“Too Normal?? Me??” Revisited 6 Years On
A conversation with Patrick a few days ago reminded me of a post I wrote in 2004, so I thought I’d add a little to it and bring it up to date. Original post is down below.
The conversation was pretty innocuous, talking about the way the sidewalks were totally impassable due to the snow being plowed onto them creating mega berms that will take ages to be cleared, and how it meant we’d have to travel on the road itself to reach the stores.
The Big Dig Begins
So it’s Sunday, the snows have stopped, and it’s time to begin digging out the ramp, front garden, and driveway.
The ramp is the dangerous part – we have to clear a spot, dump ice-melt where we’ve cleared, give it a few minutes, then move forwards. Rise, repeat.
Thankfully we have some help with traction on the ramp, a friend several years ago laid down some wire mesh on one side that helps give our tires something to grip onto.
But it’s still a somewhat nervous experience, the rail on the left has stopped chairs from going over the side several times!
Should MetroAccess Users Be Worried Over This Weekend?
Disclosure: I’m one of the founder members of DC ParaTransit Info, which has monitored and reported on MetroAccess and related accessible transportation issues in the DC Metro Area for many years.
Updated: 4:46pm 12/12/09
The Washington Post has reported on who it says the reorganization affects. and it won’t affect MetroAccess. Yay! (Heads-up courtesy of the Greater Greater Washington blog)
It’s all over the news this evening. After Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) tore into Metro this past week over safety concerns, DC Council Member and Metro board Chairman Jim Graham stepped up and announced he was working with General Manager John B. Catoe Jr. to, as Councilman Graham stated, “change Metro, and it’s going to happen very rapidly”.
Perfect Bodies Only, Please
Golf isn’t a sport you usually associate with doping scandals, the use of performance-enhancing drugs, but that’s now changed with the news of Doug Barron, a PGA Tour player who has been suspended for a year.
His offense is to have taken beta blockers and artificial testosterone.
Artificial or natural testosterone has been used by other athletes because it preomotes muscle mass, and strength.
Beta blockers help enhance focus and concentration.
So, it looks like a slam dunk case of trying to cheat, right?
Repost: Empathy Training
Originally Posted Dec 26 2007
Some disabilities have obvious effects, some don’t. In either case, it can be hard to explain to someone else just how disabilities can make you feel.
Enter one of *the* best articles on the subject, The Spoon Theory. I’ve been using this ever since I discovered it as a handout to give to people that gives them a better idea of just how draining disability *can* be.
It’s great reading, and handy to use! The rest of the site there’s not too shabby either 
Powwow
There’s nothing quite like a Powwow to help bring you back on track inside your own head – Especially when you go to two of them in the space of three days, both social ones.
The second one, George Mason University’s Veteran’s Day powwow, is going to be one of the “memorable” ones.
After two years of effort and work, and with the help of 10+ pounds of steel, I finally got to dance standing up (Well, dancing if you use a rather loose interpretation of “dancing”).
Specialists
As bad as the NHS in the UK can be, there are times when you get to hear about some damned good specialists.
In this case, the BBC News website reports on a 15-year old from Pontefract.
Tom Lemm fought cancer for three years, but a tumor in the upper part of his left arm meant surgeons were faced with having to amputate the entire arm, at the shoulder joint. Normally, amputating a limb at the joint (shoulder/hips) means the patient can’t use an artificial limb – there’s no stump left to attach one to.
Paid Survey
I noticed this on the alt.support.mult-sclerosis Usenet group the other day (it was also cross-posted to alt.support.cancer.prostate), and figured it was worth reposting here.
Hi all,
You may remember I posted on here a few weeks ago asking for volunteers to be interviewed as part of a new product innovation programme which we’re undertaking for a leading provider of continence and bowel care solutions.
Firstly, thank you to those of you who got in touch and took part.
Good Idea/Bad Idea Revisited
Back in April 2008, I wrote about the work that was done on our nearby park by M-NCPCC.
Shortly after that entry, they got back to us via email, saying
This situation will be corrected and you will once again be able to access the pathway that leads under Riverdale Road.
Unfortunately, there’s apparently still been no movement on this, the railing still cuts right across the park from one side to the other – and, in fact, it’s even worse now once you get past this huge metal barrier, because subsidence has caused a great big crack to appear in an older section of sidewalk.
Republican-sanctioned Discrimination
Lisa Takeuchi Cullen runs a blog on Time Magazine’s website, “Work In Progress“, which sometimes can be almost close to approaching nearing the level of cynicism I occasionally use here.
Recently, she ran a blog entry, “Equal pay isn’t a partisan issue. Is it?“, explaining that the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act had been filibustered in Congress by the Republicans.
The Act was intended to be
keep looking »Recent Comments
Mark Caldwell on Legion Universe Concept Art - Alien Starwolf Becca on Steel Voices Becca on Chrysalis Emergent Cover Art @impworks on Chrysalis Emergent Cover Art Jon Watt on Steel Voices
Visit My Graphics Site
Come see my latest 3D art, or download from the freebies section
