Catching Idle Butterflies

Learning to write English

2,703/50,000

Not many words today. But I was kinda busy . . . really! Dave and I spent the day with his grandmother and uncle, and that's by far more important!

Learning to Write English

You’d think I’d know that by now. Nope. I don’t write English. I write American. HUGE difference. How do I know this? My computer tells me so.

And this is not your ordinary computer either.

Many years ago, in 1994 (in computer time, that’s ancient history), I wanted a laptop. But I could neither afford the $2500 price tag or even justify having one. I did have a desktop at the time that worked just wonderly and had everything I needed. Yet still, Dave and I did enough traveling in 2-5 hour stretches when we went camping or to see my folks. Sometimes reading a book the entire time got boring. I wanted an electronic toy to play with.

So perusing the local electronics store I found exactly what I needed. It wasn’t a laptop, but a palmtop called a Psion, Series 3. Basically, it looked exactly like a laptop with a full keyboard, only it was the size of a paperback novel. Perfect for my needs, and luckily my fingers are skinny enough, I could type on it with little trouble. I called it a placebo to my laptop, and at less than 1/6 the price, I could hand over the cash with little guilt.

Time passed, and they came out with a new one in 1996. Of course I just HAD to have it. So I bought the Series 5. It had more memory, faster processor, plus it was larger with a better, more comfortable keyboard.

Not having used it in a while, I decided the time came for something new. Besides, Psion no longer made their palmtops, so I needed a substitute. I purchased a Compaq iPAQ. I do enjoy it, but for different reasons. Still, if I want to type something while sitting on my couch or in a car (not while I’m driving, just so you know), my Psion is still the thing to use.

Then came November’s National Novel Writing Month. I decided that since I might want to type at work as well as at home, lugging my laptop (yes I have a laptop now . . . two actually, but that’s another story) around didn’t seem all that convenient. So I pulled out my Psion once again. I ended up typing my entire 50k NaNo on it.

But I also discovered my Psion will no longer turn off automatically when I close the lid, and every once in a while it will reset itself, changing the date back to 1997, even erase all files left in the internal memory. That didn’t bother me since I keep all my files on a Compact Flash card. But still, that meant my favorite little computer was getting old.

So I decided I needed a new one. eBay is a wonderful thing! I found the Psion I wanted and bought from an individual in the UK.

I had no clue there would be differences in Psion’s UK and USA’s versions. One is the keyboard setup, but I got used to that in no time.

The other I didn’t discover until I performed a spell-check yesterday. In the mere 2000 words I typed, these words popped up I KNOW were correct, yet my Psion told me were wrong:

Favorite
Recognize
Color
Apologize
Realize

Those of you from the UK or are familiar with UK spelling conventions are giggling right now, I can tell.

Luckily I can add the American spelling of those words to my dictionary, but still, it did confuse me there for a sec.

Part of me wanted to have the computer change those words to the English spelling. I can’t explain it, but I’ve always liked the English vs American spelling of some words. To me, they look more elegant. Even English writing has a flow and elegance American writing can sometimes lack. I suppose I should be grateful this thing doesn't have a grammar checker as well?

ASIDE: Question for you. Does writing a page and a half about a palmtop computer prove that I’m a geek?