Liquid Gold!

I'm not one for ranting usually ... but something bugs the crap out of me. We all complain about the cost of gas these days. I don't like it any more than the next super cool blogger guy. However, its not the only expensive liquid that pisses me off. What's the deal with printer ink for cripes sake?? Seriously ... why is it that an effing ink cartridge costs as much or more than the printer that I'm sticking it in ... the ink cartridge that is?

So I go into my local Office Depository store to buy a replacement cartridge and ... true story ... I go to the register to make my purchase and there is this lady there bitching about how all the ink cartridges that are on the shelf were expired. EXPIRED!!?? The poor guy that was dealing with her was taking it like a champ. I felt sorry for him. For some reason this lady was looking at the manufacture/warranty date on the box and kept telling the guy that it was an expiration date. I'm no genius, but I DO know that today's date is going to be greater than the date the package was manufactured. She went as far as to tell him that she just bought a cartridge from the store the day before and when she put it into her printer, her computer scrolled a message at the bottom of the screen telling her that the cartridge was expired. REALLY!!?? A scrolling message?? WOW! Grandma missed her meds that day. Try as the guy may, he could not convince her that there is no expiration for ink unless the package is opened and the cartridge used ... since technically the ink is sealed until the moment that you put it into the printer ... so it could perhaps dry out over time. The guy was nice enough to switch the ink cartridge for her and told her to come back if that scrolling message told her to.