I even wind up straddling the computer

16:56 Feb 10 

Thank you so much!

18:06 Feb 9 

She is sitting in an office chair. Because of what might be a cramped space, her (old style) PC is on the floor under her desk, and close to her, so her legs straddle it every now and then owing to her fidgety movements.

16:14 Feb 8 

to visualize the meaning of the sentence. Maybe, when the author talks about fidgety legs, she describes one particular case, and when she refers to straddling, she talks about a different time. Or maybe she has a laptop but also a bigger monitor: my boyfriend works like that: they have a laptop that they can bring home, and in office they have a bigger monitor on the desk so they can see better...
But you're right: I'll keep it more general...
But actually I think both answers can be right (the one by Kiet, "porn-like language" apart, if the author has a bigger monitor, and the other one if the author has a tower...
Maybe, If I have time and opportunity, I'll write to the author!

13:11 Feb 8 

Don't know why you think 'put my laptop in my lap' is a good solution? It makes absolutely no sense in the context given. Her legs are "fidgety", and she is constantly changing the position of her hips, so how could she have a laptop on her lap?
Also, her bottom half is hidden from her interlocutor, which means the PC monitor or screen is ON the desk, not below it!
As for the contention that everyone uses laptops these days? That's not true either. I use my PC with tower for almost all my work, and on it now, though not straddling the tower (which is too small to sit on and is on the desk). Yes, I have 2 laptops, an 11" and 15.6" but only use them when out of the office or travelling.

As I suggested earlier, something like: "my legs get very fidgety and I change the position of my hips a lot, so much so that I might end up sitting on/straddling the PC tower"
BUT I would probably say something in more normal English like
"My bottom half gets really fidgety and I keep changing the position of my legs and hips, squirming around so much I'm in danger of ending up on the floor!"

21:25 Feb 6 

Because I think Kiet's answer is probably on the right lines. Most people use laptops these days.

18:46 Feb 6 

excellent solution! because it can indirectly hint at "straddling legs"... why don't you post an answer?

17:53 Feb 6 

You could say 'put my laptop in my lap'.

16:24 Feb 6 

I think I'll try to keep it as general as possible, to avoid misunderstandings!

13:34 Feb 6 

I have to agree with Phil and Christopher that this is dreadful writing and not at all clear what is meant but I think Robert has the general idea of what is happening here but even then I can't see someone actually "straddling" a PC tower (unless it's an older model large one.
Yes, we can "straddle" a horse or a chair or something similar and it means having a leg on each side but "straddling" a computer is really odd.
And "put my computer in the space between my legs" has porn overtones so beware!
Her legs/feet are NOT on the desk either as Christopher suggests: "the hidden lower half of my body" so the person she is talking to (on the computer monitor) cannot see what she's doing with her legs.
You need to be careful with your translation. And remember that what is happening below the desk must remain unseen by her patient/client.
Her legs get very fidgety and she changes position a lot, so much so that she might end up sitting on the computer tower (below the desk)...

12:16 Feb 6 

Maybe I'll try to keep it a bit more general...

09:35 Feb 6 

Yes it is unclear. I would guess her legs are on the desk with her feet either side of the computer. Neither of the suggestions below works for me.

04:44 Feb 6 

I think this is bad writing, and its meaning is not clear to me. It depends what kind of computer she's using, and either of these answers could be correct.