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Nov. 27th, 2015 03:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwydion* "Republicans deploy the F-word on Donald Trump:"
* "Ted Cruz Called A Hearing On The Mythical ‘War On Police’:" http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/11/18/3723447/ted-cruz-war-on-police/
* "Police department culture questioned where truth was elusive:"
* "Cruz ducks questions about radical religious right endorsement:"
* "Vietnam passes law protecting rights of transgender people:" http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2015/11/25/vietnam-passes-law-protecting-rights-of-transgender-people/?utm_source=PNFB&utm_medium=socialFB&utm_campaign=PNFacebook
* DO NOT GIVE THEM MONEY. "The Salvation Army's History of Anti-LGBT Discrimination:" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/zinnia-jones/the-salvation-armys-histo_b_4422938.html
* "Homo erectus footprints hint at ancient hunting party:" http://www.nature.com/news/homo-erectus-footprints-hint-at-ancient-hunting-party-1.17346
* "Why we have chins: Researchers contend chin comes from evolution, not mechanical forces:" http://phys.org/news/2015-04-chins-contend-chin-evolution-mechanical.html
* "Palaeolithic remains prove cannibalistic habits of human ancestors:" http://phys.org/news/2015-04-palaeolithic-cannibalistic-habits-human-ancestors.html
* "The Earliest Little Red Riding Hood Tale:" http://www.medievalists.net/2013/11/10/the-earliest-little-red-riding-hood-tale/
* "Rosa May Billinghurst: Suffragette on Three Wheels:" http://www.sheilahanlon.com/?page_id=1314
* I got black and purple striped fingerless gloves for Gothmas!
* So here's the thing with my mobility. I mostly don't use the crutches in my apartment. I do use one or both on a bad mobility day, but my floor is flat and I don't allow obstructions. I have things I can lean on or grab onto in if my legs lose power briefly. I go barefoot without socks, so I'm not going to slip. I have the crutches or the wheelchair as an option if the pain renders the legs too painful or prone to failing, but mostly, I'm okay. I often don't bother when I'm visiting someone else's place if there are no stairs or obstructions or small children running about. I pick a spot and sit in it, and if I need to move, I quickly find a place to sit. I do hang on to the crutch if it's a large party, as I'm more likely to need it for safety or getting around complicated moving clumps of people.
When I'm outside (curbs, stairs, uneven pavement, random obstructions), I always have at least a crutch, becaue even if I have above average standing leg control, I fall really easily. I absolutely use it inside places like shops or the library, where small unattended children or adult assholes can run into me and knock me down, or places like the post office, where I may have to stand in long lines, which is incredibly painful and burns my steps for the day.
Foraging is the worst of all worlds. You get up to a couple hours of line, most of it with nowhere to sit if I couldn't park close enough for a chair. I often end up sitting on cold wet pavement in the rain if the parking is bad. There are often people smoking in or next to the line, which my scarred up slowly degenerating lungs can't handle which means I may not be able to breathe well and start trying to cough up a lung, smokers generally being to lazy and inconsiderate to move a safe distance away. (I'm not coughing to be an asshole, Smokers. I am coughing because I have a genetic condition that will likely eventually kill me. I'm not the asshole in this situation.) Add to this, that inside is a chaotic environment where people and small minimally supervised children randomly run into you.
So as when I go shopping, I put the crutch in the cart and use the cart as a walker. For the time I'm there, just as at the supermarket, that cart is a mobility devise. The way you can tell is there is a crutch sticking out of the cart. Being me, I try not to be in the way. I do keep the cart really close because I do not like being separated from my crutch in public places, even though often, the thing I'm going to grab if my legs randomly give out or someone knocks into me is likely a counter, a bin, a bit of shelving. When I am public, that crutch is basically an extra, more reliable leg. Yes, even when I'm not using it, because I worry about getting stranded, which was a thing that used to happen towards the end of my teaching career and is a thing that can happen in a chaotic warehouse type environment if you pull my cart and thus crutch away out of reach while I'm grabbing oranges.
So when the man grabbed my cart and pulled it away, I instinctively pulled it back to my hip without turning around. People bump your cart all the time, so I do this all the time without thinking about it because that's my legs and I need them approximate to my hips. Only it wasn't someone carelessly bumping my cart, it was a guy who worked there taking the cart over to where they want able bodied people to put them for the bread section so they are out of the way. Normally they wait until you are ready to enter breads, at which time I say, "I'm using it as a walker," and everything is fine. The guy had jumped the gun. A small tug of war ensued with him talking over me, "I'm just moving it out of the way. I'm not stealing your stuff. You can let go of it. It will be fine over here," and me in my startlement trying to get my phrase out in the gaps about it being a walker. I could see the moment he finally figured out what he was doing (stealing someone's leg). I could tell they'd had sensitivity training for disabilities, as he apologized mentioning he hadn't seen the crutch in a way that suggested he really did get it. I wasn't angry or anything and it was all good.
I am mentioning it because this is a thing that happens. You are sitting somewhere and someone "helps" by moving your crutch somewhere further away. I want to go to the bathroom, and it's gone. Which is alarming. I wouldn't be sitting with it if I didn't need it. I try to prop or tuck it out of the way, but depending on the set up, sometimes it needs moving. It's totally fine to ask me to move the thing. I will happily move the thing, but if you move it for me? I may not know where it is when I needed it, and it's disconcerting. That crutch (or cane or wheelchair) may not be quite as intimate as a prosthesis, but it's still functionally a leg or legs and it is freaky to discover someone's trying to walk off with one of your legs, or worse yet taken it and hidden it, or worse still as happens to wheelchair users all too often, stolen by some asshole able bodied person because they've decided that that person doesn't need it because they had to pee or whatever and left it unattended a few moments.
My little tug of war yesterday was not a big deal, but I thought it would be a good time to remind people to ask before you move a mobility devise. Use your words, or at least a polite gesture and let the person move it themselves. Keep in mind that it's not always obvious that you are looking at a mobility devise. When we took my Gran shopping, I'd go grab her a cart and bring it to the car, so she didn't need to get her walker out. Her being past 90 and not liking to let go the cart was a hint, but a fairly subtle one. Keep in mind that just because someone is not using a mobility devise right this second, doesn't mean they don't really need it. There are all sorts of reasons someone might not be in their chair. They may be able to stand and walk short distances, but have very little safe mobility. (Being able to walk the distance to use a non-wheelchair accessible rest room, doesn't mean they can safely walk to their car.) They may have a condition where every step is agony, but the office or person they need to visit is not wheelchair accessible. They might have crawled off to sit on the grass in the park, which is something wheelchairs are not good at. Those things are expensive. Stealing them is not cool or clever or teaching that person a lesson. It's a serious theft that they may not be able to afford to replace and you could strand someone. DON'T DO IT. If you see any mobility devise? Leave it alone unless you have permission to move it.
Yes, accidents happen, like the thing with my cart and crutch the other day, and if you make a mistake like that, apologize and try to be more careful. That's all I ask.
* EBAY:
Chaos Theory VII: Fougere, 44 2015 (LE,Chaos Theory VII): (Company says: Sharply fernlike lavenders and lilacs with a herbaceous, oakmoss-tinted touch.)Above the Shoulder.
In bottle: Very delicate and hard to pin down. Lavender fougere dominant, with a floral in the lavender and lilac range layered over it. I can swear to the lavender in the fougere, but not to the second floral. It goes very well with the fougere. There it a delicate spice, possibly a citrus, and something giving it depth, possibly amber or amberette. It's mostly about the androgynous florals though. Wet: Strongly Lime over lavender fougere. Not nearly as floral at first, though the florals rise to support lavender. I am still having trouble pining down what flower it is , but am suspecting it's something I have no chance of guessing like honeysuckle or daisy. There is still a sweetness and a sexiness that could be amber or amberette, that supports the fougere beautifully, and rises as it wears. The lime backs down to dance with that hint of spice. This is absolutely lovely, likely a little too delicate for my skin chemistry, but sublime. It slowly evolves towards a floral supported by probably Amberette and possibly a touch of honey with he soft fougere as a canvas. Dry: Floral and amber or Amberette over fougere fading eventually to lavender fougere. http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/301806103614?
Chaos Theory VII: Gourmand #243 2015 (LE,Chaos Theory VII): (Company says: Sweet vanillas, thick chocolates, burnt caramels, and spun sugars.) Above the Shoulder.
In bottle: Possibly chamomile. Possibly lemongrass. Vanilla and sugar at a base. I am pretty sure there is poppy and possibly something else herbal. Wet: Not chamomile after all for which I am grateful as my skin chemistry does terrible things with it. It is now strongly pomegranate and I'm thinking red autumn berries. It's not too sweet, though it still smells of sugar. I'm picking up a touch of poppy still and that vaguely citrus herbal edge I'm still thinking might contain lemon grass and clearly something else I can't identify. The possibly lemongrass or rind and an herb holds firm as the more volatile bits wear away This is pleasingly red and Autumnal. Dry: Pomegranate and lemongrass. http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/301806105684?
CHAOS THEORY VII: WOODS, #99 2015 (LE,Chaos Theory VII): (Company says: The root of these scents (SEE WHAT I DID THERE?) are foresty and camphoraceous, riddled with deep greens and lush brown tones.) Just Below the Shoulder.
In bottle: Very sharply green. I'm guessing cedar dominant, with mixed forest around it, since there is a richness to the woods suggesting multiple trees. There is a cool softness underneath that makes me think of stone in winter. Wet: More pine to it than in the bottle and the whole thing is gentler and smoother. It really does smell like mixed forest in winter, as there are deciduous woods in there but no hint of leaves. The subtle cold granite feel lingers also and a hint of something herbal tangles with the hint of camphor. http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/301806111721?
A LOW CANDLE-LIT ROOM 2013 (LE, Yules): (Company says: Candle wax and waxen "skin," rotting leather and reeking damp wood, and the ashes of a yawning, cold fireplace.). 3/4 Full.
MUTANT HOT-RODDERS FROM HELL HIGH 2013 (LE, Retail Exclusive Oils): (Company says: Shiny black leather jackets, gleaming silver studs, black pepper, pungent lime, and hellfire). 1/2 Full.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/301806095856?
NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY 2010 (LE, Halloweenie): (Company says: Dewy green leaves colored by Moroccan amber, ginseng, and rooibos.) Just Below Label. http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/301806116386?
* Story Dragon Store: http://thestorydragon.com/?product_cat=owens-art
* Donate to help refugees "UN Refugee Agency:" http://donate.unhcr.org/international/general
* Organizations helping with the refugee crisis: http://captainofalltheships.tumblr.com/post/128790538169/an-updated-list-of-organizations-to-donate-to-help
* A list of LGBTQA Charities: http://awkward0w1.tumblr.com/post/126399233673
* Want Game of Thrones without the creepy? We desperately need new players. We are very inclusive. "Game of Bones MUSH:" gobmush.wikidot.com
* "Ted Cruz Called A Hearing On The Mythical ‘War On Police’:" http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/11/18/3723447/ted-cruz-war-on-police/
* "Police department culture questioned where truth was elusive:"
* "Cruz ducks questions about radical religious right endorsement:"
* "Vietnam passes law protecting rights of transgender people:" http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2015/11/25/vietnam-passes-law-protecting-rights-of-transgender-people/?utm_source=PNFB&utm_medium=socialFB&utm_campaign=PNFacebook
* DO NOT GIVE THEM MONEY. "The Salvation Army's History of Anti-LGBT Discrimination:" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/zinnia-jones/the-salvation-armys-histo_b_4422938.html
* "Homo erectus footprints hint at ancient hunting party:" http://www.nature.com/news/homo-erectus-footprints-hint-at-ancient-hunting-party-1.17346
* "Why we have chins: Researchers contend chin comes from evolution, not mechanical forces:" http://phys.org/news/2015-04-chins-contend-chin-evolution-mechanical.html
* "Palaeolithic remains prove cannibalistic habits of human ancestors:" http://phys.org/news/2015-04-palaeolithic-cannibalistic-habits-human-ancestors.html
* "The Earliest Little Red Riding Hood Tale:" http://www.medievalists.net/2013/11/10/the-earliest-little-red-riding-hood-tale/
* "Rosa May Billinghurst: Suffragette on Three Wheels:" http://www.sheilahanlon.com/?page_id=1314
* I got black and purple striped fingerless gloves for Gothmas!
* So here's the thing with my mobility. I mostly don't use the crutches in my apartment. I do use one or both on a bad mobility day, but my floor is flat and I don't allow obstructions. I have things I can lean on or grab onto in if my legs lose power briefly. I go barefoot without socks, so I'm not going to slip. I have the crutches or the wheelchair as an option if the pain renders the legs too painful or prone to failing, but mostly, I'm okay. I often don't bother when I'm visiting someone else's place if there are no stairs or obstructions or small children running about. I pick a spot and sit in it, and if I need to move, I quickly find a place to sit. I do hang on to the crutch if it's a large party, as I'm more likely to need it for safety or getting around complicated moving clumps of people.
When I'm outside (curbs, stairs, uneven pavement, random obstructions), I always have at least a crutch, becaue even if I have above average standing leg control, I fall really easily. I absolutely use it inside places like shops or the library, where small unattended children or adult assholes can run into me and knock me down, or places like the post office, where I may have to stand in long lines, which is incredibly painful and burns my steps for the day.
Foraging is the worst of all worlds. You get up to a couple hours of line, most of it with nowhere to sit if I couldn't park close enough for a chair. I often end up sitting on cold wet pavement in the rain if the parking is bad. There are often people smoking in or next to the line, which my scarred up slowly degenerating lungs can't handle which means I may not be able to breathe well and start trying to cough up a lung, smokers generally being to lazy and inconsiderate to move a safe distance away. (I'm not coughing to be an asshole, Smokers. I am coughing because I have a genetic condition that will likely eventually kill me. I'm not the asshole in this situation.) Add to this, that inside is a chaotic environment where people and small minimally supervised children randomly run into you.
So as when I go shopping, I put the crutch in the cart and use the cart as a walker. For the time I'm there, just as at the supermarket, that cart is a mobility devise. The way you can tell is there is a crutch sticking out of the cart. Being me, I try not to be in the way. I do keep the cart really close because I do not like being separated from my crutch in public places, even though often, the thing I'm going to grab if my legs randomly give out or someone knocks into me is likely a counter, a bin, a bit of shelving. When I am public, that crutch is basically an extra, more reliable leg. Yes, even when I'm not using it, because I worry about getting stranded, which was a thing that used to happen towards the end of my teaching career and is a thing that can happen in a chaotic warehouse type environment if you pull my cart and thus crutch away out of reach while I'm grabbing oranges.
So when the man grabbed my cart and pulled it away, I instinctively pulled it back to my hip without turning around. People bump your cart all the time, so I do this all the time without thinking about it because that's my legs and I need them approximate to my hips. Only it wasn't someone carelessly bumping my cart, it was a guy who worked there taking the cart over to where they want able bodied people to put them for the bread section so they are out of the way. Normally they wait until you are ready to enter breads, at which time I say, "I'm using it as a walker," and everything is fine. The guy had jumped the gun. A small tug of war ensued with him talking over me, "I'm just moving it out of the way. I'm not stealing your stuff. You can let go of it. It will be fine over here," and me in my startlement trying to get my phrase out in the gaps about it being a walker. I could see the moment he finally figured out what he was doing (stealing someone's leg). I could tell they'd had sensitivity training for disabilities, as he apologized mentioning he hadn't seen the crutch in a way that suggested he really did get it. I wasn't angry or anything and it was all good.
I am mentioning it because this is a thing that happens. You are sitting somewhere and someone "helps" by moving your crutch somewhere further away. I want to go to the bathroom, and it's gone. Which is alarming. I wouldn't be sitting with it if I didn't need it. I try to prop or tuck it out of the way, but depending on the set up, sometimes it needs moving. It's totally fine to ask me to move the thing. I will happily move the thing, but if you move it for me? I may not know where it is when I needed it, and it's disconcerting. That crutch (or cane or wheelchair) may not be quite as intimate as a prosthesis, but it's still functionally a leg or legs and it is freaky to discover someone's trying to walk off with one of your legs, or worse yet taken it and hidden it, or worse still as happens to wheelchair users all too often, stolen by some asshole able bodied person because they've decided that that person doesn't need it because they had to pee or whatever and left it unattended a few moments.
My little tug of war yesterday was not a big deal, but I thought it would be a good time to remind people to ask before you move a mobility devise. Use your words, or at least a polite gesture and let the person move it themselves. Keep in mind that it's not always obvious that you are looking at a mobility devise. When we took my Gran shopping, I'd go grab her a cart and bring it to the car, so she didn't need to get her walker out. Her being past 90 and not liking to let go the cart was a hint, but a fairly subtle one. Keep in mind that just because someone is not using a mobility devise right this second, doesn't mean they don't really need it. There are all sorts of reasons someone might not be in their chair. They may be able to stand and walk short distances, but have very little safe mobility. (Being able to walk the distance to use a non-wheelchair accessible rest room, doesn't mean they can safely walk to their car.) They may have a condition where every step is agony, but the office or person they need to visit is not wheelchair accessible. They might have crawled off to sit on the grass in the park, which is something wheelchairs are not good at. Those things are expensive. Stealing them is not cool or clever or teaching that person a lesson. It's a serious theft that they may not be able to afford to replace and you could strand someone. DON'T DO IT. If you see any mobility devise? Leave it alone unless you have permission to move it.
Yes, accidents happen, like the thing with my cart and crutch the other day, and if you make a mistake like that, apologize and try to be more careful. That's all I ask.
* EBAY:
Chaos Theory VII: Fougere, 44 2015 (LE,Chaos Theory VII): (Company says: Sharply fernlike lavenders and lilacs with a herbaceous, oakmoss-tinted touch.)Above the Shoulder.
In bottle: Very delicate and hard to pin down. Lavender fougere dominant, with a floral in the lavender and lilac range layered over it. I can swear to the lavender in the fougere, but not to the second floral. It goes very well with the fougere. There it a delicate spice, possibly a citrus, and something giving it depth, possibly amber or amberette. It's mostly about the androgynous florals though. Wet: Strongly Lime over lavender fougere. Not nearly as floral at first, though the florals rise to support lavender. I am still having trouble pining down what flower it is , but am suspecting it's something I have no chance of guessing like honeysuckle or daisy. There is still a sweetness and a sexiness that could be amber or amberette, that supports the fougere beautifully, and rises as it wears. The lime backs down to dance with that hint of spice. This is absolutely lovely, likely a little too delicate for my skin chemistry, but sublime. It slowly evolves towards a floral supported by probably Amberette and possibly a touch of honey with he soft fougere as a canvas. Dry: Floral and amber or Amberette over fougere fading eventually to lavender fougere. http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/301806103614?
Chaos Theory VII: Gourmand #243 2015 (LE,Chaos Theory VII): (Company says: Sweet vanillas, thick chocolates, burnt caramels, and spun sugars.) Above the Shoulder.
In bottle: Possibly chamomile. Possibly lemongrass. Vanilla and sugar at a base. I am pretty sure there is poppy and possibly something else herbal. Wet: Not chamomile after all for which I am grateful as my skin chemistry does terrible things with it. It is now strongly pomegranate and I'm thinking red autumn berries. It's not too sweet, though it still smells of sugar. I'm picking up a touch of poppy still and that vaguely citrus herbal edge I'm still thinking might contain lemon grass and clearly something else I can't identify. The possibly lemongrass or rind and an herb holds firm as the more volatile bits wear away This is pleasingly red and Autumnal. Dry: Pomegranate and lemongrass. http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/301806105684?
CHAOS THEORY VII: WOODS, #99 2015 (LE,Chaos Theory VII): (Company says: The root of these scents (SEE WHAT I DID THERE?) are foresty and camphoraceous, riddled with deep greens and lush brown tones.) Just Below the Shoulder.
In bottle: Very sharply green. I'm guessing cedar dominant, with mixed forest around it, since there is a richness to the woods suggesting multiple trees. There is a cool softness underneath that makes me think of stone in winter. Wet: More pine to it than in the bottle and the whole thing is gentler and smoother. It really does smell like mixed forest in winter, as there are deciduous woods in there but no hint of leaves. The subtle cold granite feel lingers also and a hint of something herbal tangles with the hint of camphor. http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/301806111721?
A LOW CANDLE-LIT ROOM 2013 (LE, Yules): (Company says: Candle wax and waxen "skin," rotting leather and reeking damp wood, and the ashes of a yawning, cold fireplace.). 3/4 Full.
MUTANT HOT-RODDERS FROM HELL HIGH 2013 (LE, Retail Exclusive Oils): (Company says: Shiny black leather jackets, gleaming silver studs, black pepper, pungent lime, and hellfire). 1/2 Full.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/301806095856?
NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY 2010 (LE, Halloweenie): (Company says: Dewy green leaves colored by Moroccan amber, ginseng, and rooibos.) Just Below Label. http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/301806116386?
* Story Dragon Store: http://thestorydragon.com/?product_cat=owens-art
* Donate to help refugees "UN Refugee Agency:" http://donate.unhcr.org/international/general
* Organizations helping with the refugee crisis: http://captainofalltheships.tumblr.com/post/128790538169/an-updated-list-of-organizations-to-donate-to-help
* A list of LGBTQA Charities: http://awkward0w1.tumblr.com/post/126399233673
* Want Game of Thrones without the creepy? We desperately need new players. We are very inclusive. "Game of Bones MUSH:" gobmush.wikidot.com