Seven weeks.
Seven short weeks. That’s it. That’s all that stands between us (that’s me and my ever-wonderful wife, Tina) and our first foreign vacation in eight years.
Seven weeks.
All Inclusive
And, in a move that some may find uncharacteristic, we’re reasonably organised too. A housesitter has been organised in the form of my lovely Sept-daughter, Sarah, and the ever wonderful sister in law, Jen. The tickets are saved online. The trip to the airport has been arranged (again, thanks to Sarah, who should probably be sainted but might conceivably fail the entrance exam). We’ve even worked out how to get home (not the aeroplane bit—that was already taken care of—I’m talking from the airport, although, admittedly, that is still to be booked. We’ve even investigated the best way to exchange money.
Yes, we’re pretty on the ball. It’s just a shame my wheelchair isn’t.
To be fair, it’s only a little bit broken. I mean, it still rolls in a more or less straight line and, thanks to my foresight (yes, I am talking about me) has been booked in for replacement wheels (back and front.
Which is good, considering it started shedding ball bearings Friday just gone
Part & Parcel
They’re tiny little things, reminiscent of those cake decorations, if not quite as tasty, but apparently they are quite important to the left front castor spinning freely without a wobble and an odd grating sound. A tune i like to call ‘prelude to something catastrophic'.
However, personal experience, and the frequency of such incidents in the life of a wheelchair user (such that Tina exclaimed ‘not the wheelchair again when I told her today’s subject matter) means that I am not unprepared.
The phone call to Wheelchair services (my chariot being one funded by the NHS) had to wait until Monday as the loud grating and disposing of said ball bearings like some tiny, metallic droppings didn’t happen until Friday evening and Wheelchair Services are only open 9-5 Monday to Friday (Wheelchairs famously never break outside office hours).
Still the parts are on order, and have been for some three weeks. Surely the timing of my misfortune has come at the right time. Surely my phone call would be met with a cheery ‘the parts are here and we’ll have them out to you tomorrow’.
Well, no.
Flight Risk
There’s been some hold up, you see. Something exacerbated by key staff members being off ill. The parts, which would act as a replacement, and should come with ball bearings integrated as standard, are in some unknown state of flux, somewhere between some factory in, I believe, Germany, and the Ross Care facility in Elland. It might be a case of knowing where they are precludes any knowledge of when they’ll turn up, but that’s all relative.
Now, at the moment the wheelchair runs, albeit a little unsteadily. At the moment I can manage. The most important consideration is that upcoming holiday, because it’s one thing for, say, a castor to drop off (it’s happened) near home, and another entirely for that to happen a four hour flight away.
Time To Go
All of which means the clock is ticking. One phone call has been made and that phone call resulted in a promise of someone getting back to me today. As I type, at four pm, this has yet to materialise, but should it not, I’m more than willing to make another.
And another. And another…
Flight Risk
There’s been some hold up, you see. Something exacerbated by key staff members being off ill. The parts, which would act as a replacement, and should come with ball bearings integrated as standard, are in some unknown state of flux, somewhere between some factory in, I believe, Germany, and the Ross Care facility in Elland. It might be a case of knowing where they are precludes any knowledge of when they’ll turn up, but that’s all relative.
Now, at the moment the wheelchair runs, albeit a little unsteadily. At the moment I can manage. The most important consideration is that upcoming holiday, because it’s one thing for, say, a castor to drop off (it’s happened) near home, and another entirely for that to happen a four hour flight away.
Time To Go
All of which means the clock is ticking. One phone call has been made and that phone call resulted in a promise of someone getting back to me today. As I type, at four pm, this has yet to materialise, but should it not, I’m more than willing to make another.
And another. And another…
Because, as time ticks by I’ll get more and more concerned. Ideally, the parts turn up and the chair is like new for our big holiday, but every day that passes amplifies the thought that something is going to go wrong,
Seven weeks!
Until next time
Hey, there! If you enjoyed reading any of the above, why not take a look at some of my published work? Below you’ll find links to a number of short stories I’m lucky enough to have included in anthologies. I’d love to know what you think.
New Tales Of Old
Death Ship
Pestilence: Drabbles 1
Reaperman: Drabbles 3
The Musketeers Vs Cthulhu
Eldritch Investigations
Seven weeks!
Until next time
#
Hey, there! If you enjoyed reading any of the above, why not take a look at some of my published work? Below you’ll find links to a number of short stories I’m lucky enough to have included in anthologies. I’d love to know what you think.
New Tales Of Old
Death Ship
Pestilence: Drabbles 1
Reaperman: Drabbles 3
The Musketeers Vs Cthulhu
Eldritch Investigations
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