic sex.  Because, y'know, "sex sells."  Which it does.  That's why there are some books -- and some imprints! -- I don't bother reading.  Yes, I've read three Harlequin books.  Same bloody plot, just switch out the name, eye color (sometimes) and location.  They hold no interest for me.  Read one of the Sillhouette books when they were coming out -- well, about half of it.  It was going the same direction as the Harlequins, so it went in the ashcan.

There'll probably be additions to this post during the day -- there's a lot more I want to say but it hasn't gelled yet.

So.

Old printer was working, but starting to make noises and the ink was...I don't know if it was actually running out / getting used that fast, or if it was glopping up.  And it's a Dell, so carts are expensier than some and harder to fnd in a store.  Can always order online, of course.

Anyhow, HP had a printer/scanner/copier for TWENTY FOUR BUX.  And the ink is about 60% the price of Dell ink, and I've had an HP printer before, it did what was needed (and I need to get it to someone who can clean it up / use it for parts) and all that.

So I got a new printer.

And it works :D

And the old one...the Dell...I hate to even offer it to anyone b/c of the cost of ink!

HOWEVER -- IF you want it, knowing the carts are 26 - 30 each at Staples, and knowing it needs a USB cable (with the different ends -- one is sort-of squarish), and live in the Aurora/Springfield area, you can have it.  All it comes with is a power cord and the software -- but if your computer uses Vista, you'll have to download it from the Dell site anyhow.  I'm not going to ship it, you can pick it up or I can drop it off when I'm in Sprungburg anyhow.

And yes, I'm being a pain about it.