It was warm yesterday, warmer than it has been in some time. I elected to walk to the lab in the morning. There is nothing quite like starting your day with a long, slow, ponderous walk. It is refreshing beyond description.
I've started using the ergonomic keyboard regularly now. Before leaving work last December, my right wrist was beginning to show signs of carpal tunnel, in no small part due to the desk they gave me to work at. The chair was too tall and awkward and the desk was too high, leaving me to reach up to the keyboard all day. Naturally, my right wrist would drop onto the edge of the desk causing inflammation over time. It has improved dramatically since I don't have to type (and more importantly) run the mouse all day long. However, it still tightens up once in awhile when I use my laptop's keyboard in some positions, and something has to give. I have used the ergonomic keyboard, a gift, several times before and liked it okay - but it was never completely comfortable while I was typing on an old keyboard all day and on my laptop when I wasn't at home or at work. Now that I have a major programming project going and I have to type a lot, I needed something that wouldn't wear my wrist down, the ergonomic keyboard has proven itself several times over. And, now that I've been using it more or less regularly for a week or two, I plan on lugging it everywhere I go. Why?? Because my wrist feel much better...
I type so much that I have even considered moving to a Dvorak keyboard layout. I used to want to do this when I was younger because it was a statement about being different... now I see how much a small difference can have on your health. In fact I'm contemplating making the change of the summer - I won't have to type much then... it would offer me a chance to forget QWERTY long enough to retrain my muscles on something new. I think when Maryna and I go to Belarus in May, I will orchestrate the change. I'll be gone for a week, at least, and I won't be taking my computer with me so it will be the perfect starting point. However, I can't see putting that off for three months. Perhaps I'll start sooner - like after I finish this programming project... who knows. I do realize that even an ergonomic keyboard won't help my wrist for the many years of typing I hope to see ahead. It is a good time to change.
Am I the only person that thinks that the Dvorak's "=" is in a bad place for programmers?? I guess there have to be some trade offs.
