Happy Birthday to Me!

Introducing the Canon MX700- a copier/scanner/printer

Yes, that's right...today is my birthday! Only 9 minutes left to get this post in on time. I wasn't sure what Dan was going to come up with this year. I always provide a healthy list of things I'd love to get. I just love my birthday! Dan looks it over and thinks on it, but never reveals any hint of what he might end up getting. Each year it is a ritual. I bug- he shrugs! For the record, I did have a scanner on my list. Let me share the back-story with you. Over a year ago our hand-me-down scanner stopped working and since then Dan has tried to make it do several times. Then a couple weeks ago our other Canon printer (which has been loyal and economical) began to chug.

That's right chug. I was 90% on the way to a new one of the above (and planning on where I'd put it) when Mr. Engineer had to step in. There was a problem you see that begged to be fixed. Ever known an engineer? That's how it is with them. Next thing I know he's taking apart my printer and examining all the parts wearing his headlamp! Everything was fine and one day it chugged and slammed back and forth while printing and then there was a black mark and a hole in the page. Really. It was out of the blue. Well about 15 minutes later Dan walks up from the basement holding an inked up bean. A bean. I just want to say formally that Canon i860 printers don't print on beans easily. They chug- try to tell you something is wrong. The engineer's mission was complete and successful and I just need to say that I had nothing to do with the bean though I do recall J2 with a little shaker can of beans made at Sunday School that had never been sealed properly.

The printer incident reminds me of my vacuum. I've been known to get a little carried away with it at times. Let the bag get a little full. Full enough to cause the dirt to flow out into the hose or never make it to the bag- depends on how you look at it. The same week as the bean in the printer brought a day when the vacuum seemed less than capable of doing its job. I went to change the bag (which I swore I had just changed) and found that it was overfull- a little. In the opening that attaches to the vacuum bag I noticed a few items that may or may not have been causing a problem. There was one shard of paneling and I fished that out along with a long piece of no longer sticky masking tape. Behind that I could a full size pencil (which turned out to be unsharpened) and behind that was a small rubber ball (red). Immediately I began to try and dislodge the pencil and I think I did free the ball, but I could not get the pencil. That is when I noticed that the hose was full. Once again I try for the pencil. Finally I had to face the reality that I needed to ask Dan to help. Of course I knew Dan would have a few words to say about this and I vaguely remember some mumbling about me not noticing the machine' poor performance and burned out motor and there may have been a few more comments about my ability to cause harm to our vacuum. I distinctly heard him say we should try for a bagless vacuum. My over enthusiasm to rid the house of unwanted dust and debris would be on display for all to see! In my defense, I recently vacuumed a very dark corner of the basement and it is likely that these large items tried to hitch a ride- to nowhere! I've already discussed in a very early post how my pencils are always trying to get away to more organized homes...

But I had nothing to do with the bean. Or the chugging. Honest.

Needless to say, once Dan had freed the bean from captivity in our printer, there was no need to panic and buy a new, faster, fancier product that would allow me to once again scan or copy the vast library of educational materials we own. I was so close! I knew it was useless. We are not frugal people by nature, but my husband has developed over the last few years a few frugal skills. He practices a few of them regularly. Take the phone for instance...our cordless phone no longer can dial a 5. And the 2 is getting finicky on occasion. His cell phone number has three 5s in it. His reply to my request for a new phone is and I quote, "You can still dial 911." Recently, I asked him to dial a number with many 5s to see a reaction. After his failed attempt, he sent me downstairs to dial out on the corded phone. For real. Still no new phone.

But I did say one thing regarding the loss of my new scanner/copier/printer. And I think it must have struck a cord and I knew it would. I simply reminded him that I was no longer referencing and using most of the materials on my shelf because it requires too much planning ahead. He replied, "That is a valid argument." Why thank you.

Now I just need to work on one for the phone and hope in the meantime that my Christmas present isn't a bagless vac!!