Texting = de Quervain’s Syndrome…

The little nodule on Bob's wrist is a sign his knotted-up tendons have rebelled against his rampant use of phone technology.

My friend Bob in Des Moines goes under the knife soon for an entirely self-inflicted, and typically painful, ailment known as de Quervain’s Syndrome (aka washerwoman’s syndrome or mother’s wrist).  Basically, it’s a repetitive motion injury.  It was first identified in 1895 by a guy named Fritz, and Mr. de Quervain had no idea his observations would apply to more than scrubbing floors and lifting babies.

Seems Bob has texted way, way, way more than a wrist can handle.  Look up the textbook definition of repetitive motion injury and you’ll see Bob’s name.  Bob is a tech guy’s techie.  He knows his way around an iPhone better than anyone alive.  That includes the developers.  Just as the rest of us are trying to figure out how to direct dial, Bob pushes the boundaries of tech-knowledge.  In Coeur d’Alene he drove us nuts with continual and usually unsolicited demonstrations of “apps” that ranged from a circular rotating compass to guide our way if we got lost to a hand-held seismograph that recorded his heart beat or jolts when the SUV hit bumps in the road.  We rode Bob hard (the derision was good natured) about his addiction to technology.  Bob’s loss is the hand surgeon’s gain.

Let it be said that unless I begin to sit awkwardly at my laptop keyboard, I should manage to avoid de Quervain’s Syndrome or a similar overuse ailment.  I suppose correct posture and proper ergonomic design of a keyboard are a saving graces to letters.  Bob will recover soon enough to rejoin the ranks of texters, although I hope he’ll subscribe to whatever  “app” will make it easier on his thumbs.

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Here’s today’s letter to my mother.  A seven minute exercise from start to finish.  Things are improving for her medication-wise.  I hope this letter adds a minute or two of brightness to her day.

September 24, 2010

Mom: Officially it’s supposed to be fall right now but the weather guy says today will be another day in the 90s.  Your first frost can’t be far behind and we still worry about sun screen and tee shirts.  There are now drought conditions in some parts of the Carolinas.  I have a little drought situation in my own neck of the woods; the plants in my window boxes are goners since they had stopped flowering and I stopped watering them.  I’ll replant something in their place.

Was on the porch the other day when I noticed that my parsley plant was awfully scrawny and didn’t have many leaves.  On closer inspection, it was filled with a yellow and black banded caterpillar of some sort.  They had munched the plant to nearly nothing.  So I picked them off and squished them.  But in an idle moment I wondered what they were so I looked up North Carolina caterpillars on the Internet.  It seems these were destined to turn into Swallowtail butterflies, and here I’d just assassinated about 20 of them.  If I’d known that I would’ve let them live.  Incredibly, the background on the worms said they preferred plants in the parsley family.  Well, they found mine to their liking.

Was in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho last weekend with some friends from Des Moines.  These were guys I’ve known a long time, and it reminded me how I’ve not been able to see old friends for quite some time.  So it was good in that regard.  We played golf and had a great time eating and laughing (drinking wine a little bit, too).  We played a course where they had an island green you had to take a boat to reach.  The kicker was if you hit the green on your first shot you got a certificate.  I plunked my ball in the water the first day but got a certificate on the second day.  It wasn’t a gimmee in that it played about 165 yards both days.  Nice course, and it was in the mountains which I have missed.  Flew over some familiar mountains in Wyoming.  That was fun to see.

Ellen goes to Des Moines this weekend for some event.  Reid told me last night he wants a new computer but this time he’s going to build one.  How the heck do you build a computer?  He’s already got a jazzy laptop but he says that’s not powerful enough for all the stuff he wants to do.  Don’t ask me what he wants to do but he needs a mega-computer to do it.  Good for him.  He had a good review at his ad agency job this week.  That made his week.

Not much going on in these parts.  Probably take the bike out for a spin this weekend.  Likely will head to South Carolina for the day Saturday.  The forecast is for rain on Sunday which is sorely needed around here.  Of course, the big news is I leave for Grand Island in a couple of weeks and will see you very soon.  Just make sure the ice cream shops are still open, and I’m sure we’ll find a good joint for a burger and a beer.

The parental ‘marketing mix’…

The Charlotte Observer ran an editorial suggesting parents cut the cord quickly once their kids are in college. I disagreed - and sent an op-ed piece to the editor. Who knows if the paper will run it. If it does, it will appear here.

Don’t read into this that I’ve caved to the siren call of technology but I do fold like a cheap suit when it comes to frequent use of what I’ve lambasted – texting – with Ellen and Reid.  Instead, consider this my admission of guilt.  To mix metaphors, I talk a good game but don’t walk the walk.

By my count Ellen and I text a leisurely 3-4 times per week.  The frequency is much less with Reid but when we do text the messages go in back-and-forth, rapid fire flurries.  We did just that yesterday; we traded eight or so texts in a matter of minutes.

There’s no denying texting has utility value.  It has horned its way into how you, me, and every warm-blooded person in the universe chooses to contact each other.  Sure, texting has its limitations; word count, breadth, personality, inflection, lack of spell check and iffy punctuation, et al.  Text messages are way too rampant but it is a ready answer to our predilection with speed and yet more speed.  Sometimes I wish it were not so.  Texting is, and should be, part of how parents should keep tabs on their kids.  Think of texting as one portion of your parental marketing mix (as are phone calls and infernal emails).

For me there is a limited time and place for texting.  That place is the back burner.

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Mom gets a letter mailed to her every week at her care facility.  Here’s this week’s installment.

August 27, 2010

Mom: We’ve had a break in the heat, if you call upper 80s or 90 a break in the heat.  It was about to break me, that’s for sure.  I’ve had enough humidity to last me a lifetime, and then some.

Not much new to report these days.  These are, however, the dog days of summer.  We went fishing last week on the western end of North Carolina and nothing was biting except the mosquitoes.  It’s quite pretty out that way, with the rolling hills and the trees.  Lots of people but it was the tail end of the vacation season before kids went back to school.  The school year started this week and the traffic has just become bonkers.  It’s added a smooth 10-15 minutes to my morning commute.  Yuck.

Ellen called last night and she’s ramping up for her new classroom and new students.  She is somewhat overwhelmed by all the preparation but she will get through it.  She likes the school but the facility is under some pressure to improve test scores or some such thing for students.  The school is lucky to have her because she will lift those results in a jiffy.  She’s a good teacher and loves it.

Looks like there are some changes ahead for Reid.  He’s had an inquiry at work about looking at a new position (nice to be wanted) in some part of the business that analyzes research results or web pages or something like that.  I don’t pretend to understand much of it.  I hope he gets the new job because change is good in the advertising business.  He’s also looking for a new pad.  Seems like he has his eye on a studio apartment.  The longer he stays in Chicago, the deeper his stake in the ground becomes.  I fear he will become a Chicagoan.  I don’t know if he likes the Bears as much as you do.  He goes to Cubs games now and again.

The battery on the Harley went South.  Have to get a new one today.  In 9 years its only the second battery the bike has had so that’s not too bad.  Tomorrow we are slated to ride the back roads to Greeneville, SC to visit the local Harley dealer there.  I’ve shelved the temptation to sell the bike for the time being as it is one of the few free-time joys that I have.  I just like the riding.  Cousin Richard would be proud.  Now, if I could just get his Hell’s Angels gear…

I’m looking for a new job here in Charlotte that will let me get closer to my writing roots.  I’ve got a friend in California who has nosed around about me writing for he and his wife who is a Realtor.  We’ll see.  Speaking of writing, I will teach a three part class on writing letters at my church.  I’ve closed the registrations at 25 because of the room size but if I get 10 to 12 people that will be fine with me.  Each week I’ll read to them the most current letters to you and the kids.  I’ll try to watch my language although a bad word might slip out now and then.  Be good mom.  I love you.