(no subject)

Now I'm caught up on my Aurealis reading I can return to some other concerns. I have dreamed of buying a good multifunction printer for a long time. I want to replace the multitudinous machines in my life with just one that does all the same jobs and that leaves me more space for books. And my workhorse printer died a little while ago, it being (then) eleven years old. Finally on Saturday I had saved up enough money and there was a sale on all the right printers, so I went out to buy.

The printers were lined up for inspection. They were lovely and very cheap. It was just a matter of selecting the right one, whipping out my trusty credit card, and then walking it home.

Then the sales guy and I had a series of rude shocks. The good laser printer only prints eight pages a minute, which is less than my little backup printer. The lovely multi-function printers cost between 8-16c a page for ink alone. We agreed that the sale was to get people to buy them so that they would then spend vast fortunes on cartridges. The one with the best features and that was cheaper (though still 4c/page above what I could afford in ongoing print costs) had unrefillable cartridges. "The ink comes with that one," I was told. "You won't have to buy any for 2000 pages." Six months, I calculated and then the cartridge alone would cost exactly $10 less than my backup printer (and nearly 10x the price of a cartridge for my little backup printer) and from there it would be 8c a page for ink alone. To add insult to injury, this best-option printer wasn't multifunction.

I think I will use my tiny portable printer until someone works out that I am not willing to spend my life savings on printing out draft novels. The ink for my little machine (which fits in my backpack and leaves room for a week of summer clothes) costs me 3c a page - much more affordable than the glorious multifunction machine my heart still desires.

"OK," I said, "I have other needs." The salesbloke perked up. "I need an external hard drive." We investigated the external hard drives. "It has to fit in my handbag with room to spare," I specified, "And if I spend real money on it I want real memory." He smiled. This was all possible. Within three minutes, the smile was wiped off his face. There had been maybe twenty printers to choose from, but all but two of their external hard drives had sold out. One was bigger than my handbag and the other was so expensive that he didn't try to push it. "Come back another day when we aren't sold out?" I could promise that, at least.

(no subject)

Teaching news:

I just had a bunch of half to two day courses approved for next year. I got all my preferred dates. Wheeeeee!

The ACT Writers' Centre is hosting a half day thingie on Jewish backgrounds for writers next Sunday. There's a form and phone number and etc here: http://www.actwriters.org.au/be_writer/workshops.htm (and you can book by phone if form filling in is not your cup of tea).

I'm pasting the details here because they're on my clipboard ready for me to do teaching notes:

"Jewish Culture for Writers
Sunday 19 November, 1-4pm

For non-Jewish Australians, it can be quite difficult to write about Australian Jews. There have been Jews in Australia since the First Fleet, but there is very little public awareness of Australian Jewish culture or even generally about Judaism. This makes it difficult for many writers to avoid stereotyping when they want to put Jews in their fiction.

This course covers some of the basics of Judaism with a focus on Australian Jews and Australian Jewish culture. It is not a religious guide (though religion will obviously come into it) but an opportunity for writers to find out how Judaism operates and about Australian Jewish communities and religious/cultural choices, from the ultra-religious communities to the integrated secular Jew. There will be plenty of time set aside for questions and answers so that your specific writing needs can be met."