A very cool mouse - and more about my ergonomic world

I probably spend upwards of 6 hours a day (and certainly sometimes more) actually sitting at my workstation, and forcing my body into unnatural positions in order to write commands to my computer.

I now go to great and any available lengths to ensure that my setup is ergonomic and doing the least damage or stress to my body.

So...I have the latest Microsoft ergonomic keyboard and I love it. I encourage all of you to make the switch from a flat, straight keyboard. It's easy to see why. Hold your hands out in front of you. Notice how they naturally turn inwards? Now straighten them out so the palms are horizontal, as they would be to type on a "normal" keyboad. Feel the stress in your wrists?

I also sit on a ball chair to minimize slouching at the keyboard, improve abdominal tone and give me the opportunity to bounce up and down while I am working. Fun!

But for my mouse, I use a standard Logitech or Microsoft contoured mouse. Nice stuff, but as I paged through one of favorite catalogues (cyberguys.com), I came across a new sort of mouse that just immediately made sense to me: the Evoluent Vertical Mouse:

Rather than forcing my hand to go flat, I can grip the mouse in a more natural vertical fashion, and then work the buttons on the vertical face of the mouse.

It is taking some getting used to, but again it is instantly obvious that this configuration results in less stress on my wrist. Thanks Evoluent!