Fear of technology

So the usual happened, my printer ran out of ink. So I went to the printer store, a small hole of a store near the bus station and bought a replacement cartridge (it's important to know the code for the right printer). For an ink-jet printer the cost of a cartridge is modest, only NIS 60 (about $15). I bought only a black one, and turned down the cost for the color cartridge, although it hasn't been working for some time. I took it home and replaced the cartridge and lo and behold, the printer would not work. An orange light kept flashing, no matter how many times I opened it and took out the cartridge and fiddled with it and put it back in. So I called the printer guy and he said those fearful words, "bring it in."

So I shlapped the printer, not too heavy to carry, to the store and he confirmed that the orange light was blinking, but he told me it was because it needed a color cartridge, it can't work unless it has both. So I said OK, replace the color cartridge, which he did (cost NIS 90 or $22). But, you guessed it, when he tested it, the orange light still kept blinking. So he took out both the cartridges and cleaned the heads with the copper contacts and also cleaned inside the printer where they make contact with an alcohol soaked tissue and then tried again, and the orange light still blinked. So he said it was the black cartridge that was causing the problem. I immediately feared that I had done some tiny damage to the contacts when I put the cartridge in myself. But, he cleaned it again very thoroughly and, yes, it worked, the blinking light went out. He tested it and it printed quite perfectly, so I thanked him, paid for the additional cartridge and left.

As soon as I got home I re-connected the printer and of course, the orange light blinked and it would not work! So I did what he had done, cleaned the contacts, and once it stopped blinking, but then the printer would not print, it was not making contact with the computer. I did what every normal person would have done, I turned the printer off and on again, but you guessed it, the orange light started to blink again. At that point I was ready to throw the printer out of the window, but I controlled myself and took the printer back to the printer guy. He said, "but, it worked before" and he cleaned the contacts again and tested it several times and it worked perfectly, so he said about the printer not printing, re-boot the computer. So once again I took it home and re-connected it and it worked, there was no blinking light, and then I re-booted the computer with the printer attached, and guess what, everything worked normally, the printer actually prints. The moral of this story is if you ever have to change a printer cartridge, clean the contacts thoroughly and if the printer doesn't print, re-boot the computer. Beyond that throw the printer out of the window and give up on technology.