Re: ATM: Office chairs?

1

I have a straight-backed wooden chair purchased decades ago from university surplus. Honestly, it's not been very comfortable.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 5:02 AM
horizontal rule
2

I've been using a metal folding chair for the past three months and my back feels fine. It's a Steelcase from years ago.


Posted by: bill | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 5:05 AM
horizontal rule
3

Metal conducts chi out of your butt.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 5:08 AM
horizontal rule
4

I've been sitting on one of our wooden dining room chairs since March, and it's uncomfortable enough that it's probably good for me in terms of getting me to stand up and readjust every hour or so.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 5:11 AM
horizontal rule
5

This discussion is looking pretty different from when this question gets asked in my work Slack.


Posted by: ogged | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 5:20 AM
horizontal rule
6

I am also sitting on a wooden dining chair, and it's wrecking me. I already have an intermittently painful hip -- all MRIs and treatment programs that I had booked in have been victims of CV-19 so I am suffering in silence* -- so it's a problem. I also don't want some big office chair. I have moved my home office into our bedroom, because the living room is being used for home schooling. So, ideally, I'd want something that's just a normal small-ish chair but which is height adjustable.

I don't want: gas lift (I'm happy if adjusting is a manual process because once it's done, I won't change it); tilt; castors/wheels; swivel.

* where by silence I mean, moaning about it to anyone in earshot.


Posted by: nattarGcM ttaM | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 5:26 AM
horizontal rule
7

We don't even have a Slack. We just text each other.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 5:26 AM
horizontal rule
8

re: 5

Let me guess? Developers who all have chairs that have 20 different points of adjustment, and which cost as much as a small second hand car?


Posted by: nattarGcM ttaM | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 5:27 AM
horizontal rule
9

Mine is also a metal folding chair. I have a kid's squishy booster seat that is uncomfortable because my butt is larger than the molding, but it's foam so it works well for a while, and then I switch back and forth with pillows, all to try to sit higher.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 5:27 AM
horizontal rule
10

I'm working from my couch because I don't want to sit at my dining room table for hours. This has some chairs at the $150 price point and under. https://heavy.com/home/2020/04/ergonomic-office-chair/


Posted by: Barry Freed | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 5:33 AM
horizontal rule
11

I've been using a cheapish racing-style "gaming chair" which has a movable lumbar support thing so isn't too bad, but it's definitely not as good as a decent office chair. I've been eyeing a second hand Steelcase Gesture/Leap for a while now, but I can't really justify it.


Posted by: Ginger Yellow | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 5:34 AM
horizontal rule
12

If the gas can actually lift you, it's time to see a doctor regardless.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 5:34 AM
horizontal rule
13

Ikea swivel-chair - 'Flintån'? 'Flintstønes'? Something like that. I want the backrest to angle back further, but it makes itself heavy and refuses to move.


Posted by: One of Many | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 5:54 AM
horizontal rule
14

I guess you do make it go by running with your feet.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 5:56 AM
horizontal rule
15

IKEA is a great idea for things that are less ugly, though. this is positively cute.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 5:58 AM
horizontal rule
16

I'm also using a wooden dining chair, and it's not great. Bought a cheap office chair and it didn't work for me. I feel like most office chairs I've tried put too much weight on my butt and not enough on my thighs and feet feet. Maybe I'm just sitting wrong, but if anybody has any suggestions I'm open. Ideally a chair without obnoxious giant armrests that make it hard to get close to my desk.


Posted by: dalriata | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 6:00 AM
horizontal rule
17

Right! What are armrests even for on a work chair?


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 6:14 AM
horizontal rule
18

So that you remember to tensely squinch your shoulders up to your ears.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 6:18 AM
horizontal rule
19

17 So I can wear out my blazers at the elbows.


Posted by: Barry Freed | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 6:20 AM
horizontal rule
20

Naps.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 6:22 AM
horizontal rule
21

You can easily nap in a chair with arm rests, but it's close to impossible without them.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 6:23 AM
horizontal rule
22

I'm not above stretching out on the floor where I'm at.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 6:33 AM
horizontal rule
23

I had never heard of steelcase until this thread, so I looked up the local stockist, whose web site says Steelcase helps leading organisations in business, healthcare and education, create spaces that unlock the promise of their people. Steelcase products are founded on a deep understanding of the user needs and ever-changing work styles, helping to create great experiences, wherever work happens.

You're going to have to unlock a lot more than my promise to get me to spend £774 (inc VAT) on a great experience wherever work is happening


Posted by: NW | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 6:33 AM
horizontal rule
24

You cannot beat an Ikea Poäng chair for impromptu naps.


Posted by: NW | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 6:35 AM
horizontal rule
25

In Ohio, the office furniture for state government offices was made by prisoners. But I don't think that included the chairs.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 6:39 AM
horizontal rule
26

Armrests on office chairs are terrible. Fortunately, they're usually removable (or, for assemble-it-yourself shipped chairs, you just don't put them on).

I have a 20-year-old office chair I think I picked up at a local Staples. It's... OK. Our company has given us an allowance to spend on WFH equipment, including furniture, so I'm eyeing upgrades to the chair and desk, since I'll be using them at least the next six months. Technically the company will still own them, which is a little weird, as I can't imagine it's worth anyone's while to come out and pick up random bits of furniture as people leave the company or whatever; I assume they'll depreciate them as fast as possible and try not to think about it.


Posted by: Nathan Williams | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 7:15 AM
horizontal rule
27

I assume these are form over function, but, something like this:

https://www.ambientedirect.com/en/magis/tuffy-the-wild-bunch-chair_pid_902973.html

only cheaper. Lots of places do stools that are more or less perfect. Proper feet/legs made out of wood, and height adjustable. I just want that, but with a back.


Posted by: nattarGcM ttaM | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 7:31 AM
horizontal rule
28

I am perfectly capable of napping comfortably across three straight-backed kitchen chairs. You rest on your side, pelvis on the middle one, head and upper torso on the chair to the right of the middle (arms tucked in), feet on the left one. One of the straight chairs can be swapped out for a swivelly, but two or more leads to uncontrolled oscillation.


Posted by: One of Many | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 7:36 AM
horizontal rule
29

Where are you with that many kitchen chairs and no couch?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 7:39 AM
horizontal rule
30

Storage unit, narcolepsy...


Posted by: One of Many | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 7:46 AM
horizontal rule
31

12: If the gas can actually lift you then it's time to invest in a cape and start solving crimes as FartMan.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 7:58 AM
horizontal rule
32

||
granoooola
|>


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 8:00 AM
horizontal rule
33

No mentions of standing desks? That's my wife's complaint. She had finally gotten one at work a few months before she had to start working from home.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 8:00 AM
horizontal rule
34

No mentions of standing desks? That's my wife's complaint. She had finally gotten one at work a few months before she had to start working from home.

I definitely miss the standing desk in my office at work. I feel more back and neck stiffness without it.


Posted by: NickS | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 8:06 AM
horizontal rule
35

I didn't use the standing function at work much. Now and again, maybe. At home, though, I used to quite often take the laptop to the kitchen, where the counter tops are a good height for working while standing. But, since we entered the time of "never ever ever being alone or having any fucking peace, ever again" I don't do that.


Posted by: nattarGcM ttaM | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 8:09 AM
horizontal rule
36

I haven't found anything on the market that promotes posture and attentiveness quite the way I'd like.


Posted by: Aegon the Conqueror | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 8:13 AM
horizontal rule
37

chairs that have 20 different points of adjustment, and which cost as much as a small second hand car?

You know it. But for the US folks who want to go down that route and save some money, I've heard good things about these refurbishers. I've personally been unable to pull the trigger, but maybe someday!


Posted by: ogged | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 8:15 AM
horizontal rule
38

23: Brand new they're ridiculously expensive, but you can pick them up at massive discounts from office surplus places. Still more expensive than my current chair though.


Posted by: Ginger Yellow | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 8:16 AM
horizontal rule
39

This could be the thread to share my contrarian ergonomics theory, which is that all the stuff about "correct" working positions is bunk, and what you really need to do is not work in any one position for too long. Sometimes hunched over with the keyboard pushed back on the desk and your elbows on the table, sometimes sitting up straight with the keyboard at the edge of the desk while using your arm rests, sometimes standing, sometimes on the couch or recliner...and keep mixing it up throughout the day. If it's a repetitive stress injury, stop repeating!


Posted by: ogged | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 8:22 AM
horizontal rule
40

My theory is that I need to get up and move around often. Also, I don't sit still very well anyway.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 8:25 AM
horizontal rule
41

I have never tried working with a laptop while stilling on a couch or recliner.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 8:32 AM
horizontal rule
42

||
If one were to be exiled, would Lesbos or Chios really be that bad?
|>


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 8:57 AM
horizontal rule
43

If it weren't for all the Greek people.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 8:59 AM
horizontal rule
44

You might think a swimming desk would be super ergonomic, but it kinda looks bad for the shoulders and wrists.


Posted by: Eggplant | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 9:05 AM
horizontal rule
45

I have an IKEA "Garka" and love it after taking off the needless parts - the bottom wheels made it sit too high, and it's true that armrests are stupid, though I left on one of the two so I can thoughtfully prop my elbow on it during meetings. Core chair aspects of the chair are great though.


Posted by: lourdes kayak | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 9:32 AM
horizontal rule
46

an IKEA "Garka"

As opposed the equivalents from IKEA's Hungarian-American and Anglo-Nepalese competitors: namely, the "Gorka" and the "Gurkha".


Posted by: One of Many | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 9:55 AM
horizontal rule
47

all the stuff about "correct" working positions is bunk, and what you really need to do is not work in any one position for too long.

There is something slightly dystopian in a Wall-E way about the ergonomics of white collar butt-sitters.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 10:10 AM
horizontal rule
48

I picked up a $150 chair from OfficeMax in 2013, and it's worked fine. Two years ago work gave us "Egg Sitters" at the holiday party; I was initially skeptical, but after a week of used decided that they have done some good -- I noticed that most of the "leg crossed" distress went away; since I've been unable to break that habit, I'll happily take it.

The chair is surprisingly modest -- I've turned it upside down and hunted all around without finding anything embossed or molded with a furniture line or ID. The only tags that remain are the fabric supplier and corresponding CA Bureau of Home Furnishings flammability tag.

It wouldn't work for ttaM; it does have the gas adjustments. (Though, much like his ideal, I think I set the height and might have adjusted it once, 3 years ago?) It has a mesh back, which seems fine and has held up; I don't spend a lot of my day leaning against the back, so I don't know if it's a required benefit for me. On the other hand, leather and particularly imitation leather plastic don't appeal.


Posted by: Mooseking | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 10:34 AM
horizontal rule
49

I have a chair made out of bungee cords and it's great. Mind has armrests but there are versions without them.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 10:49 AM
horizontal rule
50

I sit in extremely ridiculous positions all day and also have a convertible desk, which I've been exploiting lately to stand more since something -- presumably, my terrible physical fitness level -- is causing my hip joints to hurt a lot if I sit for more than an hour and a half. Everyone in my mom's family is either diagnosed with or rumored to have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, i.e. pathological joint hypermobility. I fold up in bizarre ways that are usually comfortable, but in the past month it's all gone to shit. My random office chair sucks, but I think I just need to replace it.

I completely endorse 39. How long can you people sit in one position?


Posted by: lurid keyaki | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 10:59 AM
horizontal rule
51

42: Nowadays there are lot of people in Lesbosian exile and I hear it sucks.


Posted by: dalriata | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 11:16 AM
horizontal rule
52

One possible solution might be for your spouse to have an affair and then feel sufficiently guilty about it so that spouse buys you a Lifeform Ultimate Executive Highback chair, which ran a cool $1500 15 years ago. It's a wonderful chair, and spouse presumably decided that actually very reasonably priced if evaluated on a per illicit fuck basis.


Posted by: President Trudeau | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 12:08 PM
horizontal rule
53

It's only $1,500 to cheat? Or, with inflation $2,016.73? That's cheaper than I thought.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 12:17 PM
horizontal rule
54

Interestingly the price seems to have almost exactly followed inflation. I found it for $2095 in fabric. Leather is more expensive, both in chairs and for sex acts.


Posted by: SP | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 12:28 PM
horizontal rule
55

The elusive wicker fetish community is grateful.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 12:32 PM
horizontal rule
56

55: With a book and two movies I wouldn't say they were all that elusive


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 12:36 PM
horizontal rule
57

I mean the ones who don't want to burn anybody.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 12:38 PM
horizontal rule
58

My chair position, which is only slightly contrarian, is that I should probably move around some, but also that there isn't a chair-and-desk combination that allows me to physically relax, let alone slump and slouch, without pain. I have to sit the way my grandmother was taught, and then I'm fine. My elbows end above my thighs so there's room for a keyboard, which is lucky.

(Her early training was that crossing one's ankles was flirtatious. Having one foot in front of the other -- heel to instep, say -- was *slightly* flirtatious. Always acceptable was knees and ankles together, feet flat on the floor, shoulders down and relaxed, head balanced, and sitting up with enough abs and back that you don't use the back of the chair. This makes PTs and Pilates teachers pretty happy, also my back, but I revert to it when nervous and look like... I don't know, but Wednesday Addams is the most flattering reference people ever make.)


Posted by: clew | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 1:05 PM
horizontal rule
59

You could go the other way and mount your monitors to the wall. Ergotron is the industry standard mount, but there's tons of cheaper options. Or number 8 here is really living the dream.


Posted by: foolishmortal | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 1:13 PM
horizontal rule
60

Well, I wasn't expecting that so many people here would be working from dining room chairs, so I am going to go with the first recommendation I found and get the "Modway Articulate Ergonomic Mesh Office Chair in Black" unless anyone knows why I shouldn't. (I think they mean 'Articulated', but who knows?)


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 1:48 PM
horizontal rule
61

Maybe they are Biden?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 1:56 PM
horizontal rule
62

60: So racist! It's black, so of course they describe it as articulate.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 2:01 PM
horizontal rule
63

||

Coronavirus dark matter anecdote: I now know about 6 people who have had antibody tests. Every single one tested positive.

>


Posted by: nattarGcM ttaM | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 2:33 PM
horizontal rule
64

63: Are they in London? That's still pretty crazy, but current studies are 17% of London are positive, so not as ridiculous as that'd be somewhere else. Presumably people with positive antibody tests are more likely to talk about it than with negatives, and people who work in jobs with high exposure are probably more likely to be tested, so you might expect anecdotal rates to be higher than the actual rate.


Posted by: Unfoggetarian: "Pause endlessly, then go in" (9) | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 2:55 PM
horizontal rule
65

63. Are your friends zebra mussels?

What Zebra Mussels Can Tell Us About Errors In Coronavirus Tests


Posted by: DaveLMA | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 3:17 PM
horizontal rule
66

There is an osteopath in Highgate who's been open through the whole thing on the pretence of being an essential healthcare provider. They've just started offering the antibody test - I wonder how? although apparently it's the Abbott Pharmaceutical IgG/IgM they're using. but still, osteopath, virus test, like, fuck off.


Posted by: Alex | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 4:49 PM
horizontal rule
67

60: Yeah, the non-office-chair count surprised me, too. I generally get whatever they're selling at Costco. My back isn't terribly argumentative, though, at least about sitting. And the chairs generally don't hold up well, though I've got two right now that are working out really well for durability and comfort.


Posted by: politicalfootball | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 5:29 PM
horizontal rule
68

I can vote for the IKEA ones being serviceable.


Posted by: | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 5:49 PM
horizontal rule
69

I had an ergonomic one at a different job. Tim wants me to get this.

He has one at work, and he says it's the most comfortable thing ever. it looks like a saddle. https://www.amazon.com/Capisco-Ergonomic-Office-Chair-Saddle/dp/B072K3G8K5?th=1

The leather ones cost about $300 more. I'm working from a kitchen table chair. We have a desk with a chair and desktop. But there's no space for my laptop there.


Posted by: Bostoniangirl | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 5:50 PM
horizontal rule
70

I have a bar table as a standing desk and a bar-height chair for when I want to sit.

Until this morning I had a cheap plastic ikea bar stool instead of a proper drafting office chair. I was finally compelled to replace it with a drafting chair because:
1. I could expense it to my employers
2. It's getting hot enough that my sweaty butt would stick unpleasantly to the plastic. I wanted a bar-height chair that had a mesh seat (not mesh-on-cushion, just mesh with air underneath)


Posted by: Ponder Stibbons | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 6:34 PM
horizontal rule
71

LB lives in NY. She and Newt probably have to take turns on the chair.


Posted by: Eggplant | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 6:42 PM
horizontal rule
72

66: In the U.S., "osteopath" usually means "osteopathic physician" and is the equivalent of a regular physician.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 6:45 PM
horizontal rule
73

Anyway, sitting in chairs has spoiled western physiques. We should all try squatting.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 8:52 PM
horizontal rule
74

I got one of these Uplift standing desks for my home office. I still spend 80% of my time sitting, but just being able to stand up for 5 or 10 minutes at a time is huge.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 10:01 PM
horizontal rule
75

The value of a decent office chair, if you spend any significant amount of time working from home, is off the charts. (The same is true of beds, if you happen to sleep in one.) I splurged on a lower-end Herman Miller office chair (~$500, as I recall) when setting up my home office almost 20 years ago and I've never regretted it for one second.


Posted by: Yawnoc | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 10:09 PM
horizontal rule
76

Re: 64

They are all NHS workers in London. So that skews the numbers a bit, yeah. None of them are directly treating patients, though, as far as I know. I don't know what one friend's wife does exactly, but the others are all not treating people regularly.

Most of them don't remember having, specifically, though. Just having mild cold type symptoms (if any).

Admittedly this area was hit quite hard early in the epidemic. One friend (and I think his wife, also) works at one of the hospitals that had to close as it was briefly overwhelmed.


Posted by: nattarGcM ttaM | Link to this comment | 06-17-20 11:59 PM
horizontal rule
77

||
Is it just me or is Duckduckgo starting to suck quite a lot?
|>


Posted by: | Link to this comment | 06-18-20 12:59 AM
horizontal rule
78

77 How? I've been using it almost exclusively lately mostly because google keeps asking me to do work to prove I'm not a robot. I mean yes, I'm on a VPN but I'm also fucking signed in to my fucking google account, how does it not know?


Posted by: Barry Freed | Link to this comment | 06-18-20 1:13 AM
horizontal rule
79

Shouldn't 36 be signed by Aeron of the Throne?


Posted by: Doug | Link to this comment | 06-18-20 3:02 AM
horizontal rule
80

I mean, unusefuk results, especially, lots of links in Russian (or Cyrillic).


Posted by: | Link to this comment | 06-18-20 3:11 AM
horizontal rule
81

79: as a major employer of clerical and administrative staff, Aegon naturally has a keen interest in office furniture.


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 06-18-20 3:48 AM
horizontal rule
82

How has nobody asked President Trudeau if they're still together, 15 years later?? And if so, what other baubles of guilt has he acquired?


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 06-18-20 5:36 AM
horizontal rule
83

78: Maybe it does.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 06-18-20 5:51 AM
horizontal rule
84

Also 58.2 is just great, Wednesday.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 06-18-20 5:58 AM
horizontal rule
85

||

Catastrophic impact of wild boars: insufficient hunting pressure pushes snakes to the brink
|>


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 06-18-20 6:16 AM
horizontal rule
86

Why do boars hunt snakes so insufficiently?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 06-18-20 6:27 AM
horizontal rule
87

Do people still use kneeling chairs ever? I actually have an old one in my office that I could go get. I'd forgotten about it.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 06-18-20 6:54 AM
horizontal rule
88

I remember those, but I haven't seen one in over a decade. Then there was the time when everyone sat on those big, inflated balls.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 06-18-20 6:59 AM
horizontal rule
89

88 That happened on set to the guy who played Mr. Belvedere and they had to stop filming for a week.


Posted by: Barry Freed | Link to this comment | 06-18-20 7:10 AM
horizontal rule
90

Maybe that's why the federal agency where I had a second office banned them?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 06-18-20 7:13 AM
horizontal rule
91

Inspired by Ginger Yellow, I first duckduckwent steelcase and then found a second hand one for £175 in a farmyard near the airport, on which I am now sitting. It is noticeably better than the cheap thing from Amazon it replaces and it feels even more comfortable because the new list price is north of £800. Don't tell me the collapsing economy is all bad.


Posted by: NW | Link to this comment | 06-18-20 8:15 AM
horizontal rule
92

How do you sit on an airport?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 06-18-20 8:24 AM
horizontal rule
93

Flirtatiously.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 06-18-20 8:36 AM
horizontal rule
94

The trick is not to let anything try to take off


Posted by: NW | Link to this comment | 06-18-20 9:10 AM
horizontal rule
95

I hope you cleaned the cowpats off first.


Posted by: Ginger Yellow | Link to this comment | 06-18-20 9:36 AM
horizontal rule
96

I loved my Aeron chair at my office and if I were at my desk at home more than occasionally I would spring for a refurbished one. As it is I got an acceptable chair from craigslist for $35.


Posted by: mcmc | Link to this comment | 06-18-20 1:32 PM
horizontal rule