The HP Pro 8000 printer I bought last week hasn’t been working too well, so today I boxed it up and took it back to the HP store.  I also put my Mac laptop in my backpack, just in case it was needed, hailed a cab and was off to Mall de Rio yet again.

When I got there, a family of four was looking at computers and making a purchase. Since there is only one salesperson in a store measuring maybe 15′ X 12′, I waited till they were done.  I then tried to explain my problem in my limited Spanish.  Neither the salesman, nor the family (which was now huddled around trying to help) spoke any English.  I managed to communicate most of my problem, but some of it just didn’t come across.  For example, how do you say “problem with the printhead”?  My attempt of “problemo con el imprimir cabeza” was just met with stares of confusion.  Seems “print head” is not a good direct translation…:)

The salesman decided to install the print driver on a PC in the store, so I told him (in broken Spanish) that I would go eat lunch and return.  I went over to the food court at the mall, and looked over the options.  My vision has gotten terrible in recent weeks (I have LASIC surgery scheduled for January, as soon as I get home), so part of my decision was based on which menu board  I could read…  I decided to see what the local burger chain was like, and had a TropiBurger.  The meal included a burger, fries, coleslaw, 2 chicken wings (??) and a soft drink, all for $4.60.  If you like Burger King (the next stall over), you might like this, but I won’t be back.  The chicken wasn’t all that bad, but the burger was paper thin and tasteless. 🙁

Back to the HP store and the salesman asked me for my Mac laptop. Seems he had trouble getting the printer to work with his computer? Once the Mac was connected, I showed him the problem.  He opened the printer, fiddled with the Magenta printhead (I had thought the Black head was the problem since my black text was printing badly), played with a few more controls, and viola! it all started working properly.  Success!

I then discovered a nasty little HP secret.  The printer did not come with standard ink cartridges.  Rather it  had “demo” cartridges only good for about 20 pages.  I had to buy a new set of cartridges, having used up the initial ones in trying to get the printer to work properly.  The set of 4 carts cost almost as much as the printer did, so I just spent twice what I had intended.  Oh well, these carts are supposed to be good for 1000 pages, and it is not likely I will print anywhere near that in the next two months, so that should be the end of expenses for the printer, other than paper.

I returned home, hooked it up, saw everything was working properly, and started doing some software development for LeapFrog again.  Why is it so dark in here, and why can’t I access the LeapFrog network??  After a few seconds of confusion, I realized that the power had gone out, and so had the internet (we are dependent on a wireless router serving the apartment building).

For the next 6 hours, the power would come on for 5 minutes, then kick off again for half an hour or more.  Around 5:00, the apartment manager came by with candles, told us the outage was city-wide, and was very unusual.  Power and internet finally returned around 7:00 tonight, and (knock on wood) has been stable since then.

We have now been in Cuenca for about 4 weeks.  9 days back in February and almost 3 weeks so far on this trip.  This is the first power outage we have had, though internet has been less reliable.  For now, I am taking Javier’s word on this being very unusual.  We lose power back in Berkeley every year or so too, so this is not really a “third world issue” as far as I can see.