The Good, The Bad & The Ugly ... Or Maybe Just Good and Bad

My new free printer arrived on time via UPS yesterday and as soon as I was finished processing some mail orders, I unpacked it. A good test would be the shipping labels for the two packages I wanted to drop off at the Post Office on my way home. The instructions for set-up were pretty easy and clear, and soon I had replaced my broken black Epson printer with my new white HP. 

This is NOT a sturdy office-ready printer, this is an
"I have to print my paper for class tomorrow" printer.
Still, it functions fine, the print is clear, and the
price was perfect. It's really hard to beat free. 

The new printer isn't as sturdy as the old one, and it's definitely geared more to occasional use than daily, but I can live with that. I have my larger Epson at home and that's my workhorse printer - I put it through its paces daily and it's a rare day when it's not called upon to print a document or six. This little white printer, on the other hand, might have a week or two go by without needing to print a single page. 

The Tri-color ink cartridge is not getting
recognized by my printer. The question is,
is the set-up cartridge defective, or is the
printer defective. I can't tell for sure without
putting in a replacement, and I won't have
that in my hands for another ten days or so. 

After an hour or two of fussing with the ink cartridges, I determined that the Tri-color cartridge was defective. At least, I think it's the cartridge. I tried all of the "solve this yourself" remedies buried in the tech services assistance on-line pages, and finally found a way to contact a customer service rep via live-chat. 

HP has an "Instant Ink" program where they will automatically
ship ink to you. Cost is based on how much you use your printer.
For 10 pages or less a month, it's free. I rarely print more than
that at the shop - shipping labels and the occasional tax form
are my usual print jobs. The next category up will cost me $1. I can
handle that. 

It took almost an hour on live-chat, but they are sending me a new Tri-color ink cartridge which should arrive in eight days or so. Once I have that, I can determine if it's the cartridge that was the problem or if the problem is actually the printer itself. In the meantime, it prints black just fine, and I was able to print out the two shipping labels I needed for my mail orders and get them sent out to my customers. It might not be a 100% win/win at this point, but it's pretty close. 

It was such a joy to be back in the pool once again. My swimming
friends all welcomed me back, and even the life guard said
she was glad to see me back in the water. Rosemary and I shared
the lane as if no time had passed at all. 

I also started my morning out yesterday in the swimming pool - the first time in almost a year. So happy! I know I didn't get my mile in. I didn't count laps, I was focused on switching strokes every lap so that I wouldn't strain my shoulder. I also did a lot of leg work, since I'm still appalled by how weak my legs have become. My decision at the end of the swim? I've really missed it and I want to build it back into my exercise schedule, but not at the 6X/week I had been doing for years. I think 1-2 times a week in the pool will be glorious, and of course that will have to be put back onto the shelf when I get my skull tattoo. Hmmm ... maybe it's time to get moving on that. 

I still want my winged scarab tattoo. Probably not quite
as large as my henna was, but I really want it. If I have
to be bald, I want to be fierce and proud too. 

Have a wonderful day and weekend and I'll be back on Monday, hopefully with a clear driveway since we're supposed to get up to four inches of snow on Sunday.