In the ears, out the fingers

Several people have asked me how I slept last night.  Quite well, thank you.  🙂  I still had to slog through another day feeling over tired, but I’m sure that by tomorrow I’ll have it back together after my sleepless night!

Here’s what I love about working at the newspaper: today I had the opportunity to photograph cranes constructing a huge piece of equipment at a construction site, a little boy receiving donations toward equipment that will help him learn to walk, and a principal of a elementary school kissing a goat.  Ahhhh…it’s all in a day’s work!

One of the skills that I draw on heavily in my work at the newspaper, and in many other facets of my life and work, is my ability to hear something and type it without engaging my brain to translate it. Both of my parents were amazing touch-typists and as a kid I was determined to catch up with them.  I was already a pretty fierce touch-typist by the time I got to high school.

When I lived in New York, I worked as a transcription typist for network news services, which meant that I had to train my fingers to automatically type whatever words I heard in my ears…even when they didn’t make a lot of sense.

I’ve done hundreds of interviews during the last year at the newspaper and this ability has stood me in very good stead.  Until about three weeks ago, when it all started to fall apart.  I’d hear someone speaking and I understood their words, but I couldn’t figure out how to type them.  While I tried to instruct my fingers to type what I just heard, my ears got confused… it’s been a big ol’ mess.  I was still getting enough down to write the stories I needed to write, but I felt like I was struggling to do something that has always been second nature.

Yesterday it was like the switch was flipped back on.  The road block that had been impeding the process had been removed and I’m back on track.  I did several interviews today and am happy to report that “in the ears, out the fingers” is working once again.  What a relief!!!!

Only one more day until my favorite holiday of the year, Thanksgiving!