A weekend in

I worked a lot of overtime this week, so it is likely in my best interest to stay in and not go on any hikes (not to mention my feet are sore presently). When I had lunch breaks this week, however; I found a Royal Quiet De Luxe and was able to buy ribbons for it. (The QDL itself came from Value Village across the street from Bellis Fair Mall, whereas the compatible Underwood ribbons were coincidentally the only non-cartridge typewriter ribbons carried by Bellingham Business Machines.)

This isn’t my first typewriter, but I’m not a grand collector or restorer of them. I’ve only had luck performing the bare minimum of maintenance, and so far the most major thing I’ve done to the QDL is character alignment. At least it’s getting a small amount of use now, and I’ve been told that remedies many problems these machines have over time.

My only other typewriter is the family heirloom KMM. With some use it has livened back up to the point only a small hiccup with the escapement on the red setting (especially with the “O” key) regularly causes me problems. I’ve fallen way behind in doing so, but I do occasionally write correspondence using it. Each mistake I make is an opportunity to put a twist on whatever I mistakenly typed, so sometimes I wind up writing better if I lose my train of thought mid-sentence.