Disability Challenge: Trapped in a Lift Chair During Power Outages

One of the scariest times for me, before I figured this thing out, was during storms, dreading power outages. It's bad enough being without lights, refrigeration, my computer/wifi, and microwave, but I literally live in my lift chair. It's the only chair I have, and I sleep in it as well.

In the past, if a storm came up, I would immediately put my lift chair in the upright position. Due to previous damage to my knee, back, shoulders, and ankle, standing without the lift was painful and dangerous and could have left me more handicapped than I already was. Hauling myself over the arm of the reclined chair was equally painful and dangerous (not to mention nearly impossible) for me. And scooting to the edge of the seat and trying to move sideways around the raised stool renders the chair unstable, and the danger of tipping and injury likely.

More than once there have been storms in the middle of the night and I've woken up to a power outage. That's a terribly frightening prospect when you are at the mercy of a lift chair mechanism. Feeling trapped is no joke. 

But I have come up with an effective and relatively inexpensive solution:

A portable power station! 

I thought of this completely by (happy!) accident. My husband and I purchased one of these little charger stations for our vehicle (notice the jumper cables on the sides). When we got it home and were charging it up for the car, I began trying out all the little extras: USB ports to charge phones, computers, etc. But there's also a DC port.

 

 

Portable Charger Station on Amazon

 

In order to use the DC port in your home, you must also have an adapter:

 

DC Adapter 

The cheapest charger station I found is the one I show above at $59.99 (in September of 2021), and the inverter pictured is $18.99 (in September of 2021). That may sound a little steep, but here's the deal. For eighty bucks you can get rid of all the stress and worry every time there's a chance of a power outage that may leave you trapped in a lift chair (or without your phone, laptop, or whatever). I only use mine for my chair, and once it's upright, I leave it that way, using a stool to prop my legs up when necessary, until the end of the power outage. But simply that initial ability to leave my chair is empowering beyond belief – both emotionally and literally, and I am immeasurably grateful for these devices.

If you find any better alternatives for the same amount of money, please don’t hesitate to contact me or blast it all over your social pages. I'm always on the lookout for better ways to navigate disability obstacles. 

NOTICE:

Any medical information within this book is my own and applies to only myself. It is not intended as advice for anyone else. Before making any changes to your own health regimen, you should absolutely talk it over with your healthcare professional first, just to be safe.

Broken Old Broad, Blazing Owl Press, and/or Terri DelCampo is not responsible for the results acquired from the products or services mentioned in this book, or affiliated with the companies/manufacturers of said products/services.   

Broken Old Broad Week in the Rearview 9/5/2021

 

Hi Everybody,

It's been a couple of weeks – actually a month, I'm ashamed to say – since I blogged.  So perhaps this writing should be titled 'This Month in the Rearview'.  For a couple of weeks in August life happened and I was so busy I shelved my writing. Being a Broken Old Broad, chores and activities take me twice the time to complete. I had my load doubled for that couple of weeks, and knew something had to give. So, though I jotted down notes, I set them aside until I had time to think and tackle them properly.

It's funny, when I set the projects aside, I found myself coming up with more ideas and focus – probably because I de-cluttered my mind along with my schedule. 

Last night I watched a listicle on YouTube about little things you can do to change your life. One of them was ask yourself 'is what I'm doing right now worth my time?' and I realized that I've been feeling scattered and overwhelmed for the last few years, and that perhaps some reevaluation is in order. 

Thinking about such an evaluation brings to mind Curly's advice in City Slickers: One thing.  You have to find one thing that means the most to you, and focus on it. 

My one thing has always been writing – since I was eleven.  However, I've gotten sidetracked in the last few years and accomplished very little.  There's been way too much input – a constant barrage from the internet of stuff that has outraged me to the point where I want to write about it. Consequently I've written almost nothing. Plus it's been frustrating because even when I have written, almost no one has listened.  (Though I'm grateful to the few who have – you know who you are.) Ironically, another little thing on the list from last night is to drastically limit your time on the internet, which I fully intend to do. 

This circles back to 'is what you're doing right now worth your time'. 

I tend to be analytical and a reasonable thinker. I think my opinions are valid, hopefully helpful, but not necessarily any more than those of others. Sometimes, though, I feel like I'm lending my voice to a cacophony where it is absorbed and vanishes. 

Beau of the Fifth Column posed a question to ask myself when writing: Am I the right messenger?

That brought on some critical thinking and introspection – and a way to filter a lot of the material that I have strong opinions about, which helped me sort topics and decide whether or not an article or commentary is appropriate.

For instance, I was outraged as a human being, over police callousness and violence toward black people during the BLM protests last year. Am I, a 63-year-old white woman the right messenger for black people's issues? No.  However, I can educate myself as much as possible, and report on the injustices I've seen, and stand as a witness to them. I can support equal rights and speak out against all forms of oppression.

As a woman, a senior citizen, and a disabled person, I've felt oppression as well – I know how hard it was to move forward in my life in spite of it. I cannot imagine what moving forward through those obstacles in a black skin in a racist society would have been like. Does that mean my hardships aren't valid? Of course not. It just means I'm not the right messenger to write about BLM because that experience is not mine, nor is it part of my ancestry.

Another consideration I can apply when deciding if a topic is worth my time is my reader. Who am I trying to reach? Am I just venting? Is that worth my time? I think so. Thomas Paine did a crapload of venting and ended up shunned by the country he'd helped form, even though he stood tall, never let go of his principles, and held his colleagues (George Washington among them) accountable when they abandoned theirs.

Am I Thomas Paine? Hardly. But I hold him, and the example he set, in high esteem.  I can try and stay true to my principles as he did and wield my pen accordingly, in hopes of giving my readers pause for thought.  Or perhaps help someone who's going through difficulties, similar to mine, know that they aren't alone. Or perhaps validate someone's opinion who feels unheard. Or simply add my voice to the side of reason and common decency and equality. 

Is that worth my time?

Hell yeah. 

Have a great week, everyone.

Ter