Friday, October 17, 2008

I Give Up

Today's Link
A New Journey

Saying for the Day
Modern technology
Owes ecology
An apology.
~Alan M. Eddison


Picture of the Day

Just suppose that Ford or any automobile company not only sold cars but also sold gasoline. When you bought your new car there was a warning sign on the dashboard “ Only use genuine Ford gas in this vehicle. So for the first five or six fill ups you do. But then you note that non company gas is two thirds the price of company gas. They promise you it won’t hurt your car. So you fill up with non-company gas. When you go to start the car a warning light comes on. You are using non-company gas .Do you wish to proceed. Then you have to push a button and the car starts. But the gas gauge reads zero because the car doesn’t recognize the gas as valid and all the while you drive a little sign keeps flashing that says non-company gas in use. But it gets worse every time you start the car you have to push that stupid button.
Wouldn’t you feel used, harassed, even cheated? Of course you would and I do.
I bought a Lexmark printer. The price was reasonable. It does a fine job of printing. It is wireless and every computer in the house uses it including my daughter’s laptop. We like it. It came with directions to use only Lexmark Ink. For the first five or six cartridges I did. Then I noticed that Remanufactured ink cartridges were $10 less that the original and came with a guarantee. So I tried one.
My printer told me it was not a Lexmark ink and did I want to go on. I did of course. So it printed but it then said I was out of black ink. I wasn’t as I just put the cartridge in. From that point on I had to tell the Printer it was okay to print every time I wanted to print and I was always out of black ink according to the printer. But the printing was just as good as ever.
Yesterday I ran out of black ink for real. I wasn’t ready , of course.
So I feel used, harassed, and even cheated. But I will buy an OEM cartridge this time.
They win. I surrender.
News from Pigeon Falls
The little town in my basement where the trains still run, dragons fly, and life is back to normal.
The Museum Board met again last night and after a very heated debate voted to sell a block of five tickets for any given day. They kept one to be sold at the door. The price decided on was $100 for a five ticket block and The Strange Life Travel Service immediately bought up all of November and what was left of October.. Henry Chambers said “ I told you we could have charged more. These people are crazy.
Tommy UK googled “Antoin Checavoski “ and found out there was a group that shared recordings and videos of his playing. They even had their own little newspaper with information on group gatherings. He was able to look at old copies of the paper on the website and he discovered that the fact that the Piano was now in Pigeon Falls had been written up there. There was also an add from the Strange Life Travel Service offering to make arrangements to get people to Pigeon Falls and listing the playing time for the piano. The most recent issue had testimonies from people who had heard the piano play in Pigeon Falls and said it was just like going to one of the great man’s concerts, except it only lasted a half an hour.
Nancy’s poltergeist is still in the Halloween mood. It has added to the number of pumpkins it has floating around the coffee shop, a new pumpkin everyday. Nancy is afraid it will let one of them fall and break something but so far it hasn’t. People seem to enjoy the pumpkins except when they float over their head.

Wrap Up
Another good day. Spent partt of the dayhelping Betty with some technical problems she was having with tomorrow's post. The yard man came and cleaned our gutters ( gutter cleaning isn't cheap). He said we need a new roof ( joy). In the afternoon we worked cleaning up in the basement. We are trying to get ready to do the last module. Then we ran the train (the fun part). I came up and visited some blogs. Now I need a breathing treatment.
GBYA
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12 Comments:

Blogger Dragonstar said...

I do know what you mean, but $10 is a small price to pay for peace and quiet. I like Lexmark printers. I've tried all sorts of replacement cartridges, but these days I find it easier to buy Lexmark inks off e-bay (can't buy anything locally.) I love the sound of your wireless printer - we run three units at the moment, which means three lots of ink ...

4:43 AM  
Blogger Janets Planet said...

I wonder if any of Nancy's poltergeists go to the concerts at the museum. I am sure they wouldnt take up an space. I could see Tommy sneaking in a tea set just to see if they mess with it.

5:11 AM  
Blogger Melli said...

LOL! I have a Lexmark printer... I've never tried NOT buying their cartridges... and now I won't! Thanks for the warning!

I'm sO glad the committee decided to keep ONE ticket available... for whenever I get around to getting up that early! Do you thik we could convince the piano to play at maybe 8 o'clock ONE morning?

The thing about poltergeists is that they are sO darned mischievous!

5:19 AM  
Blogger Margaret said...

Now I know why some printers we obtained almost for free. With the rebate check or free with CPU purchase. They make their bucks off the ink cartridges.

5:41 AM  
Blogger Bill ~ {The Old Fart} said...

My HP Printer doesn't give me the warning but I keep getting this icon in the System Tray at the clock that tells me the Black Ink Cartridge is empty. I had my old HP Ink Cartridges refilled. For some reason the printer knows it is refilled ink. If I put a new cartridge in with HP ink I don't get the warning.

A Blessed Day is wished for you and Betty.

8:36 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey! Not fair. The wifi on our Lexmark doesn't work!

Wel, it does, but only after much frustration, and crying. Then I give in, hook it to my computer -- and it prints everything I sent without me having to push another button. Pft.

9:31 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I have never used off brand or cheap ink. I had an HP printer and hated to buy ink cause it was over $60 to replace. When we had to get a new printer we looked for an all in one printer which used ink that was lower in price. That is one reason we got the Lexmark X9575. The price of cartridges is a lot lower. However I can not say much for the instruction manual. Instructions are clear as mud.

9:40 AM  
Blogger Family Man said...

It's crazy. Staples and office depot sell their own brands of ink, that work just fine. You just have to deal with that annoying message. I guess they figure you will get so frustrated with the message you weill break down and buy their ink.

10:27 AM  
Blogger Russell said...

Interesting ... and frustrating!

I believe there is a federal law called the Clayton Act that prohibits what are called tie-in sales -- those sales where you have to buy a particular product to keep the first one working, etc.

But I am a recovering attorney so I don't know much any more and the Republicans have been in office for several years, so maybe they tossed that law out...!

Take care.

4:19 PM  
Blogger Voegtli said...

I bought a HP 1010 black/white laser printer. For 160 dollars. It prints very good. And came with an original HP cartridge. Which printed around 5'000 pages (I guess). Then I ran out of toner. As I am a firm believer in "original" parts, I went to bay a cartridge. Which costs 130 dollars (!!). I wonder if it is not better to simply buy a new HP 1010 every time? :-)

7:51 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

When I buy a printer I always research the cost of a drum and toner becuase that is where they stick it to you. I refuse to buy inkjet anymore for the reasons you speak of...only laser...only laser.

12:07 AM  
Blogger LoieJ said...

Well, there truly are differences in ink quality, but they make their money on the ink, that is for sure. I use only Epson DuraBrite ink because it is the only one that prints on regular fabric rather than on pre-treated fabric. [Don't ask.]

8:08 PM  

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