Writing Hazards

Picture this. I'm in the middle of printing out the full layout of my next book (which I had just gotten back from the book designer), and my computer flashes that it's about to shut down due to lack of battery. No problem, just plug it in, right? I would have, and gladly, except my circa 1938 home only has one 3-hole electrical socket on the entire second floor. And it's in the bathroom. Moving the computer into the bathroom meant also moving the printer (remember, I was mid-print), only its cord wouldn't reach that far. So there I was, pulling the printer cord as far as it would go on one side, and pulling the computer power cord as far as it would go on the other side, the computer ultimately sitting in the middle of the hallway. That something had to give was inevitable, and I ended up dropping the printer on the floor....and also running it out of ink.

But at the end of this brouhaha there was the guts of a fully laid-out book, printed and stacked and then read carefully over a number of what were very happy hours for me. So, ultimately, not a bad weekend. Although I may need a new printer.