August 18, 1995
Dear Everyone:
Remember the IMS
Skills Set, the list of things you have to be able to do to keep your
job? Things like knowing how
to use e-mail and how to add paper to the copier.
Some of the most basic things landed in a category entitled
“Workstation”. How to turn
your PC on and off. (Most
people in “Livermore” use a power strip.
Everything is plugged into the strip and left “on”.
To turn them all on or off, you just flip the switch on the power
strip.) How to log into and
out of the various servers.
And how to type at
least 40 words per minute (wpm).
“Brad Ford” and I
split the Workstation Skills Set into two halves and typing landed in my
half. We have a copy of an
old typing instructor software and I loaded it on my PC to see if we
could use it for testing.
Turned out that it even had some “standard” tests as well as drills for
practice. First time I tried
General Test 2, I got 39 wpm with 98% accuracy.
So I figured all I needed to do was practice a bit until I could
do it without any errors.
That was before my
boss tried the test. After
looking at his score, he decided to re-interpret the rules.
Now it’s 25 wpm with at least 90% accuracy.
“Murray’s” logic is that, if everyone had to pass with 100%
accuracy, they’d all be out practicing all day long and no one would get
any work done. A valid
point. Especially since it
means I’ve already passed.
By the way, I’ve
also been using the Typing Test and drills to evaluate the Microsoft©
“ergonomic”
keyboard. My conclusion:
Save your money.
Unless you literally spend hours at the keyboard, it really doesn’t make
much difference. The split
keys, with an angled “island” between them, keep your arms a few inches
farther apart. The space bar
is huge, and therefore a trifle easier to hit, but also a trifle harder
to depress. The best thing I
can say for it is that it makes hunt-and-peck more difficult because the
keys are further apart, which means if you don’t know touch-typing,
it’ll force you to learn, or slow you down even more.
And I do like having the “ALT” key right under my thumb, since I
use “ALT” a lot in
Versatile
and in designing report formats.
But, apart from that, the keyboard design is more distracting
than anything else.
Got my
hot water heater replaced this week.
Several people here at “Valley Terrace” have had small disasters,
so the
homeowners association got a local dealer to give us all a volume
discount if we replace by the end of next month.
Turns out, it was a good idea.
When the repair-person pulled the old one out, you could see a
big rusty spot on the back, where it couldn’t be seen, that was just waiting for the
perfect moment to let loose.
Like, Christmas Day, perhaps.
Saw
A Walk in
the Clouds last weekend with “Jeannie”.
A perfectly enjoyable film, set in the Wine Country at the end of
World War II.
Keanu Reeves
plays a nice guy who goes light-years out of his way to help a lady in
distress. Of course, they
fall in love. Of course,
there are obstacles. Of
course, everything works out in the end.
It’s called “romance”.
Anthony Quinn
is a gem as the grandfather whose philosophy seems to be, “Eat, drink
and be merry, for tomorrow, we’ll do it all again.”
There’s one delightful scene where he decides to give Keanu the
benefit of his years of experience, particularly in matters of love:
“Women...they’re different from us.”
Check reality at the
door. Just accept that
redwood trees grow next to vineyards.
Accept that a man can walk from
Napa to the
coast highway in a couple of hours.
Accept that vines harvested two days ago are now dry enough to
burn like the Oakland Hills.
The whole thing is worth it.
(Relax, I’m not giving away anything that isn’t in the commercials on
TV. Well, maybe the part
about the redwoods.) Try it;
you’ll like it.
Love, as always,
Pete
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