-=> Ardith Hinton wrote to James Bradley <=-


 AH>  For those who aren't so hung up on convention I'd be
 AH>  more than delighted to explain how I've modified my
 AH>  computer desk & chair at no extra cost....  :-)

 JB>  I'm almost afraid to ask,

 AH>           Oops.  I see you've got my number... [chuckle].

L!!! Let's look up Wits End, shall we? 


 AH>           Short explanation:  I keep my elbows close to my body... as a
 AH> physio advised when I had problems with the other
 AH> shoulder... and I've found a way to support the elbow on
 AH> the currently injured side while using my computer.  In a
 AH> perfect world, I might have an executive armchair.  In this
 AH> world, I duplicate the effect as best I can with rolled-up
 AH> towels or whatever else comes to hand. But it all sounds so
 AH> simple I wonder why I didn't think of it earlier....  :-)

As long as you've thought about it now.

 AH>           Long explanation:  my computer desk is actually a
 AH> small table with a drawer in the centre, which my father
 AH> built for me as a study desk while I was in my teens.  It's
 AH> plain, unimaginative, but made to last... just like him!  I
 AH> can use the pulled-out drawer as an arm rest with complete
 AH> confidence that I'm not causing any structural damage &
 AH> that it quite literally won't let me down. With the
 AH> addition of two bath towels I can bring it up to desk level.

Having never met the man that built your desk, I doubt he was *that* 
unimaginative. Heck, he raised you to think outside the box after all. 
Besides, I often check my flights of fancy with some down to earth "What 
the .... was I thinking?" and often too late. I *need* to let the 
imagination step aside for common sense and *much* earlier so I don't have 
to waste so much time, effort and material as I am accustom to.

 AH>           Now, here's where things get really weird & you
 AH> might want to ensure you have an adequate supply of your
 AH> beverage of choice on hand... [grin].

Shoot... The coffee cup was left downstairs. (Try to blame *that* on the 
cat! |-) One minute while I....

OK, as you were saying.

 AH>           Long explanation continued:  For whatever reasons, my chair
 AH> seems to be an SJ magnet.  It's what some folks refer to as a
 AH> "mate's chair"... i.e. it has arms which are shorter than
 AH> those of a captain's chair or executive chair. Our living
 AH> space is just as crowded as yours & that is all I have room
 AH> for.  I must add that our personal computers are located in
 AH> a main traffic area.  When somebody wants Dallas to play
 AH> computer guru, we offer them Nora's chair... but SJ's don't
 AH> like to cause any trouble & they think they know better.

Oh, *those* kind.

 AH> They park their fannies on my chair so I can't use my
 AH> computer.  Then they move my chair into the middle of the
 AH> room, because otherwise they can't see what's going on. (I
 AH> could have predicted that... but they didn't ask me!  The
 AH> last one even put his backpack on the floor in front of
 AH> him, thus making it almost impossible to go back & forth
 AH> whilst preparing Nora to go out.)  Meanwhile they don't
 AH> notice they've knocked down a bunch of stuff which would
 AH> take approximately six hours to return to its original
 AH> location.  I don't have six hours to spare.  But all things
 AH> work together for good.  My chair is now at an odd angle
 AH> because that's the best I can do to restore order within
 AH> fifteen minutes.  OTOH, the distance between the arm of the
 AH> chair & the pulled-out drawer is quite manageable.  The
 AH> addition of another bath towel makes up for whatever else
 AH> may be lacking.  :-)

Maybe a stick of gaffer's tape, or a zip tie or two is what's missing so 
your cushions stay in place? I'm at a point where a landslide is another 
opportunity sort and toss more stuff. (I really *should* be working to move 
that fridge, now that you mention it. P-)

 AH>  I start to worry about you when I haven't heard a peep out
 AH>  of Calgary in two months because Kevin's system is down.
...
 AH> doesn't you're welcome to call our BBS.  We still have a
 AH> POTS line....  :-)

To confound things, the evil internet arrived here also, so ebay has been 
swallowing up all sorts of my time and available credit. 



... James
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