i took a typing test tonight. a proper one. this is something probably not on most people's agenda! i just wanted to know how fast i can type. i always thought i could type fast. i mean, sometimes at jobs when i get going and you can hear the keys echoing, people will make some comment about how fast i am and ask what's my speed, if i have ever been tested. i honestly don't know my speed. i would just write 45wpm on every application, thinking that's a reasonable speed. then i thought maybe that's a little too slow so i started putting 55wpm even though i knew i must be faster, i just didn't want to gloat or make untrue statements. there are free sample typing tests online. the problem with these are that they are too short. i can do short bursts quicky. these tests are 1 minute tops the way i type them. that's why my results can be 90wpm-100+ on these things. i know that's not my true speed. i know i get tired when typing longer and i start to slow down. besides, a true typing test accounts for mistakes. the one i took tonight would not let you back up and fix your mistakes. the sample ones online will let you. so i'd be going really fast but still using backspace to get those 90-100+ scores.

tonight was a honest test.* 5 minutes. no backspacing. i went to the local adult school. you have to pay for the test but you're free to take it as many times as you like and then they print out a nifty certificate for you that's good for a year, in case people don't believe you, hahahahaahaaa. anyway, i get there and the very first test i'm fucking up big time because i'm nervous and my hands are freezing cold. i tell myself to finish the test just to warm up and see how bad i do so that i may improve. i noticed i couldn't type as much as i could because there is a limited number of lines you can type. i guess i'm the only one who has this problem? i typed the 2 paragraphs you're supposed to type over and over again and finally ran out of room. so i sat there waiting for the 5 minutes to end. finally the 5 minutes were up and it displayed my score. i think it was 83wpm with 18 mistakes. pretty bad.

within my first 15 minutes i got a decent 82wpm with 2 mistakes and printed that out. the lab instructor said i could print out several results and pick the best one. time to try again and aim for less mistakes or a faster speed. most times that i tried, i'd get mad with myself for making a mistake and hit reset. or, i'd do really well and think how good i'm doing and fuck it all up. or my mind would start wandering and when i realized i wasn't focused on the task at hand, when i realized i should pay attention to what i'm typing, that's when i'd make a mistake and quickly make another mistake, so i'd reset the test because i had already reached 2 mistakes and i was trying to beat that. after about 40 minutes of this, i gave up and decided i should just go with the score i printed out.

as i handed the printout to the lab instructor, i muttered that i'm using the first score i printed 'cos i just couldn't beat it. she had a smirk in her eye as she turned to my paper to see how poorly i did and then said "pretty good" with her jaw on the floor. as she was printing out my certificate, i started talking about how the test runs out of lines after awhile and doesn't let you continue so you can't test for 90wpm or 100wpm on it. she gave my data to her student assistant to file away. her student assistant was shocked with my score because she can barely reach 40wpm. uh, no comment.

*i might say "an honest test" but i type "a honest test". i might say it takes "an hour" but i type "a hour". why? because of how anal i am. "an" only goes in front of words that begin with a vowel. the h may be silent but it's there.