Old friends have been staying with us. He's an OT (and actually came up with the inspired solution for our house that means I can get to all of the first floor. We live in an Edwardian house, built around 1910. Long straight staircase leads to small landing with bathroom and my office. Then turn the corner and two steps up to what used to be Arden's and Griffin's rooms. Fine for when you have legs - although a bit of an odd set-up - but not so great when you need a stairlift. Our community OTs and builders both suggested that we get a curved stairlift so I could get access the children's rooms. Trouble is a curved stairlift costs at least £6,000. Another option would have been to have a through-floor lift. Starting price £10,000, major structural work and very obvious. Our friend K suggested building up the landing by two steps, so the whole floor would be a single level, accessed by a single, straight and much cheaper stairlft. Completely inspired.. Nothing like thinking out of the box. And on a similar note, K has just suggested how I can cook sauces. Being vain, not wanting a house that shouts "cripple lives here", we haven't adapted the kitchen at all. I love cooking.. But now, I can't see over the saucepan edges. As far as I know, you can't get glass bottomed pans (Pyrex is only for ovens). K's brilliant idea is to put a mirror on the cooker hood. Genius!
Anyway. This post is supposed to be about obsession.. Perhaps it should be about distraction. Well, the category is random thoughts. So, obsession. Annika pointed out that I spend a lot of time talking about disability, the issues and challenges and thoughts it raises. I could say that it's because everyone wants to know how I'm coping (aka living). There are a lot of good, often witty, stories to tell about my encounters and experiences. I'm still a new member of this minority. And I'm not working at the moment. Still, need to watch out for becoming a wheelchair bore (can't resist: "it's wheelie boring". Terrible). Is this something that every new member of the club goes through? Is it obsession, or is it just the fact that it's a pretty dramatic new thing to get used to?
