The box is back - Hello to Newtwork

As I sit here writing this the box has returned.   This time it has none of its menace. Gone is its arrogant confidence replaced, instead, by a sorry gapping wound to the head.   This wound has proven fatal as the contents have been removed and now the box is just an empty shell.   I would like to make a crowing sound at this moment but unfortunately the war between me and the box didn't quite go according to plan.   Instead of having a fully functioning network printer we have had to settle for a printer share from my son's computer.    I am sure that if I was that motivated I could have installed it on the newtwork (This was a typo but I just love the word I will start using this in future instead of network) but I am not.

The box has moved

Today is the day.  The box has moved and we will install the printer.   Wish me luck

The box

It just sits there in the dining room.   Its portent mensing all who pass.   The box will not be ignored.   But why is the box sitting there?   It's all to do with the DMU I'm afraid ( well I would say that wouldn't I.)   To tell the story of the box is to tell the story of my son's master's course at the DMU.   Yes we are a family of two master's students at the same university.   Not sure how unique that is but there it is.

The other day my son announced that he wished to print off a 500 page govt. report that he need for his latest assignment and how much would that cost?   Once I had come down off the ceiling he started to realise that perhaps printing the whole document off was, perhaps, a rather expensive way of going about things and that he would probably find other ways of finding the information in the report.   This, however, made me start to assess our printing needs over the next 2 years.   He has essays to write and so do I.  His, however, can be submitted in electronic form, mine can't.   To obtain his MSc he will have to write a 15k word paper which will not be electronically submitted.  I will have to write a 10k word thesis.   My wife also wishes to use the same printer at the same time.  In short time has come to...well get a box.

The box, of course, contains our new colour laser printer and tomorrow I will have the pleasure of installing it on our network.  The salesman who sold me the printer said that it would be straightforward  to setup, which of course is short hand for not straight forward at all.   We hope that the printer should be far more cost effective than the current small inkjet printer.   This will not stop tomorrow from being a real pain.  I hope I am wrong but I have been here before and setting up anything on a network is always fully of unforeseen pitfalls.