New desk and computer center
Well, the time has finally come to take the home computer center to the next level. But this time, it is all about physical comfort, rather than raw processing power or network capacity. I have found Apprion to be invigorating, but (surprise, surprise!) time-intensive: it does require a lot of time-in-the-chair. I thought about this yesterday, and realized that this situation will be a lot more sustainable if I actually enjoy working from home.
The previous desk was all steel and glass. It looked nice, but was suprisingly uncomfortable for more than a few minutes at a time. I decided to replace the glass top with Red Oak. I left the wood unfinished, with only lemon oil to preserve it; this makes for a soothing, comfortable surface on which to rest your forearms while typing.
I built the whole thing in 6 or 8 hours; the point is to use it now, not to fool around chasing woodworking perfection. I don’t even own a table saw yet (it would have cost considerably more than this entire project). The whole thing was done with a skill saw, a drill, and a sander. For rudimentary jobs such as this one, you can avoid the need jointers and planers if you buy pre-milled hardwood and handle the stuff very carefully.
I also sprung for a good LCD monitor to replace the Sony Trinitron, even though the latter had at least 5 or 10 good years left in it. This is because the huge 21″ CRT so dominated the desk that it actually had the subtle effect of making the computer seem more important than the person at the desk.
Another important change was to put in a super comfortable keyboard and wireless mouse. These have finally become worth the trouble. You will note that the keyboard follows a natural, but very muted curve; this is the best way to go. (The so-called “ergonomic” keyboards that they still sell are actually very bad for you: they force you into an exact position that you can’t change. This one actually is ergonomic.) The lack of wires, combined with the extra space, makes the desktop clean and calm.