fixing stuff

So after the mystery of the server error on my blog comments, followed by the disappearing birthday blog post, something finally got fixed for once. Well, not fixed but worked around. My trusty Canon S600 which I've had since I moved here 5 years ago stopped printing in black ink last week. Printing anything in color no problem, print test page, no problem, printing a simple Word Doc....problem. Being a firm believer in fixing stuff myself I Googled and found http://www.fixyourownprinter.com/forums/inkjet/16844 and there was almost too much advice there to follow. I replaced the cartridge, held the power button down for ages, deep cleaned a million times, cleaned the printer head, uninstalled and reinstalled the driver, shut down and restarted the computer... still nothing. I was able to print if I set the black to 80% instead of full black (another suggestion on that forum) but then you get dark grey and not black. Finally at the bottom of that forum, someone suggested changing the paper to photo paper pro instead of plain paper. All of a sudden angels began to sing and a light shone down from heaven as a full page of black text magically pumped out of my little inkjet printer. What would we do without the Internet? Now my shoebox full of about $50 in ink cartridges will not go to waste.