... I think my arms are going to kill me
May. 12th, 2010 02:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysobelNot literally, of course. Just. Ow.
So, okay. First ow is the computer setup.
...well, first there has to be some explanation. Some of you know this already; some don't. But basically, I have pretty much zero mobility. I could go into extreme detail, but limiting it for the relevance of this post: spine is fused, in a position that has me slightly reclined backwards when I sit. Shoulders are fused, elbows are fused, left forearm is fused (which means that the wrist is effectively immobile; as far as I can tell it is not fused per se, but I can't rotate my hand because the forearm bones can't twist, and I can't bend the wrist down because the forearm muscle near the elbow is all blocked up), right forearm is not entirely fused but has limited movement (the hand will go sideways but not palm up), thumbs are fused at the base but otherwise okay, fingers are mostly okay.
Or, to sum up, my hands are pretty much fixed in place; wrists are about front-of-stomach level, and if I splay my fingers out the thumbs are about a handspan apart. If I strain, I can get a couple inches of side-to-side movement; since my shoulders are fused I am not sure exactly what is bending, and I'm fairly sure I don't /want/ to know, but it mainly makes muscles hurt. I am too lazy to look up the proper names, but it basically hurts through upper arms, pecs, and shoulder/neck muscles. I have zero option of forward movement, which sucks because anything in reach of my hands kind of has my stomach getting in the way.
For the last $longtime I have been using a laptop as my computer. Usually, the sort with a touchpad mouse below the keyboard, and, y'know, a normal keyboard. It used to be possible for me to use the keyboard normally, and the mouse with my thumbs, and all was more or less well with the world. When my left shoulder fused up, that ... no longer worked. So the way I did computer stuff was this: laptop mostly on the desk but with the front end propped on my stomach (so my left hand could reach the keyboard). Left hand on keyboard, mostly, though I couldn't reach the number row. Right hand nowhere near the keyboard; I used a stick to poke the right keys, including the ones my left hand couldn't reach.
Having more than half the keys poked with stick instead of fingers was very frustrating for someone used to touch typing. But, well, it was sort of my only option. Aside from not using the computer, which, well, hahahahahano.
But then laptop went kaput and it would have cost insane amounts of money to fix up an old laptop that didn't really work well for me anyway, so I decided to a) get a newer computer, and b) switch to a desktop so I had more flexibility. (Well, really, so the equipment had more flexibility. Since I didn't.)
One of the awesome things about the new setup is that I can use the Awesome Keyboard, aka Kinesis Freestyle. This is a split keyboard, in the sense of /it is in two pieces/, with various tilting options, and a decent range of separation between the two parts, which can be positioned completely independently. This means that, for the first time in a really long time, I can actually /have both hands on the keyboard/.
However, there is the complication of the whole thing where I need a mouse. And if the keyboard is positioned such that I can have my hands on it, the mouse has to be someplace else. Which means I either need to strain enough that I can reach over to the mouse (which is currently sitting between the keyboard halves), or I need to move the right keyboard out of the way so that the mouse can go where the keyboard is.
Either way involves, you know, strain. I discovered, Monday night, that there were muscles I hadn't used in a while that were apparently still usable. I discovered this because they were protesting. (It wasn't even pain, really, but I did take some ibuprofen anyway, and also stole my roommate's ... thing for heating up and putting over your neck/shoulders to make them feel better thing.)
(I still haven't figured out a solution for the whole mouse thing. grumblemutter.)
(nor have I figured out an optimal way to do games. Because if I use the mouse to navigate etc, I don't have access to the right half of the keyboard, and none of the games are set up to be exclusively keyboard operated, and if I use the arrow keys to navigate I've got my right hand either in a really awkward position or in a very comfortable position that doesn't allow me to use any of the rest of the right half of the keyboard. Or the mouse.)
And then, I decided that it would be super awesome to take one of the local bead shop's beading classes, specifically a wire wrapping one, which happened last night.
Now, er, remember what I said about my hand position? And about how the thumb tips are about a handspan apart? I can touch some of my fingertips together if I strain /a lot/. Knitting has gotten complicated (I can do loom knitting, more or less, but that isn't the same thing, and the rest will wait for another post).
Wire wrapping, of course, is a piece of cake, right?
... yeah.
One of the things we were learning was how to do a basic wire-wrapped pendant, for when you have a stone that isn't pre-drilled. The basic theory was that you take three pieces of wire, fasten them in the middle (so there are effectively six arms radiating out), separate said arms and form a bird cage out of them, put the stone in the middle, twist the wires on top to close the cage, and voila. I mean, there was more to it, but that was the basic principle.
It sounds easier than it is. It also looks easier than it is, especially when it's done by someone with practice. And it is a hell of a lot easier when you aren't me. Because you basically have to hold the stone in place, and hold the wires in place, and twist the tops of the wires together, without letting the stone (slippery bastard that it is) escape.
This requires at least three hands.
I wasn't the only one having problems, which made me feel better. But trying to hold the stone with one hand, and hold the wires with the other, when I couldn't really reach my hands together? Yeah. Not so much with the fun.
Well, okay, it was fun. But omg /ow/. My arms were seriously hurting after that.
(I think, if I try this at home, it will be easier -- I have some longer-reach tools that can be used to hold things in position -- but not by much. But at least I can space it out, instead of doing one intensive three-hour session...)
So, okay. First ow is the computer setup.
...well, first there has to be some explanation. Some of you know this already; some don't. But basically, I have pretty much zero mobility. I could go into extreme detail, but limiting it for the relevance of this post: spine is fused, in a position that has me slightly reclined backwards when I sit. Shoulders are fused, elbows are fused, left forearm is fused (which means that the wrist is effectively immobile; as far as I can tell it is not fused per se, but I can't rotate my hand because the forearm bones can't twist, and I can't bend the wrist down because the forearm muscle near the elbow is all blocked up), right forearm is not entirely fused but has limited movement (the hand will go sideways but not palm up), thumbs are fused at the base but otherwise okay, fingers are mostly okay.
Or, to sum up, my hands are pretty much fixed in place; wrists are about front-of-stomach level, and if I splay my fingers out the thumbs are about a handspan apart. If I strain, I can get a couple inches of side-to-side movement; since my shoulders are fused I am not sure exactly what is bending, and I'm fairly sure I don't /want/ to know, but it mainly makes muscles hurt. I am too lazy to look up the proper names, but it basically hurts through upper arms, pecs, and shoulder/neck muscles. I have zero option of forward movement, which sucks because anything in reach of my hands kind of has my stomach getting in the way.
For the last $longtime I have been using a laptop as my computer. Usually, the sort with a touchpad mouse below the keyboard, and, y'know, a normal keyboard. It used to be possible for me to use the keyboard normally, and the mouse with my thumbs, and all was more or less well with the world. When my left shoulder fused up, that ... no longer worked. So the way I did computer stuff was this: laptop mostly on the desk but with the front end propped on my stomach (so my left hand could reach the keyboard). Left hand on keyboard, mostly, though I couldn't reach the number row. Right hand nowhere near the keyboard; I used a stick to poke the right keys, including the ones my left hand couldn't reach.
Having more than half the keys poked with stick instead of fingers was very frustrating for someone used to touch typing. But, well, it was sort of my only option. Aside from not using the computer, which, well, hahahahahano.
But then laptop went kaput and it would have cost insane amounts of money to fix up an old laptop that didn't really work well for me anyway, so I decided to a) get a newer computer, and b) switch to a desktop so I had more flexibility. (Well, really, so the equipment had more flexibility. Since I didn't.)
One of the awesome things about the new setup is that I can use the Awesome Keyboard, aka Kinesis Freestyle. This is a split keyboard, in the sense of /it is in two pieces/, with various tilting options, and a decent range of separation between the two parts, which can be positioned completely independently. This means that, for the first time in a really long time, I can actually /have both hands on the keyboard/.
However, there is the complication of the whole thing where I need a mouse. And if the keyboard is positioned such that I can have my hands on it, the mouse has to be someplace else. Which means I either need to strain enough that I can reach over to the mouse (which is currently sitting between the keyboard halves), or I need to move the right keyboard out of the way so that the mouse can go where the keyboard is.
Either way involves, you know, strain. I discovered, Monday night, that there were muscles I hadn't used in a while that were apparently still usable. I discovered this because they were protesting. (It wasn't even pain, really, but I did take some ibuprofen anyway, and also stole my roommate's ... thing for heating up and putting over your neck/shoulders to make them feel better thing.)
(I still haven't figured out a solution for the whole mouse thing. grumblemutter.)
(nor have I figured out an optimal way to do games. Because if I use the mouse to navigate etc, I don't have access to the right half of the keyboard, and none of the games are set up to be exclusively keyboard operated, and if I use the arrow keys to navigate I've got my right hand either in a really awkward position or in a very comfortable position that doesn't allow me to use any of the rest of the right half of the keyboard. Or the mouse.)
And then, I decided that it would be super awesome to take one of the local bead shop's beading classes, specifically a wire wrapping one, which happened last night.
Now, er, remember what I said about my hand position? And about how the thumb tips are about a handspan apart? I can touch some of my fingertips together if I strain /a lot/. Knitting has gotten complicated (I can do loom knitting, more or less, but that isn't the same thing, and the rest will wait for another post).
Wire wrapping, of course, is a piece of cake, right?
... yeah.
One of the things we were learning was how to do a basic wire-wrapped pendant, for when you have a stone that isn't pre-drilled. The basic theory was that you take three pieces of wire, fasten them in the middle (so there are effectively six arms radiating out), separate said arms and form a bird cage out of them, put the stone in the middle, twist the wires on top to close the cage, and voila. I mean, there was more to it, but that was the basic principle.
It sounds easier than it is. It also looks easier than it is, especially when it's done by someone with practice. And it is a hell of a lot easier when you aren't me. Because you basically have to hold the stone in place, and hold the wires in place, and twist the tops of the wires together, without letting the stone (slippery bastard that it is) escape.
This requires at least three hands.
I wasn't the only one having problems, which made me feel better. But trying to hold the stone with one hand, and hold the wires with the other, when I couldn't really reach my hands together? Yeah. Not so much with the fun.
Well, okay, it was fun. But omg /ow/. My arms were seriously hurting after that.
(I think, if I try this at home, it will be easier -- I have some longer-reach tools that can be used to hold things in position -- but not by much. But at least I can space it out, instead of doing one intensive three-hour session...)