The Ol' Curmudgeon Is Pissed!

I purchased a new computer a few months ago and it came with a 21" monitor and an Epsom printer. I have printed probably 8 or 10 pages with the black ink and am being told that it is time for me to purchase some more black ink. I have heard that Epsom sets their printers up with very little ink so that the purchaser has to run out and spend a lot of money on another cartridge almost immediately. I would refill my cartridges on my old printer but can't on this one because there is a computer chip in the cartridge that will not allow the cartridge to be reused even if I refill it! That pissed me off! I would gladly purchase a new cartridge if the price was anwhere near reasonable. (Which it ain't) so......I heard of a store ( Cartridge World) that refills cartridges for a few bucks. Thy will also tell me how to bypass the chip. The nearest one to me is in Richmond where I happen to go every few weeks. I will purchase a refilled cartridge the next time that I go that way. There are 650 Cartridge Worlds in the USA. Each of them must refill dozens of cartridges a day. Just think; Epsom and the othe printer manufacturers could bring their prices down somewhere near reasonable and have all of this business. What could they be thinking???? Duh!!

camping at James River State Park

Pat and I just returned from spending 5 days and four nights at the James River State Park in the hill country here in Virginia. We had never been there before, but will certainly return. I have forgotten how many acres of land the park contains but my guess would be a few thousand. There are two miles of frontage on the James River which is stunningly beautiful with many small rapids and several islands. The river's rocks look like they have been placed there by an artist. Each scene was spendidly arranged. We spent one morning in kayaks drifting slowly down stream admiring the great beauty of the river as well as the flora along the shore. Wild sunflowers, Cardinal flowers and Hibiscus were everywhere. Blue skies, beautiful clouds Cicadas singing and warm breezes completed the scene. There was a hatch of Damsel Flies which are tourquise in color. They resemble small dragon flies in shape. There were literally tens of thousands of them rising from the water. Smallmouth Bass were eagarly gulping them up. We reserved a site in advance. We suspected that a site would be hard to get. We opted for a site with electric and water even though we were tent camping and didn't need either. We chose this site because we read that the other camping areas in the park offered no shade. We found out later that we had been misled by what we had read. The primitive sites by the river were well shaded and a tent could be pitched just a few feet from the water. We will certainly stay there next time. We also found another campground that is way back in the woods. It is far removed from all signs of civilization. This spot is for the camper that relishes the back woods experience.
This is the second time that we have used our new tent and we were well pleased with it. The tent is 10x15 and has two rooms. We slept comfortably on our queen sized air mattress in the back room and used the front room as a screened house where we read until sleepy each night. The first day was unbearably hot. Pat can't take the heat as well as I can and she suffered the most. We discovered a picnic are at the river on the second day and spent the day lounging, reading and swimming. It was a perfect day. Fortunately the nights were cool and we slept comfortably. There were many stars visible through the screened windows in our sleeping area and we fell asleep each night looking at them. We packed up about ten this morning. We were sweatty and went to take a shower after loading the car. We found the showers being cleaned so we went to the picnic area and took a swim instead. We sat reading and gazing at the river afterward. Neither of us wanted to leave. It was so relaxing and beautiful there with the cool breeze blowing gently off the river as we sat in the shade. We finally decided that we had better head home and did so about noon. It took three and a half hours to get to the house. As MacArtur said,"I shall return!"

Oral cancer. My personal journey

I visited the Ear Nose and Throat doc last Wednesday. He sprayed my right nasal passage with some numbing agent and ran the scope down through my nose to take a look at my tongue and throat. Fortunately I love to gag!!! :?} He pronounced everything okay. I always feel great relief and joy when I get a good report.

On another note: The work trip to Bear Mountain and the Monocan Indians went very well. I always feel happy when I am volunteering, and working with all of the kids made the trip even more enjoyable. We learned a considerable amount about the tribes culture. The food was outstanding. The last night's dinner was buffalo burgers, roasted corn, sweet potatoes, and succotash. Mixed berries simmered with sugar and water and then poured over ice cream was our dessert. Yum Yum! We were told that indians didn't have desserts like cakes, cookies, etc. They liked sweets also so they would simmer and reduce down whatever berries were available. This was mixed with honey and eaten.