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Besmirched
- Red Hen Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
Besmirched Along came inkjet printers, standard fare now, and I bought a new Lexmark Z22 for my seventeen-year-old son, David, to go with his computer, so he wouldn’t need to use the old, even cheaper Canon BJC-250 that went with my computer in the basement study. The reason that inkjet printers are cheap (under $100) is that their ink cartridges are exorbitant (over $38) and quickly run dry. Of course, you can refill the ink cartridges from different inking kits. I had refilled my black cartridge some four or five times from one kit I bought for $30. It came with a little screw hook, which you twist, into a pinhole on a plug near the top of the cartridge. Then you twist and pull and the plug comes out. Inside is all sponge. The trick is to take an accordion-like cylinder of ink with its needle spout, insert the needle through the fill hole deep into the sponge and squeeze the accordion slowly so the ink goes in. You keep going until a bubble comes up in the fill hole and that’s how you know it is full. You pull the needle out, reinsert the plug. Voila! A new, full cartridge for $10 at most. Of course, after five refills, I got lazy. I bought new cartridges too. I bought David two color cartridges and two black ones for the Lexmark over time, wincing at the ink’s costing more than the printer itself. Then in Walgreen’s, I saw a new brand of refill kit that purported to be easy, mess free, and able to refill all brands of inkjet cartridges, both mine and David’s. It cost only $26. Sold! I stashed it away, pending emergency. So yesterday, David called out to me from upstairs. He was trying to print out homework and his cartridge was out of ink. Could he use my printer? Alas, my printer was dry also. “Okay, wait,” I said, “give me your cartridge.” He did, although he was annoyed that he would have to wait. “Just give me a few minutes,” I said, showing him the refill kit. His girlfriend was over and he went back up to be with her. I took the new kit into my basement lavatory – mostly white, with sink, mirror over the sink, tub with white shower curtain, toilet, overhead florescent light. Said kit has an instruction book with pages for refilling every possible brand of cartridge. I find the Lexmark Z22. 133 134 safe suicide In the kit are four little bottles of ink, three black and one pink. There is a plastic hypodermic with an attachable needle three inches long. There is a screw eye for boring a hole if you can’t get the cartridge plug out (I can’t). This is better than the accordion, I think. Less mess, safer. I place each item along with the cartridge on the flat rim of the porcelain sink. I am wearing glasses. My favorite, baggy tan shirt and a sleeveless fleece vest because we keep the heat down to save money. A good pair of tan slacks. My good Nike running shoes. Did I mention that this was a snow day? The blizzard of ’03, resulting in clear skies and thirty inches of snow. The night before Dave had defied our cautions, dug one of our cars out of our driveway and gone sledding with pals in nearby Newton, then stayed overnight. This morning I shoveled the whole driveway by myself, the exercise making up for my daily trip to the gym, which was surely closed along with my college, my wife’s school, and Dave’s school. Shovel, shovel. Family service, creating a cleared space for him when he came home. Which he did that afternoon. With his girl friend. He had been doing his homework with her when the printer problems started. I had been correcting papers in my study. So here I am, trying to help. Resourceful Dad. Meanwhile my wife is busy cooking them dinner and they are eating. Directions: remove plug or drill hole. I hold the cartridge in my left hand and firmly twist the screw eye, boring a hole through the side of the plug. Open black ink bottle. Attach needle to syringe; the metal cup at the top end of the needle fits snugly over the plastic nipple of the syringe. Draw 20ml of ink into syringe. Insert needle into drilled...