Tales from the front lines... fun office experience today.

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

So, I have a couple of clients (yay!), and my phones were getting installed today, so I figured I'd hang out in the office for a while and get my new printer up and running while they were installing the phones. Then I'd print some documents and do some reading and generally be productive.

So I turn on the printer (after doing everything I was supposed to do), and it initialized and warmed up, and then about a minute later made this strange noise that I can only describe as the sound of a demon laughing. No joke. It actually sounded like a Hadean "Ha! Ha! Ha!"

While trying to figure out what the hell that was, another sound, "Poosh..." and smoke started pouring out of the thing.

So now I'm back to working from home tonight, where I have a working inkjet... with no black ink.

Off to a flying start...

goat

 

[Rockfish1]

The indignities of a solo practice are many and frequent

"Oh sure," I used to think at the Big Firm. "I'll just file it by certified mail." Then I learned how much certified mail costs. And how much time is involved to prepare the certified mail cover letter explaining to the clerk what you're doing; making copies (which also costs money); making labels (which also costs money); stuffing envelopes (free); preparing the green cards (free but still annoying); remembering that you also have to prepare stamped self-addressed return envelopes for your file-marked copy and service copies of the order you're requesting; realizing you haven't made enough copies; weighing both the entire package and its separate internal components to insure that nothing is returned for insufficient postage; discovering that there's a typo in your proposed Order; tearing the package open and fixing that; creating a new package with new postage; insuring that everything is properly posted; and having many drinks in frustration over the simple task of mailing a f#cking document (expensive).

Multiply this by eleventy.

 

[GOIU]

Why does it have to be a race thing...what about the white ink

J/K.

First thing I thought about was the old modem booting up on AOL, I miss getting my weekly disk in the mail.

I'm glad you have clients that can use your services.

 

[Rockfish1]

AOL = LOL


Maybe I'm being too harsh here, because I probably quit subscribing at about the same time that you did (maybe later, but let's not go there), but how much money do you suppose AOL has made off people who didn't realize that they didn't need AOL to access email and the internet? Even back in alt.newsgroup days there were newsgroups making fun of people with "@aol.com" in their email address. Still, I get misty about the days when I enjoyed something like "alt.jarjarbinksmustdie", which was real.



This post was edited on 2/13 6:40 PM by Rockfish1

 

[GOIU]

Funny thing I can estimate

The age of someone if they still have an AOL email address, like my parents.

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

We had AOL for many years.

Ditched it the very first day the phone company started offering DSL.

goat

 

[Rockfish1]

You're an early adapter

And not just with technology. Or at least that's how you strike me here.

 

[Rockfish1]

Also . . .

Why must you rise in defense of the white ink!? : )

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

I was at that age.

I'm the generation that grew up with personal computing. My dad bought a KayPro for work (he sold insurance), and I learned on that. Before AOL came along, I was on the local BBS's over a 2400-baud. Then I convinced the parental units to get AOL. After the version came out that allowed free access to sockets from other programs, I installed Netscape and was blown away with what was already available on the internet.

Now, I'm often behind the times. I used to teach my uncle about computers (he's less than 3 years older than me), and now he owns a computer store and I go to him for advice.

 

[GOIU]

If I don't

Who will? Someone needs to and I've taken on that burden, I feel paper should be black and ink white.

 

[GOIU]

I remember one Christmas

I got a commodore 64, all the games came on like 50 floppy disks.

 

[Rockfish1]

You must do what you must do

It's a heavy burden. Vaya con Dios, my amigo.