i love figuring out how to do things that able-bodied people think i cant, or better yet, that they cant - my favorite example of that was my furnace - it wasn't lit when i first moved in, in mid january, the repairman did it 5 days later - and it took him a few times and over an hour to get it.... it stayed lit till april when my sister was here visiting, she went out and got a special lighter for it;but still had trouble getting it lit - last fall, my friend lit it for me once, and i asked her to copy down the directions written on it for me, since there were where i couldn't see them - i tried doing it myself next time, seemed easy enough... turn switch to off, turn thermostat all the way down, wait 5 min, take cover off (awkward height for a reg person, not too bad from a wheelchair) turn switch to pilot, hold switch down while lighting pilot, hold 20 seconds till stays lit, replace cap, turn switch to on, set thermostat... well, sounds easy,except for trying to hold the lighter and the switch down at the same time, if those 2 good hands people couldn't do it, i hadn't a prayer, especially since the lighter didn't stay on unless you continually held the switch... then i remembered i had some long fireplace matches, so i used one of those instead of the lighter and laid it down leaning against the pilot spot then held the switch down - voila, a two handed job switched to a one handed one - i'm also pleased with myself that now i'm thrilled whenever it goes out, cause i love relighting so much, lol

i've also discovered that a power chair is a great thing to push furniture with, and getting the trash cans to the curb on pickup day - i've already mentioned the dog leash on the doorknob and the broken molding for flipping lightswitches - another thing i figured out after having trouble pouring boiling water from pot into a measuring cup while in the chair - in order to not spill it all over me and get the measurements right, i used a ladle to transfer the water from the pot to the measuring cup....

just recently i had an "experience" at the pool.... its wheelchair accessible, i transfer to their chairs the roll down the ramp into the pool - most people go down the ramp slowly and controlled, holding onto the rails as they go, those that don't have helpers... i, of course, have to be different... i get to the top of the ramp, lift my hands and feet, and let er rip, turning the chair and ramp into a wheeled waterslide.... well, this one day as i was whizzing down, it seemed the wheel was bent on the chair so it hit the side, flipped over and tumbled me out... oops - i wasn't hurt;but the pool people were a bit panicked, especially when there was no easy way to get in a good position to get me back into the chair, so while they discussed what to do i looked around and said "no problem", i butt crawled down the rest of the ramp and into the water, then continued toward the side till i started to float, pulled myself around to where i knew the water was deep enough that i could walk, and continued on to my class, i was pleased with myself; but disappointed that i'm no longer allowed to speed run down the ramp, oh well, lol