Pardon a momentary personal rant. I just came into my office and someone had installed one of those damned keyboard trays, which is even more irritating that the 87 buttons I have to push on my chair just to sit down (it’s easier to drive a car), and just as painful to work around as those damned newfangled keyboards that make you hold your elbows out as if you’re preparing to fly, not type. I can’t stand ergonomic stuff. It’s not ergonomic for me. I’m 6′4″ and klutzy and so the keyboard tray kneecaps me. The chair is telling me how to sit when I should be telling it to just sit there. They keyboard makes me want to stick out my tongue while typing and bite it off. At an earlier job, we had ergocops making regular visits to all the offices to ask the staff how they felt. I’m sure it was for legal reasons — hey, you can’t sue us for your carpal tunnel syndrome cuz we gave you that schizo keyboard the ergocops prescribed — but I always thought it was a scam to sell consulting and really expensive keyboard trays only little people can use.
I actually have a different perspective. When I arrived for my first day on my most recent job, I was given a 20 year old, completely non-adjustable chair. Within two weeks, my neck was killing me. I actually missed a day of work. After some lengthy discussion, I managed to get them to buy me a Steelcase LEAP chair (in my opinion, the best out there). Neck and back have been fine ever since. (You’d like the pan and seatback adjustment for your height). I bought an extra one, on my own dime, for use at home.
My quibble is not with having chairs that help you work. It’s just that most of the stuff out there is garbage. Given the choice between a $600 chair that works and a $500 chair that doesn’t, purchasing seems to choose the $500 chair every time. I guess they’re willing to pay $500 to be able to fight lawsuits but not the extra $100 to get a chair that works.
ABC set to air lies politicizing 9/11 and no word yet by the blogdaddy. (No surprise! None at all.)
One does have to wonder what the blogdaddy’s reactions would have been if ABC was getting ready to air a 9/11 mockumentary which the right-wing blogheads had found to be making things up.
Jeffrey,the leftist nanny, is afraid that ABC may show poor Willie in an unflattering light. Don’t worry, they are hard on Bush, too. There is enough blame to go around and only a complete leftist loon would believe that Clinton, and “Stuff the incriminating evidence in your pants” Berger, were blameless. What do you want Jeff to do–help you whine?
Uh, Jeffrey, I haven’t seen it yet. It helps to know what one is writing about, doesn’t it? As a critic, I did not write about things I did not watch. I guess you have different standards.You can guess and want me to.
We may not ever get to see the original. Though it was stringently sourced, I hear it’s now being edited to appease the left.
Did the right demand Michael Moore’s 9/11 film be edited and censored?
Leftists who would scream about censorship when there’s pornography to protect, or if parents didn’t want their children seeing Moore’s 9/11 film at school, certainly seem to be clamoring for censorship now.
It’s said this new film is not too kind to Bush either, but haven’t heard about Bush demanding changes on either this film or Moores.
I guess Bush figures history will be a better judge than the spin of media.
Perhaps Clinton’s big fear is that just the opposite is true for him.
The right don’t need to demand changes Ravo, they stay in with Murdoch and he does the rest for them.
I take it that your “it’s said comment” means that you haven’t seen the film in any form?
As someone with Carpal, lemme tell you it’s no fun and it hits you suddenly. I know it might suck today and tomorrow and maybe sometime next week, but once you adjust to it it’ll let us enjoy your great writing for a long long time.
the only problem is, once youve become adjusted to it, its hard typing anywhere else, like say a hot girl’s dorm room.
Those keyboard trays are something I also loathe. I don’t understand why some chucklehead believes lowering the keyboard and mouse from the rest of the desktop is a good thing. The main excuse I hear is that it frees up space, but for what purpose? So there is more area to clutter up with junk that should be properly stored or filed in a more appropriate place.
I agree with you EXCEPT for ergonomic chairs. They rock. But what really tickled me was that your Geek Squad ad had a guy trying to hook something up under the desk. So I had to click it. Next time you’re there, look at the job titles they have for people they want to hire…. worth a chuckle.
OTOH I’ve been using an ergo keyboard for about 5 years now (at least at work) and love it. Once you find the right position for it (not in a tray!) you might just find you type much faster and more accurately and you can type for much longer w/o getting sore hands or wrists. I wish I could get this keyboard for home (CIRQUE Wave kb, no longer made).
Another real grief when you are tall: the desks themselves, which are too short to let you adjust the chair so the seat is a comfortable height, plus automatic kneecapping from any support structures underneath.
I agree with Tinu about the ego chairs, except for when they’re tricked out like Jeff described. Then they look and act like something better than Scotty installed for Kirk.
Sorry: “ego” s/b “ergo.”
(trying to decide if that was just a typo or something Freudian going on in my skull.)
The worst TV zapper is the one provided by ntl cable. It fits beautifully into the clasp of the hand. You almost forget it is there. But once you try to press a button using only one hand it is as slippery as wet soap in the bath. Useless!
Yet some person was paid great wads of money for designing the thing. Such people are arty, so practical function is not given any value. Style and peer credence is all. Win awards is number one.
Win praise from customers? Forget it. They are peasants of no consequence. They must speak when they are spoken to, and be seen not heard.
The best zapper is a lovely flat oblong thing for the model L63AB AV Source Selector for use by semi-professionals by CE that I bought from Maplin. (I have five TVs for simul-viewing of the five platforms in UK.)
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it’s good that workplace isoncerned about the health of its employees. Repetitive strees injuries are a nightmare. The thing is everyone is different and a one size fits all solution like your office is implementing is lame. At least they have the follow up people, so you can tell them that they screwed up.