The Omega Fontega

Virg insisted I blog about this. Our favorite sandwich place is Panera, where they consistently put together sandwiches with great combinations of ingredients. And whatever you order, they seem to be done making it before you can find a table.

Last week I stopped at our local Panera and ordered a Fontega Chicken Hot Panini sandwich. Ten minutes later, one of the people making sandwiches called out my name, and told me they were out of that sandwich. This confused me. I can understand being out of a particular ingredient, but how can you be out of an entire sandwich? So I asked, "Did you just say you were out of Fontega Chicken?" The woman replied, "Well, we only have half a sandwich left. But we can give you half of any other hot panini sandwich." From this, I learned two important facts about Panera:

1. The hot panini sandwiches aren't made fresh. They're pre-made.
2. The people at Panera are unable to assemble new hot panini sandwiches. (This is mysterious, because they clearly possess chicken, mozzarella, tomato, and focaccia.)

The implication is clear. Panera does not make hot panini sandwiches. A long time ago, Panera explorers came upon the remnants of an ancient society of super-intelligent aliens, who, deep within an intricate network of underground crystal caves, hid a stash of hot panini sandwiches. And since 1981, Panera has been mining those sandwiches and selling them to customers for $6.79. Except that now, I have eaten the last of the Fontega Chicken sandwiches, and it's only a matter of time before the world's supply of Smokehouse Turkey dries up, too!

Let Us Give Thanks

This is the day of the year where at most gatherings we Americans are asked to share what we are grateful for. This is always kind of an uncomfortable moment for me since I usually feel like I have way more blessings than I deserve, and that sharing those might sound boastful. Mainly I am thankful to be alive, healthy, and living comfortably. This year I think I have more to be thankful for than usual...

I am thankful that there will be a Democrat in the White House next year, bringing with him the promise of more opportunity and support for those less fortunate, a plan for a sustainable economy, an end to attacks on our civil rights, and a vision of hope that will inspire us to be our best selves.

I am thankful for my husband, Dave, with whom I build a stronger relationship every year, and who encourages me to keep up with my interests, friends, and TV shows.

I am thankful that Dave and I survived our move to Pittsburgh, the cats arrived safely, and the house we rented sight unseen turned out to be a great place to live in a nice quiet block full of cat lovers. Also, I am thankful that Pittsburgh is exceeding expectations regarding livability and opportunities for activity.

I am thankful that I work for a company that allowed me to move across the country and still be considered a part of the team. I'm also thankful that Dave found a teaching position that allowed us to move to an area of the country where we can be within driving distance of most of our family members, and where we can afford to buy a home of our own.

And last, but not least, I am thankful for my little furry buddies, Jackie and Mr. Moustache, who keep me company during the lonely work day, snuggle with me when I'm down, and provide us with endless entertainment.

Book Report

Last spring my father started reading Then We Came To The End. However, he did not come anywhere near the end. And, since he had to get that book as far away from himself as he possibly could, he mailed the hated book to Virg and me. Then one day this summer Virg picked it up in desperation, and ended up loving it. She flew through it, laughing as she went. And so I started reading it, and it immediately became clear why Virg loved it so much. Virg's secret passion is to read random blogs about people complaining about their co-workers, which is exactly how this book reads. It takes place at a struggling advertising company that's laying off its people one by one, and yet everyone spends their days goofing off and gossiping. It begins as a blur of characters, but gradually you realize you don't really need to keep track of them, as the author keeps reminding you as needed. And you get sucked into the gossip, determined to find out what really happened to so-and-so's chair, etc.

In a way, the book reminded me of another book I enjoyed in the recent past: The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night. That story is narrated by a fictional autistic kid who is wrapped up in various details and misses all the serious emotional turmoil around him, just as the Then We Came To The End characters are too busy gossiping to recognize that their co-workers are coming to terms with divorce, unwanted pregnancy, loss of a child, etc. As the reader, you don't really stop to think about this stuff either, because somehow you just really want to know what's going to happen to that office chair. Part of this detached experience comes from the book's unusual narrative style: It's told in first person plural ("we"). Then halfway into the book, the voice changes, and for just one chapter, you're given an honest look at the boss's loneliness as she comes to terms with having cancer. And when you're thrust back into office gossip again, and the book's humorous events now take on an undertone of tragedy. And when I came to the end of the book, I found I had really enjoyed its entertaining and touching look at office life.

The other two books I enjoyed recently were authored by Barack Obama. I already wrote about how much I was enjoying Dreams From My Father during the run up to the presidential election. Well, it never disappointed. He tells his story so beautifully it feels like reading fiction. It reminded me a little of reading Sting's memoirs about his parents and beginnings, entitled Broken Music. If you read only one Obama book, read Dreams From My Father. Written shortly after he graduates from Harvard Law, the book traces his early life in Hawaii and Indonesia, his experiences as a community organizer in inner city Chicago, and his journey to Kenya to meet his father's family. The story focuses on the role that race plays in his life. It's a story about someone who is seen as a black man, but feels like an outsider in the black community, given his mixed and unusual background, and who, more than anything else, is just looking for somewhere he feels he belongs--a place he seems to find at last as he connects with his extended family and learns about his origin from them. It'd be impossible to read this book and not love Obama, for his honesty, insights, and genuine efforts to do good.

Obama wrote Audacity Of Hope in his first year as a U.S. senator, but it still feels honest. About half of the book provides the more detailed views behind the sound bites we heard in his presidential campaign. That half can be a little dry. But the other half, sprinkled throughout the book, consists of fascinating accounts of his time in politics. At its most personal, this is a book about a man contemplating the distance that his political life has put between himself and his family.

Hallelujah!

Not yet president, and Obama has already healed the nation's wounds with lactose-free egg nog!!!

Catchup

For my birthday on November 7th we really hadn't settled on anything special to do, so I proposed going to the monthly Friday evening gallery hop, called Unblurred here in Pittsburgh. Dave ended up working late and I was tired, so instead we decided to go to Ma Provence, a romantic-looking French bistro right in our neighborhood.

The restaurant is very cozy and the service was nice, the food was good if a little uneven in flavor. Dave's Mignons de Porc au Raisin et Bacon was wonderful but the weekly special steak dish was nothing special. We also had butternut squash soup which was also very yummy, and the charcuteries plate which was so-so as the pate was very cold and stiff. For dessert we had a slice of apple tart which was nicely presented but nothing special.

The bread service was unusual. The server would come by and offer you a slice every now and then. The bread was awesome, but it was a bit odd to serve it in this way. I suppose it was to make sure that the fresh and warm bread would come straight out of the oven and onto your plate.

Since the 7th was very quiet, I decided that we had to go down to the Strip on Saturday morning to breakfast at the locally famous greasy spoon, DeLuca's, shop with the crowds at the various shops, and check out the farmer's market.

DeLuca's was jammed at 8:15am so we breakfasted in another cafe just a block up the street that had yummy French toast. I wish I could remember the name of the place. Just a few doors down was a chocolate shop with novelty chocolates and chocolates from around the world. I settled on a bacon-chocolate bar, and a 100% cocoa bar.

Mmmmmm, choclate and bacon together at last!

We also stopped a lot of other stores, but there was only so much shopping I could handle and it was very cold out. On the way back to the car we stopped by the farmer's market, which was a sad little affair in a tiny parking lot next to a bar, and no one was shopping there--nothing like the crowded overflowing bounty of the Mountain View farmers market, but I suppose this is how it goes in late fall around here.

Here are some pictures of the cats acting cute:



It's been snowing off and on all week. Here's the view from our front porch:

Doing Lunch

I went to a couple of new-to-me places this week for lunch:

Zaw's in Squirrel Hill. One word--CHEAP! This is not a place to dine in. There is a counter you can sit at, but it's not a pleasant place to sit. There's a lot of smoke from the open kitchen, and it's not at all clean. Still the food is very good and lots of choices. I really enjoyed the kung pao chicken with fried rice.

City Grill in the South Side also has nice prices. Good pub atmosphere and great service. I really enjoyed the pulled pork sandwich and the skin-on fries were perfect.

My Boys

Our Attempt To Vote

On Sunday we got another door hanger for Obama, informing us of our polling place. Thankfully, Virg was smart enough to know it was actually the wrong location! We ran outside to catch the people posting false polling information, but they had already disappeared.

We've discovered that Pennsylvania doesn't mail sample ballots to voters, nor do they mail us information booklets to tell us what candidates are running or what measures are on the ballot. So, we picked up the Sunday newspaper, but even that had no information. We eventually found some info on a random web site, but now I can't even seem to find that anymore. I therefore gave up and decided just to vote for president.

This morning we woke up early to get to our correct polling place before it opened at 7am.
Everything we read said that a driver's license would be sufficient identification, but we each brought our voter registration card, not wanting to take any chances. When we arrived at the polling place, there were Obama and McCain campaign signs around the entrance, which seemed pretty suspect.

There were already two long lines. There were murmurs in the crowd as to whether it made any difference which line you were in. Virg snuck inside to ask one of the poll workers, and sure enough, there are two precincts at this location, and you need to know your district number in order to vote. Thankfully, the number was on our registration cards. Still the poll workers were too inept to post signs or make any announcement to identify which line corresponded to which district number, so Virg kindly shared her information with others in line. Most people didn't seem to know their district number anyway, so they waited to get to the front before knowing which line they should have been in.

There were four electronic voting machines for each precinct. Apparently all four machines for our precinct were broken. And so 100% of the people in our precinct were already being given paper Emergency Ballots. To obtain one, I needed to show ID, at which point they gave me a numbered card without explanation. Another person then took the card, tore it in half like a movie ticket, and gave me back my voting stub. Then another woman handed me a ballot. "How do I fill it out?" I asked. "On those tables." "With what?" The woman handed me a pen, saying "There are more pens on the table." There weren't.

Virg and I sat at a table together and tried to make sense of our Emergency Ballots. There was a bubble that let you vote "Democratic," letting you vote the entire democratic ticket in a single bubble. But marking this and leaving the Obama bubble unmarked made me very nervous. Plus, we didn't know if the ballot would be counted by machine or by hand--if at all. So Virg and I read through the directions at the top very carefully. The directions described two options for voting: (1) vote for a single party, or (2) vote for a single party, and then mark the exceptions. There was no indication of how you might just vote for individuals, or how you might vote for some offices but not others. I took the ballot over to the poll workers and asked one of them what I should mark if I just wanted to vote for president. She looked at it, and told me she had no idea.

And so Virg and I decided to hedge our bets by using different strategies to mark our ballots. I marked both the "Democratic" and "Obama" bubbles, and nothing else. Who did I vote for with those bubbles? Like the poll worker, I have no idea. Did I vote for all democrats, or just Obama? Did I vote for all democrats except Obama? Or did I invalidate my ballot by marking both?

We were told to seal each ballot inside an envelope. But in order to get them to fit, we had to fold the ballots in quarters. I can't imagine they'll be able to score folded and sealed ballots by machine.

At last, Virg and I left, with no confidence that our votes will be counted. I really hope Obama can win Pennsylvania without us...

Harold & Kumar Escape From Censorship

The writer/director team and lead actors kindly autographed this HK2 DVD for me. The four of them did an audio commentary track that's hysterical, in part because they're very funny people, and in part because it's the first time Kal Penn is seeing the unrated version, and his mortified reaction to it is priceless. Also, long-time Dave fans will be pleased to hear me cited during the library scene.

Getting Out The Getting-Out-The-Vote

Last week I began reading a book that I'm enjoying immensely--an autobiographical coming-of-age story about a man coming to terms with his identity and with the role of race in America. But it reads more like a novel, and the writing is poetry, and I can't seem to put it down. And in the middle of my reading, I got the rare opportunity to see the author in person.

The experience reminds me of when you hear a good joke, and then later you hear someone else tell the same joke, but this time it ends "... and that man was Bill Clinton," or "... George Bush", or some other super-celebrity. And you think, but the original joke was funny in its own right. Why do people feel the need to cheapen it by dropping some big name at the end?

That's kind of how I feel about the author of this engrossing book growing up to be the famous Barack Obama. And yet, of course, I would never have started reading it, otherwise.

It's a fascinating book, because it's very honest, having been written before Obama's political career. And it was against the backdrop of my reading that I got to see Obama himself speak at a rally in Pittsburgh's Mellon Arena. Virg and I waited in an endless line outside the Arena (which ultimately still left half the seats empty). Every time we advanced a few more feet, another volunteer would remind us that we couldn't bring any banners, that we had to remove our Barack Obama pins in order to get through the metal detectors, and that we should turn our cell phones on (the implication being so that we could prove they weren't bombs). We were probably approached by 20 such volunteers, each concerned that it might take us a good 30 minutes to unfasten our Obama buttons.

And each volunteer asked if we were registered to vote. Did they really think we had the energy to make our way downtown and stand in line in the cold to see Obama, but that ultimately we couldn't be bothered to stop by to vote at the polling place near our house? Each volunteer also asked if we were interested in volunteering for the campaign, and were pleased to learn that Virg is already a volunteer. Do they really need more volunteers? They already have 20 people to tell us to take off a campaign button. And it seemed silly that the primary job of a volunteer was to recruit more volunteers.

Waiting for the rally to begin, we watched bemused as campaign workers passed out campaign-approved banners to the people nearest the podium. At long last, Obama came out to much applause, and his speech was well written and masterfully delivered as always. We were very glad we went to hear him. But the contrast to his book was striking. Here was the author who wanted to see himself as an American, but lived in a racially divided America that could only see him as a black American and continued to place him in black communities. I can just imagine Obama chuckling to himself after addressing the sea of white faces at the Mellon Arena.

Still it seemed to me that Obama was preeching to the choir, and it was hard to imagine what purpose the rally served. When I got home, I read about Obama's own experience in attending a rally event early in his career as a community organizer in Chicago. He wrote, "To my mind the whole thing came off a bit flat, like a political convention or a TV wrestling match. Still, the crowd seemed to be enjoying itself."

Virg has been phone-banking for the Obama campaign this week. On Thursday night, she spent a couple hours calling volunteers to remind them of when they needed to come in to phone-bank. At home, sitting by myself and finishing writing recommendation letters, the phone rang. It was a volunteer from the Obama campaign. She was calling to remind Virg to come in to phone-bank on Monday. It's as if Obama has too many people lining up to campaign for him, so he creates fake work for them. As if he's organized a community of people and tricked them into thinking they're community organizers.

Snow Update

Now the snow is accumulating on the garage roof and staying frozen on the grass in the backyard.

More Snow

OMG Snow!

This morning it was just a little flurry, but this afternoon it was like a downpour. So pretty! So COLD!

I've been so busy lately I haven't had much tine to post. Here's what's been going on lately:

A couple weeks ago I went back to CA for work. There were a ton of meetings and a visit to my aunt in Sac, so it went by too fast. I did get to eat at all my old favorite places though.

While in CA I picked up a head cold from my cousin, so I got experience the joy of airplane descent with clogged ears. OWWWWW!

Also while I was in CA I arranged to have a shipper pick up my car. It arrived here on Saturday. I am so happy to drive it again!

Monday we went to the Obama rally at Mellon Arena (the hockey "igloo") in Pittsburgh. It was very cool to see Obama speak, and I'm sure Dave will write more about that later.

Last night was my first time making phone calls from the Obama volunteer office. I was a little nervous at first, but after getting a lot of answering machines I realized not that many people were going to pick up the phone and yell at me. I spoke to a few polite people supporting both major parties so that wasn't so bad.

RSI Demystified

I know I haven't blogged in a while. It's not that I've been busy. Things just seem to be the same each week, so there hasn't been anything new to write about. But I promised myself I'd blog whenever I finished reading a book, and I actually finished reading two books recently.

Stress Book
Most recently, I finished a phenomenal book called "Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers," by Robert Sapolsky.

It explains the science of stress, both physiological and psychological, which can be summed up like this: The body responds pretty much the same way to any kind of stressor. And it responds in the way that would most help you escape from being eaten by lions--directing your energy into short-term survival mechanisms, and diverting it from long-term repair. Which is great if you're being eaten by lions. Not that being eaten by lions is great. But if you spend enough of your life stressed out about finances, looming deadlines, etc., your body's natural response to these prolonged stressors is going to have serious consequences for your physical health.

Anyway, Sapolsky's book is a fascinating tour of the human body, as examined through the lens of stress and the body's response. And every page has the kind of gem that leaves you needing to stop and share some cool fact with whoever's nearby. (Poor Virg.)

Virg bought the book for me last winter, which I guess was her way of saying I was too stressed. Now that my job is far less demanding, she thinks I've been much happier and much less stressed. Maybe the book helped me focus my career plans on the kinds of jobs that wouldn't work me to death and stress me out so much.

RSI Books
Anyway, the other book I finished recently was called "Comfort At Your Computer" by Paul Linden. It was a rather unenjoyable read, but one that was necessary to get some genuinely helpful tips on ergonomics.

I've been suffering from computer-related (and piano-related?) RSI (repetitive strain injury) pains in my wrists since February, and it's been very frustrating experiencing these pains, unable to do the things I enjoy most, and unable to get any real help. I endured a few months of worthless appointments and treatments before I started researching RSI on my own. I've now read several books on the subject, including:

• "It's Not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome" by Jack Bellis and Suparna Damany
• "Dr. Pascarelli's Complete Guide to Repetitive Strain Injury" by Emil Pascarelli
• "The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook" by Clair Davies
• "Conquering Carpal Tunnel Syndrome And Other Repetitive Strain Injuries" by Sharon Butler
• "Comfort At Your Computer" by Paul Linden

What is RSI?
If you had to start with one of these books, I'd go with "It's Not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome." The title reflects everyone's tendency (including several of my misinformed doctors) to diagnose you with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), no matter what your symptoms are. RSI is a very general term for the kind of pain I have, while CTS refers to a very specific medical condition. It turns out that the muscles that operate your fingers are located primarily in your forearm, and they pull on your fingers by means of long cables called tendons. Many of these tendons reach the hand through a narrow tunnel in the wrist called the carpal tunnel. The median nerve, which serves the thumb, index finger, and middle finger, also passes through the carpal tunnel. When the carpal tunnel is compressed, or full of fluid, it compresses those tendons and the median nerve, which prevents signals from the thumb-side of your hand from reaching your brain. So, if you regularly feel numbness or tingling in this part of your hand, then you may have CTS.

CTS occurs in people who have narrow carpal tunnels, people with overactive glands, pregnant women, etc. Its link to repetitive activity is unclear, but certainly many computer users have suffered from the symptoms of CTS. Surgery is often proposed as the solution for such people. The surgeon cuts the wall of the carpal tunnel (a ligament), which gives the tendons and median nerve more room. This immediately alleviates the symptoms for many people suffering from CTS, but it's not clear that it's a good long-term solution. At the least, surgery should probably be a last resort.

I don't suffer from CTS symptoms, but I do experience numbness at times, particularly in my pinky and ring finger--a sure sign that my ulnar nerve is being compressed somewhere. RSI pain is also caused in large part by compression. I'm still learning about RSI, but here's my current understanding of this condition.

Imagine a device that looks like a long tube.

picture of a device that looks like a long tube,
so you don't have to imagine too hard

When you turn on the device, the tube contracts, which is really cool, except that when it contracts, it's got all this disgusting goop that oozes out the sides. Thankfully, the device also comes equipped with hoses that suck up the goop and carry it away to some sort of appropriate goop waste receptacle.

contracted tube device
(de-gooping hoses not shown)

Now, suppose you've got two big heavy blocks, and you want to pull them together. You get a whole bunch of contracting tube devices, and you connect them to the blocks. Then you turn them all on at once, and the blocks are pulled toward each other.

a series of tubes,
pulling big heavy blocks together

What could go wrong? Well, suppose you turn on these contracting tube devices a whole lot. That will cause a lot of goop to ooze out the sides. But that's no problem, because the hoses will make sure the goop is properly removed. Ah, but what if something crushes one of those hoses, so that it can no longer remove as much goop? Well, that's no problem, as long as you don't turn on the contracting tube devices much, so that they don't generate too much goop.

But what if you turn on the devices a whole lot, when that hose is crushed? Then something very bad happens, because lots of goop oozes out of the tube with the crushed hose, and since it's got nowhere to go, the goop gooks up the contracting tube device. If the goop is allowed to accumulate like this for a while without being removed, that contracting tube device breaks down, getting stuck in a contracted setting. So now the broken tube is pulling unevenly on the block. Thankfully, this particular block is equipped with state-of-the-art sensors which detect this uneven stress and respond by illuminating a helpful warning light.

warning light comes on when block is pulled unevenly by gooked-up tube

Have you figured out what all this silliness has to do with RSI? Those contracting tubes are your muscle fibers. The goop is the metabolic waste generated when your body uses energy to contract its muscles. The hoses are the blood vessels and other channels that carry away that metabolic waste. The block those muscles are pulling on is your wrist. And the warning light is the pain you feel in your wrist.

Bad Advice
See a doctor for RSI pains and they'll immediately diagnose you with carpal tunnel syndrome, and then tell you to wear wrist splints and take Advil. But this is terrible advice, because the splints will compress your muscles and keep that goop in place, and will limit your range of motion so that you're using the same muscles repeatedly, and will deceive you into thinking you can continue working without changing your work habits. And that Advil won't help, because you're not suffering from an inflammation, and the quantities of Advil you'd need to consume in order to reduce the constant dull pain would destroy your stomach lining. The doctor will also advise you to stop using the computer--the equivalent of telling you to simply stop using that contracting tube system. This just avoids the problem instead of fixing it. And it isn't realistic advice if your life is in computers. I have seen nearly a dozen doctors, and not a single one of them had any understanding of RSI. But they were able to prescribe physical therapy.

Physical therapists are well meaning people, but many are equally misinformed. They push all sorts of silly remedies, including ice packs, hot packs, icy hot cream, and electrical stimulation--all of which temporarily relieve the pain (like covering the warning light with a blanket), but they do nothing to solve the underlying problem. They push other bad solutions, too, like strengthening your wrists (which is like making the tube devices pull even heavier blocks), stretching your wrists (stretching the blocks), and massaging your wrists (cleaning goop off the blocks).

Good Advice
But no one understood enough to go after the real problem: all that goop that's gunking up the contracting tube device. Cleaning that goop is relatively easy. It requires deliberate, targeted, deep-tissue massage. This is something you can even do by yourself, although finding that gunked up spot is tricky. Since the wrist is controlled by muscles in the upper half of the forearm, it's a good bet that you'll need to work on muscles in that region--an area that not one of the 20-or-so physical therapists and doctors I saw ever examined. And it turns out that you can relieve the pain quite effectively in this manner. The "Trigger Point Therapy Workbook" suggests using a lacrosse ball, and rolling your arm over the ball against a wall, and this has proven to be very helpful. Unfortunately, this only cleans out the goop temporarily. Go back to using a computer, and the goop returns, and you find yourself spending a lot of time with a lacrosse ball.

The real problem is that compressed hose--the blood vessel that isn't removing metabolic waste products from your muscles fast enough. What's compressing that hose? (Or if you've got numbness and tingling sensations, what's compressing that nerve?) Unfortunately, the answer is probably other tight knotted muscles. And those muscles are probably tight because their hoses are compressed by other tight muscles. So, to relieve pain in your wrist, you will almost certainly need to work on muscles in your upper arm, shoulders, neck, and upper back. And as you work on these muscles and relieve various tight spots, you'll almost certainly feel your pain move around.

Trigger Points
That "Trigger Point Therapy Workbook" does a good job at pointing out what muscles are likely to contribute to pains in other muscles. If your muscle fibers get gunked up enough, they develop trigger points--muscle knots that refer pain to other locations. That is, when you press on the trigger point, you actually feel the pain travel to some other part of your body. Trigger points are responsible for all kinds of pain, including some migraine headaches. Why? Most likely because if the muscles in your neck get really tight, they can pull unevenly on your skull, thereby causing your nerves to send warning messages to your brain, in the form of pain.

Virg suffers from frequent terrible migraines. I gradually convinced her to look into trigger points, and sure enough she can actually simulate a headache by pressing on certain spots in her neck muscles. So for the past month, she's been seeing a very wonderful and knowledgeable massage therapist just a minute from our home, and he is indeed finding lots of trigger points. What causes them? Most likely, holding your head in an awkward position to look at a computer screen, and whiplash--something both of us have suffered from in the not-too-distant past.

Virg convinced me to see her massage therapist, and he's been very effective in relieving my muscle tightness. These aren't your typical massages. They're not about relaxing. They're more like intense medical treatments, where I'm regularly communicating with the massage therapist, helping him find the tight spots, and learning what I can do to work on myself. He's a big fan of stretching to relieve muscle tightness, and he's been very helpful in identifying which particular areas require stretching.

So, what's being compressed? In my case, and in many other RSI cases, the answer is most likely the thoracic outlet--the region below the collarbone and above the ribs, where the brachial plexus (the bundle of nerves that serve your arm) and subclavian artery pass through various muscles on their way from your neck to your arm.

Thoracic Outlet
(image stolen from Wikipedia)

What could compress this region? Frequent chest-breathing. Tight scalene muscles in the side of the neck, pulling your rib up against your collarbone. Tight pect muscles. All of which cause and are caused by: working hunched over. In other words, bad posture. Stretching out this region and massaging tight spots in these muscles is critical to relieving the problem, but it's just going to come back unless you practice good posture.

Posture and Ergonomics
There is a lot of bad advice out there about posture and ergonomics. Any office HR manager with 15 minutes of ergonomics training will tell you to sit up straight with your chest out, and with your elbows, waist, and knees at right angles. And beware of any product that calls itself ergonomic: every curved keyboard, awkward mouse, and fancy chair. So what is good posture/ergonomics?

Sitting hunched over has two negative outcomes. It compresses areas like your thoracic outlet, and it puts great strain on your upper back and neck muscles, which have to hold your head up in that awkward forward position. Therefore, good posture is all about preventing this compression and keeping your head properly balanced on top of your spine. Nearly everything I've learned about good seated posture has come from the "Comfort At Your Computer" book, and I'm finding it really works.

Good posture begins with your legs. Sit on a flat, padded chair, so that your knees are level with, or slightly lower than, your waist. Your feet should be flat on the floor, shoulder width. Why do you care so much about your legs? Because the more weight you put on your legs and feet, the less work your back, shoulders, and neck will have to do. Most "ergonomic" chairs slope backward, encouraging you to recline. But reclining is bad, because it causes you to hunch forward to reach your keyboard and look at the screen. If anything, you want a chair that slopes slightly forward, allowing you to put more weight on your feet.

The real key to sitting comfortably is the pelvis. If you sit down and allow your pelvis to tip backward, you'll notice that your spine will curve so that your shoulders and neck slump forward. This is bad. Instead, tip your pelvis forward, and your spine straightens out, letting you move your shoulders and neck back into a more relaxed position. The author suggests you tip your pelvis forward by consciously "pointing your genitals downward." I know it's really icky to think about genitals when you're trying to work, but it's surprisingly effective in positioning your spine, shoulders, and neck. It's also difficult to maintain this position for long, and that's where a rolled-up towel comes in. Position it so that it helps tip your pelvis forward, and you can sit in this position quite comfortably.

one frood who really knows where his towel is
(image stolen from Amazon, who stole it from the "Comfort At Your Computer" book)

All of this is so that you can move your shoulders back, and let them relax so that your shoulders drop backward comfortably. It also lets you position your head so that it sits on top of your neck, pointing downward just a tiny bit. You also want to sit with your upper arms at your sides, and your hands positioned comfortably in your lap. If you've got a chair with armrests, you'll find they cause you to scrunch your arms inward and forward, leading to that compression again. Although every "ergonomic" chair comes with armrests, I am absolutely convinced they are the devil, and I will never work on a chair with armrests again.

Finally, your wrists. They should be straight but relaxed, with your palms angled a bit inward and toward each other, and your fingers gently curled. Ok, all that feels great, but where does the computer come in?

Working at a Computer
The key is to position your computer so that you deviate from this comfortable seated position as little as possible. That means you want your keyboard as close to your lap as possible. This requires a very adjustable keyboard tray or a very very low desk with a thin surface--all nearly impossible to come by. Ideally, the keyboard should be level, or even tilted slightly away from you. (Almost all keyboards insist on tilting toward you, but that's no good if you want to sit comfortably with your hands near your lap.) Keyboards that angle your palms slightly inward, instead of keeping them flat and pointed forward, are probably a good thing. If you're right-handed like me, I think the most important thing is to have a keyboard that lets you move the mouse without reaching over a numeric keypad. You can find good inexpensive keyboards without numeric keypads. Finally, you want to position the monitor so that you can look at it at a very slightly downward angle, without moving your head forward. That probably means raising your monitor by putting it on top of books or boxes.

Finally, you don't want to sit like this for long periods of time, no matter how comfortable your seated posture is. Take frequent breaks and stretch often. (I'm bad at remembering to do this.) For me, the most effective stretches have been the ones where I stretch my arms out to the sides with my palms forward, stretching them backward. You can also achieve this sort of stretch by holding your arms against a wall, or by lying on your back with your arms hanging over the sides of a couch/bed.

Getting Better
Perhaps most importantly, sitting properly requires the sort of strength you get from a good night's sleep. Massage and stretching can help your body begin its healing process, but deep sleep is when the real healing takes place. Getting a good night's sleep with regularity is critical. Drinking enough water is probably also a good thing, since this may help your body as it removes those metabolic wastes. And finally, you won't get better from RSI overnight. It took years to do the damage, it will certainly require many frustrating months to undo it.

Is all this working for me? Am I getting better? I sure hope so...

Restaurants

I wanted to mention before I forget that we went to a couple new places in the past week.

Wednesday night we went to Cafe Du Jour, a French-ish place in the South Side. It didn't look like much. It's a tiny restaurant, and the open kitchen is right there in the front of it. Looks like a converted coffee shop. But the FOOD! was so GOOD! We started with the mushroom soup which was pretty good, but too many herb sticks floating around in it, and the baked brie plate with apples, honey, bread and prosciutto, which was delish and really all we needed to eat. Dave had a chicken thing stuffed with cheese and herbs, and I had the pork chop (me and my pork chops). It was awesome!

Saturday we went to Sakura, a Japanese place in Squirrel Hill. The atmosphere is very welcoming but quiet, and the service is very friendly, so we really liked it right off the bat. I had sushi and Dave had clay pot, and we were both very pleased with our food. The prices were reasonable, and it's not too busy on a Saturday night at 7pm, so this may become a regular spot.

The Cats Are Always Furrier

I was cat sitting for the neighbors this week. They have two adorable kitties named Puck (the orange one) and Oden (the grey one). Whenever I tried taking a pic of Puck he(?) would get all up in my face with curiosity.

Puck always greeted me at the door, followed me everywhere, and loved to be scratched on the head and play with toys. Oden was often nowhere to be found, but after the first 2 days he would come out and play when he heard the tinkling bells of cat toys.

Task Master

Jackie keeps me on task during the work day.

Faux Hawk

The flea stuff I put on the cats makes them look like they've been gelled and spiked.

Things have been pretty quiet around here for awhile. I guess that means we're all settled in. Here are some more Mr M pics from the last few days:


The best thing about Mr M is that he loves to snuggle. He doesn't care if your arm or leg is in the spot where he wants to be, he'll just sit on top of it.


Or if you want to share more of his space he's happy to oblige.


Last week I started my regular volunteer work at the East End Food Co-op. I shelved boxes of cereal and milk substitutes for 2 hours Wednesday morning. I've never heard of most of the cereals, and I was stunned by the array of soy, almond, and even hemp milks available. It earns me a 10% discount on my purchases there, and it gets me out of the house in the morning.

Saturday morning Dave and I went down to the South Side for breakfast at Tom's Diner. My frittata was awesome, but the hash browns were barely warmed, and Dave's "super cinnamon" French toast platter was cold and disappointing. The service was brusque, and the prices make it hard to justify a return visit.

Pittsburgh's South Side neighborhood reminds me of the Short North in Columbus, OH. Bars, cafes, restaurants, tattoo shops, music stores, imports, arts and antiques line both sides of the street for several blocks.

We're also cat sitting for the next-door neighbors this week. Contrary to their personalities when they're tethered outside, Puck is very friendly and greets us at the door, but Oden is shy and nervous.

We've been to see Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, and while the music was good the movie was completely forgettable. We also saw Ghost Town, and yeah the ads looked incredibly stupid, but this is actually a good movie because Ricky Gervais is hilarious and the plot takes some interesting turns.

Couple Of Lumps

It's too cold to fight. They forget their differences and cuddle when the temperature drops.

Can This Wait?

I've got a call coming in.

Eat Your Greens!

I know that leafy greens are some kind of magical power food that we're supposed to eat every day for the rest of our lives, but let's face it, unless you're a rabbit, greens are pretty boring and some of them (KALE!) are downright tough and nasty.

I decided that I had to try to like them a couple of years ago, and I looked for healthy recipes, but the health nuts only want you to gently steam or saute the greens, maybe with a little garlic and ginger, leaving them still bitter, tough and nasty (and boring).

Well I had an AHA moment last night when we ordered in some Indian food. I always get some kind of saag dish because what better way to eat greens than cooked to mush in butter. MMMMMMMMMMMMM.

Oh Hey! I could totally make this at home. :)

So here's my chicken saag-ish recipe:

1 5-lb chicken, quartered and brined (soak the chicken parts in salty water in the fridge for at least 3 hours before cooking. This tenderizes the meat and helps it retain some moisture), or use 2 breasts, 2 thighs, and 2 drumsticks on the bone.
2 Tablespoons virgin coconut fat (get the unrefined stuff if you can find it)
1 inch ginger peeled and cut into matchsticks
2 cloves garlic minced
2 bunches of greens, chopped (I used chard, but spinach, kale, collards, mustard greens, etc., would probably taste good too. Also, I only used one bunch, but I would use more next time.)
1 cup chicken broth
1 summer squash, chopped (I found a yellow zucchini that gave the dish some nice color.)
1 large tomato, peeled, cored, and diced
1 teaspoon garam masala (or whatever curry powder you have around)
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 Tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon salt (to taste)

1. Remove the chicken parts from the brine and dry thoroughly, leaving the skin on.

2. In a wide, deep pan heat the coconut fat over medium-high, and brown the chicken parts on all sides in the fat. Remove the chicken and set aside.

3. saute the ginger and garlic in the fat for a couple of minutes, then add the greens and saute until wilted.

4. Add the broth, squash, tomato, spices, and butter, and bring to a boil.

5. Put the chicken back into the pan, nestled among the vegetables.

6. Cover the pan, reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

7. Once the chicken is done (about 30 minutes), remove it from the pan, remove the skin, and debone the meat. Cut the meat into bite sized pieces and set aside.

While you're working with the meat, turn the heat up high and boil the vegetables to reduce the liquid in the pan until thickened into a sauce.

8. Once you have the sauce reduced to the desired level, add the chunks of meat to the pan and stir to heat it thoroughly. Correct the flavor with salt if needed.

This goes great with basmati rice, and we had some leftover naan from the Indian food last night. This would probably be good with other meats like chunks of lamb or beef that were previously braised in another recipe.

Nap Time

Please Pass the Steak

Mr M. frequently sits next to the table waiting for a scrap. Or he's hiding in one of the pushed in chairs waiting for an opportunity to surprise us. Last night he was trying to behave like a proper dinner guest. Maybe he thinks we won't notice he's a cat and give him a plate too?

Went back to Square Cafe for breakfast this morning. We love this place.

Nom Nom Nom

Jackie has nearly destroyed her favorite feather toy over the last 3 months. This afternoon I finally found a pet supply store that sells these things in a town only 7 miles away.

On that trip I stopped in at Hooters for lunch. I've never been to Hooters, and I might never have been curious, but an intelligent, liberated female friend of mine said she liked to go to a Hooters in every city she visited because the food was good. So, what the hell.

It turns out that the women working at Hooters aren't wearing tops any more daring than I might wear myself. The real eyebrow-lifter is the micro mini skirts reminiscent of tiny cheerleader uniforms that reveal a LOT of ass cheek. I was expecting the orange short shorts shown in the ads, but I guess this franchise has its own dress code. No cellulite-bearer need apply within! And please wear clean underwear!

The person who recommended this place to me is clearly insane. The food wasn't all that great either. I probably won't be back.

Last night Dave and I went to Ali Baba for dinner. We're still trying to find the Pittsburgh version of Afghani House or Kabul, or even the crazy Rose Market bbq stand, but this place isn't it either. The menu looks really good, and the price looks right, but the portions are very small, and the grilled meats are unmarinated and dry.

Hard At Work

Mr. Moustache likes to sit on my lap while I'm working, so I can't type or reach my coffee cup.

Lunch today was at the Murray Ave Grill for a Cobb salad. It was a pretty good meal, and now that it's non-smoking I can picture going there regularly.

Dave was busy Monday night grading his first test. On my own for dinner, I decided to wander the streets and see what grabbed my eye. I have passed Mr. Willy's BBQ several times, but there's never anyone in there so it can't be any good can it?

Only one way to know for sure. I ordered the 1/2 chicken with sauce, and I wanted the greens, but they were out, so I settled on broccoli cheddar casserole. They threw in a slice of corn bread, too. Since it was completely empty, I didn't feel like eating at the restaurant, so I had them pack it to go.


The meat wasn't bad, but a little on the dry side. The sauce was quite good, but I would not recommend the broccoli cheese stuff. And the cornbread? Well, nobody makes cornbread like my mama does, so I was not expecting to like it, and I was not surprised when I didn't.

I made it back to the CMU gym again yesterday and today. I swam on Tuesday for 20 minutes again, and I didn't have to stop and tread water as much or for as long to bring my heart rate down from heart attack threshold.

This morning I decided to see what's what in the weight room. I wasn't shocked to find that there wasn't an extensive free weights area, but I was a little surprised to find no barbells, only dumbbells.

I tried to do deadlifts with the 30lb dumbbells but it's hard not to bang those into your shins. I found that I could still bench press with the 25lb dumbbells so I have not regressed so badly in strength as I feared.

My cardiovascular fitness is another story altogether. It does not take much work to get me winded and sweaty. This I need to work on.

I'm here to file a complaint!

The Neighbors

I can always tell when the neighbor cats are spying on us, because Jackie goes nuts and starts clawing at the screen.

Political and Stuff

Last week I joined the Obama volunteer effort in my neighborhood, so now I'm entering canvassing and phone bank data into the big PA voter database. I'm doing this mainly because I'm not too keen on canvassing or phoning the good citizens of Squirrel Hill myself. It's kind of exciting to be part of a political movement, and doing this also helps me feel more like a member of the community.

In my quest for community, I also signed up to be an East End Food Co-op volunteer, and my first opportunity came this Sunday at Art Harvest, a co-op sponsored arts and crafts bazaar. That morning I helped the artists unload their wares and display stands from their vehicles for a couple of hours, and I learned how to use an old fashioned popcorn machine (like the ones you see at old movie theaters). I sufficiently impressed the volunteer coordinator, so she's going to put me to work in the produce section some select mornings so I can learn all about where the food comes from.

Saturday afternoon, Dave and I decided to check out the Robinson mall. It's a pretty decent mall with Macy's and JCPenny, and plenty of decent stores for clothes. Lots of teenybopper clothing stores but no shoe stores. We had an nice relaxing time just strolling up and down the corridors, stopping in to browse here and there (Spencer's Gifts was a fun distraction). Here I am enjoying some Starbucks and a card game with the photographer:



Saturday night was the first meeting of the book club. For this meeting we read Lopsided: How Having Breast Cancer Can Be Really Distracting, by Meredith Norton. It was very funny in a David Sedaris kind of way. In between the harrowing details of her breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, Norton tells hilarious (and sometimes disturbing) stories about her French husband, his family, and her own family in California. This story leaves the reader wondering if it is the French culture or the state of French socialized medicine that took Norton to the edge of sanity.

Friday night we ate at Chaya, a Japanese restaurant in Squirrel Hill. I had a combo of sashimi and sushi, and everything was wonderful. I haven't had sushi since early June, so I was bouncing in my seat until the fish came out. Dave was not as excited about his beef and soba soup, so I have the feeling I'll be visiting this place on my own with the occasional sushi lover.

Cat Clings to Childhood

When the new sofa was delivered we had to find a new spot for the futon. I thought it could go in the attic as a spare bed (just in case), but Dave suggested we should try it in the study first since there's no comfortable seating in there (and we'd have to heave it up fewer flights of steps).

Since I callously left their favorite shredded armchair and ottoman on a curb in California the week we moved, this was the only remaining piece of furniture the cats had grown up with from our previous home (they are very attached to the furniture--sometimes quite literally). So now that it is in the office I can usually find one of them curled up between the cushions while I'm working in there.

Cat Pic of the Day

Cats are cute and furry, and often amusing, so I want to be sure to properly document our cats. I'll try to capture them doing something cat-like or stupid (typical) each day. Today they are both sleeping on the bed:

Swimmingly

I finally used my "sponsored" CMU ID card to go to the fitness center this morning. The only morning open swim time is 7am-8am, so I had to get all my gear ready the night before and jump out of bed this morning. Wanting to pack light, I decided to leave my hairdryer and towel here thinking that of course they have towels and hairdryers!

I got to the parking lot at 6:55, and noted that the meters are only enforced after 8am. Surely I wouldn't be swimming longer than 30 minutes, considering I haven't done any prolonged exercise in well over 4 months. So I didn't feed the meter and kept an eye on my watch. BTW--there is a ton of parking on campus at 7am!

At the front desk I signed in and was given an armband that you have to wear while you're there. Also, I discovered that I could only have 1 crappy little towel, and the desk clerk did not give in to my sad face and pleas for a second one. ARGH! Not too awful, but next time I'll bring my own spare.

The women's locker room is pretty big, but it smells awful, and the carpet feels kinda gritty. The day use lockers are plenty big and have lots of hooks, but you have to bring your own lock. Fortunately I remembered to bring one, but it is a key padlock so I had to carry a key around, and when all you're wearing is a swimsuit and a watch that's no easy feat, so I put it on my watch band which is not as convenient as it sounds.

I was worried the pool would be packed, but there was only one other person there at 7:05. So I commenced swimming. Boy! when I haven't done any serious exercise in 4 months I get out of breath pretty fast! My heart rate immediately shot up over 170bpm (180 at one point) so I had to tread water after each lap to bring my heart rate back down. I did this for 20 minutes, and seriously that was all I could take.

I went off to shower with my one little towel. The showers are completely open in one big room next to the whirlpool, so that was embarrassing. The towel hooks are on the end of the shower room, so you can't even remain covered until the last possible moment. The soap was quite caustic so next time I'll need to bring some of that too.

Afterward I went in search of the hair dryers. There are no hairdryers, although thankfully there are lots of mirrors and outlets everywhere. Another thing to pack next time.

I got on the waiting list for a personal locker so I'd have someplace to store all this crap, and I was told that could take several months. I got back to the car well before 8. Fortunately it was not too cold out this morning or my wet hair would have been a big problem. I'll come fully prepared next time!

Puck, Porcinis, Pumpkin, and (Damned) Phlebotomists

Dave thinks the neighbors' cats are much cuter than ours. They are pretty cute! Most mornings they are tethered to a big tree in the backyard next to ours. This is Puck:


Last week a foodie friend from California sent me the amazing cookbook, The Art of Simple Food, by Alice Waters of Chez Panisse fame. It's a beautiful book that gets my creative juices flowing.

Sunday was a grilling night cause it was too hot in the house to use the stove. The gas grill came with the house, and I'm so thankful for it on these hot days. Here we have a grass-fed porterhouse steak and skewers of porcini mushrooms marinated, using Alice Waters' recommended method, in fresh oregano and rosemary on the grill:


The little pumpkin flower that I reported on last time died and fell off, but I found a little pumpkin under another leaf that was apparently pollinated when I wasn't paying attention. GROW GROW!


And for the morbidly curious, here is the giant bruise on my arm from the brutal treatment I received at the hands of the phlebotomist and the emergency room nurse last Thursday. It's more green than purple now but it still hurts!