Did you miss me?
If you say no, I won’t be offended in the slightest, because, in my absence, greatness was achieved.
In case you didn’t catch it, my ever-amazing wife, Tina took over writing duties on last week’s blog post. She took the opportunity to talk about her experiences with mental health, and did so with an honesty, clarity and courage I find incredible. I’ll post a link back to it here.
However, as much as I’m sure you would love to hear more from Tina, for now, at least it’s going to be a return to the old routine. Yes, I’m afraid this week you’re stuck with yours truly, as I ramble on about life and stuff and things in an attempt to entertain and to enthral (Yeah, I didn’t think it was working, either).
So let’s talk about wheelchairs, shall we?
Chairman
As you may or may not know (although it is pretty plainly stated in the header of the blog. No, not the title of this bit, further up - just below where it says Life From A Seated Perspective. That’s it. You got it), I am a wheelchair user.
You’ll note the terminology. I avoid using ‘in a wheelchair’ as it sounds so passive and helpless. It’s also, at this present time, factually incorrect, because I’m sat on the couch with my feet up. A description which probably elicits a little less misplaced sympathy.
I digress.
One of the many, many frustrations of being reasonably reliant on the machine sitting in front of me at the moment, is that when it goes wrong (which it invariably will from time to time), it leaves me pretty much stuck. And this is the situation I find myself in at the moment.
The Breakdown
Not that the current malady affecting the Quickie (don’t snigger) Argon I use to get out and about is as serious as some examples of the not all that distant past (I refer the honourable reader to this post and you can follow the breadcrumbs from there). It is, however, inconvenient in the extreme to have only one wheel rim.
Now, to be clear, this does not make the chair unusable. I can still push the thing, after a fashion. It does raise a few questions regarding health and safety, however, whether they’ve gone mad or not.
Without the circular tube of metal that grants me purchase enough to impel enough force to ensure forward momentum is achieved, I have to risk attempting the same motion of the solid tire itself. This leaves me with a distinct lack of purchase, especially when it comes to sudden stops ( I’m down to one brake as well, by the way). Add an enthusiastic and slightly bonkers dog and exposed spokes into the mix and it become time to play count-the-fingers, every time I bring Bonnie back from her walk.
Works In Theory
Now, there is a solution to this problem. One that, on paper, is simple. All I need do is ring Kirklees Wheelchair Services and (theoretically) a man with a van, some screws, and, one assumes, a screwdriver, is speeding toward me, ready to get me mobile and able to, you know, do stuff, again.
I did say on paper, didn’t I.
As with so much of this once ‘not-too bad-to live in-depending-on who-you-are’ country, Kirklees Wheelchair Services (run by a company called Rosscare), seem to be, to coin a phrase, going down the nick.
This decline is evident, and seems to be traceable back to the last six or seven years, perhaps a touch longer. Parts take longer to arrive with them, mechanics are booked up solid. An appointment which would have taken less than a week and see me left with either a working chair or a temporary replacement is now a two week wait, an ordering of parts that takes months (seriously, four months for a new brake, and that’s before it went ‘missing’), and not even the chance of a loan chair. It’s a situation that is seriously impacting my mobility and therefore my life. By implication, unless I just happen to be the unluckiest person alive, it’s also doing the same for hundreds if not thousands of others.
Party People
Now disabled people are not always front page news. I doubt Rishi Rich or Thick Lizzie will be making much of mobility issues in the hustings so many of us are sick and tired of hearing about (ICanHazGeneralElectionNaoPlze!). Maybe, given their reported key demographic they should.
Regardless, it’s simply not important, Not to the majority of people, and certainly not at the moment. No, there’s far too much else going on. What matters mobility or mental health when you’re deciding between heating or eating.
For my money, however, my small, inconsequential, gripes are but a single data point in a far greater picture. Yes, there are global pressures, but there is money. There’s money for tax breaks and bailouts, money for song contests and mechanical bulls. So why can’t there be a few quid to help me get back to walking the dog a bit quicker? Why does it have to go instead to a private company who deem keeping a stock of spare parts uneconomical?
Party People
Now disabled people are not always front page news. I doubt Rishi Rich or Thick Lizzie will be making much of mobility issues in the hustings so many of us are sick and tired of hearing about (ICanHazGeneralElectionNaoPlze!). Maybe, given their reported key demographic they should.
Regardless, it’s simply not important, Not to the majority of people, and certainly not at the moment. No, there’s far too much else going on. What matters mobility or mental health when you’re deciding between heating or eating.
For my money, however, my small, inconsequential, gripes are but a single data point in a far greater picture. Yes, there are global pressures, but there is money. There’s money for tax breaks and bailouts, money for song contests and mechanical bulls. So why can’t there be a few quid to help me get back to walking the dog a bit quicker? Why does it have to go instead to a private company who deem keeping a stock of spare parts uneconomical?
As I say, my woes, when compared to so many others, are tiny. A sniffle in the face of a pandemic. Perhaps, however, it is not so disconnected after all. Perhaps the answer to my problem is the same as that of soaring energy prices and the very act of living having a cost put upon it.
Perhaps what we need is a different way of seeing things, a different way of doing things.
Perhaps we need a change.
Until next time.
***
Hey, folks! If you would care to take a look at some of my more creative writing, then the links below will transport you to the magical worlds of a few anthologies my short (and in two cases, very short) stories have been included in. Feel free to check ’em out!
New Tales Of Old: Volume 2
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09TMVTX9H/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Death Ship
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/9198684140/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_TWEMTA3KWK7T89QEZPF6?fbclid=IwAR322Fx5nfgVUQAA62ZZ6CUsNnBm8pbSxPanzz6Qkjg3vAv4ESipq7iKKhs
https://www.waterstones.com/book/death-ship/david-green/s-o-green/9789198684148?fbclid=IwAR2gP4CXHSG7wTccO39wOqXFtI81k0259Ep8DUM48Ki6kTUdlKoF3yafojA
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/9198684140/ref=ewc_pr_img_1?smid=A2XZ7JICGUQ1CX&psc=1&fbclid=IwAR2Wa6sGxb82_VCsC7l1CGXwHjsSwTheqba6jDX_G8EDsywZoGpC93nXr2w
Reaperman
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reaperman-Drabbles-3-Legends-Night-ebook/dp/B099NNPTQ1A
Pestilence
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pestilence-Revelations-Black-Ink-Fiction/dp/B09MDLZGHY/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2VP38WZDWJVAF&keywords=black+ink+fiction&qid=1654090896&sprefix=black+ink+fiction%2Caps%2C218&sr=8-1
The Musketeers Vs Cthulhu
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Musketeers-Cthulhu-Court-King-Louis-ebook/dp/B09YQKQQB7/ref=sr_1_18?crid=2VP38WZDWJVAF&keywords=black+ink+fiction&qid=1654091002&sprefix=black+ink+fiction%2Caps%2C218&sr=8-18
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