Blog

Short blog posts, journal entries, and random thoughts. Topics include a mix of personal and the world at large. 

Everything I need is on the ground

I am finally getting a new desk. But it’s not the kind you think. Standing desks are all the rage these days. I’m immensely glad my workplace has furnished for us adjustable desk. Which means I get to stand as much as I want while I am at work. Which also means I don’t necessary want to stand once I am home. There’s no need to pay (in this economy) for an expensive standing desk.

In a stroke of inspiration, I had the idea of wanting the exact opposite: a “floor desk”. One that is so low to the ground I need to sit on the floor to use. Picture a giant coffee table for computing use. It’s an ode to the traditional Japanese way of living, where everything is done close to the ground. The ryokan we stayed at while in Japan was like this: we sat on cushions, ate on a low coffee table, and slept right on the floor.

My favorite way of sitting is cross-legged anyways. I think using a floor desk just makes all the sense.

The problem is actually finding one. Unlike the legion of standing desk users, there doesn’t seem to be that many floor sitters out there. Therefore the selection of low-to-the-ground office desks is kind of non existent. I had to get creative. Per chance I noticed Uplift - a popular standing desk brand - sells coffee table legs. These 16-inch high steel legs can turn any piece of board into a low desk. Along with the legs I bought a bamboo desktop on Amazon. For about $300, it’s not a bad deal compared to the $600 or so I was looking at for a standing desk.

What’s more, I will be able to get rid of my office chair, freeing up precious space in this tiny studio of mine.

Vlog life.

The itch to spend

Hello! I’ve returned from a brief one week hiatus. Thanks to daylight savings time changing the clock one hour forwards, I spent last week recovering from the regulation-imposed jet lag. Even a person like me with relatively clean sleeping patterns struggled to acquiesce to the time change. Going to sleep at the new “normal time” was difficult, and so is waking up at the new normal time. For the first time this whole year, I actually hit the snooze button. Groggy. Where did the sun go in the morning?

It went to the evening hours, obviously. I concede that it is indeed quite nice to still have some semblance of sun after getting off work. Last Friday I had a lovely time with my friend and her pet dog at the local park. I guess on that alone, I would vote to keep daylight savings time constant, rather than having standard time year round. What the powers must do is simply pick one! All this time change nonsense absolutely wrecks our circadian rhythm for at least one whole week. It’s not healthy in the slightest.

You know that feeling when you’ve got some free money in the bank account, and you get that itch to spend it? How can we not: we get bombarded with advertisements every single day. The Internet services we know and love are basically advertising machines. I have started paying for YouTube Premium, however. No ads when I watch YouTube. Ever.

So I was looking at (finally) getting a standing desk to replace this IKEA Galant that I’ve had since my college days. In the name of health (I’d be able to adjust the height of the desk specific to me) and novelty (who doesn’t like a fresh new bamboo work surface?) I began a search on the Internet. Turns out the major players in the standing desk market all seem to be having Spring sales. What would have been a thousand dollars - for the specification of table I want - is now only $700.

After sleeping on it, I decided against buying a standing desk. Primarily because it feels wrong to throw away a perfectly good table, albeit one that cannot adjust height. I don’t want to spend the time playing the Craigslist games in trying to sell the old one. Trashing such a bulky item also isn’t as simple as putting it in the bin. My IKEA Galant remains a sturdy and useable desk, so it remains.

Here, buddy!

Ergonomics and amortization

In my search to perfect (as much as possible) the ergonomic situation with my desk, the best thing I bought for that purpose actually costs very little. It’s a footrest, to elevate your feet for a better posture. With my chair set at the proper height (arms at 90 degree angle when typing), my feet are a bit dangly in relation to the floor. This $40 piece of memory foam solves that problem. It’s been an absolutely revelation since it arrived. I should have bought one way sooner.

A two-hour photo editing session with no discomfort whatsoever. What a joy.

I’m still debating whether or not to get a standing desk. I’ve got one of those at work and I try to stand as much as possible while there. So I figured that once I come home, it’s quite okay to sit the rest the time. But what about on weekends? It would be nice to alternate between sit and stand every now and then. However, I just spend nearly $9,000 on a monitor and a laptop, so I’m not in the mood to drop another thousand on the standing desk that I want.

That said, I’ve been using my current desk - the long discontinued IKEA Fredrik - for well over a decade. I fully expect any new desk I purchase will be used for at least that long. A thousand dollar amortized over that length of time isn’t all that much money from that perspective. That’s the same rationale I used for spending $5,000 on an Apple Pro Display XDR: I plan to keep and use it for at least 10 years.

Perhaps a standing desk will be coming soon. But first I need to get my piano situation sorted. I’ve been unable to practice because I gave my iPad to my father. The tablet is where I load lessons from Piano Marvel. Due to circumstances, my father needed an iPad quickly, so I let him have mine, thinking it would be easy enough to buy a plain iPad (not Air, not Pro, not anything) from the Apple Store. Unfortunately, the crazy supply chain is at it again: the cheapest iPad you can buy is backordered into the middle of January.

No (new) practicing until that time, which isn’t ideal for my progression, honestly.

Late night snack.

Tiny home improvements

I’ve been thinking about ways to spruce up my living space. Not in a superficial way, but something practical and utilitarian. Costco has a sale on a small dehumidifier, and now my bathroom is moisture-controlled. Even with a vent window, things can still get rather damp in there. For about $25 dollars, it’s a super cheap solution.

Another thing I really want to get is a standing desk. I’ve had this IKEA Fredrik desk (long since out of production) since my college days, and suffice it to say it has served me supremely well. However, on certain work-from-home days it would be more healthy to stand instead of sit for the entire eight hours. I could buy one of those desktop converters, but those look horrible and it encroaches on precious desk space.

So I did a search for what’s considered most popular and best standing desk these days. Fully seems to be the one. I specced one out to be the same size as the Fredrik and wow are standing desks expensive! $700 dollars amortized over many decades (assuming the electrics last that long) isn’t really that big of an expense, but coughing up all that up front is a mental barrier I can’t yet get over.

Good new is, I’m physically going into work more often. The office recently received new furnishing, one of which are standing desks! On days I’m actually at work, I practically stand the whole time (sometimes even whilst eating lunch). Hopefully that will negate the need for me to buy a Fully desk. Let’s see what happens, though; I have the website bookmarked still…

I’ve actually never been up there.