Frederick Taylor and RA
Frederick Taylor is chasing me and he is one scary guy. He shows up in my dreams, he haunts me while I am awake. For a week he has been chasing me around and I want him to stop. So I finally took action.
Who is Frederick Taylor?
Wait, you have no idea who Frederick Taylor is? I know it’s unlikely you have ever heard of him, but he is an important figure to me. He is the father of scientific management (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Winslow_Taylor). Frederick Taylor is the stopwatch guy, he was always looking for a faster way of doing things. I learned about Frederick Taylor as a junior in college. I had to do a paper on the teachings of Frederick Taylor in 1977 and let’s just say the lesson stuck with me. Ever since that paper, Frederick Taylor (or his spirit) has been chasing me around. In my mind he counts all of my inefficiencies including mostly my typing mistakes.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Lately my hands hurt and my fingers are missing more keys than they hit correctly. The more I type, the worse it gets. I can blame Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) of course. But as my friends could testify, I had a dubious spelling and typing record long before I was diagnosed with RA. Still, every missed key reminds me that Frederick Taylor would be less than happy with my performance.
So what to do? There are typing, spelling, editing aids and believe it or not I use several. Thankfully, Sheryl is editing my documents these days, so that has made a big improvement. But as good as she is, she only sees about 1/10th of what I produce each day. The rest are in tweets, quick messages, emails etc. I think my friends accept my poor typing and blame it on just being Rick.
Still my typing is maddening to me; the Frederick Taylor of my mind is not a happy man. Then in all this typing frustration, Frederick Taylor showed up in my dreams. He was chasing me with a stopwatch and demanding I type better. It is frightening. Sheryl wants to know why occasionally I thrash about in bed and yell loudly. I hate to tell her, it is Frederick Taylor pursuing me.
So two days ago I called and ordered an updated copy of Dragon Natural Speaking. As I type this, I feel like the day I applied for my special parking permit. I have a sense of relief as I finally admitted that I need help but better yet I took action.
Lesson Learned
This is a lesson for me. I often wait too long to give up the familiar ways. But now my typing has gotten to where Frederick Taylor is pursuing me in my sleep. Oh sure you may not think Frederick Taylor is scary? Trust me when he shows up night after night with a stopwatch he is one scary guy. So my advice, keep your Frederick Taylor in his place. Usually we know what we need to do to accommodate what RA is doing or has done to us. I know I am stubborn about getting help. But I am often stubborn to my own detriment. Today when I ordered that software I felt relief, but also hope that typing can be done better.
The good thing is last night Fred Taylor didn’t chase me around in my sleep with the stopwatch. He was not standing over my shoulder demanding I type better. He took a night off. He might even retire…..? Retire? I doubt it, Fred has been in my subconscious for a long time and goodness knows what might occupy his place if he left. Somehow I envision Frank Zappa moving in. Now that would be scary.
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rick
Good for you! Dragon’s one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself. And its misunderstandings (what I call Dragonisms) are a source of laughter). Enjoy! May the dragon guard you against too many Fred appearances!
I sure hope so. My typing is the pits and my hands feel like two balloons. It is time to move forward and get with the cool kids
Ack!! I So get where you’re coming from. I’ve had the voice activated software suggested by SO many people now…because I AM having bad typing days. My friends – when we chat on Facebook – laugh, because I have days when it’s a real challenge to work through the typos. So far, I’m resisting. It took me a hell of a long time to make the switch from writing by hand to writing via a keyboard for first drafts – it’s a whole different cognitive process. I’m comfortable writing on the keyboard now – my head has caught up with the program and I can think on a keyboard… But, of course, it’s not only that…my hands are the centre of what I do, they’re so much a part of who I am. I’m a writer – you know that – but I’m also an artist and an ex chef. The things I do that are an expression of who I am happen because I do them with my hands… There’s an argument, of course, that says that if I use something like Dragon, then I’m giving my hands a rest writing-wise, and that could make a difference to how much better I can manage my artwork, cooking, sewing, etc…where there aren’t substitute options, but…. There are NO easy solutions, and for now, I’m still typing – and on the bad days, doing as much correction as actual typing…cos I’m stubborn like that!
I am pretty much with you, I acquired Dragon while doing my dissertation and just never used it. it was more work than it was worth given the constant barrage of citations and the need to be precise in how they were dealt with. APA 5 series modified yuck, the issues were enormous and not well suited for a Dragon environment. Bit of course I am over that now and my typing is continuing to deteriorate. So its time. on to a new thing, something else to learn.