I put off writing about this, partly because it's not financial, but mostly because I am trying my best not to think about it.  My mom has been diagnosed with colon cancer.

The craziest thing about that is that she eats the healthiest in our family, and is constantly active.   So she is the one we least expected to come down with something serious first.

Anyway, she finished her first of twelve rounds of chemotherapy, to be administered every other week.  Plus, she doesn't have to be admitted at the hospital so far, so maybe all this is a good sign?  Not sure, not a doctor.

My mom is the only woman who has ever tolerated me and believed in me throughout my life.  She is also the anchor that holds our entire family together.  Life without her would be devastating.  I don't even want to think about it.

Taking a cruise has always been on my bucket list.  To be clear, I'm not suggesting that I need to take a cruise every year or anything.  Rather, I've never been on one, have no idea what to expect really, but just want to do it at least once in my lifetime before I croak.

However, I also don't want to do it solo.  Yes, I know that is a thing, and yeah, maybe some day, I just might do it as a solo, you know, just to finally check it off me bucket list.  But it's really something I would like to do with someone.  Hard to accomplish that though, when I've been single for so many years now.

Fast forward to perhaps a couple of weeks ago, when I reconnected with a friend I've known for a while... since 2010 I think!  We've dated in the past, but things never really happened between us.  There were a lot of reasons why, ranging from personal differences to my financial struggles to bad timings.

Anyways, she just went through knee surgery, and as far as I know, is in a lot of pain.  Before the surgery though, I joked about how if she gets through the surgery and recovers by Valentine's Day, we should finally take that cruise that we've always been talking about.

I was half-serious, but also half-joking though.  My dumb sense of humor aside, I wasn't being entirely serious because I also couldn't quite see us getting back together?  We have not even talked for years, and even if we did, knowing the way we are, we would just as likely be at each other's throats as much as be in each other's arms.

I was also not expecting her to take the cruise idea seriously.  However, she's really latched on to it.  She's like, "Please don't joke and take this away from me, because I really need this to help me get through this surgery and have something to look forward to!" ... Guess I better start saving up for a cruise!

Then I started to get scared.  I think I will need a budget of $5000.  Yes, I know a cruise can be done for much less than that, but it's just the budget that I think I will need to pull this entire trip off comfortably.

As for the status between this lady friend and I, who in the world knows?  As I said, there are reasons why we get along, but there are also reasons why we just simply do not.  Plus, I have already resigned and even planned on living the rest of my life as a single person.  The ability to retire early is mostly possible because I have only calculated expenses for one person....

Sorry, I'm rambling at this point.  After all, it's only been two weeks of reconnecting, and I'm already over-analyzing.  I probably should've kept my mouth shut, but now, I have to man up and prepare to set sail.  Yaaar, mateys!

I first bought my printer in 2007(!), and up until now, it still printed.

Technically, there is nothing wrong with it.  At first, I thought it was a driver issue, so I went online to download it, but the company says it's been discontinued, and driver support is no longer offered.

I also thought maybe it was a hardware issue.  I opened it up, and all the ink lights are red.  However, I still have ink.

Much to my dismay, I am faced with the possibility of having to ditch this perfectly good device, just to be forced to buy another one.  I would really, really rather not, but if I were to, anybody got any suggestions?