The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan. -Exodus 16:35

It took the Israelites 40 years after their escape from slavery in Egypt, to wander through the desert before they finally reached Canaan, the “Promised Land.” Long time, huh? If I had set out on a journey like that I would have to be 16. Well, guess what….I just bought a CapTel 800i phone.

This is a special telephone that kind of succeeds the TTY, that old fashioned “typewriter” like thing that crawled along even slower than the crawl at One Times Square. The problem with the TTY was it required the other party to have one or to pre-arrange for a relay service in between. Certainly not convenient especially when one is looking for a job.

All these years, I had a psychological wall up to using such things. I was secured in the fact that my wife was doing a pretty darn good job acting as a secretary or lip-synching for me. But she also has a job. So, it wasn’t too convenient on top of her being somewhat uncomfortable doing it. I probably could have done better asking Mike to act on my behalf. I am too honest to do that. So much for my political aspirations, too.

So on Friday, I decided to answer a call. Fortunately, it was with someone who works for a former employer who knew some of the folks I worked with so she was able to find out more about me in that sense. I used the web version of CapTel. And boy was I nervous. But it all worked out for the better and despite some connection problems, we had Google Talk up and running as a backup.

The CapTel phone/service relies on voice recognition software, with a human being assisting, to translate the other party’s voice to text. With web version, only I can initiate the call. With the 800i, it is like any other phone call. It relies on the standard land-line for the phone call and the internet for the captioning part.

Since I most often will initiate the call, I will start off with explaining that there is a lag between the time someone speaks and the time the text comes in. This can be anywhere from 5-10 seconds. Its like CNN in Atlanta asking the reporter in the Middle East a question. Notice how that reporter stands around as it they didn’t get it. That is the lag.

Those who know me shouldn’t be too much of a problem. They just need to be patient. Those who don’t…well, its give and take. I can only hope and pray they are understanding and will be accommodating. In reality, if its a recruiter and they really see value in the skills from my resume, they will be understanding. At least I’ll know who is for real and who is a wannabe.

The phone should be here sometime this week. And when it gets here, you can be assured you’ll hear from me. The forty year journey is over. I am sucking it in….