Fall Down, Go Boom.

[swestrup]

ARGH!! While I was typing that last post, one of the legs snapped off of my office chair, and threw me over onto my back. I bought that chair with my birthday money from Mom two or three years ago, and now it looks like I need to buy a replacement. (I'll check the warantee, but its probably long expired).

So much for my plans of fixing my computer. Its no good having a working system, if I don't have a comfortable chair to sit in.

Comments

[cpirate.livejournal.com]

When I started working from home, I quickly realized my computer chair is actually totally ergonomically awful, despite being superficially comfortable. The arms just don't go low enough, so my shoulders hunch up, blah blah blah. I've actually taken to using my kitchen chairs for computer use, which is marginally less atrocious.

What I'm getting at is (a), maybe try a kitchen chair? It turns out I don't use the wheels that much. And (b), I'm interested to hear about any chair-research you do, as I'm clearly too lazy to do it myself.

[swestrup]

I'm currently using a kitchen chair, and I hate it. Its way too low for me. I'm very fussy about my office chair. It must:

A) Have wheels so I can move around.
B) Be tall enough that my feet only just touch the floor.
C) Tilt back enough so that I can balance with feet off the floor (my thinking position)
D) Have a back rigidly attached to the seat at 90 degrees. The back must NOT be capable of movement relative to the seat.

I also have some preferences in how the arms are, but they're secondary to the above. Alas, such chairs are often expensive. I was happy to find a semi-decent one for $97 dollars last time. The one that would have REALLY preferred was over $300.

It was while doing C that a leg broke off the chair and dumped me on the floor.

[cpirate.livejournal.com]

I guess it must be genetic, my mother still uses a (well-made, mind you, unlike mine) straight-backed wooden chair in her study. Also, having alarmingly low standards definitely helps.

It's probably no consolation, but at least this conversation motivated me to have another look at my office chair and discover that I could move the arms slightly more out of the way, such that it hopefully won't cripple me any more. I kind of wish I could just take them off completely, but the anchor to one of the screws is detached enough that it won't release the screw, but attached enough that it keeps the arm stuck on. Le sigh.

[cpirate.livejournal.com]

That said, if my chair still tries to cripple me, I'll be looking to get rid of it, as it takes up a wide berth. I'll try to let you know soon.

[taxlady.livejournal.com]

I have practically the exact opposite views on chairs for office. I like a steno chair with no arms to get in the way. I lower it enough that my thighs are just touching the chair, so the weight of my legs is carried by my lower legs (that way the blood doesn't get cut off in my thighs). I make sure the small oval back part fits neatly into the small of my back. swestrup detests having to use my office chair. I'm not real fond of using his. ;)

[cpirate.livejournal.com]

Oh, make no mistake, I'm with you on the chair arms; I took them off my old chair at work, and they'd be off my current one if I could.