August | 2006 | The View from My Chair 2006 August | views of life expressed by a woman using a powerful wheelchair

August, 2006

Update on the IPod Post

August 27, 2006 by Karen of Scottsdale

Thanks to everyone who gave me recommendations. I like to do a lot of research before I pluck down money on something high-tech. These are the features I would like in an MP3 player (I don’t think I’m going to do the iPod because I feel it limits me too much.)

1. Playback of my CD collection and future music downloads.

2. built-in microphone for voice recording so I can dictate notes and have them transcribed by Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred 9.

3. Optional accessory — FM transmitter so I can play tunes in the car or on my home stereo or someone else’s stereo.

4. I don’t care about size except that 2 gigs or greater would suffice.

5. A removable battery would be a nice feature.

6. A screen and menu system which allows searching for a particular song instead of a shuffle. I don’t need video playback and JPEG viewing.
The Creative Zen line seems to have most of these features but each time I narrow it down to a particular model I can’t seem to find it available for purchase. I guess they are still in production?

Over the weekend Norm took me to CompUSA and Wal-Mart to see what’s available. Unfortunately no one at either store is interested in helping you actually see and ask questions about the products. So frustrating! I really want to try it out before I buy it because I have limited manual dexterity issues to deal with. It’s one of my pet peeves with stores like CompUSA and Best Buy — not only do they give you lousy customer service but unless you’re able-bodied you can’t hold the products in your hands because they’re attached with very short cable anti-theft devices. Wal-Mart had everything under lock and key in a glass case but no salespeople were available. At least I was able to pick up some marble cake while I was there for my breakfast.

One of these days I’ll make up my mind and actually purchase something.

Category high-tech stuff | Tags: | 9 Comments
Instead of Plan B

August 27, 2006 by Karen of Scottsdale

Why not try Plan A? (Hat tip to Garrett.)

Category pro life | Tags: | 1 Comment

If I Could Talk to the Animals

August 27, 2006 by Karen of Scottsdale

Whenever I take my early evening stroll through the neighborhood I see various critters, but mostly cats. Whenever I pass by a house with cats in the yard I always talk to the cats — meow. I get one of three reactions, they look at me but do not reply, they totally ignore me, or they run away.

This evening I saw a cat I had not seen before. It was a black-and-white longhair sitting under a Lantana bush in a graveled front yard. I had never seen a cat in front of that house before, and at first I thought it was another cat I usually see a few houses further down the street. I was on the other side of the street so I didn’t bother talking to it because I thought it was the other cat. As I went further down the block I saw the cat that I thought it was — another black-and-white cat who totally ignores me. So as I turned around to head back home I went to the other side of the street so I could pass by the new black-and-white cat. I pulled up to the sidewalk and said hello. The cat looked at me but did not respond. Then I said meow and believe it or not the cat stood up and said meow back. So I said meow again and the cat continued to talk to me and even came right up to me. How sweet! So I kept talking to it and it kept talking back. It started to rub its head on my foot rest and then on my toes hanging over the edge of the foot rest. What a friendly cat. We carried on our little conversation for about five minutes and then I said goodbye. As I said goodbye the cats seem to know I was leaving and so it walked away from me back to its spot in the yard. I went down the block a ways and then turned around and there it was watching me. I guess I made a new friend tonight in the neighborhood.

Pet insurance is a simple and effective way to care for your pet. Pet insurance is a good way to insure that your cat is taken care of in times of need. If you consider a pet as a member of your family, than make sure that pet is cared for like you would a family member.

Category cats | Tags: | 1 Comment

Summer Thunderstorms

August 24, 2006 by Karen of Scottsdale

We have had three days of thunderstorms this week. Monday late afternoon we had a nice thunderstorm that cooled things down quite a bit. Tuesday morning we woke up to the sound of thunder and about 20 minutes of rain. Thursday morning we woke up to lightning, thunder and rain which lasted over two hours. It was very noisy. I was getting ready to take my shower and Norm suggested that I should just go out in the backyard in my shower chair. We do have a 5 foot concrete block wall around the backyard and none of our neighbors have two-story houses, but I don’t want to get hit by lightning. There was lots and lots of lightning!

Check out Norm’s blog for more information on how the weather in Scottsdale became national news.

Category gimp girl life, life in Scottsdale, life with Norm, weather reports | Tags: | 4 Comments
The Disabled Just Can’t Get a Break

August 24, 2006 by Karen of Scottsdale

I learned today, via Pat’s Pond, that Pluto is no longer a planet, at least according to “leading astronomers” who have created new guidelines as to the classification of planets. They have determined that Pluto is a dwarf planet. So does that mean that dwarf people are not really people? I know a few who might beg to differ that point!

However, it would seem that being disable and funny does get you a break now and then. Case in point — Josh Blue who has become the Last Comic Standing. I must admit that I did not watch the show, but learned about it through secret Internet sources. Josh lives with the challenges of cerebral palsy and describes his comedy as “spastic and engaging.” He is quoted as saying, “I realize that people are going to stare so I want to give them something to stare at.” LOL

Throughout my life of dealing with the challenges of limited mobility I have come to appreciate a healthy sense of humor. Both my parents gave me the gene! Fortunately I married a man who appreciates my wackiness. I never want people to laugh at me but I always want them to laugh with me.

This reminds me of a presentation I had to give in graduate school while earning my MBA at San Diego State University. Don’t recall what the class was about, but I remember doing a presentation on modifications in the workplace to help employees with disabilities. I showed a video of people with disabilities using special equipment in the workplace such as computer screen readers for the visually impaired. To keep it from being boring, I ended my presentation with the phrase “hire the handicap — they’re fun to watch!”

Category gimp girl life, world events | Tags: | 1 Comment
To iPod or not to iPod…

August 21, 2006 by Karen of Scottsdale

… that is the question. My birthday is less than two months away and I told Norm that I would like an iPod so I could listen to cool tunes while I take my evening stroll through the neighborhood. After thinking about it for awhile and looking around on the Internet, I’m wondering if I should get an MP3 player rather than the proprietary iPod. In case you’re wondering, I don’t have an Apple computer, but I understand that you don’t need one in order to use an iPod.

So do any of my wonderful readers have suggestions for me? What do you use — MP3 player or iPod?

Category high-tech stuff | Tags: | 4 Comments
And Now for Something Different

August 18, 2006 by Karen of Scottsdale

Check out Norm’s new podcast.

Category life with Norm | Tags: | Comments Off
Mosquitoes — I Hate Them!

August 17, 2006 by Karen of Scottsdale

Since we had rain the past few weeks, not a whole lot but some, we’ve also gotten mosquitoes. The first year I lived here, back in 1999, we never had mosquitoes. Now we get them every summer when we get monsoon storms.

Mosquitoes like me for some reason. I swell up instantly when I get bit. Last week I was on my evening stroll through the neighborhood when I stopped to chat with a lady who was in her yard. I got bit three times on my left hand and never saw the booger!

Thinking it would be best to avoid sundown, I tried going out earlier but it was too hot. Tonight I thought I could make a quick stroll when the sun got down low enough in the sky. So off I go and on that same street there is that lady that I saw before. She was in her car with a U-Haul attached. We chatted for a few minutes to say goodbye because she was moving back to Alabama to take care of her ailing parents. I wasn’t there more than three minutes and I felt something sting my right hand and arm. I didn’t see anything, but as soon as I got home there were two welts — one on my thumb and the other one on my arm in a place that’s hard for me to reach to scratch. Oh they are so painful! When you can’t reach your mosquito bites to scratch them, it is even more miserable! I am convinced that mosquitoes are the work of the devil!

A couple years ago Norm and I got one of those bug zappers to hang near the patio. Unfortunately, it never worked well and I always got bit anyways. Last week I suggested to Norm we should bring it in the house since we never sit outdoors in the evenings anymore. He wasn’t too sure about the idea until he got bit several times one evening while we were watching TV. Now the zapper hangs in the dining room near the back door so it will catch all the bugs that fly in when we open the door for the cats. It works pretty good because I hear it zapping most evenings while we are sitting in the living room. The only trouble is we can’t leave it on all night because the blacklight bulb lights up the entire house when we turn out all the other lights. Sometimes I feel like I’m at Kmart when I see the blue light in the corner. Yes, this is the place for the blue light special.

Category gimp girl life, life in Scottsdale, life with Norm | Tags: | 2 Comments

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