Dragons, Stocks, and Presents, Oh My!

Over the Christmas break, I met with a former colleague for lunch. It’s always a pleasure meeting up with this colleague, who is enjoying his retirement. At one point during our lunch conversation, we started talking about stocks. He told me how he began buying and selling stocks as a teenager, and I admitted I didn’t buy my first stock until I began working with our former employer. After I got the hang of buying and selling stocks, I decided to buy a stock that specialized in digital voice software. It was the late 90's, and there wasn’t a lot of competition, so I decided to buy this company’s stock. The stock was around $50 a share in June. Within two months, it rose to about $175 a share.

When I told my former colleague about this stock, he knew exactly what I was talking about because he just bought digital voice software. He asked me if the company name was Nuance, and I started to laugh because that was the company I had bought stock in over a decade ago. (I don’t know if this is the same company, because I couldn’t find matching stock prices on the web.) He stated he just bought the software, and it’s been working great. It takes a while for the software to get to know your voice and writing style, but after working in it, you get used to the dictation and commands. He was very pleased with the software and I told him I’ll have to look into it for my writing.

Yesterday, we went to the post office to pick up a package. To my surprise, the package contained digital voice software with a note from my former colleague stating that he hopes it assists with my writing endeavors. Of course I had to try it out to see how it works. I set up a profile, let it read my documents, and the more I use it, the more it familiarizes itself with my voice. I’m sure the NSA would enjoy this software… if they aren’t using it already. Anyways, I decided to use it for this blog post. I dictated, made corrections, and started understanding some commands.

I’m on my third draft of my novel, Fogged up Fairytale, and I hope to use this software for revisions. It does take some time getting used to, but not that much. I’ve been using it for several hours with only a few problems with voice recognition.

I must extend a huge thanks to my former colleague, who has been a loyal blog reader and supporter of my writing. If it wasn’t for him, and many others who have supported me along the way, I would not have achieved success with my writing. I’m truly grateful for him and his continuous generosity.

If you are interested in digital voice software, you can purchase it on Amazon. The software is called Dragon Naturally Speaking. It’s by Nuance, and is a home edition speech recognition software.

Has there been a software or electronic device you recently purchased that you’d like to share with others?

Stocks and Presents,

Bea

The 25 Days of Christmas!

On

the First

day of Christmas

we had plenty of snow,

I would have much rather had

hangings of mistletoe. On the Second 

day of Christmas I drank some eggnog brandy.

A wonderful substitute for peppermint candy. On the

Third day of Christmas I sent out Christmas cards—just me

and a wine bottle sending my best regards. On the Fourth day

of Christmas I decorated my tree, after a few days, it became 

home to a flea.

 

On the Fifth

day of Christmas I

wrote my wish list, hoping

more than ever, to finally be kissed.

On the Sixth day of Christmas I received

a secret gift, an IOU and a request to work

the night shift. On the Seventh day of Christmas

the grocery store ran out of brie, which I had

planned to eat while playing my Wii. On the

Eighth day of Christmas I got my hair

done, she apologized for making

me look like a nun. On the Ninth

day of Christmas I had a colonoscopy.

The procedure wasn't fun, but the drugs made me

feel free. On the Tenth day of Christmas the carolers did

sing, it wasn’t as good as getting a ring. On the Eleventh day

of Christmas I ate a chocolate chip cookie, then later that night,

my lover wanted some nookie. On the Twelfth day of Christmas I

went to plow. The snow was much higher than the Dow. On the

Thirteenth day of Christmas I went to a holiday festivity, and got

stuck talking to someone about radioactivity. On the Fourteenth

day of Christmas I cooked a Cornish Hen. I couldn't finish

eating it because of too much cayenne. On the Fifteenth  

day of Christmas my ceiling started to leak. 

The repairman who came, had a

very nice physique.

On the Sixteenth day of Christmas I went sledding with the little ones. By the time we got home, we all had frozen buns. On the Seventeenth day of Christmas my work had a food fest. I ate too much and now I'm unable to digest. On the Eighteenth day of Christmas arose several family dramas. I ignored the calls, and drank in my pajamas. On the Nineteenth day of Christmas my Christmas lights went out. I couldn’t fix them because of my gout. On the Twentieth day of Christmas I watched a holiday flick, about a man, who falls in love with some chick. On the Twenty-First day of Christmas I ate ten candy canes. I’m looking forward to tomorrow, to enjoy some Mary Jane’s. On the Twenty-Second day of Christmas I put the logs on the fire, and thought about the day when I can retire. On the Twenty-Third day of Christmas I thought I heard reindeer, but it was only coming from the computer engineer. On the Twenty-Fourth day of Christmas I made my love dinner. He looked at it and said, “This definitely won’t make you look thinner.” On the Twenty-Ffth day of Christmas we all went to mass, to pray for our shortcomings, and wish for some class.

Mistletoe and Ho! Ho! Ho!
Bea

'Twas the Day after Christmas!

I hope everyone had a joyous Christmas. My Christmas was full of food, family and fun. We have not been together much lately due to our hectic lives, so Christmas Eve and Christmas were especially wonderful for me.

Presents this year mainly consisted of personal things, and I want to share one of them with you. My brother is an excellent videographer, who owns his own business called Photoplay Productions. He videotaped my nephew, David singing When Christmas Comes to Town from the Polar Express. David sang it A cappella and then my brother fit the song to it and added additional camera effects. Of course I cried the entire time watching it because it’s such a precious gift, and I’m not only talking about this video but my nephew.

May the rest of your holiday be full of wonder and excitement.