The beginning...

It all started with a baby screaming and a uncooperative printer....

of course, the very important document that I needed to print never printed. Why? Who knows? It had been working perfectly all week, purring contentedly with each print job, flashing its green lights at me (a hardware thumbs-up)... but as time ran out, baby started stirring, and stress levels started to rise.

I didn't attack the printer physcially, but I did make angry noises when it decided to jam. Then it jammed again. And again. By then the baby was screaming for attention from the cot, and I was shouting at the printer, which responded by flashing its angry red lights at me before finally shutting down.

It always happens. Hardware breaks down on you when you're stressed. Ask anyone who's had to hand in a dissertation or thesis or report...leave it to the last minute, and chances are pretty high that a) the laptop will crash/die, b) the printer will jam/die, c) the kettle (to make your calming cup of tea) will stay cold...and so on.

I told my husband all about my problems with the printer later that evening. He told me that next time, I should lay a comforting hand on the laptop. I laughed loudly (it wasn't even that funny), but then realised he was serious. Are you mad? I cried. The man is an academic for crying out loud! What had come over him? I know it sounds crazy, he said. But try it next time. I laughed without humour. It sort of went: agh agh agh. Seriously, he insisted. Look it up online. There's been a fair bit of research on mind-matter interactions.

He was right. There is tons and tons of research. And now, here I am, at the beginning of my search for that strange something that might explain why the printer always freezes when the deadline skids onto stage.