Sometimes technology can try your patience

This is my HP all-in-one printer

I know most of you know what I’m talking about.  Things always decide to go on strike when you really don’t have the time to coax it along and you just want to get on with it.  Sometimes things test our patience and persistence. 

Yesterday I had some paperwork to catch up on while I was off work.  The first thing I noticed is that I needed more forms to perform the task at hand.  Wouldn’t you know that first, I had to make copies and second, none of the copiers in the house wanted to work.  I didn’t want to drive into town to the office supply store just to make copies, so I had to put my thinking cap on.  How could I get around this without leaving my house?

It’s about 10 miles to the closest office supply.  So after racking my brain I was hoping the scanner on my “new” printer was still working.  What I mean by new is that I just bought this printer in Jan and you would think it would still work, but I’m having issues with the black ink.  I need to call them and see if I can straighten it out because I already tried all the troubleshooting I can think of.  I’m pretty disgusted with this printer at the moment.

But on the plus side, the scanner still works, so I was able to scan the document I needed copies of into my desktop and then copy that to my external drive and load it from there into my laptop so I could carry that downstairs and hook it up to my hubby’s laser printer and print the form I needed.  What a big mess, but I was successful in the end, although this put me about two hours behind schedule.

I know you may be wondering why I didn’t scan the form right to my laptop.  I could have but it’s new and I don’t have the wayward printer loaded into it yet.  At this time I don’t think I will load the software over there until I get the printer straightened out. 

So if you are ever in a position where you encounter this type of problem, just think it out and come up with a solution.  I think this was still faster than driving into town and waiting at the office supply to make copies, plus it didn’t cost me anything extra except time.

I always seem to have printer issues of some sort.  I had the same problem with my old printer but I’d had it for years so I wasn’t entirely surprised when it acted up.  But I expect better things out of something not even a year old.  I hope HP has some ideas for me on how to fix this thing.

A bone yard for old computer parts

Somehow all this stuff has found its way to my office.  Why?  Why?  Why?  I don’t need more stuff in here, trust me. 

 Multiplying computer parts

 

It all started when I finally gave up on my old color printer a couple of weeks ago and broke down and got a new one.  I had just purchased new ink cartridges for the old one and I’m still wondering what to do with those.  I hate to see them going to waste.  And now that was an unneeded expense.  I must have a hundred dollars in new ink cartridges I can’t use now, including three extra large new black ones.  I would cry, but that doesn’t solve anything, does it?  I’m sure someone savvier about these things could fix the printer.  I guess I need to think about donating this somewhere.

Aside from that printer issue, hubby decided I needed a bigger computer monitor for my desktop.  He finally got busy cleaning off his desk and taking apart the old computer that’s been there for years and not working.  So one day here he comes and hooks up his old monitor to my desktop computer, so now my old monitor, which is fine by the way, has joined the color printer on the floor of my office.  Sigh.

Everything else from my husband’s old computer setup ended up on the dining room table.  This would be okay for a while because we eat on TV trays anyway so he can watch Fox news.  Meanwhile, I was thinking about what to do with this stuff because I do like to keep the downstairs cleaned up. 

I didn’t have to think about this long because a couple days later, the odds and ends of the old computer parts joined the group on my office floor.  This was a shocker because hubby rarely picks anything up.  I guess it’s my job to find homes for all this stuff now - in my spare time.  I wonder when that will be.  I don’t have enough time now for everything I need to do.

What would we do if life wasn’t full of issues and decisions?

As we all know it’s always something in life and I guess we should be glad we’re all around to experience all this stuff, good or bad, because the alternative isn’t a happy thought.

I’ve had a lot of car issues lately, as you know if you follow this blog.  Well I think that’s finally resolved (knock on wood) except for routine maintenance, like brakes, which is the next big job for my car.

Aside from that, I’m an artist at heart and I like to create things whether it’s a work of art for me or something for friends and family.  Besides writing stories and drawing, or painting pictures, I’m a calendar maker at years’ end.  I relax by resizing pics in my Photoshop program and putting together colorful calendars for the coming year.  This year I’m way behind because my photo printer has been on the blink.  I had a problem with the black ink cartridge and tried for two weeks to rectify the situation the best I could using Google for any info I could obtain that I didn’t know about.  I finally decided I was through with that, and believe me I don’t give up easily.

So I broke down and a week ago I bought a new color photo printer.  It was painful to spend the money, but it’s a bad situation when I haven’t even printed the calendars yet and it’s the third week of January.  I simply couldn’t let this go on any longer.

My new photo printer

I have a binding machine that only gets used about once a year but its well worth it.  I love doing everything myself and having the tools I need to do so.  I was finally able to print the calendars that I’ve had in a file for a month.

This is especially important because my mother has dementia and is losing her mind.  Every year I think this may be the last calendar I can make for her.  I put all the kids, grandkids, and great grand kids in there so she can focus and remember who we all are.  I know a time will come when this won’t work anymore.  I want to thank all my sisters and nieces for getting current pics to me for this calendar.  It means a lot.

 This is the cover of my mother's calendar for 2016

All any of us can do is take one day at a time.

Do you have a loved one suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s?