Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Batty



















Here's the finish to this sketch, finally!

And my brief rant for today: I hate my scanner! Tell me, why would a company construct a scanner so that the user is unable to clean underneath the glass bed? When said user contacts tech support she is told that said machine was not constructed to be opened and cleaned and that since she can't clean said glass, she would be eligible for an upgrade?

Um, excuse me... there is no way to clean a perfectly well functioning scanner so you are telling me I should buy a new one? Talk about planned obsolescence! What is the matter with this world??!

(P.S.- The mechanically brilliant hubby managed to take it apart so that we could clean the glass, but the machine is still fogging up inside and making fine, thin lines in my scans. Argh!)

Okay, rant over. I'm saving my pennies for a new scanner. From a different company.

13 comments:

Elizabeth said...

There was a wonderful sign on the bike path along the Hudson that said "BAT". I thought of you.
They probably meant you could go to a batting cage..........
This is a lovely picture but I hope you have not had any more visitations.
I am about to buy a scanner since ours is upstate and who knows when we'll retrieve it.......

Gretel said...

An ongoing gripe of mine, they seem to have a shelf life of about four years IF you are lucky...and then what to do with the darned things after, which is environmentally friendly?

Tom Barrett said...

Looks like something right out of a story book! :) Nice job. Could be the cover of the book about your "adventure." The Bat That Came to Breakfast or something like that!

And as for the scanner, most of the inexpensive ones are made that way, which is why you can get a free printer or scanner with a computer purchase! If it helps, I have a scanner from EPSON that I really like. I have had it about 3+ yars with no problems.

Jennifer Thermes said...

Hi Elizabeth-- I wonder what that stood for? And nope, no more visitors. The cats have been catching a LOT of mice though, lately...

Gretel-- Right-- it's such a waste to just get rid of them. I've had this one over two years... but I'm thinking up good excuses to get a new one, especially since the quality is going downhill.

Thanks Tom! I have one of those cheapy printers-- the ink is more expensive than the machine. What kind of an Epson do you have? I've been considering a large format Epson, but it's expensive. Hmmm... it would be a nice tax write-off though...

Gina Perry said...

hmmm... perhaps our scanners are related? i'm saving my pennies too.

Vivian Mahoney said...

Very nice illustration!

I'm impressed your husband was able to take the scanner apart and put it back together again! Good luck!

Jennifer Thermes said...

Gina-- Hmmm... is your a Microtek? Never again...

Thanks, Vivian! Yep-- he's good that way. Actually he's pretty amazing. I should do a post about all the things he's fixed/built/figured out. :-)

Dot said...

i feel your pain.. i'm having scanner problems right now myself!

gail said...

This turned out very cool, uh...I mean scary!

And we're supposed to worry about filling our landfills up with water bottles, when they're really filling up with moniters, printers, scanners...sigh.

gail

PS. I recently got a scanner that I just love! Plus it has a 12x17 scanning area. You can read about it here:

http://gailmakiwilson.blogspot.com/2008/02/scanner-in-mail.html

Jennifer Thermes said...

Hi Dot-- Thanks for stopping by! It seems that scanner problems are going around lately.

Gail-- Thanks! I think the landfill stuff is what's scary-- we do our part with recycling, but it seems so futile sometimes.

And thanks for the recommendation-- I remember your post about that scanner-- it appears to only be for PC, not Mac, I think. I'll keep looking/saving...

Christine Mercer-Vernon said...

i love it!! i really liked the black and white, but wow, the color in this really pops....really great color palette. and i am so with you on the scanner thing...i've had debris and 'fog' stuck to the underside of my glass forever and i get sooooo mad that i can't get it apart to clean it.

Jennifer Thermes said...

Thanks, Christine! I decided to try a different palette with this one.

I'm so annoyed about the scanner... just waiting for one of those no-interest for a year credit card offers in the mail and... oh, that could be dangerous! ;-)

Jennifer Thermes said...

Oh, and I really like your new avatar!