Office Max!

Last Sunday, due to my huge-ocity and my penchant for leaning way, way back in office chairs, I snapped the leg off of one of those cheap $79 Staples jobs, whereupon I went crashing backward, driving the chair into my back. Topping that off was the fact that I had no other office-style chairs in the house, so I’ve been sitting on a dining room chair all week.

Well on Saturday, we got our first “grown-up” office chair. I was actually pretty excited about it, but then at the store is when I first realized how sick I was feeling, so I really didn’t get to enjoy it too much at first. In fact, the smell and motion of it just made me feel worse. But now that I am feeling much better, I have to say, I am loving our new chair. We actually got a black leather, massage chair which is pretty cool, although I’ve not really used the massage feature too much yet. The best part? Well, we went to office max for it, because at work they gave us these office max cards, which entitle us to get personal items at the contract prices that we get at work. So, as we were being rung up, I was hoping to get a few dollars off, expecting maybe 20 or so dollars… imagine my suprise then when it came up almost half off! That was just so totally awesome (even the guy working there was shocked… he exclaimed… where do you work??? we don’t even get deals like that working here!). I was pretty excited about that, and am loving this new card that they gave to us (really, only the administrative assistants got them, at this luncheon thing we went to for Office max, where we got to sample new products and stuff).

You know I have nothing against Microsoft….. but the current CEO is a complete moron. I was over at www.digg.com messing around when I came across this gem: John Battelle’s Searchblog: Ballmer Throws A Chair At “F*ing Google”. Here is a quote from the article:

Granted, it's not an expensive chair (I think I paid like $60 for it at Office Max), and it's not the best crafted piece of furniture I've ever owned, but I'd like to think that when I buy something like that, it'll last longer than it did.

I could really use a new computer chair but I’m not shellin out $100 for one of those “leather” “executive” chairs at OrificeMax… last time I did that the thing lasted maybe 2 weeks. They’re not “fat friendly” in the least. There’s a place here called Ray’s Computers that used to have the old government office chairs that are built like a tank but he moved and doesn’t have them anymore. Blah.

For those of you who are fortunate to not be a cubicle slave of some sort and haven’t heard of these chairs before, the Aeron is the top-of-the-line in plant-your-ass technology.

* 20 Triceps Dip: Place your palms on the edge of a chair, bend at your elbows and push yourself back up!

First, let me admit this: the tall chair might be a dangerous addition to your office setup. Not giving up yet, and I'm not saying it was a bad idea, even. But if you're a little scattered at times (you caught me,) and you've been "doing it another way" for ages and ages, it's at least possible that you might hurt yourself. Like when it comes time to climb down from the chair at the end of a lengthy work session. Other than that, it's kinda' cool.

I kind of practiced the same thing in the beginning of last semster, in which I found a pretty nice chair, which is a hell of a lot better than the standard crappy office chairs we get from the University. I “borrowed” the chair, and used it for the rest of the semester, and continued to do so during this semester. However, a month ago some professor wanders by our group room, casually looks in, stops, and says: “Where did you get that chair?”. Followed by: “You must put it back!”

Office chairs, because of their direct influence on user comfort and productivity, are an important purchase. While some businesses opt for the cheapest possible chairs, they often pay the price in decreased efficiency, more worker’s compensation claims, and increased sick days. The recent trend in office furniture is the creation of workstations built with human mechanics in mind. Because Americans spend more and more time working, they are demanding high-performance equipment and furniture that aids in efficiency, rather than hindering...

Pregnant Princesses such as myself are NOT supposed to sit in semi-hard office chairs all day long. If they do? Hip pain, back pain, pelvic pain and then afterward? Stiffness such that said Princess when trying to stand is uncertain of whether or not her legs will actually hold her up. Therefore she needs Hub's help to stand and make it across the living room. And later? When said Princess is in bed trying to go to sleep, there will be much crying and moaning and PAIN from the hips, back and shoulders. SO much that Hub will wake up at 2am and RUB...

About a week ago, the Aeron chair in my home office started doing something not so high-tech and comfortable–it started surreptitiously lowering while my ass was in it. The pneumatic cylinder that adjusts the height of the chair had apparently developed a leak; its gaskets were failing.

We're trying out office chairs here at Ogged's work, and I'm the one choosing which ones we'll try and buy, so I take the demo chairs to everyone, show them how to make adjustments and get feedback after a day or two. So far, we've tried the Humanscale Freedom, Vitra Meda, and Steelcase Leap chairs (we have a Keilhauer...

The office furniture industry performed satisfactorily throughout the 1990s as the domestic economy has shifted from being manufacturing driven to one where services play an increasingly important role. However, the new millennium has been less fortunate. Between 2000 and 2003, office furniture shipments in the United States fell by more than one-third. This was the largest decrease in shipments for over 20 years. In value terms -- the market stood at $8,505 million in 2003. The office furniture market in 2003 in current dollar terms was ahead by only 8.2% over its 1990 value, and in constant dollar terms it was down by 10.7%.

Office employment growth started to improve in 2004 and real shipments of office furniture increased by about 2%. The positive trend is expected to continue. For 2005 a growth rate of 5.0% is forecast and 6.1% for 2006. This will lift the market value to $ 9.2 billion and $ 9.8 billion respectively. Nevertheless, the 2006 value will remain 26.5% lower than the previous peak level of $13.3 billion reached in 2000.

The Think chair should make us all do just that. Created in collaboration with McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (the fathers of "Cradle-to-Cradle" design and other smarties, this task seat was designed to make a dent in the mid-priced ergonomic seating market, but also to raise the bar for eco-conscious design. Ergonomically, it's an overachiever, "intuitively" knowing how your spine needs to move. But more importantly, it's manufactured from 41% recycled materials and entirely from materials deemed by MBDC as safe to the environment. At the end if its (presumably long) lifecycle, it's 99% recyclable and can supposedly be disassembled in five minutes.

I have been having serious problems with my back at home. The chair I had used to sit at my home computer was clearly a cause. So, what to do? In a flash of brilliance, I decided to buy a new chair!

So off to Staples I go, sit in a dozen chairs, make my decision and purchase a chair. I get it home, and my back is no better. So back it goes. Over to Office Max, whereupon I choose another chair. This one is better, except now instead of back problems, my shoulder is killing me. Seems that the arm rests are too high for me and can’t be adjusted. So back to Office Max, where I choose a chair that has no arm rests. This is so far the best of the three, but not great. My back problems are less severe with this chair, but they haven’t disappeared. And, this chair is too high! The cushioning on the seat is so high that I can barely fit my legs under the keyboard holder. So I think I’ll have to get a keyboard holder that has an adjustable height.

A comfy office chair can make all the difference to you bum, your back and even your wrists if you type a lot. A good chair adjusts to your position and has the right firmness to support your back throughout the day. Office Max has a great selection of office chairs and furniture.

After suffering too many years on a cheap office chair I finally upgraded to a much nicer sitting environment. I bought a Herman Miller Caper multitask chair on Sunday and it was delivered a few minutes ago. So far the only task I've used it for is sitting. I can lean back! And I no longer have to contort myself into odd positions to get comfortable. This is a definite improvement.