Technology Hell

The whole law of cause and effect really bit me in the posterior recently.  It did so recently, only because I spent almost a year postponing the inevitable.  (You see, I know it's always there, and avoidance is my best defense.)

Last January, my computer died.  Dead.  No resurrecting it.  Since it was only a little over a year old, and it was the second Dell in a two-year span to just unceremoniously give up the ghost on me, I counted my pennies and decided it was time to jump ship to Mac.  Off I went and bought my very first Apple computer.  Now, the computer itself has been lovely, even if there are still many things I don't know how to do (not the computer's fault; I tend to learn what I need to know only when it becomes beyond urgent to do so).   But the Dell printer I owned, which actually worked extremely well and with which I was content, was not compatible with my Mac.  After weeks of research and downloading useless drivers, etc., I accepted this with my usual stoicism, born out of long experience with my hideous computer karma.  And for 11 months, I had friends print my boarding passes for flights, I had relatives print documents I needed ... and mail them to me ... you can see that at some point, even I realized I'd avoided reality long enough and I resolved to buy a printer.  Trying to shield myself from utter frustration, I found a friend who is just a little bit more technologically intelligent than I, who also owns a Mac, and who is happy with his printer and bought one just like it.  Sigh.  After four hours of attempting to set the printer up with my computer, I gave up and asked my friend to come help me.  He only wasted a half-hour before realizing we needed the Canon people's help.  Of course, this was a Sunday and the Canon people were nowhere near the office, so we waited until Monday and called.  A two hour phone call later, I was told that the router was too far from the printer and once I moved it, I should call back.  So I had my tenant bring the router and modem up from his apartment where it lives (due to his complete geekiness, he requires these things near him, and I haven't cared till now) and called Canon. Another two hour phone call later, I was told that the router is the problem.  So I tried to hook this up using the USB port, but even that didn't work.  (Though I was able to make far more progress than before.)

I am now torn between two options:

1) I haunt antique stores and thrift stores and eventually buy a typewriter.  My understanding is that they have limited scanning and faxing ability, but I have a better chance of doing either on an old-fashioned typewriter than I do on my up-to-date brand-new printer at present.
2) I refuse to give in.  Tomorrow, I dedicate my day to getting this thing hooked up and I either get it hooked up or die trying.

I will probably go with option 2.  Details of my memorial service will occur on someone else's blog.