Archive for the ‘Everyday life aids’ Category

Technical Aids for Quadriplegics Part XIII

Thursday, January 12th, 2017

Frontpage

We Quadriplegics (Teddys) Love Tootpaste Tubes!

Every morning starts with the spirited bite into the screw cap.

As long as the tube is still full you can manage to get something out most of the time, even without finger function. However, at some point you don’t need coffee anymore for breakfast because proportional to the decreasing amount of toothpaste left in the tube the blood pressure rises.

You all know those plastic clips for sealing bags (see older post).a>

Now with this clip I can get a pretty good grip of the tube.

After removing the screw cap from the tube place it on the sink and squeeze it with one hand.

No need to empty the tube at once ;-) .

Translator BW

Technical Aids Tips and Tricks XXV

Monday, January 2nd, 2017

Frontpage

Wheelchair auxiliary snow chains

A creative Berliner

has mounted tie-wraps to his bicycle tyre so that he can better ride on snow and ice.

Self-made tie-wrap wheelchair snow chains

This probably works with wheelchair tyres as well.

He also rides on Schwalbe Marathon tyres, like most of the wheelers.

Have a look yourself, ingeniously simple and cost-efficient!

Link: Video at Spiegel-Online

Just try it out and write a comment.

In Frankfurt there is no snow anymore, so I can’t test it!

Thanks to Hajo for the info.

However, I wouldn’t ride across the parquet floor any more. :-)

Read this old blogpost and exchange in winter right and left wheelchair tyre if necessary:

Link: Running direction of “Schwalbe” tyres

I assume no liability for this tip!

Translator BL


Technical Aids Tips and Tricks XXIII

Thursday, December 22nd, 2016

Frontpage I have introduced in an older blogpost

remote-controlled electrical sockets

as useful technical aid. I am using these things for years to switch my

Christmas Tree lighting

on and off. Since a couple of weeks my living room lamp gets switched on by a ghostly hand. I think it’s quite funny, a neighbour is probably using the same frequency!

Translator BL

Technical Aids Tips und Tricks XLVIII

Monday, November 21st, 2016

Frontpage

FINALLY, NO MORE SWOLLEN FEET…!!!!!

Most of the wheelchair users know the problem with the swollen feet. During the day they swell and at night they go down again. However, this process of up and down was never a satisfactory one and it eventually ended just last summer when for the first time in my eight and a half years in a wheelchair I couldn’t get my feet in to my shoes anymore at all – although these were already two sizes up.

I have never used anti embolism stockings, because as a Tetra with plenty of discomfort in my feet I couldn’t possibly put them on by myself.

 

Sport Lange carries compression stockings especially designed for runners.

 

I have them put on in the morning and wear them if necessary until the next morning. No more swelling of the feet during the day! I cannot remember in the last nine years having had such slim feet. Of course, I don’t want to discourage anyone from wearing their anti embolism stockings but for anyone in the same situation as I, compression stockings are the way to go!

Where to buy:

Online at eBay or Amazon
Sports supply store
Sanitätsgeschäft
or at James & Nicholson for 8.75€

Translator BW

 

Chock Part XV

Monday, October 31st, 2016

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.

Technical Aids Tips und Tricks XLVI

Wednesday, February 24th, 2016

Frontpage

It is due to the small fouls that wheelers are exposed every day to new challenges. You are blocked in from the side so that you can’t get into your car anymore, during cleaning the toaster is moved back to the wall, or the installation CD is put out of reach on the cupboard. My last week’s highlight was a beeping smoke alarm because the battery was empty when I was lying in my bed. All this is causing an uncontrollable neuron tornado in my head.

Among my favourites are open windows.

In the summer it’s getting warm and in winter quite cold, if the heater below is not running on full power which I can’t reach either.

There are definitely more important reasons to ring at the neighbour’s door than asking them to close an open window. Grrrrrrrrr…

The do-it-yourself store with 20% on everything except for the parts you really need offers a

Hobbit &wheelchair window closer/

„almost“ usable in their assortment. However, small construction work needs still to be done.

Just take:

  • min. 1 meter aluminium pipe, thickness 12mm
  • 1 meter aluminium flat bar 15m x 1mm
  • 30 cm hose inner diameter 10mm- 12mm
  • 2x screw M4 x 25mm
  • 2x screw-nut, self-locking M4
  • 1x drill 4 mm with drive mechanism
  • Construction tools for screwing, or a set of healthy teeth ;-)

Cost of material ca. 10,00€

Saw the aluminium bar in ca. 2x 36 cm long pieces and pull the hose on one of the pieces.

Drill a 4 mm hole into all sides of the aluminium bars and the pipe centered with a space of 15 mm from the edge.

Bend the aluminium bar with hose oval e.g. using a bottle and bolt it two-sided with screw and screw-nut on one end of the pipe. This is going to be the window side.

The other aluminium bar is going to be the handle. This can be formed according to hand function or artistic freedom oval, square, round or even heart-shaped, main thing is that the bolting on the pipe is not forgotten.

(My white Vespa scooter from 1992 in the picture below with kick starter is looking for a new master!)

The operating mode of the window closer should be comprehensible, but could on special request be explained personally under phone number 00907/40059449665 for only (1.000.000.000 €/min) by “Bernd das Brot”. (Translator’s note: Reference is made to a satirical sketch to spoof call-in shows on TV, (see also other blogpost).)

All open windows can be closed again now.

And how to open them we will learn tomorrow!!!

The certified re-constructor is obligated to send to the Rollinator a Chilli Pizza online.

Contact: rollinator@eigude.de

Translator BL

Technical Aids Tips and Tricks LXIII

Monday, April 20th, 2015

Frontpage

Rollinator (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 (binder 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

Addendum Technical Aids Tips and Tricks XXXIII

Friday, February 27th, 2015

Sorry, this entry is only available in German.

Frontpage

Ich hatte in einem älteren Artikel berichtet, dass ich einen eigenen Türspion in Hobbithöhe in meiner Wohnungstür montiert habe, siehe älteren Blog.

Dort fehlte bisher eine passende Abdeckung auf der Innenseite und ich wollte nicht wie meine Oma einen Streifen Leukoplast oder ein Pflaster darĂĽber kleben.

Das Projekt ist endlich beendet.

Es war schon seit Monaten geplant, dass mir ein Kumpel ein Loch in eine MĂĽnze oder in irgendeine andere runde Scheibe bohrt und wir diese dann an die TĂĽr schrauben.

Ich hatte die ganze Zeit den Gedanken, so eine passende Scheibe mit Loch schon einmal irgendwo gesehen zu haben.

Ich fuhr schon seit Monaten ohne zu Wissen, das passende Ersatzteil mit mir rum. Hin und wieder sollte man in seinem Portemonnaie schauen, da gibt es nicht nur das Geld fĂĽr Ersatzteile, sondern auch manchmal das Passende…!!!

Die Ă„hnlichkeit ist verblĂĽffend,… gell…??? ;-)

Ich sollte vielleicht etwas genauer mein Portemonaie durchsuchen, ich brauche auch neue Sommerreifen.

Hier geht’s,…ääh..fährt man zur

Technical Aids Tips and Tricks LX

Friday, January 16th, 2015

Frontpage

Low Budget Wheelchair Lighting

It seems to be the general opinion that all wheelchair bound folks have got to be home before dark, which is currently in the wintertime at around 4 pm. Otherwise, those intelligent people who design wheelchairs would show a little more concern about the visibility of wheelchairs in the dark and in traffic.

I can’t fathom that hand-operated wheelchairs only have two tiny red reflectors in the back.
With a little luck there may be some reflective lights somewhere or better yet reflective tires.

I find it controversial that no active wheelchair that I know of comes with a reflector to the front, let alone a front or rear tail light.
I wrote about this problem in former articles (click here).

I recently installed a small red LED tail light that flashes when needed, at the rear of my chair frame. The light is quite bright and it is called Froglight.

Frog or Froglights

Froglights are originally made for handlebars and seats on bicycles. They are available in red and white LEDs and they flash.

For us wheelchair bound folks these little lights are great, because the rubber bands can simply be wrapped around the frame tubes and easily switched on by pressing on them.

They are available for a mere 3.00 € and up on EBay or Amazon.

In addition I attached the reflective tape of a 2.00 € safety vest to my backpack and the backrest of my chair.

Click on the image below to watch a small video that shows how bright the Frogligts are.



Translator BW

 

Low Budget Wheelchair Lighting

It seems to be the general opinion that all wheelchair bound folks have got to be home before dark, which is currently in the wintertime at around 4 pm. Otherwise, those intelligent people who design wheelchairs would show a little more concern about the visibility of wheelchairs in the dark and in traffic.

I can’t fathom that hand-operated wheelchairs only have two tiny red reflectors in the back.
With a little luck there may be some reflective lights somewhere or better yet reflective tires.

I find it controversial that no active wheelchair that I know of comes with a reflector to the front, let alone a front or rear tail light.
I wrote about this problem in former articles (click here).

I recently installed a small red LED tail light that flashes when needed, at the rear of my chair frame. The light is quite bright and it is called Froglight.

Frog or Froglights

Froglights are originally made for handlebars and seats on bicycles. They are available in red and white LEDs and they flash.

For us wheelchair bound folks these little lights are great, because the rubber bands can simply be wrapped around the frame tubes and easily switched on by pressing on them.

They are available for a mere 3.00 € and up on EBay or Amazon.

In addition I attached the reflective tape of a 2.00 € safety vest to my backpack and the backrest of my chair.

Click on the image below to watch a small video that shows how bright the Frogligts are.



Translator BW

 

Technical Aids Tips and Tricks LVI

Thursday, October 30th, 2014

 

Startseite des Eigude Blogs

Warme Beine find ich gut!

Nachdem sich der Sommer, sofern man die paar helleren Tage diesen Jahres so nennen kann, sich mit dem nassen Herbst fĂĽr den Winterschlaf fertig macht, beginnt damit definitiv nicht die Lieblingszeit eines jeden Rollifahrers. Wohl dem, der im Mar y Sol in Teneriffa ĂĽberwintern kann.

Ich weiß nicht wie es euch geht, aber in dem Moment, nachdem ich die Heizung in der Wohnung aufgedreht habe, ist wird mir und insbesonderen meinen Beinen plötzlich kalt.

Alle Besucher loben die “Sommerlichen Temperaturen” bei mir Zuhause, was ich jedes Jahr mit der Nebenkostenabrechnung bestätigt bekomme, aber meine Beine sind trotzdem kalt, was u. a. mit der fehlenden Bewegung zu tun hat.

Der kälteste Platz ist bei mir ist natĂĽrlich unter dem Schreibtisch im BĂĽro, was ich mittlerweile auf “Polar-Trolle” oder “Thermische Eigendynamik” zurĂĽckfĂĽhre.

Ein Bekannter von mir auch Tetraplegiker (Tetra) wie ich, völlig ohne jedes Temperaturempfinden mehr erzählte mir vor ein paar Jahren, er habe sich einmal so lange mit dem Ellenbogen auf dem noch heißen Ceranfeld abgestützt, bis er seinen eigenen Arm gerochen hätte.

Daher kommt bei mir kein HeizlĂĽfter unter den Schreibtisch. Auch ich habe in den Beinen kein Temperaturempfinden mehr.
Nach langer Suche hatte ich mir November 2013 eine

Mobile Infarot- Schreibtischheizung Modell TH190

http://www.schreibtischheizung.de

gefunden. Das Teil ist genial, die Heizung benötigt nur zwischen 90-220 Watt und wird laut Gespräch des Herstellers nicht heißer als 45°C, so dass man diese sogar über den Beinen, unter die Tischplatte schrauben kann.

Die Perspektive täuscht, das Gerät ist ca. 65cm x 45cm x 3cm groß und arbeitet völlig geräuschlos.

Ich benutze meine “Beinheizung” mit dem recht teureren MetallfuĂźständer von rund 40,00€, der nur eine M-förmige verbogene Metallplatte ist, als Standgerät.

Das Gerät hat zwei Temperatur-Einstellungsmöglichkeiten mit kabelgebundener Fernbedienung.
Der Preis der Infarot- Schreibtischheizung liegt mit 189,00€ noch im vernünftigen Rahmen.

Ich kann die Schreibtischheizung wärmsten empfehlen.

Schaut euch doch einmal die Kategorie Winter auf dem Blog an, da gibt’s eine Menge Tipps fĂĽr Rollifahrer!!!

Hier geht’s,…ääh… fährt man direkt zur

Startseite des Eigude Blogs

Warme Beine find ich gut!

Nachdem sich der Sommer, sofern man die paar helleren Tage diesen Jahres so nennen kann, sich mit dem nassen Herbst fĂĽr den Winterschlaf fertig macht, beginnt damit definitiv nicht die Lieblingszeit eines jeden Rollifahrers. Wohl dem, der im Mar y Sol in Teneriffa ĂĽberwintern kann.

Ich weiß nicht wie es euch geht, aber in dem Moment, nachdem ich die Heizung in der Wohnung aufgedreht habe, ist wird mir und insbesonderen meinen Beinen plötzlich kalt.

Alle Besucher loben die “Sommerlichen Temperaturen” bei mir Zuhause, was ich jedes Jahr mit der Nebenkostenabrechnung bestätigt bekomme, aber meine Beine sind trotzdem kalt, was u. a. mit der fehlenden Bewegung zu tun hat.

Der kälteste Platz ist bei mir ist natĂĽrlich unter dem Schreibtisch im BĂĽro, was ich mittlerweile auf “Polar-Trolle” oder “Thermische Eigendynamik” zurĂĽckfĂĽhre.

Ein Bekannter von mir auch Tetraplegiker (Tetra) wie ich, völlig ohne jedes Temperaturempfinden mehr erzählte mir vor ein paar Jahren, er habe sich einmal so lange mit dem Ellenbogen auf dem noch heißen Ceranfeld abgestützt, bis er seinen eigenen Arm gerochen hätte.

Daher kommt bei mir kein HeizlĂĽfter unter den Schreibtisch. Auch ich habe in den Beinen kein Temperaturempfinden mehr.
Nach langer Suche hatte ich mir November 2013 eine

Mobile Infarot- Schreibtischheizung Modell TH190

http://www.schreibtischheizung.de

gefunden. Das Teil ist genial, die Heizung benötigt nur zwischen 90-220 Watt und wird laut Gespräch des Herstellers nicht heißer als 45°C, so dass man diese sogar über den Beinen, unter die Tischplatte schrauben kann.

Die Perspektive täuscht, das Gerät ist ca. 65cm x 45cm x 3cm groß und arbeitet völlig geräuschlos.

Ich benutze meine “Beinheizung” mit dem recht teureren MetallfuĂźständer von rund 40,00€, der nur eine M-förmige verbogene Metallplatte ist, als Standgerät.

Das Gerät hat zwei Temperatur-Einstellungsmöglichkeiten mit kabelgebundener Fernbedienung.
Der Preis der Infarot- Schreibtischheizung liegt mit 189,00€ noch im vernünftigen Rahmen.

Ich kann die Schreibtischheizung wärmsten empfehlen.

Schaut euch doch einmal die Kategorie Winter auf dem Blog an, da gibt’s eine Menge Tipps fĂĽr Rollifahrer!!!

Hier geht’s,…ääh… fährt man direkt zur

Technical Aids Tips and Tricks LV

Thursday, October 23rd, 2014

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.

Technical Aids Tips and Tricks LII

Wednesday, July 16th, 2014

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.

Technical Aids Tips and Tricks XXXIII

Wednesday, December 11th, 2013

Frontpage

It doesn’t always have to be the big reconstructions in your home like e.g. bathroom or stairlift… (see older blogposts).

Often you “just” need to drill a single hole at the right place to make life easier for a wheelchair user.

Because I never had a video-surveillance-security system at my apartment door I used a virtually maintenance-free, analogue peephole when I was pedestrian.

With its fitting height of 145 cm this is now only usable for me in connection with my standing chair, some ignorant mates call it standing wheelchair.

Because I order a few or many parts in the internet and like to look into the eyes of the courier drivers before I open the door I have drilled a 14 mm hole in my door in individually adjusted hobbit height with the active support of a friend.

A highest price Conrad Elektronik peephole order no. 75 01 63 for the full price of 6,39 € was then screwed in from both sides.

The analogue NSA hobbit peephole

serves its purpose 100%.

The angular field is surprisingly good, you can see the face of the “ringer” even above a size of 1,40 m when he is there… !!!
You don’t have to identify the courier drivers by the size of the parts they bring ;-)

Read the blogpost about a handle on my kitchen door. I have mounted such a handle on my entrance door as well to close the door easier from the outside (see older blogpost).

Now I only need a band-aid to hide the peephole in granny style ;-)

Translator BL

Hilfsmittel Tipps und Tricks XXXII

Friday, November 1st, 2013

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.

Technical Aids Tips and Tricks II (Blogpost 2009)

Friday, October 25th, 2013

Frontpage

The transport of items of all kind is horror for us wheelers, especially if they are round!
Thighs are completely unsuitable for carrying pomaceous fruit.
The high art of German engineering has brought it to light after years of research:

the plum transport box for wheelers

dscf0093b

The resemblance with an egg carton is misleading!

Translator BL