Humdinger

 

Humdinger

Sometimes my fingers take on an independent life and type something quite other than I intended. For example, while looking up ‘humdinger’ I inadvertently typed, humdinbgerf. It was quite a pleasing word, I felt, and Bing agreed, saying, That’s quite a word you’ve invented there — humdinbgerf has a fun, bouncy rhythm to it. It feels like it could mean anything from a mythical creature to the sound your brain makes when it’s overloaded.

I typed again and this time created hjumdinger, to which Bing responded with, hjumdinger has a totally different vibe from your earlier invention — it feels sharper, almost like a word that announces itself.

It could easily be:

·         a quirky gadget (“Pass me the hjumdinger, the screws are tiny”)

·         a celebratory exclamation (“Well that’s a real hjumdinger of a win”)

·         or even a creature that lives in the corner of a fantasy tavern, judging everyone silently

In addition to mistyping, there’s the accidental striking of the CAPS KEY AND THE CHAOS THAT CREATES.

Occasionally, one of the cats, usually Jellicoe, walks across the keyboard, exercising his inner creativity. This becomes more pronounced the closer it gets to one of his mealtimes.

 

Wayward fingers

 

Wayward fingers

My touch typing has never been brilliant and fortunately my livelihood didn’t depend on it but recently it has deteriorated, or, at least, I think it has. Maybe it’s because I am typing more frequently and for longer periods, but then surely, it would improve, no? I wonder if it’s an indication of the way my brain is going. I hope not!

The above has been corrected. Let me show you how it often looks before either auto-correction or manual correction.

The quicik btwosn fox jumps over the lazy dofg.

Thie is a standsard typing exercise.

Solmetimes it can be explained by letters being close toegehtr but that’s not always the case.

 I ogern hit eh Cpital s key and htT’S ANNOYIBNGF.

I know I rush at thingf and make sillyu mistakes in everything I do – this has been my life but am I getting worse?

Now, does my speech reflect this mumbo jumbo? Am I mirroring Joe Biden, that poor, lost soul, whose decline is so painfully public?

I have passed the point of laughing at his gaffes and mispronunciations and am concerned by his stumbles, both physical and verbal and his worrying behaviour with children. How long can he continue? How long can he be allowed to continue? There must be many more proficient and capable candidates for the highest rank in the land in the USA.

   However, I did not start this post in order to discuss politics – that’s a can of worms best left unopened in public by uninformed people like me. After all, our own politicians, in UK, leave much to be desired.

On Wednesday I was listening to a pianist playing Chopin and reading the manuscript. It was a tricky piece and I would only be able to play it, if at all, at about a quarter of the required tempo. Afterwards, my keyboard seemed strangely alien and I could not type as my fingers seemed to want to travel in parallel lines rather than in different planes according to the letters required. If that makes it sound as though my keyboard has several manuals like a pipe organ, I apologise, but I hope you understand what I mean. The odd feeling passed and I was soon back to typing appallingly badly, as usual.

My husband recently gave me an illuminated keyboard which is a joy to use. It’s small, neat and very responsive to touch – but it hasn’t improved my typing!