Instructions to Fix the Printer

 Below are the instructions I got off the HP site on how to try and fix the printer:

Dust, paper fiber, and other debris might accumulate on the paper feed rollers and cause paper jams and paper feed issues. Clean the rollers inside the printer, and then try to print again.
Gather the following materials:
A lint-free cloth

Distilled, filtered, or bottled water (tap water might damage the printer)

1. Turn off the printer, and then disconnect the power cord.
2. Disconnect the USB cable, if it is not already disconnected.
3. Raise the input tray. 
4. Lift and hold the input tray shield.
5. Look down through the open input tray and find the gray paper pick rollers. You might need a flashlight to illuminate the area.
6. Dampen a long cotton swab with bottled or distilled water, and then squeeze any excess water from the cloth.
7. Press the swab against the rollers, and then rotate them upward with your fingers. Apply a moderate amount of pressure to remove dust or dirt buildup.
8. Lower the input tray shield.
9. Allow the rollers to dry for 10 or 15 minutes.
10. Reconnect the power cord to the rear of the printer, and then turn on the printer.
11. Reconnect the USB cable to the printer if necessary.

I have a suggestion how about making it easier to access the printer rollers. Then you might be able to actually fix the damn thing. 

 

 

One More Thing to Go Wrong

I needed to print something today from my printer. It had worked like a week ago but now it doesn't feed the paper properly. In what has been an incredibly frustrating week another wonderful cluster f*ck from life this is the cherry on top of my cherry sundae and I hate cherries.

It started with my next door neighbor noticing something. She is having work done. She's having her back porches replaced. As she was looking at the work being done, she noticed that the support on my back porch is rotting away. One more expense in what has turned out to be a very expensive fall after the vet bill.

The next wonderful thing to have happen is that the back wheel on my bike is bent. Which makes the bike unrideable. The first appointment I could get to have someone look at it is October 6.

And now this fun happening.

I'm not sure if I will continue to try and get the printer to work because I have a feeling I won't be able to get it to work. Either that or I will smash it to bits which would make me feel sooooo much better in the short term.

So what I will do instead is find a new printer and see how quickly I can get in.

I think the moral of the story is to just stay in bed. It greatly limits the next disaster life is going to throw your way.

I am so ready for this piece of shit of a year to be over.

A Funny Take on Back to School

 I happened upon these Peanuts cartoons the other day. Sally has a very funny take on the start of school.

The Unending Unemployment Saga

 An update on the unending unemployment saga.

Here’s a summary of what’s been going on.

Major League Baseball set up a relief fund for workers. At the time I applied for unemployment I didn’t have any information on when I would receive the money or how much money.

I forgot to mention this when I applied. In part that was because I had been on hold for four hours that day. That was after I had been on hold for five hours the previous day and had not spoken to anyone. Also there was information I had to find to give to unemployment and that took a little while to do.

As soon as I hung up that phone I realized I had not mentioned it. As it turned out about two hours after I got off the phone I received the information.

The next day I called back. I waited on hold for two hours and then gave up. I had some other things to do. A little later in the day I found an email address for unemployment. I detailed the information I how much money I would receive and when I would get it. I got an automated confirmation that the email had been received and someone would be back in touch with me.

After not hearing back, I called unemployment. After two hours on hold, I got through to someone and gave them the information. We agreed that it should be classified as severance even though it wasn’t exactly that.

Fast forward to August. I call unemployment yet again. My case is escalated. I’m told that I should be contacted in 5-7 business days about what the next steps are going to be. I’m reassured that I should receive all of the money except for two weeks when I was paid the severance.

Two week later I receive an email from unemployment (this is right before Labor Day). In it is a link to a Fact Finding Questionnaire which I need to answer in 48 hours excluding weekends and holidays. This is a series of questions about the severance. Most of the requested information unemployment has already received from me. But I answer the questions anyway.

As I finish the questionnaire, I notice the submit button. Under it it says that there will be a way for me to get a copy of the answers that I provided. I think I should take a screen shot of my answers which I do. I click on submit. The information is sent. I then get a blank screen. No way to get a record of what my answers were.

I did the survey in Safari. I go to Firefox. I get the same results. A neighbor of mine has Internet Explorer on her work computer (this is the recommended browser to use). I fill out the survey. I get the same results.

The Tuesday after Labor Day I call unemployment. Two hours later I talk to someone. They have no record that any sort of survey was sent to me at all. I give them the identification code I was given on the questionnaire email. Again  nothing. The guy says I should respond to the questionnaire email explain what happened and include the screen shots I took. That’s what I do.

I am beyond frustrated at all of this. I notice on Safari that I’m still on the blank page that popped up after I took the survey. I hit refresh like ten times. Each time I get a dialog box saying this will resend the information. I click OK. So one way or another they should have gotten the information.

The funny thing about this is that I have about four or five weeks of unemployment eligibility left. I’m guessing my eligibility is going to end well before I get any money.

The final little iron of all of this. The original email I sent laying out the details of the relief fund I sent on April 14. I got an automated response back with a case number. It also stated I would be contacted in 48 to 72 hours. I’m still waiting for a response.

Capital One make sure it is NOT in your wallet.

I’ve reached the end of the line with Capital one. At one point in time I had checking, saving, credit card, line of credit and mortgage with them. I finally canceled the final thing I had with them the credit card. Here are the series of events that caused me to do this.

My home equity line of credit was sold. Now this happens on a regular basis so it wasn’t too much of a surprise. But it was sold to a company firmly planted in the middle of the last century. You cannot move money electronically. You have to use checks. The original checks I received from the company were 6 inches high by 9 inches wide. They looked fake. If I received them as payment for something I would wonder if they were legitimate. I placed an order for new checks. I going to use the line of credit to pay for Charlie’s vet bills. It will be interesting to see what shows up.

Next my mortgage was sold. When this happened the new mortgage company sent a whole series of letters with information about what was going to happen. They assured over and over and over and over again that nothing would change. You wouldn’t have to worry about a thing. The only thing you would have to remember is the new address to send payments to and when to start doing it. And yet the new company wasn’t competent enough to pay my home owner’s insurance. They even wrote me a letter blaming me for the fact they didn’t pay it.

Then along came trying to get a copy of a canceled check to prove I’d paid a bill. I first requested the information on line. I made the initial request and a couple of weeks later called back to see how things were progressing. I was told there was a problem with it. I wondered when they were going to tell me about that. I was finally able to get a copy of the check. The only problem was it was just the front of the check so there was no way to prove the check had been cashed. This happened not once but twice. Four months after the first request I finally received something I could use to prove I’d paid the bill.

After all these fun and games. I closed the checking and savings account. At least I thought I closed out the checking account rather than just withdrawing all the money. Turns out for some reason if was not closed and one of the automatic payments I had set up was sent. Which caused the account to be over drawn. A phone call got that cleared up. But one has to wonder why the account wasn’t close in the first place.

I kept the credit card. This is very much a catch 22 situation. If you cancel the credit card, it changes your debt ration if you are carrying balances on other cards and that will reduce your credit score. But if you keep the card that means your available usable credit can bring down your credit score as well. From a little research keeping the card has less of an impact on your score thus the reason I kept the card.

The final straw with Capital One was there decision to lower my credit line. As usual it was an oh by the way we decided this. I decided I had had enough of Capital One. I figure my credit score will take a hit from this anyway so might as well just close the account.

So that’s my experience with Capital One and something to remember about Capital One make sure IT IS NOT IN YOUR WALLET.

Charlie on the mend

 Here's a video showing Charlie Brown's progress. Just a few days ago he could barely stand up.

Furry Friends on Bike Rides

Something to remember when you are riding on the paths by the Lincoln Memorial.

The cute furry critters that run around when it is lights out are squirrels.

The cute furry critters that run around when it is dark out are usually squirrels but sometimes they are rats.

One woman found out the hard way much to her distress.

The other day I raced a rat running from one side of the path to the other. I almost got him but then he put on a burst of speed and made it across.

Continuing the Fun with Unemployment

Here's a short update on my unemployment case (I might do a longer story on it later).

There had been an issue with my claim which was why I wasn't receiving any benefits. A few weeks back, I called unemployment and my case was "escalated".

 

Late yesterday evening I got this email reply here's the most important part of it: Your telephone inquiry to the Department of Employment Services Office of Unemployment Compensation is now closed.

And the small detail that might be missing from this is what was decided about it. Or maybe they would put in the email you will be contacted shortly about what was determined. 

 

As another part of the email says: If you require additional assistance, please contact the Customer Navigation Center then a phone number.

 

Yes I guess I do require additional service since I have no idea what was decided. This is just nuts!