The Distracted Typist

I didn't want to learn to type when I was younger.  I took one of those classes in school where you learned how to place your hands on the keys and type correctly--I was terrible at it.  I was encouraged by my parents to use the computer to write my reports because it would save time and be easier--I preferred to take longer and do it by hand.   I just didn't like to type.  I didn't want to type. 

Years later I started work in the corporate world and my life revolved around a computer.  This made sense, since I was getting a degree in computer science.  I could type, but I felt like I looked at the keys a lot still to verify accuracy. 

One day, I went to the office of my team leader to ask him a question.  After I asked him the question, he looked over at me and told me he'd be right with me in a minute when he finished his thought.  While he talked to me, his hands were typing on the keyboard.  Not only was he not looking at his hands, he wasn't even looking at the screen to see if he was typing without error.  It was errie.

It looked to me almost like a disembodied head turning around and talking to me while the hands carried on at the keyboard.  How did he know if he was typing accurately?  How did he learn this magic trick of typing without looking?  Was typing his super power? 

I knew that wasn't the case--that people typed all the time without watching what their hands were doing, but this was the first time I'd really seen it in action. 

Today, I can do the same thing.  I don't even think about typing any more, I just do it.  Yesterday's magic is today's reality.

The Big Boy Update:  Pinkeye?  We have some hyper-vigilant people at our school.  No one wants pinkeye.  Yesterday, we got a call from school saying that my son's eyes looked red.  We dutifully came and got him and put the drops in his (from what I could tell, not red or weepy) eyes.  We've kept it up for prophylactic purposes and will continue to do so for another day.  His doctor said that's a fine practice and that not to worry too much as conjunctivitis is over-diagnosed to be safe in many cases.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  "Alligator, alligator, snap snap snap"  My daughter has been singing this over the last few days.  It must be some game or song they sing at school.