Lightening Online

I hate to admit this…but I’m not very technically minded.

In fact, people sometimes get the wrong impression when they see my blog.  It does make me look rather clever doesn’t it?  But all the “clever-ness” was outsourced.

Anyway, it’s usually Farmboy’s job to nut out any new technology in this house.

It’s just all beyond me.

So, I was a little hesitant when it came to getting the Canon Pixma MP990 all set up and ready to use.

It’s no good waiting for Farmboy this time of year.  He’s never home.

Besides, how can I blog about something if I haven’t actually gone through the process myself.

So, I’ve bitten the bullet and set about seeing if I can figure out what needs to be done to get this thing up and running.

STEP ONE - GET IT OUT OF THE BOX, REMOVE THE PACKAGING AND LOCATE THE POWER CORD.

Okay, seemed to manage all of that without too many dramas.  I seem to have notes everywhere.  Not necessarily a bad thing as it’s harder to go wrong that way.

STEP TWO - INSTALL THE INK

Kind of had heart failure when I realised I needed to install the actual print head (tray the inks go in) first!

The instructions were pretty easy to follow though.

And the best bit?

You know that little monitor I was going to talk more about.

Well, it gives you lots of HELP when you’re getting the printer all set up.

And for someone like me who is visually oriented, it makes the whole process SO much easier.

I used a combination of the written instructions in the manual and the visual instructions on the monitor to make sure I was getting it right.

AND, when you have all the inks installed CORRECTLY, they have little lights that light up to let you know it’s “all good”:

How uber cool is that????

STEP THREE - GETTING THE PAPER ALIGNED

The printer comes with a special paper pack that you use when setting up the paper alignment and testing the printer.

What I also like is that my little monitor tells me how long I need to wait while the printer is busy doing something.  It means I’m not left standing around wondering how many minutes cleaning the heads or getting itself sorted is going to take and can go and do something and come back.

STEP FOUR - INSTALLING THE SOFTWARE & CONNECTING TO THE COMPUTER

I did have a little bit of trouble locating where the USB cable was meant to plug in.  The picture in the manual doesn’t show it all that clearly.  With a bit of a hunt, I did find it.

I expected to have to install software from the disk but by plugging the USB into my laptop, I was able to go directly to printing.

You can’t get much easier than that!

STEP FIVE - PRINTING

You’d expect this to be automatic wouldn’t you?

Everything else is all set up, we should be ready to go?

Not quite.

I tried to load the paper in the same place it had gone for getting the alignment all set up.

WRONG!

I hadn’t read the instructions properly.

And, as the kids were quick to point out to me, the computer screen had an image showing me exactly where to load the paper.  *blush*  I did say I was technologically challenged!

The paper gets loaded into a cartridge underneath the printer (similar to the way a photocopier would load).

Unfortunately, I pulled the entire tray out from the printer and it was very difficult to work out how to get it back in.

Difficult for me anyway.  I discovered I just had to lift it up the tiniest bit and it just slid right in.  Doh!

IT’S WORKING!!!!

Always a bonus when you have a new piece of equipment! 

Now the fun part can start!

I know there are plenty of things “wrong” with our public health system.

But sometimes it’s all too easy to focus on the negatives and forget that there are some positives.

Trailer Boy has been a public patient in our health system while his arm has been broken.

He was attended to by the local hospital and local doctor then referred on to a surgeon.

Granted we had to travel almost 2 hours to have his arm bone reset in theatre but it’s unrealistic to expect an orthopaedic surgeon to sit around here just waiting for someone to break their arm. 

Through theatre, 2 follow up visits to the surgeon and now having his cast removed and replaced with a brace (quite a colourful one at that), we haven’t had to pay a single cent!

To be honest, I was quite surprised.

Pleasantly of course. 

So, hat tip to our public health system.

Sometimes it’s works really well.

I have started a new poll on printer brands.

It’s in the sidebar but I’ll insert it here as well:

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We have owned an Epson in the past and now have a Brother.  I’ve never had a Canon before.

It got me to thinking about what the more popular brands are and why.

If you have anything you’d like to add in the comments section about what printer brand you have and why you do or don’t like it, I’d love to hear from you.

P.S. Please give your honest opinions.  My latest toy gave me the idea for this poll but it has nothing to do with Canon or their current blogging promotion,

You’ll have to excuse me if I fail to blog as much in the next few weeks.

I’ve just a received a “parcel in the post” (okay, via courier but you know what I mean right?)

This is the new Canon Pixma MP990.

Isn’t that built in monitor so cute????  (I’ll blog more about that in my next post).

I’ve been asked if I’d like to put this printer through it’s paces and possibly blog about my experiences doing so.

I figured “why not”.  Who wouldn’t want a new toy to play with, even if it is only for a short period of time.

The bonus is, I’ve been considering updating our printer.

Now I have the opportunity to put one through it’s paces before trying to decide what features I’d like/use etc.

How handy that Farmboy doesn’t need me on the tractor this morning.

Housework be darned, I have a present to play with.

P.S. I don’t get to keep it.  I just get to play with it for a while and then I have to send it back.  *sob*

P.P.S.  I didn’t really mean it about not blogging for a while. 

I ended up missing the funeral on Tuesday.  Was laid up on the couch pretty sick.  I’ve pretty much done nothing but sleep and watch DVD’s all week.

I didn’t know Daniel personally so it wasn’t a huge issue for me to miss the funeral from MY point of view.

I was, however, disappointed that I couldn’t be there for my grieving friends.  And to help out with food etc so others were free to focus on the actual funeral.

In hindsight, it is probably a good thing for ME that I wasn’t there.

I tend to absorb other people’s emotions so a HUGE funeral like this one (and hugely SAD) could have really done me in for quite some time.

Last night Farmboy was talking about the funeral.

I knew they were doing a kind of “guard of honour” with the football players as Farmboy was asked to wear his club shirt (which he felt kind of funny going so “casual” to the funeral).  I was asking him about it.

Apparently as the hearse left the sporting grounds (where the funeral was held), all the players lined up on the oval and they actually drove the hearse through the goal posts.

Just hearing about it has totally undone me.

I’ve been feeling sad for his family.

I’ve been feeling sad for his friends.

But hearing that really drove home to me what a total waste of a life this whole tragedy has been.

One final goal for a young man who should be in the prime of his life.

I can’t shake that image from my mind.

I can’t shake the grief that seems to be permeating my whole being.

I feel so empty.

And all over someone I barely knew.

Grief is a strange emotion.

Back in March we had some promising rains.  Everyone was feeling positive about the “start” to the season.  Early rains are a great way to build up sub-soil moisture.

Unfortunately, a “good start” is not much good if the rain doesn’t continue to fall.

And it hasn’t. 

Usually by this time of year, we are flat out putting seed in the ground.

Where we live is a frost-prone area so our window for getting seed in and germinated isn’t huge.  You have to balance things out so that the plant is a at a certain stage when the frosts come.  Not too far advanced that seed development is compromised.  But up and out of the ground so that the early stages are not inhibited by frost.

Our “optimum” time is NOW.  Mid-May.

Obviously it takes too long to plant the seed that ALL of it can be planted mid-May so the weeks surrounding are considered our best option when it comes to planting (sowing) our seed.

Basically May is our “optimum month”.

And we’re still waiting for rain.

Last night we realised we’re even getting low on water for the house.

Just when we thought we’d have a year where that wouldn’t be a problem.

So, once again we’re waiting upon the rain.

And things are getting kind of desperate.

Here’s hoping it gets here soon!

Sorry I’m a bit late announcing the winners of this giveaway.  I haven’t been very well the past couple of days.

Anyway, the winners, via random number generator are:

Comment Number 5 - Victoria

and Comment Number 15 - River

A couple of comments were allocated 2 numbers due to their reviews about their experiences with NitWit products.

To claim your giveaway, please send me your mailing address (will not be shared with anyone other than the NitWits contact) so we can arrange to send out your products.  If you don’t have my email address, please use the contact form above or leave a comment below and I’ll email you.

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences.

How ironic that on the same day I posted my previous post about NitWits, I received a letter from the school saying headlice has been reported in our sch0ol!

I have just finished polishing off a slice of tangy lemon cheesecake from the Cheesecake Shop!

DELICIOUS!!!!!

We don’t get it very often (living so far away and all).

BUT…

Just before we headed to Adelaide, I read (somewhere - no idea where now) that if you sign up for the Cheesecake Shop’s email list, they’ll email you a $5 discount voucher.

$5 off is a GREAT excuse to treat yourself don’t you think????  LOL.

The ORIGINAL plan in my head was to buy a cheesecake to SHARE with friends we were meeting up with for lunch today.

Sadly, the boys got sick last night so we decided to drive straight home this morning and didn’t get to meet up with said friends for lunch.

The positive side of that is we decided to buy the cheesecake anyway and bring it home.

All the MORE for us!!!! 

If you want your own $5 voucher, simply head to the Cheesecake Shop website and sign yourself up.  You apparently get another $5 voucher around the time of your birthday too.  Wonder if we’ll be near a Cheesecake Shop near my birthday????

Just a word of warning re the voucher - they come with a very short expiry date (about 2 weeks I think) so don’t sign up until you’re almost ready to use it.  And the person who signs up MUST be the person who uses the voucher.  I was actually asked for ID when I bought ours this morning.

Once upon a time, a taboo subject, now more common than any of us would like to fully realise, headlice has been a problem for many, MANY a family.  When I was a kid, it was a NIGHTMARE to have headlice.  These days it has become so common it’s almost a status symbol.

It would have to be most parents worst nightmare to see their child itching and discover those tiny little brown eggs in the hair.

Most people start scratching just thinking about it!  :)  Hands up if you’re scratching right now? 

We’ve been pretty lucky with headlice so far.  Princess Singstar has had 2 outbreaks in her 4 and a bit years at school so far.  But we’ve managed to contain them to only her head and not spread them to the rest of the family.

I know people who’ve done some pretty desperate things after months and months of trying to get rid of the blighters.

What I really HATE about the whole “head-lice treatment” issue is the use of chemicals.

Farmboy tends to be a “hit em and hit em hard” type bloke (probably pretty normal).  He’d rather use chemicals than risk the spread to others and have a hard time getting them eradicated from the house.

I don’t want to put those horrible harsh chemicals on my kids HEADS.  So close to their developing BRAINS!

So, when NitWits approached me about trying their naturally based products, I was more than interested.

What really sparked my interest, upon investigating their site, was this comb:

My kids have thick hair so regular lice combs are almost impossible to get through their hair.  This one, with the longer teeth, seems to get through it a lot better.  You still need to segment the hair off but so far it’s working quite well.

Unfortunately, we haven’t actually had an outbreak of headlice to give it a try ON the lice but when we do (chances are it’ll happen again, schools seem to never get rid of it these days), I’ll let you know firsthand how it goes.

I also asked them to send me some of this:

I want to have it on hand ready in case there is another outbreak.  Naturally, I haven’t had the chance to try it out yet but there are some interesting testimonials on the website that you can read.  I know many people are skeptical about naturally based products and their effectiveness so it’s interesting to read these, particularly those who didn’t expect it to work.

Of course, prevention IS better than cure and the newest product NitWits have brought out is a Prevention Spray:

This one I have tried and I love the way it combines a detangler with the prevention ingredients to make combing out much easier.

I realise some people make their own prevention mixes but not everyone has the time or inclination to do so, so it’s good to know there is something on the market to make prevention easier.

NITWITS GIVEAWAY

To help promote their product range and get word of mouth spreading about their products, Nit Wits are offering a giveaway to readers of this site.  All you have to do is leave a comment on this post with your best tip for getting rid of headlice.  If you’ve already tried a NitWits product and would like to tell us what you think, that would be great too (I’ll give an extra entry for those).

There are 2 packs of the above 3 items to giveaway and I’ll announce the winners on Monday.

In the meantime, NitWits products are available (and cheaper) through their online shop.  Go check it out, they’re even offering FREE freight.

One of the things I really like about living in a rural community is the way people pull together when times are tough.  Say what you will about sporting groups and the amount of time and commitment required when you’re involved.  The thing is, when the chips are down, you know they’ll be around.

Last night, Farmboy headed off to Tuesday night training.  That’s not a normal event for him.  The A-grade footballers train twice a week.  Tuesday nights and Thursday nights.  The rest of us train Thursday nights.  So, as a B-grader, he doesn’t generally bother with the second night of training.

However, last night was different.  Having lost one of the A-graders in a car accident over the weekend, the club organised a get-together to happen after football training last night.  Several other clubs in the district came along to show their support and they ended up with 4 rural counsellors in attendance.  The turn out was evidence that the good old “country grapevine” is alive and kicking and can play a positive role in the community.

A free meal was provided and there were a couple of counsellors that spoke, addressing the issues of grief and highlighting the people that are around to talk things through with.

Mostly though, it was about mateship.  Being together.  Breaking down any walls that might imply the subject is “taboo”.  Showing support when you feel helpless to really “do” anything.

Daniel’s parents were there.

The mate in the accident with him was there.

Both of these surprised me and yet, it makes sense.  How special to see all these people gathering together to show how much they care.  How much he’ll be missed.

And so, the healing process begins.

I can’t help but feel really proud of the club we belong to.