Voice recognition problems

I am having unbelievable problems with my voice software. I'm not sure visit PC Mike or the software. It stops listening after a very short time. I tried adding my USB microphone but my computer sees it as a set of headphones and doesn't seem to work. The only way and get the voice recognition to work very long is to turn it off when it quits listening and then turn it back on and seems to work for a while but then cuts out again and I have to do the turn off/turn on every click the cursor in my text editor. So until I get it fixed I probably won't post on my blog. I'm not sure what to do. If I knew where the release 13 CD was and how to find out the code for activation I think I would try that. Problem is I don't remember where the CD is or how to add the code. I used to be able to just plug away into my computer did buy one for without my hands is pretty impossible.
So for now I will have to sign off and maybe someday I can get my voice recognition to work correctly. The problem is that I have been using it since release 11 so I am the only one I know of and knows much about it. I spent all day yesterday staring at the TV because my PC wouldn't work. I found I was pretty angry at my voice recognition and was in a pretty foul mood by the time my wife came home. I kept thinking of "today's tedious becomes tomorrow's good old days"!

Monday's problems are a little better

I had mentioned Sunday that I was having trouble with the phlegmy cough. Yesterday the phlegm charted breaking up and I was able to cough a lot of it up. I still coughed all day but one out of 4 coughing episodes brought up from phlegm. It still seems like there is a never supply of it. I read somewhere along time ago at dairy products produce a lot of mucus so maybe that is my problem. I had ice cream on Saturday but paying for for 2 days seems a little extreme. Today is Tuesday and I am still phlegmy and coughing but not as much is yesterday. I still have rattley breathing but it is not as bad as Sunday was.
Today was my monthly trip to the urologist.. Today Matt took me so my wife did not have to miss work. We had lunch at Caribou coffee. I sure like their coffee. Had an apple Fritter that was really good.
I found that my smile mouse works better if I tilt the PC screen back a little bit. I had tilted it forward so I could read it easier. Everything is a trade-off. My new microphone did not come until to day so I'm not sure when I will get it working. Right now my voice software tells me it cannot hear me very well. We tried to figure out where the PC microphone is but never could. I think would help if I could project toward it. I'll let you know how things go.

Monday blues

I am finding it hard to dictate to my computer. One day last week, yesterday and today I have a never ending amount of phlegm in my throat. I try coughing it up but I seem to lack the lung power to get rid of it. If I do finally cough it up 10 minutes later there is more. It's kind of getting on my nerves and seemed to wear me out and make the day extra long. I'm not sure why one day I am fine and the next day it's a never-ending battle. I guess it's just another thing I have to muddle through. Having rattling breathing all the time.
My wife gave me some sort of good news yesterday. The water heater is not leaking. The water is coming from the furnace so they will be here Wednesday to check it out. The high-efficiency furnaces have water removed from the exhaust air before it is sent outside.
I'm having no end of problems with my voice software. I totally regret upgrading release 14. Is so flaky and release 13 work so much better. My son found out that release 14 exceeds the hardware I have but it is too late now. For some reason it keeps losing its connection to this dictation box I have opened with it. I have to turn off the software and turn it back on for it to reconnect. I've had to do that over 20 times for this post. It's also made worse by my inconsistent clicking with smile mouse. Sometimes it takes 5 tries to get it to select something. A lot of times it just clicks to select when I'm just talking. Last few days and this seemed very inconsistent. To be honest it wears me out to fix my posts because of the errors that come from my problems speaking clearly and my difficulties with this stupid software. I have a USB microphone coming from Amazon. Hopefully that will work better than the microphone in the PC.

Pet Jealousies

Of all the things that are entertaining about having Atlas here and the 2 new cats it is Atlas's jealousy is the funniest. If Matt or my wife holds one of the cats he is right there practically climbing on top of them. He is so jealous of the cats it is hilarious. Even after Matt or my wife lets the cat go he still either has his head on their leg or climbs on top of their lap so they can't get the cat again.
I can no longer play with him and he is with me all day but more or less ignores me when I tell him to quit barking. Lately my wife has found that Lacy will stay between my knees on a special blanket just for her once in a while. One night while she was putting me to bed Lacy was on the bed also. Atlas jumped onto the bed over me and over the cat. Then he turned and threw himself on top of me so his stomach and mine were against his other. It was like he was throwing himself on a grenade so that the cat didn't get any attention. I laughed pretty hard. For the next few nights he stayed on the bed with me until my wife came to bed. Usually he leaves with her after she gets me in bed but he wanted to make sure I didn't get any attention from Lacy. I tell him all the time he is my favorite puppy but that doesn't seem to be enough.
There is a little bit of jealousy between Lacy and Slim. One night my wife was playing with the shoelace tied to the stick. She was really engrossed with it and Slim came up and sat and watched. Then he wanted to play also but when he started to bat At the string Lacy turned and slapped him 3 times across the head so he left. We were afraid when we got them that Slim being larger would pick on her but she seems be the dominant one. She is kind of mean to Slim and hits him in the head if he tries to do things that she doesn't want him to do.
Later on in the week my wife started playing with Slim and the laser toy. Lacy wasn't interested but slim chased it everywhere, he really gets into that. And one day Lacy started to chase the laser pointer and Slim ran from the back room up the hallway and shouldered her out of the way. It was like she got to play with the string so the laser pointer was his and she needed to stay out of it. It was good to see Slim stand up for himself. Lacy left and Slim got to chase the red light all over the place.

MS – Strange Journey

Since this is a MS website I probably should post about MS once in a while. As you know I have primary progressive MS which is supposed to advance very slowly. In my case so it has gone farther and faster than anyone expected. There were other people in my MS support group with the same type and 10 years later there pretty close to the same as they were when they came. The doctor told me I was "atypical". Thanks Doc. So I'm essentially a quadriplegic as far as use of my appendages. Unlike spinal cord injury quadriplegics I can still feel things in my legs and arms but it is a little less than before. A person with a spinal cord injury must be very careful to avoid freezing or burning because they cannot feel that. In my case I can feel and I know when I need to get away from hot or cold. I do have some unique symptoms that seem very strange to me.
And I sit for long periods of time or where I am in bed I lose track of my appendages. Sometimes it feels like my knees are drawn up and that I look they are still out straight. Most of the time though it could tell where my legs are. My hands so seem very strange. After I'm in bed for a while it feels like my arms are floating of footer show above my body. Once I dreamed that I am scratching the kitty's chin and I wake up and my arm is still down on my leg under the covers. I lose track of my left hand when I'm in my chair for a while. Without some sort of restraint both of my and then arms are drawn toward my body and gets very uncomfortable having them in one position all the time. I have a cup that is Velcro held onto my lap desk which is held on my chair with Velcro. This cup keeps left hand away from my body. When I sit there for a while it feels like my left hand is against my body even though it is held away by the cup. This seems very strange to me.
I am not posting this looking for sympathy but just thought it was interesting and maybe you find it interesting also. Among my many symptoms these are not really very significant but did show how odd this disease can be.
I often complain about my voice software but it is more involved than just the software. I have trouble enunciating because of the numbness on the right side of my face. I also use the microphone is built into the PC. I used to have a standalone microphone that work much better. I quit using it because it blocks the speakers on my PC when it is plugged it. I did some research and found out because this PC is so small there is a sound chip rather than a card and so there physical limitations. If I use the standalone I am locked out of the speakers. I had to pick one or the other.
I have complained about my eyesight and went to the eye doctor a few weeks ago. My prescription is not changed so my difficulties in seeing what I dictate must be related to the gooey stuff I get in my eyes. I should be able to rub my eyes or pick this stuff out but can't anymore and that is my sight problem. When I read back what I've dictated I feel like an illiterate buffoon. Sometimes I have to remember what Popeye said "I am what I am and that's all that I am". Of course he said yams instead of am.

Slim Sleeping

I was going to make my blog something a little more intellectual but I'm finding it hard to remember things I just read to post about them. If I had any pride it is been gone for a while now and I lost a lot. I'm finding these animal posts seem to write themselves so I will probably post more about critters than I originally planned to do.
This is a photo of Slim Sleeping in basket we set aside for mail. He is never tried to sleep in the padded cat bed that is in the living room on the kitty table so they can see outside. Lacy as established ownership over the bad but Slim has never tried to lay in it anyway. I guess the mail basket is more his speed. Is a fairly big cat, he is long and walks like a panther. I'm not sure how this is comfortable but that's what he chose.
I think my next post will be on animal jealousies. It amazes me what these creditors find important.

Cat report January 2018

The 2 new cats are starting to really open up and feel comfortable around the house most of the time. Atlas still wants to play with them and they don't like him still. They make quite a combination. If Matt or my wife shows the cats any attention he gets very jealous and climbs up on the couch and practically lays on top of them. Sometimes my wife will put Lacy on my legs they go to bed. As as he does is in the cat seems like she's just say up jumps Atlas and uses nose to put the cat away. Is a very jealous dog and it's pretty funny. Once a cat leaves out he's gone to be with my wife.
We think Slim and Lacy are from the same parents are from different litters. Their ages are 6 months apart and they were a bonded pair that the previous owner asked that they be placed together. To us we thought that meant they'll be sleeping with their paws around each other. It is not really like that. Your bonded more like my sister and I were where she picks on him and he just takes it. We were afraid that since he was bigger and longer you would pick on her. She seems to be the dominant one though and if he tried to play with a toy that she is playing with she will smack him in the head. Most times out when she is playing with something you will come and sit by her and wait patiently, reach across her and start banning at what it is. They do sleep on the same futon in their bedroom. When I got Macy I wife accuse me of spoiling her. But now that we have these cats she has given them their own bedroom with a gate they keeps the dog out. It has a pass-through for the cats and when they are back there they and their food are safe the big mean doggie.
Neither cat is really highly and affectionate but Lacy can be a little more and Slim. Sometimes I like to be held and wants down. Lacy will come and sleep on the cat bad that is in the sunny window. Slim never stays in one place very long in the wanders around inspecting things and checking things out.. Sometimes you will look out the window but it doesn't say a very long. Is a very curious cat and very entertaining.
They seem to be getting on's Atlas but Lacy seems to be annoyed by him a lot more than slim. She is kind of a tattletale and cries even though she walks up behind him and he doesn't even know she's there. It's like she's telling on him. If he walks fire sometimes she ignores him and sometimes she has is and bats at his back leg after he is by. Slim seems to have some sort of agreement with Atlas. Some days Atlas will run and chase him trying to sniff him and he runs away. Other times he just sits there and Atlas goes around him.
Their appetites are very different also. Lacy is a little foodie and cries all the time because she ate her food already wants more. Slim leads is and doesn't complain at all about being out. We were afraid she was eating his food of my wife checked and he gets his share.
So I wish Lacy would stay on the bed even with Atlas there. She did that when he was gone hunting after Christmas and Tom took Atlas to go on to with his friend. One night they did stay up there at the same time but that only happened once. So right now they are entertaining and is nice to have activity around me that it is interesting. I don't find TV very interesting and when I read a lot and get sleepy so I have to be careful not to read too much. Lately I've been very sleepy and taking a nap in the morning so far as been rare. In might become more common, of course it's very hard to tell with MS.
I would say the cats are working out pretty well in their getting a little more comfortable around the house. Usually at night when I'm going to bed all 3 of them are in the bedroom at some point. Lacy usually come back and then cries and runs away from Atlas. Will come to the conclusion she is a drama queen. Slim is laid-back and cool. He is like the cool kid in school and when he wants to be friends with but he stayed aloof. I will let you know in the future as things progress.

Encouragement – thanks

I was going to post about our 2 new cats but I received so many encouraging replies on Facebook to yesterday's post. I'm not sure if I actually admited it but I have been feeling pretty hopeless this year. Last night I was reminded there are so many people who have had much harder roads to travel than me. I've never lingered over a a child in the hospital and all my children have been healthy. There are also many more diseases worse than mine that people have dealt with it are dealing with. I've never had to hear the words cancer from a doctor and that word strikes fear in anyone who's ever heard it let alone gone through it. A few disease I can think they're worse are ALS, Alzheimer's or dementia. I know no one meant this but last night I felt like a bit of a whiner. Bible tells me that what I have is light affliction but for a moment. In James tells us our life is but a vapor.
This morning, as I do most mornings, I listen to a sermon from our church on my PC. Today I listen to a sermon on Romans 8. It talked about our assurance knowing the Lord. I kept thinking of that hymn "Blessed assurance Jesus is mine oh what a foretaste of glory divine". I felt lifted up by so many encouraging messages I got in this song just topped it off. In Psalm 23 one line I always remember is that "he restores my soul" I can't tell you how many times in the last 35 years that I was restored in my soul just as he promised.
Well I have too many Facebook post to the dog's all them and so I hope when you read this you to have my thanks. God bless all of you!

Still out here, alive but not kicking

I am back. I have a cold that turned into a cough and made it really hard to post. This year I have been feeling power of my disease as it takes away everything I've tried to keep. A few months ago I can still move my right hand and use the recline control to lean back and rest and cough up phlegm. I'm no longer able to move my right hand And All it does is just lays there. Earlier this week I realized I'm having more trouble holding my hand up and need to have my chair recline back before my wife leaves. This makes it difficult to read my PC unless it is positioned perfectly. Besides having MS having a hearing problem and I find it difficult to find the right spot in my glasses to focus. The burdens of these have made me feel ground down like never before.
I realized a long time ago is MS is a life sentence. Normally there is one way out and that is death. MS does not do that so who knows how long I have to deal with this as well as my caregivers. And I'm really down in the dumps I talked about wishing I was and all my family encourages me that they don't want that to happen.
I know the Lord Jesus as my personal Savior so I have 2 other ways to get out of this disease. One is a miraculous event by God to heal me. Personally I don't think this is a realistic possibility but you never know. There is also the return Jesus to look forward to. I actually fear that because if it happens there are people I love will be left behind because they don't trust the Lord in a personal way. God is long-suffering toward us so I don't know how many years before that happens. Many people see the events in the Middle East and say that is close but I think it could get out much worse.
So in summation there are 3 ways out for me and not of them I expect to happen. I trust my caregivers and they are so encouraging and almost make me weep for gratitude. My lowest time are in the evening and my wife always makes me laugh. The 2 new cats pretty entertaining and have yet to be affectionate but we think I will come. Later post I hope to update you on the cats. Between Atlas and them I have distractions from my condition that help me with the day.

Attitude – not real good

My voice is very faint today and so I'm not able to post. Probably better that I don't because I'm in a bad mood.

It's a new year.

I have not posted for a while. Tom is home and I can find a time with the complete silence until today. Is great having him home and my wife went to visit our oldest son in Phoenix and Tom took care of me. He asked me how many stars out of 5 that he gets. I told him 4 1/2. I did the doc because he doesn't wipe my nose very well and he scares me when he brushes my teeth. All in all he takes really good care of me and feeds me more treats that I should get.
Atlas was pretty happy to see him when he still follows my wife whenever she moves when she is here. On the pet front the cats are getting more and more outgoing. Slim as got up on a bench we put next to my chair and 2 days he was fascinated with the coffee going up to my straw. Is a really pretty cat but very hard to photograph because of his color. Lacy as been sleeping a few nights near my legs after my wife puts her there. Last night she stayed until almost 5 AM. My wife says they won't come out of their shell completely until Atlas is gone.
Sometimes Atlas gets in the things he shouldn't like a garbage can with paper in it. He spreads the papers around the living room and were not sure why. One day he got into a new bag of dog treats and ate the whole thing. One time came home he scolded him and Atlas threw himself down on his side and looked ashamed. His tail was wagging the whole time so were not sure how hard he took it.
Organa sign off now for 2 days now I've had the feeling like seizing. Yesterday I sneezed a bunch and today it's back. Last night and slept okay with no problems. As long as my whiny eyes closed I don't feel like seizing. Go figure!