This daylog is being created with a new set up for me. In recent weeks, I have had renewed pain in my arms and shoulders. Several reasons have caused this, not the least of which is my increased workload now that I am a team lead. Ultimately the pain level has increased to the point where I'm forced to make additional changes to my daily habits. As I talked about in my daylog about my experience with voice recognition, I am reliant on the software for 100% of my job. At home, I am more likely to just avoid the computer. Over time a few strategies have allowed me to participate in the World Wide Web, such as using an iPad for some basic web browsing, but my interaction with computers has been and will be limited for recreational purposes.

With the renewed pain, not only has my use of the computer, iPad, and smart phone dropped to zero at home, but at work I am also experiencing a pretty significant slowdown. This was especially a drag during the week that my decaversery was posted because I found it difficult to respond to messages and interact with people at the site. So, the everlasting cure for people suffering from chronic pain, I decided to try and find a better solution. So here is my new set up:

• New laptop with 6 GB of RAM (this is to improve the performance of my voice recognition software)
• Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11.5 (at home I had still been using version 6 from about nine years ago)
• Plantronics headset microphone (I used this brand at work with good results)
• Standing laptop table (intended to help relieve the stress on my shoulders by allowing me to stand at the computer)

Everything but the headset I found on sale (even picked up Dragon for 50% off due to a mislabel at the store!). Additionally, I'm still using both of the full forearm wrist braces in conjunction with the set up.

After getting everything put together, software installed and the laptop updated, I have been taking it out for a test spin this morning. Results have been mixed. The greatest disappointment is that the new version of the voice recognition software actually runs slower than my old version. This laptop has Windows 7, and possibly there is some way for me to streamline the performance but honestly with 6 GB RAM I would not expect that to be a problem. My processor is an AMD quad core, and this is a 64-bit system. But the recognition latency is terrible.

On the plus side, the laptop desk has worked wonders and I have been able to stand here for a couple of hours messing with this with about the same level of discomfort that I would've experience sitting at the desk for about 20 min. Awesome!

So, maybe with a little more work and fine tuning, I will be able to use this new set to start posting more frequently again. At the very least, I hope to be able to participate in the October horror quest.

Still vertical,

Monkeylover

Sometimes everything happens at once in your life, and for me today was one of those times. I'd been feeling tired and run-down for the last week or so, and the venostasis ulcer on my right leg had reopened, leaking lymph fluid all over. Fun times.

On top of that, the fall semester has been underway for a week, but I had let time slip away from me (the illness didn't help) and so had to jump through my butt to get signed up for classes, make arrangements to get money for books, and get my financial aid unblocked by changing from a career studies certificate to an associate degree.

But wait! There's more! I was helping friends fix up the house they're moving into, but now that I'm eating Bactrim twice a day to keep the bacteria from eating me alive, I'm pretty wiped out and haven't any energy to speak of. So I won't be helping them this weekend, or IWho either.

And we're supposed to get whacked with a hurricane this weekend too. Well, it could be worse. I could be living in Pyongyang.