My pinkie is on strike.
I've spent much of today copying and pasting stuff from the 2011 Catalog onto the website (which you'll be able to see April 1, Lord willing). And, due to the layout of QWERTY keyboards, it's a rather long stretch between the Control key and x, c and v (cut, copy, paste). Most days I don't even notice the distance, but after several hours my little finger began to complain.
It's now refusing to press any key.
Ctrl+C
Copy/paste isn't completely mindless (which is why my computer can't do it for me). Unfortunately, it's not exactly creative work either. It's tedious technical work. And while we continue to get closer to overcoming the tedious aspect of some tasks, there is still much work to be done.
Westley is right: People sell solutions to remove pain and tedium. That's one of the things we work so diligently to give you: A homeschool experience you love where you have everything you need ready for you. You get all your homeschool materials scheduled, notated, planned, prepared and packaged.
What painful/tedious task(s) have you worked on today?
~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester
<smile>
~Luke
Yes, cutting PP (NPR or PBS) isn't about saving money; it's about "Take Back the Land" stuff, which is a very big can of worms to open here. :)
<blinks> ...I had no idea you could use the Insert key... wow. Thanks, Melissa!
Lynn, I'm glad she admitted to losing a baby (as that seems to be the point of contention in these debates). I'm grieved that she lost her child--though, I don't know any of the context for any of her statements. Thus, I don't know how Planned Parenthood fits into what she talks about. And I do partly see her point: A measly $300K is hardly going to fix the 2011 budget. But, seriously, 800K lives doesn't hold a candle to "10 cases of misconduct" in a database (Federal or no). In fact, isn't that what the debate tends to point to with Planned Parenthood: The Federal funding of American deaths? Or am I'm totally missing something? Feel free to email me, as blog comments aren't the greatest place to have a conversation of this nature (especially when it's so far afield of the original topic). Or, keep posting here <smile>.
~Luke
Actually, this is probably a better - and more timely - clip than the one I posted. ;)
http://youtu.be/Nz5DZJgclKQ
I always use Shift-delete, Shift-insert, and ctrl-insert for cut, paste, and copy respectively. Maybe not easier, but it will use the other hand for a while.
Oooh, that's a great idea, Terri. Thanks for the suggestion!
<smile> I imagine not, Yara.
Reader, it's always nice when we can enjoy the tasks we have, even if it is just looking forward in hope <smile>.
I could try that, Lynn. I use a tablet so it may end up giving me more strain on my wrist. ...but switching off may be the best thing to do for repetitive motion pain. Good tip!
And brave? True, I questioned adding your post to my Other Posts of Note, but it was just too noteworthy of a post not to note <smile>. I think it's important to know where people are coming from... especially if we disagree with them. That's the only way we can hope to have good communication: To seek first to understand, then to seek to be understood. I appreciate your posts because they often help me understand your position better and force me to reconsider my own ideas. It's not always pleasant, but it's good.
~Luke
I appreciate the sacrifice you are making so that we can have our much- longed-for catalogs! Unpacking from a weekend trip is my tedious job today, but not painful so far. That will come when I have to fold all the clean laundry and put it away.
Can you right-click your mouse to copy & paste? Also, my husband has a mouse which has something he manipulates with his thumb to copy & paste. Personally, I love repetitive, tedious tasks. :)
...though I really stopped by to tell you how brave you are to link to me. :)
Have a great day.
Today, not much yet. It's morning here. But yesterday I had the tedious job of rearranging book shelves.
Moving "to be donated" books to a tub, so I can carry to the donate site. Moving "finished with" school books to the shelf in the closet. Moving "for the coming year" books from a tote to the shelf in the school area.
Luckily, it's a kind of tedium I don't mind, since it means we are nearing the end of our current school year and getting ready for new.
I had work on inventory for my small business. Not easy with a 2 year old who wants to help!
Back in my "pre-motherhood" life as a unix sysadmin (which involves heavy use of the Ctrl key), the first thing we'd do in any new environment is remap the Capslock key into a Ctrl key.
Relieves a lot of strain, you might want to try it. I'm not sure what kind of environment you are working in, but I'm sure there must be utilities for both Mac or Windows that will do it for you, too.