For anyone interested, I'm down to once every two weeks for both LENS and for chiropractic work now. They're on opposing weeks, and other than my incredible new inability to sleep more than 7 hours, it seems to be an okay change. I'm trying to see if I can improve my posture, computer screen angle, and sleeping position so as to minimize ill effects. So far, the results have been, um... interesting.
So one of the tips I'd gotten from the chiropractor was to change my pillow. Instead of a standard pillow of any firmness whatsoever, I was told to roll up a towel and use that as a neck support, and have that be it. Somewhat dubiously, I did so, then wrapped the rolled towel in a pillowcase. I woke up the next morning with an angry lower back!
It's weird, though. I can't tell if my lower back is hurting, precisely, or merely being exercised in a fashion it is unused to and thus unhappy about. What is definitely for sure, though, is that it is unpleasant. I've done this three nights in a row, and I have decided that it is definitely not good and not improving. The damage, or strain, or whatever, doesn't last all day. Just a few hours. But that may be more due to my (relative) youth than anything else.
Tonight I'm going to try a thinner towel, such that it just barely supports my neck. I read that was optimal on the Internet. It's worth a try, anyway. If it still doesn't work out, I'll try a pillow under my lower back also. And if that doesn't work, I'll go in next week and complain up a storm and they'll tell me that I'm either doing something wrong or that I should just have a normal pillow. Or something. I was really hoping to try to take better care of my spine, since I was chronically terrible to it for most of my childhood. I slouched a lot, slept on my front with my head twisted to one side, and various other very bad things to do to your spine.
On a happier note, last weekend I got to go to a movie with some friends. It was, unfortunately, not a good movie, but it was fun to see it with them and we went out to Denny's afterwards and chatted (and complained about the movie, if we're being honest).
Chris and I also went chasing some rare Pokemon in Pokemon GO. We recently found a Twitter account that tracks spawns of rarer Pokemon, so we've been slowly filling out our Pokedex (Pokemon encyclopedia) together. This often involves hopping in the car and driving across Grand Rapids, rather than simply walking somewhere, because unfortunately rarer stuff doesn't spawn all that often. This weekend I'm planning to meet a friend at a park that spawns a rare Pokemon so we can hang out, I can play, and we can walk around a bit. I'll probably spring for hot drinks afterwards, though, it's going to be a mite chilly.
I have a new distraction! At a very inopportune time, unfortunately, but what can you do. When I was much younger, I played an old game called Odyssey: the Legend of Nemesis. It was an old top-down turn based RPG. What made it unusual was how much detail was poured into the game. References to 60s and 70s music, philosophical ideas made real, and at the end, a serious moral question and multiple endings depending on what you chose. That was... almost unprecedented at the time, and while most of the references went right over my head, I still enjoyed the game a lot, particularly once I got the hang of how to play it. The musical soundtrack, which is all classical piano music, got stuck in my head.
As such, it's been a lingering thought of mine, that one day I might play the game again, and perhaps replicate the soundtrack. With some help from an acquaintance with a talent for that sort of thing, I am once again able to play the game. But the soundtrack eluded me. I tried going through various performers, looking for renditions similar to the recordings used for the game. But it simply wasn't quite right, and that nagged at me.
Then one morning I woke up and remembered that not only did I have a working emulator set up, but also there are free programs online that will record audio directly from a program. In short, as long as I was very patient, I could have the soundtrack that so plagued me. So that's what I've been working on, when I'm not too busy doing work for the Self Advocates of Michigan, managing my own neuroses, and doing errands and housekeeping details. Perhaps I'll post a link when I've got it completed. It's somewhat relevant to Project Fun, anyway, since I do very much enjoy that soundtrack.
So one of the tips I'd gotten from the chiropractor was to change my pillow. Instead of a standard pillow of any firmness whatsoever, I was told to roll up a towel and use that as a neck support, and have that be it. Somewhat dubiously, I did so, then wrapped the rolled towel in a pillowcase. I woke up the next morning with an angry lower back!
It's weird, though. I can't tell if my lower back is hurting, precisely, or merely being exercised in a fashion it is unused to and thus unhappy about. What is definitely for sure, though, is that it is unpleasant. I've done this three nights in a row, and I have decided that it is definitely not good and not improving. The damage, or strain, or whatever, doesn't last all day. Just a few hours. But that may be more due to my (relative) youth than anything else.
Tonight I'm going to try a thinner towel, such that it just barely supports my neck. I read that was optimal on the Internet. It's worth a try, anyway. If it still doesn't work out, I'll try a pillow under my lower back also. And if that doesn't work, I'll go in next week and complain up a storm and they'll tell me that I'm either doing something wrong or that I should just have a normal pillow. Or something. I was really hoping to try to take better care of my spine, since I was chronically terrible to it for most of my childhood. I slouched a lot, slept on my front with my head twisted to one side, and various other very bad things to do to your spine.
On a happier note, last weekend I got to go to a movie with some friends. It was, unfortunately, not a good movie, but it was fun to see it with them and we went out to Denny's afterwards and chatted (and complained about the movie, if we're being honest).
Chris and I also went chasing some rare Pokemon in Pokemon GO. We recently found a Twitter account that tracks spawns of rarer Pokemon, so we've been slowly filling out our Pokedex (Pokemon encyclopedia) together. This often involves hopping in the car and driving across Grand Rapids, rather than simply walking somewhere, because unfortunately rarer stuff doesn't spawn all that often. This weekend I'm planning to meet a friend at a park that spawns a rare Pokemon so we can hang out, I can play, and we can walk around a bit. I'll probably spring for hot drinks afterwards, though, it's going to be a mite chilly.
I have a new distraction! At a very inopportune time, unfortunately, but what can you do. When I was much younger, I played an old game called Odyssey: the Legend of Nemesis. It was an old top-down turn based RPG. What made it unusual was how much detail was poured into the game. References to 60s and 70s music, philosophical ideas made real, and at the end, a serious moral question and multiple endings depending on what you chose. That was... almost unprecedented at the time, and while most of the references went right over my head, I still enjoyed the game a lot, particularly once I got the hang of how to play it. The musical soundtrack, which is all classical piano music, got stuck in my head.
As such, it's been a lingering thought of mine, that one day I might play the game again, and perhaps replicate the soundtrack. With some help from an acquaintance with a talent for that sort of thing, I am once again able to play the game. But the soundtrack eluded me. I tried going through various performers, looking for renditions similar to the recordings used for the game. But it simply wasn't quite right, and that nagged at me.
Then one morning I woke up and remembered that not only did I have a working emulator set up, but also there are free programs online that will record audio directly from a program. In short, as long as I was very patient, I could have the soundtrack that so plagued me. So that's what I've been working on, when I'm not too busy doing work for the Self Advocates of Michigan, managing my own neuroses, and doing errands and housekeeping details. Perhaps I'll post a link when I've got it completed. It's somewhat relevant to Project Fun, anyway, since I do very much enjoy that soundtrack.
No comments:
Post a Comment