Tag Archives: RSI

Trousers, Typing and Tongue Twisters

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I slept well last night and woke just before nine. It’s not exactly industrious, but it will do for me. I have nowhere to go and nothing to do, so 9.00 is as good a time as any. I managed to dress without industry and decided I could dispense with trousers today as I was not intending to go out. Slipper socks and a good long flannel shirt will do to preserve my modesty, though I will be keeping the blinds partially drawn after yesterday’s events. It wouldn’t do for the neighbours to know too much about the informality of my dress habits.

The lack of trousers means there was no trouble with trapping my foot in a twisted leg, or tripping whilst hopping around muttering things about tricky trouser designs.  If only I had tartan trews that last line would have  had potential as a tongue twister. The world needs a tricky tongue-twister about tripping with two trapped feet in your twisted tartan trews. Well, my world does . . .

I thought I’d make a quick start on the typing today, before the pain in my wrist catches up with me. Rest, a hot water bottle and patience have seen the pain disappear from my right arm, shoulders and left elbow. Only the pain in my left wrist remains, and that is where I had trouble with carpal tunnel before. I have ordered a wrist splint and set myself a target of resting and being patient for the next few weeks. With luck it will go without further intervention. In the meantime I will alter my typing position to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

My previous typing set-up may have looked chaotic, with things set at different levels using boxes and books, but it worked well and I had no problems from aches and pains (or RSI and carpal tunnel to give them their modern names).

We had vegetables for tea last night. With a bigger oven I feel that my roasted veg should be better, but I’m not sure they are. This is slightly disappointing, but I will get over it. I even pre-heated the oven and the roasting tins last night, even though my prudent side is much perturbed by the idea of heating an empty oven.

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We had cauliflower with mustard cheese sauce, with potato wedges, carrots, leeks and brussels. I read a recipe that says if you leave the cut brussels face down for the complete cooking time it traps the steam inside and gives you sweet, tender brussels. It seems to work, though buying decent brussels also helps. I will have to buy some tough monster brussels to really see if it works. We seem to have been eating better since we moved and altered our routines.

Ah well, 10am now and time to prod my sleeping wife into action with a cup of tea and a suggestion that it is her turn to make breakfast. If you don’t hear from me again you can take it that the suggestion went down badly.

Old photos again. I really must do better.

So far it has been . . .

 

 

One More Quiet Day and a New Leaf

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It has been a restful day today – painkillers overnight, a decent sleep and a morning spent with a hot water bottle. This became an afternoon also spent with a hot water bottle. And cake. It’s been quite good.  Perhaps I have needed to sit down with a hot water bottle and waste time. It’s far more relaxing than sitting at the computer wasting time.

I’m also beginning to think that the problem with my arm and shoulder is RSI rather than arthritis, which is mainly confined to my fingers.

The moral of this is clear – spend less time at the computer. I do my best writing with pen and paper anyway, I have been trying to do more writing at the computer in recent months, but it hasn’t worked out. I thought it would be more efficient if I sat at the computer and made myself write, which would cut out the boring process of typing stuff out. It hasn’t gone to plan – the only thing that has improved is my command of Othello/Reversi and Nine Men’s Morris. A computer in idle hands, is a dreadful thing.

So, drug abuse, my health, fashionable injuries, procrastination. I seem to have covered a range of subjects, but it all sems very self-centred. How is everyone out there? I will try to get round and do some visiting now, as I’ve not been very good about reading recently.

Having said that I have finally started on one of my pile of books to read. It feels good to be reading again, after spending so much time concentrating on writing. Or, to be more accurate, after spending so much time concentrating on procrastination. Time, I think, to turn over a new leaf.

 

A Haibun

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I’m watching TV and typing on my laptop. I am thus able to blog, watch TV and develop a Repetitive Strain Injury at the same time.

Currently, I’m pondering the question of haibun. Having spent ages labouring over villanelles and sonnets, and often discarding the malformed results, it seems like cheating to call a haibun a poem. It is, after all, only a few lines of text and up to seventeen syllables of haiku. The main challenge isn’t the poetry, it’s the brevity.

You could probably write a blog post, add a haiku and call the whole thing a haibun. In fact, I know you can, because that’s what I’m about to do.

 

waking stiff

too old to doze in chairs

another sign