Progress Report

After several delays for various reasons (bronchitis being one) I finally got the spinner knob* installed on the steering wheel. It has made all the difference! I don’t know how people can turn the wheel one-handed without one. So now I am officially driving with hand controls! (My constant mantra: “Down go, forward stop, down go, forward stop.”) I’ve made a half dozen trips around town using them exclusively, including one through the car wash – not easy getting lined up on those narrow tracks! The only thing I haven’t tackled yet is parallel parking. I started to do it once and chickened out. I just don’t have the finesse yet that it takes to ease the car into a narrow spot with obstacles on both ends. Anyone want to volunteer their cars so I can practice?? I did well with one incident when I had to hit the brakes in a hurry – I don’t think I even lifted my foot.

I realized that Laurie will also have to figure out a new way to do her phantom braking in the passenger seat.

*A little more history on the spinner knobs: besides "suicide knobs," they’ve also been called “necker knobs” – the driver could use one hand to drive and the other to feel up the passenger – and “titty bangers,”  for obvious reasons.

We ran into some issues with the scooter lift for the Element. We decided early on against an exterior model because of the extra length on the back of the car (I would never parallel park!) and the weather issues. Turns out the power lift we thought would work (“we” meaning us and the
salesperson at All-in-One Mobility) won’t work with the tailgate, so we have to spend an extra thousand bucks to get one with a telescoping lift head. Disappointing, but it might be best in the long run. The manually operated one might have been difficult to manage in the years ahead. This one should be really easy for me to operate by myself so I can be independent when I want to take the scooter out on an adventure by myself.

And speaking of scooters –while we’re spending all this money, we decided to go ahead and upgrade the scooter, as the current one has developed some electrical problem that would cost more to fix than we feel is worth it. So I’ll have a brand new scooter when the lift is installed (within a couple of weeks). Now Liza won’t be able to keep up with me! The current scooter has been slowing down – yesterday I wasn’t sure I’d even make it home, it almost came to a standstill a couple of times, on ½ a charged battery. The new scooter also has a higher ground clearance, which is really important to me on these bumpy sidewalks (I’ve gotten high-centered a couple of times), more ergonomic accelerator, more leg room and- the real selling point -interchangeable panels, so it can be blue one day, red the next and silver another day; so important to color-coordinate my scooter with my attire, you know - fashionista that I am.