Can you make that monitor stop shaking?

I have a punishing workout regimen. Every day I do 3 minutes on a treadmill, then I lie down, drink a glass of vodka and smoke a cigarette.
—Anthony Hopkins

We are getting some improvements to our reading rooms. I personally think we’re worth it.

I have spent a lot of time thinking about reading rooms, and talking to people who have done redesigns, and engineers who do ergonomic chairs and desks, and lighting designers and sound engineers, and all kinds of people. I think I have a reasonable grasp on what makes the reading room comfortable and usable. There is, however, a little niche area of reading room design and functionality that I can partially understand, but do not clearly agree with. At least, not yet. That is the “standing workstation” or, even stranger, the “treadmill workstation.”

I can stand up. Been doing it for years. And, I can do many activities of daily living upright. However, reading studies upright seems like I forgot to sit down. I like to stand up during the workday, as well. And go get coffee, or lunch, or head to a meeting, or maybe go home. And sit down again. Could I do it for a brief interlude during the day? Sure. And then sit down again.

The treadmill thing does not make any sense to me, and I think I have a reasonable viewpoint here. I work out. I run. And, in the winter, I may run on a treadmill. I ride workout bikes as well. And I work out a bit longer than Mr. Hopkins. It is damn hard to read when you’re riding or running. I can watch TV, but I think watching music videos or the Cooking Channel while working out, and having it a little blurred by my jarring up and down motion, is different than reading a diagnostic dilemma head MR. But, there are those who think the treadmill is good way to work in front of a monitor and keep the ole’ heart pumping. As for me, keep me in a stationary object with a comfortable back and arms. If it has wheels, I will use them if only to wheel over to another PACS station.

Get off my seat. I need to read awhile. Mahalo.

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