The work on Image has slowed considerably; I'm at about 13,100 words now (73 pages--I must never have printed out my novellas in double-spaced Courier manuscript format, because I remember their 25,000+ words being 50-60 pages). I'm going to forgo bringing lunch today and try to camp out at a cafe for an hour or so, and might do it again in the evening--after an early dinner or before a late one, so as not to end up eating out twice in a day. Although lunch may just be a bagel and coffee or the like.
Writing in places like that sometimes seems easier for me. I suspect it's because, despite being in a sometimes noisy and crowded environment, there aren't any distractions--no television to watch, no NPR or community radio, no internet to browse. That certainly says something unflattering about my will power, but, hey, so does rarely managing to get out of bed when my alarm clock goes off.
Yesterday I bought a USB "Apple Pro" keyboard and a USB version of the same Logitech Marble Mouse trackball I've been using for a few years. The idea is that I can use Peroxide (the G4 laptop) as a desktop now, and just switch mouse and keyboard to the PC with one cable. It's a good idea in theory. In practice the Apple Pro keyboard has surprisingly poor haptics, comparable to one of the earlier Microsoft Natural keyboards. I'm not typing as fast and I'm making more mistakes. If I don't get used to this after a while I may have to break down and look for a PS/2-to-USB adapter (they're out there, but apparently only mail order and not cheap). It's saddening that there's nothing that approaches the quality of the original IBM PS/2 keyboards anymore. People who weren't serious typists didn't understand their value, I don't think--they just bitched about them being loud, and all the manufacturers got the hint, obediently replacing firm, mechanical switches that gave you positive feedback with squishy membrane switches that give you no feedback whatsoever. On a PS/2-style keyboard you hardly have to be watching the screen to know if you've typed a letter--you can feel the contact. And the slightly higher force you needed to depress the keys seemed to actually reduce strain on my wrists and fingers; a few hours of typing yesterday on this keyboard was noticeably more fatiguing. And this is what everyone thinks they want, so not even IBM makes the mechanical switch keyboards anymore.
One problem with markets is that consumers can be stupid. "Garbage in, garbage out" applies to economics, too.
Anyway, I'm running late and still need to make coffee for the trip into work. (Yes, for those keeping track, it's decaf, although I'm not following that religiously.)
