Already a boo boo!

[Guest guest]

Thanks for all the well wishes from everyone concerning my P/Chair and ramp. Well I am sure the more I practice the better I'll get at driving the thing straight! They finished the ramp a little while ago, and of course I had to try it out. Soooooooooo, off I went zig zagging to the door. I am telling you the controls are sooooooo sensitive the least movement makes it turn too much then you have to turn it the other way, so thats the zigging and zagging, and me trying to drive it in a straight line.......ACK!!!! So I cautiously inch my way to the front door all the time hoping I don't run into the end table, the rocker, and the table by the door. Really there is enough room, but my spatial senses are so screwed up, it seems really narrow to me. Steve is guiding me like an airplane runway guy, all he needs are the cones and lights.......so he says turn more to

your right, I do......then a little to your left, I do,........okay straighten it out......I don't........so we back up and try it again! Now I'm looking for the snails button.......no snail button.......so I inch it up so ever slowly, and finally I make it to the door threshold......oh great.....now there's a hump to get over so I have to exert more power......up the turtle mode and one half the chair goes over the threshold, and I'm trying to get the back half up and over and I know I need more power for that, and so I ever so gently push the joystick a little harder hoping all the while I will not go so far as to go flying off the edge of the deck..........so I made it with a few anxious moments onto the deck, and turned it to go down the ramp. Sounds easy enough, right? Wrong.......the ramp isn't that steep, but when you are carrying around 300+ lbs going down any hill looks daunting. So hubby says tilt the chair back a little, so I do, and it makes

it look a little less ominous.......slowly I creep down the ramp.......WALLA!! I'm down and on the driveway heading to the side walk........no problem, except the sun is beating down on me, and after the few anxious moments getting down I decide that was enough for today. Now to get back up the ramp and through the door to get inside. Up I go, no problem, but then I'm on the deck part and I need to turn to go across the threshold into the house, and to do that I have to turn and back the chair back towards the edge of the deck. Uh oh......here comes another panic moment.......okay, so I turn the chair and Steve says: "you look straight" now back up more. There is no railing on that part of the deck, just open space, and all I can think is I'll push that lever too far an off and down I'll go. He says I won't cause there is a lip, but all I can think of is what if the chair jumps the lip because I push the button too hard, eh?? But being the brave soul I am....lol.......I turn the chair, and I start inching my self back, okay so far, not bad I think,........but he keeps saying a little more, a little more, and I am getting a little tense now putting all my trust in my depth perceptive challenged hubby, hoping he is guiding me right.......and finally he says STOP! Good thing I still have good reflexes on that hand.......okay, so now comes the easy part. All I have to do is steer it straight into the doorway and I'm home free! So I start out.........and this is where something goes terribly wrong, and as I am going what I thought was straight I was a little too close to the edge of the door, and as I was inching forward my right upper arm caught the door jam and tore off a good portion of skin. I am imagining by tonight or tomorrow I'll

have a nice array of colors to add to it. But I'm tough, and after a few choice words, I drove the beast straight through, past the first table, recliner, second end table and into the open space in my kitchen and parked it safely until the next run.

Whew .......the bleeding has stopped on my arm, and even though it was a rough trip, I still feel triumphant! lol.....

Laugh at my expense because it sure is funny to me the more I think about it!

Time for my meds, and a nap. ttyou all later....

p/s here's a picture of the ramp, and I'll get one of the chair next time. Akiba, mine is purple like yours I think. [the base part]

God Bless with Love, Jackie