Old Office Chair, New Office Chair
Posted on May 1, 2018 Posted by John Scalzi 27 Comments
Spare a moment in your day to think upon my (now) old office chair, pictured above, which is about to take its journey to the great beyond (which in this case is probably a landfill or being trash picked). Krissy picked it out for me in 2010 or so, when I redid the office in general. It definitely shows signs of wear and tear, not just from me (see where my ass and legs have worn through the chair), but also from the cats, which have torn up the top, clawing at it when they were perching there. It’s also a little lopsided and the cushion has flattened and it’s generally not super-comfortable anymore. Finally, it’s always been a little too large for the corner my desk is in — it bumps into other furniture and in fact has a long scar across its back from where it’s scraped against my file cabinet for eight years. It was time to let it go.
In its place now is the new chair —
— which fits better into the desk area, rises slightly higher (which hopefully will be better for repetitive strain) and has a Temperpedic seat, which is nice and comfy. I imagine the cats will not be pleased since they will no longer be able to perch high up on the chair, but honestly, we’ve spoiled them enough. It’s okay for me to put myself first when it comes to my work chair.
Don’t tell them I said that, though.
I am actually about 2 years into the same chair you just got, other than a slightly wobbly armrest it has held up pretty well
“I imagine the cats will not be pleased since they will no longer be able to perch high up on the chair,”
I remember how upset our cats were when we finally upgraded from large, bulky CRT monitors to flat screens. We both had to catch the monitors at least once when the cats tried to jump up to their cozy spots on the top of the monitors–which weren’t there anymore. (They definitely weren’t happy.)
Based on my own experience, you are quite mistaken if you believe that is YOUR new work chair. It actually belongs to the cats, who I am sure are finding that Temperpedic seat quite comfortable, but nonetheless may occasionally deign to let you use THEIR chair.
You may want to consider upgrading to the “rollerblade” style casters. You can find them inexpensively on Amazon and they are a lot kinder to hardwood floors. We did that when we moved and went from carpets to hardwood with area rugs. They roll a lot easier and don’t mark the floor. Pop the old casters off with a flathead screwdriver or pry par. Pop the new ones on, tap with a mallet, and boom. Nice rolly chair.
Dave:
They’re not hardwood floors, just flooring made to look like hardwood. It holds up rather better.
I believe you mean it’s a Tempurpedic chair! [/pedant] (Unless I’m wrong in which case you can substitute a [/idiot] tag – note that a prefix of /obnoxious works equally well with either tag…)
Your old chair looks like the new chair I bought today. Office Depot sale.
I’m already mentally designing attachable kitteh platforms for the back of that chair…
That looks a lot like my office chair. It’s comfy.
Well, you’ve got some objective proof there that you followed the dictum of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair. :D
So… is that what John Perry’s chair looked liked before he left Huckleberry for Roanoke? No wonder whats her name didn’t want the seat ;)
Considering cats and fur, I’m surprised your rollers held up at all on your old chair. In our house, the casters always bind up in a few months unless we religiously pick fur and hair out of them.
Well, it *might* have been time for a new chair. Hope that mesh back holds up under nice sharp claws…
This is an upgrade I had to make as well last year. I work from home as a software developer, and the chair I had just wasn’t cutting it. I ended up getting a Herman Miller Aeron, which are expensive as hell, but my legs feel so much better after sitting for long periods. I try to get up regularly to stretch and walk around, but sometimes you just get caught up in what you’re doing. Having quality chair is important for those times.
I’m sure the cats will make good use of that nice climbing frame built into the back of your new chair :) . Looks very comfy otherwise, though.
That looks like it might be the same chair my husband has. Clara (our 14 pound housecat) still manages to get herself onto the back of it. She spends more time on those nice wide armrests, though.
I really need to upgrade my chair. The arms are in shreds just from her jumping up to get to the back.
Wait, the old chair isn’t going to the Smithsonian?! In truth, it does kind of look like Captain Kirk’s bridge chair…after a Romulan attack. And a few Starfleet budget cuts.
Currently sitting in a chair identical to your new one. It is the standard chair supplied to customer service personnel where I work. Quite comfortable. You’ll probably get many years of use out of it.
That old chair still has life to it, I’ve bought worse on ebay.
I told the cats, John.
Seat of the pants applied to the seat of the chair for long enough. Check.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the cats. If they can’t sit on the back of the chair, they’ll figure out how to sit on your shoulders – or maybe your head… Yeah, that would put them even higher.
You probably could have auctioned the chair off for charity – or donated it to a charity that would do that.
My old office chair at the community college where I teach was just like your original. But the padding became non-existent and the hinge was breaking down. So, the state of Illinois provided me with a replacement from storage. It has NO padding (budget cuts). I think it is a big hint that maybe they want me teaching in the lecture room instead of reading this blog. Hey! Wait a darn minute…
@kaellinn18 is right, the Herman Miller Aeron is the chair of chairs. I had one in my office at the lab for a few years before I retired and it was fantastic. I should have wheeled myself out in it and taken it home as a parting gift, but that would have been stealing, so I ponied up the ~$800 to buy one for home. I think it is an acceptable expense – every bit as much so as the cost of my iMac and Macbook Pro. It completes the package you might say.
I have the same chair you just got. Still going strong since around 2012. Underneath the ends of the padded armrest has torn, but hasn’t further deteriorated. Still very comfortable.
Ben says it’s still going strong since 2012. So who makes your new chair, and where did you buy it?