There is an old adage that when you get a disability such as deafness or blindness that other senses improve to compensate. I have had reason to test that of late and it’s true!

You see I have somehow managed to mangle a radial nerve in my left hand (so I am told) and cannot at the moment type with it. As a writer that is a tad limiting as you can imagine. A bit like a drummer in a rock band breaking an ankle or a basketballist an arm.

So what is a man to do? In effect I get paid by the number of words I type, and the pay rates in this biz are bad enough as it is.

The solution was to break out the Plantronic headset that has been packed since moving here and fire up Dragon Dictate.
I have used DD many times in the past, and even go back to a “you-speak-it-types” package put out by Creative back in the early 90s. They have all worked more or less, and although I have tried to go the whole hog with them, at some point I break the habit – either due to the profile crashing (and I can’t be bothered building a new one) or the environment has not been conducive to voice dictation (people around etc).

This time though it has been forced on me and it still works. Sure I am not yet using it to full capacity and doing the full Picard, but it’s a start and at least is getting me out of the barbed wire canoe in the cess pit.

Oh and the compensating sense? Budweiser the dog’s bodily functions smell worse!