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It's actually been broken for a while, I just automatically pushed it way down into "things too depressing to think, let alone talk about". But I'm trying to get better about not letting things sit in that fog for too long.

It suddenly started making weird grinding noises and refusing to move like a week ago. I rang the place I bought it from, AC Mobility, and they don't service that model any more :( So I looked up the manufacturer, Merits, and emailed the closest decent looking place on their local dealer list, Perth Mobility Scooters. A lot of places seem to either not actually sell Merits wheelchairs, or not do service, or are like 30km away. And I vaguely recall the only other nearish service centre, Scooters Australia Perth, being the ones who installed the wrong battery and were generally incompetent.

So hopefully Perth Mobility Scooters will get back to me and fix it and everything will be fine ;_;

Luckily I don't actually NEED it the way many wheelchair users do. I never used it around the house, and can get Cam to drive me places, or get things delivered, etc. But it's frustrating that I can't wander outside by myself.

My dad gave me a wooden ramp he had from his house's previous owner, and it's perfect except for being about 1cm too high. It's made of wood which has been treated with some sort of outdoor protection, and the bit that needs adapting is a like...5x5x75cm wide block under the flat bit of the ramp.

Does anyone have any suggestions for any relatively cheap, easy ways to get it shortened/lowered and then the wood treated so it doesn't rot outside? Bearing in mind that Cam and I are not the sort of people who are any good at this sort of thing, and do not own much in the way of tools. Anyone local who is good at this stuff want to deal with it for me? (worth a shot :D)

So! I felt a DEEP NEED to go pokemon hunting this morning, but have plans tomorrow to help out the Swancon committee by checking out the accessibility of a venue with my wheelchair. I pondered if it would make me too tired and decided I'd just make a short swing by a pokestop on the other side of my house I haven't checked out yet, and maybe then go to the local shops to buy some eggs.

The reason I hadn't checked out that direction is that it's down a VERY steep hill I tend to avoid after too much time spent with dodgy batteries that cry on steep hills. But I have much better batteries now, and wasn't going very far.

So I started down the Very Steep Hill...and Pokemon Go crashed, as is it's wont. I kept poking the server and it started to rain, making me realise I'd left my umbrella at home. So I turned back. "No worries," I thought to myself as I went back up the Very Steep Hill, batteries showing no sign of strain. "I'll just pop home, grab the..."

And then, half a house away from home, my wheelchair stopped dead. No lights, no movement, nothing. "Oh bother," I thought, or words to that effect.

After some sad fruitless button poking I sighed and turned on the manual control lever. I'd never used it before and was worried I'd gotten it wrong but helpfully the moment it kicked in the chair started rolling back down the Very Steep Hill. "Darn," says I.

But I managed to stop the chair and then push it up the rest of the Very Steep Hill, not have it escape me down the less steep slope of my driveway, and get it inside. And then I collapsed asleep until Cam woke up, and got him to poke at the electronics (I am not allowed to poke at electronics, it ends badly) He found a stick caught in the machinery, but alas removing it did not help.

So I have left a message at the wheelchair place and given my apologies to Swancon. I may get Cam to go out and buy me some eggs. I am rather more sore than I was hoping, but on the plus side am not going to be taking a train anywhere tomorrow anyway :/

(I didn't even catch any pokemon)