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Repetitive stress injuries suck (to put it nicely)

June 7, 2009 | 3 comments

So, I’m going through a nasty bout with RSI (repetitive stress injury) again. I can’t really complain a great deal, as I’ve not had any such problems since last August, which is amazing considering how much I use computers. But I have to complain a bit, because as the title states, this sucks pretty bad. I ended up napping today for nearly 3 hours because  I’ve been sleeping awfully for the past week or so. My sleep is being interrupted two to three times every night by my left hand, which decides that it would be a Good Thing (TM) to hurt like hell. The only thing that makes it stop is getting up out of bed Sometimes I’m able to go back to bed in 10 minutes; other times, it starts hurting as soon as I lay back down. Meh.

The pain during the day isn’t too bad at all, unless I do something stupid (like sit in front of the computer for too long).

I don’t really recall how I “fixed” this problem when I had it last August. I know I used ice packs on my wrist, and was regularly taking anti-inflammatory medicine. But if I recall correctly, it mostly just sorted itself out once I backed off the computer usage. So, that’s more or less what I’m doing now: less computer time,  ice, Advil. I did find one new trick at this page on RSI treatment: hot / cold baths on my wrist, alternating between the two temperatures every 1 minute for 10 minutes. I’m also trying to correct how I hold my wrists while sleeping (palms against my sides instead of my thumbs), but I’m not entirely sure how to do this successfully. I can be in whatever position I want while still awake, but I tend to move around a bit once I fall asleep. ;)

Oh, and one other thing. Cas, I know you’ll leap into the comments demanding to know why, if I’m having trouble with RSI, I’m writing this blog post. And to that I say: I’m using my little Acer Aspire One, which, due to how sensitive the keyboard is, doesn’t seem to bother my wrists much. It’s the desktop keyboards that tend to make my left hand numb within 20 minutes. So nyah!

Blog Resuscitation

May 26, 2009 | 4 comments

Well, something must be done. I’m the same boat that Cas was in a few days back. Unless I want my blog to “wither and die like week-old cut flowers in a vase” (Cas’s words), I’m going to have to get back into the groove. I can no longer whip out the standby excuse that I’m “busy with school stuff”, because school is no longer in session for me. I have the summer off, and won’t be returning to a classroom until August something-or-other.

So what is my deal? Meh; I don’t know. I’ve been busy doing other things lately, and my blog has been pushed into a dusty corner. I’ve been busy with language learning, where my list of target languages has grown rather large – perhaps unbearably large. As of right now, I’m actively studying German, Russian, French, and Spanish. Oh, and I have materials on the way for Dutch, as it seems like a pretty easy target knowing English and German.

I’ve been gardening a bit (gardening, great gods), and quite enjoying it. Not only is it relaxing, the fruits of it shall be wonderful on homemade club sandwiches (we’re growing tomatoes, among other things). The one thing I’m not so fond of: the bits of dirt that I can’t get out from my hands. Scrub as I might, I can’t get it out.

I’m still chugging along with No-S and shovelglove. I had to climb back onto the No-S wagon after falling off of it during holidays, but I’m back on now and holding on for dear life. Shovelglove never fell off my radar, and I’m actually considering upgrading my sledgehammer to a slightly heavier version. While I still break a sweat, my arms are no longer burning by the time I’m done; I daresay swinging the hammer around has become routine. That’s a Good Thing (TM), but I think I need to kick it up a notch (two T.V. star phrases in one sentence, that must be worth a gold star or something).

While shovelgloving, I generally watch a bit of a Stargate SG-1 episode; sometimes only 15 minutes, but sometimes I go ahead and finish the episode when I’m done exercising. With such a steady rate, I’m now up to episode 4 of Season 6. Just over halfway to the end; when I’m done with it, I’m going to be rather sad. Shovelgloving and SG-1 are like peanut butter and jelly for me at this point…

I guess all of that was a roundabout way of saying: I have plenty to blog about, I’m just not doing it. I’ve been too busy doing the whole, um, life thing to blog about it. But I do miss doing so. I may try a post schedule, say 3 posts a week, or something like that. Cas went for a daily post, Monday through Friday, but I know I wouldn’t stick to such a thing, so I won’t even bother attempting it. Maybe I’ll even take a look at some memes; I used to do Friday’s Feast (which is either dead or just not working right now).

Quick, someone motivate me!

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College and Free Time

May 8, 2009 | 2 comments

I’ve successfully made it through another semester. Technically, it’s not over yet, but all I have left to do is proofread a paper and email it to the prof, so I’m labeling this semester as officially “done.”

Based on my last check, I’ve fulfilled all of the requirements for my degree in history, except for a number of a few electives. 30 some odd hours of them, more specifically. If I’ve figured things up correctly, I’ve got 2 semesters left. 2 semesters – the end is in sight! Very vague and indistinct, to be sure, but I can at least see it.

Thinking about that, I wonder if I’ll have more free time once I’m done, or whether a full-time job – assuming I can find one – will eat up just as much time. I’m thinking I actually will have more free time. At least with a full-time job, I can be assured that, barring overtime, the job will use up 40 or so hours a week. With college, I’ve no idea how many weekly hours I pour in. Certainly my actual time in class is much lower than a full-time job, but there are plenty of things to do outside of class. Sometimes it feels like my days are nothing but a long spree of reading, studying, and writing. Of course, I bring a lot of this on myself, because I genuinely hate to get anything other than an A, but still – lots of stuff to do.

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Auto-Tune the News

May 4, 2009 | No comments

I’m not that crazy about video posts, but sometimes, a video is too good to not be shared. This catchy little creation has burrowed into my mind and won’t leave me alone; it’s given me solace this past week as I’ve studied for final exams. Who knew global warming could be so sexy?

If you have trouble understanding all of the words, the lyrics are in the More Info box at Youtube.

Book Repair – Wax Paper != Plastic

May 1, 2009 | No comments

I decided to try my hand at book repair last night, and learned an important lesson. Wax paper is not plastic – or more specifically, you can’t use wax paper in place of plastic.

The repair was to be rather simple. I had a Collins Concise German-English dictionary which had a cracked spine, and I was going to strengthen it by putting a small line of glue down into the crack. So, I got some Elmer’s craft glue and some wax paper to put into the book while the glue was drying, so as to avoid having excess glue bind the pages together.

The wax paper ended up being a rather nasty mistake. I had read a number of “how to repair books” websites, and thought that I’d read that wax paper could be used for this kind of repair. Apparently, I got wax paper and plastic – like an LP sleeve – mixed up. Wax paper is used in some types of book repair, but blocking craft glue from spreading onto the pages of your book isn’t one of them.

The end result was that this morning, when I opened the dictionary to check out my handiwork, I found the wax paper stuck quite securely down into the spine of the book. I thought that I’d be able to still get it out successfully by pulling on it slowly, but I was wrong. When I finally got it out, it ripped out 4 pages of the dictionary with it, tearing 2 of them quite badly. Not quite the repair I’d had in mind… Oops.

I ended up throwing the dictionary away. I can get a new copy for $10, and while I could have repaired the damage I’d done*, I didn’t really want to be reminded of my stupidity everytime I opened the book.

* Then again, I thought I could repair the cracked spine, too, and we see how that turned out. :)

Update: Apparently, I wasn’t 100% wrong. A number of reputable book repair guides say to use wax paper to excess glue from sticking the pages together. The key mistake I made – combining wax paper and craft glue. All of the book repair guides are talking about using PVA glue or wheat paste.

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