Prague Journal

Friday, September 10, 2005.

I had seen a used HP Laser printer at one of the several computer stores I had visited on Thursday—the same model we had at home in Colorado that we bought in 1996—so Rick and I went downtown to see if it would work properly with his math software. Given the price of ink-jet cartridges, a laser printer seemed to be a more economical choice since we did not intend to print photos or need any color printing. Hooked up to Rick’s laptop, the printer seemed to work, so we decided to buy it – roughly $80 which included an after-market toner cartridge. The man at the shop said that it was guaranteed to work for one year. Let’s hope so. The sight of Rick carrying the printer on the subway home, wrapped in saran wrap, was probably not unusual to anyone but me.
Once home, Rick had the sometimes-difficult task of setting his computer defaults and trying to print an entire mathematics document. Neither was entirely successful, so we have our fingers crossed that the printer will not self-destruct on a long document for lack of memory or that Rick won’t resort to throwing the printer across the room in frustration when the paper jams or he gets error messages.
After a few other errands, I met Karin at Bohemia Bagel, from whence we took a walk and ended up sitting on a park bench in the sun catching up on the last six years. She’s as entrepreneurial and focused as ever, with more maturity and understanding Czech rhythms and ways. She intends to stay here, to the extent of moving her furniture to Prague from her Paris apartment, which she had been using only a few weeks out of the year. It’s so nice to connect with a dear friend – it makes our relocation to Prague so much easier. It’s hard to believe it’s been seven years.
Rushing home to change, we then went to Josefov with the intent of joining the Bejt Praha group at the Spanish Synagogue. Alas, there was a notice that said they were not meeting this evening. So, not wanting miss services on Shabbat, we once again went to the Altnai Schul. As before, there were at least 30 women. This crowd seemed younger and more prayerful than last week. Again, a lot of Israelis, a few Brits and Americans among the international entourage.
Rick and I went to an old favorite Czech restaurant U Kapra for an inexpensive but elegant meal, complete with desserts: strudel and whipped cream for me and bananas in chocolate sauce for Rick. My credit card was successful, so I imagine my e-mail distress note to the credit card company had some effect. As soon as I start getting a salary and my cash flow improves, I may revert to using cash.

posted by JWinn @ 8:02 PM