I bought a wheelchair to use at work.
I purchased it mail order, so I don't actually have it yet. It should arrive mid-week or early next. I'm having it delivered directly to my workplace. Ordinarily work frowns upon getting stuff delivered there but I've slready gotten the OK (and really they were overjoyed that I asked, but more on that later).
The model is an IVC 9000 XT. I pretty much stuck with standard features. The major customization is the frame color - Electric Purple. I'm pretty sure I got the seat size mostly correct, but I guess I'll find out. Seat size is important because too small and the chair is uncomfortable; too large and the chair is difficult to operate.
Why? Well, a few reasons actually. First, it is a major hassle to keep my break schedule when it takes 20+ minutes to use the bathroom (most of that time spent walking there and back). Second, I was beginning to feel that my mobility issues were preventing me from being as successful at work as I want to be. No one was holding me back maliciously or anything, I just feel the easier it is for me to take advantage of oportunities the more opportunity I'll have. Just one of those things.
Third, I think this'll be fun. That's one reason I picked an electric purple frame. Bit more festive than chrome or black. A big factor in choosing the company I did to order from was the customizable frame color options.
Fourth, they are pretty insistant at work that I deal better with my mobility issues than I have been. Partly this is paranoia (I can be a little bit of a liability issue :) ), partly genuine concern that I could overextend myself and get hurt. Strangely enough, the very morning I asked my boss if I could have the chair delivered to work he pulled me aside to voice such concerns. I beat him to the punch though and told him of my plans first. Kind of invalidated most of what he intended to say, but I think he was happy that he didn't need to convince me of anything I had already decided for myself.
That last bit is really important: decided for myself. No one is putting me in a chair. The decision - the entire process - was mine.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
You got feces in my peanut butter!
In an average 3 day period I get 10-20 emails. The past 2-3 weeks I've been getting easily 5X that (probably an even larger difference). The reason? I get notifications of product recalls emailed to me by the FDA. The recalls caused by Peanut Corporation of America's shipping salmonella tainted product make up the increase. The old Reese's Peanut Butter Cup ads spring to mind ....
Hey! You got your feces in my peanut butter!
Hey! You got your feces in my peanut butter!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Twin Peaks
Oh.
My.
God.
Watch Twin Peaks online for only the cost of watching a few commercials: http://www.cbs.com/classics/twin_peaks/
I have these on VHS, but still ... how cool is this? Supposed to work OK on Linux boxes, so ...
Episode 207: Lonely Souls contains my favorite 5-10 minutes of television EVER! Starting with the record player ... to "It is happening again".
My.
God.
Watch Twin Peaks online for only the cost of watching a few commercials: http://www.cbs.com/classics/twin_peaks/
I have these on VHS, but still ... how cool is this? Supposed to work OK on Linux boxes, so ...
Episode 207: Lonely Souls contains my favorite 5-10 minutes of television EVER! Starting with the record player ... to "It is happening again".
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Baaaah!
I just wrote a longish post about the (temporarily, hopefully permanently averted) strike at my work and the joy of having an income that is merely low rather than really low. Blogger ate it.
Bah!
Bah!
Monday, February 2, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Who woulda thunk it?
Who woulda thunk it?
If you had asked me 11 years ago how my health would be today, I would not have guessed MS would be in my future.
If you had asked me 5 years ago to describe what work I would be doing, I certainly would not have guessed internal application support for a well known telecom.
If you had asked me 6 months ago to describe the woman I'd be most interested in today, I would not have guessed she would be a blonde.
If you had asked me two weeks ago if/when I'd be starting physical therapy, I'd never have guessed Wednesday.
All these things are true though.
Who woulda thunk it?
If you had asked me 11 years ago how my health would be today, I would not have guessed MS would be in my future.
If you had asked me 5 years ago to describe what work I would be doing, I certainly would not have guessed internal application support for a well known telecom.
If you had asked me 6 months ago to describe the woman I'd be most interested in today, I would not have guessed she would be a blonde.
If you had asked me two weeks ago if/when I'd be starting physical therapy, I'd never have guessed Wednesday.
All these things are true though.
Who woulda thunk it?
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Inauguration
Today is inauguration day here in the U.S. We've officially had a new president for ... oh, about 5 hours as I type this.
I'm not unhappy to see the old one go. But have to take a 'wait-and-see' attitude with Obama. His words sound good to me, but some decisions he has made so far are not quite so encouraging ...
Looking at 3 personally important issues:
Obama's choice for Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack is uncomfortably close (for me) to the 'Big Ag' industry. But who knows - remember, wait and see.
On specifically animal related issues I haven't seen anything particularly encouraging, but neither anything discouraging. Again - wait and see.
The last is on the other hand at least a little discouraging. The Inaugural activities have been routinely criticised for the minimal attention given to accessability. The attitude of organizers - disabled folks can stay home and watch it on TV. Granted, these are the event organizers, not Obama himself, but still ... One would expect events with inclusion as a theme to be more, you know, inclusive.
One interesting tidbit about accessability: outgoing VP Dick Cheney hurt his back while moving items in to his new house. He will be using a wheelchair fot at least the next few days.
I wonder: will they expect him to stay home and watch TV?
I'm not unhappy to see the old one go. But have to take a 'wait-and-see' attitude with Obama. His words sound good to me, but some decisions he has made so far are not quite so encouraging ...
Looking at 3 personally important issues:
Obama's choice for Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack is uncomfortably close (for me) to the 'Big Ag' industry. But who knows - remember, wait and see.
On specifically animal related issues I haven't seen anything particularly encouraging, but neither anything discouraging. Again - wait and see.
The last is on the other hand at least a little discouraging. The Inaugural activities have been routinely criticised for the minimal attention given to accessability. The attitude of organizers - disabled folks can stay home and watch it on TV. Granted, these are the event organizers, not Obama himself, but still ... One would expect events with inclusion as a theme to be more, you know, inclusive.
One interesting tidbit about accessability: outgoing VP Dick Cheney hurt his back while moving items in to his new house. He will be using a wheelchair fot at least the next few days.
I wonder: will they expect him to stay home and watch TV?
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