10/17/09

PH: Murphy Moved In - and There Are Pictures to Prove It!

Murphy moved in last week.

Well, it wasn’t a person named Murphy; instead, it was Murphy’s Law.

The theme for this week's Photo Hunt in blogland was -- well, there wasn't a theme.  It was a "free" week in which anything goes.  I had my own theme this week: nothing goes, and that's where Murphy comes in.

It was Thursday; the final extension for filing income taxes was up – as of midnight. Close to lunch time, the CPA’s office e-mailed the two signature sheets for me to open, print, sign, scan and then return to them for electronic filing.

When the e-mail arrived, I was in the middle of printing 20 sets of song sheets for use that night where I was providing piano music. With 16 of the 20 sets printed, the printer ran out of black ink – totally!!! I thought I had spare cartridges stored somewhere, but Murphy must have moved them.


With the warning about no ink staring at me on the computer screen, I looked at the time. It was around 1:30. My piano engagement was to start at 5 pm.

I left hurriedly to purchase more cartridges. With this taken care of, I returned to the printer, installed the black cartridge, went to the computer and hit the button to restart the printing.

Nothing happened. Absolutely nothing.


I checked the printer, the computer, the wireless router. Even made certain I was holding my mouth right! Still nothing.

Finally, something clicked. I printed out the two signature sheets from the CPA, then tried to continue with the last few sets of song sheets. Again, nothing happened.

Since I had printed the signature sheets, I signed where indicated, then set the all-in-one printer to “scan.” It made a noise but didn’t scan. I tried and tried. Finally – and I really mean finally - both scanned as pictures rather than as documents.


But they wouldn’t scan to the computer. Instead, they scanned to a “jump drive” or USB removable storage disk. Such a seemingly simple task, it took a LONG time. While one document was converting to a picture for scanning, I hurriedly got dressed for the music gig.



Then, while the second document followed the same long path, I gathered what music and song sheets I had and put them in the car.

It was about 4:15 when I could finally e-mail the signed document/photographs to the CPA. I sent them, then left for the three-hour entertainment gig.

Somehow, in the midst of all of this, I left part of my body back at home. It’s not really an anatomical part of the body; it’s usually referred to as a cell phone or Blackberry.


When I got back home around 8:30, there were phone calls, messages and e-mails galore. Apparently the CPA’s office had received one of the attachments but not the other. There were three calls from his office, messages from a daughter and my mother – letting me know that the CPA was trying to reach me.

I rescanned the document in question and attached it to another e-mail. Then I called his office to see if the attachment arrived this time. The call was answered by voice mail. Had they given up and gone for the day?

Bear in mind, the midnight deadline was absolute.

Finally, I got an e-mail confirming that the document was received and was being filed before midnight.

Hallelujah!

But I still couldn’t print anything.

Friday morning, I found the installation disk and reinstalled the printer. Voila! There was a message that the document was printing.


But it didn’t.

I went on-line, read the troubleshooter manual, tried everything suggested, all to no avail. Murphy was still in the house!

Finally I tried an on-line “chat” with a member of the tech support team.

We were on line with each other for three hours and thirty-five minutes!!!!  That guy had the patience of Job!

By late Friday night, the printer and computer were communicating with each other and working!

Of course, by then, I was too tired to even look at the computer screen again.

Leave me alone, Murphy. Please!


 
 
Tomorrow -- more about Murphy's Law.


10 comments:

candi said...

What a day you had!Glad it all went well at the end.

Anonymous said...

What a nightmare!! Glad the CPA at least took the email.

Marites said...

wow..what a day! it's a good thing, it all worked out in the end. i love your last pic hehehehe

Rebecca Mecomber said...

Oh dear, what a DAY!!! I have had times like that with my printer(s). Makes me fondly remember those olden, golden days of pen and paper... but glad you got it done!

Enjoy your weekend!
Mrs. Mecomber
http://newyorktraveler.net

KayeDean said...

Hopefully Murphy is gone for a while. Thank goodness he doesn't visit often, but what stress he causes when he is here.

jams o donnell said...

Aargh! I'm so gald I don't have to submit tax returns as a matter of course. Happy weekend

Gattina said...

Must have been a nightmare for you !

Sandee said...

Yikes, that's a streak of bad luck if I've seen seen one. I'm glad you got your taxes done on time. I don't much care for Murphy. I've seen him way too many times too.

Have at terrific day. :)

Gianetta said...

I'm glad you forgot your Blackberry. Otherwise you wouldn't have enjoyed the music.

Syd said...

I don't like having those technological problems. Thankfully they are few and far between with a Mac. Glad it got resolved.

 
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