Stand Up!
25 August 2012
I heard on TV that it’s Bad to sit to work all day. It’ll kill you! (Which is what editors think will happen when they read a query from me on one of my unpublished books.) Given that I write every day, and I don’t want to shortchange any editors I have not plagued yet, I have to keep writing. And die?
No. Out of the Blue, the Guppies listserve (Sisters in Crime) started discussing stand-up desks. My ears perked up.
I searched the internet. Such a desk, like Thomas Jefferson wrote at, is quite $$$ expensive. Being a cheapskate, tight wad, penny pincher, I did what comes cheapest, started thinking. Because first the standing up desk needed to be free or next to it, and because I’d rather have food money than spend on another desk, I had a challenge. (If I had unlimited funds my house would be wall to wall desks, with a chair thrown in.) Not that I need all that much money to eat since dining is down to 1200 calorie De Fluffing meals which are not that expensive given the amazingly controlled portions. Not that I’m griping, AGAIN.
One of the internet photos of Hemingway’s standing desk looked more like a pile of stuff on a counter. Head thump. I’m the best pack-rat-treasure-piler around. I could pile up a desk on a counter.
Of course the flaw was finding a counter that wouldn’t take hours to clear enough to make one pile or wasn’t already committed to kitchen work. Hmmm. So what did I have that wasn’t a counter and was easy to clear?
TA DA! The plant stand I bought a few years ago for $25! The plant had moved on to plant heaven, as have 95% of my indoor plants. The space was available. Almost perfect. I needed just a few more inches of height. Look around. Well, of course pile some books. And how about the rather dusty volumes of Britannica that The Prince Consort and I bought when we were first married and couldn’t afford furniture. Sure.
A bit wobbly. Another look around, and I spotted the lap-desk I got for Christmas! With its beanbag base, it was nicely stable. Perfect height. If I were taller, I could slip a few Britannicas under the lap-desk.
Kath who has a FREE healthy Stand-up Desk
