Tonight I decided that I shall do some laundry in the neighborhood laundry room as I don't have a washing machine in my apartment- my bathroom isn't big enough to have one. So I went to the laundry room and was instantly reminded of why I normally don't use the facility and have mum help me with most of my laundry! THE DOOR! The door into the facility is extremely heavy to both pull and push open, and you need to use a key badge to unlock it and the reader for the badge is very high up, especially if you're in a wheelchair of you're short. I'm tall enough when standing, but in my wheelchair I truly have to reach to unlock the door. Then comes the fun part of actually pulling the door open, preferably without dislocating every bone in your arm, something that may or may not happen in people living with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome or other disorders of the connective tissue that causes laxity of the ligaments.
I managed to get through the door without dislocating something, but I felt it was near both when I went to book the machines and when I went to load them. By the time I was putting my wash into the tumble dryer I decided it was better to just stay in the room until I was done, rather than battling the door a fourth time in just a few hours, by this time I was having bad neck pain, my right shoulder, elbow and hand felt like I had been trying to pull a dead elephant through the neighborhood. My back was no fun either but still figured I'd be less uncomfortable just sitting in my wheelchair waiting for the laundry to dry, than battling the door again.
My laundry was done about 1.5 hours ago, and I finally got back home, hopefully in one piece but in a lot of pain. Needless to say I have filed a complaint with the landlord regarding that door, kindly notifying them that I can not use the facility safely and that I'm not the only one struggling with how heavy that door is to open. I mean seriously, it should be a No Shit Sherlock to have a door to a public neighborhood facility accessible to anyone living in the neighborhood! And such a place as a laundry room is THE place where you kinda never go without carrying a load of things in or out said door. I've already been in touch with other tenants in the neighborhood who aren't disabled and they also struggle with that door to the laundry rooms, so it's not just me being a moaning bitch because of my condition, it IS a problem area!
I'm hoping the pain in my right side will ease in a few hours, but as it feels now I may have to resort to some extra painkillers as I think some muscles may have been strained or even sprained around the joints from opening the door.
Should the laundry room get an accessible door, I'd use the facility regularly as I prefer to wash my own laundry and have it done my way with tumble drying and the lush softness it provides! And it's also something that makes me feel like an adult and makes me feel independent! At this age I should be doing all those things on my own, and I know how to do them, there's just that physical obstacle to overcome before I'll be there!
On another note, I went to neighbor town this afternoon because I just felt like going out for a while and drive a bit, plus having a couple of things I needed to look for in a shop in town. As ever so often when I'm driving alone, I thank my lucky star that I have the handicap parking permit! I really wouldn't be out much if I didn't have it! I've needed to use it every time I've been out on my own lately as there's been so much people in the parking lots I've been parking at, and while I am able to self propel much longer than I'm able to walk, it's not safe to roll in a wheelchair behind parked cars in a busy parking lot!
Now I just hope I can manage to somehow get a car that's better for me to drive than the current stick shift that I'm driving. I've been talking with dad a lot about it lately as he's not getting younger and I'm not getting better. It would benefit both of us to have a car with automatic gears and cruise control, or even hand controls as his legs are beginning to trouble him from many years of being on blood pressure medications. I could of course apply for government funding for a handicap car with hand controls, or raise funds more actively through gofundme, but at the same time I feel, why do I need to have my own car when I live in the same neighborhood as my parents and they use the RV when going out over weekends and vacations these days? The regular car is always available these days! It would just be a waste of money to have three cars in one family, and it would save money both for me and my parents if we had one shared regular car that I can pay some of the tax and insurance on too. I don't know how it works with the tax and insurance costs if you get a car funded by the government due to your disability, need to check that out. When living on government disability benefits, you do have to think twice pretty often, you definitely don't have the same funds that you'd have if you were able to have a full time job!
I stayed in town for a couple of hours and went to some different shops, partly the shops I had errands to, and partly just looking around for the heck of it. Found the things I was looking for and then went to a cafe where they had home made ice cream! Seeing it was such a lovely day today, I've been outside in 3/4 length leggings and short sleeve or 3/4 sleeve all day until I got back from laundry! I just had to have ice cream today! Rocky road, chocolate and stracciatella were the flavors I tried today and it was divine! I'm so going to have ice cream in that cafe again next time I go into town!
I'll honestly have to say, it's even worth driving 15 miles each way JUST for this ice cream! The Rocky Road and Chocolate flavors were especially good! I guess you could say that I have a weakness for chocolate flavors!
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