People hate to be labelled, but appliances don't care

Maybe I should label each cat.

I like having one of these DYMO labelmakers around the house. My handwriting is not so good, even to write "OREGANO" on a spice jar lid, so I let the good people at DYMO take over. I have labelled flash drives, keys, DVDs, CDs, clipboards, framed photos and newspaper clippings, books, and, in the ultimate Zen moment, the labelmaker itself (with my name, in case Lightfinger Louie tries to rip me off.)

And, you know, nothing lasts anymore. My first labelmaker stopped making labels right before Christmas, so I treated myself to a new one from Amazon. And, in the interest of not buying 36 AA batteries a year, I sprang for the extra ten bucks for the AC adapter, so I could plug the thing into an outlet and roll on through the new year, happily printing labels and sticking labels on everything like a loon.

So along comes UPS with the new labeller and the adapter, and there is no place for the adapter to plug into the new device. So, I picked up my phone, which is labelled, and called the DYMO people on their customer service hotline, only to be told that the new models do not have ports for the adapter anymore.

So how come the adapters are still for sale, I had to ask.

The lady on the phone was very nice and I know it's not her fault that I felt like a guy with an electric car and no place to plug it in. I packed up the charger and emailed Amazon, and got a prepaid shipping label, and dropped the package off at Postman Plus, and by the time I got home from running errands, the ten bucks was credited to me and I ordered a package of AA batteries, for which I will make a label as soon as it comes to my mailbox (also labelled.)

For those of you looking forward to retirement, this is the sort of thing that makes the whole thing worthwhile...all this puttering around! I have to go to BJs now.