“Ok, where’s the list of things we need to sort out this week?”says P. Now anyone who knows P, knows that there’s a list for everything and everything has a list…!!
So, we decided that this weeks list needed to be:
1. look for and test drive a Motability car
2. sort out my outfit for the Christmas concert next week
3. make sure the next lot of paperwork is completed and sent
4. make another list………..
Off we went looking for number 1, a car more suitable for us i.e. with a big enough boot for my wheelchair and a hoist (instead of a really small car with an even smaller boot). The guys in the various garages were great, most of them understood the Motability system and some of them even had the type of car we were looking for so we could test drive it. Now, I don’t know about you but in the past when I wanted to buy a new car, I wanted to get into it, give it a nice test drive and decide if it’s what I was looking for. Now, if you want to buy a car with any adaptations in it, you can’t test drive anything as most garages don’t keep the kind of big cars that you’re looking for as a rule. So what you have to do is, you have to do a shedload of research beforehand, read lots of reviews, look at what adaptations you might need, decide which car fits those adaptations and then check yet again the said adaptations (the hoist!) will actually fit into the car! Not straightforward by any means! Phew, who knew this would be such hard work but we persevered and trawled through all the local garages. The guys at the garages all pointed us in the direction of the people who actually fit the hoists so off we went to the wild East/Gwent; they told us to ask for ‘Jim’……
After confusing the hell out of the satnav, we finally found where ‘Jim’ was, in an unmarked unit in the middle of nowhere. Between the dark sky, the wind and the swirling leaves , it really did feel like we were entering the haunted house at the fair….
We knocked the door (well, P knocked, I’m just a big coward who sat in the car just in case) and this lovely bloke opened the door and asked “do you want a cuppa?” which obviously immediately put him into our good books. In we went and between the cup of coffee and the sherbet lemons on the desk, we were at ease in seconds. ‘Jim’ turned out to be the most brilliant amazing bloke who knew EXACTLY what he was doing; he knew exactly what kind of hoist was needed and perhaps most importantly, which car would be best in terms of which one would actually be able to fit in both the hoist and my wheelchair. After 2ish hours, we came away with a real feeling of positivity, we knew which car was going to be THE one! And as if the gods were smiling on us on this damp and dark day, we went straight to the dealership and, YES, they had a demonstrator that we could test drive! So obviously we did! We’re not the kind of people to waste an opportunity, oh no, so we tested the seats, the height of the sill, the ‘swiveleyness’ of the seats, everything we could think of and eventually, knowing we had Jim’s blessing, signed on the proverbial line and ordered the car!! Yey! That’s one HUGE thing off the list! No more days out with poor old P huffing, puffing and straining to get the taken apart wheelchair out of aforementioned small boot and then huffing and puffing to put it together for me! Funny how a relatively small change can make such a huge difference to the quality of life eh?
With all this ‘excitement’, the hunt for the perfect Christmas concert frock was abandoned until next week as we had to make sure number 3 was completed; the next lot of forms. Not being ‘flavour of the month’ at the moment, these forms are seriously getting me down. They are long, difficult and soul destroying as you, yet again, have to describe in minute detail why it is you need this help but they must be done or else……
Happy to report that number 3 was completed, stamped and sent this weekend which means that, as far as the list goes, apart from the non looking for a fabulous dress, the list was done, dusted, completed and out of the way by the weekend! The Dress will be on the new list for next week (obviously, we have a new one EVERY week) and hell anyway, as my teenage crush Meatloaf said, two out of three ain’t bad eh……???
http://www.minibussales.co.uk (Car adaptations)
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