FBB

I am trying, I am really ` trying` but I failing to update my blog daily as I did for almost two years. I even have things to say and I intend to do the updates but I end up letting the blog go. I am also finding that if I do not blog early in the day I tend to feel too tired to blog later in the day when I am more worn. I have been thinking about this and I have notice3d a disturbing pattern with some of my favorite bloggers and that pattern is : they are not blogging as much either!!

I think there is an insidious virus sweeping the nation/planet, one which will put the Swine flue epidemic to shame or at least place the SW in it place of marginal impact at best. I call this virus the FBB (Face Book Bug). Dooce, The Underwear Drawer, Lynnie’s Take to mention a few I regularly follow all show signs of lapses and in some cases long lapses. I mean, these guys have risen to the level of professionals, they have authored books, been on national tv and have stared on many local rock and roll morning shows. Face Book is the culprit plane and simple. I feeling the virus acting on me constantly, I get up un the morning and flip on my laptop and check for updates and notification—if I have any I check them out and in many cases respond right there and then. I write and send and feel I have met my days obligation or writing on the “bigger” screen. I cannot really say about the national and international bloggers I follow, but I do know a couple of other bloggers very personally. I see them at work and see them ignoring their talent and responsibility to update their blogs instead they use their talents on short, violent blasts of thought, usually aimed at one person or personal pain and still not feeling like they have treated their angst only increased their pain. Too bad. They have so much to write. I miss them.

Hey, don’t get me wrong I cannot throw any stones. It’s the twenty-third and I have only 11 posts so far for this month when I should have twenty-two. I am sliding, I feel myself sliding into blog mediocrity but better blog mediocrity then to blog apathy. I Face Book, I admit it. In fact I went there just now and when I got to my page I had found a couple of notifications and I checked those notifications out and then I wrote responses and in an instant I had been there 15 minutes! But, I am going to fight this virus, there is probably not cure, after all it’s a social network, and I wonder if that is the same as a social disease. So, I will write daily, if not my committed 500 words, then anything, which will keep me writing, I will write early. But I doubt I’ll write before I FB—for I have the FBB!

Alone Again Naturally

The runaway bus called “Recession” finally came barreling down my street and hitting pedestrians I know including me. Yesterday the director called my partner into the office by clearing her voice (the director’s) and saying, “I have been dreading this and had hoped…” and then the door closed but I knew what was going down. ‘ Chapman, my faithful partner was getting mowed by the Recession bus, she was being down sized, laid off, RIFed , shown the door, or let go. No matter what you called it she is “gone baby gone” after June 30th, the end of our funding year. The monster recession which has, up to now been just a boggy man on the 5:00 news, has suddenly become very real as the State continues to cut millions of dollars out of crucial programs serving folks with disabilities and people who are low income. I lost one of my major funders, a forth of my budget was cut this year! I heard this, I saw the paperwork and numbers on how these cuts would affect my program but it did not sink in due to the fact the money I am operating on comes from yearly grants and I am still working on last year’s money and I will not feel the lacerating cuts until July 1. Guess what that is now less then 40 days away! The boss had top tell Chapman that “it’s been nice but you’re done here after the end of June.”

Then it was my turn, the bus stopped at the ends of the block slowly turned and then got me in it’s headlights, as I smiled at Chapman who was exited the bosses office , and headed into the office for my employment reality check. The bus was gaining speed as the boss closed the door and we small talked and she came to the point. Chapman was gone, a short timer and that I was going to take a hit too. I was caught in the metaphorical headlights but “jumped” at the last moment and was just nicked by the fender of the of the oncoming, out of control financial monster. I may be reduced just a few hours a week, my benefits well reman in place and I will continue having somewhere to come every morning of the work week.

The boss and the bookkeeper continue tumbling numbers and playing with the financial puzzle trying to come up with a better scenario. Hopefully keeping the pay check as viable as possible. Chapman has already started interviewing for other positions. She did a phone interview today one I think she will probably get and in the long run come out a lot better then if she had stayed here. I am going to miss Chapman and her incredibly, provocative and interesting life and her daily update of the dastardly deed of her late great husband and her quest for the perfect mate. And as the song says, I am again, “along again naturally

Heat!!!!

Heat! I love the heat. It’s over 90 degrees out there in Salt Lake City right now, probably even hotter on the tarmac, but its wonderful. I am wearing my blue short sleeved shirt for the first time today. Dianne laid the shirt out for me—and I do have to admit, I was a bit chilled when I headed out the front door this morning at 5:45 but I was OK.

As I said , I had a meeting across town this morning at the Buffmire building and I took the bus over. I should have thought this out but there were all kinds of colorful folks on the bus hading West today. There was a whole gaggle of prison/jail release women occupying the buses back seat. They sounded like a flock of magpies in locust trees and it seemed that with every stop we made heading West another X-offender boarded my bus. They were having a good old time in the back seat. The driver seemed a bit intimidated and I cannot say I blamed him. After all a vocation of bus driving is not worth getting shanked for the way to Redwood Road for telling the passengers in the back to settle down.
The magpie flock got off at Utah Plasma Services(UPS) which seemed to be a joke among these perky sisters as they were getting they’re buy in for the week”.
Following their departure the bus was tombstone silent for the next couple blocks when I broke the reverie by announcing my stop. Of course the driver had forgotten he ha ‘tied’ me down so he had to go through the whole motion of unbuckling himself, coming back to me and then undoing me which he had me tied down with two straps—the driver taking me home used four straps and that was a real core getting me free.

I noticed as I was being lowered to the street level that the chorus of freed magpies had been replaced by as many Hispanic magpies all rattling away about this and that. It was great to be riding the buses again to make actual work related meetings and enjoying the temperature and the ride. Old folks, minorities of all sorts, and teenagers flocked on and off the bus at all stops. The driver talking into a microphone which may or man not work announcing stops and trying to be part of a conversation he had not been invited to of two passengers sitting right behind him.

A glorious day, three or four hours away from the office, use of public transit, being part of giving away more then $400,000 and a free lunch and best part all on the clock.

The forecast shows the weather to be clear and warm to hot all week, even into the weekend, and this weekend is a holiday weekend not that I have anything specific planned except just sitting on my tree covered ramp and reading.

Lazy S

It’s finally hot and I am in my element: T-shirt and shorts and usually bare feet but not to day for some reason. I put shoe on this morning when I was dressing and have not got round to taking them off. Not Much happening today, a lazy Sunday, washed some dishes and have spent most the time Face booking and reading. I am just about finished with Diamond age and want to finish it and get on with my reading life. I have dallied way too long on this one.

Yesterday we went to a ball game of one of our neighbors kids—the event lasted half of the day. I had my book and Dianne had Ani and we just hung out at the park. Earlier Anakah and I went to Beans and Brews. We had a good time.

Love Hate!

I hate my van! But I love my van too. I know that sounds weird and seems a contradiction and it IS weird but its true I have a love hate relationship with my vehicle. I hate to depend on the piece of crap because its not dependable. The vehicle plays games on us and if I had any kind or better alternative I would dump the beast in an instant.
This morning I had an appointment with the wheelchair shop to have some tweaking done on my new, getting old fast, Quantum. I was going to drive in by myself but I was afraid that transferring into the drivers seat of the van from my chair then transferring back when I got to the shop would result in my de-pantsing; loosing my pants on my transferring back into my chair from the drivers seat see to happen to me now more and more as my transfers become worse and worse. So, I woke Dianne up to drive me into Magic Rest.

I had stayed up too late last night watching the season finale of Gray’s A. So I was running late this morning. I had an eleven o clock appointment an I was just finishing my pants on at 10:30 and Dianne was just getting going to but had gone out to the van and started the vehicle; at a quarter 11:00 she told me to go and get into the van so we would be ready to go as soon as she finished which would be minutes. I knew something was wrong, desperately wrong when I got onto the wheelchair lift and pushed the toggle and the motor immediately died. I road the lift up to the van anyway figuring I would be able to get down if the van would not start—the lift being a ‘gravity’ down lift and sure enough when Dianne did come out to the van and try to start the engine there was no juice. I HATE THIS VAN THIS ALWAYS HAPPENS. I was bout ready to call it a day right then and there but there was a giant Qwest truck running round the neighborhood for one reason or another and Di flagged the driver down and with in five mi nutes the guy was negotiating the truck into position to give us a jump.

The driver, lets call him Juan, a Hispanic gentleman with some English speaking challenges and kept looking at us like “what are these gringos up do”. He wore wrap round sun glasses, a salt and pepper beard and a cool construction helmet. He was slow moving but definite, methodically deliberate. He was not going to be rushed and if we expected his help it would be on his grounds. Juan did a marvelous job and with in minutes we were jumped and on the road. I would never have flagged down a truck like Dianne I am still amazed that we pulled this off. Anyway we got to the appointment and Brent treated us great and got things tweaked on the chair and back on the road. Dianne had stayed in the van with the engine running so as not to have to ask for a second jump.

The van acted great for the rest of our trip, we stopped for lunch at our favorite restaurant and later stopped at the van conversion shop where we had the lift put into the van. We have checked everything else we had to rule out the lift and it’s electrical circuitry as well. The boys there spent a good hour checking things out and found nothing, as I knew they would, I was thrilled we got home. I loved my van for bringing us home, as I do each time the vehicle gets us back home safe…it just those time it just decides to sit there and do nothing but mock me and all those time I just hate it and I would roll away from it in a second if I could…

Cutomer Service

I really am not trying to be all gushy and all but I am really getting impressed with my durable medical sales-guy, Brent. I have been getting worried as I use my power wheelchair more and more and I have had to do quiet a bit of “tweaking” to the chair to make it just right for my needs.

The other night Brent was over at my house, actually at my house, after hours making sure that I got what I needed. When my chair arrived the cushion which came with my chair was actually too small for seat of the chair. I chose to use the cushion however, I needed to use the smaller cushion in order to continue going to work and try to get on top of the butt wounds. And sure enough cushion came in and he brought it round and changed it out at my house! Brent then began busying himself with other facets \of the chair. He ruminated at me sitting on the new cushion indicated that he still was not happy with the weight distribution on the mega cushion and wanted to see if there was something else he might try.

Brent next adjusted my footplate. The footplate on this new chair is way small and my feet have had major difficulty staying un the foot plate. However, when Brent was over he adjusted the plate so the plate tilted up a little and sure enough I think the tilted footplate has prevented my feet from slipping off, so I am not having to stop every couple of hundred feet during my journeys to replace my feet on the foot plate.

I was also not pleased with the back to my new chair when the chair first arrived. I thought I would have difficulty transferring from my manual chair to the power chair in the morning after I have completed dressing but I accommodated and I relearned my transfer technique and now have little problem. But I did ask Brent to order a smaller back and he did but since I have can transfer no, and I sort of like the feel of this broader back when I articulate my chair back I have not pressed the issue. But nor Brent wants to change out back this Friday morning, feeling the change out will have a positive effect. I am welling to go this route. I have come to believe Brent really does know what he is talking about.

So I guess what I am saying is I am just amazed at the amount of good service I have gotten with this new chair. Other chairs I have purchased, I really have felt I was on my own the minute I rolled out of the dealership. Oh they have honored their warranties well enough but nothing I have been super impressed over. I have been in sales and I felt I have also given good service but I have never given the kind of customer service I have gotten from Brent. But maybe Brent is cultivating customer loyalty—cause I know where and with whom I am going to order my next chair from…my buddy Brent.

Google!

You know what is weird for me is to appreciate the vastness of the INTERNET, how deep the information well goes and how universal sea of information is as that sea laps just about on everyone’s reach one way or the other. For example today I go off on a tangent researching my grandfathers name. I wondered what would happen if I googled his name with a church I know that grandfather was affiliate with at one point in time. I did not find references I wanted associated with the 3^rd Ward of Boise Stake but soon I was looking at other items to do with Boise stake and names I had long forgotten. I was intrigued at how much great information is out on the NET just waiting to be found and used one way or the other. I was fascinated to see how the old third ward was carved from the Second, and to know the actual conference and Representative who was brought in from Salt Lake. I was disappointed that I did not find any mention of Grandfather Harker during my hasty search but I did find references to Grandfather during his time in Cardston, Alberta, Grandfather’s parents who were huge sheep people in Canada and to some degree in Utah. That is until a severe winter storm killed jus about all of their flocks. Then I was sidetracked to a Boise architect, Ronald Thurber, an old religious instructor of mine. One of the only instructors I had any respect for. Thurber was different just about anyone I knew. I swear I thought for the longest time on was from San Francisco—Ron was cool and laid back and forward thinking for an instructor in the Boise Seminary system of the early 70’s. I guess Ron is still alive try as I may I could not find an obit for the guy so maybe I’ll call him relive some old times.

I googled cousins and others I could bring to the front of my brain. we are all connected now , more so then ever before. Some become frightened at the amount of information out “there”I don’t…I kind a of like it. My Grandfather is alive and well, not bad for being dead for over thirty years.

Done!!

I have spent all day reading grants but I just finished and now I feel the burden lifted. The grants this year were ok but nothing spectacular. A number of grants were the same as last year with just new cover pages and time lines:no thinking or creativity at all. To these I said "No". One guys asks for $100,000. each year. I have denied him the last couple rounds but he always gets the money. I will reward new and interesting ideas, repeaters I just say "no!". may be someday it will make a difference.

Brrrr

I should be doing homework i.e. the IOTI grants and writing the materials for the USOR project but I seem to be doing everything I can not be doing the things I should. Today, I just seem to be freezing. The day looking nice but it cold and a chilly wind is blowing--maybe tomorrow. More avoidance behavior has rendered another film clip of the scene in yesterdays post but this one in the morning darkness.

A Different Road Taken

My house lies almost smack dab in the middle of two train stations—I am about six blocks to each station. About three weeks ago the transit company started making a spur to the West side Traxx lines a multi-year expansion project which I think is just great; a line allowing folks on the “West side” of the valley the blessing of public transit. The only draw back is the spur is taking off at my train station. That point where I board and get off the train each day. Actually, I can still get off the train and board the train from that station, if I wish, I just cannot get there along my old path of travel. Sidewalks are ripped up as are the streets four about three blocks of my trip making the path totally un-useable.

So about three weeks ago, in stead of turning South to my usual train stop, I started turning North, which takes me past the back of my house up and over this huge over pass which actually crosses the Interstate. I have always really wanted to take this route by was kind of chicken. In my old power chair, the chair was so that I did think I had the patience the motor. Then there was the huge overpass. I just did not give my little chair credit. And since getting my new chair I have never considered the challenge of motoring to this train station until the started construction on the spur. Turning North instead of South was hard for me that first day of going to the new station but I did it and I was pleasantly surprised to find there is much less traffic at this time of day then the other direction. This lack of traffic allows me the opportunity to spend almost my entire trip in the street, on the pavement free of the nasty cracks and bumps which can send my entire body, especially my right leg into spasms—but that is fodder for another blog.

When I take off in the morning the day is new and so is the charge in my batteries. I am able to tear down the street in the back of my house at 8. MPH—which doe not sound too fast but is fast enough for me. When I get to the over-pass the gravity, I suppose, cuts my forward motion down to 7.5 MPH but I was surprised at how snappy the chair carried me over the railroad tracks. One I am on the down side of the over-pass I have to be a bit more careful because my speed now generate to up to 8.5 if I press forward full bore . When I finally reach the bottom of the overpass I come out on the parking area of the train station. Comparatively speaking, there are few cars in the parking lot this time of day and I am greeted by this huge, gentle slope which rides me right down to the train ramps.

What is really weird, I have always believed this route was the longer of the two, especially with the over pass but now I do not know. It seems I get to the North station quicker the when I would travel to the North station. The overpass bothers me, I don’t know why but I have sort of have a love hate thing with coming down the other side. I am sure the stress is just tearing the guts out of my motors but I have not really seen any diminished performance in my vehicle yet. The only irritation I really do have is that the new chair seems hard on my body. I have to get some things adjusted on the chair and I have an appointment on Saturday at the wheelchair shop and then, maybe this trip will be a bit more pleasant but in any case this road taken has made all the difference.

Excuses

I literally spent all weekend working on the proposal, minus a couple of hours tending to the wife and dog. Lilly was over all weekend and she survived and we survived but I did no get a single moment to blog. I really do feel bad. maybe after this week I cn get back to some normalcy in my blogging.

May Day

I love this schedule, being off each Friday making a perpetual long weekend. It’s a nice morning this morning fast becoming noon for a May 1st. I wish I could enjoy the day and weekend more if I did not have home work. I have the proposal to do or try to do and I also have grants I need to read and grade. Luckily, the weather , this weekend, will not be spectacular but the day looks nice now. Plus we have dog head Lilly coming over to spend a day or two while her parents are the Grand Canyon. Lilly should be gone by Sunday night.

We are also aggressively battling a wound outbreak on my butt. I will need to be laying more, taking off the weight, off the wounds. I did speak with my wound professional yesterday and he said, that I could stay up if I used my power chair and used the ‘tilt’ function a lot. I hate these wound.

Thanks Mark A., we did not get the lawn mower as we had talked bout yesterday but Mark A. came over and got the old mower running and did the compete lawn , front and back; a perfect job. Thanks, Dianne and I are hoping to get out to Home depot today or sometimes this weekend and get the mower Home Depot has on sale. Purchasing a lawnmower may just be the big spot in my weekend.

Finding Michael

I just got off the line with Mike from Ogden. Mike’s a guy with a disability, whose disability has progressed to the point that now he needs a power wheelchair for getting round. Mike is currently on Medicaid which should be the program designated to get such equipment but because Mike received a manual wheelchair about a year and a half ago he thinks he is ineligible to receive another piece of equipment for another three and half years. Mike was giving my agency’s name and number because someone has heard that somehow my program has access to used power wheelchairs. This thought is partly true. We run a website which has a webpage where we allow people who have used equipment and wish to sell, trade or donate that equipment, these folks are welcome to list that equipment on our webpage called the “Salesbank”. Many folk “out there” operate under the notion that our program actually has equipment to give away. I quash that thought quick as possible, and explain what my program offers and other programs which might assist him either obtain a ‘loaner’ device or a way of procuring a whole new piece of assistive technology.

I referred Mike back to his Medicaid officer, telling Mike to let his officer know that his disability has significantly progressed in the year and a half since he got is manual chair that now he needs a power wheelchair or his mobility. This can be pretty intimating for lad like Mike—I know I have had to deal with my share of governmental bureaucrats in my life with a disability so I also referred the guy to his local Independent Living Center, who one, might have power wheelchair which Mike might use until he resolves his issues with Medicaid and two, has one of the IL staff act as an advocate for Mike to make sure the consumer does not get the “consumer around” . Now, I don’t know if his IL will come up with such a beast, but I feel they should. Most IL’s have a “loan closet” of sorts. A room stuffed with assistive technology usually donated by a family of a person with a disability after they croaked. Most of this equipment is pretty darn good some of the equipment is brand new. The IL usually has enough stuff to ‘loan’ the equipment out indefinitely if need be.

I was on the phone with Mike for at least thirty minutes. I gave out some great information which I think was right on the caller’s needs. I ended the call with Mike committing to carry through and make contact with the referrals I gave him. I disconnected the call and returned to my “In” basket to try to get something done on the grants project looming over my head when my phone rang and I connected the call to my headset and I immediately recognized Mike’s voice. It was deje vu. Mike started the call exactly as he had done before…I broke into his litany informed Mike that we had just finished a conversion and he had calls he had to make, it was like a scene from Finding Nemo. I quickly reoriented Mike to the data on his tablet of paper, or what ever he was using, he located the numbers and quickly disconnected the call. It’s been 45 minutes and Mike has not called back maybe I connected maybe I didn’t but I am sure I’ll do it all over again tomorrow one way or the other.

Delima

I have been trying to figure out how to do this post for a couple of days now. Remember, last week, when I posted about our office being broke into and my program’s computer being ripped off and the other office’s computer projector
being taken? Well, since the incident the office has seemed to be in a low boil.

Because we are a State office, anytime like the break in, or the threatening phone call has to be reported to the “mother ship” and the “mother” gets all involved in the disguise of Risk Management who begins to tell us what we are going to do or at least gives us strong input of choices we might choose. Edicts started flying: “No one stays in the office by alone” which means I leave then office at 5:30 p.m. instead of 6:00 p.m. and the doors to our office are to be locked: All this because we have the Consulate of Mexico in the offices above our offices. Oh and the coupe de grace, we are strongly considering’ moving to another building, a State building somewhere out in Egypt, in an area of the City I don’t think is anymore safe then the area we are currently in.

The problem I am having is I like this office space, in this building in this part of town with or with out the Mexicans and if it were not the Mexicans it would be the homeless drifters and if not the homeless drifters it would be the local supporters of the local professional basketball team: The Chokers. The problem is that in all likelihood we will be moving into a heartless, soulless drab government building into a cubical! A cubical with State droids walking all round like a scene from the Matrix.

The upside of the solution is the earliest we could move into the property suggested by Risk management would be a little over a over, as I understand. A building is being vacated by a sister agency, who is going to a brand new building. I guess the old building needs to be cleaned up and what ever. A year is a long time, actually, a lot of things can happen in a year, a lot of things.: A lot of things to the building, the neighborhood, the job or even me. Maybe this is a wake up call for me to appreciate how good I have things right now. To enjoy my ‘window on the west’, excellent public transit accommodations and great facility with international flavor and intrigue just upstairs.

You know, I labored under the idea the boss liked these things too, the items in this building that liked but I feel she is going to cave but more to the idea that we are paying for way to much space here then we need and the gave that the folks from Risk Management are offering her a deal a price at significant dollars per square feet less then we are now paying. Money, now there is a concept I can understand but I still don’t have to like ‘move’ decision. And again, a year is a very long time and new pandemic may make the who issue a moot point.

Lazy ?

It's Sunday Morning and I still have not blogged since Wednesday!! Either I am too busy, tired or not round the system , or out of the mood. Well, this entry is something and I want to get back today at some time and crank out 500 words about the result of all the legal an illegal stuff which has been happening at the office but now I think I'm going to the hospital...for some breakfast.

Mid-Week

Its like 75 degrees right now outside my window a I wait for the clock to hit five thirty when I will fling myself out the doors from my office like a scene of Bart Simpson being let out of school. I had the meeting with one o my four funders today and it does not sound good but definitely there was a silver lining to the possible funding cut. If we were to find that “silver lining” it would men a lot more work for this little office of one and half people but could also mean more fun. We would be using a lot more technology and INTERNET stuff. We would be doing more on line broad casting and interviewing. The funder said this could have great potential. we’ll just see. One of the first things we’ll do is to start a blog about the agency we are talking about and invite people who use the services to blog their own responses to the quality of services they receive. This was sort of a green light to really play at work.

So the week is almost over and the worst of it is done. I have yet a newsletter to help write and get out and a broadcast to host come Thursday morning and then it is the weekend. I am looking forward to a nice quiet weekend

Short moments of time

Short moments of time is all that we ever spend together. I had to be at work this morning to “tumble” numbers. To get year end data together is some readable form that my boss can use to pry more funding from State agencies we serves and others whom we might in hopes that our little agency will not “wink” out of existence, being the latest victim of a failing economy. I should have stayed home to send off my daughter and her little family who are heading back to Salem today now that the family convergence is complete. Any other week of the year, just about, I would not had a problem taking half a day off to see Shelly away.

Actually, as it turns out Shell and Dustin planned to leave as early as possible and so my crashing round the house was for the best since then ended up leaving just minute after I left the house this morning. But as I was speeding down the street in the pre-dawn darkness, I wondered if our parting was to “light” or should I be suffering more at our parting like in the great movies: Fiddler on the Roof, West Side Story or Old yeller? I was thrilled to see the kids especially the newest granddaughter, Riely, who just wowed us. Riely smiled and smiled for everyone—she truly is a people baby and a good baby. At 14 months she is brilliantly energetic and funny. On the verge of speech, Riely cutely signs, dances and loves images of out dog cinnamon which we have hung round the house. But no, there was no lump in the throat or fear I would never see the kids again. I will—maybe not as much as I would like, if they lived in the same city as I but we will. We’ll text, email and cell phone each other and even set our the camcorders to talk and see each other via the INTERNET. We have done that a little in the past but maybe we should get back into the whole virtual visiting. It’s not like having the soft clutching hand hold on to your little finger as she scouts round your power chair but almost as good to her being there.

In a weak moment we suggested that Dianne and I would host a meal for newly weds and family at our house on Sunday following the wedding. We did it we held a spaghetti dinner, with rolls, salad, garlic bread angel hair pasta, pre-made meat balls and sauce I cooked for hours. Strawberry pie, reese’s peanutbutter cake left over from the wedding champagne and vino and representatives of at least three different families. We think the number was 17 in all but we are nut sure. We put in the extra leaves in the table and brought in the long table from the garage—it was crowded but fun they way family functions should be. I was pleased there was little stress and enough food.

So it’s done, the convergence is past, relegated to the collective conscience of those who attended and participated in these events, a pile or receipts somewhere and thousands of digital images which will document these events form time and all eternity.

Today is Charles's wedding, this evening at 6:00. The fam has more or less congregated and so far so good. There is a few underlying currents of stress but nothing Earth shattering. we so far have had one family gathering yesterday evening at a local pizza place. A little chaos but good food and good conversation. Special thanks to mark and Kristy for providing the family with the pizza and the experience.

Shelly and Dustin arrived about middle of the afternoon and we yammered for a couple hours before the group left for The Pie Pizzeria. I like the The Pie but the "pie" as a university hang out and hot spot. "The Pie" has now transitioned to a family spot at a couple of places round the valley or maybe the West as it transitions. Of course to us the guest of honor was Riley, our newest granddaughter. Riley is 14 months now and she is doll. Riley definitely knows how to smile and to work the room She was able to woe us even after hours of traveling in a small SUV I was so engrossed in the tyke that I forgot to take images. Hopefully I'll get images someday and tomorrow . The little family intends to soend the next two nights with us. I wish I could write more but feel the pressure toi start tumbling numbers for my year end report--which is due Tuesday morning.

Blog Neglect and I am Sorry!

Hey, I know I’m sorry I have neglected the blog but I do have a life too and that life I getting pretty crowded right now. Stresses at the office, new and grander then ever before and sounds like those stresses will only get greater as the year progresses. I am still struggling to acclimate to my new power chair, which is coming along but still is challenging. The Tilt function has continuously worked since my visit to the wheelchair shop a couple of weeks ago. I signed taxes yesterday which will be electro-mailed today. I am waiting for my new cushion and today I am supposed to go up to the university for a dr’s appointment about my but. My step-son(long story) is getting married this weekend an the fam is converging. I am playing friendly tug a war with daughter and her family, and where will she sleep( a who’s house) and all the other issues family gathering can cause. Then this week the county started tearing up the bridge and road I use to access my train—morning and night pushing me to explore other training stations with in rolling distance from my home. And this morning I woke to torrential rain and I wavered and woke Dianne and begged her to drive me to the station which she did…maybe snow tomorrow.

Trust Issues

I’m trying to stay upbeat and believing in my new powerchair but this is a challenge. I think I have mentioned the issue once before of the powerchair freezing the tilt mode. I was hoping against hope that this was a fluke, something which just happened. But now the frequency of the problem seems to becoming more and more frequent which is not good.

Thursday at the office, the day of my last broadcast I was tilting and the chair froze. What I have been ding is waiting a few minutes and the chair usually would begin operating again but it did not do begin to operate even after ten minutes. I eventually called the shop but when I jut as I got the tech on the phone mysteriously the chair began operating. I should have just left the chair in the up position but like the idiot I am-- I immediately launched into another tilt and this tilt stuck( ninety minutes before the broadcast). No matter what we did the chair would not function. The tilt function has an override feature which will not allow the chair to move forward or any direction for that matter. For some magical reason, about 45 minutes to broadcast the chair started operating and continued operating perfectly the remainder of the day. When the broadcast was done I booked back to my office and called the shop and scheduled an appointment for the following day. Mathew, the tech I talked with, said the problem was most likely small and should be easy to isolate and fix.

So yesterday, Friday, my day off, the first day of my weekend I am up ready to go so as soon as I think I can get way with it I head to Magic Rest, I take my van because I had a number of things to do. I ran into Josh, the head tech who had be cycle through my tilt function ad luckily the chair seized. Josh tinkered. There are two “sensor strips or pads” and these strip are pretty sensitive. If there is something on the pads the chair stops working, like child’s hands, tails and what ever else might land there. If the cover of the pads become ajar this can cause the problem too. Josh did some adjusting and the seat seemed to work. Josh did leave me this the caveat that if the problem continued then make an appointment and the tech’s would do an in depth search of th chair and it’s sytems to find out what the real problem is. This all seemed to make sense to me and I am easy so I was out and finished my errands and went on home. I decided to tilt back as soon as I got squared away in the house. I went all the way back and sure enough the seat froze. The whole chair froze, of course, and stayed that way for at least a half hour. It was late in the day and I finally for the chair to begin working a little so I would cycle the chair back and forward. Some times the chair would almost come back to the corrected seated position.

Finally, I got the seat to almost to where it should be but the seat was don enough I could drive my chair to where I needed to go and I was able to transfer back to my manual wheelchair . In the safety of my manual wheelchair I messed with the power chair, specifically the power strips and the seat started working correctly. Today I have not had any problems. So hopefully its fixed but I will still take the chair in for an inspection. But the issue of trust is what’s on the line—you gotta trust your chair just like you gotta trust you car or your pharmacist—its all trust.

Peeper Terror

Don't Tread on Us!!

I wish I knew how to make recordings off my telephone. If I did, I would record the message which was on my answering machine this morning when I got to work. And really the message was not that explicit it was the tone of the little jerk who was leaving the message which I found the most intriguing.

Long time readers will remember about a year or so ago I wrote a post about how the Mexican Consulate had moved into the building and how, it seemed, every Mexican national was J-walking across he street infront of my office. Well nothing has changed much since then except the flags above our building have never really been changed or taken care of and are looking pretty ratty now days. I have even noticed this from time to time but have never been motivated enough to do anything about the flags neglect. Ill, apparently this neglect has also been noticed by a few other folks in the community. One Alfred P. Dorkus, to name one (note the name has been changes to protect ME in case Dorkus ever runs into this blog, a long shot I am sure but one can never be too careful especially in Utah. Of course Dorkus lives in a small city in ah County, probably the most conservative county in the Country, and of course the call was time stamped on my answering machine at 2:25 a.m.!! So, I have a mental image of this red neck, sitting in some redneck bar until they kick him out. Somewhere in the evening he has become aware that the consulate and the ratty tatty American flag flying over our building and cannot stop grinding his teeth over this overt national discretion, even though he was a religious draft dodger, dope smoking his way to being a world class dead beat dad, and that he and his posse was going to do some thing about it.

So get this, this fool Dorkus, not only calls my 800 line and leave this veiled message of death and destruction to my office if we don’t fix this problem immediately but he also finds my email and the email of everyone at this office and the email of all the big shots in state government and does the same to them. I mean was Dorkus even the least bit thinking? Did he not think that someone in all these folks would take him the least bit serious and call law enforcement. I did not pay much attention to the phone call but when I played the call to some of my office mates they all did take the call serious and my boss instructed me to call the cops and report the call.

Since the call came in through my 800 number I got to be the complainant, the cops talked to me first and go my take on everything, then the special crimes unit arrived, wondered round took pictures from across the street of the flags in question and then Officer Bob spent a lot of time cruising the asking questions and writing stuff down. I bet he was here over two hours—must have been a slow crime day because we got a lot of attention.

I am tired now, and I started this day tired. Tomorrow I will try to get pics of the new flags TOMORROW SHOULD BE WRMER THEN TODAY!

Weekend?

Why is it every time I think am going to have some time for myself I find myself slam blasted back in to child rearing?! Its not that I am complaining, ok well maybe I am complaining a little, but I am beginning to see pattern develop here.

The coveted never ending three day weekend, by never ending I mean, one week after another that I am currently enjoying as a State employee. So, last week it was Spring break and Anakah was over Wednesday night home on Thursday night and Friday night. Now, don’t get me wrong Ani is great and tons of fun but she can be high maintenance at times: Anakah likes to be watched as she play her video games, my video game, and draw with pastels. Ani has been perched at my foot with her set of pastels dutifully sketching out beautiful pastel pieces of art right along with me. Bunnies, spring flowers, tree and clouds are sketched, perfected, dates and signed and the drug into grandma for validation along with my creation. We sort of have this un spoken agreement that we will both do the exact number of creations—we start and finish about at the same time. Ani’s creations are concrete real things the way they should look, where as mine are much more abstract—a lot of drawing a picture then wiping the whole image off leaving just a breath of a memory of what had originally been.

Maybe if the spring has not had such a hard time catching on in the Inter-mountain region I would have been better able to flee the house and be outside either in my garage or taking my new chair out for a run. Actually this statement is not really true because each day An was at the house we did take off in the fridge winter spring we seem to be suffering through this year. On Friday we motored down to the cousin’s to pick up the van which was have a wheel repaired. We rode the bus and wonder round Murray where Anakah showed me where she has ballet and other old buildings of the city . Of course we stopped at Beans and Brew, KFC. Yesterday we went to Sunshine market, the local hippy high end which has recently opened in our neighborhood. And again, we were out in the snow, rain and cold air in a train ride which would never end. I was trying to find a bus which would drop us off closer to the house but I had forgotten a lot of bus routes stop operating all together on the weekends. So there back and forth train ride punctuated by a tri to the hospital where Ani could use the bathroom and gift shop and restaurant if the nine year old had been able to wear me down. All this time Anakah was running beside me or riding on the back of my new chair. She tried sitting on my lap but she is really too big for lap sitting anymore, the weight of a nine year old and her head now occludes my vision. I think Anakah was exhausted by the time we got home yesterday afternoon. I was and I had sat all the way Anakah had run the entire distance.

So maybe the lesson is accept the fate of constant involvement, Grandma did her time the firs nine years and now its my turn or term, what ever. I need to see my “constant three day weekend” as a chance to be part of my granddaughters life that I might not always have access to.

The Fool of April

Yesterday was t truly a dark day. Generally, I don’t believe in dark days or ‘having a bad day’ or what ever and yesterday being April 1st sort of made sense if I was to be fooled by the gods yesterday would have been the day.

Remember I had my follow up appointment at the University Wound Center scheduled for yesterday at 11:00 a.m. Brent, the sales-guy and Randy my PT were also going to meet with me following the wound clinic visit and discuss the issues I was having with the new power chair: the Quantum. I had worked late the night before attending the Spinal Cord Injury Forum and manning an information table and had gathered a number of hours over my time so I decided to take the morning off and hang at the house with Dianne and then travel up to the University together since Dianne was going as my medical advocate and service provide which she has been during this battle of the decube. We have figured if she can go with me of these appointments and get the benefit of these professionals working on my body we will significant limit the ravages of aging with a disability. Anakah also joined us since she is in the middle of spring vacation. And were looking after her for the next couple of days.

I started the day sleep deprived, we had stayed up late , for a work night, and I was dragging. But we scooped Anakah up and stopped at Denny’s for a couple of Grand Slams. We got lost once on the drive up to the medical center and all of the sudden the all the time we thought we had pro-actively generated was quickly dissolving. Dianne had slept poorly and was dragging too and I could sense stress mounting as we wandered the “avenues” of North East Salt Lake and finally found ourselves back on tack for the University Medical Center pulling into the parking area just in time. I deployed and checked in and waited, but we were there on time.

Kevin, the wound clinic guy, again spent time filing my butt and dressing showing Ani and Dianne. How best to care for my wounds. What was suppose to be a half hour treatment turned into an hour. Randy was antsy by the we rolled into the PT area but again we had a good face to face with Brent and Randy mediated great and we are going to be getting some other items which make the chair as comfortable as it can be. The three of us ended up having lunch at the cafeteria and Dianne and Ani dropped me off at the office. I as struggling to stay away and I could tell Dianne was becoming more and more stressed so I said good by and the two of them drove off only to return fifteen minutes to report something evil had happened to the van and it was all Dianne could do to drive the van back the parking area in the rear of my office.

It was a melt down the three of us were exhausted. Dianne was trying to get home where she could get some rest and now was relying on public transit and there is currently no bus stops close to my office. Chapman , work partner was watching this meltdown occur finally stepped up and said if they could leave immediately , she could drive the two home to Murray. Chapman’s benevolence was a Godsend. Te van spent the night in the parking area and I Trained home, as always but I was exhausted. In fact I used the power chairs tilt in place feature to lay back on the train trip home.

I got home and once in side the house I again tilted back in my chair andm for the first time while I was tilted in the “back “position for some reason the chair stopped working, a glitch! Glitches are not bad for some things but a high end power chair, the second week owner ship for the crucial part of the system to fail is really spooky or maybe it is just the April,1st Prankster working its magic on me. I did not like it.

Trade Off's

OK the new chair aura has worn off, completely. I am now in the everyday use of he new chair and I am having major issues with the device. This morning I was almost ten minutes late getting to work because I was not readily able to transfer into my new power chair from my manual chair this morning to get to work. Transferring into the chair this weekend was not an issue—transferring was challenging but doable; however, this morning, even though I had enough time allocated, I was not able to transfer with speed or ease and because I have so much drag when I transfer I lost a lot of my pants too, which took a lot of time pulling the pants back on to an acceptable level. So cursing and swearing I finally did manage to get into my chair, pulled my great white coat on( which covered square feet of exposed flesh and drove my chair to work in the new fallen snow of Monday morning.

The speed at which I cruised to the train station was wonderful, and I have said it before, but I will et a lot of steal and plastic , to keep a chair as quick as this chair. When I did get to work, office staff surrounded my chair and gushed ad asked how I liked the new chair—and like an idiot I answered the truth, I am having a love hate relationship with my chair. Staff then began pointing out things, with the chair which just did not look right. The foot plate is too small( true my feet fall of the plate all the time). I seem to be sitting all “scrunched” up. True again, I have felt the seat is too narrow as well as the back rest and the backrest also inhibits my ability to reach over and grab hold, when I transfer into the power chair from my manual—the main reason I was so late today was not being able to slide over onto to the cushion. Then there are parts of the chair which do not work which should like the right side arm rest, the arm rest doe not lock in place as it should.

Staff brought all these items to my attention. If I m paying 20,000 for chair I should be a lot more happy with the device then I am seeming to be and thy are right. Randy my physical therapist who actually measured me an got the ball rolling for the new chair asked that I call him when the chair came in and how I was taking to the chair. I called Randy this morning and rehearsed some of these
issue to him and Randy was concerned enough to set up an appointment for me and my sales guy, Brent and himself for this Wednesday. I am really hoping these issues can be resolved readily and with little trauma. But as I said, I am willing to eat a lot of steal and plastic for this kinda of speed.

Weekend Stuff!!

My new chair is fast, not as fast as some, but fast enough for me. We worked all day yesterday cleaning the house . The wedding draws near and we are expecting a influx of family who will be needed a place to stay while here in Salt Lake for the nuptial event. We are extremely excited that Michelle and her family will spend time with us.
This will be the first time to see our grand daughter Riley. Riley is 13 mo is walking now and is extremely interested what ever and wherever her world is at any given time. So we are excavating guest rooms and associated rooms cleaning and baby-proofing the house. Yesterday we worked on the guestroom and my room, the computer room. This is a perfect time to go though my book collection and cull volumes I have held onto long enough. I also through lots of wheelchair materials I have been hanging onto for far too long. I tossed through wheelchair cushions, computer boxes and papers which have seemed to multiply since the last family function (family functions are the times when we tend to clean like this). We don’t see a lot of folk at our home other then immediate family and we know they except us as is and tend to look beyond out foibles and cut us slack, however, other family, who actually I know would also cut us slack, we tend to go an extra mile; and we appreciate this, for who know how difficult the task of cleaning would be if we did not have these clan gathering events.

The days have been cool the last part of this I took ownership of my new power chair and I have been working which has not given me much time to “road test” the chair But yesterday, which was not balmy by any means was warmer then the few preceding and as we worked through the day, was warm enough for me to volunteer to run up to the KFC a few blocks from my house to fetch dinner. I had been in the chair all afternoon being the guy to run garbage out to the bins as it became available or materials out to the van for their final trip to Savers or Deseret Industries the two places we send items we no longer want but cannot find it in ourselves to throw away. This way we pretend some deserving family or unfortunate will take custody of our throw-offs when in reality the receiving entity will still be the dump or rag mill somewhere in a third world country.
The chair had been working wonderfully for this duty but I needed to get some real road time.

I am a little concerned bout the fit of this new chair The chair seems tight and the cushion is not as comfortable as I was expected but the cushions seems to be doing the job of protecting my butt and I am hopping the back will loosen up a bit. I can mount the chair with about the same ease as the former, which is challenging but doable. I don’t hand holds or grab places as I did with the other but I m learning what I can use to transfer safely and independently, and the process should get easier with time. But all in all the chair seems to be a good chair an I felt pretty cool as I came down my ramp and headed out onto the street. Once on the street if front of my house I shifted my chair into P-4 the maximum power level the level the sales guys said to use only when there was enough room to go the speed P-4 will allow. I gathered speed and dogs barked as I began to zoom through my neighborhood. I could have used the sidewalks but I know I would not have control on sidewalks with their cracks and narrowness. There is little traffic on the neighbor streets at 5:00 pm on a Saturday afternoon. I nodded to neighbors as I flew past their houses not wanting to take my hands off the controls to wave. Before log I was at the KFC and had got my order and I was on my way home. I had made the trip in record time. When I reached the house, Dianne had asked if I has forgotten something thinking returned to get something I had forgotten. I produced my double sacked barrel of chicken and various sides. Dianne was amazed and I was pleased.

Another winter/spring storm system rumbled through or region early this morning bringing high winds and snow and low temps. It will be cold going into work tomorrow but a warm up is expected by the end of the week. The warm days of Spring will be here soon enough My chair is not as fast as say my buddy’s, Andrew’s who is still young and needs the speed but mine is fast enough for an old guy who just needs to catch a train and fetch dinner on Saturday nights

New Chair

I now have had my new chair for two days now. I like the chair enough, I am not in love with the device but the chair. $20,000. But because I changed my mind on some of the features I got the price down to 17,900+. This chair has a head rest and with the headrest in place, I still cannot get the chair in the van—which is why we sent the chair back in the first place. However, Dianne found that with little effort we can remove the head rest and I CAN get into the van with no problem I was a little worried with that the new cushion would raise too high but that is not problem now. I am a little concerned the new cushion does not give me the protection I need but I will just have to see what happens.

I am so stupid, when the salesguy stopped by the house on Thursday evening and went through the chairs features and showed me how these featured worked and collected some money It was then I figured out that my insurance had a limit on how much I had to pay...essentially all I had to pay was $2,000.00 and that is it. So, regardless of how many features I ditched, thinking it cost me less, the cost would be the same after a certain level. I should have kept them at least those I could have used.

I still have to take the chair out for some serious road time, maybe today. Hopefully I’ll get some images and maybe some video stay tuned…

Pain in the Butt

The pain from my butt wound was just bout wearing me out and missing work AND having to be down for two day has motivated me into calling my health care professional and trying to set up an appointment. Actually I tried to yesterday and I wanted to get in yesterday but that was a no go but I was able to set an appointment for today. And really, the person I really wanted to see was not my Doc or his PA but Kevin the wound care guy but I cannot get to Kevin unless I have a referral from one of the others.

Yesterday ended with me having an appointment with my Doc’s PA, who is OK, and who comes highly recommended but is not Kevin. So, I have things scheduled for today: Dianne will swing by work and we will drive up to the University Hospital wound clinic. Since Dianne is MY direct health care provide she had questions to ask and procedures to learn it was natural she attend the appointment with me. I initially had not planned on Dianne coming and I was going to take the train up to the university hospital. But Dianne really wanted to go because by the time we left for the University falling in huge wet flakes.

I had just got comfortable at my computer when I got the first call of my day and it was the wound clinic. The P.A. was sick or something and was not coming and her staff was canceling her day’s roster. The earliest I was going to get was maybe tomorrow, which would not work since I have a broadcast tomorrow, and if tomorrow would not work the next date would be Monday and I did not or could not wait till Monday. I did some pathetic groveling about how I just needed some attention today, RIGHT NOW!, and she did I’ll call you back. And what do you know but that Pat did call back informing me that I had an appointment for 11:00 a.m.; they were squeezing me in.

The snow was still falling in huge white flakes which began to accumulate on the grass and the road as Dianne and I climbed the hill to the University Medical Center. I was surprised that we actually got to the clinic ten minutes before my scheduled appointment. I signed my forms and had my cards photocopied and waited and eventually Kevin called us back and I dropped my drawers and transferred onto the exam table. I have to admit Kevin was indeed busy but professional and through. I had made the right decision for insisting on being seen by Kevin. Kevin took a lot of time, an hour with /Dianne especially, I was just the piece of meat, Kevin showed Dianne how mix concoctions, many of which she was already doing but the verified that Dianne was doing the right stuff and the right way. But the best part was that Kevin had lots of materials like skin sensitive tape, derma shield and other medical stuff which would cost a fortune if we had to purchase it our selves—sort of like doctors samples. He cleaned the wound and filed the wound down, literally filed down like with sand paper or an emery board and how to put the band aid in the exact right place. Bu he took more then an hour!

It was lunch time when Kevin and clinic finally turned us loose so we stopped at the cafeteria and had a great hot lunch and watched the last of the snow fall turn to rain an sense the blue sky trying to work it’s way through the gray skies after all, even with the snow it is still Spring.

The Ride!

It was a beautiful Summer day, a Thursday or Friday I believe, and Gene and I were sitting outside watch the goings on in downtown Boise. Looking back more then forty years I am not sure what motivated me to suggest what I did I am not a big risk taker but for some reason I was sure that if I had access to one of those canes which were just laying round everywhere especially with a rubber tip, seriously do you think I am a fool.
a rubber tipped cane would be much more safer then a non-rubber tipped cane.

I told Gene my idea, the Fury was a push button dry, no levers to move round, I had enough hand function to keep the cane on the gas or brake peddle when needed . Really should be a piece of cake. Actually, Gene was older and often he was the better thinker of the two of us Gene was pretty solid compared to my whimsical mind. Perhaps the thought of escaping the care facility and taking back your life was worth the risk.

We rolled out to the parking lot and starred at the vehicle; we could feel the machine’s power just waiting to be used I got the driver’s side door opened and looked at the controls, then the buttons and figured, “yeah, I could do it.” I next actually transferred in the vehicle and Gene passed me the keys and I turned the beast over and the Fury rumbled to life like Stephen King novel. . I turned the car off and transferred back into my chair and we pushed back to Gene’s room to consider this excitingly deadly option.

Gene ordered a pizza and we planned. The later afternoon changed to evening and the late summer night held off as we talked one of the orderlies to help Gene into the passenger side of the furry and I loaded myself into the driver’s seat.

Again, thinking back I cannot understand why the orderly first did not bring this plan to the nursing homes management folk and two, loaded to pretty severely disabled teenagers into a loaded Plymouth Fury, but they did.

I of course had never driven a vehicle with power steering—what vehicles I had driven were a cub International tractor, and a 1950 something Studebaker, pick-up truck oh yeah the driver’s education vehicles. I was surprised at how simple driving the was as I launched us out of the care facility’s parking area I was crawling using what every power the vehicle’s idle would render. We turned out onto Jefferson heading west We had decided we would drive west out to the West side and go to the Fairview Drive-In. When I was further downtown Boise I turned South on to Main Street and headed West, the drive to theater was pretty much straight line driving. I was amazed at how easy it was. Traffic was light for Summer Thursday evening and I was “granny” driving but I was driving.

Oddly, we got away with this adventure. We did not have any wrecks of any kind. I sort of lost control when we came back to the care facility after the show. The cane slid off the brake and I could not restore the tip of the cane to the brake. Luckily we were crawling and the shrubs in the front of Gene’s parking place took absorbed the impact of the Fury when it came to rest in the shrubs.

We had gotten home safe and relatively sound.

Management never said a word, no one said anything, we got away with it! That was the last I drove for a couple of years. Gene had been bitten and with in he had gotten hand controls installed to the Fury and was driving himself. We shared a couple more adventures over the years before I graduated and we lost touch with each other but no adventure is as sweet as the first

The Car

Same vehicle only black~!!

I went through Crip School(Rehab) with another adolescent a year or two older then me. Like me he was quadriplegic and we had about the same amount of mobility, actually had just a little more. I could actually transfer in and out of my chair independently. My friends name was Eugene, which no one was allowed to call him he went just by Gene. After Crip school I went back to my family Gene went back to his but we kept in contact and saw each other every so often when we could arrange to have our parents drop us off at one or the other’s home.
About a year after returning home Gene had about all he could take of his family and managed to move himself into a long term care facility(old folks home) in downtown Boise.

I was impressed, this was “big”. It did not matter that Gene was in “Restful Manor” all I could see is that Gene was out on his own and could do what he wanted when he wanted and that was cool. I made it a point to have my mom drop me off at Gene’s every Thursday night. We would order pizza; I would read Gene’s latest copy of the Berkley Barb and inn the good weather sit outside and watch the nursing students come and go from their dormitory :Marian Hall to St Alphonsus Hospital across the street. Like I said I had a bit more physicality going on for me then Gene and I could and did push myself to where ever I needed to go. Gene was pretty much stuck and her hated being stuck.

About the second year Gene was at the Manor Gene began to hatch a plan which would been his need for final and total freedom. Gene was going to get a car. It took the better part of the summer he had the money, since he sued the boy scouts after his accident Gene just had to talk his parents in to letting him get the right car. The vehicle Gene finally found was a 1962 Dodge Fury, Black with red trim. A two door with a bench seat. It seems like it was summer when Gene got his car. I was impressed when I got to the car facility gene showed me the car. The car came straight from the dealership and Gene had the keys. The fury was sitting there mocking us letting us know it could take us anywhere of we could just drive. There were no hand controls on the vehicle yet this would take a couple of weeks if not months..

I don’t really remember how the idea formed but as we looked at the Fury we figured if we could get in the car I could drive the car if I had a way to reach the peddles. We rolled back to Gene’s room thinking about the idea when I happened to notice that the facility was lousy with canes and we had the answer. Stay tuned …tomorrow “The drive”…

Bus Time

What a beautiful day—way too nice a to be cooped up inside at work. In fact I just got back from a meeting I had across town, way over on highland drive. I actually had another meeting written in my day-timer but when I was emailed about the meeting I did go to, I called the building where the meeting I thought I had and they reported there was note a room reserved so I figured I had made a mistake or read the email wrong.

I was really quite proud of myself as I rolled into the meeting, I had made the buses and the trip across town, I was on time and in pretty cod condition. Usually, I have to head , immediately, into the closest bathroom and make myself halfway presentable. I felt pretty good until I rolled into the room ad took my place beside my buddy Sauchin who announced I was going to have to move pretty damn fast if I was going to get to my assistive technology meeting of which I was supposed to be in charge. “Yeah right” I responded as I unwrapped my Crown Burger but I was haunted the conviction in Sauchin’s voice each time he asked if I was going to the meeting. Sure enough Sauchin was right, there WAS an A.T. meeting of which I was supposed to be in charge. The meeting was to go from 12:00 to 2:30 with the first 45 minutes usually taken up with lunch. I sighed to myself and noted that I showed I still had a full charge in my power chair. I would try to make a second meeting if I was lucky.

I charged out of the building down to the corner ad crossed the street to bus stop. I was encouraged when after a minute or two the 220 came rumbling down the road, I jumped on and really for a short moment thought I would be able to make my next meeting. I asked the driver which bus I would need to the Buffmire center and he told me. When I finally for down town I found the driver dropped me off a stop after the stop I needed and had to back track and the bus I did need was taking off as I came up to the stop. The saw me I know he saw me but I was left be hind. I knew the next bus would be atleast a half hour away. And the time was now ten minutes after 1:00—so even if the 517, the bus I needed, did come on time and it took me twenty minutes in travel time the meeting would be nearly over by the time I got to the Buffmire building. Then to top everything else off and possibly to make sure my decision my battery power indictor was madly flashing meaning I was in the “critical power” I was two Salt Lake blocks away from my office and I don’t know how far I would have to go after I got close to Buffmire and my meeting. I decided to “jet” the meeting.

I made it back to the office and immediately plugged and took calls the remainder of the afternoon. I hate jetting the meeting the day was just too nice.

Testicals

This is been a busy Monday for me today, as Mondays go. I sort of had a nagging suspicion that I had a meeting today but was not sure and I did not take my calendar home with me nor did I open my work calendar on line. I almost did yesterday but I never got round to opening the calendar. If had the calendar would have shown that I indeed did have my Interagency Out-reach Training initative (IOTI) meeting today. Y’all may remember IOTIin the committee that gives a way a couple hundred thousand dollars every year—or at least we did until economy down turn. This year the mount well be less but we will still be giving out dollars.

I doubt even if I had remembered I had the meeting today if I would have brought the van into work. The was a little overcast, windy but South winds , warm temperatures in the 60’s. I called and got the rout and the time schedule I needed and in due time headed foe the bus stop. Luckily I read the meeting announcement wrong and I thought the meeting started at 11:00 and I thought I was sure going to be late but in fact the meeting did not start until 11:30 and the first hour is always lunch. So even missing the my first bus I got there in time, had my sandwich and got to work.

We had special business this meeting then we usually do. One of the perennial outfits who submit letters of intent missed the time by literally minutes. The person who was supposed submit the letter of intent had waited until the actually 12:00 mid-night dead line, and then goofed up emailing the letter to the committee and it did not get to us…in/on time.

Now I have to digress just a little and I am sure I have covered my prejudice toward this group before. The fact the we give this, or have given this group hundreds of thousands of dollars in the years IOTI has been giving out money and I think the group has gotten dependant on us—in reality our money is supposed to be kind a one time money and the fact that we have continually given this one group the money they have continually requested is beyond me. I’d had enough couple of years ago and I started pushing the idea to start giving the money to some new blood. So, imagine my delight when I heard that this group was late getting their letter of intent in—no way. First the director of the IOTI emailed everyone letting us know what had happened and what should we do. What should we do?!! The rule are the rules 12 members of IOTI and just four of us voted not to let the group proceed.

When we met yesterday we must have spent 45 minutes, atleast, again discussing and voting the issue again with the same results. Supposedly we put in place structure which would not let this problem happen again but I know that the problem will happen again—when someone does not get their app, letter of intent or proposal in when their supposed to. We’re like a microcosm the Stimulus the money never goes where it should. Come on, IOTI, grow a couple!!



Deaf blind

slow It Down

I was reading Dr Au ’s blog today. I check on the good doctor’s blog almost everyday. I have forgotten how long I have followed I have followed her blog, at least four years, since medical school. So, in a since I have watched her grow from a brainy medical student to doc to resident etc. She married and now has two kids and has moved from New York City to Atlanta. Today’s post was the inevitable where does time go? Post.

Dr Au is still young, has a cute family, a fine practice and the promise of a great life. I, on the other hand,, am coming to end of my life. Oh, I hopefully, still have a few good years left but for the most part I am close to the “happy trails” time. I am two years away from 60 and that makes a person think. Where did it all go? All of the time I thought I had, all the things I was going to do, to be, have a pretty much passed. It’s OK, I am OK and I am loving the life I have. I have a great family, great wife, job, house, van , robin in the front yard and neighbors. I am in reasonably good health and have some interesting projects going on. I am happy and that is all I need. Still, I need to slow the time relish every bit of time I have left. I am excited about tomorrow the start of another week.

Good Day

Wal-Mart to with Dianne to do some grocery shopping and to get a graduation gift for one of the nephews. I hate Wal-Mart usually but today the experience was not too bad. I think to day was better then most because today was an almost Spring day. Warm weather, sunshine and being out with people feeling the first brushes of Spring.

Wal-Mart is wall to wall people, little people, adolescent people, cultural diverse people, old people and many others which defy class. Poor people lots of poor people, suffering to get by till the next break which might come into their lives. Wal-Mart is very much like Costco or Sam’s Club: huge quantities of food and stuff with out the having to deal with the “club” mentality the separatists feeling the club stores portend. I behaved myself and came away feeling pretty good about the day out. The van worked, War-Maert worked and Dianne and I worked just fine. Today was a good day.

Blind American Princess

Last night was the night. I did the panel discussion for my friend whom used to be my boss here at this office, making yesterday a super long day for me. Not only was yesterday a long day but it was also a busy day. Chapman and I got steady calls all day long, even after Chapman left the area the calls kept methodically coming in. And I apologize for not updating the blog sooner but this has been another one of those weeks. I have to admit I have been critical of blogs which post once or twice a week but now I better understand why there are delays.

I had heard rumblings there was going to be some sort of food products served at the event last night. I mean the event was not to start until 7:00 and shut the office down at 6:00—so conceivably, I could have attacked a fast food place or even something Squaters or a new Chinese place I passed on the way over to the theater. I could not get hold of the boss so I figured I would just get over to the Rose Wagner Theater and hope for the best.

Dianne and I have been to the “Rose” once a couple of years ago and it really is a nice facility but I found a bench of disabled guys in the hallway and decided I would hand with them after I cased the joint, hit the john and basically got ready to go on. Which means at five minutes to seven I have myself locked away in a bathroom trying to squeeze what little urine I can out of my microscopic bladder in a desperate attempt to be urge free while sitting in font a hundred or some people trying to make sense every time I open my mouth. Born Freak’s running is fifty minutes and sitting through the documentary about disability and the American freak, a second time was a good foundation for the rest of the night.

I don’t know if it was the wound on my butt which was acting up after sitting in my power chair since 0545 yesterday morning; or maybe that fact I had not had any dinner or the fact that it was turning into an awfully long day and I needed a lot more water in the old radiator then I had, but I was beginning to feel just a little snarky, And over all I was on pretty good behavior. But when this blind women on the third row started a five minute ramble about while people who are blind need special considerations like the school for the blind, specialized tax breaks and transportation my snarkiness started showing. I excused myself by blaming my remarks on my Independent Living history and my belief in full inclusion and death to any type of segragationistic education or life styles of any kind. I was tired and I was sore and I did not want to beat up this misguided, middle aged blindee ; luckily Cathy sensed the drama beginning to unfold and basically brought the duke out to a close by asking another question and another distancing the panel further and further from the misguided blind consumer.

Following about twenty minutes of health question interaction Cathy ended the evening, which was kinda of bad sense the quality of the questions were good and the panel was getting a second wind but the hour was late and I still had miles to go, on public transit before I slept. After the brief encounter with Miss Blindee she sat on her bleacher, arms folded across her chest and glared at me like a character from a Stephen King novel. I even thought about going up to her and trying to difuse her but after panel finger food were served, raw veggies, Quesada’s, potstickers, dainty cucumber sandwiches and two bunches of grapes, green and red . The panel was expected to mingle which we did I got button holed byna couple of long talkers and the last I saw Miss blindee was being escorted to her very private (para-transit) blind bus. What a Blind American Princess.

Late Snow

They have been talking bout a storm all weekend but I did not believe, even today it was cold starting out and a few flakes this morning and I thought the storm had run it’s course but about 3:00 pm today big snow started and seems to be on going. Still not as bad as I have seen this winter an I think I will be able to get home just fine especially with the extra hour of daylight. It’s ok this storm is one of the last winter storms for this year I appreciate the storm in kind of a way—at least I am not home using holiday time.

Qwest Sucks

My Posts have been fewer then usual partly because the pressures at the office has been a little greater—but not much but really my posts from home have been down to almost nothing, the reason: QWEST!! Our home connection has been broken more and more. I usually let this slip during the week since I have little time for INTERNETTING during the week and I am fortunate enough to be able to post from the office but on the weekends I have only my home connection.

We went to Qwest for our INTERNET before Christmas. The I provider we had been using, had been dropping our connection more and more and I had enough so when Qwest offered a great Direct TV and INTERNET del we took it. From the on set we had problems either connecting or staying connected. I would struggle every time I tried to connect. Struggle because the ability to connect was intermittent: some times we were able to connect and sometimes note. We were told that the problem was where are located some thing about being at the end of the “cable ” junction what ever that is. Essentially everyone before us would get service and “fill up” the pipeline. So they were saying that we would get service only when the demand was not too extreme. Then it seemed last week were not getting any service at all.
So finally Friday I had had enough and was grousing round the house Dianne called Qwest yelled at them for a while and bright and early Friday morning and yesterday, bright and early a technician pounded on my door. I of course was the only one up—not dressed at all—had to endure the guy as he worked out side and replaced some wiring he said was bad coming into the house, by the time I was dressed enough to let him in the house he had left and still not connection. Luckily I still had the tech’s number on the home phone, called the tech back and he returned and this time came into the house and reset the settings on the “mother ship” and we had connection!

I happily worked on the system for then next couple of hours, banking, Facebooking and posting and then took a break, washed some dishes, helped with some housecleaning, called a mother and a daughter then when I tried to get back on the INTERNET…no connection!! I tried till late into the night with no results. The same this morning, no connection, Anakah came over for breakfast and after in an attempt to keep her occupied we traveled up to Bean and for a little distraction and people watching then over to the dying Office Depot and got a few more things on sale and I saw a small cherry wood secretary which would be just perfect for my front room writing area. I probably will not get it but the secretary would be nice.

When we finally arrived home, I decided I would write a post even if I had to wait till I got to the office in the morning and post from there. I tried the connection voila! I was connected. So I don’t know what to think. I am writing this and I am going to post as quickly as possible but I think I am beginning to hate Qwest.

Waiting...

I called my mom today. It was the first time in a couple of weeks, for some time I have been having a difficult time getting hold of her. I could tell from today’s conversation that mom is failing. Today mom sounded weak and distant. I spoke with her for only a couple of minutes but she really sounded tired she made a comment a number of times when I asked how or what she was intending to do today she answered,” I am waiting for something to happen”. I think she really wanted to say that she was waiting to die—Mom did not say that of course. Mom could not say but I think she would if she thought she could and not scare the heck out of me and the other kids. I was half expecting mom to say that she was waiting doe dad to come and get hr. Mom has made the comment only once that I can remember and I think that was at one of the reunions when I asked her how she was doing. I guess this is somewhat common in the Mormon culture when a person is at the end of their life and their spouse has preceded them in death. I guess it does not have to be a spouse. I remember when I called Mom when my dad was in the processing of dying that she said that my dad was busy speaking with his dad, my Grand Father Smith. As weird as this sounds it makes sense in a bizarre sort of way, to me.

Meat Elite

Remember my recent birthday and how the boss at my office gave me a meat package for my birthday Spam, Vienna sausage and Hormel Corned beef: three of my favorite things. I have to give my boss great credit to even consider such a wonderful gift. IO left the items on my desk for a couple of weeks before I started actually consuming these gifts but last week I finally broke he seal on the Spam and I was railed against by the office meat elitists—you know those folks who are too good for meat in a can. Actually the spam week went by fairly well. I purchased rolls from the German bakery, chopped and diced the spam added mayo and toasted the rolls and had great lunch options for the entire week.

So this week, I was really excited as I anticipated ripping the bottom off my can of corned beef. The German bakery is closed on Mondays, because the bakery is open on Saturdays and I guess the Monday off business gives staff a weekend but is sure inconvenient for the consumer, me. Today. I brought in a couple pieces of sour dough bread, to toast. Then this morning the office manager Connie Ronny called from the market before she came into work to ask if I needed any thing from the market and after a few seconds of thought I flashed on the need for dell pickles! Dell pickles is the perfect condiment for toasted corned beef sandwich made with sour dough bread. Connie Ronny got the good kind too, Vlasic Original pickle planks!!

However at lunch time I became the target of meat discrimination. I became the office dog food eater because I desired a simple corned beef sandwich. I took this abuse while Connie Ronny opened the pull ring can, squirted in the mayo and gooshed the mess together. I held to my guns though and I toasted my sour dough and withstood the office. The ridicule was worth the course however as I spread the tog food on the pieces of toasted sourdough . laid down the planks of dell pickle capped the sandwich and cu the bugger in half and fled through the persistent harassment back to my office to take my meager lunch, hunched over my computer savoring each bight of dark red meat. I have the leftovers sealed in plastic stuffed back in the fridge. Already folks are complaining about the odor of dog food smelling up the fridge but that’s cool, I am excited the rest of the red meat will have a chance to cure. And if I come to work tomorrow and my protein treasure is gone, well that’s OK too—I’ll just figure the night cleaning lady say it in the fridge and couldn’t resist or maybe Connie Ronny snuck the treat home for an evening delight.

Safety Fair

The weekend is going way too quickly. Anakah showed late this morning all excited about returning to the “Kids Safety fair”. She went out last night with a local church group. The Kids Safety Fair is a scam setting bringing together lots of private non-profit and for profit entities in an effort for these groups to get a lot of exposure under the disguise of meeting to teach the community “safety tips. What results is just unmitigated chaos. Kids, kids and more kids with parents in toe—a lot of what looked like divorced dads having the kids looking for a cheap kid day. Many of the vendors at the fair have candy and crap to give away as an enticement to bring the parents to their table to hook the parent in for the big items. So there is lots of low-income there trying to get their hands on anything the can, add to that the low-middle class and the seniors and you have pandemonium. One of the attractions, this year, was the paint your face booth. I don’t even know what the “paint your face” vendor even was but there was a huge line for the face painters. There were other huge serpentine lines but nothing like “paint your face.”

As a rule I avoid events like the safety fair, to much chaos and to many people, but today I caved. I really wanted to get out and drop into the local Office
Depot where the are closing and has a much of liquidation prices. Tomorrow is our 17th anniversary and I still needed to get a gift for Dianne and I finally realized what I could get her which I think she will really like and really use. They had some mp3 players for 50% off and I wanted to get one before tomorrow. But Dianne and Anakah wanted to go to the fair with them—I should have just said “no” but they were welling to stop at Office Depot so I figured why not? Dianne also sweetened the pot but suggested the we would have dinner at Joe’s Crab shack.—hum and I caved.

I tried to stay out of people’s way. Kids everywhere, little kids, fat kids, Hispanic, Asian, Indian and lots of low-income kids. Tattoos, gross outfits you know, fat chicks forcing themselves into clothes they should never consider and then strut round thinking the look hot. Anakah chose a bunny face to be drawn on her face: red nose and lots of glitter and of course buck teeth drawn on her chin.
Thankfully it was finally time to leave. Anakah had collected another bag of freebies seemed happy enough. We drove over to the Crab Shop and were surprised to see how many other animal faced kids were there. Anakah felt right at home. We had a twenty minute wait which was not too bad and but we finally got the call and we had a pretty good dinner. Still, I always am disappointed at the meals end at the crab shack. Too much grease and the taste is lacking I am rarely pleased just a lot of hype.

So a long day but I got the present I wanted for Dianne. I hope she likes it. Then I found out we are doing mongo tomorrow for Gabes birthday. /this is a lost weekend…Sigh.