desk woes

[mrissa]

There were only three pieces of furniture in my childhood to which I had an emotional attachment. The first and most important was the big blue and white couch, which was the big brown-and-orange paisley couch when I was small. Some of you visited it in the downstairs family room at my folks'. Some met it here, when it was in the living room. It was a wonderful couch, but it served its time and had grown frankly uncomfortable, and so when we found our big red couch, I was finally content to let the old blue couch go.

The second is a dark wooden rocker. It's a wooden rocker. You can break them if you try very hard, but you can't wear them out. It's in the living room. It's here for the duration. One of these days I hope to get a new chair pad for it, but that'll probably be around the time we paint the living room. (Which is not actually on the schedule for the 12th of Never, but it's also not on the schedule for, y'know, soon.) But the chair pad is a minor detail. The chair is staying. When Mom yielded it to me, she asked that I give it back to them rather than to someone else if I ever decided to give it away. I told her that would be fine, but not to expect to see it except on visits.

And the third is holding the keyboard right now: my grandfather's cherrywood desk. I am greatly fond of it, but it was not designed for computer use and is probably a suboptimal height for typing; it may be contributing to my back problems. It has three drawers to the right and a little retractable shelf at the top. (I use the retractable shelf constantly. I don't know what on earth I would do without it. I can have an L-shaped desk or not, at a moment's notice.) On the left...is the reason I'm making this post. On the left there was apparently one of those things where the typewriter was supposed to spring forth, but by the time I was old enough to claim the desk for my very own, there was no typewriter and the springing forth bit had gone away. So it's a large open cabinet, basically, with funny rails inside and a door that opens downward with difficulty instead of sideways with ease.

That door has broken off, and it would be more woodworking than I want to do or than markgritter wants to do. I'm pretty sure it's more than my mom wants to do, either, and Grandma doesn't really get the sentimental value of the thing in the first place; she was glad they could get Grandpa a new desk to replace this one. She likes the new desk much better.

So...do I pay to have it fixed? Or do I buy a new desk? Sentiment or ergonomics? I honestly don't know. I really like this desk. But I'm not sure it likes me. My grandpa is still around and healthy, so it's not like this is the last trace of him in my life -- I talked to him on the phone just yesterday. But on the other hand, it's not like I can just get this desk back if I get rid of it. New desks will continue to be sold for the foreseeable future. The decision not to fix this one is a more irrevocable one.

What would you do? Keeping in mind, of course, that this is not a democracy, and that I know you're not me.

Comments

[miz-hatbox.livejournal.com]

If it were my grandfather's cherrywood desk, and I loved it so much, I would get it fixed, and maybe see if it can be customized to make the former typewriter-cabinet something useful and modern. Possibly even talk to them about adding some kind of wonderful feature that makes turns it into something ergonomic and suitable for Mrissa--a slidey keyboard tray, for example (or is there a Useful Drawer in the way?) Sure, you can get another desk, but would it be Grandpa's cherrywood desk?

Yes, I am overly sentimental about furniture. It is true. and it is easy for me to talk about spending your money on woodworking with no knowledge of price or budget. but you asked.

[miz-hatbox.livejournal.com]

On the other hand, I had a beloved Oak Secretary that needed a repair to the writing-desk component for years, and never got the repair done. So maybe I am talking through my hat. But it wasn't the sort of thing I used often for uses other than storing knickknacks or books or the like.

(I gave it to my mother, and now it houses knickknacks at her place.)

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

There is indeed a Useful Drawer in the way. A very Useful Drawer indeed. Also I suspect that if I was to have it substantially modified, it would have to leave the house for an equally substantial chunk of time, leaving me deskless.

[editormum.livejournal.com]

Oh, sentimental value *demands* the desk is kept (and hopefully fixed), but I wonder if it's possible to recycle it to another use so you don't have the ergonomic issues? Can it be used for a different purpose, so you can still justify keeping it, but also do your body a favour and get a new desk for the computer?

Cheers
Tehani

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

We could put it in the unfinished basement we could stash it in, but other than that, no: it's a substantial piece of furniture, and we don't really have room for any more of those until/unless we finish the basement -- and if we do that, we'll want to use that space for specific other purposes.

On the other hand, timprov has moved his computer into his bedroom, so I suppose I could use this as a desk and get something else to put the computer on if he's going to keep using the space that way. But then we'd be paying to fix the desk and buy me a new computer desk.

[mkille.livejournal.com]

If I were in your position, I would remove what remains of the door and rails so that it didn't nag at me (making it a shelf instead of a cabinet, basically), and then put the desk in a different room so that I could have a new desk that didn't hurt my back. But I have a finished basement with very little furniture in it, so.

Hope you find a decision you're happy with!

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Removing the rails is not nearly as easy a solution as you seem to think, and the wood where once there was a typewriter springy mechanism is substantially altered in order to leave room for that mechanism.

We have an unfinished basement that will need purposeful furniture if it gets finished and gets furniture. So.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know what I'd do. I'd keep the desk, but never get around to fixing the door. I'm not really able to visualize the item you describe, and I'm having a hard time understanding why there needs to be a door there if it's not part of the typewriter-springing-mechanism.

But even if that door were totally integral to the working of the desk, I probably wouldn't fix it. This is not necessarily an admirable characteristic, and I'm not suggesting you emulate it.

I might, however, do something like remove a center drawer and replace it with an under-desk pull-out keyboard shelf. I'm adamant about having my keyboard at the proper height. I don't know if it's helped my back any, but I have spent 30+ years in the computer industry without developing carpal tunnel, and I think proper keyboard height is the main reason.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

The door is necessary because the wood around the door is fairly sliced up to provide for the weird mechanism thing, and there are metal bits, so it's both unaesthetic and a hazard to my knee as I slide the chair in.

[pixelfish.livejournal.com]

Actually you might be surprised about the typing thing. At work, the company ergonomists tried lowering my desk and making me use a lowered keyboard tray so that my arms could hang, instead of me scrunching up my shoulders and elbows to get 'em on the desk. The monitor height might be more of a concern than the desk height.....

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure why you say I might be surprised about the typing thing: I am scrunching up my shoulders and elbows to get 'em on the desk. It's too high, not too low.

[diatryma.livejournal.com]

My current desk is a garage sale find, and is actually a mahogany vanity table. It's not deep enough, it's not tall enough, but it's mahogany and pretty and fit through the hallway (any desk deep enough for the way I work would get stuck).
I'd go with desk modifications, as mentioned above-- I have blocks of wood that lift the vanity-desk up so I fit under it-- with the possibility of turning it into an auxiliary desk or something else. If the desk causes you pain, it's best to change it before it becomes tainted with the discomfort.

My own bias is to ignore slight inconveniences in favor of keeping everything I have ever owned. Which does make a difference in my advice.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Yah, I am something of an anti-packrat, actually.

[diatryma.livejournal.com]

I'm packrattish by nature, as far as I can tell, and growing up in a house with a large attic and basement certainly didn't help. Mom's been waiting for one of us adult kids to take the couches from the basement for *years*. At one point, I think we had four down there. And mirrors. No one can get rid of mirrors.
Could it be hereditary? I mean, my dad's family had a traditional Christmas mouse heirloom for years, and you really aren't a packrat until you have packed up and moved a desiccated mouse corpse, then a mouse skeleton, then a pile of eeny-teeny bones, all held in an ornament.
Or maybe my family's just *weird*.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I think I know why the mirror thing:

Breaking a mirror is bad luck, right?

And breaking a chain letter is bad luck.

So breaking a mirror chain is, like, a million times bad luck.

That's my current theory.

[diatryma.livejournal.com]

Mirrors are always useful. You may not be able to use them now, but evenutally, you'll need a mirror and you'll wish you hadn't tossed that little one, the one with the frame.
And then Dad bought a few dozen for a high school solar collector project, we inherited at least one, one came with my low dresser....

[columbina.livejournal.com]

You would call me out there to fix it. I know, I know, not practical.

Kidding aside I would probably try to keep the desk, but I'm that way.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Well, next time you're in the neighborhood and feeling untalkative....

[mallory-blog.livejournal.com]

I would fix it or improve it. Generally a door repair isn't too pricey and you can have the carpenter mount it to open in a more reasonable direction. He can also install those glidy drawers that hide inside cabinets to improve use and sometimes a good option for big old desks is to get a chair that elevates higher than normal. If there is a center drawer it could be removed and a slide out keyboard could be installed. A nifty carpenter could even retain the look and have the door tuck away.

The thing is - you could probably trade for the work if you do any kind of marketing type of writing. You might consider advertising on craigslist for a trade job rather than a put out money job. I have quite a bit of luck doing trade jobs.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

We're not at a point where money is no object, but having me do marketing writing in trade rather than paying is probably not worth the time for us at this point.

All that work is going to leave me deskless for a substantial amount of time.

[brooksmoses]

I personally would fix it, but that's because fixing that sort of thing is something I do (lilairen teases me about being a boggan sometimes), because I'm reasonably good at it and it makes the world a better place in a nice tangible way, and that's good for me.

What I might do, if I didn't have time to do something with it properly, is figure out how to attach the door in a nice temporary but non-opening way, so that it looks right until I had a chance to make it open on the side and put shelves or something in behind it (or use it as the front on a pull-out filing cabinet thingy -- actually, that might be a pretty good use of it, depending on size).

I'm planning to be in Minneapolis for a small con-thing at the end of March. It would almost certainly be entirely impractical for me to volunteer to come by and fix the desk while I'm there, and thus I'm trying very hard and with only limited success not to volunteer to do that. But I could perhaps come by and poke at it and ponder at useful things to do about it and maybe put the door back on, if you wanted.

Being a packrat, if I were in your place and decided to get a new desk, I'd probably also see if I had a room that needed a desk-sized side table, rather than getting rid of it.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Tangible ways of improving the world do feel good. I know how that goes.

The problem with a non-opening door fix is that my mailing supplies are all in that cabinet area.

I do not have a room that needs a desk-sized side table.

Glad to hear you'll be around -- maybe we can grab lunch or something, depending on timing.

[callunav.livejournal.com]

I would, if I possibly, possibly could, put the old desk Somewhere, and get a new desk without getting rid of the old. Use the new desk which will be nice to your back as a desk, and use the old desk as something else. I don't know what. Something your household will accommodate. Or else I would try to find a way to cram it into my basement. That way when you have a sudden perfect use and place for the desk, there it will be.

Failing that, I would probably try to shanghai a friend into fixing it for me, and put serious thought into improving the ergonomics while keeping the desk.

Because I'm like that.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I am not a big believer in sudden and perfect uses, which is probably something that distinguishes me from a lot of the friendslist.

[callunav.livejournal.com]

Sudden and perfect uses are a great source of satisfaction and pleasure in my life, but I do understand that these things are not universal.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I understand, because I am a great believer in them in terms of ideas, just not in terms of objects.

[timprov.livejournal.com]

If you're not attached to using this one regularly, I don't see any reason other than me being a lazybutt why we shouldn't just dump my old desk and get you a new one (and me a file cabinet). If I decided to move back in there your desk would be better for me than mine anyway. It's not like I'm going to have height problems.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Oh. Well. That's a thought. I'd still want the door fixed, but...hmm. We will think about that when we get home.

[papersky.livejournal.com]

The world is full of new desks, but this one is invested with love.

If I were you, I'd get brooksmoses to fix it for you when he's in town, and make him some rosemary buns.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I have to think very firmly at myself to see rosemary buns as payment for anything. Mostly I make baked goods for people because I like them (both people and baked goods -- pronoun ambiguity is in this case our friend), not because I need something of them.

On the other hand, sometimes they fix things for me because they like me and not because they need something of me, and the coincidence of those things can be a happy thing.

(I'm also pretty wibbly about eating some of Brooks's Mpls time, though -- possibly *lots*. So that may not be the specific thing, but another person who eats rosemary buns, maybe.)

[dendrophilous.livejournal.com]

I would decide to get rid of it and to buy a new desk, but then not actually do either, at least until the next time I moved (c. every 3 yrs).

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Ah. My list is long, but it does generally get done.

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

I have a Thing about big heavy solid desks, so I would choose (have chosen) solidity over ergonomics. what I would do would be jury-rig a fix for the door (or have it fixed, if I could manage it) and keep on keeping on.

It would help that I have a laptop, so I can go elsewhere if typing on a too-high desk begins to make me hurt.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Yah, I should get a laptop one of these first years. Hasn't been a priority, in part because I like it that when I leave the office to walk away from the computer, I am walking away from the computer and can't work on it elsewhere. I would have to be a lot more directly self-disciplined about not using the laptop down on the sofa, for example, if I had one -- leaving that space to be Not For Work. One of the ways I'm trying to work around a major working-at-home hazard.

[scottjames.livejournal.com]

I haven't read the other comments, so I may be repeating other people. Or you may have already decided what to do, since this is so old. But what I would do is: get a new desk, but don't get rid of the old one. Put it in the basement, or attic, or off-site storage or *something*. To be repaired, or used for a different purpose, or something, at a later time. But use a more ergonomic desk for computer work.