A few weeks back I finally caved and bought a Smith Corona electronic typewriter that had been calling to me at the thrift store a couple blocks away from my mother-in-law's house. I think this opened some sort of portal. I can't stop finding old, mostly unwanted electronic typewriters everywhere. I love them. The beeps. The keyboard. The carbon ribbons that are both societally worthless and, to a handful of dorks across the globe, rare precious treasures.
My wife and I recently discovered our perfect thrift store like 7 minutes from our house. It's absolutely packed with reasonably priced bangers, a lot of which is junk that perfectly fits the 90s / early 00s aesthetic we've been rapidly drifting toward. But on our last trip, amongst all the dated decor we were snatching left and right, I spotted a 1985 IBM Wheelwriter 5 in pretty decent shape with the manual, an extra daisywheel, and three factory fresh ribbons. I don't know like, A TON, about Wheelwriters, but I knew the keyboard would be incredible (same buckling spring keys as old IBM Model M keyboards). I tinker around with it for a couple minutes before walking away, but like, two aisles later I could feel myself getting nervous thinking about some crusty bro putting his hands on it, so I ran back and hovered over it while my wife went to grab a cart. As if by magic, some old guy materialized from thin air while I was waiting and asked, "You don't know how to operate that thing, do ya??" This particular type of old guy is perhaps the greatest (maybe only good) argument I've ever seen for simulation theory. I'm a 37 year old autistic woman, dude, I know more about this technology that was relevant in my lifetime than you, no question. Anyways, the typewriter weighs a ton - it takes up a huge amount of desk space - it's gorgeous.
Getting sucked into the world of typewriters has already spurred a ton of creativity (I suddenly think I'm writing a novel - maybe two novels - something I've kind always kicked around but procrastinated for years). May I some day have a house full of these typewriters and novels to keep me company.