i’m now three days into my new job and it’s going well, but by yesterday i had noticed that my new desk-chair-computer arrangement was causing me discomfort. i had my previous office setup for over six years, but never did it occur to me that it was particularly ergonomic or suited to my body – it was just my desk and i sat in it however i wanted. the desk was little more than a piece of plywood on some 2×4’s with a raised stand for two flickering, ancient crt monitors and and old green chair that rapidly losing the upholstery from one corner. at the new fancy office with a crystal-clear lcd, adjustable chair and a nice new desk, i was frankly surprised to discover that my wrist and back were hurting. i did a little bit of the chair-adjust, keyboard move, monitor rotate shuffle (presumably much to the dismay of my officemate) but nothing seemed to alleviate it.

similarly, this evening i got around to measuring my bicycles. i’d had some conversations with alex about my swift folder and adjusting it to match the cockpit of my long haul trucker – a bike i knew fit me well for all types of riding. i set out with the measuring tape and lo and behold i was surprised to find that even though the swift folder is a 20″ wheeled aluminum fixed gear with bmx bars, it has the same bottom bracket-to-handlebar, bottom bracket-to-saddle, and saddle-to-handlebar measurements as the long haul trucker – down to a couple millimeters. the same held true for my trek. the pugsley was the outlier, primarily because it rocks (runs? rubs?) a lower saddle. across the board, without ever really consciously measuring out any of these bikes, i’d arrived at a very narrow range of comfortable lengths.

so, logically, i now feel an impetus to revisit my old workplace with a measuring tape and sort out the relevant distances that made me able to work there for many years without discomfort. and maybe i’ll take that old green chair, because for all it’s lack of adjustability, it sure never hurt my back.

as tagged over on facebook, here are my sixteen random things. hopefully this satiates the howling madness of meme consumption at the center of the internet universe – i don’t know if i have enough random facts to fulfill further such requests.

1. i have been into computers since the fourth grade, when i discovered the magic of the oregon trail.
2. i have not always been into bikes – i basically gave up on them after my father passed away since there was nowhere to ride to in fern prairie, and only started riding again when i got my first job in seattle.
3. macaroni & cheese from the box is my staple food.
4. when i was a small child, i had curly blond hair, and i was cute enough that my mom got pictures for free from the local studio in exchange for using my portrait in their promotional materials.
5. i was active in 4-H, and as part of the replacement heifer program i raised a cow named teresa for two years.
6. had i been born a girl, my parents planned on naming me teresa.
7. i grew up in a small town. i would walk into the bank downtown and the tellers would recognize me as “peggy’s son”.
8. i didn’t get especially interested in music until i got my first computer, and then all i had access to was mod and s3m tracker files. space debris and war in middle earth were soundtracks to many simple console games.
9. i only rarely find myself laughing out loud at other people’s jokes, and i sometimes wish that i was not so humor-jaded.
10. i still use pine to read my email, having switched over from elm over ten years ago. i hate formatted email messages.
11. i tend to dislike competition, and prefer activities that focus on cooperation. when games get too competitive, i resort to alternative, disruptive and distracting tactics. this has not endeared people to playing settlers of catan with me.
12. i go jogging once a year, just to remind myself how much i hate going jogging.
13. the last major vacation i went on was to greece for two weeks. i have not inherited my mother’s love of travel – i am content to keep exploring the many forests, mountains, and coves in my own back yard rather than wandering the globe. the only thing i miss is the food.
14. once upon a time, i was excited about different things: going to punk rock shows, building my own computers, being good at video games. i am okay with the new things i am excited about, but sometimes wish i could feel the way i once did about the old.
15. i often play out hypothetical situations in my head. this has resulted in mild hypochondria, relationship breakdowns, and some general confusion. my brain is the sort that latches on to the ‘what if’ and runs with it, for good or evil.
16. even though it’s long past passe, i still like to title emails and blog posts with random snippets of song lyric.

so as most of you who follow my twitter feed or have friended me on facebook are aware, after seven and a half years of working for the UW at the BRTC and probably six years of talking about getting a new job i’ve finally moved onto greener pastures.

quick facts:

• the new company is datstat, in fremont.
• they (we!) build data collection software and research management systems for universities and businesses.
• i’m excited to be done with classic asp and vbscript, but not particularly excited about asp.net. we’ll see.
• my first real day will be 2/9, but i’ve already picked up my laptop and started checking my email account obsessively.
• i did get a pretty significant pay rise, but that’s the nature of leaving the university.

i definitely feel like the university has been a good place for me, and i am sad to be leaving it. either as a student or an employee i’ve been there continuously since 1997, and it has been in almost every way the center of my seattle experience. fortunately, datstat is in a good location and has a number of former university employees so i’m hoping to feel right at home.