Not because of anything going on, it’s just a lyric from the song on spotify… somethings just never change.
So I think I might have a problem… It started in the summer of 2020 and it’s just been slowly escalating to a point now where it’s pervasive.
The issue ask?
Mechanical keyboards… specifically all of my computers now have them and when I type on a membrane keyboard I openly bitch about it at work.
It started simply enough, Keychron K2 that all the tech reviewers were into at the time (and if you watch their videos many are still rocking K2 boards or something similar from Keychron). I then got a “gaming mechanical” keyboard.
What makes it gaming you ask? Why the RGB when you type on it of course.
I then got two more boards… this time both logitech for work. One at home and one for the office when go in. Both are Logitech K8xx series keyboards… they are cheap enough and I’m not spending MX money on stuff for work. Of the two I really like the K845 better, it’s a bit slimmer and lower profile on the deck but has full size keys.
Which got me noticing tall my K2 was when I used it to type (and the distinct lack of a number pad) that I started looking for new keyboard for home and well the Keychron K7 is seeming to fit the bill. I don’t know if I’m loving the RED switches vs the Browns I have in everything else (the K845 is also RED and doesn’t feel as stiff as the K7).
So I now have more mechanical keyboards then I do full time use computers in the house… so yeah….
But of all the problems to have it’s better then turning yellow like a Simpsons character.
For real… for someone who takes their blog entries from the music they listen to… I find some real weird stuff from time to time, but that’s what you get when you listen to Soundgarden.
So Let’s talk about this blog’s favorite topic… HOME WORK SPACES!! In previous chapters you will notice the bit where I was definitely not working during the initial stages of Covid-19 and instead was living in my parents garage playing Borderlands3. Well everyone has to get back to real life at some point and I did in May. And one of the earliest discussions I had with my leadership was that I would be working from home (as would the whole team) come the end of July once I was trained up and some upgrades had happened. In anticipation of this and some other smaller stretches of remote working I made some purchase.
So I purchased some monitors, monitor arm, and a USB-C dock for the work laptop. And what I found very quickly was that I was not that happy with this setup.
First to the left (just out of frame) is my main computer for doing not work things and not gaming things.. i.e. my Mac which I do use for work things on occasion, but not on the regular.
This was 3 feet from the space where I played video games on my gaming PC
It faced a East Window upstairs so it got a ton of light in the morning.
The room it self is just warm because of the placement of the ventilation and getting sun 80% of the day.
The ergonomics suck
Needless to say I figured out pretty quick that this was not going to work for extended remote working. I started thinking about what I wanted and what my plans were for the next couple of years. I knew the following things.
This was a temporary setup as I plan on moving in the next year or so
I know that the next place I live will have a dedicated home office that is for *work* and dedicated space for “work”
Ergonomics need to be a consideration, and I can’t cheap out anymore
With these things in mind I started thinking about what I wanted in a home work space that was for *work* that I would be spending 8 to 10 hours a day in 5 days a week. When you start thinking about that kind of time in a space you really start to have some conversations with yourself about what you really want. At the end of the day I wanted to have a seperate space from my “fun work” and “pay the bills work” and deciced that since I’m using a couple of IKEA desks from 2005 that I think I might have spent $300 total for back then and they are still going strong. I decided to put the money in upfront and get what I had been looking at and really making it work.
I ended up purchasing a standing desk (the 48×30 Varidesk if you are curious) I basically came down to I had a couple of trusted sources that had purchased this desk and found them to be excellent for their work. I found the price to be in middle of what I was looking for in terms of the feature set, and not so large that it would take over the room. The down side is the unit is in my living room so I have to look at it on the weekends, but it’s surprisingly easy to ignore when everything is turned off. I’ve been using it for a couple of weeks now and the only thing that I’m not totally sold on is a chair. I’m using a kitchen chair right now and it gets the job done, but it’s not great for extended periods of sitting. Surprisingly I still do with a standing desk as I don’t have a mat to help with my hips yet. I’m 50/50 on buying a dedicated chair for the setup and just sucking it up.
My guess is my next entry will be about whatever office chair I ended up putting in the space.
Because again.. I think is is a home work space blog now?
