In case you folks gave up on me, wonder no more. I’ve just returned from a five day sojourn down to Atlanta, visiting Kathleen’s family for the holidays. Three week old Caroline had the opportunity to meet her eight week old cousin, Genevieve (hope I spelled her name right). Whereas Caroline was 6 pounds 13 ounces at birth, Genny was over nine pounds. At this point, Caroline is approaching seven while Genny is at twelve. We posed the two of them together and it looked like the opening sequence of “Twins.”
I’m never much for trying to do entries while on the road, because I have a hard time typing with any keyboard that’s non-ergonomic. If you do a lot of typing and you’re still using a standard keyboard, I cannot suggest more strenuously that you switch to an ergonomic. It’ll take about a week for you to adjust, but you’ll get your speed back and you will save your hands. There’s no question in my mind I’d have Carpal tunnel by now if I hadn’t switched five years ago.
Because we were reluctant to expose Caroline to a crowded airplane, we wound up renting a van and driving down.. The van rental place didn’t have the one we contracted for, and wound up upgrading us to this deluxe nine passenger vehicle I promptly dubbed “Cattlecar: Galactica.” There was onboard TV and video player, and a ton of room, and yet Kath and I still managed to repeatedly hit our heads whenever we moved around the interior.
Stopped at several comic book stores while down there: Oxford Comics and Doctor No’s, where I chatted with long-time friend and store owner Cliff Biggers. Cliff’s “Comic Shop News” is going to be doing an exclusive feature on “The Fallen Angel” when we’re ready to promote it in a couple months.
Happy holidays to all.
PAD
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Hey PAD, can you tell me what a ergonomic typing thing is? I don’t understand what that is? Is it one of those typing with one hand, or something?
Just wondering. Have a happy Christmas, and best wishes to your new child!
Merry Xmas all!
Ergonomic keyboards are the funny looking ones. They kind of slope up in the middle and split the keyboard apart farther so your hands are at an angle instead of like your hands would be at a piano. I have been using one for three years and am spoiled. Whenever I use a regular keyboard now I feel like I have forgotten how to type.
Harlan Ellison would smack me, but I prefer typing when I am being creative. Writing on paper with pen just does not get me in synch with my muse. I need the humming of the machine and the hulking monitor looking me in the face. Go figure.
You can also learn warm up exercises from martial arts or “Chi-Kung” exercises to maintain the flow in your wrists and fingers.
Also sometimes, all you really need is one of those pads (no pun intetended!) that raise up your wrists while you type.
It took me so long to learn how to type on a regular keyboard, I’m not sure if the kind with the two halves of the keyboard split up and at angles wouldn’t drive me crazy. Well, that’s one kind of ergonomic board. It’s also important to either have good back posture or a chair and back-rest combo that assists with that.
Happy travels, Peter, and glad all are home safe!
As someone who lives near Atlanta and has family and friends in the north (where I hail from) I know how much it can suck to make that long drive down and up. I hope traffic wasn’t too bad, though it sounds like you had a nice vehicle to travel in.
Oh, and I can attest that Oxford is a very cool comic shop. A little bit of old school shop. a little bit of new. The Oxford I liked the best is no longer open. The shop was located in the middle of Oxford Book Store and had a spiral staircase and everything. One of the best things about the shop is they keep like two to three years of issues on the shelves so if you missed something you can still pay cover price. I have always wanted to check out Dr. No’s, but haven’t found the time yet.
Hope you had a good trip and put up with the freaky weather. Gotta love the south, the only place I have ever lived where the saying, “If you don’t like the weather, wait,” had any sort of meaning.
yes PAD we missed you.
reading your column most days have become a relaxation treat for me. 😀
although call me a freak I could never get used to ergonaimc key boards.
I will admit there feeling more restful on my fingers but my wrists used to get more tired faster typing on one of those.
once about a year or so back I had computer problems and was offered the use of a friends computer, replete with her ergonomic keyboard and often did less because of her keyboard.
after a month of use my hands still felt unnatural on that thing.
maybe I was menatlly resisting “change” or something but I like normal keyboards much better
but to each his own and I’m glad it works for you.
Yup, I absolutely agree about the ergonomic keyboards. I have two – one for use at home, and one to take along to whichever company I’m working for (rather than asking them to buy me one). I’ve never understood the philosophy of “I’ll spend 1000 quid on a computer, and I’ll go for the biggest hard drive, the fastest processor, etc., but just chuck in any old bargain basement keyboard.” Since the keyboard is the part of the computer that you have the most direct contact with, it’s worth spending the few extra pounds to get a good quality one.
I’d also recommend the Dvorak keyboard layout – it takes a bit of getting used to, but it’s much faster than the Qwerty layout. Actually, doing both changes (ergonomic and Dvorak) is quite helpful, because now I can mentally adjust quite quickly – if I’m using a “plank” keyboard then I twist my wrists slightly and go into Qwerty mode at the same time.
The BEST thing about Oxford is that underneath the shop is a book bindery. The guy that works down there leases the space and if you know him, he’ll let you come down and watch as he gently strips the covers from old books and replaces them with fine leather or tries (usually successfully) to repair the old book to new. I watched him work on an old (100+ years old) bible once… it was amazing.
Boy, I miss that old Oxford Books. Not only was the Oxford comics within it great, but the bookstore itself was always well-stocked, even with obscure titles and subjects. And their video store had more classics and obscure titles on VHS than just about anywhere else (with the exception, of course, of Movies Worth Seeing). It’s been years, but the thought of the place still brings a smile to my face.
Technically, it shouldn’t be hard to add an ergonomic keyboard to a laptop. Just use one of those ergonomics with a USB connector. It might even be easier; the keyboard would be on a cable separate from the laptop, meaning you could raise the screen to whatever height you found comfortable for viewing.
Problems might include added battery drain, since the USB keyboard takes a slight bit more power, and the inescapable fact that laptop computers are an easy way for a thief to take you for $2000 or more in one simple snatch-and-grab. The sad experience Mr. David had with his wedding pictures ought to be taken into account.
“Cattlecar: Galactica”
A line worthy of plagiarism!
I am so ripping this off when I have kids and I can get my makes-far-more-money-than-I-ever-will doctor wife to spring for an ubervan.
Happy New Year, PAD! Glad you enjoyed your trip to Dixie! And best wishes for your new child!
Did you get a chance to check out Ward Batty’s (the other CSN guy) new store while you were in town?
It’s a very nice looking place and just off I-285 and I-85.
Happy New Year!
Bobby
Bobby Nash
Writer @ Large
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