My right shoulder, from behind the shoulder blade, down through the ulnar nerve and into my pinky, is starting to ache. This is the most annoying and uncomfortable of the signs that Catie Has Been At The Laptop Too Much, and it’s compounded right now by sleeping funny a couple days ago and giving myself a stiff neck.
I have, through several years of trial and error, learned to mitigate this as much as possible. The best way to do so is to work at a table, but after four days at the kitchen table in the unbelievably uncomfortable chairs, the rest of my body was so stiff I had to pick up and move into the living room, were I am now ensconced on the couch with various blankets and fuzzy shirts to support the laptop and my arm. The fuzzy shirt does double-duty in support, as not only is it stuffed beneath my right elbow, it also has been stretched across the front of the laptop, blunting the hard (and hot) forward edge. I’ve also moved the mouse to the left-hand side of the laptop, which usually means I use the touchpad instead of the mouse, but which is at least worth a shot.
Unfortunately, no, I can’t do revisions at a better keyboard. The Nook has no setup at *all* for doing revisions (among other things, it has no mouse/pad, and selecting large pieces of text for cutting and pasting without a mouse is just a pain in the ass, but more to the point, it has nowhere at all to pile manuscript pages. This is *wonderfully* useful when writing, because it means I can’t possibly clutter up my work space, but it’s no good at all for revising.), and the upstairs computer is in a room the boys use. It is better for me to not try working in that room, because it takes approximately one nine-thousandth of a nanosecond for me to want to kill them for daring to be IN MY SPACE when I am TRYING TO WORK. It’s just all bad.
So it’s the laptop for me. And a profound sense of anticipation about being done and moving back to my wonderful comfy Nook.
(eta: see, there, yes? that’s me using the touchpad instead of the mouse. but at least i’m using it with my left hand.)
Here’s a thought — and maybe it’s a bad one — but, you could get a TV tray. You know, one (or a set) of those stand alone trays that fold up nicely for storage, but which can be used to hold plates or whatnot when extra surfaces are needed for parties. Except, in this case, it could be set up to hold manuscript pages while doing revisions in the nook and then religiously folded back up and put away when no in revision mode. :)
Ah, the dreaded “dead arm”! Know all about that – I practically live on ibuprofen when I’m working. I’m contemplating asking the writers guild if they can broker some kind of discount for us with the chiropractors accociation/physios. I’m sure we must account for alot of their business…