Diana's Diary

2001-01-24 - 20:57:10

Big girls don't cry (Subtitle: I'm an idiot)

My day is sucking. Completely. It seems like I just keep throwing good money after bad in this whole computer bullshit saga.

So, today I went and bought a printer, because as an English major, I NEED a printer. (Yeah, yeah, there are labs, but the sheer volume of stuff I have to print makes using the labs a headache not worth contemplating. I'm talking, I need 18 copies of everything I do for my seminar, including the 10 page papers. I'm not doing that in a lab. Sorry.) First of all, I went to the UCLA computer store's website. It said that they had the Epson Stylus 670 for $89. Cool. So I go into the store today, and they tell me, no, they don't have the 670 (then take it off your website, morons!). They do, however, have the Epson Stylus 777, for $99. Okay. Fine. (Stupid me, that's the old bait-and-switch, I should have walked out right then.) But I bought the printer anyway. As I'm signing the thing, I notice the UCLA store's no-refund policy on hardware. Shit. So this thing better work, right? But at this point I'm still cheerfully optimistic.

I lugged the thing home, and believe me, walking a mile and a quarter uphill in the drizzle while carrying a huge printer box is NOT fun. It wasn't that it was heavy, it was just awkward. When I got in, I opened up the box, unpacked everything, and set it all up according to directions. I installed the drivers. I filled out the little registration form thingie, and printed that off. <-- I PRINTED THAT OFF. As in, the printer worked. Yippee-skippee, right? So I open up a Word document and try to print the first page of that. It tells me that I have an LC1 port problem. What the hell does that mean? Everything was connected, but it still wouldn't print. The manual has nothing in it about that. I am stumped. And pissed off. And frustrated.

Obviously, I need help on this. Who can I ask? Silver? Eh. I'd prefer not to. She keeps asking me when my Mac will be fixed, because she wants me to use the DSL again. (I don't know how to politely tell her to lay off. Sil doesn't get it sometimes--when things break, they don't miraculously fix themselves. Last year, when I sprained my ankle, she would watch me limp, and say exasperatedly, "Aren't you better yet?" The impolite response I didn't give was, "Gee, Silver, do you see that black bruise that goes all the way from my toes to mid-calf? Does it LOOK like my leg is better?" Eh. With that, and with my computer problems now, she acts like it's my fault or something. Like I WANT it to be broken. Hello! It's like she wants me to feel guilty that it doesn't work, and I am just not down with that. So you see why I don't really want to ask for her help. So who does that leave? Orange? Once again, Eh. I hate asking him for stuff. He always makes it into a huge deal, like I owe him big-time. Never mind all of the stuff I do for him. (Astro notes, anyone?)

I guess I'm on my own then. I physically cannot work on it anymore, or else I'll throw the damn thing through the window. Maybe if I calm down, it will suddenly come to me. Yeah, that's it. Maybe I'll take a nap later. After all, I've got a whole 5 days until I really need to print anything.

I called Mom, mostly to fill her in and complain about the whole situation (ie. I've now spent over $200 trying to get myself adequately situated again, computer-wise, and I'm still SOL). Which turned into her saying, "So basically you want me to buy you a new computer." No, dammit, that's not what I was saying. I was saying that I would like her to use her magical powers to make the damn printer work, but I know that since she doesn't have any magical powers, it ain't gonna happen. I was just calling to vent, and I guess I kind of resent that she assumes I was trying to get something out of her, because I wasn't. I just needed someone who would listen to me. I should have tried Soshe. She's the only person in the universe who actually listens to me. Too bad she's on the other damn side of the country. (I'm full of digressions today, aren't I?) So back to the convo with Mom: finally she realized that all she had to do was shut up and listen to me rant, and then it turned into the whole "I really don't want to be here" subject.

Five more months. That's it. Five more months.

On the non-computer front, JB has been back in the States since Sunday. Whoopdee-do. I still haven't talked to her. I've received 2 brief e-mails from her. The first one said that she got bumped up to first class on the flight back (poor baby), and the second one said that she was still jet-lagged. I talked to her on IM for about half a second yesterday, then she said "BRB" and signed off. She never came back. She always does that. It pisses me off. If you're not coming back, say "I've got to go, later!" not "Be right back." I tried calling her a little while ago, but since JB doesn't answer her phone (afraid her brother will call her), I got her machine, and her machine always cuts me off after about two and a half seconds. There's no point in me calling back, since she doesn't pick up. But then, she never calls me back, either. What the hell is UP with her lately? Should I take the hint that I'm being avoided and write her off completely? And if that's the case, then I am soooooo screwed, because we were supposed to live together after I graduate.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! What is wrong with my life?

Maybe I will go take that nap now.

-Di

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2003-12-16 - Ow! My Nose!
2003-12-15 - 'Tis the Season...For Moving
2003-11-17 - Rush, Rush
2003-11-03 - Apartment Hunting Sucks
2003-10-22 - Apparently, "nauseated" is a good look for me.

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