Grabbing the knowledge in documents

I was looking at some old document copies today. I can't decipher all of the words as I carefully transcribe it into a nice typed document. I need to use some of my proven methods for figuring out what it says:

• Put it way for a while
• Try to read it away from your home or the library where you copied it
• Give it to another genealogist to decipher (don't tell them what you think it is)
• Give it to a non-genealogist to decipher (don't tell them what you think it is)
• Yes, I have already compared the letter and word formation with others on that page and a few pages before and after

9 times out of 10 one of these methods works. When it doesn't I tend to lecture myself that I should be able to figure this out. My youngest son can figure out what things say in a variety of languages so I should be able to read something in English, no matter the era!