The new typewriter has arrived. Thanks Mom! One immediate improvement is that the misspelling beep is not the same as the end of line warning. This was always a bitch as you never knew if the last word on the line was the cause of the beep. This spell checker also lets me add words, so I will print out the words I have added so far. For the time being I can now type my last name and not get beeped. I am not sure how many words I can add but supposedly it will dump out the less used words to make room for new ones I add.

I ordered both a couple cloth ribbon and the standard single use type. I am sending you both the fabric ribbon and one strike ribbon of this letter. The current plan is to use the cloth ribbon with the memory option to create the draft of a letter or blog post. Then after proofing, switch the ribbon and print the final copy using the single strike ribbon. I am assuming that for OCR purposes the single strike works better.

Another nice feature of this typewriter is it will automatically put the proper number of lines on a page and then halt printing to allow you to insert the next page and resume printing.

The fabric ribbon uses a different correction tape, cover-up versus lift off. I had purchased a box of each but since I will be using the one use ribbons only after proofing my typing in the memory, I have put the cover-up tape in the typewriter for now.

One thing I noticed is that there is a dry spot on the fabric ribbon that is about three lines long. That is a drag for new ribbon. I will also use the fabric ribbon for letters I type for others. The new ribbons only come in a pack of one and are $6.95 for the single strike and $9.60 for the fabric. I will be looking to see how long the fabric ones last. They are a totally different configuration from the SmithCorona and Brother ribbons so I am not sure if there is any alternative source.

I know, one thing at a time.

I am working on gearing up the writing. I received the typewriter last week and only managed to get a two-page letter out to Mom last weekend and until around 7:00 PM tonight the typewriter sat in my locker. I have been vegging out with my nose in books mostly and not been doing any writing. Part of the problem would lend itself to some great writing, the whole “who am I and what am I going to do with the rest of my life”, but so far the best action I have taken is to not deal with it at all.

I am enclosing a copy of the last letter I received from my Mom. The original letter was written on a page from one of those wire bound notebooks and had the ragged edge on the left side. That was where Mom's comment about "This is the grass coming up" comes in. I am not sure what most of the letters refers to. Her reference to "P" toward the end is worrisome to the extent that I would be the P in the family. Hmm.

I am thankful that Sarah is helping mom to some extent but I do worry about the stress that might be causing between her and Bill. I have not called since Mom's hearing is not good enough to carry on any type of conversation, but perhaps she would like to hear my voice?

Note: I did not order a TV. The inmates in the maxes do have a small TV in their cells. Up until last year they were still only allowed black and white 12" screens. Now they have access to a LCD color unit but still only 12" screen.  ¶ 11:24 PM