Only thermal printer I ever had was for my TI-59 programmable calculator. I was on temporary duty at the Center for Naval Analysis (CNA) in 1980, I couldn't get time on the mainframe (and I didn't know APL, its main language), so I wrote programs to simulate different possible impacts on future shipbuilding programs based on oil prices and nuclear propulsion options. Took forever to run, but hey, worked!

Printer follies... so I was at Navy Recruiting HQ, part of the program to get microcomputers (PCs) out to the regions and districts (still a few years away from getting them down to the stations). HP had just come out with laser printers at consumer prices and...

[I wrote six more paragraphs before I realized some sea stories should be their own post. I will flag you, Jim!]