I'm finally moved into my new apartment. There are still some things to be unpacked, but they're going to eventually find their home on their own. Since this apartment isn't furnished like a dorm room or even university apartments are, I've had to scrounge up a few things (with the greatly appreciated help of my parents) to even live. But, most of you probably know that the centerpiece of my apartment is, of course, my computers. And, especially since I have repetitive stress injuries, a good desk is important. In fact, the desk must be perfect. So I went shopping. And shopping. And shopping. And I learned something. There are two types of desks in the world: expensive ones, which made of nice wood but have tons of stupid frilly things like CD cases and tower cases and weird walls and hutches that get in the way more than anything; and inexpensive ones, which have the right design (simple, no-nonsense) but are made of eighth inch pine and couldn't stand during a stiff breeze, let alone holding two CRTs, one of which is 21 inches. :P I had some criteria. The desk must be strong. (This rules out about half.) It must be at least somewhat large. (Here's another half of those remaining.) It must have ample breathing and access room for the computers. (Those little CPU cabinets? Can you say idling at 55 Celsius? I don't even want to think about how tough it would be to mess with cables...) It must be the right height for typing. I measured the natural typing position of my hands while sitting at the max height of my chair and realized I needed a test about 29 inches high or lower. The problem is, nobody actually makes desks like that. As a compromise, I figured 29.5 inches would be okay... Some desks had keyboard trays that were the proper height for typing and mousing, but some were so small they wouldn't have been able to hold my *keyboard*, let alone my mouse pad. It's pathetic. Why do all desks suck??? So I have turned to my last resort: building one. I'm planning on going home on a weekend, buying some lumber, and building a simple desk / table that matches my specifications. For now I'm borrowing my parents' old dining room table, which actually turns out to be almost the perfect height, shape, and sturdiness. It would be nice if it was about half an inch lower, but it's much better than that crap Staples, OfficeMax, and Office Depot carry. It just blows my mind. All I wanted was a simple place to put my computer.