The despicability of printers and bindweed

Is there anything in the IT world more challenging than a printer?

In my lifetime printers have caused me far more grief than is reasonable for a quiet little machine that just sits there for most of the time. (As I was writing that sentence my screen went blank and it seemed that everything had died. Then it came back.)

Yesterday I decided to print out my Zac's prep notes so I could sit comfortably and read them. The printer - which to be fair has been warning me for some time - said, "I'm out of toner. I will not print."

Considered the options: getting toner quickly or hand-writing 13 sides of A4. (It's in very big print so I don't have to wear my glasses when using my notes in Zac's.)

I ordered toner and paid extra to make sure it would be delivered today. Which it was. This afternoon.

So I set my notes printing. We get through 9 sides and then it jams. "Remove jammed paper." I do so arguing that it wasn't really that jammed anyway.

Several attempts later and the message remains the same even though there clearly isn't anything jammed.

"Have you switched both your computer and the printer off and on again?" Husband asks.

I try that. Same message. I am begging it to work now but it sniffs and insists paper is jammed. I peer inside its delicate mechanism. I wonder if it's dusty. I blow it. I get a bit of paper and ram it in. I mean, I gently poked it. I peer in again and see a tiny brown bit of something and wonder if that is causing a problem. It seems unlikely but . . . I get a damp cotton bud and poke that in. I am successful and retrieve tiny brown bit but still printer refuses to work.

I give up. I finish writing out my notes by hand.

Bindweed and printers. On the same level of despicability.