I’m back

I apologize for no blog yesterday. It’s very seldom that I miss posting it, but this was one of those times when it just didn’t happen.

As most of you know, Terry and I are night owls. We usually go to bed somewhere around 1:30 or 2 a.m., but for some reason, about 8 o’clock Thursday night, we both felt like we hit a brick wall. We were sitting in our recliners watching TV and falling asleep, so we decided to take a shower and go to bed. It was 10 o’clock by the time we finished a couple of chores, took our showers, and got in bed. We both fell right to sleep, but 45 minutes later, I was wide awake, my lower back and hips hurting so bad I couldn’t stay in one position. Even taking two extra strength arthritis pain formula pills didn’t take the edge off.

That turned out to be the pattern for the rest of the night. I would toss and turn for a while, drift off to sleep for a few minutes, and wake right back up. I could not find a position that was comfortable. Eventually, sometime around 4 a.m. I got up and went into one of our guest bedrooms, where we have a full size bed that is adjustable, and I was able to raise the head and foot to a position that allowed me to sleep for close to an hour. Then Terry woke up and came looking for me because I wasn’t in bed, so I went back to our bedroom. Sometime around 5:30, I did fall asleep from sheer exhaustion and got in two or three more hours.

Unfortunately, it was pretty much the same way for Terry all night. I know part of that is because I kept her awake. Hopefully, tonight will be better for both of us.

Yesterday wasn’t a great day, either. Not because of the rain, which we got a bit of from Eta, which is either a tropical storm or hurricane, whose status seems to change every half hour or so.

As I’ve said before, I use Dragon NaturallySpeaking software to write my books because I have arthritis in my hands and fingers, and typing is painful and slow. I was working along when suddenly the program decided to crash. When I tried to restart it, all I got was the icon on my screen, and it sat there without opening. After closing it with Task Manager and trying it again, it eventually reopened, but wouldn’t let me do anything.

At one point, I got a message that said I didn’t have a sound card installed on my computer (yes, I do), and at another point,  a message popped up that said there was a compatibility issue with Windows 10. (I have been running Windows 10 all along.) I uninstalled and reinstalled the program four times, and it still won’t work.

This is version 13 of Dragon NaturallySpeaking, which is no longer supported. I contacted Customer Support anyway, but their only suggestion is to update to the newer version 15. When I asked if it will work with my digital recorder, all they could say is “I don’t know. You’ll have to try it and see.”

So frustrating. I guess I will have to give up and order the newer version and just hope that it is compatible with my digital recorder.

I actually dictated this blog using the dictate mode in Microsoft Word, and I find it is probably just as accurate as Dragon. Unfortunately, Word won’t work with a digital recorder, and I have found that the recorder is a very good way for me to work, because I can knock out a paragraph or even a chapter sitting in the car while Terry is in the grocery store, or when I am sitting in my recliner.

Because I missed posting a Thursday blog, I’m afraid there won’t be a free drawing this week, but I promise I’ll have one next week.

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.

Thought For The Day – It took a long time for me to realize that I am not “Atlas.” The world does not rest on my shoulders.