Hey everybody!

Here's the situation: Not too long ago, a friend of mine gave me an Olympia sm9 as a gift.  I'm a writer and for a long time I'd been bitching and moaning about how unsatisfied I was using a computer for my creative output.  [I was born in 1986--to a person of my generation, a computer isn't a functional piece of machinery, it is as valuable/valid/dangerous a source of passive entertainment as a television.]

So: I was hoping you guys would have some words of wisdom for me about the proper maintenence of what I've read is a fairly top of the line machine. 

And don't be afraid of offending me by assuming I'm ignorant.  Let me assure you that I am truly and profoundly ignorant. 

For example: when I reach the end of the ribbon, am I supposed to be able to switch it so it starts feeding the ribbon from right to left instead of left to right?  The times I've run out of ribbon so far I've just had to manually manipulate it so the ribbon is all on the left again.

Let me reiterate: help!

Thank you, thank you, thank you.