Copier miracle

I loved my multifunction copier/printer. Truly loved it. For almost a year and a half I wondered how I, a homeschooling mom, music teacher, music arranger and ensemble director, arts volunteer, society board member, etc., ever lived without it. And then it suddenly gave me an inexplicable error message. A seemingly terminal irreparable error message. On-line troubleshooters and tech support sites inevitably led to that horrible screen that says "Contact your local service rep." Horrible because really, how likely is it that an inexpensive 21st century piece of technological hardware can be repaired? For less than the cost of shipping it across the province and back? Odds are 10 to 1 that if I paid the $40 to ship it out, it would be a one-way trip. And on the remote chance that it could be repaired, well, it would very likely cost more than the replacement would.

After a month of limping along without a printer or copier, I prepared for the inevitability of replacing it. I had packed it away on the floor in the corner of our room of chaos. I decided to do just one last test before heading out to Calgary. Maybe I would swap the toner cartridges one last time, or try some random combinations of buttons that might reinitialize the firmware. I plugged it in.

It works! For no reason at all, it works again. Like a charm. The error message is gone. I suppose it was just getting a little discouraged, it being February and all, and needed a break.