Before you watch this video, I want to say that I am not responsible for what happens if you follow in my footsteps.
I never said I was smart…
This has been Funny Friday and yes that really happened.
Category Archives: Life in a wheelchair
I STILL want to be like Mike
I love sports, always have. I’ve never been able play them, but they have always captivated me. I think it all started with Michael Jordan. When I was a kid, he was the closest thing to a real life superhero that I knew. I couldn’t walk but he could fly. At that time you could catch all the Bulls home games on WGN. For about seven years I’m pretty sure I saw every single one. He made me feel like anything was possible. He is the greatest to ever play no discussion,
When I was 18 years old, my mother asked me what I wanted for my birthday. By this time Michael was in his last year with the bulls and I knew I had witnessed greatness. I told her I wanted a pair of Air Jordans. This was a big deal back then because even in 98 we didn’t have a lot of money.
I’ll never forget going to the store and rolling in to find the perfect pair. One of the sales guys asked me what I wanted, I told them I needed Jordans. The next part of the story is absolute truth, he went to the back, and when he came out he had the shoes and a massive smile on his face. I asked him what the smile was for and he said “you are going to love these shoes. They’re going to make you run faster and jump higher.” Those shoes are displayed prominently in my room and I still put them on occasionally, to see if they’ll do something for me. I don’t expect to jump like Mike but even at 18 I had hoped that they had some magical powers. I’m starting to wonder if that might be defective because I put them on and I’ve still got nothing. I don’t need to jump, but if they made it easier for me to walk I’d buy at least two pair every year for the rest of my life.
This has been wheelchair Wednesday (and yes I know air Jordans don’t have magical powers, or maybe you just don’t believe enough 😉 )
Update 6-29-16
One of the coolest things about running a blog is you have a space to tell people about your life. Evie drew this comic based on one of my jokes, and I just had to update the post. The comic is even funnier because it actually happened to me. I’m curious has anyone else out there ever hoped the new parish shoes Will give you superpowers? I certainly did.
A wheelchair does not stop a kid on Halloween
I struggled with what to post today and then I remember tomorrow is Halloween. I had two costumes when I was a kid that I still remember as an adult. The first, and the best one, was at the age of about five. I went as Pac-Man . My mom drew the little guy on each side of a cardboard box and put it over my chair. The effect was that no matter which way I turned, I was coming at people as Pac-Man. The box had two holes cut into it so I can see where I was going. It was awesome.
The second costume I remember what is going as a ninja. This is funny because it is very hard to be ninja like in a wheelchair. It’s virtually impossible to sneak up on somebody. I was dressed in all black and matched my best friend at that time. I think even he knew he wasn’t sneaking in anywhere with me.
For those that don’t know the kid above it Is dressed as Mario in his cart from the Mario kart video games. That’s really cool and the parent who came up with that, should be applauded.
This has been Funny Friday. I will steal your candy.
Image can be found here
Stairs and wheelchair don’t mix
If there is such a thing as a nemesis for a man man in a wheelchair, it is probably stairs. It maybe hard to believe in 2015 but there are still lots of places that are in accessible to me. I have a few friends who have apartments that I’ve never even seen because they live somewhere other than the first floor and there’s no elevator.
Lots of businesses still have the same problem. I wrote about not being able to get into a talent recently. You can read about it right here.
Point is, This is just part of my life. If there are stairs and no other way to get in, I probably can’t go there. That may be about to change
How awesome is that? I want one, but it’s only a proto type so I guess I’ll have to wait for a bit but things are looking up. You can find out more about it right here
This has been wheelchair Wednesday. I bet you all want one now.
The chair does not have a flux capacitor
As you probably realized by now it’s Back To The Future day. Like most people who are now adults that movie means a lot to me. When I was growing up there were no movie theaters where I lived, so we watch a lot of movies on VHS or when they came on TV, and in the days before cable that happened a lot. I remember watching the movie on VHS and being amazed, I didn’t realize it then but being in a wheelchair and living in the country as we did, my world and entertainment was fairly limited. I have always had a pretty wicked imagination, I love sci-fi and the idea of time travel was something that captured my imagination, still does (every kid I knew wanted to catch a ride on the back of a pickup truck like Marty did. Don’t even get me started on the hover board) This morning I took time to watch Back In Time on Netflix.
It’s a documentary that got its funding from kick starter, it’s all about movies and how they inspired the world, it’s not very often I take an hour and a half to watch something the day it’s released but I did with that. If you are a Netflix subscriber you can watch it right now. If not, you should be able to purchase it various places, including iTunes. I also found out the all three of the movies are available on Amazon prime video this month for free. If I wasn’t writing this I’d be watching the first movie right now.
You can’t talk about Back To The Future without talking about Michael J Fox. Marty McFly is a character that everybody knows whether you seen the movies or not, and that’s all because of Michael J Fox. He nailed the character and I’m looking forward to watching the movies again in the next couple days because the great thing about them is that they are funny. I’m pretty sure that I’ll see jokes in the movies at 36 that I completely missed every other time I’ve seen them.
We don’t often ask you to donate for the blogs that I write here. (although you really should we have a donate button and everything) today I’m asking you to visit the Michael J Fox foundation and donate to Parkinson’s research. He has been fighting the disease for several years now and is extremely outspoken. he is an inspiration to me. I have known several people with Parkinson’s and that’s a cause that I support wholeheartedly.
If you’re looking for something to do it tonight, you can check it out all three movies at a theater near you, (for one night only I assume) or you can pop some popcorn and fire up the Dorian in the comfort of your own home. I think that’s where I’m going to do.
The image can be found here
Independence sometimes needs some chewing gum a paperclip and duct tape
I was born with cerebral palsy I’ve been in the chair for as long as I can remember. I’ve needed help every day since that day I was born. Independence is something that has come little by little. I went to college and found a way to get it done, with lots of help from others of course, but I got it done.
I spent years looking for a personal assistant. Maybe closer to a decade. Last October, I got Jane. Having her has been a major adjustment. I can finally get out and go,(not whenever I want to but almost.) I have someone to stay with me. Which allows my parents to have much more of a life of their own. I’m learning to the shop for groceries, and now I’m learning what it’s like to be able to make my own choices. It’s an amazing thing really.
All that said, I still live in my parents house. It has a few things that are built just for me, like a big bathroom and sink I can roll under. For the most part however, it’s their house. Appliances are located in convenient places for them. Which in most cases means they are too high for me to reach. This is okay for most things, a guy with very limited motor skills, probably shouldn’t be attempting to cook a meal on the stove. That said, having the ability to microwave a snack when I got hungry and no one else was around, would be nice.
Over the last year, I have been extremely fortunate to have an independent minded woman pointing these things out of me. She’s constantly thinking of ways I can improve my situation. A major addition to my living environment would be a microwave. When I started thinking about it, all of these wrinkles begin to happen. A microwave is great but only if I have access to food to put in it. That means I’ll probably need a freezer somewhere in my room as well. My room is nice but it’s very limited in terms of space and I don’t even have that much stuff.
So I am looking around trying to figure out where I could put a freezer and a microwave that would be accessible to me. Then I start thinking about how I could get the food from the freezer to the microwave and out of the microwave without making a huge mess in very limited space, that someone else might have to cleanup. All of these thoughts have me wondering if there is a reality show out there that specifically designs spaces for people like me, to help us become more independent? If there’s not there should be. There’s one out there for everything else. (there is one about building custom epic tree houses, those guys are insane).
My point with this post, is that in my case becoming independent has happened by baby steps. it’s painfully slow, And in the case of the microwave and freezer, trying to figure out how to make it work, in a place that’s not really designed for it, is a daunting task. I know it will happen for me. Sometimes it feels like I will need a team of MacGyver’s to make it happen. (that’s want a mile time favorite shows, just an FYI.) Has anybody out there ever attempted what I am talking about, and do you have blueprints? Comments welcome. Independence is worth it, but I don’t think it ever comes easy.
Comments are welcome
Image can be found here
Smart pills you say? Yes please
I love all of of the types of entertainment. Being a kid in a wheelchair growing up, I watched a lot of TV and played lots of video games. I read a lot also. I couldn’t play sports like most kids, so these were things that kept me busy.
As I have gotten older, I still read a lot and play video games more than most people but not like I used to. I hardly ever watch TV unless it’s a very specific show like The Black List. I’ve watched a lot of the new shows this year and I must say, they are really good. I love BlindSpot, The Grinder and a few other ones. The one that has really caught my eye however is Limitless
The reason is simple the story seems to take place only a few months after the events of the movie and the main character of the movie is a major player on the TV show.
That’s something that I’ve never seen before it’s an amazing way to continue the story and bring people in who love the movie. My whole life I’ve had people tell me that I could be a rocket scientist if I applied myself. I consider myself to be smart but not that smart. Human beings only use 10% of our brain. The idea of a pill that would allow someone to use their whole brain is really intriguing to me.
I’ve often wondered what opportunities in my life I have missed to give myself a better life, because I just wasn’t smart enough to see it. I have had several family members and other people tell me I should dabble in stocks because I have the time to do the research.
The idea kind of terrifies me. I don’t feel like I’m smart enough to see the trends. I’ve wondered how many opportunities I’ve missed with women because I wasn’t observant enough to see them in front of me.
I’ve never really been tempted to try and illegal drug, but if there was no one out there that could make me smarter, that would be hard for me to resist. I highly recommend that you watch the movie and check out the TV show. It has been time well spent for me.
Is anybody else wondering how much time the lead actress on Blindspot spends in make up to put on and remove those tattoos for every show?
I’m just saying
Image can be found Here
I got nothing so I’ll just ramble
I can’t decide what to write about today. I’ve got nothing really inspirational and I’m not feeling that funny, so I’ll leave you with a couple of observations.
Observation one
Fred Savage might be ageless
I watched a couple of episodes of that new show on Fox called The Grinder. it’s got our friend Fred and Rob Lowe, I’ve seen two episodes and I think is really interesting, mainly because I believe Fred looks the same as he did like 30 years ago, right down to the Voice. His voice is exactly the same as when he was playing a teenager on The Wonder years.(That show was great, don’t even get me started), Like half way through my second episode last night, I kept expecting Connor McCloud to show up with a sword and try to take him on (who’s old enough to get that reference…. Anybody?)
Observation two
How is it winter already?
It’s October for crying out loud. I have no idea how we got here. One minute I’m trying to figure out how to get a tan quickly so I can wear shorts without blinding the unsuspecting public, the next I’m trying to find pajama pants because I’m cold(I’m wearing them now actually, and they are great)
I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned it on this blog but I get cold very easily. It probably has something to do with sitting all the time and having bad circulation. Unless it 85 outside, I am probably cold, I’ve never had a girlfriend in the winter. I’m thinking that’s probably good because I would want to snuggle all the time. I’m wearing pajama pants at 6:30 in the evening. I feel like a really old man. I was at a indoor volleyball game the other day, and I saw an older man in wheelchair wearing a blanket almost up to his chest. . To each their own, he might have been sick, I have no way of knowing, but I hope the only way you ever see me with a blanket in public is if I’m wearing it like a cape. Just saying.
See, this is what happens when I have nothing inspiring to say. I just get random.
Happy Wednesday folks
Image can be found here
Walking seems like really hard work
I’ve been in a wheelchair all my life and I have to admit something, I have never really wanted to walk. I can’t think of a ton of things that I would love to do if I could walk, dancing Sports, Rock climbing, the list goes on. The act of walking however has never actually appealed to me.
That’s probably because every time I have ever done it with the aid of technology it has hurt really badly.
Jokes aside, walking just to walk, has never made sense to me. I have no idea why all of you” normal” people don’t ride around on segues everywhere you go. I’m all for exercise, but walking or running just seem like a massive waste of energy. I don’t understand the stationary bikes or treadmills either, if I’m going to put in that much effort I better going somewhere, just saying. Somebody out there who likes to walk, tell me what I’m missing. Is it one of those don’t knock it until you’ve tried it kind of things?
Someone is always watching put your game face on
I spent the better part of the day at doctors office. I have gone to the same doctor for the better part of 20 years. Recently I decided it was time for a change. There was nothing wrong with the doctor I had, it just sort of seemed like he was going through the motions. Trying to get people in and out as fast as possible.
I don’t know about you guys but when I don’t feel well, or have a problem serious enough to seek out a doctor, I don’t like to be rushed, and I don’t like to be treated like a number. First visits to a new doctor are always a pain. I showed up a half hour early, because I knew there would be paperwork, and there was, lots of it. I spent over a half-hour filling out forms, (well Jane did but I had to answer her questions). Then when I was done, I had to wait 20 more minutes just to go back to the little room. Then once I got there, I waited another half hour.
At this point, I’ll freely admit to being a little frustrated. However, I was also intrigued. I could hear the nurses outside the door laughing and joking and even having fun with other patients. Something different was going on here.
Finally the doctor came in. He shook my hand(that’s kind of a big deal. If someone doesn’t know me, they don’t usually even attempt it.) Then, he sat down, and begin to talk me about my situation. We talked about other specialists who might be of help to me, and treatments to improve the quality of my life. This lasted about 20 minutes.
I’ve had a few doctors in my time. I’m not sure that I’ve ever had one ask how he could be of service to me. At one point he said “I’m really looking forward to working for you”
This brings me to the reason I am writing this post. I delt with a man today, who obviously takes pride in his job, and wants to be of service to his patients. That’s rare in today’s world. when you see it, it’s very refreshing. By the end of the visit I didn’t even care that I had spent more than two hours in there. His good attitude changed mine.
It reminded me that whatever I do, I need to do it with a smile, not only s smile, but genuine enthusiasm. You probably aren’t going to always like what you do, but if you do it like it matters, people will notice and doors will open. I certainly noticed today.
Image can be found here