PRINTER INKS AND CINDERELLA'S SLIPPER

I'm too mean to replace printer inks when the machine lights flash at me, or, its operational centre (what a grandiose title for a chip) tells me some of the ink cartridges are low.  It's never just one, is it.   Me, and many people like me, wait. I have found you can get a lot more mileage out of the ink cartridges than the warnings suggest.  As it is, some of the colours appear to have rationed contents. 

It becomes a bit of a Poker game to see how far you can stretch the period for re-nourishing the printer inks.  I believed I had become pretty good at it. 

There's always back up stored in the cupboard for when I am sure a particular colour - usually black - cannot be pushed to work any further.  Just to reassure myself, I do periodically glance at the stock of  ink cartridges stored in the cupboard.

Tonight when my printer refused to budge - not even one dot - I had no choice but to change the cartridges. I pulled out the packets, unwrapped, unsealed and revealed the ink hole of the first one.  I fiddled - carefully - but like Cinderella's slipper it was not going to fit. Ooops.  This was not going to plan.  I checked three other cartridges then realised what had happened.  I only had  a couple of the correct cartridges.  

Another older machine I have, has different fittings.  The boxes look confusingly similar but the cartridge designs  are totally incompatible. That printer does not get used regularly and it has back-up supplies.  So, here we are just now with a couple of the right replacement cartridges fitted into the main printer, while all the other lights flash like impatient children wanting to wear their new shoes. It's sooo frustrating!  ...... 

Dejected, I press the printer 'go' button.  Would you believe it, the machine sparks into life and it prints a couple of sheets. With any luck I might get away with keeping things going as they are, till I receive my newly placed order of printer ink cartridges.