"Strong Woman Number"

I'm not a big person.  I'm 5'2 1/4" tall....that's not "big" to anyone over the age of 4!  I don't have a trim and fit kind of body, the only definition that my arms have is of the Webster variety....you know, "the upper limb of the human body."  I don't exercise, I don't lift weights, I'm not even the person of choice to open an uncooperative jar lid!  I barely have the strength to put dishes away in my upper cabinets.  Actually, what I am is a weakling!  Pathetic, even!


So I would really like to know how (with not much more than a nudge!) I managed to break my printer!!!  I didn't use any kind of implement on it (no hammer, no wrench, no screwdriver); I didn't kick it, or drop it, or throw it!  No excessive use of force!  I didn't even YELL at the darned thing!


Nope, all I wanted to do was to get to the ink cartridges.  I have worked in various office settings for over nearly 45 years.  I have changed toner and ink cartridges, fixed every possible kind of paper jam on 800 different printers made by HP, Canon, IBM, Dell, Xerox, and others.  I have used huge copiers that handle 2500 copies an hour (or something like that).   It isn't brain surgery, or rocket science, or even algebra!  Over the years the companies who make all of the common business machines have designed them to be nearly "idiot proof".  Getting to the "guts" of the machine is pretty straightforward with lots of helpful little diagrams and arrows, and colorful warnings...."HOT", "Do NOT touch!", "Lift Here" and the like.  They do that in an effort to keep people, especially the inept, careless, and clumsy from killing themselves when trying to add paper!  (It isn't 100% effective, there are still an enormous number of bozos who managed to injure themselves on a regular basis!)  I am a reasonably intelligent woman, I have never been injured by a printer!


Okay, so I think I have clearly established that I am an experienced office professional!  I had no agenda, I was neither angry nor in a hurry.  I did not do anything that I haven't done thousands of times before!  


All I did was nudge it a little!  There is usually some sort of set point on printers to hold the cover open so you can use two hands to deal with the "innerds". You usually have to open it beyond the set point and then the cover will automatically lock into the spot and will hold until you are finished and manually close the cover.  Right??  You've all encountered these things and I daresay use them all the time.  But I couldn't find it!  The cover would not stay open!  So I did a little extra lift (really, it was hardly even a push) because I thought maybe I hadn't gone far enough.  One teeny, tiny little, itty bitty lift!


All I got was one loudish SNAP!


Oh-oh!  That can't be good.  I looked at the back of the printer, there was something wonky about the alignment of the back.  I set the cover back in place, but it wasn't in place.  It wouldn't close.  There was a small gap that didn't used to be there. And it was kind of .....loose! And the little screen said something about the cover being open and that I should close it before it would work again!  Easy for it to say!  Ha!


Mikey tried valiantly to repair it, but one of the hinges was broken.  It had come apart where it wasn't supposed to come apart.  The printer is only about 4 years old.  One ream of paper lasts for MONTHS!  It works just fine. Well, it did work fine.  It's a nice combination of copier/color printer/fax/scanner.  Doesn't matter. It will not work when the cover is open and the cover will not close.  Sigh.....


Mikey gets to go to his favorite place, "Best Buy" and buy a new printer.   


I guess I'm stronger than I thought!  Got any jars you want opened??