Wheelblades, wheelchairski

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=9362&lang=entranslated!

FreeWheel

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=15468&lang=entranslated!

Put salt next to the car before snow falls…!!!

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=15740

Reflectors and Illumination

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=5699&lang=en translated! http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=4162&lang=en translated! http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=882&lang=entranslated!

Moutainbike Winter Tyres

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=1311&lang=en translated! http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=4829&lang=en translated! http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=2068&lang=en translated! http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=4759&lang=entranslated!

Wheelchair auxiliary snow chains

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=4928&lang=entranslated!

Running direction of “Schwalbe” tyres

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=2271&lang=entranslated!

Wheelchair tyre cleaning carpet

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=1328&lang=entranslated!

Wheelchair tyre slippers

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=3298&lang=entranslated!

Christmas Tree remote control

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=4397&lang=entranslated!

Special wheelchair for removing snow

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=4239&lang=entranslated!

Story referring to the picture

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=4582

Miscellaneous

http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=750 http://www.eigude.de/blog/?p=4636 If you have good ideas, as usual e-mail to rollinator@eigude.de

Translator BL

Usually this is a bit annoying, but this time it was really funny.

The whole story started when I asked if I should drive the car myself into the hall due to the hand throttle.
They insured it wouldn’t be a problem… well then…

It was funny to see the inspector hopping like a kangaroo to the test stand with my car. It wasn’t so easy driving with hand throttle after all.

While I was waiting a display dummy attracted my attention which stood next to the reception desk. It was wearing a t-shirt

Without visible defects, Technical Supervisory Association (TÜV-Hessen)

I was laughing with tears.

Of course I bought such a t-shirt immediately, but when I paid I couldn’t refrain from saying to the lady that my 24 inch aluminium wheelchair rims are not recorded in my identity card

My car passed the inspection without defects and got its sticker on the number plate.

I assume that the inspector wanted to have a closer look at my wheelchair loading system, otherwise I can hardly explain why I had to drive my car myself out of the hall. Or maybe he didn’t like my hand throttle???

Translator BL

There it was again

“The just-word”,

which will drive me insane some time.

The petrol station with the yellow shell has re-established the filling station attendant a couple of years ago. This is why I am usually going to the yellow club, but this time not to my usual station.

Unfortunately this one didn’t have a filling service, so I drove through to the cashier desk and waved with my yellow

Please keep distance sign, with handicap symbol

(see older blogpost),

for the side window.

The cashier clerk nodded in my direction, came outside and put the fuel hose into my car. After my cash budget of 40 € was exhausted he pulled the nozzle out again and cashed up.

I wished him a nice evening and started with my vehicle. When I was on the street again the car behind me flashed, then I already saw my

fuel cap flying!!!

Even after intensive search my original fuel cap could not be located any more. Now I have a fuel cap out of the stock of the station.

Possibly it was from a 911 which would explain my rough driving mode from yesterday

Translator BL

With a wheelchair loading system with sliding door you always have to consider how long the wheelchair is, otherwise it doesn’t fit into the car lifted upright (see older blogpost).

My wheelchair is rather short, and there is maximum 1 cm space left at the upper door edge when pulling the wheelchair in, otherwise the Astra would have been out of question as vehicle.

Therefore many wheelchair users have a minivan, like for example a VW Caddy.

An alternative is a wheelchair loading system on the roof, this looks a bit like a ski box.

A friend has such a box on his car, have a look yourself:

I have the yellow PLEASE-KEEP-DISTANCE-SIGN at the driver’s door as well!!!

A Jeep Commander is quite unusual on a disabled parking place, but with the wheelchair loading system it hypnotizes each pedestrian in passing.

You should see him jumping back into the car, he would easily win “Germany’s Got Talent”, wheelchair high jump unfortunately is not a Paralympics discipline

Translator BL

The seat reservation proved to be a little difficult because this was only possible online, and although you could click on the “one” wheelchair place nothing happened.

I tried to call the cinema several times and learned that after around 30 times ringing you get kicked out the line by the telephone system.

We reserved the two seats next to the wheelchair place (apparently the places were next to each other) and drove with the car to the cinema.

Surprisingly there were actually all two disabled parking places at the rear exit vacant, whereas on one two pedestrians with lots of tools were standing who immediately made room for my “parking”.

I turned my car in a one-way-street and parked the wrong way round because at the pavement side getting off the car is hardly possible for me even with assistance, and my wheelchair loading system is not working properly.
For this purpose I made up an additional “permit card” so that our friendly officers hopefully won’t find a new parking place for me.

“Due to wheelchair loading system parking in opposite direction of travel.”

In the meantime a hired minivan arrived, parked on the other disabled parking place, and the two guys stored away their tools. I didn’t say anything, the loading couldn’t last forever.

At the cinema box office I got the explanation that it was possible to book the wheelchair place online, but sometimes it wouldn’t work. Great…!!
Nevermind, we just had to pay for one ticket, and the wheelchair place was still available.

At half height in the cinema, nobody directly in front, that’s quite nice.
The seat numbers were a bit strange, seat 13 and seat 91, but that would be right.
Some construction engineer has excelled himself. It was probably built according to the latest EU directive for inclusion (equal treatment of handicapped and non-handicapped). Ingenious, our own

wheelchair waiting zone in the cinema.

Praiseworthy, the emergency telephone on the wall and the spacious place directly next to an emergency exit.

Please note the especially high raised

Anti-Snogging-Wall,

which also prevents rigorously undesirable conversations with the companion during the movie.

There was actually just a wall between us and a romantic cinema date.

The movie was great, it even had a guy in a wheelchair.
It played in a country where traditionally fried, amputated amphibian extremities are eaten*.

When I was back at my car I was a little bit annoyed that the minivan was still standing on the second disabled parking place.

I know that the fire protection requirements in a cinema are strict, but

TEAR DOWN THIS WALL!!!

I am still a little unclear about what I should actually wait for in the waiting zone, there was not even anybody coming to sell ice cream.

*France, (frog’s legs)

Translator BL

In my blog of 04.02.2012 I described (see older blogpost), how fast the disabled parking permit escapes in the car at forceful braking and vanishes into the ventilation slot of the windscreen.

A citizen from Potsdam involved in the problem has given some thought and developed a

Parking Permit Holder

.
This object is great and is awarded after a long-time test for several weeks by the unbribable (except for fresh nut slices), independent Rollinator test team, with the new founded

Roll-On Innovation Award on the Silver Axis

for technical aids. The parking permit holder is a holder made from Plexiglas in which the conventional disabled or resident parking permits can be inserted.

The holder has a dovetail on the lower part with which it can be put in the much dreaded ventilation slot. Thereby the construction turns upwards, so that the permit clamps in parallel to the windscreen.

The permit thus will be seen very well, but can be removed any time “tetra easily” from the holder.

It is a well-thought new technical aid which is not only functional, but has a reasonable price as well.

For more information see www.parkausweishalterung.de

Translator BL

Bernd das Brot

(German kids television character, an ill-humoured bread)

Long torso, short arms and short legs.

Therefore the transfer from wheelchair to car belongs – because I can’t stand and the door sills are becoming wider and wider – into the realms of fantasy.

This gap is insurmountable for me. Many wheelers have the same challenge (I have abolished all “problems” years ago, see front page) and use a slide board, with which they glide as elegantly as possible from wheelchair to car seat. To learn this there was once a

brand new car lifted with a tower crane in the 9th floor

of a hospital in Frankfurt which is standing since then in the corridor of the occupational therapy.
The car won’t be stolen for sure!!!

Almost all car customizing companies offer a permanently mounted foldaway slide board, with which one can transfer relatively save to the driver seat.

Why one is dragged at the trouser waistband into a car at rehabilitation fairs and the International Automobile Exhibition (IAA) in Frankfurt, because these “specialist companies” don’t even have a slide board with them, is incomprehensible for me. Usually a mounted slide board should be part of the basic equipment.

Only on demand I got an offer for a foldaway slide board.

Get yourself a

permanently mounted slide board

fitted if you also have difficulties with the transfers.

You can drive with the wheelchair directly to the transfer board.

As you can see perceived 2 kg key chains are normal for me!

Translator BL

driver’s door type Christmas tree

a little bit:

• Red plastic reflectors from car accessories attached to the driver’s door from the outside which are also visible from the front.
• Red adhesive reflectors, stuck to the inside of the door.
• A small battery-operated white LED lamp is stuck to the door with double-faced adhesive Velcro tape!
• The absolute highlight is a blinking neon yellow-green battery-operated fluorescent bar.
  I have introduced this part already in my blogpost from 09.03.2011(see older blogpost).

Safety instruction: The fluorescent bar causes nausea and insanity in the long run.
As you can gather from my words I am already beyond saving for years!

At some time somebody told me something about his

car wheelchair

I have to admit that I haven’t understood at that time why you need a special wheelchair for driving a car.
Actually it is very simple, it is all about the

Wheelchair Loading System (see older blogpost)

In the meantime, I have such a system. The wheelchair is folded, docked to the loading system, tilted by 90° upwards and then pulled behind the driver’s door.
In order to make this possible, the wheelchair should not be too long, because otherwise

it would not fit through the car door any more.

I was lucky, my wheelchair is quite short with its roundabout 85 cm length. It just fits into my

dove-shit-grey-metallic-coloured car from Rüsselsheim.

(translator’s note: In Rüsselsheim is the German head office of Opel)

At

Rehabilitation fairs

the loading of wheelchairs looks always so simple at the exhibitors and operates error-free.
The demonstration car is never standing at a hillside, a curb, a busy street or on cobble stone.
Have a closer look at this picture:

The footrests

were removed so that the wheelchair would fit into the car.

Have fun when you are levitating out of the car and remove and attach the footrests all the time. Where to put these things?

I doubt that even the employer’s liability insurance sponsors in addition to in- and outdoor, sport, standing and beach wheelchairs, a car wheelchair as well.

Translator BL

Yellow Shell

has nicely enough re-established since a couple of years the

classic petrol station attendant

Fuel, air, water, oil and payment are “going” without saying. It is always quite funny when I roll to the station without car and want to get the air pressure of my wheelchair tyres checked.

The petrol company with the

“five legged, water shooting, black dog”

is offering a special

wheelchair service!

Sticker text: “We help – please honk!”

Here you can enjoy honking.

An error has crept into the picture, the chips cost 1,42 €.

Translator BL