Ping Pong Pandemonium

Well this was different for a change.

For weeks I have been hearing about how some of the other neighbors here like to play Ping Pong. And the fact that they really get into it.

I actually stuck my head in to take a look, but I refused to join in the play.

I haven’t played the game since I was able to stand. So I didn’t know for sure what it would be like playing from a wheelchair.

I would continue to run into one of the people that likes to play, and he finally was able to twist my arm last weekend to at least give it a try and see how I felt about playing.

So for about an hour and a half I played with the guy. No score kept, no pressure. Just casual back and forth. And a couple of hints and tricks taught along the way.

He invited me to play a few days from that point and I accepted.

Little did I know that he was putting together a tournament of sorts.

So I showed up for my first match.

The match was a little bit different than usual. Ten games to ten points. So essentially the first one to reach 100 wins. But with brief breaks in between after someone reached the first and the next set of ten. And so on.

First match was won 100-89.

My second match? Well, that was a forfeit. And here’s where the controversy begins.

I was first told that my opponent wasn’t able to make the match due to conflicting schedule. Then I was told that my opponent just was not able to make it when they scheduled the match. Had it been earlier in the day, they might have.

So quickly I was in the final match. And I was told that it would be a while before that was to be played because my opponent had a strenuous schedule and they would schedule the match as soon as they could.

During that wait, I would find out the truth behind the forfeiture of my second match.

The winner of that match would go on to play someone that really excels in the game. And so my opponent automatically assumed that they would play against that person. And that leaves their insinuation that they would have beaten me. And they were certain of it happening before even meeting up with me.

Talk about a bunch of bullshit.

But I finally met the final opponent before playing him. I watched him play against someone else, who were just playing for fun.

It was a very fast paced game. I started to worry, but then I realized that worrying wasn’t going to do me any good.

So the day came where I was in my final match.

The match rules had changed again.

Five games to ten. Instead of ten. So the first person to reach 50 points.
No trash talking to your opponent.
No foul language or profanity.
Only need to be ahead by one point to win.

If caught using foul language or profanity, your opponent would be awarded one point no matter where you were in the match. You were not allowed to even curb the language down to words like “heck, darn, shoot.”

I would be penalized only twice on that rule. Because I know you are reading this, wanting to know how badly I lost to this.

The match was well underway but my opponent received a phone call and had to stop playing and leave.

I was doing great up until that point. I was told that the remainder of the match would be played at a later date. Starting with the score with how the first part had ended.

I don’t know why there was no forfeit. I guess they didn’t want it to end like that.

But it didn’t end by reaching 50 points either.

The last and final part of the match got started. And my opponent noted that there was a crack in the ball, but it was still good enough to be played with.

I was finding it simple for whatever reason to mount a comeback and get ahead in the score. And then his serve came to me and I gave it back. Then his volley went higher than he had anticipated, and I slammed the ball into the back corner of the table. My point!!!

But…. that broke the ball. Match over.

It was finally finished, winning with a score of 19-16.

The guy who orchestrated the whole gathering was kind of pissed off the ball broke as it was his only one that he had. But he held it back and I could tell that he was trying hard to do so.

My opponent just grabbed his belongings and walked out.

Later in the evening, I ran into the guy who started this mania in the first place and he came up close and admitted that my final opponent decided that he was going to “take it easy on me.”

I don’t know what it is about these opponents doing these things. It’s crap!! And even though I won, it doesn’t feel like a victory to me.

I didn’t earn anything. No trophy or anything. Just some bragging rights. And yet knowing what I know now, bragging rights seem worthless.

At least I was invited to come again in a few days to play around. No score, no pressure. Just play until either person can play no more.

 

Summertime Delivery Blues

It’s very HOT in the state of Texas right now. Record temperatures are being broken almost daily. And there’s no relief in sight for well over the coming week.

For me to get anything, I have been staying inside and using online delivery services for what I need.

I created a small order for groceries. I found this second online delivery service that is far better than the first. Maybe one day I will write a post about it and show you the comparison. But that’s not important right now.

Living in a gated property, instructions were given on how to reach my front door along with the delivery and waited for the selected time in which it was to arrive.

Then the telephone rings. The driver is outside one of the many gates that stretch along the property and wants to be let in.

I verbally repeated the instructions to this woman. And the following responses from her were less than professional or nice.

Over and over again she kept telling me which numbered apartment she was parked in front of. But couldn’t find a key pad to enter a gate code to get on the inside.

A second and third time of repeating the instructions to her, she shouted back “Can’t you just let me inside?? I see a door. Just come open the door.”

I told her she was at the wrong gate and she needed to drive a little more to get to the correct gate. And more argument came from her as she screamed “Just come get me and open this door. I see a goddamned door.”

The first thing that came to mind was to tell her that I was not dressed to come outside.

She then began to cry and whimper about it. She said that if I was not going to come outside and open the door that she was looking at that she would not know how to get my delivery to me. She was obviously starting to give up and was probably getting ready to leave.

I told her that I was on the way.

I had a feeling inside of me that told me that if I actually went around to the other side of the building and opened the door that she kept talking about that she was going to find a person in a wheelchair attempting to make their way down the path and she was going to instantly regret it.

Needless to say, that I hung up on her as she was in the middle of another whining fit.

So out into the horrible heat I went. Today with another record breaking temperature today of 103°F/39°C.

As I rounded the building and she turned and saw me…. the look on her face was PRICELESS. Maybe even Internet worthy.

I did not think of it until now, but I should have went up to the door inside of the gate and told her that the door was locked and I didn’t have the key, or that the door was welded shut to keep people off the property who don’t belong here.

So I opened the door and she immediately went into this wave of apologies and excuses and then back to apologies. She claimed she saw no other gate. And I physically pointed it out to her. She still said she could not see it. So I gave very descriptive terms to her along the lengthy gate on where to find where she should have gone in the first place.

The bags were heavy and she did offer to carry them for me to my home. But I did not want her inside of my home.

I led her to the front door. And as we went along the path I explained to her how roads work and how much easier and more convenient it would have been for her if she would have just followed the instructions that I had provided for her already several times.

She walked in front of me and then I told her which apartment to walk towards. She got to the door and then she proceeded to open it. That is until I told her NOT to open the door and just leave the bags next to the door on the patio area.

Again she gave me another priceless look of disbelief. I really think she’s got a problem with following instructions. Perhaps she’s one of the many kinds of people that don’t like being told what to do. And I would think that if that was the case, she shouldn’t be working as a delivery driver.

I understand that it is hot outside. And I also could believe the possibility that she was running behind on her deliveries.

And I also understand that trying to find where I live can be very confusing. My family had plenty problems of their own when they first tried to visit me here. However the screaming, the whining, and the not following instructions is deplorable.

Just another day in the big hot sweltering city of Austin in the summertime, I guess.

Freakin’ idiot.

Blinded By Rent

“Money can buy you a fine dog, but only love can make him wag his tail.”~ Kinky Friedman

Welcome to April!

And for those of you who are keeping track: 25% of the year has now gone by.

As it is for so many of us, this week is rent week. A week that we all feel so much good fuzzy feelings for! Am I right? No?!?? Oh well. It can be a chore and a hassle but we do it because we want to keep having a place to live.

This morning as I was going to grab my coffee, I remembered that I needed to grab the money order that I had for my own rent.

Well, April in Texas is also stormy season. A cold front blew in so it was a bit chilly outside. Very windy too!

I picked up the money order and headed back outside. But the wind nearly pulled the money order out of my hand. I do have pockets, but they aren’t that deep and I didn’t feel secure enough with all this wind that it would stay in there. I did the next best thing that I could think of.

I stuck the money order in between my teeth and bit down and proceeded to move forward.

The moment I turned the corner at top speed and was facing a northern direction, that crazy wind got in the way.

As I was accelerating in speed because I was going down a hill, the wind got stronger and flipped that flimsy piece of paper upwards and back into my face. The width of the paper and its placement between my teeth literally caused a blind spot.

Before I knew it, the wheelchair had turned off of the sidewalk and I went tumbling down the rest of the hill, head over heels, over and over and over again. The money order never coming out of my mouth.

It took quite a while for the empty wheelchair to catch up to me. And I climbed back in. All the while gritting down on the money order so it would not fly away in the wind.

I am fine though. I didn’t seriously hurt myself. I wasn’t bleeding or anything like that. I had the sense to roll with the roll so to speak.

But I have always said that rent was going to kill me one day. It came a little bit closer today than before!!!

Everyone enjoy a laugh from the story. Happy April to everyone!!!!!!!

Broken Wheelchair, Final Push

Before I dare to mention anything that went on during SXSW 2017, I must address the issue that my wheelchair broke and has rendered me essentially home bound until the situation is taken care of.

Sadly less than two years of having a brand new wheelchair paid for by insurances, the front wheel bit the dust and I went spilling onto the floor H.A.M.

For the past two days, I have been doing what I can to bring this to the attention of many people to help get a brand new wheelchair, as well as have the old one repaired.

I started a GoFundMe campaign and for the first two days has done extremely well. If you donated and you are reading this, THANK YOU from the bottom of my butt, because its bigger than my heart.

The goal is in sight now. It is so close to being reached. It is in the final push now.

If you can, donate. Donate & SHARE. With your help, we can tackle the last bit that is left… the part that will pay for fees and other expenses in addition to the cost of repairs and the cost of a new wheelchair. This time, it is personal!!!

Anything helps. Donate here.

Thank you.

Ignorance, Ego, and Shame

“Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward.”~ Kurt Vonnegut

I’ve been so busy lately these days that I’ve not really had time to come here and share the ohhh so fabulous life of moi. But I promise you, that it is for a good reason. And mostly for your protection.

So as we begin to close the book on November 2015 and soar through December, there’s a tale for you.

Last night I was binge watching videos on YouTube. One led to another which led to another which led to another. None of it made any sense as the topic of the subject matter was not the same as the video before it.

I ended up watching this video called “Celebrity Wheelchair Challenge.”

The entire show was actually filmed in the UK and the “celebrities” were also from the UK. So I didn’t know any of them personally.

The challenge objective was for each person to go from point A to point B in just two days. Each individual had to remain in their wheelchairs and experience what it would be like to live day to day in a wheelchair.

I thought this would be interesting, or maybe entertaining. Instead I found myself in a world of anger, bitterness, and frustration.

By the end of the show, none of the participants had made it by the time given to them. All of them were late. The last person coming in almost a full hour late.

And it struck me. Watching these participants simply rising to their feet and walking away from the chair. I wept. And I wept bitterly.

One or two of the participants even went as far as to make comment that they never wanted to have that experience again. (Even though they have a new fond appreciation for those who have to do this every day.)

Listen here you sonofabitch, you can’t have it both ways!!

Throughout the program, even the participants were asking questions of OTHER people in wheelchairs …. what they should not have been asking. You’re IN one yourself, and you’ve got the guts to be asking questions which a vast majority of physically disabled people find offensive?

Never in a million years did I either want to slap some people so much or reach through and throttle folks by their neck so hard.

Never in my lifetime have I saw something that bothered me so much that the thoughts crawled through my brain that I wanted to collect as many wheelchairs as possible and distribute them to people that know me and say “If you wanna be friends, use this for a week. Then come back to me.”

All because of a soured ego.

There were other “Wheelchair Challenge” videos. I didn’t watch too many of them though. However it appeared that at the end of THOSE videos were the more sincere people who were showing appreciation.

So here we are, approaching what is supposed to be the “season of love” and all I can do is weep over a few people who acted stupid.

I realize that there’s a very long way to go in order to overcome the ignorance in this world about physical disabilities and what not. Including the treatment of people with the disability. And we may never get there in this lifetime. But we can hope. We can work one person at a time.

I can only do so much. I’ll never be able to reach those bastards that pissed me off last night. But I can reach others so that they learn and don’t end up saying stupid shit like last night.

GIVE ME STRENGTH!!!!!

 

Wheelchairs Wobble But They Don’t Fall Down

“When life knocks you down, try to land on your back. Because if you can look up, you can get up. Let your reason get you back up.”~ Les Brown

I had the right of away, you fucking moron.

Somewhere in between 11 AM and 12 PM, I was crossing the street getting errands done because I knew that in a few hours from then I was planning to see FEAR CONTROL at Dirty Dog Bar.

But no, someone almost ruins it.

And before anyone goes into a panic and starts to text me, call me, message or e-mail me to ask if I am okay…. don’t do it, because I am just fine. 

It was the other guy who has a worse fate ahead than I do.

The image included in this post was taken from a news article where the truck actually struck someone in a wheelchair and that person did die. But here I am at home, writing this story. I apologize in advance if this causes anyone to be startled. But there are some massive jerkwads out there.

While inside some very clear and specific painted lines within a crosswalk, I started to feel this super massive nudge and push from behind. But it was sudden and more like a jolt to the point where the wheelchair was only on two wheels to one side. I knew that I was going to go down. So instead of going down like a victim, I dropped out of the wheelchair, hit the pavement and rolled like a boss until I stopped, landing on my back.

What the hell?!?!?!?!?!???? 

My wheelchair had simply collapsed on itself, as it is designed to do when you want to store it somewhere or put it in the back seat or the trunk of a vehicle. The brand new wheelchair that I got from someone’s kindness took its first major hit and came out CLEAN.

I have some scrapes along my back and shoulders but I am fine. Nothing broken. Not even a bruise. But you know how they always tell you that you’re going to hurt the next day? Yep….. its the next day and I hurt.

HYDROCODONE BITARTRATE  TO THE RESCUE!!!!

By the way, did I tell you how beautiful you look today and that I love you so much?

Yeah its the effects of me being on that particular prescription. Fabulous!!!

So as I laid there, looking up at the utility wires overhead I attempted to at least sit up. I didn’t know if I should move at all because of the fact that I landed on my back. What if it was broken and if I moved… wouldn’t it make it worse?

Instead I turned my head towards the pile of vehicular debris, and the guy responsible for this collision stepped out of his pick up truck and looked around to assess the damage.

He started screaming about how he just bought it and all that and didn’t even look to see where I was. He just went on and on about how much he had paid for his truck. I mean honestly, he did not even bother to see if I was dead or alive or anything else. But the person driving behind him sure did. They came running to see if I was respond to their voice.

Hmmm, amazing how a standard run-of-the-mill wheelchair which would retail about $200 would knock out an acclaimed $30,000 dual cab pick up truck.

Like I said, the wheelchair just collapsed, but this guy’s bumper and grill got a little more smashed in than what I did.

Someone asked me what my blood type was this morning. I answered “BAMF.”

I think that it was the fact that I knew that I was going to fall and there was nothing I could do about it that kept me from sustaining serious injuries. Yes, I loaded up on Norco as I went to see FEAR CONTROL, but I didn’t bother doing anything out of the ordinary to make things worse.

The one sure thing that was a surprise was that the guy who was responsible for this happening actually stayed!! He could have drove off a little angry with his front sustaining more damage than I did, but he stayed. And unfortunately for him, he got super mouthy at the police officers as I was being attended to by members of EMS/EMT.

The pick up truck was towed. And its driver hauled off to jail. And I have a lot to think about as to whether or not to sue this guy for every penny he’s got for what he did. I just know that right now (or at that time) he was in jail. Who really knows for what though!!!!!

I do not think that I am Superman. I do think that the way things turned out that I was very fortunate as it could have been so much worse. This is the second time I’ve taken out a vehicle. The first time being a luxury German automobile.

But I went, and I rocked out with FEAR CONTROL until I could rock no more and still walked away like a bad ass. So yes, I have established my title as a BAMF. Thank you, thank you very much.

Disgusting

“For me, the wheelchair symbolizes disability in a way a cane does not.”~ Annette Funicello

I am, I really am. I don’t know whether to go on a rampage or cry my eyes out.

Or both??

I know that most men and their behavior stinks when they are amongst their own ranks. But for them to go public on a forum is … well, I don’t know.

Crazy? Stupid? Ballsy? Rude? Typical??

I don’t know. I just know that as a person in a wheelchair AND a male…. this pissed me off twice.

I could not believe it.

I didn’t even bother going through the entire list of pages of the forum’s posts. The more that I read, the angrier I became.

So yeah….

There’s nothing wrong with sexual attraction. None whatsoever.

And there’s a certain point of victory when someone in a wheelchair is the recipient.

But the comments left behind were so damned disgusting.

Have a peek:

http://www.rooshvforum.com/thread-9797.html

 

Invincibly Error Proof

“Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.”~ Helen Keller

I went to a show earlier. It was a colleague of mine that I knew who was also in a wheelchair. He doesn’t sing, he obviously doesn’t dance as one would think of dancing is, but he does a mix of comedy mixed in with education and culture.

What he does is something that I have always done in the comforts and privacy of my own home. He does it on stage in front of crowds and rolls away with money in his pocket. Bastard.

Anyways, he does have a bit of a stand-up comedy routine, but he doesn’t really rely on it too much. He really gets into his show by showing how awesome Sign Language actually looks when you put it to different kinds of music. His point is that the deaf and hard of hearing community also can enjoy music just like people who can hear.

Today though, tragedy struck. Sort of.

He was into his signing bit and  the crowd was really getting into it. He had costumes and everything and then he got to the genre of heavy metal music. He was doing a set of songs from the band Disturbed. And it looked really awesome as he had his sunglasses on and a leather jacket with the collar up and a ripped up t-shirt.

He was totally getting into the music and rolling around stage wildly. But he wasn’t paying attention.

In the blink of an eye, he went too far forward and fell OFF of the stage and into the crowd. His wheelchair crashing down below as he got some considerable distance away from it and landed into the crowd.

But he never hit the floor. The people in the front rows grabbed him as he descended upon them, and they lifted him up high above their heads. The next thing the audience knew was that he was crowd surfing without his wheelchair. And a huge majority of the people thought it was part of the show. But his recorded tracks were playing without him. The people working the venue wanted to stop the show to make sure that he was unharmed, but as he floated away into the middle of the venue they decided to let it flow.

Eventually someone picked up the wheelchair and floated that overhead as well. So there was an empty wheelchair and a body that was surfing the crowd of amused people.

I guess the crowd attempted to connect him to his wheelchair to get him back in it, and then surf him around some more. But the audience was not successful.

The thing of it was that he really did make it look like he did that intentionally so that he could crowd surf.

I personally have done that before at a Metallica concert. Up I went during “Enter Sandman” and I barely got ten feet from where I originally was before I plunged to the ground.

There’s always that danger with crowd surfing that people are not able to catch the person or that they are unable to support the weight of a person as they attempt to pass them along. Adding the weight of a wheelchair into the mix, makes that danger even higher.

I got passed over a flock of girls and they just dropped me like a stone. Terribly bruised but nothing broken.

Crowd surfing takes commitment from the audience and a lot of trust for the person doing it. If neither party has what it takes, then they are going to go down in flames.

But my colleague wasn’t harmed. His wheelchair on the other hand had a piece broken off of it when it hit the floor. Nothing a little repair won’t fix.

I just found it amusing to share because of the fact that everyone involved in the accidental falling off of stage made it look so planned and perfect.

You’re A Douchebag!

“If it was legal to shoot all of the stupid people in the world, we would run out of bullets.”~ Dambreaker

This morning, I strolled on over to the corner store. I went up the hill and some random guy shouted at me asking if I wanted any help getting to the top of the hill.

Before I could politely decline, this very muscle-bound man came up behind me and shoved me over the top of the hill and then he kept going even when I was on level ground again.

It was like being blasted like a rocket into outer space.

Sometimes I allow people to help, sometimes I do not.

So then he wanted to know what the reasons were that I was in a wheelchair. And I told him.

His response was the worst thing that I have ever heard in my entire life!!!!

He told me that he couldn’t understand how I could live my life this way, being stuck in a wheelchair all day and night for the rest of my life.

Honestly, when I explain my disability, I do not normally expect people to have that light turn on and they fully understand what all I have to go through every day of my life. What he said next, ruined my entire day.

He honestly looked me in the face and said that he could never life the rest of his life in a wheelchair, and that he would just kill himself before he was confined to a wheelchair like that.

I was filled with shock, rage, and disbelief.

I asked him if he felt that was his solution. If people that live in wheelchairs should just kill themselves.

And then the rage and disbelief continued to grow.

He said with a straight face that he just couldn’t understand why more people don’t do it.

I told him a story about a man who was born in Austria who would eventually become the leader of a country called Germany in the 1930’s. That man also had the same solution. He called it the Final Solution.

Yes, I compared him to Adolf Hitler. Although Hitler’s rage was more focused on the Jewish and other classes of society. But he did exterminate and kill anyone who were in wheelchairs and were physically disabled as well.

Before he had time to react, I told him that he simply needed to go away and leave me alone.

I did have my 23” broken hockey stick with me. And yes, I could have chosen to smack him with it. But because of his muscle bound body, I felt that I would have lost that battle.

Now I have really heard some stupid things from people who do not understand the life that I have to live. And I’ve probably heard every little joke, insult, or remark in the book. And I’ve learned to just roll my eyes. But this one? It hurt. And it hurt a lot.

I came home. Began to cry, and ended up falling asleep for about an hour. I woke up, still angry at the guy. And I really do not wish to ever see him again.

It is like this guy’s brain wasn’t attached to his spinal cord. There’s a reason why there is a brain inside of his skull and its not to fill up the space inside. And why he chose not to use it before he opened his mouth is beyond me. 

Why should I kill myself? Why should anyone with a disability kill themselves?

And what of our nation’s veterans. Ironically those people who have fought and sacrificed their limbs so this guy can keep his freedoms to say stupid things like that?

Should they kill themselves as well because they are now in wheelchairs for defending our country?

The bottom line answer is not just no but HELL NO!

I’ve talked about thinking before you speak, and this is an excellent example of that NOT happening at all!

I have tough skin, but this time it broke through. And I really shouldn’t have to put up with that kind of immaturity and stupidity.

There’s nothing wrong with me that I should have to die. Just because I do not walk and often appear that I may be having trouble getting up hills. Good grief!!!

So this guy is a complete and total douchebag. And who knows what his deal is? Having to say something like probably just to make himself feel better?? Nobody will ever know.

But I am NOT going to throw in the towel like that. You can just screw off if you think like that. We have enough difficulty as it is, we don’t need your psychological stupidity on top of it.

 

Meet Kristen

“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”~ Walt Disney

The closing ceremonies took place in London of the Paralympic Games.

This is Kristen.

She was born with Cerebral Palsy, although she is capable of walking independently.

I met her some years ago, via her website.

One afternoon, I was reading the newspaper and I spotted a large image of her in a racing chair. Over the weekend, she had participated in the Capitol 10 K race. And I was both intrigued and shocked.

Kristen is the person who has turned into my athletic idol. She was the one who through correspondence, introduced me to the sport of sledge hockey. And she was even willing enough to come pick me up from my home to take me to a practice one Sunday afternoon. That very day, I was strongly encouraged by her and her mother to try it. Once I got on the ice, I fell in love and the rest is obviously, history.

I would learn that Kristen has had a very interesting racing career. It was something she was very passionate about. Suddenly, I was completely captivated by what she had done and by what she was doing.

Soon enough, my own passion would come from that fateful afternoon when I was on the ice with her and the rest of the team. And eventually, I would have scored my first ever goal in an athletic competition in a round robin match on Mother’s Day of that year.

My time with Kristen was unfortunately short lived. I was binding myself to her and to her social contacts which were other people with disabilities. She now lives and trains in the northwestern United States.

When I was with her, she always talked about her dream of being at the Paralympic Games. She wanted to represent her country well.

SHE DID IT!! 

Kristen made it on the team and participated in two events of the Paralympic games. She raced in the 100 m and the 200 m races.

While in London, she didn’t make it to the medal stand. But she was able to fulfill the dream she had for such a long time. And she even claimed a World Record for one of her races in her class.

Such an accomplishment.

I am so very proud of her!

Without knowing Kristen, I probably would not know sledge hockey. And I would be stuck at home doing nothing but feeling sorry for myself.

My debt of gratitude to her is so great. And I wish her future success as she returns back home to the United States and continues on in her journey and career.

She is another prime example of someone who stuck with her dreams through hard work and extreme dedication to make sure that those dreams came true.