Crippled Cowboy: A Treatise on Backup Wheelchairs & Backup Horses

The ramp on my van was becoming unreliable. You never knew if it was going to work properly. So in to the shop it went. Unfortunately, the van is so old they no longer make the parts and I had to purchase a whole new unit (just over $3700). My daughter, Sevon, picked up the van Thursday and then took it back with my newest power wheelchair. Why? Because my newest wheelchair, which I've had for over a year, had never been fitted so it would hook into the lock box. Yes, I know it was stupid to travel around with an unlocked wheelchair, but I hadn't found the time to get it done and...sometimes I just do stupid things for the hell of it.

I was prepared, though. I had my previous power chair powered up and ready to go as my backup. Hadn't been in it for over a year, but it was ready to go. The chair was ready but my body wasn't. My back hurt and my butt was killing me. Think of getting on a strange horse and using a different type of saddle, and then doing twenty miles in rough country. I was sorin' up all over. My newest chair has a wing that comes out of the left side of the back, which helps keep me from drifting way over to the left. If you look at the left arm of the older chair, the covering is cracked and peeled from me constantly using my elbow to either keep from drifting or to push on to get back upright. My back hurt, my butt was on fire, and my elbow was getting mighty tender.

I thought I was prepared. After all, I used to keep backup headin' horses all the time. I always had two, and sometimes three: My #1 horse, my backup horse, and one I was "trying out."  When practicing, I'd run 5-6 head on my backup horse and then 4 head on my #1 horse. If time and circumstances allowed, I'd run a few more on my backup or give the prospect a workout.

I'm sure you've spotted the flaw in my thinking I was prepared. It is one thing to have a backup horse that you ride every week, and having a backup wheelchair that you haven't been in for over a year. Even if your horse has been turned out for a year, you are still putting that same saddle on him. As you can see, I have figured this out, but as usual, way too late to do me any good.

It turns out the company that makes the device that goes under the chair also makes the lock box, and they are sold as a pair. Right now they are seeing if they can get me just the device I need.

I, however, wasn't gonna make it until sometime next week. Sevon and hubby were back to the shop this morning to retrieve the van and the wheelchair.

Yes, I suffered from VD --- I was Very Deluded in thinking there was any similarity in backup wheelchairs and backup horses. I'm properly mounted now, though, and ready to make a bloggin' run or two.