Result: misery

[desperance]

As I foretold you, these my fingers are dissolved into needles, into pins and needles; my physio and I have had a session about it today. It's an odd demonstration, of how the human body is sewn together; she twitches something in my shoulder and it hurts all down my arm...

So. We are engaged, for a course of treatment; we make no guesses, how long it may last. I foresee much ouchie.

Still'n'all, it's nice to see her, as she is also an old friend and friend-of-friends; and there is an abiding pleasance in being the focus of someone's physical attention, despite the ouchie.

And being in town as I was, I thought I might as well stay there; so I went to the Lit & Phil and wrote six pages of Sekrit Projekt, as it was very much my turn. That was nothing but fun, no ouchie at all. I like having a Sekrit Projekt. (Tho' it's bloody hard to type; my fingers want to spell it right. I could never be a cat.)

Talking of typing, O LJ, give me your advices:

My blessed physio says that if I'm going to use the laptop in the library a lot, I should get a separate keyboard for it, and a stand to lift the screen closer to eye-height. Any suggestions, particularly for the keyboard? What's good out there, that's light to carry around?

Also, what does one do about taking a laptop on a plane these days? Are there extra regulations about whether it has to go in hand luggage or hold luggage, whether it's banned from either? I am all out of plane-fu...

Comments

[tammy-moore.livejournal.com]

You can take the laptop on a plane in hand-luggage, but you have to take it out at all the baggage search places and put it through separately.

Least, those were the rules last time I flew.

Just be mindful of how knackered you're likely to get Queues get long and in Wisconsin I didn't know what hurt more: my tailbone, my feet or my shoulders.

[amygooglegirl.livejournal.com]

Definitely hand-luggage, it's much safer to handle it yourself.

The security people will probably ask to scan it separately. They might also ask you to turn it on.

[kateelliott.livejournal.com]

I fly with my laptop regularly. It's not a problem at all.

Iff'n you want, you can buy some really excellent laptop bags or backpacks; I have a great carry-on backpack with super good scaffolding so it rides lightly on my back.

Any kind of light keyboard can be hauled along on an outing. Apple has a portable keyboard for exactly this purpose. Since I use an "ergonomic" keyboard at my desktop (not much of one; the old "natural" keyboard style), I have the keyboard that came with my desktop that I can take with me if I want; it's light, and on a couple of occasions i have packed it in my hold luggage and it has managed flights quite well to be taken out later.

[pennski.livejournal.com]

I like the sound of your blessed physio! Mine gave me the all-clear a couple of weeks ago which is v nice.

[fjm.livejournal.com]

For the stand, ask the library if they have any book stands. For the keyboard, go into Maplin who have oodles of such things and are a yummy (and cheap) geek shop.

[karenmiller.livejournal.com]

If you go to LapGenie.com, you might find the kind of stand you're after. I use one for my laptop and it's been wonderful.

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

I can't advise directly on the keyboard, although beloved best friend raves about her ergonomic one, and she has advanced RSI. And I cannot recommend my laptop cushion from Belkin highly enough: it a real shoulder and neck saver.

[moral-vacuum.livejournal.com]

I would also suggest a separate mouse, as touchpads are evil (he says, using one and feeling his wrist start tensing up almost immediately). The Evoluent vertical mouse is superb - not cheap, but superb.

BTW: when my chiro does something to my shoulder, it hurts the top of my head. The fundamental interconnectedness of things in full effect.

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

I started using a separate keyboard for my laptop this summer, because my physiotherapist recommended it so strongly. It actually made matters worse, until I figured out that I need to sit in a chair with arms and have a soft wrist rest between the keyboard and the edge of the desk. (My forearms are supposed to be parallel to my thighs, or slanted very slightly down from elbow to knuckle. Bending the wrists up is bad. Tension in the shoulders is bad.) I got a desk chair with adjustable arms, but a regular chair with wooden arms that don't move might fit you well enough. And my wrist rest is a long, narrow, beanbag. It's convenient to squish in a backpack, and it feels like cloth so sweaty hands don't stick to it in summer. But a determined cat could probably destroy it in about 10 minutes.

You *don't* need any kind of elaborate stand to raise the screen to eye level. I am currently using a shoebox on my desk at home. (A big sturdy plastic shoebox, but still.) You just need a sturdy thing with a cross-section as big (or almost as big) as your laptop footprint, that can raise it 4-8". I experimented with magazines--Quality Progress is deadly dull, but it's nice and flat, with 3 or 4 to the inch. Once you know approximately what height you want, I'm sure the library will be able to provide a couple of convenient books for when you're there.

Mice are catastrophically painful for my hands. If I have to use a mouse, my ability to use a computer at all is extremely limited. Touchpads are very much easier for me. I think it's because I have a different kind of injury than moral_vacuum and others who complain so strongly about touchpads. But you have an injury to the thumb tendon, and pain with gripping...if using a mouse hurts your thumb, an external touchpad may be easier. It plugs into the USB port and sits next to the keyboard (where most people put the mouse), but you can do all the pointing and clicking with your index finger.