I've prided myself most of my life on being fairly ambidextrous. I don't often discuss my former athletic days, but I could play both volleyball and basketball pretty well left-handed. My left handed layup was just as good as my right, and when needed, I could hit in volleyball with my left as well.
But today I realized, I'm really not ambidextrous at all.
Today, I am trying, fairly pitifully, to use a mouse with my left hand.
For about two weeks now, my right arm has been really bothering me. My shoulder, the front side of my elbow, and my wrist. I'm not sure if it was all the push-ups I have been doing (I'm up to 35 straight!) or if it the fact that I am at a desk all day and a chair all day -- both of which I have never sat at all day before moving here.
At Mayo, I had a chair that had a moving arm rest. That way I could always have support for my elbow. This chair doesn't have that. So, I decided to switch sides. Make my left arm do the major mouse work. See if my right arm starts feeling better.
The thing is, have you ever tried this?
I knew it would be hard. My boss at Mayo uses a left handed mouse for similar reasons. Occasionally he would ask me to do something on this computer, and I'd get so mad at his clicker being on the wrong side of the mouse. It would drive me crazy.
I just don't think any of us think about how much we do without even thinking about it. I zip around on my computer using function keys and shortcuts all day long. I make my screen bigger and larger constantly with a touch of my house and holding down the control key. But try to do that with my left hand. Yeah right!
Want to drive your spouse or family member crazy! Switch the mouse to a left handed mouse. (You have to go into the control panel to do this.) They'll be yelling at you in now time! It's incredibly frustrating. So much that I do is engrained in my memory like walking or riding a bike. Change one little thing and see what you can accomplish.
I'll let you know how long I can put up with this madness!
3 comments:
Sorry I can't resist... in your second last paragraph, you said "...with a touch of my house..." LOL!
I can totally relate to what you're experiencing, I've tried to use the mouse with my left hand a couple times when I've been holding Keenan. That's no easy task!
I'm thinking you should cut back on the push-ups for a few days or so, And get yourself a good desk chair; it'll be a tax write-off and you deserve it! It'll be cheaper than missing work because your arm/wrist/elbow is out of commission; and anyway, eventually, if you keep doing the left-handed business, your left hand/wrist/elbow will also revolt!!!
I did touch my house. I have a magic house. :)
Oh and I have given up push-ups Mom K. AND JB wants me to get a new chair even though I know it'll cost a fortune!
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