Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Right tool for the job

When we invited folks to Maggie's big 18th birthday fandango we asked for no gifts. The idea was that the party was to thank all those invited who helped Maggie in some way. Most complied. A few thought that was nonsense and gave her gifts anyway. Maggie did well and had a great time.

One of those gifts was this tool set from Barb, Maggie's Physical Therapist. She thought every girl should have her own tools set, including the cool tool bag. The fact that it was puce and pink was just a bonus. There is a matching hammer, screwdriver (flat and philips), wrench, needle nose pliers, tape measure and a level as well as two sets of allen wrenches. 


Though we have not yet had a use for the level, I believe we have used every other tool multiple times.  


There are a hundred different places on the chair that need help and we always have the right tool to fix it, though sometimes that's not enough. For instance, when Maggie's foot was stuck in the wheelchair a couple of weeks ago, I ripped into the allen wrenches until I found the right size and tried with all my might to get that box off. I had the tools, but not the strength and had to call the fire department for help. (They had the strength, but didn't stop to use the tools and just snapped the bolt - and I'm still fine with that.) 


Maggie's talker has been very temperamental the last few days. I had to keep resetting it and then it would work for a while but stop scanning again. Finally I realized one of the two switches was bad. It was probably failing over the past few days and I was blaming the computer instead of the switch. Once it stopped completely, light finally dawned. I have a few spares, so changing the switch was easy enough.  All I needed was a phillips head screw driver, which is included in the handy dandy pink and puce tool bag.

I figured it was time for Maggie to lend a hand. This was her voice we were working with. It was her switch on her tray and her tools.  I told her she had to give me a hand and she just looked at me incredulously. Me? help YOU? That is not how this set up works.

Maggie would have no part of taking the old one off but became quite fascinated when I unscrewed the old one.She decided it was worth her effort to help me put the new one on. 


She was quite proud of herself when she was finished. I'm sure she's looking for more projects.


 If I come home and she's remodeled the bathroom, I will be delighted. 


1 comment:

  1. I really do love hearing about how Maggie is such an integral part of your family life. We're all so lame around these parts fixing anything, so if Maggie and you feel a vocation coming on, I urge you to pursue it!

    ReplyDelete

Hi Maggie loves your comments. It may take a while for the comment to post, but you will see it eventually.