I got a lot of feedback that people loved the “Slower Than Others” gear I added to No Pity City recently, so here’s something different starring a very similarly drawn tortoise. I just love the design of this bag!

Buy One!

Share This With A Friend

Do you know somebody else who would find this interesting or useful? Please forward it to them.

Did somebody forward this post to you? Visit No Pity City and subscribe to receive these posts for free!

This article was originally published at I May Be Slow But I Can Win Canvas Bag and is copyright (C) Ricky Buchanan 2010. May be forwarded but do not republish without permission.

This cute little snail doesn’t care that he moves slowly. He’s letting everyone know that being slower is just right for him!

If somebody is moving slowly – literally or metaphorically – please remember that it’s probably not by their choice. Many people have invisible problems, things you can’t see, that slow them down. Pain, fatigue, and a lot of other problems can force people to move slowly even when they want to be fast.

Buy One!

Share This With A Friend

Do you know somebody else who would find this interesting or useful? Please forward it to them.

Did somebody forward this post to you? Visit No Pity City and subscribe to receive these posts for free!

This article was originally published at Some Of Us Move Slower than Others Mug and is copyright (C) Ricky Buchanan 2010. May be forwarded but do not republish without permission.

If somebody is moving slowly – literally or metaphorically – please remember that it’s probably not by their choice. Many people have invisible problems, things you can’t see, that slow them down. Pain, fatigue, and a lot of other problems can force people to move slowly even when they want to be fast.

Buy One!

Share This With A Friend

Do you know somebody else who would find this interesting or useful? Please forward it to them.

Did somebody forward this post to you? Visit No Pity City and subscribe to receive these posts for free!

This article was originally published at Some Of Us Move Slower Than Others Button/Badge and is copyright (C) Ricky Buchanan 2010. May be forwarded but do not republish without permission.

“But You Don’t Look Sick!”

It must be the phrase heard most often by those with chronic illness, chronic pain, and invisible disabilities. It’s the phrase that inspired me most when I wrote the Open Letter To Those Without Invisible Chronic Illness, which tries to explain how to best support a chronically ill friend or family member.

This great mug just lets the phrase stand alone, hopefully making everybody think about it twice. This might be an especially good mug to leave in the break room at work or college, although buying a few extras might be necessary for that purpose!

Buy One!

Share This With A Friend

Do you know somebody else who would find this interesting or useful? Please forward it to them.

Did somebody forward this post to you? Visit No Pity City and subscribe to receive these posts for free!

This article was originally published at But You Don’t Look Sick Coffee Mug and is copyright (C) Ricky Buchanan 2010. May be forwarded but do not republish without permission.

What the sticker says is most definitely true – some of us move slower than others. And some of us move a lot slower. And it’s not fun to be the one forced to go slow, especially when the public isn’t accommodating of slowness.

If somebody is moving slowly in front of you, please remember that it’s probably not by choice – many people have invisible problems, things you can’t see, that slow them down. Pain, fatigue, and a lot of other problems can force people to move slowly even when they want to be fast.

Buy One!

Share This With A Friend

Do you know somebody else who would find this interesting or useful? Please forward it to them.

Did somebody forward this post to you? Visit No Pity City and subscribe to receive these posts for free!

This article was originally published at Some Of Us Move Slower than Others Sticker and is copyright (C) Ricky Buchanan 2010. May be forwarded but do not republish without permission.

I just love this Disability In Space mug that Sofia_Youshi designed. It’s the perfect thing to make you smile while drinking a hot tea or coffee in the morning, or warming up with a mug of soup after being out in the snow.

Buy One!

Share This With A Friend

Do you know somebody else who would find this interesting or useful? Please forward it to them.

Did somebody forward this post to you? Visit No Pity City and subscribe to receive these posts for free!

This article was originally published at Wheelchairs In Space Mug and is copyright (C) Ricky Buchanan 2010. May be forwarded but do not republish without permission.

iPhones and iPods are cool, and this iDeaf shirt is something very cool as well. Besides, it’s always a good idea to remind the hearing people that being deaf doesn’t impair your sense of humour!

Buy One!

Share This With A Friend

Do you know somebody else who would find this interesting or useful? Please forward it to them.

Did somebody forward this post to you? Visit No Pity City and subscribe to receive these posts for free!

This article was originally published at iDeaf T-shirt and is copyright (C) Ricky Buchanan 2010. May be forwarded but do not republish without permission.

If how you roll is in a wheelchair, this hat may amuse you.

Buy One!

Share This With A Friend

Do you know somebody else who would find this interesting or useful? Please forward it to them.

Did somebody forward this post to you? Visit No Pity City and subscribe to receive these posts for free!

This article was originally published at This Is How I Roll Baseball Cap and is copyright (C) Ricky Buchanan 2010. May be forwarded but do not republish without permission.

Shirt with a pocket size design reading “Keep Away From Nuts” in bright red and blue. Perfect for a nut sensitive child going off to kinder or a friend’s house – it helps remind the adults around to be careful what they feed your baby!

Buy One!

Share This With A Friend

Do you know somebody else who would find this interesting or useful? Please forward it to them.

Did somebody forward this post to you? Visit No Pity City and subscribe to receive these posts for free!

This article was originally published at Keep Away From Nuts, Kid’s Allergy T-Shirt and is copyright (C) Ricky Buchanan 2010. May be forwarded but do not republish without permission.

A keyboard adapted for using under the blankets

That’s a Kinesis Advantage keyboard, by the way. It’s the most ergonomically friendly keyboard I’ve ever found and suits me perfectly. The space, enter, delete, backspace, and a few other keys moved to where they are thumb operated instead of their usual positions so it can take a bit of getting used to but I found it very much worth the effort of learning the new positions.

I have my desktop computer set up to use in bed, so I am snug under the blankets and keyboarding in bed is possible. A similar setup would work while using a laptop computer in bed if you used an external keyboard with the laptop.

This is how I did it: I positioned myself in bed with the keyboard in my preferred position on my lap, and the blankets on top and noted which keys were pressed down by the bed covers. For my Kinesis keyboard it was the top keys in the “thumb” blocks in the middle, as these are positioned higher than the other keys. For a flat keyboard it’s usually the keys at the top corners, such as the escape and F12 keys. At this point just figure out which keys are at risk.

Now take your keyboard out from under the covers and find a solution. As you can see in the photo above, I have attached some blue bits of wood to the keyboard. I actually just got somebody to saw a kid’s wooden block in half, because I had one. It’s attached to the keyboard with the double-sided sticky foam that you buy to attach a poster to the wall. The double-sided foam was also an “I have this lying around” solution, I intended to replace it with glue after testing but it turned out to be sufficiently sticky to keep the blocks where I needed them so I’ve never bothered.

When I tried this with another more “regular” style keyboard I found the escape and F12 keys were often pressed down by the covers. To keep the blankets off those corner keys I got some small bits of fairly stiff cardboard and bent them vertically to make a right angle. Then I glued the cardboard to the top corners of the keyboard. It’s just about 1/4″ higher than the corner keys, and it needs to be fairly firm cardboard and strong glue to work because the bed covers tend to catch. I rounded the top corners to make it a bit less likely to be messed up by the bedclothes.

When attaching things to the keyboard, always try attaching the prop with something temporary first, in case it doesn’t work. Adhesive tape or temporary glue or something similar should be fine, and you get to make sure it does the trick before you use the permanent glue.

Small Apple Keyboard

I also tried using one of the new small format Apple bluetooth keyboards under the covers. To my surprise, it worked perfectly with no cardboard or blocks needed – the low profile keys aren’t nearly so prone to being squished by bedclothes. Score one for Apple! (If you’re not a Mac user, remember that this keyboard works fine with Windows too)

How do you keep your hands warm in winter when you’re computing?

Cheers,
Ricky
Apple wireless keyboard photo edited and used with thanks from Brian Solis at Flickr.

Buy One!

Share This With A Friend

Do you know somebody else who would find this interesting or useful? Please forward it to them.

Did somebody forward this post to you? Visit No Pity City and subscribe to receive these posts for free!

This article was originally published at Keyboarding Under the Covers and is copyright (C) Ricky Buchanan 2010. May be forwarded but do not republish without permission.