|
|
|
|
|
Welcome to 2026 folks! Though it seemed that several people I know unfortunately ended up being sick over the Christmas season with flues & various bugs, I do hope 2026 will be a terrific year for all.
Again, I want to say it’s okay to share my “News From Gerianne” send-outs, with anyone you feel would be interested in and/or derive benefit from what I write. Again also please, just give my website (GBHull.com) and my name as the human author and encourage people to subscribe to my send-outs.
One last reminder as well, my gerianne@eastlink.ca e-address is now dead, like the dinosaurs, so don’t use it any more. Instead use GBHull@GBHull.com. Thank you.
|
|
...............................................................................................................................
|
First, A Gripe..... About Me!
I’m not sure if other writers are like this or not, but for myself, when I write, I just write. I want to get my thoughts out and recorded in some manner as fast as I can, before they vaporize. I don’t spend time properly naming the file, making sure it’s in the right directory; sometimes I don’t even notice which drive I’m saving it to, and trust me, I have several drives.
The main problem is, if it turns out to be a while (days, weeks, or even months) before I want/need that particular writing again...... needle in hey stack! And cloud options such as OneDrive, or GoogleDrive, just gives me more storage options - more places “forget where I put it,” which makes it worse; plus I don’t really trust “online storage.” I guess I’m a little possessive(?), territorial(?), protective(?), of my files.
When I wrote my July send-out, I was on a literary roll and just kept going. I wrote August at the same time and planned to send it out right after Christmas, but guess what happened... August became the needle in the hey stack! I finally found it this past Saturday morning, so lets continue, shall we? (And by the way, if any of you can relate and want to share your own “organized chaos” stories, email me: GBHull@GBHull.com. Just let me know though if I can put your stories in future send-outs, or if they’re just meant to be between us.
............................................................................................................................
|
August 2025
A few weeks after my hospital stint in July, I did something almost unthinkable. I quite literally wheeled away from a free, “new to me” power wheelchair.
My then current chair is now going on 10 years old, (they’re only supposed to last about 5 years) so it was time.
Years ago I was told by an Occupational Therapist: “Get another chair before you turn 65 Gerianne, because after that, funding stops!”
So a few weeks prior to my 65th, I started going through the process of getting a “new to me” power wheelchair.
I went to the Rehab Centre for measurements, fittings, etc., only through it all, I felt like I was being railroaded into taking a chair that I knew wasn't right for me.
During the process, I learned that our provincial government has a “Seniors Equipment Program,” but they also have an exclusive contract with only one wheelchair/medical company; which happens to be a company that I can’t stand! I’ve dealt with them in my past and I’ve found them to be dishonest, slimy, underhanded and so much more. (Ohhh, and accepting a chair from the Seniors Equipment Program means that the “free servicing” is done by said company.) So in my opinion, I’d be selling my soul to the devil himself.
After several months of back and forth, trying my utmost to cooperate with these people, on an afternoon in August, when the O.T. (Occupational Therapist) asked me for about the fifth time in as many minutes, if I wanted to “just sit in the chair”, I again declined.
Having the wheelchair company Rep sitting with us, I’m pretty sure I saw a bit of desperation forming in her eyes, as she asked: “But Gerianne... What will you do if your current chair breaks down???”
I think she was hoping for an: “Ohh gee! I haven’t thought about that! Ohh my goodness.. What would I do???”
Instead I let out a slight chuckle as I said: “No problem... I’ll just contact the other company - the one I bought this chair from.”
At that point, I’m pretty sure I saw daggers coming out of said company Rep’s eyes, and I could tell that the O.T. was getting flustered and a little embarrassed. I clearly wasn’t cooperating with their plans for me and that chair.
When I questioned why our provincial government has an exclusive contract with only that one company, she replied with: “Well, Gerianne... If you want to email my supervisor and others on that committee, I can give you their email addresses.”
My patience then grew extremely thin as I told her:
“Nnno... That’s your job. I’m not doing your job for you... I was very recently extremely sick and almost died! I do not currently have the strength or the energy to go shooting off endless emails. Again, that’s your job, as my O.T.”
So when she yet again asked if I wanted to just sit in the chair, I simply looked at her and said: “Clearly you’re not listening. We’re not getting anywhere. This IS a waste of everybody’s time.” Then I found myself turning my chair on, turning it around and driving away.
Outside the Rehab Centre, I think I went into a bit of shock. I couldn’t believe that I actually had the guts to do what I had just done. Had I completely lost my mind, gone mad, what the **** did I just do? I looked at my attendant and asked: “Okay, honestly... Did I just completely screw myself???”
Truthfully, his response equally shocked me: “No! You did the right thing. That chair was not the right chair for you and you knew that.”
My attendant went on to say: “She (the O.T.) kept apologizing to me... I don’t understand why she kept apologizing to me, for wasting my time. She wasn’t wasting my time. I didn’t care. You were paying me regardless of what the outcome was. But she was wasting your time. She should have been apologizing to YOU, not me.”
When I retold the story to my other attendants, I got almost overwhelming unanimous support.
Over the next few months, I kept a casual eye on places like Facebook MarketPlace and Kijiji, all the while trusting in the God that I so firmly believe in. If my then current chair failed, there would be a solution, some how, some way.
Occasionally I’d see something online, but in most cases when you start asking sellers of power wheelchairs on market places questions about said chair, you very quickly learn that they have no sweet clue about what they’re selling; what the chair has, doesn’t have, etc.
I try not to be too critical of folks like that. It kinda reminds me of when I was in my early 20's and Lloyd owned a scrap yard. He’d tell me: “If you know of anyone looking for a vehicle, I have a........”
My response would pretty much always be something like: “Okay... You’ve got a red car for sale. 4 doors, 4 wheels, a steering wheel. Okay, got it.” (I’m still pretty much the same way when it comes to vehicles. No clue!)
Then around the end of November, I saw an ad on Kijiji. A woman was selling a Quantum Q6 Edge 3, for only $400. My first thought was: “Okay... What’s wrong with it?”
I messaged her my list of questions: Did it have tilt function; what’s the distance performance like, does it have bluetooth, and such. I was pleasantly surprised when she was able to answer all my questions, and more.
She also told me that the chair belonged to her Late father, who passed on about a year ago, but he only got to use it for about a year and a half before he passed.
She also told me a little about her father, and sent me a photo of him. Clearly they were very close. I wasn’t terribly surprised to learn this. Sadly, it’s common knowledge that most times, there’s only one way to find a good quality used chair - if someone passes.
She told me that she tried to sell it for $9000, but no takers. Again this didn’t surprise me, because even though a new chair like this would average between $18,000 - $25,000 CN, most folks have medical insurance that will cover such things - new!
So after I had two of my staff go to check out the chair and make sure all was on the up & up, I bought the chair for $400! When I bought the chair, I asked the woman what her father’s name was. She said: “Bob.”
So I told her: “Okay. I’ll call the chair Bob. My new chair will be Bob, in your Dad’s memory.” She seemed to like that very much.
So since then, one of my attendants has been helping me customize Bob for my needs - changing the seat and back sizes, changing cushions, swopping parts from my old chair, etc. Some folks have already met Bob; and Bob has a few neat features, like he can raise. I never thought I’d use this feature as much as I am, but I’m really enjoying it - at church, for varying table heights, etc. My only “complaint”so to speak, is that Bob is slllllllllllllow! He makes me think of a 99 year old man, learning to drive for the first time, on a Sunday afternoon - out in the countryside! (I’m really hoping he’s currently set to some kind of “training mode” that needs to be reset to “real life” mode.)
Bob does require a bit of servicing and some tlc. Sadly the woman had him sitting outside for a few months, at least, with only a tarp covering him. I’m not sure if she didn’t have room in her home, or if the chair just reminded her too much of the loss of her father. Still, the chair is remains in pretty good condition. So if I have to spend a few bucks fixing him up, so be it.
In the next send-out I’ll tell you about my apartment make-over!
So until then and with love always.
Gerianne
|
|
|
|
|
|
