A Writer In A Wheelchair

My new blog is all set up.  Moving my data is proving to be more complicated than I anticipated so I'll have to think about it some more.

But in the mean time you can find it here - and I just updated it.  There isn't much there at the moment though.

More than likely this will be the last entry in this specific blog.

Back but not for long

It was a wordpress error and not a problem with the renewal that had this blog down over the weekend. Thankfully my webhost fixed it and without any data lost.

But I've set up a new blog and will be moving over there once I get it set up and all my data moved across.

Site problems

There is a chance this website is going to disappear in the next few days. My web host are being a bit shit about renewing it. I've paid the renewal (which they agree I have) but keep getting reminders to pay. Have already had one support ticket in about this (supposedly resolved) but just got another reminder to pay. Along with the "your site could go offline" warning in it.

ARGH

Random Bullet Points of Life

Item: On Monday it appeared that one of the things I've been wanting to do since I heard about it was in fact going to have to be off of the cards for me because of CP.

Item: Yesterday there were two things that were CP crap and using lots of my disability fighting ness and all a bit much.  Particularly because of the guilt trips involved.  And the sighing.

Item: people involved in assisting people with disabilities should not be allowed to sigh whilst doing so.  The "Okay I'll do that" .... *Sigh* thing is discouraging.

Item: Yesterday and Monday's Items added together make me fed up and down.

Item: Big decisions have been made which should enable me to be more independant and could possibly put Monday's Item back on the cards if they work out.

Item: I didn't freak out when asked a very important question earlier but advocated for myself and am supported in doing so.

Item: I bought yet more theatre tickets yesterday which makes me a bit happier.

Item: Anxiety sucks.

Gentlemen prefer blondes

But this cripple does not.

I don't like the fact that my hair is gradually getting more and more blonde as the week goes on.  In fact the word "sandy" was used to describe the colour of my hair today.  And Sophie said earlier that my hair is a different colour every time she sees me.

This fading is a little bit ridiculous.  I'll probably be bleach blonde in a few weeks if it keeps up.  I had blonde as anything hair when I was two or three but I've been mousy and brunette (and many many colours from a bottle) ever since.  I never missed being a blonde.  I never really wanted to be a blonde.  It always seemed like too much work although I did have a home highlighting kit done once.  It wasn't anything special.

I really wanted something special in my hair this time... it certainly is special but not in a good way.  And it's annoying because it cost a hell of a lot of money and was supposed to be a special treat.  They did redo it for me when it didn't work the first time.  but it hasn't worked a second either.  Everyone keeps saying I should go back but I kind of feel like it's too much effort and obviously isn't going to work.

I'm considering a trip to buy a bottle of dye and doing it myself soon... I like the colour it is now but I don't like the way its changing and fading.

Or the fact that when my cleaner went "what colour do you call that?" I had to reply "it's called "this should have come out wild orchid its a dark ish purple shade with red streaks and they tried twice but it didn't work."

But the best response to the many "I love the colour of your hair!" "it's supposed to be PURPLE" conversations was the person who went "yeah, I can see that it's a lovely new shade of purple... a kind of coppery one."

Made me laugh.

I'm gonna shut up now.  And I promise not to post such a self obssessed girly way that I look rant again for a long while.  Or at least the rest of the week.

Catch up post

I kind of feel like I should write some kind of catch up post with all the little bits of my life I've not blogged lately.

• I'm still doing behind the scenes stuff one day a week at CAB and advising on the other.  And by day I still mean half day, obviously.  I'm really enjoying the behind the scenes stuff - it's social policy work.  I do stuff like prep letter to go to our MP, type up any evidence, posters so our clients can see what we're gathering evidence on stuff like that.  Advising I probably enjoy less but I still get a lot out of at times.  The SP stuff is perfect for my disability advocacy side though.  Awareness etc goes between the two.

• I conquered my fear of sailing alone earlier this year.  But haven't actually managed to do much sailing lately due to the weather.  And also due to the weather the last twice I've sailed I have had to take a buddy or not sail.  The first time it was the case I said "No I sail by myself now, I don't want to sail if I need a buddy." but then it went on another week or two and I thought I'd rather sail.  This week I sailed with a guy who is a very talented challenger sailor as my buddy and learned a lot.

• I fear I am cyber purple no more.  I had my hair done a couple of weeks ago at the hairdressers and it came out a weird pinky red instead of the purple colour I chose.   So they offered me a free redo.  I went for that yesterday (by which time it had faded to a coppery boring colour in only two weeks).  And it is still not purple but its a reallly bright pinky red - seriously noticably hot and fun.  Probably brighter than I've had it before.  Mum described it as light earlier and not what she expected when I said we were going for purple.  I like it.  But it's not purple and my hairdresser says it might be my medication is affecting my hair and making it not take the dye properly.  I don't know what I think of that, will have to consult with Dr Google at some point.

• The coolest thing however is that my hairdresser took a photo of me/my hair to put in her portfolio of what she does.  I don't really know what it's for or what it does but thats cool.

• Haven't been feeling well for several weeks, falling asleep practically every afternoon and generally feeling a bit lousy.

• It turns out I'm a terrible needle stick.  Well, the nurse didn't actually say that but being that she tried two needles in my arm and failed to get blood from me and had to resort to a butterfly needle in my hand that appears to be the only conclusion I can draw.

• I had three normal size tubes and one bigger one of blood drawn yesterday.  Looked like a lot but I'm told it was only about three teaspoons.   Hormone levels, liver and kidney functions, thyroid, blood sugar and full blood count.

• I'm definitely not diabetic which is a huge relief to me.  My mum worries about that for me due to family history and my love of all things sweet.  My blood sugar was well below the panic level which led to some amusement when I told several people that I have a long way to go before I'm diabetic.  Which totally made it sound like diabetes is something I'm aiming for.  And I'm not, obviously.

• My book list on this blog needs a serious update.

• I also need to get back to some writing soonish.

• Still working on the redesign.

Ordered my new chair!

My new wheelchair is on order!

Or at least it should be... I called and left a message for the "Wheelchair Therapist" I saw telling her I wanted it.  They said she would call me tomorrow morning (probably then) about it.

After a lot of advice, research and soul searching I decided that I would take the Action3 they offered me.

The voucher I was offered would in no way have been anywhere near the realistic cost of anything else.  I had two long chats with advice workers from Scope who thought it definitely worth a shot to ask for more funding.  I have no problem with topping up a voucher at all but I kind of felt like they were saying I should have "blah blah blah" on a wheelchair and then trying to fit me into a standard category voucher without taking need into account.

But the research I did into wheelchairs showed that the one I really wanted was a no go.  And I contacted Sunrise Medical to find out who my nearest Quickie supplier is to get advice on which other model would be possible but the supplier never got back to me.  Also they are a hell of a long way away which could have been an issue.  I also briefly tried two other wheelchairs but neither were suitable.

It was just all turning into a lot of stress and I have other financial commitments making things tight right now and some health issues meaning less stress is a good thing.  So I thought about it and figured whilst I wouldn't have necessarily chosen the Action3 myself there is a lot to be said for all of the support etc I would get from an NHS chair.  If I get it and it doesn't work, it doesn't work and they have to sort it out.  If in two years I've worn it out, that's their problem.  If it needs repairs, they do it.  If I had a voucher all of that would be my problem.

And the biggest issue with my having a new wheelchair and specifically the Quickie I wanted is my weight and the size I need.  This gives me time to do something about that and maybe get a voucher in five years.

So I've once again said something I said I wouldn't do.  And I'm pleased.

Equal Honours

I was e-mailed a link yesterday to a petition on the 10 Downing Street website.  That's the official website of the office of the Prime Minister.

This is a petition to give paralympic medalists the same honours that olympic medalists receive.

From the petition:

A gold medal is a gold medal. In the 2009 New Years Honours only 17 of the 35 Paralympic gold medalists, compared to all of the Olympic gold medalists recieved honours. Most of these gold medalists have again been overlooked in the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours.

Why? Because the Paralympians had to win 2 golds to be considered for an honour. However, some athletes could only win one gold, such as a handcyclist. Even so, a Paralympian who won four gold's did not recieve the same honour as an Olympian who won three.

How can these great athletes be overlooked just because they don't happen to be in the Olympics? We want equal recognition for all gold medalists.

You must be a British Citizen to sign and provide a valid e-mail address.  You'll be e-mailed a link which you must click on to confirm you want to sign the petition.  You also need to provide an address but I've signed these such petitions several times and never had any spam to my e-mail or home address from it.

The petition is here.  I have quite a lot to blog about today and tomorrow so will be back later.  However as I consider this such an important thing this post will be sticky and remain at the top for a few days.  Newer posts will be below when I write them.

Planning a redesign

I've switched my layout back to an old theme I had on last year (I think it was at least).  I love the primepress theme especially the rotating header function but having had that on since August or September (I think September) last year it was definitely time for a change.

I'm actually working on a customised theme for myself.  Probably Kubrick because that's what I usually customise and it's easy.  Plus I mostly know what I'm doing with that which is always a good thing.  Don't want to be making my blog blow up and stop working again.  Doing that once was definitely more than enough.  In my defence though it was the very first time I ever tried to customise the look of the blog and it was about five days after I set the damn thing up.

Anyway... It's proving to be more complicated than I first expected.  Mostly because I keep changing my mind about what I want.  If there's one thing I'm good at it's being indecisive.  And something I suck at is making decisions.  Working on that, too.  Also every time I see a premade free theme I like I keep thinking  "well  I like it but it would be better like this..."

One thing I was wondering however was if there is any thing anyone who reads this thinks I need to add to my blog designwise.  Because I must admit that one or two blogs I read I think things like "wow she needs to add a home link" or "they write such long posts they could do with a back to the top link" etc.  And then I got to wondering what my readers think.

I won't tell you what I'm thinking about for my redesign.  Just that I'm thinking of something with COLOUR!

I'd call this entry toilet humour, but there's nothing funny about it.

I went shopping on Saturday.  And in the space of about twenty minutes had two of the most shocking disability incidents I've had in a long time.  I wrote an e-mail to trading standards about one of them earlier this evening.  But other than being shocked and thinking it's rude (jesus wept, i don't think it could have been worse) there's nothing I can do about it.

So I'll blog it.  And I'll probably blog the other incident too at some point but I should give trading standards some time to get back to me first.

Anyway, I was in Reading shopping.  Specifically I was in Marks and Spencer and figured whilst I would in their I'd go to the loo.  They've got a pretty good disabled loo.  The key thing to note here is it's open all the time you don't need a RADAR key or any other key to get in there.

So I'm in there, on the loo knickers around my ankles all that sort of thing.  And this random woman took a coin out of her handbag, fitted it into the middle of the lock mechanism, unlocked the door with it and started to walk in.  In the UK disabled loo's are generally separate rooms so this openned pretty much on to the shop floor.

I was yelling "hang on a minute!!" and she just stopped, went "Oh I didn't expect there to be any one in there", shut the door and locked the door again.  Then I could hear her telling someone "oh there's someone in there, I'll use the ladies." and walked off.

When I was done and came out of the loo this other woman was outside waiting and she was like "That woman, she got a coin out of her bag... and walked in... how rude!!" and I was like "yeah it's soooo rude it's ridiculous."

Anyone whose ever used a radar key more than once will likely know that system means you can unlock it even if someone has locked it from the inside.  You quickly learn to be slow opening the door... I've been walked in on at least once, and I've walked in on people a few times too.

I never minded that, not least since one of the times that happened I found someone collapsed and in need of assistance.* Especially because you either need to provide proof of disability to get your own (meaning you know how it works) or you need to ask a staff member for a key.  And RADAR key disabled loos (and most other locked disabled toilets) have signage explaining the systm and usually where to get a key from so the fact you can't just walk in is bloody obvious.

But to take a coin and unlock a proper lock?!  Especially without even knocking or anything?! And when it's obvious that if it's locked there's someone in there?  Fucking ridiculous.

*looking back at the entries relating to that incident I appear not to have shared the response I got to my complaint about it.  Which didn't come until five months later.  And which said they'd had British Transport Police arrest the man for smearing faeces all over the  disabled loo.  The man that collapsed had been on the floor an hour (he said) when I found him.  I don't know about anyone else but if I had been trying to go to the loo, fallen and then been on the floor an hour I'd probably have ended up doing my business on the floor too.

My earliest chocolate memory

This was a prompt on a market research message board thing I'm on.

We used to go visit my Gran and Grandad. They had a chocolate tin that lived in my Gran's sewing room and we could choose something out of it. Frequently we would choose cadbury's chocolate buttons and I'd have to read all of the nursery rhymes to choose which one I wanted. Some of the chocolate buttons would be stuck together and I always used to try to leave two that were stuck together to have last as it seemed special to me. I still try to do the same thing when I eat chocolate buttons now (although it's much rarer that I do) but I'm not as obssessive about it as I used to be.

As we got older it changed to the bureau drawer by my Gran's chair and the choices changed too. For me it was always galaxy - one of those kingsize bars that used to have the nine pieces. We would talk about how my Gran always used to try and not have chocolate to the evening and how I get my sweet tooth from her.

And when we used to go visit our Nanny I remember going to the shop to choose something. That would usually be different everytime unless she had already got it before we arrived. I'm very fussy and I remember at least once thinking I would hate the chocolate she bought me and having to psych myself up to eat it. I've always struggled with new foods. But I loved it, much to my surprise. That was a flyte

Down Time

I'm having some down time over the next week/several days.  I did the same thing in May as I had some busy weekends planned and just chilled a lot.  It was great.

But this time I'm trying to make it more of a "staycation" (although the very nature of that word makes me laugh - hence the quotes) and getting out to do some fun stuff.  Also hoping to tick a few things off of my 101 in 1001 list - well, I'm definitely doing one tomorrow but I hope to do some more if I can.

Certainly given how stressed and fed up I've been this week I need it.  Didn't make it into the bureau this week as I had such a dizzy/headachy thing going on Wednesday morning. Back to bed for several hours and I felt better.  Have been putting my CAB skills to use this week with my question everything approach at wheelchair services and pointing a few friends/family members towards the public CAB website and off the top of my head key phrases.

Also followed that up with a relatively long chat with a scope helpline adviser about wheelchair options.  Hearing that they feel I can probably do something helped me feel a lot less stressed.  But it really was weird being the advised than the adviser.  The guy I spoke to said something about me seeming clued up.

Hmm, I wonder why that might be!

The biggest part of my downtime over the next few days, however will probably be sometime away from the net.  I love the net to pieces (for people in fandom you could almost say me and the net is my OTP) but sometimes it gets to be a huge time suck and depressing. And then it's time for a break.

Like now.

It's almost like a tiny miracle...

So you may or may not know this but I've been seeing the nurse on a roughly four weekly basis since April or so for help losing weight.  It's not been going particularly well to be honest in my opinion.

And a big part of that is that the surgery I go to does not have facilities to weigh a wheelchair user.  Which if you ask me is totally ridiculously (and I've told the nurse that several times).  The nurse I see is really nice and does keep offering to weigh me on their regular scales.  But as I've explained to various people, the fact I can't stand unsupported for more than about two seconds means it's basically impossible to get a realistic, and correct weight for me and trust it using the stand on regular scales idea.  Even though I do try it just to keep a rough idea.  That's something a lot of people seem to have trouble understanding... and the suggestion "just do it the same each time" does get made sometimes which with my CP is pretty much impossible as those who get CP/my level of disability will understand.

So anyway, wheelchair clinic yesterday.

One of the things that affects what wheelchair you can have is how much you weigh... and I'd been thinking (and hating) that I would probably have to have a heavy duty fat girl wheelchair.  And I do certainly need a much wider wheelchair seat.

But when she asked how much I weigh and I said I didn't know... she asked if I wanted her to weigh me.

They had a ramp scale thing and they got me in it in my wheelchair then weighed my wheelchair separately to work out what was me.

New Years Day completely naked 1st thing in the morning I weighed 18 stone 1 lb.  And I tend to find that I'm sometimes a bit heavier than it seems due to balancing holding on etc.  So although I've been bouncing between that and a few pounds less (but not more!) all year I did expect that a middle of the day fully dressed including trainers weight done on proper "We have the technology" wheelchair scales would be more than that.

I was 17 st 8lb.

I've definitely lost half a stone since January.

Woohoo!

New wheelchair options

I went to the wheelchair clinic today to see if I needed a new wheelchair.  And as soon as I told the woman I had gone for advice on if this wheelchair still fits and is appropriate for me she just went "no" just like that.  Which actually I totally expected but it did kind of amuse me that within about two minutes of meeting me she could tell.

So I will be getting a new wheelchair.

Apparently there is a choice of 1 folding wheelchair, 1 rigid wheelchair or a voucher.

For various reasons I've been anti-rigid wheelchairs for the last several years (mostly to do with not being able to easily put them in a variety of cars).  But this time round I went with the car issue in the back of my mind but one of the lower concerns.

Anyway, the opinion of the therapist is that for other reasons the rigid chair on offer (Venus by Days Wheelchairs) is unsuitable for me.  Mostly the feeling was that it couldn't be customised enough to work for me although they couldn't find the paperwork to check.  She said she'll sort out and answer and let me know if it could be a possibility.

I've just realised that I forgot to ask for definite but it seemed to be inferred that so called high spec wheelchairs can't be highly customised and supportive.  But I must check if I'm right in thinking she meant in general or if she was really just referring to that chair.  Or if that's just ones supplied on the NHS.

The folding option which she says can be customised sufficiently and would be appropriate is the Action 3 which is made by invacare.  And if I were to have one it would have quite a lot of different options to the one pictured all over the paperwork and the web.  Which is good because I wasn't keen on the look of the one they brought for me to try and the changes suggested would make it look VERY different.  I've been trying to find a picture of what the sideguards look like as I would have those instead of armrests but so far nothing doing.

I'm really not sure about it... I did like it, it was comfortable and it wheeled really easily.  Financially too it would make a hell of a lot of sense to just take an NHS chair.

Back in 2001 I had an Action 2000 provided by Staffordshire NHS when I was at uni.  I used it for two and a half years.  Apparently it's the "little brother" of the one they are offering me now.  And off the top of my head I can think of three times when I broke the castor at the front.  Literally it would be fine and then bam, it would break and I couldn't move - the "fork" could bend pushing the castor back so it caught on the main wheel.  Possibly it happened more than that.  All of the repair guys (who were employed by or probably contracted more like to the NHS) told me that it was a known design flaw and everyone with those wheelchairs had that problem and everyone knew about it.

The therapist (and the engineer?) in my appt today told me they hadn't heard of that happening.  Which is promising.  But something I shall have to research I think.

I shall also have to send an e-mail round to various friends and relations to poll the answer to "if the backrest on my chair didn't fold down would it fit in your car?" it's not a huge issue because my parents car would take it as would the friend whose car I go in probably most often.  But something to think about because if that choice is going to take me from potentially six or seven people who occasionally/regularly/not quite never but not often take me and my chair in the car to possibly only two that would suck.

The other option is a voucher which certainly as it's been presented isn't appealing.

I asked a lot of awkward questions about a lot of issues and could tell that at least one or two questions they were either surprised by or would have preferred I didn't ask. LOL.  It's certainly given me a lot to think about and I'm (mostly) glad I went (it was a stupidly long day).

Now to figure out in the next few days what I want to do...

Michael Jackson, the goldfish

My mum reminded me this evening that when we were really little my brother and I had a goldfish each.

I'd remembered that we had one.... my brother's which was called Sally.  But I'd forgotten that I'd had one too.  Sally lost all her colour suddenly but lived a long time (years).  My goldfish which was called Fishy or Fishface (I was in to changing names, could never make my mind up) didn't and I'd forgotten.

But then out at dinner tonight my brother's girlfriend made some comment about the fact that Michael Jackson died.  And my mum went "which one of you two had a goldfish called Michael Jackson?"

I'm really not sure and want to say it wasn't mine but my brother says his goldfish was always called Sally (to G, his girlfriend, asked "why Sally?" and we were all like "no idea") and everyone else agreed.

So yeah, when I was little I had a goldfish.  It went through many names in it's months long life.  And apparently one of them was Michael Jackson.

That's almost one of the things you don't want your parents to remember.

Song Lyric Game

This is either going to go really really well or really really badly I can tell.

A few weeks ago I went searching for some song lyrics and came accross a thread on a message board where someone had posted the first line of a song and then people had posted the next one and so on as a game.  I thought it was pretty cool and I've been dying to try it out on my blog ever since.

So... here goes

"Well I heard there was a secret chord"

Success of a sort

Remember the entry I wrote for BADD this year?  Where You Least Expect It.  It was about going to my local pub for lunch and finding it had been done up and made less accessible in the process.

Anyway a few weeks after that I finally got around to writing a letter of complaint to the brewery/head office.

And today I got a reply.

He visited the pub and has instructed the team to measure up and install a ramp as soon as possible.  I am hoping this will be a permanent ramp and not a movable one (and if it is a movable one they put signs up saying they have it).  And I'm now planning to go for lunch in a couple of weeks and insisting on sitting up there.

So I'm really really pleased and hoping that things do happen as he says they will and that they happen quickly.

What I'm not so happy about is the comment in the letter about how they are not required to provide access to all parts of the building.

Hmm.

No, they are not legally required to do so but what is being missed here is the fact they had it and they took it away without thinking about it.  Saying that feels a bit like a cop out.  And as I wrote before I didn't feel welcome there as I always had before.  Reading that line is a bit like "yeah, you are welcome... but not as much as you used to be."

Oh and he thanked me for writing as it is the only way they have of being able to improve their service.  Or some such.  Never mind the fact that I shouldn't have had to complain.

So to recap: I made a complaint, got the reply and they are going to put a ramp in.  This is so much made of win and I am happy.  However they managed to make it less so by certain inappropriate comments in the letter.

And on the scale of the three responses to complaints letters I've had this week:

Holland and Barrett lose for replying to my letter with a load of answering but not actually answering or doing anything stuff.

This letter came second for doing something but not enough or doing it well

And FGW have responded to my phone call with a "we know it isn't good enough and we're sorry, send us your tickets and we'll give you a refund."  It's a standard response I know but they win.

FYI

If you feel the need to start a conversation with "I don't mean to be rude but..." I really wouldn't bother.   Because it will be rude.  And annoying.  And it will piss me off.   Or I will just sit there thinking how rude you are and generally just be bemused in a what the hell type way as I was on Saturday.  I got a panini for lunch in a coffee shop and a random older lady came up and "Excuse me I don't mean to be rude but would you like me to cut that for you?"

And don't just take stuff and do it for me, wait and be asked.  Also more importantly when you do just take my shopping off of my lap and put it on the checkout don't then go off on one when someone assumes we are together and skips in front of you in the queue.  Because 1) I would have preferred you not helped me anyway and 2) Taking over is rude and frankly I think it quite appropriate that you had people do annoying things to you as you did them to me.

Finally I'd like to point out that I am wearing a skirt today.  And I am always aware of my clothes and catching on my wheels and things to be concerned about etc (unless its either new clothes or a new chair and I don't know about specifics).  So 1) I don't need you leaning out of your car shouting accross the road to me that my "dress" is going to get caught in my wheels.  Because obviously I checked I was right in thinking it was fine (and I was) but it is none of your business, very annoying and it makes me late because i get paranoid and stop every few minutes to check. and 2) i'm wearing a purple and orange skirt and a white t-shirt. It's a skirt.  It's obvious it's a skirt. It's NOT A FUCKING DRESS!

If you're going to do the annoying unwanted advice to the crippled girl thing for the love of god at least get what you're saying right.

Hard but Right

I've sadly come to the decision not to take part in Race for Life next weekend.  I'm disappointed by that decision (partially because it feels sort of though I am letting the depression - which isn't great at the moment - win) but it's the right one.

I've done very little training and haven't covered much distance in what I have done.  The weather has played a part in that but so has my depression which is why it sort of feels like it's winning by my choosing not to participate.  

But I also know that with the little training I have done coupled with the fact that RfL in Oxford is not on an easy wheelable surface means that potentially (particuarly if they current hot weather continues) I would just be putting myself at high risk of falling out of my chair or otherwise injuring myself.  It's not worth it for something that's meant to be fun - and that is a goal I achieved last year.  I don't want to say been there, done that... but I sort of am.

I keep thinking I probably could do it but... I know if I went and struggled I wouldn't give up and that would be bad.  And the distance would be fine without the training on decent wheeling surfaces or the crappy wheeling surface would be fine for a lot shorter distance - the zoo yesterday was similar and I did just cope.

A couple of weeks ago at the regatta that (for me at least) wasn't Geoff Holt came and did a talk - I wrote about it briefly already.  One of the things he said really struck a cord with me.  I can't remember exact words but the gist is that sometimes the bravest, best thing you can do is weigh up a situatio, realise it's too much and decide not to continue.

And hard as it is, that's what I'm doing.

Thoughts From A Day At The Zoo

Went to Cotswold Wildlife Park today... great fun.  These are random thoughts and observations.

I forgot to take my camera.  Ever since I was asked (yesterday) if I wanted to go I had "we're going to the zoo tomorrow" going round and round in my head.  And then just after we left I thought of a great idea of a post revolving around a line in that song but i needed my camera.  But as I currently have camera problems it's probably better I did forget it.

When we were getting out of the car my friend's little boy (age 3) went "Emma, do you want your wheelbarrow?" which caused much laughter from me, his mum and his grandma.

There is a sign on the door of the disabled loo that identifies it as such and then says "able bodied persons must not use this as they may prevent someone more deserving from doing so".  I don't think I've ever seen the word "deserving" used in that context before.  But obviously it's right because only the crips deserve to go for a wee, everyone else must suffer!

As I was going into the disabled loo there were two little boys coming out of it (able-bodied and it did not double as a baby change nor were they young enough to need it).  One of them walked out and that was it.  The other walked out, saw me, then walked back in.  Saying to me as he did so "It's ok, I'm just washing my hands you can come in too."  Seeing as how it was one of those sink and loo in the same bit disabled loos I didn't take him up on that offer...

The display of various bird eggs is the most interesting and exciting part of the zoo. If you are 3.  If you are 27, however, the most interesting and exciting part of the zoo is probably the tiniest meercats you have ever seen.  Babies that I don't think can have been very old at all.

We also saw a huge snake... at least one of them looked like it was too long for its enclosure thing  the way it was curled up in places and I seriously didn't realise snakes came that thick... I thought snakes could be long but were generally always skinny things.

I have come to the conclusion that Zebra's are white with black stripes and not black with white stripes.  Also I wonder if you could ride a zebra like you could a horse.

Riding thoughts were triggered by the fact that I think I might have seen someone I used to know through horse riding many years ago.  It looked like them and they had a very CP walk plus two kids... and I did hear a few months ago through a friend of a friend that theyhad at least one child.  I didn't go over and speak to them though just in case.  That and the fact we were never really long term friendly as such.   

I did then spend a good few minutes trying to remember her full name (one of those I know I know it but what the hell is it things) and I searched on facebook just out of curiousity.  Result being there are over 500 people on facebook with variants on that name, most have no profile picture and the majority are in the Wales network (out of the first chunk of pages which I looked at before getting bored).

The train at Cotswold Wildlife park is accessible and its accessible in a low key kind of way.  Which is the best kind.

It really was much too hot to be there today and I felt old for struggling with the heat so much.  But I did wheel myself 95% of the time and didn't struggle with that too much. And I really did have fun.