Oil change, getting malled


Brad was supposed to take the van in for an oil change today. Due to a wheelchair disaster, he could not.

Here’s the wheelchair disaster story… About two months ago, Brad’s power wheelchair got stuck in the elevated position. It could still move around, tilt, and recline, but was high up so harder for Brad to get into (and it’s slow, in “turtle” mode).

Yesterday was the day it was supposed to be fixed, finally! They had ordered a cable and sent a tech out for a “quick” repair. Well the tech turned out to be a young 18 year old who only had a week of training. He was very very nice and tried his hardest, but he couldn’t figure it out. And then, not only could he not figure out how to fix it, he also couldn’t figure out how to get it back to how it was.

So at the end of the two hour session, we were left with a completely useless wheelchair. It wouldn’t move at all. It is a giant paperweight!

We were distraught! Brad cannot push himself in a manual wheelchair, and he cannot sit upright for long, either!

Through a stroke of luck, a person in another department of the company happened to call us on an unrelated matter and we told her what happened. She immediately got on the phone and found us a loaner chair. It was delivered this morning.

The only problem is that the loaner chair only tilts, but does not recline. This means that while Brad can at least get around the house in it (but not stay in it for a length of time), it’s bad for most outings and not workable for long outings.

Unfortunately, if a rumor is true, the repair company is now even more short handed on technicians– they were shorthanded already. So who knows when our wheelchair will be fixed.

Anyway, the long and short of it is that Brad’s loaner chair wasn’t comfortable enough for him to be able to handle going for the oil change himself. We couldn’t postpone it because we had a $25 off coupon that expires soon.

So I called up my friend Scarlet and asked if they would come with me, and they agreed!

I picked them up and we drove to the dealership for the oil change. They said it was going to be an hour and a half wait! Since the mall is right across the street, we decided to head over there since we are fully vaccinated now!

The only problem is that the mall is NOT set up for pedestrians to walk to it, especially pedestrians in wheelchairs! We had to take so many twists and turns and double back, and Scarlet even had to get out of the chair to go down a curb when a sidewalk ended with no curb cut!

Eventually we got to the mall, and it was fun! It was weird being in a mall again after more than a year! Hestia was a little distractible with all the people and sights and sounds and smells. Scarlet got some video of us and Hestia, and you can tell Hestia is not at her best. Oh well, she’ll get used to being out and about again!

We visited a couple stores and then headed back to the dealership. We tried to go a different way to get back and it was even worse! This time twice Scarlet had to get out of the chair, walk over a short 2-4 ft grassy area, and down a curb!

When we finally arrived, when we walked in the building the lady was putting down the phone from calling Brad to tell him the van was ready. Perfect timing! They washed it for us, too!

Below is a picture of Hestia, a small white and black dog with googley eyes and a smushed nose, sitting next to a white doggy mannequin. Then there is a video below that. In the video, I am a white woman with long brown curly hair, a galaxy mask, and a pink top. I am pushing Scarlet, who has purple/teal hair with shaved sides and is wearing a black mask with a rhinestone spider. Hestia is wearing her galaxy vest and is walking along on the floor next to the wheelchair. Enjoy!

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