Do You Know Who I Am?

Today is a holiday for us State wokers: Columbus Day. One of those innocuous holidays that just a few of get. This kind of a holiday is more the a gift of 8 paid hours but it is a day that most of the services ARE working and that if I play your cards right I can get a lot accomplished. I wanted to get two items taken care of today go in to MAGIC REST and get my new( becoming old real fast) power chair looked at, and go in to Mobility Solutions and get the switch repaired on my wheelchairlift in my van to make the lift a safer piece of equipment.

The wheelchair just is not right. I sit in it funny and sitting in the chair is painful and recently I have felt less secure. It feel like I am going to thrown out of the chair plus there is the old issue of the non-on board battery charger. In fact, I have been stopped more the once and been told that I did not look right, I was sitting in my chair wrong or was I in pain? Some of these comment were offered by other wheelchair users and some by other wheelchair professional that I have a lot of faith in. What was weird was that after these folks had made their comments I knew the what they were talking about and by the end of this weekend I had had enough and committed to myself I was going to get some kind of resolution. I know this is going to be a long and arduous exercise and I felt with the time I had today this would be a good day to start. The sales guy I bought the chair from no longer works at Magic Rest and I figure this is going to be a problem but I feel my negotiating skills are up to the challenge. So, I call and after 0 minutes of struggling with their computerized phone system, I swear is designed to defeat all but the most resilient consumers, I get to a “human being” let’s call him Brent. I know Brent from the many times I have been to the store before. I can tell he does not know me—though he should because I have visited with a lot. Anyway, I launch into my discourse of I am in pain and I will accept my share of responsibility and if we have to go back to the insurance people or my doc to renegotiate that’s cool. I’ll do that if I need to but let get the issue resolved! Brent started doing his “vendor two step” and I was trying to stay civilized all I really wanted was to come in for a face to face and start the revaluation process. Well, this is when I faltered, I wanted to make sure Brent knew who he was talked to, that I was more then just a casual customer, that I was a State employee who may or may no have directed other customers his company’s way. I made the comment “ DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?”. This was not meant to intimidate but to clarify it was me the Jazzy guy, who has been in a number of times since purchasing the chair; not, this is me, Mark they guy who runs the State disability information line and who sends you a couple of folks a week who are looking for wheelchair or wheelchair repairs. But , I cannot believe I said that. I sounded like a pompous ass—I really was embarrassed.

He could not do it till 4;00 PM today but that was a no go since I had already scheduled that time to have my lift looked at. I pleaded for another time for today since I was all day and it would be best for me but no way. I caved and scheduled for 4;00 this coming Friday. I have a couple of hours left over from last week I can use if I am discrete but really what a hassle.

The time over at Mobility Solutions went much better. We found the short in my lifts electrical system an rewired the system plus Justin—the owner put a new safety belt on my powerchair and fixed the hand pedant I use to operate my lift when I am in the van. This pendant I broke last summer and was forced to buy a new one since the idiots at Para Quad were not going to look at th broken pendant. I was over a barrel and had to buy the new piece of equipment of be trapped in my van. So, now, I have two pendants…boy do I feel rich.