Hello, again, hello.
I’ve been absent for so very long and with good reason; I’ve been trying to keep typing to a minimum, which isn’t easy when you’re also writing a whole new beginning to your book. I miss this blog though so I’m doing a short post about random things.
The most important thing first: Fecklet is doing really well with the potty training. Aren’t you pleased? 
I’ve invested in a pricey split keyboard for my typing, and it’s made an enormous difference. I seem to talk to so many people these days who are suffering from years spent typing. My message to you: if you’re working in a way that you know isn’t comfortable or ergonomic…please sort it out sooner rather than later! I can’t believe I worked on the dining room table for nine years. That is NOT right.
What sins are you committing against your posture or wrists? Come on…tell me. Then fix ‘em.
Tomorrow I’m going into London to meet with my new editor, which is very exciting. Afterwards I’m meeting up with another author friend of mine who’s going to London to meet with her new editor, which is also very exciting. We’re going to debrief over a glass of wine.
And that’s enough for my hands right now. I’ll be back soon…
Good to see you back, Julie!
I know so many people with RSI-type problems. It can’t possibly be that I’ve escaped through good posture!
I find I slump terribly in an ordinary desk chair, so I have one of those ergonomic desk chair thingies, which is old and wobbly and needs new padding, because too ling in it and I start to lose the feeling in my legs. Also, I look down at the keyboard while typing, which give me neck ache. Possibly this has to do with me being so tall–chair/desk height combination is never quite right.
I remember a long-ago piano tutor (I gave up trying to learn when I was about eight) telling me to pretend I had a satsuma under each palm, which must never touch the keyboard. Possibly, I’ve stuck to this advice, because I keep my hands/wrists away from the keyboard and just bend my fingers.
Having said that, my left middle finger does ache sometimes. Possibly it’s just telling me not to swear with it so much…
Welcome back, you’ve been missed. Hope the London trip goes well. Don’t strain the wrist lifting too heavy a glass of wine though.
Good to have you back. Have a good trip to London and don’t strain that wrist lifting too heavy a glass of wine.
Do you get the impression I’m glad to see you back and I’m worried about your wrist….I didn’t think the first comment had gone through. DUH
Ahhh, I understand only too well as i am also a sufferer. Only problem is that I slip back in to bad habits too easily. Which keyboard did you go for out of interest? Anyway, lovely to have you back and tomorrow sounds fun!!
Enjoy tomorrow!
Thinking of you.
lx
Hope that you have a lovely writerly day with your new editor,and thanks for the tips re the keyboard.
Posture/back/neck/wrists/nasty tingling in both ulnar nerves?
Well……..
First I dropped the height of my swivel chair so my feet are flat on the floor, not propped on the chair legs
Next dropped height of pull-out shelf that the keyboard goes on so my shoulders are ‘dropped’ when typing
Next retrieved an oblong of thin packaging for behind the mouse so the little bone at the base of my wrist opposite my thumb (got it so far) is resting on something soft, not the keyboard shelf itself.
Went to physio and accumulated three million exercises that I’m supposed to do 3 times a day. Which would effectively give me no time to write.
Glad you’re back, hon. And REALLY glad about Fecklet. It makes life so much easier.
Kat, you are only escaping terrible retribution for your posture because you are unfeasibly young (and gorgeous).
Please, please, get your chair fixed and sort out your monitor height. Don’t wait till you have pain. Please. It’s an investment in your health and career. There are cheap ways of doing it, I promise, one of which is just to remember to sit properly. Your middle finger is nature’s way of telling you “Please don’t fuck yourself.”
LOL Carol! I get you loud and clear…thanks.
Thank you Liz and Ray-Anne! (We missed you at the meeting tonight Ray-Anne.)
Alice, it’s a Kinesis Freestyle Incline split keyboard for Mac. They also do them for PC:
http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/
And this:
http://www.mymac.com/showarticle.php?id=3480
Jan, I’ve found similar things work for me, too. It’s hard for me not to perch my legs on things, though!
I can’t believe how much more pleasant life is without changing nappies!
Wonderful to see you back and I’m so glad the new keyboard is helping. Take care of yourself.
And Go Fecklet – er – as long as it’s in the potty! Well done you
Love
Kate
Well I’ve just learnt that my wrists aren’t suppose to touch my keyboard when typing… oops… maybe I need a physio?
I hope your RSI is improving!
Glad to have you back, missed your witty blogs. Hope you had a good meeting and it went well with the new editor.
Pleased the RSI is improving Julie and great news on potty training.
Last night I curled up in bed to finish the last chapters of Girl From Mars and was blown away by it. It was one of the best HEA’s I’ve ever read, had me smiling and sighing in all the right places.
Hopefully a tiny bit of your story telling ability has washed off on me from the course.
I have found a gel pad in front of the keyboard effective and I have a mouse pad with a raised part at the front. It seems to work.
Hooray on the fecklet getting potty trained!
Thanks, Kate. Fecklet is indeed using his potty very well these days. He makes his toys use it, too (when it’s clean, fortunately). I overheard a long conversation between his cars this morning, when one of them said “Mummy, I need to do a poo in the potty” and the other one said, “That’s a good idea, good boy.”
Is that TMI, perhaps?
Lacey, yes, I think it’s the satsuma thing that Kate J talked about; you don’t want to put pressure on your wrists. I think. Though mine have always floated, so that’s not been what caused my injury.
Thank you, Julie. I had a great meeting with my new editor. I’m going to enjoy working with her. And the cuttlefish linguini was to die for.
Carol, I’m so glad you liked the end of Girl from Mars! Thank you for telling me so. I properly cried when I wrote the very last scene.
And you’ve got your own storytelling talent, you don’t need anything rubbed off on you!
Michelle, I found the gel pad for the mouse mat helped quite a bit for a while, but then the twisted-wrist position itself seemed to cause the injury, so I needed a new mouse. I’m thinking that even with the new mouse (which encourages a relaxed wrist), the index finger click is doing me damage, so I might have to investigate new ones that don’t have that.
Julie, on the subject of ergonomic mice, have you looked at a joystick one? I’ve got one, and you use a rocker on the top to right and left click with your thumb – it’s really comfy!
http://bit.ly/2ILzOw
It’s funny: I keep hearing so many people say they need to lower their chair/desk for better posture, where mine has to be raised. But then, when I think of it, I hear that mostly from women, not men, and so I wonder if standard desk/chair heights aren’t friendly to the average female height?
I used to get crippling pain in my neck and shoulder from using a keyboard/monitor that was too low. But then I’m about six inches taller than the average woman, so that might have something to do with it.
I honestly have no idea if the satsuma thing is what you’re supposed to do when typing. But–touch wood–it seems to have staved off carpal tunnel for me so far. Hussah for Mrs Trundle and her piano lessons!
i like to use wooden desk chairs in comparison with those plastic ones-:”