This news story from 2006 alerted me to a war I didn’t know anybody was fighting: the liberation of Karen State from Myanmar. The KNLA (Karen National Liberation Army) and KNU (Karen National Union) have been fighting for independence since the British left Burma (Myanmar) in 1948. What do you get a 51-year old rebel movement for its birthday? Here are their demands:

• For us, surrender is out of the question.
• We shall retain our arms.
• The recognition of the Karen State must be complete.
• We shall decide our own political destiny.

Michael Pratt asked me recently:

Do you still use your treadmill desk? Do you continue to find it beneficial? I love the idea of these things, but worry a little that I might tire of it in practice, or that it might be difficult to work at it for long periods.

It may seem a perfect opportunity to revisit my old walking desk blog post, but that just raises the guilt level I feel every time I see the thing unused. Unfortunately, I have to admit that I don’t use it much anymore, though I do believe I lost some weight and generally felt healthier when I was using it regularly.

It can be difficult to walk and type. The treadmill runs as slowly as .5 miles per hour, and that helped me to get started. Eventually, I found two miles per hour a comfortable rate and would work at that for hours at a time. But I lost the knack of it after a long period of travel and had trouble getting started again. One of the problems was that as the treadmill aged, it could no longer properly work at the slow speeds, or without a high elevation angle. The higher speed meant that I couldn’t simply ease into it as I had at first, and the higher elevation angle left me in a less comfortable typing position.

That could all be justification, but it’s what seems to have happened. Still, while I was doing it regularly, it was easy and convenient. I may have just convinced myself to try it out again.

currugated_film’s photo of graffitti in Oaxaca. The caption at Flickr notes that the text to the right says “the solution is in your hands, the rocks are on the ground.”

graffiti, movement, populist, rocks, solution

I used to have a stand-up desk at work. Then that got replaced by a pair of standup workstations above a more normal desk. Then I moved offices and switched roles from sysadmin to programmer and got the most normal desk ever.

Then, in January 2005, I heard an NPR story about Dr. Jim Levine’s study that put a high value on constant movement throughout the day, and I got concerned about sitting for so long. Levine was so taken by the results that he assembled a walking desk (my term) using a treadmill and hospital tray (the kind that slides over a hospital bed).

Now, almost a year later, I’ve got my own.

Joe Stirt of BookOfJoe got excited about Levine’s treadmill desk and eventually built his own. Mine was especially easy to setup because the arms are perfectly level and large enough to hold that big cherry board I use for the desk surface.

treadmill, treadmill desk, walking desk, walking, computer desk, exercise, Dr. Jim Levine, Dr. James Levine, Dr. Joe Stirt, movement, health, desk