Well, Darren and Tabatha, (my Step Brother and his wife), and the kids have moved in to their new rented house in Chard. They came down on Thursday to bring Tabatha and the girls down and collect a van for moving. Then Darren and a friend went back to Bournemouth to pack up their things and bring it all down on Friday. What a nightmare though, so many problems with the house I really could not believe it, and I could tell that Tabatha was not a happy bunny about it which is understandable. Nevertheless though she, my Wife, my other Sister in Law and a friend went round to the new place and blitzed it making a massive difference, then Darren and our mate unloaded the van and then they took it back to off hire it. All in all a hectic couple of days for them and as a result I have been doing not a lot. Today though we went out to Taunton for the day to show Darren and Tabatha what it was like and to walk round the shops with them while they got a few things that they needed for the new place. Wifey and I had to go to the electrical store also as the tumble dryer has broken and due to the amount of washing we have to do, we had to purchase a new one which is not brilliant timing but unfortunately is a required item, therefore we had to go and get one.
While we were wondering around Taunton I paid a visit to the model shop as I needed to buy a new craft knife, a can of white spray primer and I was hoping to buy a spray can of white paint. I really want to get my Sea Hawk finished and the rest of the Sea Vixen primed in preparation for me to build it. The craft shop that I go to has three or four deep steps to get in to it and is therefore inaccessible to me, the till is right next to the shop window right next to the model aircraft, because of this, when the ladies who work in the shop see me at the window looking, they come out to see if there is anything I need to buy. This is obviously really handy and thoughtful, and I only go to the shop if I actually need something so it is a pretty safe bet for them. It is a bit disappointing that I can’t get in as I would like to see what models they do have but Fortunately the models are almost right next to the door and so they could actually read them off to me if I was really interested. I generally know which aircraft model I would like to build and can simply ask for it but occasionally you will see a model of an aircraft that you had not thought of and think “Yeah, I quite fancy that one.” Currently though I have the Vixen half primed which is the next one to be started, the Huey is under construction, currently in part of the painting stage and the Sea Hawk is of course awaiting me purchasing spray paint. So the finished models so far are two Spitfires, one Hurricane and a Liberator bomber of the WW2 era and a Harrier from Falklands to up until last year. I bought a plastic stand today for one of the Spitfires and the Hurricane to be mounted on, I shall drill the holes in the models tomorrow and then hopefully get a picture up.
It was actually quite hard work wheeling around Taunton town today, the camber on the pavements make it quite hard as you have to push with one arm while slowing the other wheel down to prevent you from going with the camber and heading across the pavement and in to the road, to stop this I tend to pick a line at the top of the pavement closest to the shops and move along that line but you would not believe me when I tell you that people walking expect me to move around them, unbefrickinlevable! Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think I own the pavement but it is far easier for a `walker` to go around me then it is for me to play dodgems trying to avoid the rest of the `walkers` on the pavement who can go a lot faster than me. I had to pay a visit to the public disabled conveniences today and I had my son with me, as we were making our way along the pavement I stayed at the top of the pavement closest to the shops as I am not as quick as the other `walkers` and it means I do not cause problems, well as we were making our way along the pavement amongst the hoards of other people, I could hear the guy behind me tutting and sighing as he had unfortunately got stuck behind me, furthermore, as he was walking along with his partner or friend or whoever it was he was commenting on how inconsiderate I was for staying where I was and not being in the middle of the pavement, REALLY? So if he was driving his vehicle on the main road, would he therefore expect the 50cc moped riders to be in the middle of his side of the road or would he prefer the slower moving moped be tucked in out of the way? I didn’t bother starting an argument which I can only assume is either; I have chilled out and can no longer be assed with confrontation OR I simply thought to myself that the guy was obviously a complete tosser and probably would not understand what I was going on about anyway, to that end I simply carried on my way.
I certainly felt the work that my arms had done today and know that I need to get back out on the cycle path at least once a week to keep the strength building in my arms. I am hoping that we may hear back from the Gym soon with reference to my possible joining which my Physiotherapist has been sorting for me. I spoke to a fellow `wheelie` friend with regards to sports and things as I know he is quite well in the know about it and he gave me some really useful website addresses, one of which was about the Paralympics, I have filled out a form requesting that I be notified of the next Paralympic tryouts, I am no sprinter or marathon wheeler, neither have I tried Basketball or Rugby since being in a chair and I can categorically tell you that I sink when in water but there are so many other things that I would love to try. Being selected for training for a team would be great but is not the be all and end all, just to try these different things and possibly find something that you may not be particularly good at but enjoy would be great and of course most important of all, meeting new people who are also in wheelchairs with the possibility of making new friends and learning from their experiences, amazing.
I wrote not so long ago about the Race 2 Recovery team of injured soldiers taking part in the Dakar rally, the toughest race on the planet. Well, they have started which is great, you can read the updates on Facebook, simply search for them, Race 2 Recovery, and like their page and then you will be kept abreast of how they are doing. I would encourage you to do this as it has been hard work for them to even be allowed to participate in the rally, they have to deal with prosthetic limbs that may suffer from the sand before any of the normal complications associated with the Dakar rally. Moreover, there are able bodied people who would not wish to participate in the rally and others who would have liked to but simply failed the tests required to do so, so if you can, please show your support. Thanks.
Anyway, Darren and Tabatha have to pop back to Bournemouth tomorrow to get the last of the things from the old place and make sure it is ready to hand back to the estate agent, to that end their two girls are staying with us for the day, they will be playing with my kids while me and Wifey sort our stuff out. Maybe we could go for a walk tomorrow, we shall see. Well I hope that your days have been good, the kids are back to school soon which will cheer a lot of people up from what I saw of some people in Taunton today with their children but it will be good to get back in to routine. Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone.
Goodnight all.