Wrist Wand

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In 2001, I was the information technology supervisor for a city police department. In that position, I was in charge of telephones, radios, and computers, but my main job was the implementation and project management of a dispatch and records database program. Therefore, I worked very close to dispatchers and records people who used that program to so their daily jobs. There was another supervisor in charge of those personnel. My office was next to his. He also had a project. He was the project manager of a new dispatch center. That required me to work closely with him.

One of his responsibilities was the ergonomics of dispatch center. He had to not only order chairs and furniture but had to ensure that furniture would last throughout it’s depreciation period as well as ensuring safety and comfort. Dispatchers routinely worked 12 hour shifts and would often work overtime past those hours.

Two injuries often occurring in dispatchers is back problems and repetitive motion injuries (carpel tunnel.)

The chairs and work stations adjusted in everyway possible. There were foot rests and back cushions. If an employee can stay healthy, that employee will not miss work, will not complain, and will not get work related injuries.

Exercise was encouraged and the city provided for all it’s employees a gym membership.

Repetitive Motion is a whole science in itself. Anyone working long hours on a computer was highly encouraged to exercise. One item in particular was issued, a “Wrist Wand.”

The “Wrist Wand” is a simple device. It’s a 1” dowell approximately 10” long. It has cushioned grips on the ends resembling the soft grips of a racing bicycle. There was a video each employee had to watch and sign that he/she had watched it in order to be issued a device.

The video showed a simple exercise and recommended that this exercise by done hourly throughout the work day with a single repetition of ten.

I always thought it ironic and strange that to combat repetitive motion injuries, a repetitive exercise would be prescribed.

All dispatchers and records personnel were issued one. I, as a computer systems supervisor was also issued the device. Like most everyone else, I watched the short video, signed the paperwork, took possession of the device, then threw it in my desk never to be seen again.

As I promoted and transferred, that device was moved from desk to desk and ended up in my wall locker. When I retired, the locker was cleaned out with me throwing the contents, including the “Wrist Wand” in a box and then transferred to attic storage at my home.

After I retired, I bought a foreclosed fixer upper custom home. The home is magnificent but my wife and I decided there needed to be some upgrades. Most of the upgrades I did by myself including laying approximately 2000 square feet of tile.

I had to remove the old flooring and prep the floor for the new tile. The new tile had to be set, then grouted. The grouting was a rigorous task and consisted of pressing the grout into position with a rubber trowel, then removing excess grout, after which a sponge cleaning was done. This left a chalky haze on the tile, and a hand polishing followed. The three months I worked on the installation of this tile caused repetitive motion injuries to both my hands and wrists.

I thought since I was no longer doing tile work, the injuries would heal. A year later, I still hurt. Every time I went to do something that required grip, it killed me. I considered that I would have to make that dreaded doctors appointment and get myself fixed. That’s when I remembered the “Wrist Wand.”

I went on the interenet and found the website and watched the video again. At first I couldn’t even do the full exercise. You start with the wand in front of you in your hands, palms up. The you bring it to your mid section palms to your chest, turning your hands downward and straightening out your arms as they go down towards your waist, palms once again out. Then keeping your arms straight, you lift your hands over your head as far up as they’ll go. It stretches your wrists and shoulders. Watch this video to get the idea of what I’m talking about. The manufacturer http://www.wristwand.com/ removed his video because people found out you can make your own. What was happening though was that without the soft grips it puts a lot of pressure on the thumbs and people were complaining about bruises.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndSmIR3evn0

I couldn’t even keep my grip as I pushed down to the waist, let alone lift up in the air above my head. I didn’t do this every hour. I did it once a day in the morning for ten half reps. After about a month, I could do a full half rep and another month a full rep for ten reps. A year later, I do 30 full reps every morning and my pain is gone. I could do more but this is enough to keep me well. I feel fantastic. It really is a magic “wrist wand.”



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Finding Treasure

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After I retired in 2008, my wife and I decided to start walking for exercise. We walked 3 to 5 miles a day for almost a year. One of the things we did while walking was to search for treasure. It truly is amazing what people leave lying around the street. We have found silverware, tools, knives, jewelry, a whole assortment of trinkets, and money. We would take our treasure home with us and place it in a big jar. On one of our walks, we found a lid for the jar. There’s a chicken on top of the lid that appears to be from some type of canister set. We moved up on a hill and adopted a stray dog. The dog wasn’t leash trained and we didn’t want him following us through the busy streets, so now we work out at home, and don't do much walking. But, whenever we’re out, if we happen upon a worthy piece of treasure it still comes home to it’s new home in the jar. That is especially true for money. We’ll come out of restaurants and stores and find coins on sidewalks and in parking lots. That money is placed separate usually in my wife’s purse and always gets placed in the jar. We find that in finding money, we can judge the economy. When the economy went south, we pretty much quit finding anything. Lately, it must be getting better, because we are starting to find the money again. This morning, I found two one dollar bills in the hardware store parking lot. My guess is that it popped out of someone’s pocket as they pulled out their keys. When I got home and told my wife of the find, she watched closely to ensure I placed it in the jar. Maybe she doesn’t trust me. Anyway, I got to wondering just how much is in that two and a half year old treasure jar. So, I emptied it out, counted the money, and then put it all back in the jar. Here’s what we got:
one $10 bill, three $1 bills, 16 quarters, 74 dimes, 29 nickels, and 389 pennies totaling $30.14. At today’s high interest rate of maybe 1%, we would have had to have had about $1,200 in the bank for those whole 2 ½ years to get that kind of a return. Not bad for finding treasure and it’s not even buried.
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Some Things Are Worth Mentioning

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If I have something I like, I like recommending that item to my friends.



In 1974, I bought a Sanyo oscillating fan. It has a metal cage and a blue clear plastic blade. The parts that make it oscillate have long worn out but that fan is still working 36 years later.



The house I live in was built in 1988. The people who built it put in six Victorian style Casablanca ceiling fans. Twenty two years later, they all still work great. I’ve had to have two flywheels replaced but these fans look like new and should last forever. I love them!



My Nissan hardbody pickup is a 91. I bought it in October of 90 brand new. I paid it off when some accounts came due in January 91. Twenty years later, it runs fantastic. I’ve only put 75,000 miles on it. I’ve replaced the battery four times and the tires twice. Recently, I put on a new muffler. The first 15 years, it was garaged, but the last five it has set out. Except for when the battery died (four times), it has never failed to start. The ac works great on it. I’ve used it many times to haul gravel, appliances, and furniture. I would buy another one.



The last item I would like to mention is an ink pen. Until 2005, I had never had an ink pen last until it ran out of ink. How many times have you picked up a pen and went to write something and the ball was frozen. If you didn’t rip the paper, you had to grab something else and try scribbling with it until it started writing, if it ever worked again. Anyway, in 2005, my work bought some Pilot pens. They are clear and say Pilot BETTER Retractable Medium. Not one of these pens has ever failed to write and I’ve personally run at least ten of them out of ink.



Things you are happy with are worth telling people about.
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.Follow up Nov 15, 2010 - You can no longer find the Pilot BETTER pen.  Luckily, the Dr. Grip by Pilot uses the same "revolutionary ink."  It's a #77227 refill.
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For Those With Pets That Have Had To Make The Tough Decision

'nough said...

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