Whats wrong here?

Ender 3 Neo

Im struggling to find decent beginner information, the Creality “Manual” is pretty useless…

I have had some success but things are inconsistent.

Ok, so, the bed is level on the thumb wheels.
Everything is tight
I have installed a second lead screw on the Z and the gantry is level.

I appear to have to reset the extruder to bed clearance before each print, is this normal?
I guess I expected to just switch on, select the file to print, press “go” and walk away….
Current pre flight checks are
Select the setting to set the extruder to “home” (in the centre of the bed)
Select “Level bed” it then checks the bed a 16 places
Select Z axis reset to zero
Check and reset extruder to bed clearance with A4 paper.

Slice the required item in Cura and safe to memory card, inset card and select the Gcode file
Select print.
Sometime it print perfectly, often it doesnt stick, or produces spaghetti, stuck to the hot end…

Im guessing something is amiss.

Should I have to reset the printer after every print?

Printing with PLA ( Creality own brand) .4 nozzle, 50 degree bed, 200 degree extruder

Im ready to launch it down the garden in frustration!

Thanks in anticipation

Insert the card before leveling would be my recommendation.