Still Outdoors

Accessible Trout Pond

2024-11-21T11:44:00.002-07:00

Some of my fav summer times ...

The sun is starting to shine, the phone isn’t ringing yet, and the only sound I can hear from my pond-side dock is the chorus of songbirds serenading and the gentle hum of the aerator in the background.

It’s a beautiful morning and a perfect setting to enjoy my coffee with the dogs. I lift the handle on my custom feeder, and a handful of fish-food-pellets drop into the pond. They start spreading out and slowly make their way across the water using the breeze and the current as propulsion.

I sip my coffee while the dogs hang over the edge of the dock, peering into the water, waiting for the action to begin. After a few minutes of quiet contemplation, I’m rewarded by an explosion in the pond. A 6-pound rainbow trout jumps high out of the water, attacking the food. The splash echoes across the pond, signaling other trout to join the frenzy.

Soon the surface of the water is alive with jumping fish. I feel so lucky to be able to start the day like this.

I’m able to do so because about 30 years ago my friends and I had a vision and the follow-through to bring it to life.

From pondering to a pond

I’ve loved fly-fishing since I was a kid. My family took yearly excursions to the mountains where we spent a couple of weeks fly-fishing for trout. I looked forward to these trips all year. After school I often set up my fly-rod and practiced casting. With ice cream pails on the lawn as targets, I’d try to land a small split-shot weight into them. Soon I could drop my fly any place I wanted — a valuable skill for landing wary fish.

After my car accident, I returned home to my parents’ farm and tried to adjust to life as a quadriplegic. A friend rigged a rod and reel, and I got back to practicing casting on the lawn. I quickly convinced myself casting a fly-rod was possible. There was only one problem: there were no lakes nearby that were accessible from a power wheelchair.

The solution to this problem started like so many other brilliant ideas — as beer talk among friends. If there were no accessible lakes nearby, we’d just make one. Problem solved. There were a few minor obstacles. We had no equipment, no water, and lacked knowledge on raising fish. On the plus side, we had enthusiasm and lots of room.

We borrowed a university aquaculture book, took a course on building trout ponds, and scrounged together what money we could; my grandparents and parents chipped in, I had a little stash that got thrown in, and we found a Government grant, . All tolled we figured about $5,000 should do it.

We learned all about what it would take to build a pond where the fish could thrive. The water would need to be at least 15 feet deep for trout to stay within their temperature range. Steep banks would allow fishing all around and prevent overgrowth of weeds. While aeration would keep oxygen levels high throughout the year to ensure their survival. A local friend, Gordon Blonke, had a bulldozer and scraper. He surveyed the yard and laid out a plan to dig a large pond and landscape the yard at the same time. He understood that wheelchair accessibility was the primary goal. We shared what we knew about pond design and he started right away. The pond was finished in a month or so, now we had a 1-acre 25-foot-deep hole. We put a water well in to fill it, and pumped about 3 months to fill it over the winter.

The next spring some friends brought a wheel-chair accessible dock that was once used in their marina. Initially we had only Rainbow Trout, and I enjoyed many a fight with a large Rainbow on the fly. Our pond is now full of minnows which must’ve been introduced by birds. The rainbow trout don’t appear to eat many of them, so we stocked some Brook Trout and now a new Trout has been made available, Tiger Trout.

Tiger Trout are a cross between a Brown Trout and a Brook Trout. Apparently, they are very aggressive, love to eat minnows, grow fast, and are easy to catch. We have some that should be quite large now, but we've yet to catch one and they seem to prefer minnows over trout food, and rarely come to the feeder. Trout will grow to 20 pounds or more if there is lots of food, and apparently there is. To ensure massive growth, we supplement their diet with trout food, but it seems only the rainbows go for it. The food is high energy pellets that make them grow real fast, and — as a bonus— make the fish taste good.

Aside from the entertaining sight of a quadriplegic aimlessly spraying teeny-pellets everywhere but in the pond, throwing out pellets with my quad hands didn’t work so well. The dog was gaining weight much faster than the fish — a new program was in order. Fortunately, my friend Garnet, who can build anything, devised a one-off fish-feeder I could operate. It consists of a 5-gallon plastic pail with a spring-loaded ski-pole down the middle. It is attached with strapping to the side of the dock so the pellets drop in the water. When the handle is lifted, the pole is pushed down and a hole in the bottom of the pail opens to drop some pellets into the pond.

Even 30 years later, spending my morning on the dock has become one of my favorite pastimes. I’ll wheel down, drop some food into the water and enjoy a coffee while watching the trout rise. I love to grow them big, and watch them cruise by the dock in search of a meal. I fly-fish occasionally when the fish are big, but watching them is fun too.

I’m currently in the rebuilding process. A few years ago all my fish died after an inadequate aerator failed. With a new upgraded aerator system and the fish are growing quickly. They're currently hitting 10lb , and this time they’ll be safe from low oxygen levels.

My parents and grandparents are long gone now, but every time I see a trout jump, I’m taken back to my childhood. I’m suddenly a kid, fly-fishing with his family in the mountains, with not a care in the world beyond getting a trout to bite.

A Great Message

2024-02-13T15:11:00.001-07:00

A few years ago I got a call from a friend, Ben Wilson, asking if if I wanted to be part of a video project. Ben produces videos, and is an amazing, kind, talented fellow. He likes my positivity, and persistence to keep going through some tough situations. He asked about faith. I thought about it, and replied that I don't consider myself very religious. I really do dislike the religious attitude that I run across occasionally, you know the old "mine is better than yours" attitude, and it has me turned off of religion. Incredibly people are willing to kill over religion, I think if your religion tells you to kill people of other beliefs, you need a new religion.

I do believe that we are a part of something much bigger. I have many times experienced what is to me overwhelming evidence that there is a God/Universe/Great Spirit etc. that we are all part of. I've found that most wishes/prayers/intentions are answered in some way. I guess he probably thought I was kind of religious lol. Anyhow we chatted for a long time, filmed a little, and had a great visit.

When the video came out, I was so pleased about how inclusive it was. I watched it recently and still love the messages in it.

Coincidences or More?

2024-02-09T10:45:00.000-07:00

Well it's about time I resurrected the old blog. I've been writing for other magazines for a while and neglected this place. There was something cool lately that will open my world, and I'm thrilled.

I used to have a 4x4 wheelchair, and lost it in our house fire. The mobility of an off road chair has been missed, but was put on the back burner for now. Being 61yrs old, I'm aware that time is ticking, so if there's anything I want to do, let's do it!

On a recent trip to Arizona, Super Dave and I were at a flea market looking at multitudes of landfiller, but didn't see any fleas. Suddenly a chair zooms by, a 4 wheel drive electric atv-type unit, and I immediately recognize it as a Terrain Hopper.

Terrain Hopper makes a 4wd unit powered by lipo batteries that looks like a cross between an atv and a wheelchair. I've been secretly drooling over these and wanting to see one close-up for years, but they are rare and expensive.

I look around, it was nowhere in sight. I believe that the universe gives and makes things line up, so I made an intentional thought. "Universe, bring that unit back for me to see."

A few seconds later, as if on cue, the Terrain Hopper zooms up, stops right beside me, and the rider starts chatting with somebody else. I smile, look skyward, silently give thanks, and inspect the unit. It looks incredible. It's sporty, rugged, and quite fast. I wait my turn and chat with the owner. It turns out he is a corn farmer, escaping the snow. He loves his Hopper far more than his power wheelchair, and can get around the farm anywhere in it. He had driven it to the flea market 3-4 miles that day and says it is much more fun than a vehicle to drive. I was sold on it, and knew my life would be drastically changed by owning one, but couldn't afford one.

The idea of owning one rolled around in my coconut on once again for a few weeks, as it has been a recurring idea for years. Terry and I have talked about building a nature trail around the quarter section for years with bird feeders, deer feeders, and benches. Building a wheelchair accessible trail is very expensive, but a Hopper-friendly trail would be easy! Universe, if it's a good idea for me to get one, line it up. And I left it like that.

Last week, things unexpectedly started to happen. A used Hopper popped up on Facebook Marketplace. I've never seen one there before. I started dealing on it right away and thought it might actually come together. It was the right unit, color was ok, low hours, price was less than new by a fair bit, but no joystick control. After investigating it appears the joystick upgrade is 3g or so, and has to be done in Arizona, so that was the end of that.

I once again threw the project in the air. I then decided to contact the owner of the company, who I have chatted with a few times many years ago, just to see what the price of a new one is. What was his name? Searching my emails, there was nothing. I looked in Messenger, nada. Then tried my text messages, came up dry. I couldn't find his contact anywhere. I clicked on my Facebook window and heard a 'ding', a notification received. I open the notifications and its the Birthday of one Todd Lemay, now who is that I wondered? Checking his profile I see ... he is the Terrain Hopper CEO that I was searching for! I smile, look up, and give thanks once again. I text and chat, and Todd sends me a quote. After is see what they're worth, I tell him that I'll need to find funding. Todd gave me a link to hoppersforheroes.org, a non-profit organization that gives grants towards the purchase of these units. I didn't think there was a snowball's chance of success, as most US organizations don't fund Canadians, but I tried.

I told them in an email that I'm a quad, a Canadian and love the outdoors. I mentioned that I've written a few articles and could write about my adventures with the Terrain Hopper. They asked for links to my stories and I thought ... hey ... wow ... they didn't reject me yet! I sent them some links, they read my stories, and a few days later I was approved for 5G's!!! I smiled, looked up and gave thanks ... again.

I still wasn't sure about it, I went online comparing off road wheelchairs. Terrain Hopper looked the best of the bunch to me, but I couldn't pull the trigger and commit. Then a friend that I haven't spoke with for a year or so sends a message about an all-terrain wheelchair that I was just looking at! The universe just keeps presenting the idea. I look up and smile, give thanks, and proceed to order a new Terrain Hopper. Summer's going to be a blast! Sometimes things just line up!

Our Covid Experience From A Quadriplegic's View

2021-10-09T08:43:00.004-06:00

Our Covid experience and a physician’s view of how it happens.

As a quadriplegic with weak lung power, the thought of getting Covid is very scary. Even though we’ve been very careful, when the vaccines became available my wife and I got it as soon as possible. After the second vaccine I felt much safer, and wasn’t thinking about the pandemic so much anymore. Then a few weeks ago my wife contracted Covid while visiting her dad in hospice. For the first day we thought it was just a cold so I was exposed to sneezing and coughing, even while being in confined areas such as vehicles. Terry tested positive for Covid, I tested negative. The first few days were stressful, not knowing how far her sickness would progress. Luckily it peaked after a couple of days. We stayed to ourselves, not wanting to spread it to others. Over the next 10 days we quarantined, and weren’t particularly careful between us. We ate together, slept together, and Terry did personal care for me. She experienced a moderate cold for a few days, lost her sense of smell and taste for a few days, and was tired for about a week. After quarantine I still tested negative, she tested positive (we were told she would for up to 90 days). I was very much relieved that her symptoms had gone away, and that I had not contracted Covid. We wondered how the virus never got me, even though we had the same vaccination and I was certainly exposed to the virus.

A friend, Dr Kumar, wrote a piece on a concept called virus load, which made sense of it all. This friend is somebody I have trusted my life to many times as he’s a flight instructor which I have been fortunate enough to experience several sailplane winch-launches, an amazing zoom from 0 to 1000ft in seconds. His regular job is a physician in Lethbridge Alberta Canada, and he has an undergraduate degree involving the study of virology and immunology. I consider him qualified to speak on the subject and trust his opinion. Here is his piece on the subject of virus load:

"If people who are vaccinated can still get COVID and can still spread it, letting only vaccinated people attend things is supposed to stop the spread how?"

I feel there's a need to shed a bit of light on this... maybe others have this thought as well.

It seems most people know by now that the vaccine reduces the severity of the illness you might get. So for that person, getting COVID won't be as severe or lead to needing ICU or ventilator care or death. Agreed? Here’s why.

I am a Canadian physician, MD, specialized in Anesthesiology – an expert in airway and ventilation.

My background prior to medical school was a science degree that included study of immunology and virology. I also worked in a lab that created vaccines as the product was used to prime your immune system to fight something you hadn’t seen in the wild yet.

There is a concept of "viral load", which refers to both how many total virus particles there are circulating inside that person, and also how many virus particles as passed via droplets when that person talks or coughs, etc. You could say that generally the severity of illness is proportional to this "viral load" inside a person. Someone is sicker when they are suffering from a higher viral load to fight off. Generally, this also means each droplet they produce while talking, coughing or sneezing will carry more virus particles. A single cough or sneeze from this person with higher viral load, or even talking at close range will carry a lot more virus particles onto another person than someone with lower viral load! Compare this to someone who has the vaccine - their immune system is primed and better at inhibiting the virus from multiplying from the start so if they do catch COVID, they will have much less total virus in their body at any given time, less viral load that is, and thus less severity of the illness. When such a person coughs or sneezes or talks they spread much less virus per droplet. These droplets have less viral load and they pass on a lower viral load to other people around them if they are unmasked. On the recipient side, think of the vaccine as wearing a water-resistant plastic shirt. If a few droplets of water hit you they will shed off more than a regular cotton shirt. But, if someone comes along with a bucket of water to throw on you....(a high viral load) then you might get a bit wet inside (infected).

So while YES the vaccinated CAN get the virus, and YES they CAN pass it on, it takes a higher viral load to infect them, and they carry much lower viral load and thus shed much lower viral load as well. They are not the same as unvaccinated at all. This is a dramatically effective layer of protection to reduce spread. I hope this explains why transmission is EXPONENTIALLY less between two vaccinated folk and might shed some light on why it is less worrisome for everyone when venues only allow vaccinated people inside.

Pavan – let’s care about each other out there. "

So now I understand why I never caught covid-19. My wife probably encountered a high viral load while visiting hospice that overpowered her vaccine protection, but didn’t get sick enough to transmit to me a high enough viral load to overpower mine. I feel if either one of us were unvaccinated, the outcome would have probably been much more severe. I’m not here to debate or fight about vaccines, masks, rights or whatever, I’m just relaying our experience and the info from a trusted friend.

I’m now once again very careful. There are viral loads out there that can get past the vaccines, especially when encountering the unvaccinated.

Flotsam Me

2020-11-21T13:38:00.001-07:00

“Ok, a little deeper, let’s see if I float”, I say.

“You should be getting there,” says Joe.

“I think it’ll work on my back,” I say. The cold water creeps up to my ears.

“How’s the water?” laughs Joe, no hint of sympathy in his voice.

“Friggin cold thank you very much” I say.

We had rented a vacation house that had a pool and hot tub in the back yard. Way back in my first life I loved being in or on the water. I used to enjoy canoeing, water skiing, fishing, scuba diving, boating and swimming etc. My friend David and I used to camp at a local lake and swim to a nearby island for exercise, about 500yds away. Since becoming a quadriplegic in 1986 I had always wondered if I would float or sink, and could I swim? The thought of resuming one of my favorite sports was enticing. A quadriplegic friend had let me know that she swims regularly, so it seemed like a great thing to try.

Terry puts our aluminum wheelchair ramp from the edge of the pool to the shallow end. She walks up and down it to test it, safety first! It looks like it should work great to get me in. Thoughts of swimming great distances, for long periods of time flood my mind. Imagine leisurely paddling around, effortlessly gliding around in the nice warm water, enjoying the hot sun. Heck I would even be safe knowing that I could always swim from a sinking boat, this is one of those life-skills that we all should have. It is going to be so much fun!

“This should work! We’ll use your manual chair and guide you in,” says Terry.

“One push and we’ll stand back, no need for a ramp, we’ll get you in there quick,” teases Joe.

“Ok, I want a life-jacket!” I say, remembering a failed kayak attempt. (a funny story in hindsight, a scary adventure at the time).

Earlier we had started the pool’s propane water-heater, totally unaware of just how much propane it takes to heat an outdoor pool. About $100 worth later, the pool is at 60 degrees F or so, yay.

“Good enough, let’s try!” I say, imagining $20 bills going up in smoke.

They put a lifejacket on me, snickering at the possibilities for the near future, do they know something? Terry and Joe slowly wheel me down into the water. My feet touch the water, I feel a bit of a tingling sensation up the back of my neck, hmmm. Tingling feelings are usually reserved for pain-indication, but not nice warm water, right? I go down farther, this’ll be awesome!

“How’s the water?” says Joe.

“Seems ok, let’s do it”, I reply.

“Too cold?” asks Terry.

“No,” bearing in mind I have no feeling below the chest.

The water now reaches my chest.

“Holy bleep!” I say, “This is cold!!” The water sucks my breath away. My body reacts, and any unessentials are retracted to warmer climes.

There’s no turning back now! Ok pride and ego, gonna need you’re A-game to get me through this! Us quads are notoriously cold almost all the time, even without Arctic waters! I start floating and get rolled onto my back. The lifejacket does its job, face-up is much preferable to face-down when in water it seems. It feels kind of creepy at first, lying on my back with my head half under. The cold is numbing, and I see the smirks being exchanged, but I’m not complaining and releasing the dreaded “I-told-you-so’s”. After a few minutes the situation seemed stable, which is more than can be said for a few of the participants. Sometimes I think they just like to see me screw up.

Next to try swimming. I get my bearings. I sure don’t want to zoom across and hit the other side of the pool. I try to move my arms out to the side, slowly and cautiously. In the weightlessness of water it is hard to straighten my arms. I try to throw them out to the side over and over. It doesn’t appear to be having the desired effect. I try harder, now I’m whipping up a pretty good froth on the pool, and looking around I see that there’s been no progress. Something must be impeding my progress. I check to see if my helpers are holding me back, nope. More thrashing ensues, and I do manage to do a pretty fair wounded-fish imitation. I’m grateful that there are no great white sharks in the pool. I’m pretty sure that I’m moving now, and look over the side to see. Out of the corner of my eye I see a dead bug floating by, pushed by a breeze, what a show-off. Well not to be out-swam by a dead bug, I pick up the pace. Evidently it must’ve been a water-bug as I was far out-classed, and it kept zooming on. I thrashed and flailed. Apparently producing equal amounts of forward and rearward thrust is counter-productive. I wouldn’t be surprised if rescuers from Greenpeace show up.

About 15 minutes of movement-free floating later, I’m seizing up from the cold. It’s time to call it quits.

“I’m done, getting cold” I say.

“Ok, let’s get you out,”

They drag me by the lifejacket over to the wheelchair, now this is moving! I’m pulled up the ramp, into the welcoming sun. My body starts to warm and un-seize. I’m disappointed by the results, but now know where I stand when it comes to swimming, so to speak (equally bad at both).

Life is all about learning. I learned that I can float with a lifejacket. I learned that I don’t swim like I used to. I learned that 60f water is way too cold for me!

I can now rest assured that if a I’m on a cruise ship that sinks 6 inches from shore, with the right wind I will be safe.

Lake Havasu Ultralight Fun!

2020-10-11T18:24:00.004-06:00

Havasu Ultralight Fun!

Joe hits the throttle; the engine roars and the sound of rushing air envelops us. We quickly accelerate down the short-paved runway. Joe pushes forward on the controls, tilting the kite-shaped wing above us skyward. Soon our wheels lift off the ground and we smoothly climb as he pulls the lever to raise the landing gear.

“Where do you want to go?” he asks.

“I’d like to go north up into the canyon, we went there with a pontoon boat and it was so beautiful. I’d like to see it from the air!” I say.

“Sounds good, as long as the wind is low it will be fine in the mountains!” Joe replies.

We head north from the airport, gaining altitude and soon there are mountains creeping by on both sides! You can see the Colorado River off to our left snaking through a rock canyon. The water is crystal clear to the bottom, amazing! Below us is rugged rock with very little soil or vegetation.

We are flying amongst the peaks in an open-cockpit weight-shift ultralight! I’m sitting in the rear seat, securely strapped in, while Joe flies from the front seat. We wear helmets equipped with microphones so that we are in constant communication.

"Can I try flying?" I ask.

“Sure can, grab the controls!” he says.

I reach out into the wind and grab (as good as a quad can) the bars.

“Ok, I have it, it’s hard to reach far enough forward, you guys tied me in well!” I say.

“You’re flying!” says Joe, letting go of the controls.

I gently shift our weight left, and we bank left. I shift our weight right and we turn right. This unit is very easy to fly, I think it would be a great aircraft for people with limited arm movement or strength. To climb you simply add power, to descend you reduce power. For me, controlling it comfortably would require sitting closer to the controls or having extensions to reach them easier. I soon get tired of stretching for the bar.

“I’m having to reach a bit far; my arms are tiring out. You have control.” I say.

“I have it,” says Joe taking over.

I resume my sight-seeing. It is amazing to see the world from above, the mountains and valleys looked beautiful from a boat but now to see them from the sky is surreal. There is nothing between us and the ground but a few thousand feet of air. At first it is a little unnerving to not be inside a cockpit, but soon the beauty of seeing the world from above takes over and it is no longer scary.

“Let’s go down over the river”, says Joe.

“Sounds good, it is so awesome to see it from up here!” I reply.

We come down low over the river in the valley, I can see the beach where we parked the boat to have lunch, and where others hiked in search of a geocache. It’s like zooming in with Google Earth!

“Now let’s go low over the lake!” Says Joe, I know he wants to show me some touch-and-go manoeuvres.

“Okay, sounds great to me!” I say.

Joe lowers the power, and you can feel us going down. We are on the California side of the Lake, lined up on the smooth-as-glass water. As we get down close, Joe adds a little power to reduce our descent. The floats gently kiss the lake, this is the first time I have ever experienced a touch-and-go on water! Joe adds power and we speed up again, and gently lift back into the air! What a blast! Next, he turns the camera rearward and gets some footage of the spray as we skim the water again.

We stay low over the lake, maybe 20 feet high or so, and hug the shoreline. We bank to the right and go into an inlet, then bank left and turn around, heading back to the lake I notice some power poles on the hilltops.

“I assume you know where all the power lines and obstacles are!” I say.

“Oh yes, been flying this area for years!” Joe replies. “There’s no lines on those poles.”

“Can we fly by Lizard’s Peak?” I say.

“You bet!”

A week earlier the rest of our group had made a several-hour hike to the top of a mountain. I stayed behind and took pictures of them, met people, and was entertained by radio-controlled aircraft doing aerobatics nearby. I wanted to see their trail and the peak.

We soon are approaching Lizard’s Peak. Looking down and right I can see a trail zig-zagging up the front of the mountain, and the picnic table at the top. There were about twenty hikers at the peak waving at us! We wave back, Joe cuts the power and circles back, and as we zoom by closer we wave once again. Then we follow the more gradual trail down the backside, leading us to the lake. Banking right we head towards the airport, flying over the London Bridge, yes you heard it right, the London Bridge! What a fantastic day!

1 Where are you flying? We are flying over and around Lake Havasu Arizona.

2 What kind of aircraft are you in? We are in a weight shift ultralight that is equipped with amphibious floats so that it can land on water or a runway.

3 How did you get into the seat of the ultra light? We have a portable Hoyer lift. It worked out perfect so that it could be pushed right up to where I could be dropped into the seat. The legs of the Hoyer fit under the floats.

4 Who’s airplane? Joe from Hanging Over Havasu owns it. He gives instruction and rides. You can take lessons, and he is very open to training people with disabilities. Joe is very conscientious, I felt totally safe with him. You can find him at https://www.hanginoverhavasu.com .

Buggy Fun!!!

2018-08-10T15:28:00.001-06:00

"Should we try high gear?" says I. It's not like us to push things.

"Let's giver!" says Paul. I'm thinking he probably just wants to witness a first-class screw-up.

He reaches over and clicks me into high range. I give him a couple of seconds to mount his four-wheeler (he is getting old). I pull the throttle down, and off we go! So much for "I'll just putt around in low, I don't need to go fast." New motto ... "Go big or go home!"

This thing is a hoot!! It is very stable, takes bumps well, and with the racing seats and belts I can corner without getting thrown around! A friend (Landon Catt) and his buddies adapted this thing, a 250cc dune buggy, for himself (by coincidence a quadriplegic with my nearly-identical injury level). Later he offered me a deal on it, as they were building a bigger-better-faster one!

After a little particularizing to help me steer better (us gimps are always tweaking stuff, "If it ain't broke ... fix till it is!"), we are out test-burning around the field. Low range went well, climbs hills like crazy, but the top speed ... yawn ... is about 25mph. Now high range ... hoo-hoo (like Tim the Toolman) is 50-60mph, plenty to get me into trouble without taking much effort.

"Holy (censored) you can go now! You even drifted a few times!" Says Paul after a 2.5 mile lap. His vocabulary needs regular censorship, but it is a colorful addition to your day. It was nice to see dirt in his eyes and teeth. He was right, I was zooming around much faster, and taking corners at high speed. Landon and his friends have this thing dialed in, it is much easier to drive than my van that cost many many thousands more!

This buggy has opened up a whole new world! I hadn't seriously considered driving an atv until I met Landon, thanks so much!

Bucket List Loop

2017-12-21T10:59:00.000-07:00

"Are you ready?" says Gary from the back seat.

"I'm ready!" I say.

"I'm going to point the nose down and gain some speed, then four g’s and pull her up over the top!" he replies.

The nose points down and I can hear the noise of the wind rushing louder and louder as we gain speed. The view of the landscape nearly fills the windscreen as we approach 90 knots. I’m a bit nervous, this is the moment I’ve been waiting for!

"Four G's!" says Gary.

I take a deep breath to help hold myself still and straight. Then I feel the pull of the g’s. The nose rises quickly until the blue sky fills the whole windscreen, then I feel the force of gravity reduce as Gary relaxes the stick. The horizon comes into view upside down! We slowly arc over the top and start the 2nd half of the loop, I feel the force of gravity come on stronger and stronger as Gary once again pulls on the joystick.

"How does that feel?" asks Gary as we pull out of the bottom of the loop.

"It feels beautiful!!" I reply with enthusiasm, amazing!

"Okay we’ll go around again then!"

We have lots of speed coming out of the first loop, and Gary easily takes us through a second one!

"Look to the right!" says Gary.

Gary moves the stick right and we roll inverted, then he pulls back to perform a split-s maneuver, ending with us straight and level.

This was one of the things on my bucket list! Way back about 100 years ago when I was a teenager, I had the privilege of flying a Citabria to take aerial photographs. At the time I didn’t know any aerobatics, but I did like to do spins and wing-overs a lot. I searched around for an instructor at the time that could get me going on the basics like loops and rolls, but didn’t find one, and all too soon my days of playing with that airplane were done. I remember learning wing-overs in a mountain flying course, and practiced in a Piper Arrow rolling inverted and pulling out the bottom with very little g-force. It had always kind of bothered me that I never got to experience real aerobatics back then, and to this day hated having to admit that I have never experienced a loop. Now I am a quadriplegic due to an automobile accident, and aerobatics have since seemed out of reach.

I have been flying gliders with the Edmonton Soaring Club for a few years now, and I find that my arm strength is not good enough to do the very intense maneuvers, and my lack of stomach muscles made me concerned about passing out during high-G maneuvers, so I have been content to putt around and look for lift. I worry that it is boring for the pilot in the back seat, since I fly like an old tea granny, but I suppose at times they need some sleep! I got talking to Gary Hill earlier in the year as he is an aerobatic instructor. He had flown with me a few times on my long and boring "see how long you can stay in the air" flights, and was great company. I asked him if he thought it was feasible for me to experience a loop, and I reminded him that I have no control over my legs or trunk muscles. We would have to be careful to make sure we don't do any negative G’s since we want my legs to stay where they are supposed to be.

"Let me know when you want to, I think it would work out fine." he replied.

“Okay,” I say, “Maybe later in the year when my stomach is stronger.” The first flights of the year seem to make me queasy.

Then one day I show up at the club when I know that Gary was instructing, and it was a day where there was very little lift potential.

"So, what are you doing here on a day that there is no lift?" asks Gary with a grin, knowing full well why I was there. I guess I am getting a reputation of showing up on the good soaring days so they don’t expect to see me on poor ones LOL.

"I thought if you had time I could finally do that bucket-list loop!" I said.

"It’s club policy that you put a parachute on for aerobatics, so go find one and let's go!" he said.

The rest is history! We found a parachute that fit me, got me strapped into the glider with the help of the lift and several club members, and away we went!

Back to the flight.

"How was that?" he asks.

"I tried to follow what you are doing but couldn't," I say.

"I've got another one here for you to figure out!" says Gary, grinning I am sure.

He points the nose down and we gain some more speed, the wind is rushing by once again. I feel a sharp tug and the nose pitch up, followed by an immediate fast roll to the right! Then Gary pulled back and we came out the bottom level.

"A half-snap-roll to the right!" I say. This is a fun game!

"Half snap roll followed by a half loop!" exclaims Gary.

He finished off the session with a hammerhead followed by 2 more loops, then a half roll and half loop out to level. Incredible!

"You have control now." says Gary.

I fit my cuff over the stick and take control, we are now getting a little bit low and the odds of finding lift before we get to the airport are fairly slim. I aim back towards home, looking for any sign of a thermal that will take us back up so we can play some more.

There is nothing, we’re now down at circuit height joining downwind. Gary does the pre-landing checks while I fly the circuit. I line up on the runway, Gary runs the speed brakes and we float down to the runway. I gently pull back and round out, the grass touches the wheel and I hear it spinning. We are once again on the ground. The crew pulls us back to the club members waiting at the shack. Gary opens the canopy and I see a lot of smiling faces.

“Well Gary,” I say loud enough for all to hear, “don’t get too discouraged, one of these days you will get a handle on that straight and level flying, just keep practicing!”

“I am having trouble with that straight and level,” laughs Gary, “I need to work on that!

It is so humbling to realize the work and dedication that these people do to keep a gliding club running, and the effort they make to help me fit in and enjoy this great sport. Thanks Edmonton Soaring Club, and all of the great soaring people I’ve met, it’s a blast hanging out with you!

Summer 2016

2016-10-09T15:36:00.003-06:00

Upper Lakes Kananaskis 2016

Ok, I know, I haven't been doing much writing lately. You're thinking .... "WTF ya been up to?" Well, believe it or not us gimps get busy some times.

As I'm writing this we are getting our 1st dump of snow (ick) and it is only October 9! I'm not ready for this stuff, and might have to use my degree in power-whining to see if that helps. Anyhow, with Radio Margaritaville in the background I'll think happy thoughts and recap some of the fun.

Burning Off Altitude

The spring was great, and started with several awesome flights at the Edmonton Soaring Club ranging between 2 and 3 hours each, and reaching heights of 12,500 feet! It it so amazing to stay aloft for hours using nature instead of an engine ... better not get onto this subject or I'll ramble for hours ... everybody has something that rattles their chain and gliding sure does it for me!

Then there was camping, what a hoot. Early in the summer we camped southern Alberta with friends Joe and Sue. Waterton Lakes area was amazing,so many fantastic mountain and lake views. Terry and Sue are avid photographers and geocachers, Joe and I are really good followers. Since Joe is a Newfie, he had an unfair advantage when it came to happy hour and I took a distant second place ... training will begin sooner next year. The girls and

Waterton Park

their hobbies led us to fantastic scenery, geocaches, hikes, and a tour down Montana's Beartooth Highway - "America's Most Scenic Road". The scenery lived up to the hype and we had a great 2 weeks, ending in our fav Kananaskis Country!

Then there was Fathers' Day. I have been so good (just ask me) that my wife and kids got me a 360 camera. It takes 360 pictures that you can scroll around ... I'd love to post them here, but of course they don't @#$%-en work on my blog ... cheapo me. But you can see what they're like here:
https://theta360.com/s/lavc9BeuW49EwXSS0Tm6eXHvs.

In the summer I was playing with my mostest-favoritest-toy in the world, my Phantom 2 drone ... and crashed. :( A post-mortem determined extensive gimbal and camera damage, and the crash report revealed a catastrophic failure of a $.02 wire between a motor and speed-control resulting in $1000 damage due to loss of control, but no collateral damage to the civilian population. I summoned the top drone-surgeons available at the time, and instructed the technician how to delicately 'tweak' the gimbal back into place. A test flight resulted in more tweaking, and we set forth to do so.

"Just grab it about there with those pliers and reef on it, harder ... harder ..." instructs I.

Drone Crash - Mechanical Prob - Not Pilot Error Eh

""Should we power it down?" Says he (oh ye of little faith).

"No, this way we will know when it makes a connection." Insists I.

FSSSSSSSSSSSSST!

"Turn it off, turn it off!" Exclaims yours truly.

Big cloud of smoke ensues. Much scrambling and running follows. We all know what a full lipo battery can do! Long story short we let the smoke out of quite a few circuit boards and wires (smoke is factory-installed in electric components ... can't be purchased aftermarket, apparently installation is difficult). We successfully made a huge problem out of a minor one ... again, mission accomplished. So now I have spent most of the summer farting around trying to get my old Phantom 2 going, without success. What a freaking waste of time.Time to implement Plan B, major whining. After several months I think my wife finally got tired of hearing the things we were trying to do to get this damn thing working again, and tired of picking up parts at the post office that we would replace only to find out there was other stuff not working. Problem was solved a week ago with a simple cha-ching, and for my Birthday I received a receipt for a new Mavic Pro drone on order, and now a lot of the old crap is on eBay for someone else to fart around with until they get it fixed! (Just call me the squeaky wheel).

Mavic Pro

The DJI Store is a man's DeBeers ... "Drones ... that'll shut'm up!"

Joe, myself, and
Growler!

Paddle Full :)

In September we convoyed back to the Kananaskis and enjoyed riding the trails, inhaling copious amounts of campfire, quaffing a few cool ones (Joe won again), and staring at the mountains. We enjoyed exploring geocaches, especially the one that situated Joe and I next door to the Grizzly Paw micro brewery. Joe wanted to buy a 'Growler' (aka big jug) of craft beer. We thought it was prudent to make an informed decision as to the flavor, so we summoned 2 "Paddles" (a canoe paddle with 4 test beers on it). It turns out indecision may or may not be our problem, and were about to demand a re-test when the successful

Paddle Empty :(

Geocachers arrived. After a few sips the girls cast their votes, had no sympathy for our indecisiveness, and were ready to go back to camp. I quickly received the full education on the Growlers, and off we went with 2 in hand! My condolences to Jim and Sheila, who weren't aware of the possible rewards of geocaching, thereby missing the Grizzly Paw.

On Sulphur Mountain With Jim and Sheila

We did get to ride the Sulpur Mountain Gondola with Jim and Sheila, but that's another story. Murphy (from Murphy's Law, an acquaintance of mine) wasn't available for comment at press time, but suffice it to say that he was afraid of Jim after getting his butt kicked in Alaska by Jim and his brother Rob for shutting my chair down. We had no problems at all ... amazing!

Anyhow that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Will check in later!

Soaring Week!

2016-05-23T10:19:00.001-06:00

Elk Island Park

It's that time of year! Flying season has begun for me! After a flightless winter it has once again been too long with my butt strapped to a wheelchair, time to don the wings and soar! The Edmonton Soaring Club is starting the season this year with several flying weeks in a row, meaning they are going to fly seven days a week as long as there are people and flyable weather! Terryll packed the necessary monumental pile of flying gear into the van, and we headed up to Chipman last Tuesday to get some flying in.

Mundare

Lamont

It was the 30 year anniversary of the car accident that left me a quadriplegic, and what better way to mark it than with a great flight! After that accident it was a long road back to getting a life going, but with the help of my wife, my family, and my friends this adventure has been a blast and keeps getting better!

10,500ft

Thermalling

Guy Blood volunteered to take the back seat behind me in the glider. He would handle the tow to altitude since my lack of arm strength makes that difficult, and rudder and spoiler. My wife, having a black-belt in gimp-transfer procedures, put the sling on me and directed Guy who was driving the the lift-equipped Kubota into position, turns out he's multi-talented and can run that too! With the Kubota, Guy and Terryll lifted me out of my chair and placed me perfectly into the Perkoz' front seat, pilot-installation-procedure complete! The Perkoz is a high-performance glider with a glide ratio of approximately 40 to 1, meaning that for every foot of altitude you lose it will travel 40 feet forward.

Burning off height for landing with spoilers out

Master-Thermal-Finder Bob Hagan flew the Scout and pulled us up to 3000 feet above ground. He dropped us right in the middle of a boomer of a thermal. We connected right away and climbed as high as we could, only limited by clouds that kept us at about 9500 feet. We toured around for two hours, exploring towns and a nearby river, finally returning when a student needed Guy's expertise. To our chagrin our multi-talented back-seat photographer got faulty information from yours-truly during his camera-checkout, and we ended up with no pictures or video. Guess we gotta come back tomorrow :)

The next day my buddy Dave Loshny and I headed back up to Chipman. Guy and I went up and once again Thermal-Master-Bob had us hooked up to lift right away. This time the thermal took us at 1000 ft./m to a height of 10,500 feet! We decided to head East towards Mundare and Vegreville. Being a quadriplegic, an outlanding would be a major inconvenience, and I don't think Guy could pack me far. Thus it is important to keep enough altitude in one's pocket to assure a safe return home. I got a little nervous near Vegreville since lift was eluding me, so we turned homeward and hooked up to Old Faithful, a thermal that always seems to hang out just West of Chipman. This time the camera was working, and we brought a spare for insurance ... take THAT Murphy! We toured Lamont, Mundare, and Elk Island, enjoying the view from a mile high. It was so amazing to take photos and video from that height, and great to be back in the air after a long winter off! Here are some pictures and a video of the landing, what a day once again! Thanks so much to my wife Terryll, Dave, Guy, Bob, and the whole Edmonton Soaring Club for making these adventures a possibility!

Dual Drones

2016-02-25T18:12:00.000-07:00

My friend Paul received a fantastic Christmas present from his nice wife, a little too nice for him I might add. His new toy, a quadcopter, had been laying in the corner for a couple of months, silently tormenting him until the warm spring days return. A week or so ago they made the trip to our place and packed the new Phantom 3 along in case the weather allowed a flight or two.

Mother nature cooperated, winds were moderate and temps were mild for February. Paul and Michelle arrived on time, we had a nice visit ... with Michelle :) Ah ... it's fun to tease Paul ... does the soul good you know.

Anyhow, back to the story. The first flight with a drone is nerve-racking. These things are pricey, and I don't know about you but in my radio-control airplane and helicopter days, I've converted a fair bit of hard-earned money to landfill. Fortunately, by the time Paul was ready to try his Phantom 3 I'd had about 100 successful flights on my Phantom 2, so I was confident there'd be no problem.

"You fly it first," says Paul.

"Nope," says I.

"Bleepety-bleep-bleep (censored x 3)," says Paul.

"You'll do fine, you old %%$$@@##," says I, "Just be real gentle on the controls."

We download the DJI app, update the firmware and are soon ready for the maiden flight!

"I'm nervous," admits Paul. Heck, my first flight was terrifying, but after that all was well.

"Just start the props, keep your hands off the right stick, and advance the throttle slowly," I suggest.

The Phantom 3 gently rose about 10 feet and hovered.

"I'm hooked, this is neat sh--," laughs Paul.

He flew great, in a few minutes he was zooming around, ascending and descending, all under perfect control. He brought it back when the battery warning showed, and made a picture-perfect landing right in front of himself! We charged his battery and on his second flight we decided to fly the two drones together, what a blast! Above is a video shot from both copters and a handheld camera, it's going to be a great summer!

Alberta February Fly-Fishing

2016-02-16T18:10:00.001-07:00

“So Wright … ya wanna fish or What?” says Dale Baden over the phone.

Let’s see, it’s mid-February in Alberta Canada. Normally this is the time of year that I’d be inside with the heat cranked up, looking out the window at sub-zero temps with my bottom lip hanging out, dreaming of summer fun. What am I really doing? I’m sitting on the deck enjoying a coffee, sun-tanning, and playing hooky from the bookwork that is patiently waiting.

“Get you’re a—out here,” I reply.

“You’re sure … I don’t want to pressure you …,” comes the reply … a bit over-the-top with sarcasm methinks.

Soon we’re on the dock, fly-rod in hand, casting into a hole-in-the-ice 20 feet across.

“I have one already, I guess they survived the winter!” always a concern.

Spring isn’t far off now, we’ll make it!

Push The Walls Back

2016-01-05T10:11:00.001-07:00

Quadcopter Shot

Okay, it's about three degrees above absolute-zero with eight feet of ice on the lakes, 100mph winds and everywhere is uphill both ways ... you get the idea. Nah, it's not that bad ... but to a cold-blooded gimp it is a tad disheartening to look at spending 6 months indoors, longingly gazing at the lawnmower, drone, gliding cuff, rifles, fly-rod etc etc etc, and dreaming about spring.

Every so often this happens. We do the same thing over and over, frequent the same places, think the same things, even start to believe ourselves. It is worse in a Canadian winter when we're more tempted to stay inside. The walls close in, we get stale, our creativity and zest for life go for crap. When it happens we need to make a break for it, mix it up and push the walls back. If you start to become afraid of stepping out of your comfort zone ... there's your sign ... you need to step out of your comfort zone. No use whining, do something about it! We hence have decided to make a run for the coast.

So here we are, enjoying green grass and ocean, meeting new people, listening to new ideas, I love it! We even brought the drone, it sure feels good to push the walls back when they creep in!

Live Like You're The Hero Of Your Book

2015-12-13T16:19:00.000-07:00

I came across a little story I wrote a while ago, that kind of sums up my attitude that we do have some control over our destiny, here it is:

Imagine that you are writing a book.

What would the hero in your story be doing today? Would he or she be sitting around moping about their life? Would they be focused on not having enough, being done wrongly by other people, would they be down in the dumps and surrounded by other people that are? Is your hero a jerk?

Or would the hero of your story be having an exciting day? Would he spring out of bed excited for what is about to happen? Would he be planning a thrilling adventure for today? Would he fill this chapter to the brim so the reader's can't put the book down?Is your hero somebody you admire?

If you are like me, I want to make the story a great read! I want the hero to be interesting, down to earth, wise, thinking out of the box, and surrounded by others with the same mindset! I want his life to be adventuresome, fun, full of love, exciting, and prosperous! I want my character to reach the end of his life and feel like nothing is undone , with no regrets, no wish-I-woulda’s, a fantastic ride!

You are that character. That book is your life. You don't have to read someone else's story and wish it was you.You are writing your own story day by day, and get to choose what you write down. Is today going to be a bad day, or are you going to write it as a good day. Is today going to be a boring day, or are you going to write it as an exciting day? You might not be able to control everything, but the pen is still in your hand. You get to choose what gets written right now.

What Soaring Is To Me

2015-11-24T12:25:00.000-07:00

A friend asked for a short story on what soaring was to me, to help secure funding to make gliding accessible to others. Thought I'd share it here:

Soaring To Me

Circling With Another Glider

Imagine that you are free as a bird. You are a mile high, silently circling on a beautiful clear spring day, gaining altitude every turn. Slightly below you there is another sleek engineless aircraft taking advantage of the same thermal (a pocket of rising air). You gently move the joystick left and right, banking the aircraft to try to hit the centre of the rising air. You glance at the instruments being mindful of airspeed, rate of climb, and the other glider. The more altitude we gain the longer we stay up! Your instructor, a friend in the back seat, is getting great photos of the other glider that is piloted by another club member. You see and fly with birds, and climb to the base of puffy cotton-ball clouds. You notice tiny dinky-toy cars creeping along a highway, and little towns a mile below. You constantly remain aware of your location, so you can always make it home. Two hours later, you finally give in and head toward the airfield. You steer around the traffic pattern, your instructor making the radio calls and operating the spoilers to lose altitude. You watch your speed, adjusting it by raising and lowering the nose. You line up on the runway, gently pull back on the stick to round out as the field nears, and grease the landing! What a perfect day!

Soon you are confined to your cumbersome electric wheelchair. You are no longer a pilot. You are once again a quadriplegic, dependent on help from others. But you have tasted two hours of total freedom, soaring with birds and other pilots, silently sailing the sky from cloud to cloud a mile above those poor earth-bound creatures that know not that experience. Nothing can wipe the grin off your face or erase the memory.

That is soaring to me.

Kary Wright

Fly Like You're In The Cockpit!

2015-11-02T14:36:00.000-07:00

Stylish Goggles Hey?

Okay, I have to award my wife another goody point (not sure what she's going to do with them all, but looking forward to finding out!). For my birthday, she got me a set of goggles. Now these aren’t ordinary goggles, they don’t just keep the wind off your eyes, make you look stylish, keep the water out of your eyes etc. etc. etc. These goggles allow you to experience flight as if you are inside your quad copter!

In The Zone LOL

She really knocked one out of the park when she bought me the quad copter, and now the goggles to allow you to experience flying from inside of it! It only took minutes to set up, it linked immediately to the quad copter.

I did a couple of flights the other day of combines harvesting in the field, it is the video in the previous post, and after the flights when I flipped the goggles up and was back in the real world, I was actually dizzy for a few seconds as if I had been in the air! I had been inside the copter zooming, spinning, flying low/high/slow/fast with full instrumentation ... all from my electric wheelchair hundreds of yards away! What a rush!

This is one way that nearly anybody can safely experience flight firsthand, it is so real that you are there in the pilot seat including altimeter, speed, distance, heading etc. What a great thing for people with disabilities!

Harvest From A Quadcopter

2015-11-01T12:59:00.001-07:00

Noticing that combines pulling to the field the other day, I sensed a perfect opportunity to play with the drone, and proceeded to chase, circle, buzz and generally harass the folks working so hard to get the last of the crop off. On reviewing the video, I did notice some sign language from one of the drivers, which I edited out as us editors can do, and later learned it was even a relative of mine… LOL! I will have to return the favor one day, as my cousins and I often do. Here's the video edited and put to music, congratulations to the Weins family and friends for finishing the harvest of 2015!

New Adventure Buddy

2015-10-04T17:05:00.000-06:00

Last April we lost our beloved yellow lab Nakoda. She was a big part of many of our adventures, and went everywhere we did for 12 years. At the age we are at we thought we'd want to downsize and lower our responsibilities, and be pet free for a few years. We thought the freedom would be great. Ok, we had a nice sterilized quiet dog-fur-free house for 4 months or so ... yay. Walks with the dog are no fun with no dog. Fetch-the-tennis-ball is like playing with a broken boomerang without a dog. Needless to say, after a few months of enjoying our new freedom we wanted another dog. It seems a dog makes the house a home for us, so my wife approached me one day and said "I really miss having a dog, I want one, how do you feel?"

"Woohoo, yes, yes, yes, I always wanted a dog, I really miss having one. I just don't want the extra work for you if you don't want it." I reply, containing my enthusiasm ... not ... but realizing that the lion's share of the work with the puppy will be hers. "I would like a Golden Retriever this time, how about you?"

"That's exactly what I would like, and I found one online!" She said, not all that surprisingly.

And so it started, in no time we had a puppy spoken for, a beautiful reddish colored Golden Retriever. A few weeks later we picked her up, so here we go again, more adventures to come with the new buddy, Ginger!

Accessible Alaska Cruise with Holland America

2015-09-20T18:02:00.002-06:00

At Port in Skagway

“Mr. Wright, nice to see you back! We have your table ready! ”

“Thank you so much, good to see you again!” I reply.

We are once again treated to a fantastic meal, great service, and a fun evening. Hotelling it? Nah. Cruising in style!

Our friends Jim and Sheila let us know a while ago that they were doing the seven-day Alaska cruise, and would we like to come? Having a strong case of spur-of-the-moment -itis and a habit of not behaving very responsively, the plans fit well with us. So here we are, on the Holland America ship Ms Noordam!

Glacier Bay

“This is your captain speaking, we are expecting 11 foot seas and 45 kn winds this evening, it may seem a little rough, passengers are under orders to have a couple of drinks to smooth out the waves,” comes over there public address system.

“You heard the Captain, we have to obey orders, a bottle of wine Sir!”

“Coming right up!” is the reply.

Terryll and I pop a Bonine (similar to a gravol), I take my Dristan cold pills, and we proceed to have a sip or two.

“He was right, this boat does rock in the waves!” I say.

“The storm hasn’t started yet, that is your medication” my wife replies.

Sure enough, a glance out the window confirms that it is just a cold pill – red-wine-storm, all’s well. By the time the real storm hit we were used to the waves anyways, and it didn’t bother us in the least. On the way back to our room we made a stop by at the outdoor pool on the back.

Enjoying the Balcony

“Wow, this places abandoned,” I say looking at the normally busy open deck. The wind was howling, the deck was rolling, the sea (about 100ft below) had white foam on top with whitecap-waves, and the pool was doing its best to empty its stomach. Even on such a large ship one can get the sense of what some of the fisherman must experience out in the open ocean!

On the trip we stopped and disembarked at Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan. We also toured the amazing Glacier Bay for a day, incredible scenery! We saw goldrush towns, float planes, whales, glaciers and salmon runs. It is incredible to pack in so much new stuff into a short time. Everything on the ship including the gangplank seemed completely wheelchair accessible. Our room had a wheel-in shower, and our balcony had ramps. The staff on the ship was incredibly friendly and accommodating. Somebody would always run up to ask if I needed help cutting my steak or a refill of my glass, amazing service! I think if anybody wants to try an accessible cruise I think they would be happy with Holland America!

Quad Flyin' a Quad

2015-08-13T14:07:00.005-06:00

This thing is a freaking blast! Once it is set up to know where home is, you simply give it some power and up it goes! Pushing forward on the right stick makes it fly forward, pulling back to fly backwards, right stick right, right stick left, and it slides that unit right and left. Left on the left stick rotates left, right on the left stick rotates right, easy! Helicopter? Nope, a quad copter!

Last Christmas I received a Phantom 2 quad copter from my wife (I'm so happy ... I promise to say nice things about her for three days!), I couldn't have asked for anything better! We (myself and my sweet lovely thoughtful wife, did I mention I would say nice things for three days?) easily adapted the transmitter with a couple of short broom handles, so that I can control it with my paws. Then we (my sweetheart and I) pulled out the old book-reading-tray that was built to fit my gun rack on my wheelchair, and away we (guess who?) went!

You don't really have to know how to fly an aircraft to handle one of these quad copters. All you do (after your sweet lady buys you the ultimate gift of all time, a quad copter) is you set it on the ground with your transmitter turned on, then you turn on the battery for the quad copter and wait for the lights to turn green as this signals that it has found enough GPS satellites to find its way home. Then you calibrate the compass with a few simple maneuvers from your lovely thoughtful bubbly helper (who lets on like she would rather do nothing else but fly things), turn on the camera and your screen and away you go! If you get flustered you can always let go of the control sticks and it will stop where it is, in space, and just hover there! When the battery level gets low it will automatically take over, come back and land safely where you took off from, cool!

This thing will take HD video using its GoPro camera, flies for about 20 minutes, and you can watch the whole thing on a screen while you are doing it! What a hoot! Can you imagine receiving a gift that would top this? I cannot! How thoughtful! I guess it might be a bit of an invasion of privacy at times (and it is very much appreciated when your significant other points it out in her subtle way), but you just have to be responsible about where and how you fly it.

If you want to know more about how this works, and how easy it is to fly for a quadriplegic (or anybody), just send me an email and check out my YouTube page! End of day 1.

My Youtube channel is https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO8B5KVptDLln4h9tLE44Dg

Playing With A Mower

2015-07-31T10:41:00.000-06:00

Earlier this summer my wife brought it to my attention in her subtle way, that her love of setting her butt on a tractor and mowing lawn for 8 to 10 hours every week was starting to wane. We decided that a new lawnmower that could handle more capacity would be in order. My brother and I did some shopping around and determined that the regular residential size units didn't look like they would handle the amount of lawn we have here, and us having the 'go big or go home' gene firmly entrenched in our system thanks to our father, we decided to go with a commercial John Deere unit.

The lawnmower arrived on schedule and budget, and was unloaded in the yard. After a quick demo and an exchange of funds, my wife was on and test-riding. A little while later she pulled up to the house, a devilish grin on her face.Hmmm ... I had the feeling an idea was brewing.

"I'm pretty sure you can drive this thing, it is really easy!" She said.

"Do you really think so?" I said hesitantly, knowing that Murphy seems to get quite involved in my new endeavors, especially if it involves things with engines, wings, floats, hooks, fire, knives, etc. etc. etc.

"Let's find out if you can!" She said, jumping off and running in to get our lift, a little bit over the top with enthusiasm methinks.

She hooks the lift up to a ring that is attached to the rafters in the garage, we fondly referred to this as the "meat hook". In a minute or so I am hanging near the ceiling, with great vulnerability I might add,wondering if this is going to work out as it does seem a little crazy.

The lawnmower is pushed underneath me, I am lowered down, and strapped in so that I can't flop around. Without belts I am kinda like trying to balance an octopus on the end of a broom-handle.

Soon we have the key adapted so that I can start it and shut it off in case of emergency, and off I go! After a little bit of driving around at slow speed (yawn) I am ready to up the throttle and try the mower! Everything worked out perfect!

Now I have been mowing the lawn all summer, and although I don't want to let on for fear of forfeiting any goody points, I absolutely love it! Driving one of these zero turn mowers is something that a lot of people that are wheelchair users can do, heck I have very little strength and no hand function, and it works for me!

Fruitcake On The Radio

2015-03-04T13:50:00.002-07:00

Most of you know that I have been a Parrot Head for a long time now. I got an email from Steve Huntinton saying that I was selected to be the "Fruitcake On The Radio" on Radio Margaritaville. I have never been a DJ on a radio station before so this was going to be quite an experience! I found out they wanted four songs, and a little bit of a talk in between.

I have been listening to Buffett music since I was a teenager. I have never been very good at leading a serious lifestyle, and for some reason his music just clicked. Then I was involved in that awful car accident, and in the hospital I needed an escape from the reality of the situation. My friends rescued me with a couple of Sony Walkmans, a bunch of batteries, and my Buffett tapes.

I could close my eyes and escape that hospital nightmare, touring the tropical places in those songs. My attitude got back to normal, for me, and I have since been able to live a pretty darn good and fun life thanks to my wife, family, and friends. I'm still not very good at being responsible or serious, but I guess the rest of you will just have to put up with that.

I put together a little slideshow to go with the recording of my two seconds in the limelight of being a DJ, although I did shorten the songs so it wouldn't be quite so long!

No sense in being too serious, we don't want to get to the end of the day and have to leave the park with a bunch of fun tickets in our pockets!

Camping Bliss ... uhuh ...

2014-08-20T13:37:00.003-06:00

Most of you that camp have experienced the peer pressure of parking a trailer in a busy campground, just thought I'd collect some data and report the findings. Feel free to make your own observations utilizing the following guidelines, it is a fun and educational way to spend an evening.

Observations:

To truly observe and appreciate all of the particulars involved in parking a trailer, one must arrive at the campground, and have their own campsite completely set up by Friday noon directly across from a carefully chosen target campsite. Acquiring such a perfectly situated site for yourself is in itself an art, but key to the success of the investigations.

The target campsite should be a back-in site (pull-through sites will contaminate the data) designed by the latest engineering software. The site should be complete with large overhanging branches, a post to mark the campsite, metal-fire pit, and utility pillar. All of these are to be strategically placed so as to be completely hidden from the driver's view at all times, leaving the sole responsibility for their avoidance squarely on the shoulders of the person directing from behind. This encourages spousal interaction (many couples have worked out their own sign language, however a universally recognized signal apparently occasionally gets "flipped"). You can detect proper placement of these obstacles by the lovely colorful paint-scrape marks inscribed on them by multiple cheerful campers starting their vacation off on the right foot.

Next, one must unpack and set up all of the scientific observation equipment needed to examine campers parking, undisturbed in their natural habitat ... including but not limited to lawn chairs, umbrella, notebook, cooler full of Corona, video camera, etc. Next place your lawn chairs at the front of your site in full view of all goings-on. You may notice other folks in the campground doing the same for educational purposes or merely sheer entertainment value. In Quantum Physics the "Observer Effect" states that "There is no phenomenon until it is observed", so nobody really knows if a camper, without an observer present, has trouble parking or not. It's kinda like "If a tree falls with no observer present, does it make any sound"? I think that Observer Effect must be at play, because of the 396 campers that I polled, 89% stated that they have no difficulty parking their RV. Our observations revealed that 29% was more accurate (our poll is accurate 99 out of 100 times between beer #3 and #4 while balancing on a $3 lawn chair between 5pm and 9pm on a Friday night in a rib-stained blue shirt). Note: when observing, one should be careful not to skew the evidence by laughing, cheering, mooning, or engaging in any other type of interaction with the driver during his/her attempts at parking their rig.

As the time approaches five p.m. one will begin to detect a certain anxiety on the part of drivers as they frantically race to grab the last few sites. It is imperative that you have a fresh Corona before the “Low-Beer-Light' comes on as there may not be an opportunity for replenishment once the action begins.

Conclusion:

By making these scientific observations and utilizing the key points above on countless occasions, I feel we have amassed enough evidence to formulate a list of things the professional camper should keep in mind. This will maximize the opportunity to stretch the bounds of family dynamics and linguistic adventure:

1 Don't arrive at the campground too early, the real rush for the last few sites occurs between 6pm - 9pm, it seems the professional campers want to catch this window, and for an added bonus all vehicle occupants will be hungry, grouchy, have a full bladder, etc.

2 No need to check weather reports, setting up camp in a monsoon is perfectly ok and even embraced by the whole family.

3 Don't make campsite reservations, this would only dullen the true spirit of adventure associated with arriving cold-turkey at the last minute, and also it provides ammunition for “I-told-you so's” should one of the participants require it later.

4 To create the appropriate family dynamics children should be given at least two bottles of full-strength sugared soda-pop and one energy drink for good measure prior to the drive, with no bathroom breaks between home and camp. This should ensure sufficient rounds of "Are we there yet?" and the occasional obligatory "Don't make me come back there!"

5 One should have at least two dogs with them, preferably energetic large ones that embrace an occasional dog-fight, say ... boxers. They should ideally have been watered well before departure, be fed a new-to-them hot pepperoni stick or two, and whining for escape for the last two hours. Leashes should be long enough to ensure proper entanglement around lawn chairs, greasy hitch, barbeque, bicycles etc.

6 For best results rear-view mirrors on tow vehicles must be the cheapest available, installed incorrectly and out of alignment.

7 One should make sarcastic remarks to the Gatekeeper to ensure a perfectly suitable site is carefully selected for you.

8 One must apparently verbalize their feelings aloud while parking, not cooping up any arising frustrations, don't mind that the neighbors may occasionally overhear you.

In addition, we have gone to great lengths to finally decipher the formula involved in the Gatekeeper choosing a perfectly-suitable site for you.

SL = (TL x 1.1) - 2HM

SL = Site Length
TL = Trailer Length
HM = Hassle Multiplier

Let's say it has been a slow day, with very little action in the campground, or your discourse with the Gatekeeper for some unknown reason hasn't exactly presented your best side in his/her opinion. You may be assigned a HM of 3. If your trailer is 30ft long, plugging the numbers into the formula will yield a site length of:

SL = (30 x 1.1) - (2 x 3)
SL = 33 - 6
SL = 27ft

Now you might notice after several unsuccessful attempts at backing in that there is no way you will fit your 30ft unit into the 27ft campsite, but that is what the Hassle Multiplier is for ... spectator and Gatekeeper enjoyment. You may also detect obvious professionals in lawn chair with Corona in hand and smirk on face, at the ready to observe, take notes and as an added bonus be entertained by your discovery. As a matter of fact, I feel with the proper promotion, observing other folks park their campers has the potential to become in itself a hugely popular spectator sport in the future.

I hope this report gives some insight into the intricacies of parking a travel trailer, and spurs some new faces to enter the peaceful world of camping.

Horse Therapy

2014-06-13T17:03:00.000-06:00

Horse Hugs

I had a pretty neat experience yesterday.

First we collected lemons. My regular chair had experienced the melting of some very important wires, and hence was in the repair shop. So I was left without my wheels, which is a bit of an inconvenience to a quadriplegic (ya think???).

So I arrive home, sporting my 1983 p.o.s. backup unit. Now if you think us gimps look uncool before, ya gotta see me in my ill-fitting backup MacGyvered-so's-it-at-least-runs unit! Unloading from the van we notice the 4x4 off-road chair sitting in the garage minding its own business. It fits me well and is comfy, but you may have noted from previous posts that this thing is not carpet and linoleum (or marriage) friendly, and as such has been banned by the appropriate powers from the inside of the house.

"Do ya want to ride that?" Terry asks, pointing at the beast.

"Sure!" I reply, wanting like always to stay outside.

Terry laughs, "I guess I won't see you for the rest of the day!" knowing that I will roam all over Hell's 1/2 acre in this thing .

"Anything you want before you go?"

"Maybe my sunglasses, a hat, and a tea, and I'll see you later!" I reply.

One great thing about living out in the country is you can roam around and explore for a couple of hours no problem. Terry hands me my stuff and off I go. I spend the next hour or so exploring the fish in the ponds, animals and birds. When I get back to the yard the horses are standing in the corral.

"You want me to open the gate so you can go see them?" Terry asks.

"You bet!"

Years ago way back in my first life, I used to like to ride horses. I haven't had a lot to do with them ever since my accident, but when I am outside I always call to them and when they raise their heads to look at me I wave back. Sometimes they will walk up to the fence and lean over to look at me for a few seconds, but that is about all the contact I have had with them. This was going to be new being in the pen with them and it was pretty amazing.

As soon as they noticed me in the pen, they were curious. Total, the big old standardbred, walked right over immediately and stopped with his nose close to mine and stared at me from close range. He then leaned down to sniff my feet. Then he did something unexpected, he gently grabbed the toe of my boot and lifted my foot off of the foot pedal! Then he sniffed my legs, and came up to sniff my hands. He gently grabbed my hands one at a time, and lifted them. Then it dawned on me, he was wondering why I couldn't move my hands and feet, he had noticed that something was wrong!

I had witnessed something quite amazing with him once before. Our other horse Ebony had foundered and was laying down in the field. My wife and my mother were trying to get her to stand up as per the veterinarian's instructions. They had a halter on her and were trying to pull to get her to stand. Total walked around behind her and bit her in the rear end, he knew what they were trying to do! When that didn't work he walked around behind them and grabbed hold of the rope in his teeth. He pulled on the rope as my wife and my mother were pulling on it, and the three of them got Ebony to stand up! It was amazing to see that intelligence in a horse, he had figured out what they were trying to do and actually tried to help! This horse is also a master at figuring out how to untie knots and open doors.

When Total was done checking me out, it was Ebony's turn. She sniffed me all over and then gently rubbed her cheek on my face. I rubbed her chest and it was amazing to see how gentle such a large animal could be as she gently rubbed me around the back of my neck. It is a little unnerving at first to have 1200lb animal try to cuddle with you, especially having witnessed some of her more snarly moments that have had Total looking for a men's-shelter!

I have experienced some amazing things like this before with a bull-terrier we owned too, animals seem to have an instant understanding of people with disabilities, and become gentle giants. It was a great day, and I got some great horse-therapy-time.

We took lemons and made a lemonade!

Soaring May 2014

2014-05-16T15:25:00.002-06:00

Elk Island Park From 9,500 ft

"All out!" Bob hollers into the microphone from the back seat.

The Pawnee accelerates, straining the rope and spraying us with dry grass and debris. We accelerate down the runway and are airborne before the tow plane, what a blast!

I don't know about the rest of you guys but this was one long winter! At about the five minute mark of the flight the winter blues are long gone, and the grin pulled out and installed for the day! We took a tow to 3000 feet, and then released.

Even though it was overcast there was quite a bit of lift to be found. The first one we hit was averaging between 2 and 4 knots of climb, I wasn't going to turn it down and rolled left into it. One of the attributes I seem to have developed is persistence, much to the chagrin of the pilot that gets to ride behind me in the glider. I got to practice the skills learned flying the Condor online simulator, and I'm not sure how long we circled left but think maybe Bob ( who has the patience of Job) was either really really bored or having a good snooze! As we reached about 7000 feet or so the lift stabilized and we were still going up at a steady 4 kts! I decided that "don't fix it if it isn't broke" applies here so we kept circling even more and rode that one all the way up to our limit of 9500 feet!

"Chipman traffic, Mike Juliet Sierra is over the field at 9.4," Bob reports.

A while later while circling to the left we notice below us there is another glider circling to the right in the same thermal. Bob identifies the other glider as the PW5 from the club. I roll the glider right and switch direction so we are both circling the same way. Was it ever a lot of fun to watch the other glider and circle with it! The smaller lighter PW5 was climbing faster than us, and as he started getting close I decided to move on and head south.

What a fantastic flight! After nearly an hour and a half we decide to come back down and share the fun with other pilots that are waiting for the glider. Thanks Bob and the Edmonton Soaring Club for all the fun! Here is a short video of the landing, not my smoothest one as I touched down tail first on the hard ground.