Thursday - 3/29/12
Last night I set my alarm for my bus wake up time rather than my normal babysitting wake up time. I wanted the extra time to work on the computer. Now I'm up, working on it. I'll still need to work on it some while I'm babysitting, but I'm hoping to minimize that.
Wow! Tracye texted me that she decided to stay home today. I'll miss seeing the kids, and it's less income, but it couldn't have happened at a better time! Now I can use the day to prepare! I don't think I have that much left to do. If Prakirti's available earlier I might be able to go over earlier. That would be great! I've been worried about doing this on a Thursday evening since I get up so early on Friday mornings. A girl needs some sleep!
It's 1pm. I'm not done with the computer. I'm trying to make sure all the programs she needs are pre-loaded on it. Right now I'm looking for a free anti-virus to load. I'm tired. The early morning wake-up is catching up with me. I think I'll take a nap, since I have some extra time.
I'm going to need a splitter plug for the sound coming out of the computer. That way she can either listen on the speakers or on her earbuds without unplugging anything. I've called the local Staples. They say they have it. I'll stop there on the way over.
I just figured out I hadn't finished creating the files for Prakriti to transcribe. I'm doing that now. The transcription program (Express Scribe) doesn't deal well with our Yoga Center cds. We have many tracks on each CD, but it's all one sound file to be transcribed. It thinks each track is a seperate transcription file. I'm having to create one large file out of the many small ones. That'll make Express Scribe work the way we want it to.
I've finished creating the transcription files, and am trying to write them out to CD. The first one went fine, but the second keeps getting an error message. I'm getting frustrated! I don't know what I'm doing wrong or what it doesn't like. It's time I should be leaving, but I need to bring these files with me and there are more to write! I'm going to give up on writing them out to CD and write them out to a memory stick instead, for this time. I'll have to show her how to load them from CDs another time. At least she'll have the files she needs!
Driving over, I'm going through everything in my head. I haven't been looking forward to this part, installing the computer at her place and showing her how to use it. She's seemed so upset or afraid about it when we've talked in the past. I've tried to think of (and do) everything I can to minimize the trauma for her. I've made sure all the icons and words are very readable (larger print), and made sure all the programs we'll need are installed. I've pre-installed her printer software on the computer. I've even installed NetZero so she can have free internet access through her phone line. I picked up the part from Staples so she won't need to bend over to plug and unplug anything. I'm bringing a keyboard, mouse, monitor, foot pedal and speakers for the new computer. I'm going to try and set things up so she can have both computers available for awhile. So, she isn't just torn away from the old one. Still, I'm sure the change will be traumatic and I'm not looking forward to that.
At Prakriti's. She's happy about how big the new monitor is. Her old one is tiny. I get the computer set up and turn it on. There's a flower as the background picture on the monitor. When I turn it on, her first words are a joyous "It's so lovely!" She's thrilled too at how big the words and icons are. She's had trouble seeing things on her old computer. I'm amazed! I was expecting trauma and all she's had is joy. This is terrific!
I told Prakriti that I'd need to leave by 10pm. It's 10 now. We're not to the point I wanted to be at yet. I don't want to leave until I know she can start using the computer for transcribing. I decide to stay for a while longer. I want that accomplishment point.
She's thrilled when she hears our teacher's voice through the computer for the first time. She didn't have speakers set up on her old computer so this is totally new.
We've got it! Everything is set up, the first few transcription files are loaded. We've gone through all the steps she needs to do to transcribe the files. There's more to show her, but those things can wait. I'll be coming back Saturday. I can leave now knowing we've accomplished what needed accomplished. She's ready to start transcribing again. She's thrilled! She says she never thought it would be up and working on the first night. I love that she's happy!
I hope I can decompress enough to sleep tonight!
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