Archive for December, 2010

Technical Aids Tips and Tricks XXIV

Tuesday, December 28th, 2010

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Low-budget wheelchair mountainbike winter tyres

As already mentioned in several blogposts I am convinced that a set of

mountainbike wheelchair tyres

should be provided with the basic equipment of the first wheelchair.
Somehow a secret is made around the big advantage of these tyres.
For me, these tyres are no surplus luxury goods, or poser sport equipment, but a medical necessity so that a justification for the prescription of a medical device, the request for approval at the health insurance, is basically given.

Due to the wider-based tyres the security increases especially in cities with cobble stone because you don’t get stuck in the joints so often anymore.

Many shocks due to bad ground conditions are absorbed by the tyres, thus the spinal cord respectively the whole body is not strained so much anymore. Your back and bottom will be happy.

The wheelchair pusher is relieved very much on bad trails, mud, ice and snow…

The argument that you make no headway with these wheels is very much depending on the tyres, but not overall correct. The advantages predominate. I recommend a Schwalbe Land Cruiser as tyre.

The disadvantage of the wheels is the broadening of the whole wheelchair. Too bad if you don’t fit into the garage anymore.

I don’t know to which extent it is medically important for the health insurance that the wheeler can leave his home even in snow drift. You could catch a cold, but the groceries of the most important things like coffee, chocolate and condoms… should be ensured in winter as well.

With prices for a set of mountainbike wheelchair tyres from 560 € – 900 € from the wheelchair producers I understand everybody who refuses to buy them because actually these are “only” wheelchair tyres with a 10 – 20 € bicycle rim with bicycle tube and tyre.

As a matter of principle I refuse to pay such exorbitant prices. For the same money you can get already a really nice complete mountainbike. Thus I have let me built two wheelchair tyres for around 220 €.

Yesterday I have found a wheelchair replacement part company in the nearer abroad who charge per piece

wheelchair mountainbike tyre 117€


This price is more than reasonable.

You shouldn’t forget the insurance aspect. With do-it-yourself constructions you can get into trouble if something is happening.

The company is currently closed until January.

I have ordered a quite special

wheelchair hand rim for quadriplegics

from this company with which I hope to ride a little out in the snow by myself.

Of course I will write if the ordering should work.

Company name enquiries to me:

Contact: rollinator@eigude.de

From a snow height of 2 meters even my tyres slowly reach their limits.

Click on Tags “Wheelchair tyres” to read more blogposts.

Translator BL

Friday, December 24th, 2010

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I wish you a Merry Christmas and always a barrier-free life!

Currently we have a snow drift, I am snowed in, so what.

I am glad that everything is prepared for the Christmas dinner!

 

Disabled Parking Place Occupier

Tuesday, December 21st, 2010

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All parking facilities for exceptionally disabled people, also known as disabled parking permit, are known to have the colour blue.
For us lame footers sitting in the car it is hardly possible to determine whether a permit is lying in the car which is parking e.g. on a disabled parking place in front of a bakery or not.
(Older blogpost: Please keep our disabled parking places free!).

Should I coincidentally see that no parking permit is displayed of course I would wait for a couple of hours on the street until the assumed

Disabled Parking Place Occupier

is coming out of the bakery with his/her groceries. Maybe I would have got a bread roll from him/her.

To avoid such unnecessary waiting time in the future, and to have disabled parking place occupiers easily identified by the regulatory authorities, allegedly all vehicles from disabled people with parking permit have to be painted blue from now on.
Here in front of a hospital one of the first

blue types.

Of course now without unnecessary parking permit!

One could almost think it would be a vehicle from a German TV station if nobody would have retouched the picture!

Translator BL

Christmas Tree 2010 Part II

Sunday, December 19th, 2010

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.

Christmas Tree 2010 Part I

Saturday, December 18th, 2010

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.

Christmas Party 2010

Friday, December 17th, 2010

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.

Eigude Shame Part X

Saturday, December 11th, 2010

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As wheelchair user you are happy about each lowered curb which is not blocked by a parking car.

The city of Frankfurt/Main has its own ideas about the construction of this curb lowering.

At the riverside with the museums the street and pavement were re-built quite costly.

The rain channel of the street now consists of three rows of cobble stone.

Looks nice, but nothing more. I usually call such spots

“Wheeler’s death”.

You descend the anyway rather high lowered curb, the front tyres get stuck in the joints of the cobble stones, and you empty yourself like a pushcart onto the street.

Thank you Frankfurt!

Translator BL

Eigude Shame Part XI

Thursday, December 9th, 2010

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The perspective is a bit misleading, but this is a lowered curb with wheelchair catching device.

This new

gully cover

has probably been sponsored by the shoemaker who has his shop in 20 meters distance. The 30 broken heels per day will help him easily through the economic crisis.

(Mörfelder Landstraße / Stresemannallee Frankfurt a.M.)

Now in the winter when the gully cover is covered with snow the profit doubles.

Translator BL

Eigude Shame Part XII

Wednesday, December 8th, 2010

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This extremely steep

“lowered curb “

is representatively next to the main entrance of the youth hostel. It has 600 beds and a special wheelchair apartment.

It makes immediately a great impression on each wheelchair using tourist if you need help already at the first curb when you are heading to town. The other side of the street is equally “wheelchair friendly”.

Thank you Frankfurt!

Translator BL

Bath Reconstruction Neverending Story Part 2

Saturday, December 4th, 2010

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The new bathroom was planned so that an accessible, on grade shower basin should be embedded on the window side.
A size of 120 cm x 120 cm is standard (top left).

Due to the wall breakthrough a new bathtub could be set on the right side, virtually in the home office. Then a little bit washing basin, connection for the washing machine, disabled toilet, and the bathroom was actually almost done.

OK, a new wall had to be built on the right, plaster, some tiles, colour and a sliding door were necessary due to the broadening of the door case.

Sounds rather simple, so let’s take a start!

In TV shows accessible bathrooms are built in 45 minutes broadcasting time…

It’s not “going” that fast!

Usually bathrooms suitable for disabled are on the ground floor, which basically makes sense because stairs are natural obstacles for us wheelchair users.

Additionally the siphon of the accessible shower can be banished with a breakthrough to the basement ceiling, where nobody would bother except for a couple of rats.

In the first floor the shower drain thing is a bit more difficult.

I don’t have any more problems, but there it was, the challenge!

Because I have neighbours living underneath, a colourful siphon on their bathroom ceiling was out of question.

Even with the most even drain you need at least

12 cm casing depth for the on grade shower basin.

The concrete underlay was removed until the bottom plate. My bathroom floor didn’t give more than 8 cm depth for the installation of the shower basin.

The floor had to be lifted, but then it wouldn’t be on the same level as the corridor any more.

What now:

A stair at the door to enter the “accessible bathroom” was a serious suggestion, but not for me.

To pump the waste water upwards because of the missing 4 cm I thought would be too complex.

In the end my new bathroom floor is sloping!

The floor slightly ascends by 4 cm from door to shower which has the funny effect that I am rolling away with my wheelchair in my own bathroom.

A pedestrian doesn’t note the difference.

As long as I don’t splatter too much with the water while showering it won’t run into the corridor!

I should have explicitly mention that to my friend who stayed overnight before he went into the bathroom.

To be continued!

Click on tag “Bath Reconstruction” to read the other blogposts of the series.

Translator BL

Bath Reconstruction Neverending Story Part 1

Friday, December 3rd, 2010

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After more than 2 years I have calmed down a little bit and I am writing about my legendary

Bath Reconstruction!

People with high blood pressure should save themselves to rebuild a small bathroom into a wash plant suitable for wheelchair drivers and build a new house instead.
This is “going” faster.

Already at the time when I was still in hospital I was taken home by the transport service, then heaved to the first floor to surprisingly find out at a living space inspection that my bathroom was not suitable for someone in a wheelchair.

This fact didn’t remain concealed even to me, in spite of considerable medication abuse upfront.

Now it was official, my bathroom was too small!

My wife took pictures and filled various questionnaires about the number of stairs in front of the house, the width of doors in the flat, etc. etc. etc….

This information was filed somewhere unregarded. Oh well…

Because addresses of construction companies and suitable plumbers in Germany apparently are subject to the highest level of secrecy obligation everything was left with me again.

An acquaintance who is architect had the idea to “push” the wall on the right 1,20 meter to the side, then everything should fit in…

Therefore the inflatable guest bed in the home office had to give way.

Thanks again from this side.

After more than 2 years I am still waiting for promised offers from plumbers. They don’t want to make money, others therefore more.

I like quotations like that:

Reconstruction bathroom mere 17.000 € with the details:

Demounting of bathroom furniture 60 €.
This was a 50 cm wall cupboard.

All extra work will be invoiced separately.
A picture was hanging on the wall.

When I tried to call our property management regarding the move of the wall on extension 59 I heard the voice mail text that due to absence I should call the colleague on extension 67 for the next two and a half weeks. There I heard the voice mail text that I should consult his substitute under extension 59 for the next two weeks.

If it was a load-bearing wall or not which we intended to move probably would have to be eventually clarified by the Federal Constitutional Court.

The non-working employee in charge of the property management (extension 59) insisted that no wall might be torn down without his assessment.

He didn’t make in within 3 months to walk the 250 meters from his office to my bathroom, not to mention an on-site inspection of the property within a year.

Because I wanted to leave the hospital one time I decided by agreement with the advisory board, wall down, H-beam in, regardless of costs.

To be continued!

Click on tag “Bath Reconstruction” to read the other blogposts of the series.

Translator BL