My Hangover and I

I spent Saturday night drinking far too much Japanese whiskey while watching videos of people making Korean street food. I’m a fan of both. The whiskey and videos, that is. I've never actually had Korean street food. There’s no music, narration, or discussion in these videos–only the comforting sounds of calm, methodical cooking. ETTV is my favorite of these YouTube channels right now. (There’s more than one channel dedicated to Korean street food, believe it or not!)

When I awoke, my hangover informed me FedEx was at the door with our new keyboard tray. That’s a fancy adjustable shelf for your computer keyboard and mouse. It lets you set the proper height and tilt of your keyboard so you can get the ergonomics of your workstation sorted out. Ergonomics is not something I cared much about until my office started working from home. Spending eight to ten hours a day sitting on the same hardwood dining chair and slightly too low desk I’d been using nights and weekends for the last five years started to beat on me bad after only a few weeks.

My hangover and I installed the keyboard to the bottom of my powered sit-stand desk without much difficulty. Today it’s a sitting desk because my knees are killing me. I think the anti-fatigue standing mat I’ve been using isn’t working out. My feet and knees don’t take well to cushiony sneakers. I suppose the mat is the same. My hangover wasn’t much help, to be truthful, but he pitched in where he could by dropping drill bits behind hard to reach places, reminding me I’m not supposed to mix my medication with alcohol, and thumping on my skull from the inside where I can’t reach for myself.

The keyboard tray is AOK. It better be for what it cost me. I have no idea why they’re so expensive, but they sure are. I got the slightly fancier model featuring easy-adjust for both height and tilt and a sled allowing the entire apparatus to slide away under the desk when not in use. Combining an adjustable desk with an adjustable chair and an adjustable keyboard tray enables you to get all your relevant body parts lined up exactly right for getting down to business.

R.L. Burnside: See My Jumper Hanging On the Line (1978)