Officer Crabtree

Five days into cold turkey.  More or less know where the keys are now - it's actually easier to type with my eyes closed!

Have just sent out first email with typos: "Startung next week - all diaries seem fill this week". Only needed to say "wook" to turn into Officer Crabtree from 'Allo 'Allo!

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Adventures with Dvorak

No, not the composer, just the keyboard layout.

I work in IT, and have always been able to type pretty fast and accurately.  Some years ago I started to get a niggling ache in my wrists when typing. I switched to split QWERTY keyboards - some Microsoft models, then the very nice Logitech Cordless Desktop Comfort Pro, which I used at home and work.

At some point I experimented with the Dvorak layout, but it seemed to be awkward for programming, and since the Logitech had seemed to relieve the pain, I took it no further.

Fast forward to last summer. A coffee incident meant a new keyboard. The new Logitech Wave promised the latest in ergonomics, and it did seem quite comfy - or so I thought.

Well, the old wrist ache started to come back. I don't do so much programming these days, so I decided to give Dvorak another try. The Mac has a useful Dvorak/Qwerty mode which keeps QWERTY for command-key shortcuts which are hard-wired in my brain!

It became apparent that the Wave keyboard wasn't helping. My wrists were still kinked and I was cheating on learning Dvorak by hitting keys on the wrong half of the keyboard. So I dug a spare Cordless Desktop Comfort Pro out of storage and resolved to go "cold turkey" on QWERTY.

I have a colour Dvorak chart pasted above each monitor but haven't labelled the keycaps themselves. I installed dvorakng to learn the layout (via MacPorts); I've completed the lessons now with a 95% hit rate - not bad, but it still means 1 in 20 keypresses are wrong.  However, the most frustrating bit is the speed - average 1-2cps if I'm lucky! Think I might be using the chart as a crutch but I will be keeping it around for a while.

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Stair jump

Another fantastic contraption ... this time for the level Up The Stairs. See my Stair Jump
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Cornwall holiday

Here are some pictures from our holiday in Cornwall.
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rolling rolling rolling

And here's another one, for Back And Forth: Rolling Rolling
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Fantastic Contraption: Bulldozers

Have you seen Fantastic Contraption?

Here is my solution to Handling: a pair of bulldozers.
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YAAD: Taltos-Hum-Mal-Cha-Mon

Short version:

NH 3.4.3M C HP:0(72) Pw:0(84) AC:-3(7) L:12 T:16928 
 [+ !) i+ 2-- P S+ D+ p $+ t-- s++ W+ E PS- PP-
 G+ C !I Ps+ !@W N++ !Y X++ So- Sp++ !sb !wb +1

Long version:

Since ascending Sof I've been trying my first conduct ascension, to ascend a vegan Monk who never hit with a wielded weapon. Taltos was looking pretty handy: he had picked up a few nice bits of clothing (Hawaiian shirt, elven leather helm, low boots), had a couple of BoH and two AoRs (one from Sokoban), a blessed luckstone and had started collecting enough zorkmids to buy some protection (3 points so far, just short of the next chat to a priest).

I have never seen so many temples in one game! Taltos had managed to find one co-aligned altar, on a level with one cross-aligned altar; there were probably another six altars in the game, all of which were cross-aligned with attendant priests. Grrr! And the only shops to be found in Minetown were Izchak's (natch) and a tiny delicatessen.

I managed to learn a fair few spells - protection, healing, sleep and slow monster were all useful. Having completed Minetown and Sokoban, I'd read that the next best thing for a Monk to do is get down to the Castle before doing the Quest.

On my way down there I met a couple of beehives (wish I wasn't vegan so I could eat that royal jelly) and a little leprechaun hall. I was exploring a shop on DL20 when suddenly:

It engulfs you!
You are pummeled with debris! (etc)

Eek! An air elemental! I whacked it with slow monster and sleep a few times, while frantically casting healing on myself. Prayer worked briefly to bring my HP up, but I was pummeled again and that quickly dropped. "Quick, where's the air elemental FAQ?" Found it and managed to hurt it by casting sleep, hit it & cast healing on myself, but that used all my mana. I then managed to kill it ... but was immediately spat out and set upon by a kobold lord and a zruty.

Latest messages
  You are pummeled with debris!
  You are pummeled with debris!
  You are pummeled with debris!
  The sleep ray rips into the air elemental.
  Status of the air elemental (neutral):  Level 11  HP 20(48)  AC 2, can't move, slow, engulfed you.
  You hit the air elemental.
  You are pummeled with debris!
  You are pummeled with debris!
  Status of the air elemental (neutral):  Level 11  HP 7(48)  AC 2, slow, engulfed you.
  You feel better.
  You hit the air elemental.
  You are pummeled with debris!
  You are pummeled with debris!
  Status of the air elemental (neutral):  Level 11  HP 5(48)  AC 2, slow, engulfed you.
  You kill the air elemental!
  The kobold lord misses.
  The zruty hits!
  The zruty hits!
  The zruty bites!
  You die...

Goodbye Taltos the Monk...
You died in The Dungeons of Doom on dungeon level 20 with 103350 points,
and 5380 pieces of gold, after 16928 moves.
Killer: zruty
You were level 12 with a maximum of 72 hit points when you died.

Voluntary challenges
  You followed a strict vegan diet
  You never hit with a wielded weapon
  You never genocided any monsters
  You never polymorphed an object
  You never changed form
  You used no wishes

Your skills at the end
  Fighting Skills
    martial arts       [Grand Master]
  Weapon Skills
    (none)
  Spellcasting Skills
    healing spells     [Basic]
    enchantment spells [Basic]

You made the top ten list!

 No  Points     Name                                                   Hp [max]
  1    3258680  Sof-Wiz-Elf-Fem-Cha ascended to demigoddess-hood.     236 [282]
* 2     103350  Taltos-Mon-Hum-Mal-Cha died in The Dungeons of Doom            
                on level 20 [max 21].  Killed by a zruty.               -  [72]
  3      36266  Boyd-Mon-Hum-Mal-Cha died in The Gnomish Mines on
                level 7 [max 9].  Killed by a pyrolisk.                 -  [75]
  4      28430  Hare-Mon-Hum-Fem-Cha died in The Gnomish Mines on
                level 11.  Killed by a vampire.                         -  [67]

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