I didn't go totally crazy, though, and stopped before getting too deep into "...and then OCR them using the check scanner" because I remembered I was already keeping track of start/stop times in a database when printing the slips.
[1]: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...
They are used in kitchens, as heat sensitive paper doesn't work well there. It's just plain paper and an ink ribbon.
Same underlying protocol as thermal printers, so the code is mostly plug and play.
They often can print in two colours (red and black). And sound like the 1980s.
https://www.pca.state.mn.us/business-with-us/bpa-and-bps-in-...
I just bought one a couple weeks ago actually.