Homeless

"I'm the one on the corner, a bottle in my hand. Sayin' 'no one understands the path that led me to losing everything that I held dear'..."

The sign, etched on cardboard in black ink, said one word...."starving"; an older gentleman seated down by the San Diego bay, hair scruffy and white, clothes disheveled and dirty. Some distance more a woman in a power chair (my first thought was "Good grief, where does she charge the battery!?") holding yet another sign, only this time I didn't catch what it said.

How do you respond... By quickly turning your head and walking away thankful you're not one of them? Belittling them (in your mind or to their face) for the situation they put themselves in? Or do you grieve for them, praying to God on their behalf as you quietly walk past?

How DO you pray for them? Knowing you'll most likely never see them again, and wishing that one prayer, your prayer, could change the situation immediately?
DO you wonder what their stories are, what they did before they were homeless? Or how they became homeless in the first place?

I thought of my good friend Richard Andrew and his story. I'll tell you what, after meeting Richard and hearing his testimony...I think differently when I see someone on the street, seeking a helping hand.

Those questions I posed earlier? Before meeting Richard I was the one to
try to avoid eye contact, wondering what it was that put them in that situation. I was afraid to look at them, afraid of offending them somehow, wondering what they would think of me if I did look their way as I just walked past.

Growing up I was told never to give them money as you didn't know what they were really going to do with it, whether it was going to be spent on drugs and alcohol. I was young and so I guess it planted a negative impression in my mind. Until now. I met Richard almost two years ago, and then I watched this . Now that I am once again living in So. Cal. where the homeless population is more evident, I am the one, heart aching, praying that somehow things could change for them.

As I type this I am reminded of college and a spring break missions trip I took to Las Vegas with Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship a couple of years ago. We visited two outreaches for homeless and helped out with serving meals, cleaning, repairs....whatever was needed. I sat there quite unsure of what I was supposed to do as no one really assigned me a task...., quietly asking God what it was I could do. "Just love on them". I talked to a family whom I found out came in once a week for a meal - mom, dad, and nine-year-old daughter. That place was called 'The Upper Room'. The second place we went to that week, 'The Open Door'.

I have worked on this post intermittantly for a couple of hours now, sorting through my thoughts of today (of which I cannot get out of my mind) hanging out with family and then coming back to this post and finishing just before bed; and now as I lay in bed wonder.....where are they now, those two people I saw today? Are they fed, where are they sleeping, are they warm?

"....To the good and the faithful, won't you look on them with My eyes?"

Powerchair Demo II :Sweet Ride

The TDX SR

This one is sweet! I have watched this video now at least five times! Check it out here
This is the chair that I am trying out now. My favorite over the previous powerchair that I was able to demo for a few weeks and even over another one I am possibly going to demo (that I tried out for a day) in another few weeks. I can't raise this one to reach the high shelves but I would be able to get around more places with this one than say a manual chair or other powerchair perhaps.

"Hey Mom, I found a Cheap Way to Remodel the House!"

",...just stick me in a powerchair!"

This is one of the first comments I made to my mother when we talked on the phone shortly after deciding to give a powerchair a try.

A year and a half ago, it was decided that it was time to do something about the way I sat in my current wheelchair. Primarily for the adema (swelling) in my legs, which started shortly after I broke my left leg while making my bed. But even so for the amount of time I spend sitting in the chair

Referalls were made to an occupational therapist that could help me with the seating system in my current wheelchair. We first tried a "foam in place", which is conformed to the shape of my back. It was just okay, not great. A few weeks and we decided it was best for me to go to Colorado where they have a center that specializes in the Aspen Seating System, a lot like the foam in place but should work much better. It would be conformed to the shape of my back when I sit in my chair and thus be more comfortable. the problem was fighting with Medicaid to get them to cover me for the flight AND the Aspen seating. It took THREE times to get Medicaid (my insurance) to cover it, and then finally when we get it covered...they come out with the system here in Montana. What timing! No more having to fly to Colorado (rats, Mom and I wanted a vacation!)

The seating system was easy to do, but pretty messy. It consisted of tiny foam beads placed in a large (and I mean LARGE) sealed bag, then all the air sucked out of it by some machine while it is positioned behind my back. The air coming out would force the beads to stick together and conform to the shape of my back. the first time was a bit messy as something had punctured a hole in the bag which resulted in foam beads all over the living room floor. Break out the vacuum cleaner!

This seating system was all fine and dandy, however, when they tilted me back it fit by back perfectly. Now when I am seated in the manual chair, I don't touch it.

We had also discussed my using a powerchair. An option we discussed on the powerchair is I could raise the feet so that they are somewhat elevated, and I could tilt back at an angle and relieve pressure off my backside (less possibiity of me getting pressure sores as I sit in my w/chair all day). The first few times I tilted the wheelchair back, my survival instincts kicked in. I felt as though I was going to tip OVER backwards, so I wanted to counterbalance. but I was assured this could not happen. Now it is easy to let myself relax.


Here are pros and cons that I came up with regarding my using a power chair:

Pros
The model I will have will have the option of raising my feet to aleviate the adema problem
I will also be able to tilt and releive the pressure off my bum, No more excuse to being too tired to go anywhere. I an get ou of the house even if I don't fell like it
I can carry things in one hand and still maneuver
The model I will have (as I have decided from the demo) will have an option for me to raise the seat so that I can reach some high places (no more leaving dishes on the counter for others to put away
Mom reminded me that I will be able to use the stovetop! Whohoo! more meal options for myself!!! (I'm tired of the microwave)
I can even put stuff in the crockpot
No one pushing my wheelchair without asking
I no longer can make the excuse "I'm too tired" when I have an option of doing something.

Cons
I wouldnt be able to play tennis if I used a power chair fulltime
I wouldnt be able to venture downstairs if I wanted to
If the battery dies...I'm stuck
No more Alehe pulling my chair for me, just one of the biggest reasons for having her. And I have a feeling she really enjoys the work
Riding in other peoples cars if the need arises would be impossible, unless they came up with a lighter more compact model. Haha, yeah right. Like that's ever possible.
The size of my house

I say this last one because of the minor damage I have done, primarily to the doorways in my bedroom and bathroom. Both have gigantic scrapes where I rubbed part of the chair against the doors. The doorframe to my bathroom even has two very tiny holes where I ran the footplate into the wood. My knees even have bruises where I ran into the kitchen table a few times.

Using the powerchair outdoors is rather interesting. For the first week, indoors or outdoors I would not go faster than the first of five speeds this chair can go. By the third or fourth week, I was cranking the baby ALL THE WAY!!! Well, that was until I came near sailing off of the edge of a curb when on the sidewalk. I even managed to get myself swallowed by a group of bushes near the University campus. I'm glad no one was around to witness THAT now!

At the beginning when we were first inquiring about the powerchair thing, someone made the mistake of calling it an electric chair. My OT immediately shot back, "It's NOT an electric chair, it's a POWER chair. Electric chairs KILL people!" Now anytime I hear electric chair...I correct them with the same comment.

Poor Alehe doesn't know what to think. The first few days and I think I got her foot twice. Now she walks a little farther away than she used to. I'm surprised I haven't strangled her with the leash yet, as I have at times gone a bit faster than she can keep up, oops.

The other day I went to Norco where I was to demo two other powerchairs. I managed to wheel on the grass quite well, something i was earlier afraid to do (ever since breaking my leg when falling out of my chair, I havent been as brave about things). One chair I tried was a beautiful deep blue (blue being my favorite color) and yet another was a forest green (another cool color).

I'll try and get pictures of me in either chair up on flickr sometime.

In the meantime, anyone wanna challenge me to a race?!?!?!?!
Haha, just kidding!

New Computer

So my poor desktop was really ill, so says one of the members of the G33Ksquad @ Bestbuy. I've known that for a while now. My dilemma - was it cheaper to break down and get it fixed, or to just use my tax refund toward the purchase of a new one.

I loooked online @ Costco and couldn't find anything within my price range. All of them were at least, if not more than $1000. I wish I were made of money, and not dependent upon public assistance. Surprisingly enough, I really thought Costco would be the cheaper of the two. I was wrong. Costco was the more expensive. I was also looking for something at least 17 inch, to accomodate for less than perfect eyesight.

SO, I looked online at Best Buy. And whoa! I had my work cut out for me. They had many brandnames, and A LOT within what I was willing to spend ( oh yeah, mom and dad were splitting the cost). I saw a few computers of different colors. That would have been ccool, but still too much for this meager pocketbook. Halfway through looking, I notice on the side that I could have typed in exactly what I was looking for. But at least doing it this way I could see what was available. I set up a wish list, that way I could come back to potential computers and compare. After deleting so many from the wish list (there was a reason I did it that way, narrow them down) I finally prayed...Lo and Behold! The next one that came up had everything I wanted and a little more at a price I could afford (now where have I heard THAT before. Hmm, sounds like a commercial on t.v.).

Good grief, this things a monster! A lot bigger than the advertisement made it out to be. But it's cool. I spent a few days just becoming familiar with the thing. Then, I reveived a phonecall from the G33kSquad, and they were here within two or three days to help me with set up. I mostly needed help with set up of the internet, since all or most of what I wanted to do required it, loading programs and such.

I am so excited to get my music ripped so that I can put it ALL on my iPod. I started to load it onto my desktop and managed to back up into the cd/dvd drive with my wheelchair. Real smooth, I know. One doesnt really realize how much music one has until she rips it to her computer ( I can bun now too. So I have been sitting here for the past two days doing just that...ripping. Most CD's I havent played in months, and I forgot how good they were.

The greatest part of having a laptop for me is the fact that I can get my feet up when I need to. Shoot, I spent way too much time on the computer as it is. Any of you webcam-ers out there, I can now do video with online conversations. I may have to try out this skype thing to.

Wacky Web Tales (50th Anniversary of MadLibs)

Pet Show
While I was wagging to the bus after school, I saw a poster announcing that a pet show would be held the next day in Montana. I was so witty! I couldn't wait to enter my pet horse, don Johnson, in the show.
The next morning at the pet show, don Johnson balanced a big doctor on his nose. Then he cheated around three plastic pencils. Suddenly, a big platypus bumped into don Johnson. He shot 7 feet in the air. The judge made a terrible face when he saw what happened, so I didn't think don Johnson would win. Imagine my surprise when he won the number 4 prize! I was happy to have a great horse like don Johnson."0

Ahhh, Madlibs. I remember these when I was a kid. I loved doing these, although I had a hard time with parts of speech back then...still do to some degree. I would do a few at a time, and I would crack up laughing when I read the story that came of it.

Ahh Memories.

Royal Lipizzaner Stallions

Another classic moment of "One forgets her camera". I didn't forget it really, but thought that they wouldn't allow flash photography. They didn't allow video cameras or other recording devices. We were to take all the pictures we wanted. RATS!
Learn all about them here It was hard to understand most of what the man was saying abotu the horses, but I still enjoyed myself, and a few things I remembered even from ten years ago when i first saw it.

The horses mostly performed to clasical music. My favorite thing they did was called "Aiurs Above the Ground". Basically jumping up and kicking front and back feet out, ahh it looks better in person than I can explain. Some of the stuff they do with riders on their backs actually looks fun while others, yikes. I'd be holding my breath praying not to fall off. My second favorite maneuver was at the end of the show when a horse took a bow, several times.

Next time they are in town, for those of you who love horses, it is a must see.

Artichoke

Live Search Images: Artichoke


Krysty, Rael, Amanda, and her mom were intrigued by my vegetable choice for tonights dinner. With my mother being in town, she has made a few meals in our kitchen. Tonight, I had what was left over from the other night(I can never seem to eat the whole thing!).

I grew up on artichokes basically. What you do is peel the leaves (the pointy thingies) off of the heart (the best part). Some people dip them in butter, but IM grew up dipping the ends in mayo and scraping the inside of the leaf with my teeth. Yum! Then, you scrape the inside of the heart (grasslike stuff, YUK) and slather the inside with mayo and pepper, Then eat the whole thing. Quite good.

The fun part is trying to get the leaves into the pot m,om sets aside. A lot of times, we tend to miss. Oops, what a mess!

Western Montana Fair

So I haven't put up a post in a week as I have been busy. The Western Montana Fair was this week and I volunteered to help with our church's Chicken Pita booth to help raise money for different programs in our church. I did have time to take in two nights of the rodeo. Awesome.
(not that I had any doubts it wouldn't be)
While watching the rodeo, I wondered about the cattle used in the roping: are these the same cows used year after year? I am sure they do for the bulls and horses that the cowboys ride because of the records you hear of the bull or horses making (such as a rider not been able to stay on him for 8 seconds).
There were a few funny moments while watching the rodeo. On two seperate occasions, either a bull or a horse did not come charging out of the chute when the gate was opened. Durign teh steerwrestler portion of the rodeo, I had to laught when a cowboy's horse was goign too fast for him to get off. The bummer part was that he received a 'no time'. But He did get a chance for a redo. At least, I think it was him. A young boy walked by the rodeo arena and asked the rodeoclown if he got paid. I can't remember what his answer was.
No major injuries this year. One cowboy was run over by his horse when he jum[ped off in an event. He was fine.
The horses were beautiful. I drooled over quite a few- mostly the paints, but a few palomino's too. The Bitterrot Mountettes had their horses feet decorated in red ad bklue sequins around their ankles. Two horses really caught my eye with their markings. one paint had what looked like an upside-down heart on his rear. One half on one side of his rump, the other half on the other side. On the side of yet another paint, it looked as though someone had painted a capital H. I really started missing my quarterhorse I had a few years back, but gave up when I returned to college after having to pull out for a while.
Vince Bruce, a trick roper from the "Wild West of London" was the entertainment during a short break. He was amazing (and funny) with routines he had developed over his thirty-year career. His grand entrance was standing atop two paint horses, one foot on each horse's back and holding the reins of each horse in his hands. One of his tricks was to snap a playing card out of the air with his bullwhip. The best part was his horse Silver- a silver unicycle with a mane and tail.
Because I was a worker at Christian Life Center's chicken pita booth, I was able to get in the gate with a free admission, I had to pay for the rodeo though. No worries. After being lifted up one step into the booth, I was able to take peoples orders, get peopple's pop, or on the second day, make icecream cones. pop and icecream were dirty jobs, at least for me. In two days, I counted eleven times I gave my hands a bath with the filling of the paper cups with soda. I had forgotten that we had rootbeer adn Dr. Pepper. At one time I gave a young woman a Dr. Pepper instead of a Rootbeer like she ordered. Oops. oh well, you can hardly taste the difference.
Filling the ice cream cones was no easy feat either. I can't seem to make a straight one to save my life! It was more like the Leaning Tower of Ice Cream. After the third try I think I finally gave up. Everyone else can do it, why can't I !?
I checked out a chiropractors exhibit at the fair. They had this amazing recliner. It massages your back, neck, calves and feet. One of my roomates and I fell in love with it, immediately. We were both in it for 15 minutes at least. I was a noodle the rest of the day. Mom and dad would get it for me and write it off as a medical expense if they had the money. (Uh, Lord...?)

Beavertail Hill State Park

My roommate Lindsey and I had planned on checking out Beavertail Hill State Park Tuesday, but a freak thunderstorm in the middle of the night left things a bit soggy, so we thought we would let it dry out for a day before heading out 25 miles for nothing. this morning I was up by 9:30 and we were able to get out of the house a bit after eleven. Ally was thrilled to be going somewhere. You just ask her "Wanna go?", her ears perk up and she bolts for the door. Why, halfway there and she was getting all excited in the back seat, bouncing from one side of the van to the other. This was our first time at this place. New surroundings and interesting smells get her excited.
As I draft this, she is snoozing in her favorite spot in the livingroom, on two giant pillows underneath the coffee table. She is having a doggie dream as I can hear her barking softly in her sleep. I am trying hard not to laugh as to wake her up (I get a dirty look if I do).
Lindsey and I both took along our digital cameras so as to take pictures of our time in the park. The whole reason we went to this particular park was that it had a trail that was supposedly accessible for wheelchair's. It's a darn good thing I have experience off-roading in my wheelchair, because that's exactly what it was. A good majority of the trail was loose gravel or other types of small river rocks. There wasn't much at all of hard dirt. A bit disappointing as I was hoping to travel the entire mile of nature trail. We got to the first bench (not even 1/4 mile) and stopped by the river. That was my exercise for the day.
Ally was getting anxious to be let off of her leash. She wanted to explore the new sights and smells, and mama wasn't moving her chair fast enough. As soon as I took her vest off and unhooked her leash, she made a beeline for the river. I cracked up laughing as I watched her make a flying leap, all four legs pointing in different directions, and splashing into the river. A little while later and she is trying to drag a stick twice her size out of the water for one of us to throw.
Wildlife was scarce at this time of the day, bummer. We did manage to hear a few birds calling, one of them sounding like a drowning cat. (er-ow, er-ow, er-ow,er-ow). A brochure I picked up a bit later said the area was frequently visited by different types of Swallows, even birds such as the great Blue Heron. I don't know which one I heard. I noticed too that the bottoms of many trees were stripped of their bark. Lindsey thought it might be the bugs that were causing this. I later read in the brochure that beavers liked to come on shore and gnaw on the trees.
A much too short time later and Lindsey had to head home to get ready for work. No worries, I had to rest up for a late night as Janine and I were meeting Jill and a mutual friend Brian for the Alison Krauss concert.

Taco Bell Labs and Human Rights

"What", you may ask "is that supposed to mean?"! The phrase "taco bell labs and human rights " came from a wacky internet sight that some friends of mine have links to on their blogs(I swear someone must have been really bored out of their mind to think up something like this!) . I was supposed to go hiking with Lindsey, a roomie, when it poured rain in the middle of the night. We thought we would give it a day to dry out, so we plan to do it tomorrow. I'll probably write all about it here. Hopefully get to take a few pictures as well.

And no, I dont plan on posting messages on the blog every day.

Check out http://douweosinga.com/projects/googletalk
and enter three or four words in the text box. Watch as the system will search for this sentence at Google, find the next word and print that. Than it will remove the first word of the search string, add the found word and repeat until you hit stop. some sentences make sense, whilst others are downright hillarious.

Oops! Yeah, um...my bad.

As the old saying goes, I learn something new every day. So I am in the courthouse waiting on a roomie to get done with turning in a job application for the fair. I happen to ask an older woman at the info desk about people with disabilties and having to put money into the parking meter. Growing up in California I never had to. People with disabilities parked for free if they had a placard in their window. Well, the woman at the desk said "yes, you do have to pay", but didnt specify the reason as to why. I sat there with a surprised look on my face and noticed that my roommate had come back so I proceeded on my way back to the van. It dawned on me later as we were driving home, "I have lived in Montana eleven years and can't remember a single time I have ever put money in the meters. Funny thing is...I have never received a ticket for not putting money in the meter (It must have been a God thing).
I guess I'll start now.