Ergo, I Feel No Pain

This is my first post from my new ergonomic workstation. My friend, auerbachsplexus, in one of those twists of fate, was moving out of her apartment on the other side of the country when I was talking to her last month, and mentioned that she was going to have to drop her screen off on the side of the road, or the Salvation army. My boyfriend and I had been talking for months about getting a flat screen monitor to supplement my laptop, which is a fabulously petite 4 pounder about the size of a trade paperback. I bought it to save my back when I lugged around my laptop to coffee shops and on airline flights, and for two years it has been my baby. I've showered it with supplemental batteries, attachments and protective devices like a good mother. I love it for who it is, even though recently my eyes have begun to strain while trying to read its LCD screen, and even though it only takes a half hour of surfing before my hands cramp up and my shoulders start to sting. My muscular comfort is not aided, of course, by the fact that my preferred stance for computer use is on the couch with my tiny Fujitsu laying on my lap.

Anyway, I immediately told auerbachsplexus to wait until I came back to the east coast to get rid of her screen, and she decided to send it to me. It was so exciting, like Christmas, when we got it. Of course, we needed to find a home for it, and finally this weekend we braved the lines at Ikea and purchased a cute little desk with sliding keyboard tray. Perhaps more exciting, I also got a new wireless keyboard and, get this, a wireless optical mouse. This means I'm so unconnected I could probably telecommute from the bathroom. Isn't it weird that for so long connectivity was the rage, and now everything's wireless, and it's cool to be unconnected and fancy free?

Today we went to a store to look for ergonomic chairs and I'm hoping to get a "kneeling" chair, the kind you straddle kind of like a calf machine at the gym. Your weight gets supported by both your but AND your knees, leaving your back straight and free. It's strange, and feels like typing while standing up. But it's also kind of liberating. I'm used to working at computers while being cradled by my chair, and it almost feels naked.