Category Archives: Health & Fitness

Listen to your bits…

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shopping

I have spent 24 years drawing with my mouse on the computer. For the last several years, I used Apple’s magic mouse which is touch-sensitive and allows you to swipe across it to move the cursor and it has been wonderful — until a few weeks ago when I was doing a whole lot of drawing in Illustrator.

My right index finger (the mouse-finger) started to hurt, a lot. And it got swollen. And then it hurt worse. It is at this point that many people go into denial. I do not.

I treat my body like a used car. If warning lights start flashing on your car, you take it to a mechanic, right? We should all head to the doctor when our bodies send us similar warnings.

It may not be this way in your town, but here plastic surgeons are the hand guys. I visited Dr. Swamy who has been in practice here a long time and is much beloved. I took my mouse and asked if that was the problem. Yes, it was. I asked if rest would make it better enough to be able to use the mouse again. No, it would not. We agreed that I had to find a new way to draw in the computer and I had to also find a more ergonomic mouse.

 

 

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The mouse was easy. I got a Logitech M570. I’ll have to be careful not to overuse any of my fingers but I can do that.

I won’t be using the mouse to draw. I am, instead, viewing this as an opportunity to buy a tool that I have lusted after — a Wacom Cintiq tablet! (Imagine a quilt-y picture instead of a lizard.)

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The Cintiq tablet is actually a very fancy computer monitor that is touch-sensitive and that you can draw on. It’s similar to the iPad Pro, but you hook to to your computer and the Cintiq mirrors whatever is on screen. I’ll be able draw in Illustrator with a special pen. I’ll be able to use the pen in Photoshop as well, and I’m sure there’s more. I suspect that I’ll be able to move the mouse on the screen with my finger, much like you can on your smartphone.

On the advice of a friend (thank you, Amanda) I got the biggest Cintiq. I have gotten used to using a very big monitor and there isn’t any going back from there. Thankfully, this is piece of business equipment that I should have gotten a long time ago. I think it might actually make me more productive while also helping me to preserve my right hand – my sewing hand!

The bigger issue, and the point of this post, is that you need to pay attention to your body! Don’t ignore warnings, take care of your bits early rather than after damage has been done. Because I said so :-).

 

Paper towels, please…

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I just read an interesting article about these super-blowy warm air Dyson Hand Dryers. Contrary to what you may think, they are not less germ-y.

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Many people (not you and me, of course) do not wash their hands well enough before using the air blower. According to the article:

…(the dryers) launch far more viruses into the air, which linger for longer periods of time and reach much farther distances, researchers recently reported in the Journal of Applied Microbiology. This is particularly concerning because viruses, unlike many infectious bacteria, can easily maintain their infectiousness in the air and on surfaces, and just a few viral particles can spark an infection.

Paper towels are, according to the research, much safer. And with that thought in mind I’ll re-post this TED Talk by Joe Smith on how to dry your hands with one paper towel. It works!

 

When all you need is a phone…

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My mom and telephones have not gotten along well for the last several years. The more advanced the phone is, the less she likes it.

When mom moved a few weeks ago to assisted living I asked about phone service. Someone told me that the service in the apartments didn’t work so I got mom a non-contract flip phone from AT&T. Seriously… what was I thinking!!!! After 4 weeks mom told me that she’d rather not have a phone than use the little flip phone.

I asked the folks at Preston Place again about telephone access and was told to call Verizon to activate the phone service in her apartment. OK, I could do that. But when I called Verizon they said ‘no, they don’t do that anymore but Frontier might’. I was about to come unglued (this had been a frustrating day) and the nice man on the phone kept saying, ‘ but wait… we have this cellular thing.’ It only took him a few tries but he finally got me to listen to what he was saying and it’s pretty cool.

Verizon has a small shiny black box with an antenna that plugs into an electrical outlet. It’s called Wireless Home Phone. You can plug a landline phone into the back of it. In fact, you can plug in 2 phones!

WirelessBox

This is the Wireless Home Phone unit.

They are having a promotion so the initial $40 fee was waived. I signed a 2 year contract locking in the price at $20 a month for unlimited calling (+fees and taxes). That’s cheaper than the flip-phone contract was going to be.

Mom’s fancier Panasonic cordless phones worked but she didn’t love those phones. They have too many bells and whistles and have been hard for her to use. Mom asked if I could just get her a telephone—and she asked in such a way that I knew I might as well find what she wanted, now, not later. So I Googled retro phones and found all sorts of choices.

Mom is now the proud owner of a beige princess phone. It isn’t smart. It’s just a phone and so far she is very happy. UPDATE: I need to get a better/more expensive princess phone. This one is a little twitchy but her cordless landline phone works very well. She doesn’t like it as much, but she can use it.

Phone-1

It’s loud enough for her to hear, the buttons are big and lit. It’s not as heavy as the original princess phones, but it feels sturdy.

Phone-2

I wish I had known about this years ago. Mom had phone service from Cableone and I know it was more expensive than this service is. And I wish I had thought to get her a retro phone a long time ago too.

I’m sharing this because I know some of you may know people who are having similar phone problems. I hope this helps!

I’m pretty sure I’m fit…

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I started wearing a Fitbit in 2014. I wrote about it here, about losing it here, and then about buying a new Fitbit here. I ended up not wearing the Fitbit Charge for very long. I didn’t like the clasp, I didn’t like the way it felt on my arm, but more importantly I found an Apple Watch that fit me like a glove.

Last summer while we were in Hawaii, on our last night, I went into the Apple store in Waikiki and tried on a watch with a stainless steel band.

AppleWatch

It looks big on my arm in this photo but it doesn’t in real life. This is the utility face. There are several ‘pretty’ faces, but I love this watch because of what you see here. I can tell time, see the day and date, temperature, and (best feature ever) I can set a timer by touching the upper left corner.

I use the timer all the time. Take the cookies out of the oven in 10 minutes? Set the timer. Need a reminder to make a call or go to an appointment?  Set the timer. It can both ding and vibrate to tell me my time is up.

Texts show up on the watch. It is easy to send a simple reply. I could probably send a longer reply using Siri, but I usually don’t. When close enough to an iPhone, you can answer or send calls with the watch. I’ve done that twice, when I couldn’t reach my phone and needed to take the call. It felt (and looked) very Dick Tracy-ish.

I have a sentimental reason for loving this watch. It reminds me of my dad, who died 26 years ago. He loved gadgets, and his watches always had this sort of stainless steel band. My dad would have loved this watch!

dad&mom-in-kitchen

Those of you with Fitbits are wondering how the Apple Watch compares when tracking fitness stuff. I started out using a few of the fitness apps, but I don’t use them much (or at all) any more. In this respect, the Fitbit is better. It is easier to use because it is a much simpler machine.

The biggest surprise I’ve had is that I don’t miss the fitness tracking. I wore a Fitbit for more than 2 years. I thought about my steps, checked them often, and was probably too proud of myself when I was very active.

Once I quit looking checking my steps, it was like a switch got flipped. I can tell by the way my body feels that my activity level is the same as it was but I no longer care how many steps I’ve taken or miles I’ve walked. For a competitive step counter, that has been a real surprise to me.

The Apple Watch was too expensive. I’ll have to wear it a long time, but at this point there’s not another watch I’d rather wear.

This is me…

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All of my author pictures, my driver’s license, and my passport, show a short-haired me. But this is me, now.

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I’ve been growing my hair for about 10 months. I took this (quick) self-portrait for my 52 Week Photo Challenge class. I didn’t spend enough time on the assignment because we spent most of last week in NYC with Jeff. I didn’t want to spend time taking a picture of myself during our visit! But this photo does show me as I am now.

I need a new author photo for a book. Do you think this will work? Trust me when I tell you that the black and white version is better than the color version.

Applique and posture…

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I usually hand applique for 2 to 2 1/2 hours each night in my chair with my feet up and my light in the correct spot (over my left shoulder because I am right-handed). For the last few weeks I’ve added a few hours of applique in the afternoon and I’ve noticed that my neck is sore. Darn it! I know it’s because I’m holding my (heavy) head in the wrong place instead of keeping it centered over my body. I also know that I’ve gotten posture-lazy in the last year.

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It is really easy to ignore your posture, letting your head drop and shoulders round forward—gravity is working against us. There are, however, easy exercises that we can do to combat this problem. I know because I googled ‘neck and shoulder exercises’ and found this video.

As I watched the video, I was reminded that this is exactly what my physical therapist recommended when I was first diagnosed with bone density issues. Doing this for 40 seconds, 6 times a day, is not that hard!

However, the warning at the front of the video is true—only do these if your body is up for it. If you are unsure, consult your physician. FYI: I’m not necessarily a fan of chiropractic bending and popping, so please don’t consider this an endorsement of that.

PS: If you are like me, you thought it was funny when he said “if you have trouble finding a corner…”. How hard could that be? And then I had trouble finding a corner in my own house :-).