New Brother Printer

It's a doozie!  Model MFC-L 8905CDW.  Yeah, I splurged...   

But I can print in color again (and I assume scan and fax).  But it wasn't easy setting it up.  Not the printer's fault, I was just stupid and confused about a few things.  

First, let me say it is very early morning.  I couldn't sleep last night (too much sleep the day before).  So there I was in bed completely awake.  I got dressed and started a load of laundry.  And then I thought about The New Printer.  So I decided to install it.  Three hours later, it works.  And all the difficulties (except one) were completely my errors.

Second, let me say I bought a 1/8th" custom-cut plastic top for the computer desk 2 years ago (for easier cleaning) but never put it on because the (failed) canon printer was too damn heavy to move easily.  So I pulled the Canon off the deck (nearly killed me) and dumped it on the floor.  Moved all the other stuff to one side and lemon-pledged that.  Moved stuff again and did the other half.

I built the computer desk many years ago.  In fact, it is so old it has a slot for fanfold paper to come up from a box on a shelf underneath!  But it is sturdy and nicely finished, so I keep it.  With the old Canon printer off, I slid the plastic top halfway on, moved the smaller stuff onto it, and got it in place.  Looks lovely.

But guess what?  I can't lift the new Brother printer onto the desk!  It sits on the floor, which made plugging cables awkward and I think I'll need to keep it covered to protect it from cat furs.

So I read the startup instructions.  I say "read" but mostly it was just poor images I had to struggle to follow.  It came from China of course.  Pulled off all the packing tape.  Some packaging items were weird.  One part was like 12" of plastic that looked like part of the printer!

It was "oh that's what the drawing was about".  I went on like that for an hour.  Even some tape that looks like it should be removed apparently isn't.  😖

But I did get it properly unpacked.  Then "load paper".  OK, that wasn't a problem.  Next, plug in the printer.  Did that into the battery backup surge suppresser.   For fax capability, I had to connect a phone cord to the router.  On my back with a flashlight.  Struggled for a few minutes.

Finally came to "connect the printer to your computer".  Should be easy, right?  No, that took another hour.  The printer came with a CD for connecting.  It didn't work.  Apparently, my CD is too old.  There was a download site.  That drove me crazy.

The printer was plugged in and connected to the computer.  But nothing happened.  I pressed the on/off power button a few times.

Oops, wrong button!  I finally found the actual power button (unlit little dark circle).  And when I pressed that, the printer made a screaming noise!  I went through several iterations of on/off (saying "bad words" frequently).  

I finally went back under the desk with my flashlight and pulled out the power plug.  I had it in a non-backup outlet and it seems the printer didn't like that.  It stopped screaming at me  after I changed some plugs around to give it a battery back-up outlet.  😣

Keep in mind that the CD didn't work, so I was at a Brother help website...

And then the instructions said to connect the printer to the computer.   I wrote down the menu sequence.  It didn't work.  Drove me nuts.  Then I finally realized I hadn't actually plugged the printer into the computer!   I should be shot for "computer malfeasance".  😢

Hurray, the computer recognized the printer!  I printed out a nice color version of

If you work hard and long enough, sometimes things work!

University of Maryland's Women's Basketball Team

I thought the Maryland Men's basketball survived a tight game NCAA game 72-71 with a buzzer-beater.  But DAMN the 4th-seeded Maryland Women's team went into double overtime against 5-seeded Alabama!  They finally won 111-108.

It was an amazing game.  The after-game announcers said it was THE game of the tournament.  Maryland had been down by 17 but came back in the 4th quarter as the lead changed at least a dozen times.  

Alabama lost, but should not be ashamed.  It was a fierce game right to the last seconds.  And their star player scored 45 points.  Something nearly unheard of in NCAA tournament play!  They all played their hearts out.

But as a post-game announcer said, 64 teams enter the tournament and 63 lose.  Sports can be very cruel, but it is also very definite.  Some team has to win and some team has to lose.  

Maryland's next opponent is Florida.  They are the #1 rated team.  I don't expect Maryland will win.  But you never know.

One unusual thing is that both the Men's and Women's teams are now in the Sweet 16.  Most Universities don't have both teams reaching that far in the same year.  

So cheers to both Maryland teams,  And respect to their opponents who pushed their games right down to the last seconds.  

University of Maryland Men's Basketball Team

It was a real NCAA Tournament thriller.   MD started out so badly, I stopped watching for a while.  But just before the halftime, I returned and they were only a few points behind.  The second half went back and forth, a few points up a few points down.  It came down to single points changes right at the end.  

I should mention that Maryland has had wretchedly bad luck with close games this season.  They lost 7 games, and 6 were in the last 10 seconds.  Normally, a team would win about half of super-close games.  Not Maryland.  It was like the Grim Reaper was stalking them.

So their opponent was 2 points behind and sank a 3-point shot with 3.5 seconds left to play.  So Maryland in-bounded to ball and the player who got it had to shoot immediately.  He sank the shoot beautifully.  Maryland won!

Sometimes there is justice and mercy in sports.  😂

I feel sorry for the other team, but Maryland suffered that kind of loss too many times this season.  It was time for some luck!

 

Taxes Are Too Complicated

Going off-line for a week.  I have to do the extension tax filings by October 15 and things are so botched up I have to start from scratch and make corrections...  And sort out the 3 versions I thought were correct at various times but aren't.  

I'll be back when I am back.  Damned stupid complicated taxes!  The 'Minimum Required Distribution" of my Government Savings Thrift Plan has ruined my ability to deal with it on the tax forms.    

  .....

Well, Darn I have to change my post.  I did spend a few hours sorting out the various tax forms (without a lot of success), but when things like that get troublesome, you have to turn your attention to something else.

So I decided to tackle another problem that has been bothering me for several years.  No point in solving a simple problem, LOL!

Some people listen to music on their phones, some on a small boom box.  But I'm a stereo rack guy.  Old habit...  And I haven't been able to play CDs for 3 years.  So, "fix that".  I was sure it was "bad cable hook-ups".  I've looked at it a couple times and just gave up seeing all the wires in the back again.  And I even had a new CD player in the box, but was sure it was the cable connections.

I'm an idiot!

But to start, I had to roll out the stereo rack.  It's on a wheeled tool platform (love those things).  

Then I looked at the cables.

I could not find anything wrong.  But they were all tangled so I undid them all.  Even unplugged all the power cords

to have a clean untangled start.

So with most of the equipment unplugged, I attached the CD player directly to the speakers.  Nothing, nada, nope.  I should have known the CD player itself was the problem...

But I had a replacement in the house (for 3 years).  So yeah, at least once I suspected the player was the problem.  

So I re-connected all the non-CD cords neatly (to keep them out of the way) and put the power cords off to one untangled side.

Checked all the "ins and outs" cables carefully...  Plugged everything back into the surge box...  Turned the tuner selection dial to "CD".  And tried it.

Ah bliss!  'Pictures At An Exhibition' came right up...

I really needed a success...  

Grocery Store Pickup Results

 Well, the pickup process was actually a bit confusing.  I had set a pickup time for 2PM and I expected that meant I should just arrive there at that time.  No, not quite!  I received an email the evening before that said my order would be ready between 2-7 PM.  What?!

I would receive a "notification" when it was ready.  But they didn't tell me what form the notification would be in.  They had my phone number and email address, and I had unchecked mobile phone text.  Searching their site and even talking to a chatbot didn't reveal anything.  

So in the morning, I called an 877 number to a centralized location.  The agent there couldn't answer my question, but did give me a number to the store customer service desk (CSD).  Amazingly, the CSD couldn't tell me how I would be "notified" either, lacking a smartphone app.

However, some good news!  No sooner had I hung up with the CSD than I got a call from a store shopper saying my order was ready to be picked up.  She even said the shallots were rather soft, did I still want them". (no).  I explained I had some mobility problems but would be there in 15 minutes.  So she said she would keep watch for my arrival (green Subaru SUV).

I got there and got out of the car and someone came out with a cart of bags.  Wrong person, LOL!  But she went back inside and found the right person.  That person came right out, loaded the bags into my car.  Even refused a tip.  She said she was paid to do pickup orders.

It was a wonderful experience and I will do it again.

There were 2 minor problems.  I had clicked on "no substitutions" for every item.  I ordered minced horseradish and got "creamy".  OK, I can live with that.  The other seems to have been my fault.  I wanted Breyer's chocolate chip ice cream and got regular chocolate.  I don't like regular chocolate.  But after reviewing my original order, it appears I clicked the wrong one.

Well, my good neighbors across the street are taking care of 3 grandchildren.  I bet some of them like regular chocolate ice cream.  It will be a gift; they have certainly done more than enough for me!

I haven't tested it yet, but I bet the items I ordered this time will be close to the top the next time.  The Safeway digital loyalty card section notices my routine preferences, so I expect the online ordering one will also do that.