Spring is here, but the weather in Toronto still feels pretty cold. Not to mention those snow storms or flurries that we’ve had, Spring and Summer cannot come soon enough. Now let’s catch up!
I hope everyone’s been doing well, I’ve been busy with midterms and assignments this semester so I’ve barely had enough time to sleep as of late. Also been dealing with a personal-ish issue so my time has been drained, which also meant that blog posts were kept to a minimum. On the other hand, I do have a lineup of reviews set up to come out over the coming weeks so I’m excited for my readers to see those.
The past three or so weeks have not been too friendly for me, seems like stress on top of stress but that’s alright. I had a lot of assignments due around the same time so I had to prioritize some and also take a late mark on others too. I also had some issues with a new printer that I got recently for home/school-related use, and spent more time trying to troubleshoot that too.
So a little PSA here, but if anyone has the Canon Pixma TS3420 I don’t believe they come with a USB cable for the printer (which I did find a little odd). I’ve only had one other printer before (HP inkjet type) that stopped printing after about 6+ years of use, but that one was wired connection only and came with that cable. I don’t know if it’s standard to come with one (or not) but in this case, I really believe that they should.
The reason is that I’ve heard that this specific model of printer (Canon Pixma TS3420) has connectivity issues, which is a big issue since it is wholly a wireless/internet connection-type printer that does not come with that USB cable. I took the risk because the other one I wanted was more expensive, and I thought I was in the clear because it worked fine for a few months. Then it stopped being able to scan to the computer and then bam, connectivity issues.
I’m no longer able to remotely connect to the printer via the phone/computer app, and I tried over 12+ hours of troubleshooting before I gave up and ordered a printer USB cable from Amazon. The error cited was the wrong internet password but it can’t even connect to the printer to edit that so, I’ll just take the $11 loss for the cable.
It’s a little more work to have to go with a USB connection to print but whatever, the printer still works with that method, prints are nice and the ink is alright. But PSA for all the students out there who may have gotten this model of printer when it was on sale, this issue gave me the biggest headache for weeks during my midterms.
Aside from the printer fiasco, I have pretty much been holed up at home doing assignments every day. Chipping them little by little so that I can hopefully get some additional sleep in but yeah that did not work out too well. So, coffee’s been my best friend of late. This is funny because caffeine hits me weirdly, I either sleep through it or it keeps me up all night. I don’t know if you’ve seen it but there are a few mocha recommendations coming through from Instagram lately and I tried this one recently. I’ll link the video/Instagram post.
This is apparently better known as the Starbucks Kinder Bueno drink, and it’s close but in my opinion pretty much sugar-coffee. Still would get it again though, 100%.
When I saw the recipe, I had two thoughts. One, this is going to probably be a $9-$10 drink which I should probably not make a habit of ordering. And Two, holy sugar rush. There are so many pumps of white chocolate syrup or hazelnut syrup in it that I can’t tell if I should be happy or cry at the sugar content. I also kept the espresso shots and again, weird with caffeine so wasn’t too sure on that.
But based on the comments in the video, keeping one espresso shot is probably a must since you pay for it in the drink anyways. Oh well, to each their own.
I did try it out though, but still got cold foam (which was a mistake for this lactose-intolerant college student) and switched the milk to an oat beverage. That oat beverage switch did unfortunately add to the total but I had a 6-hour school day that day so I’ll take the loss for my own sake. But this was good, even with only one shot of blonde espresso, so I’m crying on the inside.
This whole coffee thing had me thinking of maybe getting a Nespresso machine one day, but that’s a $300+ investment that I’ll let future me handle, 3+ years down the line. I’ll just stick to a cheap iced capp from Tims or instant coffee at home, or maybe ask my dad to make an extra Vietnamese coffee in the morning. Anyways, what is your go-to Starbucks or coffee order? Could be from anywhere.
