Archive for April, 2011

Eigude Shame XVII

Friday, April 29th, 2011

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Yesterday I had to fill the holes in my purse, I was in need for cash.

Because ATMs are extremely inconvenient for quadriplegics, I don’t get the bucks out of the machine with my fingers, my wife fortunately takes over.

In front of the bank, supermarket and bakery recently a spacious parking lot was built with additionally 4 disabled parking places.

I dared to park on one of those 4 parking places, although I remained sitting in the car and thus could have used a regular parking place.

On the disabled parking place next to mine there was this poser car with high-gloss polished alloy rims.
A bit unusual for us foot-lame people, but you never know…

Along came a girl in her early twenties with a shopping trolley and started to load her groceries in the trunk of that car – which didn’t match her at all.

I approached her in a friendly manner that I didn’t like “that” at all.

She replied that she would be paying for it…
I interpreted it in that way that she wouldn’t have difficulties to pay the parking tickets.

Should we introduce 35 € parkometers for extra large parking places???

I told her that this would not be the reason, and we wheelchair users would need the space for getting in and out of the car.

She replied:

• She couldn’t park!

• We men couldn’t understand this!

• Her husband wouldn’t let her drive the car,

• only for the groceries!

My comment:

Practice, practice, practice…

Translator BL

Do-it-yourself Nuclear Phase-Out

Thursday, April 28th, 2011

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Breed 4,6 billion of hamsters.

So many rodents you would have to keep to replace a nuclear power plant. Each animal would have to get through a daily stint of 4 hours in the treadmill. We owe this finding to the British student Peter Ash as well as his

Hamster Elvis

It is driving with its wheel a dynamo (see movie), to recharge Peter’s mobile phone. If this is not a marketing gag Elvis has trotted at least to the output power of 1,3 watt of a recharger.

We wheelchair users can do this as well:

We are spinning the wheel the whole day long.

Should we follow the example of the hamster, mount a generator to the wheelchair and feed the generolled power into the electricity grid?

If we wheelchair users are spinning the wheel together we would be doing something good for the environment day-to-day!

How about the slogan:

Handicap Power, from guaranteed accessible cultivation!

OK, the time has come now, you can institutionalize me!

Translator BL

 

Technical Aids Tips and Tricks XXXV

Wednesday, April 27th, 2011

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My daily consumption of various pills against all and everything which partially remind of suppositories in their form is altogether a complete meal.

I enjoy them in the meantime like gummi bears.

The colours are great, but the industry still needs to work a little on the taste.

Michelin-Stars for the most delicious dope, that would be something.

According to the motto: A problem shared is a problem halved, some pills might be halved and quartered.
Luckily my wife takes over the weekly pill destruction.

If I would try this by myself I would have probably gone into the light out of despair (suicidal tendencies).

I have found a

Pill splitter type Apex Ultra

which is really working and has additional protection at the blade.

It is hardly believable but it has a price incl. shipment of less than 10 €!

Source of supply enquiries as usual under rollinator@eigude.de .

Click also on tag “pills”.

Translator BL

Technical Aids Tips and Tricks XXXIV

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011

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I am attributing the development of this technical aid exclusively to the excessive consumption of the finest high quality medication.
Otherwise this special construction is hardly explicable retrospectively.
With this

Thermo Transport box

which can be fixed around the wheelchair I might get a minijob as pizza boy.

In this box not only the pizza stays hot, but alternatively the beer stays cold as well.

Translator BL

Happy Easter and have fun with the Easter-egg Hunt!

Sunday, April 24th, 2011

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A Purple Smiling Bunny

has crept into the shelf between the “Golden Easter Bunnies”.

Border crossers are everywhere, what this one is up to… and what will result from it???

Translator BL

Chock Part VII

Thursday, April 21st, 2011

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I am happy about every available disabled parking place, especially if it is rather wide and possibly not on a busy street.
Have a look at this commendable

Disabled Parking Place

in the courtyard of a motorcycle accessories store.
Somebody really gave thought about it.
It is probably paved on purpose with

special composite stones

for wheelers so that the wheelchair won’t roll away while getting out of the car.

The little catch in it is just that in the moment you sit in your wheelchair after getting out of the car the wheelchair is not rolling at all anymore because the wheelchair tyres “stand” perfectly in the joints between the composite stones.

I like such immobiliser systems!!!

Translator BL

Technical Aids Tips and Tricks XXXIII

Tuesday, April 12th, 2011

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A very well-known wheelchair hotel is the

“Mar y Sol”

on Tenerife.

Everything accessible, 2 pools with lifters, a store for medical supply next door, etc.

Everything great, apart from one little thing:

Tenerife is a volcano island, and the hotel is on top of a hill, fantastic…!
A Paralympics participant might be able to conquer this mountain by himself, but not me, never ever.

Many hotel guests bring their own electric wheelchairs from Germany which often become victims of the airlines, or they rent a scooter during their stay.
I once got the tip when I am down at the beach and would like to go up to the hotel again, to wait for the next electric wheelchair driver and tow myself on to him.

Well, I didn’t rent a scooter, but already for the second time a wheelchair tractive.

I already reported in October 2010 about my positive experience with this tractive type:

Minitrac

(see older blogpost).

By coincidence I got the offer in Tenerife to buy a Trac in black, even fitting my wheelchair colour.

I could not resist and acquired my approximately 10 year old, new toy.

The re-import of the once in Germany produced Minitrac from Spain was a little bit difficult.
At the check-in at Tenerife airport, a slightly panic flight passenger broke off the steering linkage. The thing was fairly crashed.

In Frankfurt my own wheelchair was damaged as well so that I could not ride it on my own because the wheel was rubbing at the brake.

With all the luggage and a little overstrained lady from the airport handicapped service it was a perfect mess.

Without the help of my wife I probably would still be standing in Terminal 1.

After a first repair of the steering linkage of the Minitrac and a set of new batteries the first rides in Frankfurt could be made.

This thing rides only with 6 km/h, therefore doesn’t need a license plate and doesn’t have any constraints from the technical control association.
Some ideas come to my mind immediately what could be changed . ;-)
Wait and see…

Translator BL

Technical Aids Tips and Tricks XXXII

Wednesday, April 6th, 2011

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If you are typing with only one finger like me some tips fall by the wayside for lack of typing. But therefore one talks to another!

If ideas are helping other handicapped, and they are publishing these in other medias, i.e. typing for me, then I take the freedom, do it like Guttenberg and copy it:

Many tips are received on Tenerife in the health resort Mar y Sol from other concerned people. Steffen (alias for Rollinator), wheelchair user as well, brought me to a great medical device:

Both my wheelchair and my stairlift have sharp edges on which I hurt my heels occasionally.

Additionally my legs angle spastically in the night and thus the foot is rubbing tightly across the bed sheet with the heel.

Result is a bedsore at the heel.

Although there are special cushions which are fixed with Velcro strips, they are not useful for me. Due to strong leg movement unfortunately the cushion is not where it should be any more the next morning. Steffen recommended a

Tubular Bandage from towelling

(Nobafrott PZN 7094346), which usually doesn’t slip off and led to the healing of the bedsore.

I bought the bandage rather low priced at the HAD pharmacy (vitaware.de) for 85,09 Euro. The length of the bandage should be generously measured – can be cut from the 5 m.

Source: Olaf

When I sleep a night with the “socks” I don’t have swollen feet in the morning anymore.

The use of the tubular bandage has to be discussed with the physician for possible thrombosis risk or blood pressure problems!
We don’t want to harm anybody and assume no liability.

The photo with the crossed socks reminds a bit of a pirate flag, “Mouse Ahoy”!

Translator BL