I'm very emotional these days. I went to bed early and got up early. Around four o'clock in the morning. I've messed around waiting for God to appear and dry off the parts to the new computer table I bought. The realization that I have the wrist and hand problems I do because of ergonomics sent me straight to the store once I got it. I feel rather stupid because I've had this problem before, and didn't realize that I'd fallen into the same old trap. At the same time i realized the positive side of it. As soon as I set up my new computer table and get everything at the right height, then my pain will eventually go away, and I'll be able to continue to write and keep learning learning to play the piano.
I watched a little TV after I'd gone through all the news sites I check every day on my computer. I watched the TV news where I get the local stuff. I don't do local on my computer, I don't really wanna know. Eventually, I dialed in to PBS to see if they had any interesting early morning programs. A yoga program came up.
Watching this woman teach yoga is what brought the tears to my eyes, I practiced a fairly full routine of yoga postures for over twenty years in a row. I only stopped when I ruptured a disc in an automobile accident. Eventually, I had to have an operation to relieve the sciatic nerve damage. I never really got back into my old routine. I stretch right much these days, but I haven't done enough to get even close to my old practices. I guess I cried a little this morning over spilt milk.
The feature of the new computer table that convinced me to buy it for $99 was that it had the keyboard slide drawer beneath the desktop, and the design would allow me to set up my keyboard about two inches above my knees. They got these keyboard drawers available commercially, but I don't have a table on which I could mount it. Since the pain in my hands and wrists would be a problem in doing it myself, I decided to go see what they had a Wal-Mart. I could have bought something that might have worked just as well for $40. It was made of pressed wood, and didn't appear to be all that stable.
The table I bought is made of metal with a glass desktop. I bought it because the keyboard drawer beneath the glass top had plenty of room for me to adjust a chair to the right height for my hands to sit on the keyboard correctly, but it just seemed more stable and well-designed. It came with a cart for putting computer peripherals on that rolls around. Both the computer table and the cart have shelves made of stretched metal that seems very strong. The only problem is that I have to put it together by following directions. If i can just do that and not have a bunch of mysterious extra parts left over I'll be happy.
The new table should resolve my ergonomic problems with my computer, but I'm not going to be able to position the digital piano keyboard two inches above my knees. It's too thick . It's at least four inches from the top of the keys to the bottom of the piano framework and cover plates. The piano stool that came with it can't be adjusted. It's a solid seat with a cushion on it.
I'm thinking I can use that stool with my new computer table, but I won't know for sure until I get it assembled. I may have to buy an adjustable piano stool to get my butt, therefore my hands, to fit as close as I can to the right height with the piano. My old office chair will be fine in my living room seating area. It can practically be used as a recliner to some degree. I'm done with it for using keyboards though. The pain I'm experiencing from ignoring the posture it put me in for typing is not a joke.
The old chair worked okay for typing I suppose. It wasn't until I started practicing the scales on the piano several hours a day that I began to have severe pain in my hands and wrists, and worst of all, in my shoulders. The pain there keeps me from reaching out away from my body to do things with my hands. Reaching to get food off the storage shelves above my head became impossible with my right arm.
This didn't bode well for the future. I was looking forward to nothing but pain and my pitiful attempts to use whatever I could get to stop the pain, and then having to deal with the stultifying daze the pain pills kept me in. This can be prevented. I've figured it out before and what I did to solve the problem worked real good. The future for me is a little brighter. I still might not get back to where I was with my yoga, but at least I'll be able to write and at least learn to play the scales and arpeggios on the piano without excruciating pain.
I looked at several web sites that had information about what to look for in positioning the body correctly in front of a computer. I compared what I found at those sites with the observations I made about how I'm sitting now. The big deal, I think, may be in the position of my upper arms and elbows as I address the keyboard.
According to how the positions in the pictures, I'm have to push my elbows forward when I reach up to put my hands on the keyboard. I shouldn't have to reach up so much. That brings my shoulders into the practice. When I sit with my hands laying naturally on the top of my thighs, there is no stress on my shoulders or the forearm muscles. When my body is positioned at the right height, then just leaning my torso forward a little places my fingers just about the keys, and I don't have to use my shoulder or forearm muscles for anything but punching the keys with my fingers.
Well, the Sun is up. The metal parts to the new table sitting out on the deck should be dry in a little while, and I'm gonna fix this ergonomic disaster in fairly short order.
I do not attempt to tell the God's own truth here because I don't know what the truth is or hardly ever. I try to capture the drifting thoughts that randomly appear in my imagination for reasons I may not understand. I don't know if the content I capture with these words is true or false. The Comments settings are turned off to prevent me from having to defend what amounts to little more than fanciful, sometime crude speculation. Great moments in our lives never return.
