The Week in Gimp XIII

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Sunday…

I made back my bus fair at the Boston Zine Fair.  It was my best show ever, and I’m definitely going back.  I also traded books to get a new purse at no expense to me.  It’s going to be a monster (literally) purse, and I’m very happy about that.  I met some zine distributors who want to buy my zines and sell them at a markup.  More publicity for me and they seem like honest people. 

Then, of course, it came time to go home.  First, the bus was broken and then they couldn’t get the wheelchair seats to move correctly or the lift to work.  Then, I finally got to the bus station and there was no PVTA (our public transportation system) there to retrieve me.  I called the office.  No one was there.  Finally, we had to call the police who had some kind of emergency number.  They called the PVTA driver on duty.  I suppose they always have one although I didn’t know that.  He took me and Sheila home.  I got home at 1:32am and poor Demi marched across the parking lot to put me to bed. 

Monday…

Woke up after noon today.  All day I’ve just been sitting in the house resting and eating.  I did go to my doctor’s appointment as scheduled today though which I think is the only reason I got dressed or crawled out of my comfy bed.  I’m still in the poetry contest.  When I finish on the 30^th, I’m going to have a blueberry beer at Amherst Brewing Company.  I don’t usually drink but I feel that that’s a big enough accomplishment to indulge in a slight amount of vices.

Tuesday…

I went to the Food Stamps Office to get a new card after I lost mine.  It was very depressing to be in Holyoke, which is the poorest city in all of Massachusetts and a little scary to boot in places.   I’m mad at myself for causing $7 to be expended because I lost my card.  I must keep better track of it.  Well at least I restocked my fridge a little bit and am thinking of going to writing group tonight although I am very tired. The poetry contest people e-mailed me and said everything is fine. I finished my entry for today but I haven’t sent it out yet. I don’t know if I feel more like going out and being productive or staying in and watching TV in homage to true laziness. 

Wednesday…

My Wednesday hasn’t gone so well. At 4:44 this morning, I had to call the police to wake up my personal assistant who was sleeping in my living room but didn’t hear the phone ring when I called her. They came around 5 and she woke up. I think that Michelle’s suspicious genes are rubbing off on me because for a moment, and I’m sorry about it, I thought the girl had left me in the house alone. I really can’t keep engaging in these sort of thoughts. They are not good for me and they are not good for my relationships with other people.

The chair guy came at 11:30am and got my new chair all set up after some problems because they had forgotten that I don’t need a lock out switch on my chair because I am not 10. Lock out switches are for people who don’t know how to drive a chair well or are little kids who might get up to stuff that we don’t want them to. If I have a lock out switch I can’t use my bathroom, which of course is not going to work.

I told the guy I was going to write a book about all the miles I will cover in this chair in the next 5 years. He said I should call it, “Tales from the Chair” which I like and am going to keep. I think he thinks I’m a little odd, but what do I care?  He’s only a salesman.  My back is complaining a little bit because I’m sitting up so much straighter and I have to keep reminding myself to push over when I feel the urge to lean.

Tomorrow is a big day for me and the new chair.  I’m going to take it on a public bus for the first time ever. I wonder if that’s a little much for the second day I’ve had it but I have no choice and I have to get used to it sometime.

I don’t know why some people assume that wheelchair users have no lives.  I had three interviews scheduled today and not one showed up.  I guess good help is hard to find and even harder in hard economic times.  Luckily, Demi’s friend Amy (who I know from the apartment complex and seems very normal to me) can be a back up person and take a few shifts.  I’m only concerned because she’s young, 18, but we must try not to be ageist here.  I was a very responsible 18 year old person, and maybe she will be too. 

Thursday…

Took the chair out, and it went well.  Although, there were some problems figuring out how to plug it in so it didn’t get fully charged last night.  But it fits on buses really well and climbs hills amazingly.  I had another interview who again didn’t show up.  I really don’t know what’s going on with people.  It seems rude and stupid to me to do this.  However, I also visited Robin and got van tickets and had lunch with Zyn.  I’m still in the poetry competition with five more days to go.  I’ll be so excited when I finish that.  I have trouble finishing things.  No trouble starting, just trouble finishing.  

I fought with my mother today, not severely, because I as of yesterday lost my job which was through no fault of my own. The company I work for is just re-organizing itself but because I told Social Security about being employed, as I was supposed to, they reduced my benefits and now I need to go get them turned back up. My mother says I should have never told them in the first place.  If I don’t do that, however, they’ll take away my services which I can’t survive without and I’ll end up living with my parents again which will make nobody happy. So I’m just going to ignore her on this point.

Friday…

Today I took the chair out again, it was raining so that was a bit more difficult. It sucks too have a chair you are not in control of (it’s been two days, what do you want from me people?) out in the rain where it’s slippery. I went to Amherst and tried to sell cd’s I no longer wanted. However only one I no longer wanted earned me any money and that was only $3.00. Well at least I can do laundry now. That’s a big improvement

I sent in day 26 of the poetry competition, I like this poem because it has the words “Wheelchair diva” in it and I will share with you if I win the competition, or maybe even if I don’t. If you would like to see it please let me know.

Saturday…

May, my assistant, is going to do my laundry at her house for the five dollars I was going to spend doing it here.  She’ll do all of it.  That’s a very good thing.  It’s pouring rain here, so I haven’t gone out.  I’ll send May to CVS and to get my mail.  At 5, my new assistant Amy (the 18-year-old) will start.  I’ve already called to confirm that she’s coming and she says she’ll be here.  It’s a very boring day here.  I hope the sun is out tomorrow, because I really want to go to the fair.  It's a tradition.