Rant #2,707: You've Got Your Troubles

Today is August 5, and we are in the dog days of summer as this month plays out.
 
I am sure that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo feels like a caged animal today, scratching at the bars of his cage but with no way out of his misery.
 
Even if he somehow survives this situation, he is going to be open to prosecution and lawsuits galore by various municipalities and by specific people his actions involved.
 
He insists that a lot of things that he was found to have done were taken out of context, and I believe that a lot of what he says is true in this regard, meaning that a lot of his actions were misinterpreted.
 
But you don’t misinterpret touching ones genitals, or breasts, or bottoms, and since he was found to have done these actions, well, then he is as wrong as can be.
 
I would love to know how he justified these actions. Perhaps he insisted that they were consensual, and that brings us to another realm of this situation, if it even comes to this.
 
As with Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein and others, what acts were consensual, and what acts were forced upon people against their will?
 
We won’t ever know this unless there is an actual court trial where Cuomo actually tells his own story out of his own mouth—that pre-recorded speech he made in rebuttal was written and vetted by his lawyers and was pretty lame in most points that he was trying to get across—but if he insists he never touched any of the 11 women’s private areas, then will it all come out in the wash that there was a bit more going on with these women and him than anyone is telling us about?
 
Things are so jumbled now that who knows what is going to happen next.
 
Again, Cuomo is extremely popular with New York State voters, and right now, that appears to be the only thing he has going for him, even though increasing numbers of the state’s citizens are saying he should step down--with a surprising number of those polled stating that he should stay on and fight the fight.
 
Let’s see what happens. It might get “Very Interesting,” as Arte Johnson used to say on “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In.”
 
In the midst of all of this folderol—my favorite word of the moment—I have my own personal crisis, which pales in comparison with Cuomo’s, but is still perplexing to me.
 
Why do ink cartridges cost so darn much?
 
As a writer, I print out a lot of stuff that I am writing, and that means in my professional capacity as a writer in my remote job specifically.
 
(I don’t print out what I write here because I have gotten to read it over when I transfer my Rants to the Ranting and Waving blog site, so I feel that is suitable, although yes, it is not 100-precent foolproof. And yes, I do use spellcheck in whatever writing I do.)
 
When I write a story on a professional level, I have always printed it out, generally to look it over and make sure that it reads as well as possible. And more often than not, I do find things that I need to change when I go through this editing process.
 
I have been doing this for years—both in whatever office I have worked in and at home as a remote writer—and in the old days, every printed-out story would get a file folder, and in it went with whatever backup I used to generate the story.
 
It was a process that worked well for me, and for instance, during my last job experience, I had hundreds if not thousands of folders stored in my desk and elsewhere in my office, so if I needed to check back on anything, I would have a paper trail to do so, not just electronically on my computer—where I also saved everything—but within these folders.
 
I can’t do that at home, because I simply do hot have the space, so I save everything I write electronically … but like I always have, when I look my stories over, I print them out and read them on the printed page.
 
I have spoken to other writers about this, and we agree, things just look differently on the printed page than they do electronically on a computer screen, and I have found it extremely helpful to read what I have written on paper.
 
And with my eye situation the way it is now, I feel I get a better bead on what I have written by reading it on paper; it just is easier for me to do, with less stress on my eyes.
 
So I print out many sheets of paper each week, using back and front to save on paper costs.
 
But printing out so much leads me to using print cartridges more than I guess most of us do, and the cost is prohibitive.
 
I use an older printer, which has served me very well and I have no intention of getting rid of, but these cartridges cost a lot of money, whether you are using a new printer or an old one.
 
I just had to order one of these cartridges, and the black ink one cost me about $35.
 
God forbid I need a color ink cartridge, that can cost me in the $40s range …
 
So each of the cartridges cost more than the printer itself was worth new and worth today.
 
I guess it is like a car. I have a 2014 Kia Optima, a relatively old car in today’s world, which I have no intention of getting rid of anytime soon.
 
If heaven forbid I need a major piece of equipment for the car—like an engine or God-knows what else—adding up parts and labor, it is going to cost me probably what the car is worth today, or maybe even more.
 
But if these things—my car and my printer—continue to work, why get rid of them?
 
I know that I can get refurbished ink cartridges, and I have done that from time to time, with mixed results.
 
I can get off-brand ink cartridges, and I have also done that, again with mixed results.
 
But if I want to get the real thing, it is evidently going to cost me … and it does, a couple of times a year.
 
How do I combat this?
 
Maybe not print everything out, but let me tell you, especially with my eye situation now, it is just so much easier for me to go over what I have written on paper, and I feel that it is protecting my eyes for the future.
 
I don’t know what the solution to this problem is, if there is even a solution.
 
I just think I have to grin and bear it.
 
Like Governor Cuomo is going to have to do as his situation plays out.
 
And you can print that in black ink or colored ink or any ink that you would like to use.