I have a new "toy"

We went out yesterday to take a look at a SEGWAY. I have been having trouble walking any distance and instead of using a wheelchair, we wanted to find something else. The SEGWAY has been used by a couple of people here who have MS and they say it is the greatest thing to have. In fact, they have been trying to get it to be recognized as another device to be used for the disabled. Well, Dad was having one of those "work" days (he played golf) and was home early so we went to see them and to take a ride.

Now this adventure was for me and to see if I could handle it. I was a little nervous but Jim (the owner of the store) put me at ease. He was very helpful and watched out for everything. I also wasn't doing any dare devil stuff either. I have to say I was very impressed. It is so easy to maneuver. I have to still get use to getting on and off but it is coming along. I will be using it for the MS Walk next week. I was hoping to actually walk the route but we had gone for a short walk this past weekend and my legs just gave out on me. When my legs start going, my right foot will start catching the pavement. I can't seem to pick the foot up. When I really focus on doing that, picking my foot up, then I am putting the foot down almost like a slap. This also causes me to walk slower and slower. It isn't caused so much by heat as fatigue. You might be thinking, "well walk more and you will get stronger". It doesn't work that way. This is a different fatigue than just being tired. I can rest my legs for about an hour and then I can walk again with very little problem. There might be still a little but not as much as there was when I had to stop. Soooooo we bought a new SEGWAY yesterday and have already brought it home.




We are keeping it in our second bedroom. This bedroom right now has become our "catch all" for things. We have many ideas but haven't followed through on anything yet for this room. Back to the SEGWAY - we have ramps for the SUV so we can put it into the back of the truck. If we wanted to put an attachment to the back of the truck we can and then put the SEGWAY on that way. Right now, it fits just fine in the back. It is Sage in color. It moves by your movement. It is different than the older ones. It has two speeds - turtle and regular. I am in turtle right now to learn it. Even in turtle it goes 6 mph. Regular goes 12.5 mph. The slower speed is fast enough.

The other exciting thing we had happened. Dad won a 19" LCD HDTV at one of his golf outings. We have it now in our bedroom and will be getting rid of our other TV. We wanted to do this anyway and get a LCD Flat Screen and this just happened to fall in our laps. It is small but we don't watch TV a lot in the bedroom so it is just fine.



So that is our exciting news. I wish everyone was around to see the SEGWAY but I will post pictures. Now I just have to figure everything out...

It's Spring

It's spring and the weather is wonderful around here. The birds are out singing and the wild flowers are in bloom. The sail boats are out on the water. It's just a wonderful day to be in Southern California.

Do you remember a while back when I had mentioned we had termites? We had thought we had taken care of them but they came back. We saw signs of them in the house this time and I called a couple of companies to give me an estimate on what could be done to get rid of them. Well, I got all kinds of answers. One wanted to drill in the stucco many tiny holes all over the outside walls and shoot in a foam that would kill the termites. The company would fill in the hole but we would be responsible to repaint.

The second company came and said No that is not the way to go. If you have insulation in your walls then the foam will be blocked and it won't work in killing the termites. We really don't have insulation but onto what they wanted to do. It was suggested that we had two options. The first we could tent the house but that would be hard as we have a duplex. We would have to get the other owner to also agree to tent their house and be out for three days and two nights. Tenting would also cause plant damage. Anything up against the house has to be pulled away from the wall before they could tent. We would either have to find a place that took pets where we could stay for the three days or board Chester. So now we are not only paying for the tenting but having to pay for a hotel and/or boarding of Chester. Even with this being done, we can't get a guarantee as termites could come right back and infest all over again as soon as everything was done..

The second option from this company was to drill and put in a different chemical and fix some of the termite damage by filling in the wood damage. They can't guarantee they are going to kill all the termites we may have but just the ones that the chemical touches. It is guaranteed for a year. We are going with this one as it is cheaper than the tenting and we don't have to leave.

Dad did not get the big job he had been working so hard on for several weeks. He has moved onto another project. It does take its toll on a person to be under so much stress and then not to have a positive outcome. It is the times we are living in now. Competition is harder as companies are looking for work to keep their employees working.

At the end of the month, I will be starting to train for Emergency Preparedness for the City of Laguna Niguel. I would be considered a First Responder if we should have a disaster. I am not sure what it will all involve but I will be certified in First Aid and CPR, use of Fire Extinguisher, and evacuation. No, I am not to yell "Everybody out" like from the Kindergarten Cop...
It should be interesting and maybe then I can convince Dad to prepare for an earthquake. We have had quite a few earthquakes going on around us and the "powers to be" are concerned that they all might be leading up a major quake. I have already been told to make sure I have enough water for us. One gallon per person per day for 7 days equals to 14 gallons of just water! Then I need to get food set aside along with my medications. Of course, we also need to make sure Chester is taken care of too with his needs. Dad doesn't think we will need these preparations. His point being that we haven't had a quake the whole time we have been here; we did have one a few months ago that I felt that had happened around Los Angles. This just makes life interesting.