Touch-typing game

Erin and I used to play this touch-typing game in chat windows.

One person touch-types a message but with their hands shifted outwards one key on the keyboard. Instead of having your index fingers over F and J, they'll be over D and K. Touch-typing will produce a certain amount of total nonsense on the screen. For instance if you type "hello there" with your hands shifted outwards, you get "jw;;p rjwew."

Then the other person, in order to decode what has been written, touch-types what they see in their message window, but with their hand shifted in the opposite direction, inwards. Try it. If you touch-type jw;;p rjwew with your hands shifted to centre one key so that the index fingers are over G and H and it will show up as ... hello there. Magic!

After you've translated what the other person has said, you then type your own response using the hands-out position. Erin is amazingly skilled at this. Me, while I'm an awesome touch-typist I find myself having to close my eyes and will myself into a zen-like state of focus, or else I start trying to type what I think the actual word is rather than the letters on the screen. Erin seems to be able to completely turn off that part of her brain and simply use her touch-typing physical memory.

Tonight we use a variation on this trick with our various names, shifting the left hand, right hand or both by one key in or out, touch-typing it and choosing from among the several possibilities our favourite new names.

Noah is now Nosh.
Fiona is Guibs.
Sophie is Siogue.
Erin is Erub.

and I am Nurabda.

Chuck, who went to bed early being on call, has not yet chosen his new name, but he largely ends up with an unfortunate collection of words with unpronouncable consonants.