Out with the old

The problem with buying and replacing furniture is the waste that’s left behind. The sheer amount of cardboard and plastic that have no chance to fit in the ordinary household recycling bin. The old furniture that’s being replaced: how the heck do you throw away an old desk?

Part of the reason I’ve been hesitant to replace my desk and buy a couch (respectively) is dealing with the waste byproduct. I definitely do not want to spend the time putting the old desk on Craigslist and dealing with tire kickers. That thing has been with me since my end of college days, so I feel like I’ve gotten the full monetary use out of it already. Naturally, none of my friends are in need of a desk - we’ve all got our own.

The proper thing to do would be call the garbage collector and schedule a bulk pickup. Households around here get two of those for free, per year. Each time you get to throw away 10 bulk items. And the collector is militant about this: the workers will leave any item over the 10 count right out on the street. They wouldn’t even do you the solid of taking the bulkiest items. Hashtag PSA.

The improper thing to do, aside from driving to an empty highway and dumping the stuff to the side, is to have parents living in an apartment complex with large communal trash bins. All I had to do is ferry the old furniture - broken down, of course - and cardboard waste to my parents and have them dump it. This saves me the pain of storing the old stuff in what little space I have. No matter how generous my landlord is, the garage space is already rather full.

I’m the type of personality that the sooner something gets done, the better. Especially when it comes to getting rid of clutter. For a homebody like me, the home space is sacred, and must be kept pristine as much as possible. I’m glad this new furniture episode is completely behind me now.

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The original.

Everything I need is on the ground

I am finally getting a new desk. But it’s not the kind you think. Standing desks are all the rage these days. I’m immensely glad my workplace has furnished for us adjustable desk. Which means I get to stand as much as I want while I am at work. Which also means I don’t necessary want to stand once I am home. There’s no need to pay (in this economy) for an expensive standing desk.

In a stroke of inspiration, I had the idea of wanting the exact opposite: a “floor desk”. One that is so low to the ground I need to sit on the floor to use. Picture a giant coffee table for computing use. It’s an ode to the traditional Japanese way of living, where everything is done close to the ground. The ryokan we stayed at while in Japan was like this: we sat on cushions, ate on a low coffee table, and slept right on the floor.

My favorite way of sitting is cross-legged anyways. I think using a floor desk just makes all the sense.

The problem is actually finding one. Unlike the legion of standing desk users, there doesn’t seem to be that many floor sitters out there. Therefore the selection of low-to-the-ground office desks is kind of non existent. I had to get creative. Per chance I noticed Uplift - a popular standing desk brand - sells coffee table legs. These 16-inch high steel legs can turn any piece of board into a low desk. Along with the legs I bought a bamboo desktop on Amazon. For about $300, it’s not a bad deal compared to the $600 or so I was looking at for a standing desk.

What’s more, I will be able to get rid of my office chair, freeing up precious space in this tiny studio of mine.

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Vlog life.

Ergonomics and amortization

In my search to perfect (as much as possible) the ergonomic situation with my desk, the best thing I bought for that purpose actually costs very little. It’s a footrest, to elevate your feet for a better posture. With my chair set at the proper height (arms at 90 degree angle when typing), my feet are a bit dangly in relation to the floor. This $40 piece of memory foam solves that problem. It’s been an absolutely revelation since it arrived. I should have bought one way sooner.

A two-hour photo editing session with no discomfort whatsoever. What a joy.

I’m still debating whether or not to get a standing desk. I’ve got one of those at work and I try to stand as much as possible while there. So I figured that once I come home, it’s quite okay to sit the rest the time. But what about on weekends? It would be nice to alternate between sit and stand every now and then. However, I just spend nearly $9,000 on a monitor and a laptop, so I’m not in the mood to drop another thousand on the standing desk that I want.

That said, I’ve been using my current desk - the long discontinued IKEA Fredrik - for well over a decade. I fully expect any new desk I purchase will be used for at least that long. A thousand dollar amortized over that length of time isn’t all that much money from that perspective. That’s the same rationale I used for spending $5,000 on an Apple Pro Display XDR: I plan to keep and use it for at least 10 years.

Perhaps a standing desk will be coming soon. But first I need to get my piano situation sorted. I’ve been unable to practice because I gave my iPad to my father. The tablet is where I load lessons from Piano Marvel. Due to circumstances, my father needed an iPad quickly, so I let him have mine, thinking it would be easy enough to buy a plain iPad (not Air, not Pro, not anything) from the Apple Store. Unfortunately, the crazy supply chain is at it again: the cheapest iPad you can buy is backordered into the middle of January.

No (new) practicing until that time, which isn’t ideal for my progression, honestly.

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Late night snack.

Tiny home improvements

I’ve been thinking about ways to spruce up my living space. Not in a superficial way, but something practical and utilitarian. Costco has a sale on a small dehumidifier, and now my bathroom is moisture-controlled. Even with a vent window, things can still get rather damp in there. For about $25 dollars, it’s a super cheap solution.

Another thing I really want to get is a standing desk. I’ve had this IKEA Fredrik desk (long since out of production) since my college days, and suffice it to say it has served me supremely well. However, on certain work-from-home days it would be more healthy to stand instead of sit for the entire eight hours. I could buy one of those desktop converters, but those look horrible and it encroaches on precious desk space.

So I did a search for what’s considered most popular and best standing desk these days. Fully seems to be the one. I specced one out to be the same size as the Fredrik and wow are standing desks expensive! $700 dollars amortized over many decades (assuming the electrics last that long) isn’t really that big of an expense, but coughing up all that up front is a mental barrier I can’t yet get over.

Good new is, I’m physically going into work more often. The office recently received new furnishing, one of which are standing desks! On days I’m actually at work, I practically stand the whole time (sometimes even whilst eating lunch). Hopefully that will negate the need for me to buy a Fully desk. Let’s see what happens, though; I have the website bookmarked still…

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I’ve actually never been up there.