Archive for September, 2010

Wheelchair Tuning Part XV

Sunday, September 26th, 2010

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Every now and then even I am speechless.
It’s not a secret that I am football fan of Eintracht Frankfurt.
My cousin has given the official

Eintracht Frankfurt Fan Rucksack

to me as a present. Of course I have positively noticed that the rucksack has plenty of reflectors.
This rucksack has additionally two hangers on the side.
The only logically use of these hangers is to be able to hang the rucksack over the handles of a wheelchair.

Simply great, it fits!

Wheelchair hangers

Was it a manufacturing error, or did they have a wheelchair driver as designer?
This rucksack is of course “not“ available for other football clubs.

Translator BL

Please keep our disabled parking places free!

Wednesday, September 15th, 2010

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At this stage I would like to ask all pedestrians NOT to park even only short-time on disabled parking places.

You get a disabled parking permit only when an exceptional walking disability is entered in the handicapped ID. We exceptionally disabled can’t walk anymore at all or very bad and thus are reliant on short ways.

Except for the old and frail people it could also be somebody out of the around 100.000 people in Germany who have the neurologic disease MS (Multiple Sclerosis) and are still able to walk a little bit. This disease can hit anybody.
Then there is also the fraction of para- and quadriplegics like me. I had a car accident through no fault of my own.

We para- and quadriplegics almost all can only get in and out of the car when the driver’s or front passenger’s door is opened completely.

This is the reason why disabled parking places are that big.

I totally understand that such a parking place with its wide is quite appealing when you drive with your SUV which is an absolute must in Frankfurt to the groceries.

Please imagine the following situation:

I am driving with the car to the post office at the train station. When the two disabled parking places are occupied it’s tough luck.

It absolutely doesn’t matter if somebody is parking 5 minutes
or 3 days on a disabled parking place.

I don’t see if there is a disabled parking permit displayed in those two cars and if the drivers might be gone by train to Munich, or if they will walk out of the post office in 5 minutes.

Thus there is nothing left for me except looking for a normal parking place.

I might find one eventually which is wide enough, another car is parking next to mine.

So far so good.

I am coming back to my car, but in the meantime the car next to mine has changed.

It is now parking 5 cm closer to my car, and I can’t open the driver’s door completely any more.

So much for that!!!

If it would be my “way” I already had abolished all disabled parking places on supermarket parking lots, then I wouldn’t get upset that often any more.

On those parking lots everybody can park as he likes. It is private property, and Mr. Aldi or Lidl are not interested who is parking there.

Address the people and explain it to them. Shouting unfortunately doesn’t help.

Click on tag Handicap Parking, to read more or less odd handicap parking stories .

Translator BL

 

Sometimes you have to be lucky!

Tuesday, September 14th, 2010

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Some days ago I made a ride on my hand cycle.
(see older blogpost, trade hand cycle off for therapy pony).

My wife accompanied me on her bicycle.
I was more than positively surprised that the city of Frankfurt eventually managed to tar the old gravel path on the river Main after centuries.

It was going downstream, the cycle was rolling and rolling…

Unfortunately there is an express highway between the bicycle path on the river and two districts of the city. Because I can’t take the pedestrian bridge with my wheelchair and wanted to go to the street fair in one of the districts I had to ride further until after perceived 20 km, probably really 3 km, there was eventually a traffic light.

I had fairly shot my bolt.

After a bratwurst and a hop blossom ice tea * my motivation for the return ride was shattered.

When I was slowly riding home, I already fancied using the tram, I coincidentally met a former colleague, let’s call him Harald, with his

Didi Thurau – Memory Bicycle.

(translator’s note: famous German road bicycle racer from the 70’s and 80’s)

We had rather the same destination.

He pushed me sitting on his bike!

Without breaks, we reached a top speed of up to
26 Km/h on the 8 km way home.

My electric wheelchair tractive Speedy-Elektro only makes
max. 6 Km/h, otherwise it would need a license plate.

If Harald should have had a license plate???

Thanks again from this side.

Comment of my wife:
I am not used to such a speed any more as I usually roll with perceived 5 km/h behind the hand cycle and my biggest sporty challenge is not to fall from the bike at this “speed”, so that today my muscles are kind of sore for the first time.

*(In a narrower sense, beer is an alcoholic and carbonated beverage which is gained by fermentation mostly from the basic ingredients water, malt and hop). (Source: Wikipedia)

Translator BL

Apologies!!!

Monday, September 13th, 2010

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On Sunday a young lady parked with her black New Beetle on my disabled parking place. I have completely overreacted and insulted this poor lady in the worst way possible when she came strutting with her noble handbag around her arm and the car key in her hand.

I would like to officially apologize for my slightly risen voice at this stage.

She explained that she hadn’t seen neither the signage nor the labeling, and she didn’t understand my reaction at all.

Retrospectively I am sorry that I didn’t believe her affirmation of innocence.

She had only parked for 10 minutes.

Kind of strange when shortly afterwards her mother, aunt or so came along and told that she stated at her visit that she was parking with her car on a disabled parking place.

A little suspect!

Perhaps she takes the same pills like me and is slightly confused as well.

When she was driving away she must have accidently slipped from the clutch with her foot, otherwise her racing start is not explicable for me.

As excuse I would like to offer her to please send me an e-mail before her next visit so that I drive away my car on time to make my disabled parking place free for her.

Comments requested!

Translator BL

Technical Aids Tips and Tricks XVII

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

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With my

“Buckled Fingers”,

I know politically correct it is of course just an impairment of motor skills of hands and fingers, it is

not possible for me any more

to start a fire with a customary

lighter or matches.

A couple of years ago this was still essential for survival.

Nowadays it is fortunately not that important any more, provided that you are in possession of a functional microwave and central heating.

I had quit smoking a couple of months before the accident so that I didn’t bother specifically about making fire in the last 2,5 years.

Rather by coincidence I noticed that these

long gas lighters

can be operated without any finger function.

Now even I can light a tea candle again.

Translator BL