Life is a constant discovery.
And it is the discovery of simple, useful things that I like the best. When I started this blog journey, I knew it was going to be a challenge for me.
I am NOT a writer. Getting through my Degree and Diploma was a DAILY struggle, as the constant writing of assignments and exams, was just way out of my comfort zone. The fact is that writing just doesn’t come natural for me.
So even though, I love sharing FFS and passing on my discoveries. Putting in down in words is not the medium I would prefer. BUT, I feel that it needs to be done. I am a firm believer on making things easy for one, so I tried many ways to motivate myself into writing. I also experimented with many methods of putting my thoughts down on paper.
Originally I went out and bought myself a nice brand new pen, and a nice notebook, only to find that I write so slow that by the time I wrote down the 3rd word; I have forgotten what I wanted to say.
Plus the fact I ended up not being able to read my writing………….
So….back to the drawing board.
I then bought myself a nice small tape recorder, justified I thought by the fact that I am more of a “speaker” than a writer. I’ve seen doctors, lawyers and high level executives “dictate” letters on this. And it looked cool.
But alas, it was just another gimmick. I kept losing my trail of thought, and it was an endless frustration to keep rewinding to what you have just said, and then trying to get the rhythm back of what you were trying to say. Also, in the end, you still had to transcribe what you said in writing or type anyway. So I was just doubling my efforts.
But the BIGGEST MINUS of this method was that, I just HATED the sound of my voice.
Back to the drawing board again…….SIGH!!!
So for weeks I procrastinated and avoided writing blogs, forum entries and work on the FFS structure. It was all too much to worry about so I decided to divert my thoughts to a hobby…photography!!.
And it was here that I FOUND MY ANSWER.
One of the photographers I like reading about is Galen Rowell, highly acclaimed Nature Photographer, who has explored most mountains and glaciers on all continents. He has written numerous books and articles on the subject. His life was tragically cut short when the plane he and his wife Barbara were travelling in crashed in 2002.
His website www.mountainlight.com is a continuing legacy of his works and achievement.
I found an article written by him describing his method of writing books. He describes how he spends at least half the year “in the field”, and yet he still finds the ability to write monthly columns and books.
His secret weapon…………

The ALPHASMART NEO. In fact, the last few blog entries I made were typed out with this beauty.
In the era of PDA’s and Laptops, this simple tool is little known. It is nothing more complicated than a word processor. It sports a full size keyboard (try typing a 1500 word document on a small PDA), and weighs as much as that. In fact, it looks like a keyboard with a little window. It boots up instantly, downloads to Mac or PC, and HERE’S THE WINNER FOR ME…….it runs more than 700 HOURS on just THREE standard AA alkaline batteries. That equates to nearly A YEAR of regular use before having to replace AA batteries that is easily bought cheaply in the supermarket
I can now travel virtually anywhere with my Alphasmart without the worries of running out of charge. Even a long flight to the USA is no worries. I now have something to do in the nearly unbearable wait to get to my destination.
Other features I love is that whatever is typed is AUTOMATICALLY saved. How many times have you typed something at length, only to be lost when the wrong button is accidentally pressed? The other deciding fact on why I settled on the Alphasmart is that I CAN TOUCH-TYPE. This means that I can put my thoughts faster onto my word processing as compared to typing and I don’t have to listen to my voice through any recording.
A REAL WINNER!!
Those interested in the Alphasmart Neo can visit the sight on www.batterypoweredcomputers.com
Anyone interested in purchasing one…drop me an email, as I can get discounts