Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Rollator Named

Thanks to all who posted potential names for my rollator. I got a kick out of the names and comments.

Suggested names:

Addy, short for Adventures, from Mad Snapper

Maggie and Abby, also from Mad Snapper


Rolly the Rascal from Great Granny Grandma

A "like" for Rascal from Photowannabe 


I went with how dog breeders name those pedigreed pooches—long names shortened in everyday usage. 

So "Rolly the Rascal" is the long version. "Rascal" is for when I am encouraging it to get me across less than smooth surfaces, or I'm grumbling about its independent actions.

Rascal has slightly bigger wheels than most rollators and it works better on surfaces we encounter camping or walking in local parks. 


The width does present a challenge when we visit homes or businesses with doors that are not as wide as those in our house that was built to accommodate wider rollators and wheelchairs.

Mad Snapper's recommendation of Addy, short for “Adventures,” suggests a compliant rollator perfect for indoor adventures. And that is a good name for a more narrow rollator I plan to add to my “helpers” soon.

Thanks to you my rollators present and future are named! 

Maggie and Abby were already taken among our acquaintances. Our pastor's daughter is Maggie and a granddaughter's friend is Abby.

A final paragraph in this post just disappeared and the go-back arrow didn't make it reappear. Blogger is also doing some other weird things. Posting anyway. 

From the Blue Ridge Parkway visitor center in the background to our van, Rascal and I navigate the October fog. (Photo by Hubby)



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Friday, November 15, 2019

Present Day Life with My Rollator

Casting a long shadow
Almost three years after my rollator prep on the bridge, I can happily affirm that having a rollator offers giant-sized satisfaction for me! 

Hubby and I indulge in early morning or evening walks on our town’s paved Front Beach walking path, me with my rollator, Hubby with either his Nikon or my iPhone. 

He was behind me when he took the photo above. The rising sun created our combined giant-sized shadow.

Being outside and enjoying the breezes, views, walking path and sense of community with other beachgoers is priceless. My rollator is a huge factor in those experiences. 

A sunset walk at the beach (Photo by Hubby)


Having a rollator as a part of our family is not without mishaps, though. During a recent trip in the Smokies and Blue Ridge mountains, we stopped at a pullout in Virginia for Hubby to rearrange some items rattling around in the back of our van. 

He lifted my rollator out of the sliding side door, set it down a few feet from the van and set to work securing things inside. I stayed seated in the passenger seat, enjoying the vistas around me and the mill ponds 40 or so feet on the mountainside below.

What neither of us realized was the rollator was not locked. It was taking its own scenic tour down the adjacent slope, an extremely steep slope. 

I was oblivious; but as soon as he stepped out of the van, Hubby realized the racket he heard while he was in the van was the rollator’s escape. He alerted me that he was going to retrieve it. 

Soon he was back with the errant rollator, and we hit the road again. 

He had avoided going down that steep mountainside and found an easier descent down a gently sloping path past the millponds and the rushing stream that long ago powered a mill.

I am embarrassed to admit that I had stuffed the rollator basket with brochures and fact sheets I had collected at visitor centers and other sites but had never read. Most of his mountainside retrieval operation was gathering up that collection. 

It occurred to me that in addition to showing its age, my rollator has taken on a personality of its own. 

Maybe I need to give it a name the way old cars or trucks earn a name when they become part of the family, just like the first car of my childhood memories, a 1947 Chevrolet my parents dubbed “Old Betsy.”

I have yet to come up with a name that captures the rollator’s  character: usefulness spiced with a dash of mischief. 


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Monday, November 11, 2019

Testing

Retirement Daze and I have been missing in action. 

Testing now to see if retirementdaze.com is back online! 

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