The Battle of Marathon

Well, I have been practicing my typing and my hands are sore. I am also an uncoordinated klutz. I have to get my fingers to work independent of each other. I lift one finger and the rest follow instead of resting on the keys as they should. When I go to hit a key, my other fingers seem to follow along and several type slugs head for the platen. I know this will change in time, but for now it's a might frustrating.

As I mentioned earlier, this process gives me a wicked hand workout. They get tired and achy too. It reminds me of when I decided to run barefoot. That was a similar process which gave me quite a bit of discomfort while I learned a new way of running. But as my feet got stronger, my running improved. Best of all it was healing. Problems with my feet, knees, hips and back got better. I suspect the same will be true as I learn touch typing.

In the mean time I found a new device that works like a typewriter, but is a lot easier to carry around. It affords distraction free typing. It is quiet enough that I could work in public without disturbing anyone. I like it too because it gives my hands a good rest from all that touch typing on my iron word processors.

So what am I talking about? I'm talking about the AlphaSmart NEO. I understand this was a device designed in the early 2000s to help kids in school to learn type. I'm hoping it will teach this kid to type. Now I am learning to navigate this gadget. This NEO came loaded with the previous users files which I spent a good part of the morning eliminating. I feel ready to give this thing a shot.

Today was election day. I had my mail-in ballot all filled out and ready to go. I could have dropped it in the mail and waited for it to find its way to the polls. The local firehouse has a drop off for these ballots. I decided to hand carry my ballot to the drop box while on my run this morning. I parked at a nearby coffee shop, secured the ballot in hand and took off running. I arrived at the drop box soon enough and deposited my vote. Then I continued my loop until I completed the run.

I felt like Pheidippides. I was delivering the message to the city of Athens many miles away. Okay, so it wasn't some great long journey through treacherous country. I didn't die at the end either, but it was cold and foggy out, so there was some adversity. And, in the end, I did my civic duty. I got in some good exercise finishing with a brisk cup of very strong coffee loaded with heavy cream. Now that is a great way to start the day.

Typed on an AlphaSmart NEO and edited using Hemingway Editor.