Early Revit Action & a Mouse Change

Phase 1 of our shift to Revit MEP Suite will occur this month. My participation will be limited to involvement with setting up standard equipment symbols and equipment schedules. Over the last three years I've been the only one setting up equipment CAD blocks showing the real size of equipment with clearances and ID on manufacturer/model number. Back when I started that process I had realized quickly that if I didn't create such blocks I'd be re-inventing the wheel on nearly every condo project I worked on. It nicely carried over into the commercial side although one might question the value of creating a block for a 12,000 mbh boiler. Doing so was minor additional work. I was already creating blocks of the equipment in drawings to keep all the graphic entities together when moving equipment about as the space layout changed.

I have a new mouse, Evoluent Vertical Mouse due to some right hand aggravation. I can't really call it carpal tunnel but the doctor says it's early stage. So I got the new mouse. My hand stays in a thumb-up position as if I were going to grab a door or shake a hand. It has taken some effort to get used to this thing. I installed the driver software so I could slow the darn thing down. It can be set to a high sensitivity level that I have never seen before. It has three buttons on the finger side plus the wheel and a single button on the thumb side. Due to sloppy finger control and hand movements, I've disabled the third finger and thumb buttons. I removed the thick notepad case I was using to elevate the old mouse and raised the chair height. Now the mouse is pretty level with the chair arm so my lower arm rests pretty flat. I do have to say it has taken the carpal action out of the picture. It has caused more activity on other muscles in the hand and wrist.

Actually, I've been using the mouse for a couple weeks now and find it better than the old mouse scheme. I did notice a different set of muscles getting overused during the first week. Guess that amounted to retraining the hand, the arm and my brain. The carpal irritation is pretty much gone though it does creep up late in the day during those intense design days. Certainly need to interrupt the process more often.