Frontpage
Archive for the ‘Various’ Category
Opening in the cinemas Today
Thursday, December 13th, 2012Wheeler book tip part I
Thursday, October 25th, 2012Frontpage
One of the reasons why I was at the book fair 2012 in the beautiful Frankfurt was to meet again my friend and author Roberto Sastre in person.
Many fellow wheelers keep a diary already in the hospital after their accident. Writing as is known is medicine as well. So did my friend who wrote down his experiences from the start (as skilled IT guy of course in an internet blog).
This blog has been so successful that he was forced a little to publish it as a book.
His writing style is unique. He manages with his easy cynical style to describe the beginning as wheeler rookie so that articulations like ehhh, ouch, ahaaaaaaaaaaa are totally normal while reading.
The book may not be so suitable to read in a train.
Everybody who liked the movie “The Intouchables” gets his money’s worth with Sastre. The book is called
Rolling Thunder,
(ISBN/EAN: 9783845006550) you have to read it, a little bit like:
” Everything you always wanted to know about spinal cord injury but were afraid to ask”
His next literary act is a crime story,
Bender’s 1st case “Blackout”
(ISBN/EAN: 978-3-8450-0962-9) which is set in Frankfurt. An excellent book!!!
Private investigator Bender is of course a wheelchair using ex-commissar, with a van type “A-team” and an a little bit modified electric wheelchair with the name Elsbeth.
His own vehicle is a bit customized as well.
The book starts with the sentence: This book is made-up from the beginning to the end…
I don’t believe this, I even have the suspicion that he has hacked my computer, stolen my latest research results of most innovative wheelchair reconstruction and published them in his book. 
Extract from this novel:
As already said, you can build a lot into such an electric wheelchair.
In Rehab I have met Steffen.
He is totally nuts, has the weirdest ideas, and I and my electric wheelchair always have to suffer. With the result that my batteries are constantly empty.
Until Steffen had the idea with the fuel cell. Had almost cost me my wheelchair.
Because my bottom sustained a slight fire damage I let the hospital check it first…
“Now you’ve got a micro turbine.
There is a new bearing material. Special ceramics. Doesn’t need greasing, nor cooling. Is whistling a bit, but I’ll still carry that off.
From naught to fifty in 2.6 seconds. A bottle of camping gas every 4 weeks.
And I built in a small surprise for you.”
I can recommend those two books out of my deepest conviction, there is so much info inside, and even in a splendid packaging!!!
Translator BL
Addendum Safety warning
Sunday, September 23rd, 2012Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.
Football Euro 2012 Part I
Thursday, June 14th, 2012
Frontpage
2nd win after 1:0 against Portugal.
My car is of course flagged with the “mirror socks“(see older blogpost).
Germany : Holland
2 : 1
Cheers, and bottoms up!
Go Germany… 
Click on tag Football to read a lot of stories around the most wonderful pastime in the world.
Translator BL
Â
Crazy Flash XIV
Friday, April 20th, 2012
Frontpage
caught!!!
Don’t let them get you down
Thursday, April 5th, 2012Frontpage
Who believes that a wheeler would be too small to achieve and change anything should try to spend the night with only one mosquito in the bedroom!
Who will call for the couch in the living room first?
Assertiveness has nothing to do with size or number of fellow fighters, even if this seems to be the general opinion in some places…!!!
You can assert yourself against anybody and anything, something is always possible as long as you don’t put up with everything.
Hobbits of all nations unite!!!…ok, now the pills are coming through again.
Among us frequent travellers the secret
day-and housefly method
is for centuries a well-tried means to assert our interests against the “sleepers”.
Should the repeatedly applied day- and housefly method according to the principle “bugging, bugging, bugging” not lead to the desired success, it should now be switched to the quite ruthless
mosquito swarm variant
With it the facts of the case will be spread to the various positions. First to the boss of the “sleeper”, then to the boss of the boss, who certainly has a boss as well. The information of the conspirative press swarm might be helpful as well.
In case of the attempt to “sit“ a problem out the sleeper doesn’t have a chance against the wheeler if the latter doesn’t raise the white flag immediately.
To endure something is not acceptable for us “travellers“ and insults our class.
Nobody will get me down any more with my 138 cm total height sitting in the wheelchair. I don’t give one centimeter more, unless I have a flat tyre.
Translator BL
Shinbone fracture possibly last part
Monday, April 2nd, 2012Frontpage
After another X-ray of my leg it was medically confirmed that from a pure orthopedic point of view nothing stands in the way of walking, jogging and running in homeopathic dosage.
X-rays from 06.09.2011 / 29.09.2011 / 08.11.2011 / 15.12.2011 / 28.03.2012
More fractures are currently not planned.
The only positive aspect from the permanent X-rays since September is that I meanwhile have an inner glow and can use my right knee as reading lamp and headlight for night-time trips.
Translator BL
No Comment..!!
Tuesday, March 6th, 2012Frontpage
When I was watching the fine art of women’s beach volleyball (of course out of sporting interest only) from the beach promenade in Los Cristianos in Tenerife, two elderly ladies came by and addressed me in English. They wanted to give me such an Anglo-Saxon information brochure.
The women are playing on the left field
I had a specific presentiment and said to the ladies that my English is not the best. It turned out quickly that the ladies were German.
Because I stood next to a small wall and they blocked my escape – I didn’t want to drive over their feet with my harnessed Minitrac – I got involved into a little chat with them.
Finally they gave me a German brochure about stressed and overworked physicians… eh…!!!
Well, since my accident 2007 I am quite familiar with this subject, but mainly from the perspective of a hospital bed during the ward round.
Just another two years, and I will know more physicians than there are beer brands in Germany.
By taking a closer look into the information material I had to grin a little about the up-to-dateness, have a look yourself:
Unbelievable but true:
Edition January 2005,
At that time I was still pedestrian!
(Translator’s note: German readers immediately recognize “Awakening”, the magazine of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany)
Well, strictly speaking the first edition of the bible wasn’t published yesterday either!
Translator BL
Eigude Shame Part XXII
Thursday, January 26th, 2012Frontpage
Every now and then ones mind needs a bit of culture… might it be tickets for the opera, the ballet, a drama or a trash metal concert, the purchase of a ticket for wheelers always can be very difficult and different at any time you’ll try it. You have to take this sportingly, otherwise only psychotropic drugs may help.
In earlier days you went to the ticket center, placed the money on the desk and you got your ticket, or you didn’t because the event was sold out already. To manage this online wasn’t a problem either.
Next time when you are ordering a ticket online try to search for a ticket for wheelers…
Forget about ordering!!!
Nearly every time the tickets for wheelers are sold by the promoter of the event. What a madness!!!
The reason is a mystery and they probably don’t know why themselves.
Probably it was like this ever since.
At some concerts the friendly mate of the ticket center is able to organize the tickets at the promoter. Then you’re on with only two phone calls, one email, an online transfer of the payment and the hope for delivery of the ticket by mail. If you ordered an additional ticket for your “escort” it means to cross the fingers twice.
Alternatively the ticket or call center provides you with a phone number of the promoter of that event. With a little bit of luck they run their own ticket shop and you reach an arrangement quickly.
If the phone number belongs to the managing director the procedure may take a little time, but you should appreciate that this guy also has other things to do. Razzing him a bit doesn’t harm…
Till now I always managed to get a ticket anyway if the concert tickets weren’t sold out before, but slowly even I get mad…
Project: wheelchair ticket for Sunrise Avenue
Fairytale gone bad!!!
(song title, Sunrise Avenue)
When calling the official ticket center I was redirected to a cell phone number. That mate gave me another extension number. When calling, a cell phone again, I was told that the mailbox is occupied completely, great…! Unusually I got a callback of the managing director himself, he told me that there were tickets available and gave me an email address: tickets@***.de.
During weeks I wrote emails which weren’t answered at all. Meanwhile my pulse went up, so I contacted the band Sunrise Avenue directly on the 6th of January (the email address was posted on the official website of the band) and called attention for the grievance that I was ignored totally.
Today we have the 26th of January and I haven’t got any reply from them either yet. Well, it’s understandable and comprehensible that they can’t answer everybody, and they can easily waive the price of one ticket. Despite that wheelers need a lot of space!!!
Does anybody actually take me seriously???
At the 10th of January I called the official phone number of the ticket center at the promoter of the event again. This time it was a call center, but they couldn’t sell me a wheelchair ticket either. Instead I got a phone number, this time the extension number “0” with which I reached the managing director again, how apt…
Am I the „Hauptmann von Köpenick“??? (German story)
After a conclusive argumentation of the boss why none of my inquiries were answered he promptly issued me an invoice for the ticket online. After settlement I should receive the ticket by mail.
I paid online immediately!
After a week I inquired on the phone where my ticket was?? The invoice number had been missing and the accounting wasn’t able to assign the payment… ho, ho , ho…!!
The day before yesterday I finally received the ticket, meanwhile the anticipation is limited.
At first sight we couldn’t even see what is the difference to a „normal“ ticket:
Just at a look on the backside you can discover the special feature: besides the handwritten (!) notice ” + escort” there was an official stamp with a signature (presumably of the managing director himself):
I will visit that event in any case, at least to get to know if I am the only wheeler at the concert??
I’m eager to see if I’ll get a message from the band Sunrise Avenue before the concert.
Translator Teo
Crazy Flash XII
Saturday, January 21st, 2012Â Frontpage
Hit and Run!
Have a lovely 3rd Advent!
Sunday, December 11th, 2011Frontpage
Recipe for traditional Frankfurt “Bethmännchen”!!!
250 g marzipan paste
65 g blanched and grated almonds
80 g icing sugar
1 egg white
Egg yolk for coating
Blanched almond halves
Preparation:
Knead marzipan paste with grated almonds, icing sugar and egg white and put in a cool place, if possible over night. Form little balls with the hands and press 3 almond halves in each ball. Then coat with egg yolk mixed with a spoon of water.
Bake at 150°C for 15-20 minutes..
Interactions with other Christmas cookies are not known.
The risk of permanent addictive behavior should be discussed with the attending physician before fabrication and consumption 
(Still with orthosis, it begins to be a pain in the neck!)
Translator BL
Feedback on the shinbone fracture
Tuesday, November 8th, 2011Frontpage
2 months after the involuntary flight show from my wheelchair during which I broke my shinbone (see older blogposts as of 06.09.2011) I was yesterday at the
X-Ray check-up.
X-rays from 06.09.2011 / 29.09.2011 / 08.11.2011
Since my accident 4 years ago I was x-rayed so often that I meanwhile have an
“Inner Glow” !!
That the fracture is healing very slowly due to my spinal cord injury is nothing new, but even for me this is “going” a bit too slow.
To my question to the doc if I could maybe leave the orthosis out at least at night I got the reply:
Well…, if it’s cracking, you have to wear the orthosis longer.
When the doc is right, he’s right…!!!
Everything is going to be alright!
I have decided to stay calm and to “sit it out”.
Translator BL
Crazy Flash Part X
Sunday, November 6th, 2011Frontpage
That a 40 year old wheelchair user is put on the scrap heap is more than just a rumour, especially if you receive a pension.
On inquiry at the travel agency about possible assistance at the holiday destination I was referred to a
Service for Elderly People
German Nursing Service
That gave me something to think about…
Technical Aids construction corner :-)
Tuesday, October 25th, 2011Frontpage
I already mentioned several times that I should rest my broken leg despite orthosis in an elevated position as much as possible.
To rest the leg elevated sitting in my own wheelchair under my desk on a small flower stool turns out to be a little inconvenient, especially when you permanently need something, or the arm is not long enough again…
I refuse the tank wheelchair in my flat (see blogpost below).
The latest “technical aids construct” appears a little clumsy at first sight, but is well thought on and almost ready for series production.
With a Swedish drawer box, the book “Our Wonderful Planet” and a blue pillow of a German coffee roaster a rolling board for flower pots from my stairwell which I coaxed as permanent loan from my neighbour was pimped to the exact positioning height of my leg.
Rolling board
I now put my leg coolly on my rolling board-drawer box and drive comfortably with my wheelchair under the desk.
With a special adaption on the wheelchair my rolling board should also be outdoor suitable. A medical device number has been applied for, and a motorization is currently in the planning phase!
Translator BL
I am until the end of the month for medical device self test in the hospital!
Tuesday, September 6th, 2011Startseite
Hätte ich mir doch eine andere Verletzung als einen Schienbeinbruchs ausgesucht!
If I just had picked another injury than a broken leg!
