Ok, my new printer is a nice one. It’s an all-in-one and does everything but serve my lunch. It is a wonder of modern technology… so why do I hate it?

• I have determined that there are some areas where I am exceedingly simple.
• I discovered recently that printing is one of those areas.
• I don’t want any more wiz-bang in my technology than I can properly appreciate — and not a whit less, either.

I love the networking/wireless feature. That’s way cool! But other than that…

I think that the rub here is paying all that extra money for the fancy printer and the expensive multi-part inks all to end up not being able to print a single sheet of black and white text simply, quickly and in a fashion that if it gets a little damp — it won’t run in rivers, which leaves my text MIA.

(What’s with the sounding like a plane on the tarmac revving engines for a full two minutes before the first sheet of printed material finally emerges? I’m an instant gratification gal — I don’t like that.)

So, while I love most of my technology, I long for a compact, inexpensive LASER printer that can meet my needs economically and simply without all the noise, expense and hubbub.

Seriously, is that too much to ask?

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted a rant. So, if you want kindness or technical assistance this is not the post for you (use the search box to find a less angsty post on the topic of your choice.)

If you like a good rant… you are in luck!

I have my roots in media. One of my most enjoyable, challenging and rewarding professional stints was as a reporter and later as a managing editor of a small newspaper. I ponder that time of my life fondly now (in my dotage) and wonder at the amount of energy I had to do all that way back when. Gee what I wouldn’t give for some… even just a little of that now!

Today, the written word is my favorite tool and past time and passion. I think it always will be.

But what I see in the media now absolutely curls my toes (and not in a good way!) There is no relationship between truth and what is written in the mainstream publications. Particular offenders are local newspapers and television newscasts.

Larger papers, assumed to be more reserved with stories more carefully crafted and with a team of fact-checkers on staff, are now slinging sensationalism too. It used to be that I avoided even looking at the “weekly” rags at the checkout line at the grocery store. I’ve NEVER purchased one (nor do I ever intend to). But today, even the local papers use those same reporting “techniques.”

If I had been the editor when some of the recent news stories were submitted, some reporting “heads” would have rolled. I would have benched them or fired them. Period. There’s not even a half-hearted attempt to get facts right in “news” stories…even to the point of the basics (who, what, where, when, how)… even THESE they get wrong.

As far as reporting voice and tone — it’s more like a Stephen King novel than a report. A reporter, people, is supposed to REPORT — hence the name. Capture the reader with your headline, sure, but tell the facts in an unbiased and well researched way in the body.

There, I said it.

A writer of FICTION gets to make it up and “fill in the blanks” between the missing bits of reality strung together for entertainment purposes. This type of writing is not reporting. See the difference?  If you have an opinion, it belongs on the OP/ED page — not on the front page.

If you must create stories (which isn’t a bad thing… at all… so long as you don’t try to pass it off as truth) — then write fiction. As a fiction writer, you can play free and easy with the facts as much as you like. It hurts no one. It’s not unethical or immoral then. Then, it’s properly seen as entertainment. Then it’s fun.

And if you are an news editor, and you are letting this half-baked crap be sent to the press you should be ashamed. Where are the Publishers, to fire the editors who don’t fire the reporters for this shameful work product?

Does life not have enough real drama? Must more be created by our “news” outlets? Are the traditional, once respectable, news venues so desperate to hang on financially that they have sold out their rightful role as the watchdog of our society just to sell a few more papers? Are the continuing education classes for journalists now being sponsored by The Enquirer?

How disgusting I find it all.

Every year, every January 1st, I have this great hope that the upcoming year will be a bright and beautiful one. For years, I’ve been less than pleased with the results. This year, I’m already happy with the new year.

Well, that may be a bit misleading since my life started getting REALLY good (for no particular, identifiable reason) about the middle of last month. Decembers usually suck for me. It’s a fact. But this one was lovely.

I’m not sure what it was. I’m not sure what was different. Maybe it’s that I worked to eliminate stress. Maybe it’s that I actually completed my taxes before going on a two week vacation for the holidays.

Maybe it’s that I’ve quit stressing over the fact that I’m not living on the farm. I realize now that despite the fact that I have to wait for Internet to reach the farm (and not the slower-than-dial-up satellite I can get there now), before I can move there full-time — that it WILL happen. I’ll live there again.

It’s hit me that knowing my “end game” — that I’ll end up on the farm — makes when that happens less important. It could be next year or in three decades. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that between now and then, I’ve got a life that should be viewed as adventure. And I have a place to land when I’m ready to quit adventuring. A place that belongs to me.

I have one child still at home and my biggest concern for her is her education. If I have to move to get her what she needs, I’ll do it. It’s an adventure.

If I need to home school her (although I prefer not to do that, since she’s soon going to need much more depth and breadth than I can do easily while working full-time), I’ll do it. I’ll do whatever is in her best interest.

I have seven more years before she’s out on her own, and my job as an active parent is over. Then I’ll be more of an “adviser” parent to her — like I am to the boys. Of course, she may want that advice more than they do… or she may not.

I’ve spent my life planning for tomorrow and failing to really live in the today.

Suddenly, in the past three weeks or so, I’ve gotten much better at living in the now. I’m doing what’s required to lessen my debts, the mass of details I’m juggling, the number of belongings I have to maintain. The whole process has been quite liberating. I’ve simplified my business life considerably. I’m working now on continuing the progress on the personal side. Simple is best. Always has been.

I’ve preached simplicity for years, but I’m just now making real headway toward it on an elemental level for myself.

So life is good and 2009, despite my misgivings over the economy and politics of the current day, is looking pretty good for me. It’s ironic. I’m not going to investigate the why too long. I like things the way they are now and feel no urge to over-analyze it.

Now THAT’s new.