I Can't Feel My Hands

It's been four weeks since I started my job and I've realized that I've become a somewhat settled person. I make myself dinner (last night I roasted vegetables and made polenta!), I pack myself lunch (leftover veggies and polenta!), I clean my apartment on a regular basis and I'm going to bed at 11pm every night, which is very very early for me. I don't have many friends (many? err, any) so when I get done with work, I go home, make dinner, read a book, clean up my kitchen, watch some tv, watch the local news (and develop a crush on the dreamy sports guy) and go to bed.

Now that I am settled, I can focus my attentions and my obsessive thoughts on the things that really matter in life--like my office chair. My office chair weighs heavily on my mind for a good five hours a day. The problem? I cannot for the life of me, find a way to sit in it and be comfortable. It's not like I'm new to the "sit on a chair for 8 hours" game; I spent every summer during college sitting at a desk, starring at a computer and taking customer service calls every day. But, those were the really nice, big comfy chairs, much like this:
However, that was a big, important company who could afford nice, big comfy chairs. I now work in an underfunded library. My office chair now looks like this:
There are lots of levers and knobs but I have no idea how I'm supposed to be angling the seat or adjusting the height of the seat or the backrest or changing the angle on the backrest so that my arms and hands stop going numb and my shoulders stop aching. I'm kind of obsessed right now... I've googled "Proper chair alignment" (and found a handy spine website!). I've adjusted the seat so that it's on a downward angle (which is supposedly helpful but really just makes me worry I'm going to slide out of my chair). I've even started using the ridiculous, large plastic footrest that my predecessor left under her desk. I am constantly shifting around, rolling my shoulders back at the desk, stretching in the staff room.... Nothing is helping. Perhaps I need a pillow? Or perhaps I am too tall for my chair and need a different chair. Maybe I should try an exercise ball.

Or maybe I should find something more interesting to write on my blog. I bet you guys are just clamoring for those blog entries about guys who are jerks, aren't you? Well, I apologize. My interest is now on jerk chairs. Not to be confused with jerk chicken...

God I need to get a life.