Category: Books and NOT COOL Stuff

Here are some books I am currently reading, books I WANT to read, books that I LOVE, or books that I refence in my posts, and some NOT COOL things about being a disabled person in a world that isn’t TRULY wheelchair accessible.

NOT COOL Stuff #4

So, with ALL of this snow, it’s been kinda difficult to get around.  Wheels and snow don’t really mix very well.  I had to get gas this morning before going to work and with all the melt-y snow, things are much harder for me.  I had to wait for a pump to get clear because the pumps that were not in use (there were 3 of them) had big pools of water right in front of them.  My wheels and water don’t mix very well either.  I have to push myself through the water and then my hands get wet.  Add the freezing cold outside to wet hands and that is REALLY NOT COOL!  But I was jammin’ to Sara (Bareilles) as I waited and I had already called work and told them what I needed to do before coming in  so it was okay.

Luckily foir me, the gas station was free of any snow on the ground by the pumps.  What I have run into at numerous places is that the spaces (disabled spaces especially) are not cleared very well.  I can’t get out of the driver’s seat and get secure footing on snow, slush, or ice.  It’s just the nature of my disease I suppose. Otherwise, I can’t get out of my car and transfer into my wheelchair safely.  I am not always at Barwis so Connor doesn’t come out and shovel for me or Phil doesn’t lift me out of my car and put me in my wheelchair so I have a spade in my trunk so Sean will clear out the ground where I need to step for me (sometimes he has had to break up ice).  Sean was at Winter conditioning for track and I went to the store in the time between dropping him off and picking him up.  I couldn’t get out of the car safely.  Thanks to Tommy, I was able to because he helped me out and shoveled the snow and slush away (with my spade) so I could stand.

Also, piling the snow in the spaces beside the disabled parking spaces is not GREAT because disabled spots are that big for a reason.  We NEED the room.  Piling snow in front of the one ramp to get into your establishment is also NOT COOL!  Disabled people matter too!  No matter what the weather is!

Books I’m Reading 5.14.14

So, I really don’t like to do this, but I am.  I am currently reading 4 books.  I will finish ALL of them; I PROMISE!!!  I am reading If I Stay by Gayle Forman.

I started it Monday night just before I went to bed (I read like 12 pages).  Yesterday, during my students’ silent reading time, I read a bit more.  One student asked me if I was crying (my eyes were glassy but no tears had fallen) so I stopped reading and answered, “Not yet.”  During the next classes’ silent reading time, I cried.  Needless to say, it’s a good book.  I am reading it because a movie is coming out based on it soon.  This is a movie that Sean REFUSES to see with me because it is “a chick movie.”  But, I’m a chick so I WANT to see it.