Friday, March 14, 2003

If it still works, why throw it out?

The subject (above) has been a contention between my wife and I for years.

For years, I used a second-hand HP DeskJet 400. It was the only printer in the house for at least 2 years and I've owned it for at least 5. After two moves and a new computer purchase, it seemed easier to just push the file across to my wife's computer and onto the printer which was part of the purchase deal. I refused to throw the old printer out on the basis that "it still works". The ink cartridge had long sinced dried out (I'd run it low right before a move), and I wasn't willing to risk $30 to find out that the printer was dead, so my side of the argument was on shaky ground.

This last move was to a smaller house, meaning that there are a lot of cardboard boxes still in the garage after a year. In rooting around for a screwdriver set, I came across the nice case, that comes with the printer, that protects your alternate (black or color) cartridge. Surprise! There was still a bit of liquid ink in that one! Further digging revealed a 6' printer cable and my old SMC router.

What I now have is a nice remote printer which will allow me to dump stuff to printer first thing in the morning, go get ready for work, and grab the output on my way out the door. Now all I have to do is learn how to fish cables up (or down) through the walls.

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