Little House on the Prairie Day

Today is what my mother used to refer to as a "Little House on the Prairie Day."   Though we didn't have a barn that needed mucking or a fence that needed repairing in the lower 40, her Little House on the Prairie Day meant she was going to tend to things that needed attention around the house. And that's what I will do today. It's not that I am so driven, because I'm not, but a series of events gives me no choice.  I am stuck at home because my car is in the shop. and deliverymen and wheelchair repair men are expected at various time today. I guess this is more of a 21st century, urban  life with a disabled person version of Little House on the Prairie. Almost the same 

October, for all of its World Series glory was a tough month for us, equipment wise. The car locking system suddenly decided to stop working, the oven went crazy just as a guest was arriving for dinner one night and . Maggie's wheelchair continues to be problematic. 

The wheelchair repair guy is coming today. We await a headrest that will work better but he won't fix that today because there is a more immediate problem. The chair has tipped over twice this week with Maggie in it. Something is amiss and Maggie is able to recline the seat when she gets excited. If all the equipment is hanging on the back when that happens the chair falls over backwards. Not good. Both times her nurse has been right behind her to break the fall, but that won't always be the case. When I described the situation in an email the guy said he thinks he knows what the problem is. I hope so.  Maggie arrives at 2:00 today, He is coming here at 3:00PM.

Of course, he may arrive just as the new stove is delivered, because they are coming sometime between 2:30 and 6:30. I have been without an oven since October 17 when it decided to go completely crazy just as our friend Austin was arriving for dinner.It is old and it is the one mismatched appliance in the kitchen. I think the electronic panel is what broke, but we are replacing it.  We have been waiting for it to go, but blowing out when it did was not great. (We barbecued, it worked out fine.) Steve had to turn off the circuit breaker just so we could turn the oven off. I've been lighting the gas burners with a match ever since.  Probably 75% of my cooking is on top of the stove anyway, but it will certainly be nice to get an oven and broiler back again. 

Now the car. Last Monday I arrived home in the blinding rain and noticed the automatic door lock didn't make a noise when I pressed it. I presumed the doors were already locked and thought nothing of it. When I came out in the morning the car was unlocked. The whole system just wouldn't work. Not on my key or in the car. Weird. I figured it must have shorted out in the rain, but I never noticed anything happening. I checked my car manual but there is no fuse for that system. Weird. There was a way to enable and disable the system and I figured somehow it was disabled. I followed the instructions and heard all the right beeps, but the locks still won't work. Weird. I lived with it for 10 days. It is a pain to deal with it manually, but not the end of the world. Still, with winter rains coming I need it fixed. I cannot open the door and lower the ramp to load Maggie unless the door will unlock and I can't have her sitting in the rain while I do it manually. 

I took the car in the morning and Steve picked me up. I may have to wait until the morning to get it because I have to wait for the wheelchair and oven guys. 

Sure they had bitter cold coming through cracks in the walls and just squeaked by in a hardscrabble life, but Laura Ingalls Wilder never had to deal with a state of the art oven and wheelchair and an automatic locking system that won't work. 

So I'm stuck here and going to deal with thing in the house. Right now I'm off to attack Maggie' room and get rid of some of the stuff in there. Tim is going to paint it and this is my chance to purge!! Little House in the City will be slightly less crammed if I get this done. 

Anyone need a judges' bench that fits over a wheelchair tray? 

Nothing sadder than a leftover Halloween Costume