对不起，此内容只适用于Deutsch。
Archive for the ‘Allgemein’ Category
Rock im Park 2015
星期二, 六月 16th, 2015New savetysystem detected in Sri Lanka
星期三, 六月 3rd, 2015
The traffic in Sri Lanka for us Europeans takes some time to get used to. As a training camp I recommend Frankfurt “Platz der Republic” during rush hour and a fair; driving through junctions, honking horns and squeezing through anything… and somewhere in between still fits a tuk-tuk or a moped.
This is called efficient road use – keeping a safety distance is wasted asphalt 
During the past 15 years a lot has happened with the infrastructure, but somehow pedestrian crosswalks are still perceived as decoration, and cows and elephants always have the right of way anyway … aahh … or so.
Using the horn is prohibited in front of temples, and this is really the ONLY traffic rule obeyed!!! 
This moped rider shows some astounding creativity in developing a new innovative safety concept for two-wheelers, at the same time bio-airbag, side impact protection and spacer. For this purpose he uses renewable raw materials in form of jackfruits.
Other than the cushioning effect in accidents ripe jackfruits spread such a stench that no other vehicle dares to get closer than a few feet. However, the improvement of the aerodynamics is negatively offset by the increase of the total weight of 150 kg – from zero to 50 in 2 minutes. To read the complede “Sri Lanka- serial” ,
Translator BW
Helicopter flight above Sri Lanka
星期日, 五月 31st, 2015Sri Lanka, all that green and no apple trees
We were suitably picked up by a driver named “Amigo”, sporting aviator mirror sunglasses, in a silver-colored Hummer (as labeled on the hood, yet with a Honda logo at the steering wheel) and brought to the military airport in Colombo.
We were greeted by a welcome committee ready with a wheelchair, in which Lieutenant Dan probably sat already. Fortunately, they let me use my own.
We were the only tourists at the entire airport. The security chief himself took care of us right away. Our tour guide did honor to his name when he was suddenly back in the security area before us, because the security chief happened to be an old classmate of his.
Meanwhile the four bored immigration attendants were waiting in their turquoise blue saris for the end of their work day.
A golf cart pulled up equipped with mountings for flags, so strictly speaking a diplomat’s car. I started to feel like celebrity After some negotiation I was allowed to make the 100 meters to the launch site in my chair. For that I was accompanied by one of the turquoise wrapped ladies as a personal umbrella holder and also by two of my very own security guards. In my entourage puttered the golf cart with the three other passengers, one more sari-lady and even more security. Did I have a sign “Follow Me” on my vest?!
Arriving at the helicopter we were greeted by the pilot while another three men came from the hangar. I guess, I was the highlight of the day, perhaps even month, and everybody wanted to be there when the crazy white wheelchair man boarded the helicopter.
Approx. twelve men stood around me and waited for a command, how to best get me up and in there (seat height was about 1.40 m). The well proven safety grip did not work in this case.
As a result my old dream of a palanquin wheelchair was almost met, when four men lifted my wheelchair up to entrance height, from where I could with the help of my slide board comfortably slide on to the seat. This way my slide board literally turned in to a flight board The ground troops were thrilled! For a short while I felt like sitting on a throne, since everybody else was still down on the ground. I was tempted to wave to my people like the Queen, but then rather decided on a shy thumbs-up. What an uplifting feeling! It is indeed very special for someone who sits in a wheelchair, to suddenly be the tallest person around
We were flying towards the middle of the island to Kandy, and the pilot managed nicely to stay ahead of the looming monsoon rains.
The view of the island was, particularly of the highlands, comparable with the landscapes that one knows from films like Platoon and Forrest Gump. Everything is green, tea plantations and more palm trees than I have ever seen in 1 1/2 hours (and no apple trees – no apple trees, just pineapples!)
Shortly before landing, the pilot radioed that he needed more time to get ground clearance, since he had a wheelchair on board. To us this seemed a little exaggerated, because there was certainly not any more traffic than at the airport Kassel-Calden at rush-hour, (one plane the day). But everything must have its order
Back on the ground we already saw two men, who pushed my wheelchair from the hangar. One of them examined my sliding board from all sides in sheer fascination. I suspect he started that evening to work the jigsaw ; -) He must have been quite disappointed when it wasn’t used again for the transfer back from the helicopter…
Instead, the classical safety grip/throwing technique came to use, so that after the roundtrip the departure happened by a wheelchair spot landing. The Pilot was obviously impressed, because he said: “I know my game”.
On the way back the same welcome committee was awaiting us including umbrella holder, security guards and golf cart. The weather god was also gracious and only changed his mind after I was safe in my wheelchair again. Then the sky opened and the monsoon season greeted us. My personal umbrella holder kept walking next to me, unmoved by the fact that she got drenched, but she probably was used to this kind of downpour – her only comment was “It’s just rain”.
I would have liked to show you more evidence, but since we are talking about a military airport and members of the military, we held back a little on the photo shooting. A checkup of the accessibility of the local military jail was not part of the itinerary…
To read the complede “Sri Lanka- serial” , click here.
Translator BW
Wheelchair expedition Sri Lanka Part IV
星期六, 五月 30th, 2015对不起，此内容只适用于Deutsch。
Wheelchair expedition Sri Lanka Part III
星期五, 五月 29th, 2015对不起，此内容只适用于Deutsch。
Wheelchair expedition Sri Lanka Part I
星期三, 五月 27th, 2015Sport News IV
星期一, 四月 27th, 2015
Frontpage
I’ve always been passionate about sport, in particular the Olympics of course, even though I’ve never been there at a live event. Summer or winter Olympics, makes no difference to me. In my previous life I was more of a winter sports enthusiast. For evidence click here.
When I was still in the hospital after my accident in 2008 the Paralympics Games in Beijing were shown on big screen TV during my physiotherapy.
I was particularly impressed with the incredibly fast racing wheelchairs, because at that time I was just able to move about 50 yards in less than six minutes in the hospital hallways without my oxygen tent, or without qualified pushes
Last week I met with the Tunisian racing wheelchair guy Ahmed Aouadi, who participated in the Olympics in 2008 in Beijing and in 2012 in London. He currently trains as a “lone warrior” for Rio de Janeiro 2016 at a sports club close to my home.
Racing wheeler Ahmed Aouadi
It came to the battle…
Ahmed Aouadi with a racing wheelchair vs.
Rollinator (Wheelynator) with a e-handbike
Even with my motorized hand bike under full engine assistance I didn’t stand a chance against Ahmed. If you look closely, you can see that at about 20 km/h (12.5 mph) every now and then he’s waiting for me.
His INVACARE -Racing wheelchair weighs a mere 6 kilograms (13.4 lbs), which equals the weight of one of the two batteries on my bike. Nevertheless, that is no excuse!
My highest respect for such athletic performance!
I’m not giving up that easily! I might be slow in a wheelchair, but I know how to tune engines
Technical Aids Tips and Tricks LXIII
星期一, 四月 20th, 2015Rollinator (Wheelinator)-Smartphone-Charging-Plug-Clip
Ever since I joined the folks on wheels, I carry my mobile phone/smartphone on a lanyard close to my heart ; -)
In the rare event that some cable gets wrapped around the rear wheel of the Wheelchair and therefore vehemently denies me to continue my ride, at least then should there be a phone in range.
I don’t think I need to elaborate about the extremely modest battery life of smart phones. Of course, the battery should always be full when out in the wild.
With my crooked fingers it takes me an estimated three minutes daily to stick the Micro USB charger in to the phone to be charged. I just realized that in the last three years I have rendered two full days of my life to my cell phone plug… just great!
The easiest solution to counter this waste of my time appeared to be in the purchase of a cradle charger. Unfortunately, it was not compatible with the leather cover of my phone.
A few years ago I built a holding device for the TV Magazine with just a small metal paper clip. This gave me the idea (see older post).
The perfect size to hold the Micro USB Plug is 20mm x 10mm x 8mm (0.8“ x 0.4” x 0.3”)
Attach a small cable tie and you practically get to plug it in without any finger function and daily blood pressure increase.
The paper clips can be found on the internet, in the stationery shop or after several days of searching maybe in one of your clutter trays.
For other tips on the subject of “tools for restricted finger and hand movement” like me, click here.
Translator BW
Happy Easter
星期日, 四月 5th, 2015Startseite
Technical Aids Tips and Tricks LXII
星期一, 三月 30th, 2015Chock Part XIV
星期一, 三月 9th, 2015Addendum Technical Aids Tips and Tricks LXI
星期二, 二月 24th, 2015对不起，此内容只适用于Deutsch。
Technical Aids Tips and Tricks LXI
星期二, 一月 20th, 2015Simply Great Part VII
星期五, 一月 2nd, 2015Batschkapp find ich gut…!!!
Die „Batschkapp“
(hessisch für Schiebermütze)
ist seit den 70er Jahren ein alternativer Rockclub in Frankfurt. Konzerte oder Disco für ein paar hundert Leute, klein, eng, gemütlich, ein bisschen verranzt, aber mit Kronleuchtern an der Decke.
Früher hatte man vom Zigarettenqualm und verbrannten Gras, kaum noch die Bands auf der Bühne gesehen… Kurz gesagt, das Teil war mit der dazugehörigen Kneipe “Elfer” kult. Da habe ich ein paar ziemlich coole Jugenderinnerungen. Aber auch einen Eingang mit unendlich vielen Treppen, so steil, dass ich als Fußgänger nach “nur” 2 Bier meine Schwierigkeiten hatte, sie wieder runter zu kommen.
Als Rollifahrer war der Besuch nur mit einer gewissen Anzahl an freiwilligen Helfern machbar. Bei mir eine einmalige Erfahrung, eine so lange Treppe, mit dem Rolli, im Tiefflug herauf zufliegen.
Ende des letzten Jahres war es dann soweit, die Batschkapp zog in eine neue größere Location um.
Es gab viele wehmütige Kommentare, aber hey – der neue Club ist ebenerdig, hat einen Parkplatz, ist komplett barrierefrei und hat sogar eine Behindertentoilette!
Bei unserem ersten Konzert in der gerade neu eröffneten Batschkapp gab es noch keine Rollitribüne, aber ich fand einen Stellplatz vorne vor den Boxen (alles kein Problem, wenn man schon Konzerte von Motörhead und Anthrax ohne bleibende Hörschäden überstanden hat, -oder ich schon einen habe…)
Im Hintergrund sind die bei den “Rodgau Monotones”
Ich schrieb trotzdem eine e-mail an die Batschkapp, denn bei größeren Konzerten sieht man mitten in der Menge sitzend meist nur seinen Vordermann, und der Sound kommt auch etwas dumpf hier unten an.
Das nächstes Konzert, (Uriah Heep) war dann so gut besucht, dass ich die Rollitribüne gerne ausprobiert hätte, aber es standen schon 2 oder 3 Rollis drauf, und damit sah sie erstmal voll aus. Also doch wieder ab ins Gewühl.
Später habe ich mir die dann leere Tribüne nochmal genauer angeschaut, und muss fairerweise sagen, dass hinter die 2-3 Rollis nochmal doppelt so viele gepasst hätten.
Beim nächsten Konzert wurden wir dann von der Batschkapp-Security extra auf die Rollitribüne hingewiesen. Unsere Reaktion war wohl nicht so begeistert, denn der Security-Mann fügte schnell hinzu: „Aber Ihr könnt gern auch vorne rein, kein Problem, wird nur recht voll heute!“ Kein Problem, Ihr könnt auch in die Menge rein? Wie oft habe ich jetzt von anderen Rollifahrern gehört, dass sie mit irgendwelchen Securities Ärger bekommen haben, weil sie sich nicht auf die Rollibühne abschieben lassen wollten? Daumen hoch für die Batschkapp!
Ein geniales Erlebnis hatte ich dann auf dem Parkplatz. Ich fragte den Parkplatzwächter, der mich vor dem Konzert in eine schöne große Parkbucht eingewiesen hatte, ob er morgen auch wieder da sei, da wir für den nächsten Tag auch wieder Karten hatten.
Am nächsten Tag kam sehr viel von dem Weißes Zeug vom Himmel, dass wir Rollifahrer so lieben… Als wir auf den Batschkapp-Parkplatz fuhren, stellte ich begeistert fest, dass „meine“ Parkbucht von gestern tatsächlich geräumt war, mit einem kleinen Durchgang zum Weg Richtung Eingang.
Als ich dem Parkplatzwächter sagte, wir klasse ich das fand, bekam ich zur Antwort:
„Ei, Du hast doch gesagt, Du kommst heut wieder…“
