Friday 3 August 2007

Wave at my WAV - as it disappears - then wave off the PM.

Because the silly little nincompoops (which sillyness saves me swearing) didn't do it right did they. Nitwits.

The vehicle converting company got everything right except the hooks to hold the rear wheelchair restraint straps out of the way when the wheelchair is exiting the vehicle. Which is what they had measured for last October, oh, and January too. I don't suppose anyone is interested in this little technicality but I am putting it here to vent frustration. (I look forward to the day when there is nothing left to whinge about, yes I do, and I'm sure I will still find something to blog about.)

The rest of the VW Caddy conversion is rather beautiful though. CD player, aircon, cool remote opening tailgate (sounds like it belongs in a 'machines are taking over the world' horror movie), beautiful colour, clever things to slot the front inertia reel wheelchair restraint straps into when they are detached from the wheelchair frame, so I can leave the vehicle. Shiny karabinas (spelling, any mountaineers out there know the spelling ?) for the rear restraint straps to hook onto the rear of the frame (for which they forgot the hooks), and lots of little VeeDub touches and great wing mirrors. Its a dream to drive but quite big, like a proper van, so I sailed stately down the middle of the country lane for a test drive, with a grin from ear to ear, and confirmed that it is very quiet to be in, no booming internal sounds which can be a problem with an open van, with no jingly clunking noises anywhere from the conversion or wheelchair related accessories.

But its not mine yet. They took it back to the factory, as I refused to sign for it until all was in place and fixed according to the specification agreed with Motability. Hopefully it will be re-delivered in time for my birthday and definitely for the G & S country show the week after, which I am so looking forward to, provided the car parking and show fields have dried out from the lakes they became in the deluges of the last few weeks.

And now there is a a case of foot and mouth not that far away on this little island called England. The last outbreak had a huge negative effect on country life, so fingers crossed that the government and its DEFRA has it contained better and quicker this time.

It is a good sign that plans to contain an outbreak have begun; the Prime Minister has cut short his holiday after only one day and returned to COBRA. (Combined Operations Briefing Room A - aren't you impressed I know that? No ? Oh you know it too.) I don't think it was just a dastardly plan to get him out of Dorset - we don't want too much attention down here, Dorset might get too well known, and crowded.

Labels:

14 Comments:

Blogger BloggingMone said...

What a pitty you couldn't keep your shiny new WAV right away! But at least it seems a minor issue, which will be dealt with soon. Hope it is there for you to visit the Country Show.
About the hooks: it is either carabiner (sg.) and carabiners (pl.) or karabiner (sg.) and karabiners (pl.) the easiest way would probably be calling them snap-hooks. I am no moutaineerer, but as soon as I open blogger, I also log myself in to LEO, an online dictionary for German and English, because as sure as there will be an "Amen" at church (German saying!) I will need that dictionary sooner or later.

Saturday 4 August 2007 at 08:36:00 BST  
Blogger Lily said...

Sally, you have the patience of a saint. Faced by your frustrating Groundhog Days, I would be on the floor by now, kicking and screaming. Hope the WAV comes back perfect and you have lots of comfy, quiet adventures ahead. As for the bump, I don't understand - scar tissue not on the site of the osteoma? Has it migrated? Have you noticed that Charles is back?

Saturday 4 August 2007 at 08:47:00 BST  
Blogger Sally said...

Thanks BM, for explaining the spelling; carabiners with a 'c' feels more english !

Dictionaries; ha ! reading Charles's posts led to me putting on the shelf within easy reach not just my big everyday dictionary, but also my Bump's latin dictionary, french dictionary, and 'the illustrated dictionary of unfamiliar words' - all needed so that I didn't appear too uneducated to CD ! And others of course !

' ... as sure as there will be an Amen at church." We have a similar one: 'As sure as eggs is eggs' which is ungrammatical, strictly speaking should be 'as eggs ARE eggs', but all the 's' sounds make it more effective.

Speaking of CD ...

Saturday 4 August 2007 at 10:48:00 BST  
Blogger Sally said...

Hi Lily (apols for not putting you back on my link list - grrr)

I am not naturally patient and am likely to explode at any moment ! But what choice do I have, except to be patient.

However, speaking as a Jungian, my unconscious, unconsciously got the better of my patient exterior. It happened like this:

That chap that was due to deliver the WAV is called R... and is the son of R... who founded the company. The chap who is responsible for the hooks is called R... and back in January his son R... measured for a second time the location of the hooks. What I did not take in and remember at the time, was that the made who made the deliver was R..., not R... the son of the founder, but R... the son of the man who made the hooks mistake.

After he had left, taking the WAV back with him, I said to my PA: "oh s..., I have just realised; all the afternoon I have been complaining to R... that R... didn't fit the hooks as agreed, when I thought I was talking to R... the son of the founder, but in fact I have been complaining of R... to his son R...

Nevermind said PA, all his life R... (the son) has put his father on a pedestal, now he is no longer on the pedestal, which is good for the son, now he can be the man.

So you see, on the surface, my
Persona was patient, but my unconscious Shadow worked its dastardly way, in a way I would not have dreamt of doing consciously. If I had realised it was the son of the man who made the mistake, I would not have said anything in complaint.

To write/email and apologise would compound the error; as I kept calling him the wrong name all afternoon, hopefully he will continue to believe that I was a mad woman who could not remember who she was talking to.

Scar tissue: the Neuro doctor explained that (you may not wish to read any further ...) the scar tissue is at the point of the incision (across my forehead, just inside the hair line, all the way from one side to the other) where the skin was cut in two, one half folded back on the top of my head,the other half folded forward over my face (I warned you !) and the scar tissue has formed at the site of that folding. Errgghh.
(sorry)

CD - No, he has not properly returned, just visited briefly, although maybe quite a few ladies fluttered at the thought ;-)
Leave him a comment to encourage him. I left one but have no way of knowing whether he reads comments.

He just posted a (fierce) picture to keep Blogger from gobbling up a site/blogger name if not used for a long time. He said he would do this in his farewell.

So Charles, are you lurking ?
You are very welcome to !

Saturday 4 August 2007 at 11:07:00 BST  
Blogger Gone Fishing said...

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Lassy there be a tale to be litoned too by golly gosh Arrrrrrrr and ohhh and so on.

meanwhile back in NZ we are still waiting for a replacement Oil pump thing to arive from Japan for our lovely MPV machine which hopefully will tka em on many photo and painting trips so I sympathises with your frustradednessis and wish you great forward movments int near future.
Foot in Mouth, although w ehave not the disease we certainly have polytishuns who play that game often!

Monday 6 August 2007 at 06:04:00 BST  
Blogger Elizabeth McClung said...

Admittedly this post made me feel rather dim becuase I own a wheelchair but for a great part of your description I have no idea what you are talking about. But I can related to the frustration of ordering, waiting and wanting something only to have to return it (repeatedly) when it arrive as happened with my custom built chair, which I am currently using without functioning brakes because I refuse to return it once more.

I really hope foot and mouth doesn't spread again, I know the farmers were hit hard as was the tourist industry.

Monday 6 August 2007 at 18:29:00 BST  
Blogger Sally said...

Hi Ol Nobby - Damned machines, the chances of them being trouble free is almost ziltch (nought). But, like politicians, we can't get anywhere without them. But having to wait for a part to arrive from Japan, that is utmost frustration. Hope it is sorted soon for you, your family and your pictures.

Monday 6 August 2007 at 21:17:00 BST  
Blogger Sally said...

Hello Elizabeth, welcome to my blog.
I am sorry the post was a bit silly to new visitors; WAV as in Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle, and 'wave at my wav' was a phrase I used right at the beginning of the long saga of getting the next leased vehicle, so I have kept the terminology, as a form of irony, not meaning to be exclusive only to regular readers.

I am interested in your custom built chair, even without functioning brakes! Anything technical like that interests me. My Pride powerchair(s) have electronics that lock the brakes when the hand is off the joystick. I cannot image how one could use any chair, manual or a powerchair, without functioning brakes.

Foot and Mouth disease; currently the media are suggesting the recent floods somehow migrated the disease from the nearby Pirbright research institute, as the strain found in the cattle is the same that Pirbright are making vaccine for. There is some concern that footpaths (public rights of way across land) are still open in the area, by which walkers could spread disease, and the rights of way can only be closed by legal orders. We do hope it will be dealt with quickly.

Monday 6 August 2007 at 21:31:00 BST  
Blogger Cusp said...

Well either you rejected my comment :-(( or I was a right nitwit and didn't post it properly... or blogger blogged up again....

I was going to say that I think it's a proper b*gger that the WAV wasn't ready to spec. and how infuriating that kind of thing is.

I do hope that it's ready very soon and you can soon be seen hurtling round the Dorset countryside...if not hurtling, then gliding through in a stately manner like a monarch's coach. I must admit that I do quite like this idea of you perusing the Dorset coutryside and workers of the land from your chariot, doing that weird circular waving motion to the cheering throng :-)

My own VDub (Glodene) is also poorly with a missing window. Started out as a new seal for a quarterlight, which turned into a new quarterlight, which turned into a new seal for the window next to it....and on it goes. Poor Glo will never get out in the sunshine at this rate and Just Kampers is making a mint out of me.

Tuesday 7 August 2007 at 10:59:00 BST  
Blogger Sally said...

No, didn't get your first comment Cusp. Definitely Blogger's fault.
Me, hurtle ? Never. These days the workers on the land are usually the owners, not like days of yore - when I would have been one of the workers !

I think we should post pictures of our various Veedubs; Blogging Mone has one in Germany, which looks quite similar to mine (without the adaptations inside) and I have no idea what a Glodene is. Sounds like something you could find in the dark :-) (I have a longer nose on this keyboard).

Tuesday 7 August 2007 at 11:43:00 BST  
Blogger Maddy said...

Newbie visiting from Goldfish.
What a saga. Bureaucracy is a plague for everyone.
Best wishes

Tuesday 7 August 2007 at 16:21:00 BST  
Blogger Sally said...

Hello mcewen, welcome here. Goldfish is the centre of a very large universe, where I have 'met' many lovely bloggers.
Did I read your profile right, you originally were from the UK ? which bit ?

Tuesday 7 August 2007 at 18:04:00 BST  
Blogger Cusp said...

Naughty Blogger ...or stupid me. Most likely the latter.
Bit frayed around the edges at the moment with the school holidays.

Glodene is the name of my 76 lhd Westfalia and she's named after Barry White's first wife who was glamorous to the point of nausea (!) and that's just how my VDub is ;-)

Didn't really imagine you might hurtle. I'm sure you're too refined for such giddy travel. The idea of a stately meander is probably more your style.

Tuesday 7 August 2007 at 19:39:00 BST  
Blogger Sally said...

Cusp - huge apologies for taking days to publish your comment. Definitely Sally's fault this time.

Its been one of those weeks (when isn't it in crip-dom ?!)

I have absolutely no idea what a 76 ldh Westfalia is but she sounds as though she goes and gets you where you want to be in the style you want to accomplish it.

When the mood takes me I hurtle, I was born to wheels, spent my childhood on roller skates and bicycles, now I am happy trundling along on my wheels - a stately meander is occasionally employed when departing in a classy huff.

Friday 10 August 2007 at 21:30:00 BST  

Post a Comment

Thank you for leaving a comment ... all comments are moderated and will be published soon.

<< Home