Friday 5 January 2018

Going ga-ga?

My printer has been playing me up for the last couple of weeks, refusing to print anything for me and not even presenting m e with a good blank page on which to type. 

I didn't think there was much wrong with my printer, I suspected that the fault (dear Brutus) lay with me.   As to what that fault was I had no idea.   So, I called in an expert (my son, who is good at solving most fairly minor problems.)

A couple of weeks ago I put in a new black cartridge - a job I have done many times before but not recently as I haven't printed much lately.


It didn't take him long to locate the problem.   When I had inserted the new cartridge I had forgotten to pull off the plastic tab, so the ink was unable to 'get out'.   Two minutes and the problem was solved.   As to not presenting me with a new blank page, I had just forgotten how to perform the operation.

I suppose it is like everything else, if one doesn't do something on the computer regularly then one forgets how to do it.   I think, basically, I am still just a little bit in awe of the machine - and it knows it and takes advantage of me.   So there you have it.   I am already giving it a personality - I shall be christening it with a name next.  I would do so now except I can't decide whether it is is a he or a she!

28 comments:

jinxxxygirl said...

Too funny Pat.. lol I'm the same way though.. I don't do things on the computer often enough to stay 'up' on it.. Hubby will say . if i've shown you once i've shown you a million times... Yes ... but how long between those times..lol Glad you are back running again.. :) Good thing you have a computer 'guru'.. glad i have mine. ! Hugs! deb

John Going Gently said...

if your computer does everything then its a she

Unknown said...

I agree with John Gray!
Debbie

crafty cat corner said...

So funny, it's nice to know that I'm not alone.
I need to renew my virus protection and always, but always get in a mess with that. lol
Briony
x

Sue in Suffolk said...

Ha! Our printer is a she - she's so clever that she tells you off if you try to put in an improper ink cartridge! Which reminds me - must order some black ones ASAP

Maria said...

In Italian, the gender of a noun can be masculine or feminine. La stampante (the printer) is feminine. Yours is definitely a she; moody and sulky.
Greetings Maria x

Joanne Noragon said...

Our printer refuses to print. We outwait it. In several minutes it moans it cannot find the printer. We out wait it. Several minutes further on, the computer announces, unhappily, "Printing." We have won again!

Gwil W said...

I think printer should remain an it. But if you really want a name you can have the name of my previous car which served me well for 13 years. When it wouldn't start I'd call it a proper Charlie.


It's my spellchecker that does my head in. Because I type in more than one language it sulks. Or has spells of Intruding with bizarre words.

Morning's Minion said...

Electronic devices do seem to have personalities and baffling minds of their own. When I get something 'right' I've often been through so many wrong steps that it is difficult to remember the correct way to get there again.

DUTA said...

I hate to depend on others (including family andd friends), so if I own a device, I'll do my best to learn to deal with problems. It's not that difficult. If things don't work I just type the issue on Google and get answers that help me solve the problem.
Anyway, trying to solve problems preserves cognitive functions, and that's priceless.

Shawn said...

I definitely see the merits in trying to solve these technical problems oneself, but I love knowing I can call one of my kids if I can't. On the other hand (would this be the 3rd hand?) R says she'd never be able to watch TV without me.

Mac n' Janet said...

Sounds like me, if I don't write down h ow to do something I will never rem.

Glo said...

How about ~ Lady Ga-ga for your printer's name ;)

Mary said...

Same here when it comes to technology . . . . . . but it's the grandchildren who say "I've shown you that before loads of times Granddad/Grandma" in a rather condescending way of course, not realizing our old brains don't function like theirs.
Glad you're up and running again. Oh to have a son such as yours - ours apparently 'divorced' us since marrying a despicable sociopath 5 years ago, sigh!
Stay warm and dry dear Pat - we're in a deep freeze here in the eastern US, brrrrrrrr!
Hugs - Mary

Iris said...

If a printer acts up, I tend to think of it as a 'Clive'. Don't know why.

Penny said...

You are not the only one, sometimes I think that there is so much information stored in my brain it has problems getting out!

Virginia said...

Oh, I sympathise! I find that if I write down step by step directions I can SOMETIMES work out how to do it again, but not always. I confess we bought a new printer when the old one just got too cranky. It turned out that the study was so warm in summer that it was cooking the ink ... and ink is expensive. We got a basic laser printer and so far it has behaved. We were assured that the quality and life would be better.

Bea said...

Glad it wasn't anything more major. My printer acts up now and again. When I try to print, I sometimes receive a sort of 'busy signal' & I never know why. Usually, cancelling the print job and starting a-new does the trick.

Rachel Phillips said...

My cartridges come with step 1,2 and 3 instructions. Follow these and no need to remember the last time.

Cro Magnon said...

You are not alone Weave, most of us are controlled by our blessed machines.

Heather said...

We definitely sing from the same hymn sheet Pat! I tell people that my printer is temperamental! My technical expert is my youngest daughter - I couldn't cope without her and she is very patient with me. It is such a long time since I posted on my blog that I think I need to learn all over again, how to do it. What would we do without our experts?

The Weaver of Grass said...

Rachel - My greatest personal shortcoming (I have many) is probably that I have little patience. Whenever I buy a new product, be it a new ink cartridge or a new television or even something bigger and/or more expensive, I am always too impatient to read the instructions before trying to get it going (I have opened many a tin or box upside down), so encouraging me to read the instructions on the cartridge are probably not going to make me do so - but I promise you I shall try harder.

Bovey Belle said...

I lost some perfume my middle daughter and husband bought me this week - searched high and low for it, but could I find it? Eventually, having wasted a good hour searching, there it was, in plain sight on the sideboard, just inches from the ironing water I had set down there that morning. None of us are perfect ALL of the time!

Elizabeth said...

I have yet to turn on our new TV!
too many buttons on the clicker thing....!

Tom Stephenson said...

That made me laugh, Weave. It is the sort of thing I do all the time.

liparifam said...

Oh, my gosh, that's hilarious - I did the exact same thing a few weeks ago, LOL!! After printing a few bad pages and uttering many curse words, I finally removed the cartridge to look at it and realized what I'd done :)

liparifam said...

Oh, and then there was the time my brother-in-law, a highly intelligent attorney, called my other brother-in-law, an engineer, about his printer not working. After about 45 minutes on the telephone trying everything possible, engineer finally paused, then asked "It is plugged in, right?" And voila, problem was solved, LOL!

The Weaver of Grass said...

I must say I take great comfort from your replies, particularly liparifam's above!