The Chair

No, this isn't about the classic George Strait song. It's a quick post on one of my long-standing secret obsessions.....office chairs. OK, I have always enjoyed delving into "designer" furniture of all kinds, but have had an interest in "mid-century" modern, and particularly Herman Miller designs. Although, not mid-century by any stretch of the imagination, my favorite office chair has been the Aeron, ever since the first time I saw one. It doesn't help that you see them everywhere in print and broadcast media....even my alter-ego Dr. Gregory House MD sits in one!

They were almost mandatory for any up and coming firm in the dot-com era, so there are lots of them out there. However, these things still go for $600 and up, even for the used ones, which places them squarely in the "no-buy" zone!

A few years ago, when I was working at Texas Tech, I came across an earlier model, Equa 2 at the surplus warehouse and promptly paid the requisite $10 for it! And if you've never sat in a "high-end" office chair (like me), these things are a revelation! Unfortunately, it had torn up upholstery and padding as well as a missing arm pad. Even at that, it was nice to sit in, but then a few years ago, I came across another one at school which was about to be thrown out. It was a "low-back" and had a dead gas cylinder, but was nice in every other way. Also, my wife was just coming off of the second of her back surgeries, so the two were combined together to make one good chair for her.

So back to square one for me and a series of hand-me down office chairs....all the while, periodically looking at Aerons on eBay hoping that some miracle would befall. About a week or so ago, surfing the web while a client machine updated AND sitting on my old chair that the foam has so degenerated that you can feel the attachment bolts..... I found it! An Aeron chair in Bushland (outside Amarillo), Texas, on auction by a seller who required "local pick up", with a bad gas cylinder! The auction was for $250, on day 4 with no bids, and within the next 24 hours, the seller dropped the price, plus it was one that would take "offers". So I offered $135: he countered at $136 asking if I could indeed pick it up, to which I answered "yes" since my wife's uncle lives in Amarillo. To that, I added $35 more dollars for a gas cylinder and am now waiting impatiently to find a way to get my sub-$200 Aeron chair across the state.

Here's the upshot on this thing. Yeah it's cool looking, but there are actual reasons that it's considered to be the most popular high-end office chair in history. It's pretty much bullet-proof with a frame of aluminum. complete adjustability in every way imaginable, a breathable seat/back made of a high-tensile mesh material that they call "pellicle" in a suspension design. This is key for me since I'm naturally hot and the office with multiple computers running gets pretty warm in and of itself. It's also 90+ percent recyclable and virtually all the parts are replaceble extending it's expected service life.