Month: November 2018

Rich Pins

I’m really excited that I was able to add rich pins to my Pinterest account.  Frankly, I feel that I have no idea what I’m doing with rich pins. In fact, I had seen a post on the internet that rich pins are dead and that Pinterest was no longer using rich pins.  I was thinking oh boy that’s good because I have no idea about rich pins.

Clueless on Pinterest

As time went on I continued to have this sneaking suspicion that something was happening on Pinterest that I was completely clueless about.

Work in progress

Pinterest is a work in progress, but then, so am I and so is this website.  But don’t I just love it.  Yes, I do.  So I started to do some investigating, which led me to conclude that rich pins may have changed its format, but not its name.

Yoast to the rescue

I went to the rich pins validatior on Pinterest,  I have Yoast SEO installed on my website, and I went to General to make sure everything is enabled. I went to Social and Facebook.  Apparently, you need to go to Facebook to get what you need for Pinterest.  I think I mentioned that I have no idea what I’m doing.

URL and Validate

I went to my Freebies page and entered in the URL.  I hit Validate and shortly thereafter I received an email from Pinterest that Rich Pins has been validated.  I really wish I knew what I did, but it worked.  I previously used All In One SEO, but have recently switched to Yoast SEO, which appears to be more social media friendly.

Time to exercise

Here I go on to exercise.  As a paraplegic, exercising is not easy.  There is no one to get exercise equipment for me.  I’ve had to develop my own exercise routine.  The hospital bed I am in has a soft mattress and gel overlay, which means that I get no support from it.  Before attempting any exercise routine, please consult first with your physician.

Bars or Rails

The bed has bars or rails on either side, and this is how I get my exercise.  I pull myself from one side of the bed to the other side and this gives me exercise.  I try to move my legs, but I’m always unsuccessful in that effort.  I try to exercise my butt muscles, however, this is often an exercise in frustration.

Hand press

I also press my hands together and push.  This helps my hand and arm muscles.

One side or the other of the bed

I pull myself from one side of the hospital bed to the other with two hands and sometimes with only one hand.  I try to do as many repetitions as I can without damaging the bed.

Pulling myself up

I try to pull myself up.  This is not easy and sometimes results in me being in a bad position in bed .  I often need to pull myself up (that is closer to the headrest in the bed).

The Aide needed an Aide

I once had an aide who tried to pull me up, but she almost broke her back trying to do this.  Typically, when I have a diaper change, I try to pull myself up to the headrest by grabbing the metal rail on the side of the hospital bed, as I turn over.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I hope these exercise tips have helped you.  Keep exercising.  Do not wear yourself out.  Get advice from your doctor.  Stay healthy.

Web design

Before I get to the substance of this post, let me mention that website design is easier said than done.  My second Freebie, Questions for Doctor, seemed good, but it didn’t appear quite right.  Eventually, I figured out what was wrong.

Put the name of the website on the Freebie

I had forgotten to put the name of the website on the Freebie.  It should be easy enough to fix, or so I thought.  I use a graphics program called Canva to create my Freebies.

Consider an iPad

I also use an iPad to do most of my web design, Pinterest pins and web posts.  The iPad seems to anticipate my next word and helps me write my posts.  This is a great help for a handicap person like me.  If you are handicapped, consider getting an iPad to help you write to friends and family.

Canva issues

Apparently, I had created the Freebie using Canva version 2.0, but Canva for iPad was now up to Canva 3.0.  Of course, graphics created with Canva 2.0 cannot be edited with 3.0.  Canva is having some real problems with iPad.  I can no longer turn my iPad horizontally to use Canva.

Android to the rescue

Canva is aware of these problems, and is working on it but that doesn’t really help me.  I had to use my Android phone with a tiny screen to do graphics editing.  This was not easy.  Then I had to replace the old Freebie with the new image on the website and the one in the email.  Well, I did it.

Oh yes, the screwdriver

Back to the Irwin screwdriver, it is a little lifesaver. Not only can I put batteries in toys, see my previous post – Toyland, it helps me with many other things.  I can tighten my over bed table and fix many things with it.  The Irwin screwdriver can be found on my products page.

The power of 8 bits

It has 8 bits which means that one screwdriver doubles as 8 screwdrivers.  I do not have the space in bed for an 8 piece screwdriver set, but there is room for one stubbie screwdriver.  You unscrew the yellow portion to reveat the 8 bits.  It is like having 8 screwdrivers in one.

A little bit goes a long way

Granted, the bits are small, but not tiny, and not always easy to pull out, but it seems to magnetically pop into place.  This holds in place well when you are using it.

The magic or magnet is inside

I hope this helps people who are handicapped have access to a multitude of screwdriver bits.  The bits are inside the screwdriver.  Actually, this may be helpful to people that are not handicapped as well.

The link is coming soon

I will be placing a link to the Irwin screwdriver on my products page shortly.  Please watch for it.

Happy Turkey Day

Meanwhile, I want to wish everyone a great Thanksgiving day.  A neighbor was kind enough to bring over some turkey.  I wish everyone the best Thanksgiving day.

Website maintenance

Before I get into the substance of this blog post, let me just tell you what I’ve been up to lately.  It’s been project clean up the website.

To link or not to link

For example, the Freebies worked, but Freebie number one (the Weekly Pill Reminder) had a link, while Freebie number two (the Questions for Doctor) had a box under it.  Both worked fine, but it looked weird that one had a link while the other had a box.

Think inside the box

Now both have boxes. You may look at this and think it was really nothing more than a cosmetic change.

It’s all about cosmetics and computer code

However, on a website even a cosmetic change means a whole lot of computer code.  I had to take down Freebie number one, that’s right wipe it out completely, and reinstall it on the website.  Strangely, it would not work until I saved the new install twice to the website.  Hey, website design isn’t as easy as it looks.

Clean up the vertical box

Then my next part of the project was to clean up the email address on the vertical Newsletter sign up boxes.  Apparently, there was not enough space in the vertical sign up box for the word “address”.   It only partially displayed and looked peculiar.

Appearance is so important

Website design is nothing if not about a good appearance.  If a website looks professional, people are much more likely to trust it and click on it.  I finally changed that by deleting the word “address” on all the pages.  Now the website looks good and works.

The old driver returns

It took awhile but I finally got a driver for the van.  This was the driver who helped me get the new air conditioner compressor installed in the van.

Why can’t I eat on either side of my mouth?

After my usual get ready to go out routine, off we went to the dentist.  Now I have an extraction on the left lower side of my mouth, and the temporary on the right side came out.  In fact, the temporary came out the same day it was put in when I ate a turkey sandwich about 4 hours after the temporary was inserted.

Temporaries are temporary

Well, it was only a temporary and eventually it will have to come out anyway.  The extraction on the lower left side was healing and I was able to eat some soft foods on the left side.  The temporary was on the lower right side, so I had to struggle to eat on the left and right side of my mouth.

Another cracked tooth

The dentist started to work on the temporary on the lower right side and actually got the new temporary to fit well when he noticed that my tooth was cracked.  I had two new x-rays taken and the dentist determined that I would need another extraction.  At first he was going to send me to the Oral Surgeon for the extraction, but later decided to do the extraction next visit himself.  This, of course, makes it much easier for me, because it means no additional trip to the Oral Surgeon.

It’s all about the website

Meanwhile, I was telling the dentist about this website.  Why not do some advertising while I’m at the dentist’s office?   I also told him he could follow me on Pinterest.  That’s me, motivated and inspired, even with multiple sclerosis fatigue.

The way home

Then I set up a new appointment for next month.  We stopped off for some gasoline.  The ride home was largely uneventful until the van stalled.  My guess is that the new gasoline did not mix well with the old gasoline.  Anyway, the van started right up and we continued on our way home.

Am I regressing and what am I doing with a toy?

O.K., you are wondering how this could be from an old handicapped guy who is old enough to collect social security.  What could I be doing playing with toys?  Well, I am not exactly playing with the toys.

The kids of cousins

We have cousins and the cousins have children, and these children, who we love and adore, play with toys, which means we are buying toys.  Now, most toys today are not Ragady Ann and Andy.  They are battery driven techno-toys.

Power toys

This means you are buying batteries and figuring out how these things are supposed to work.  Now, because you do not want to rip everything apart before the child and the child’s parents even see the toy, you do not open all the bags that come with the toy.  Unfortunately for you, this often means you do not open the bag that has the instruction manual.  Therefore, you must figure out what you are supposed to do to get the toy to work without any guidance whatsoever.

Divine Inspiration

Assuming you do not have divine inspiration, you will likely be as befuddled and confused as I was.  The toy in question is the Crayola Touchup Tracing Pro toy.  Since you are trying not to open the bag, with the instructions, you will try to take some solace in the name of the toy.  Since this a tracing toy, you will look for the tracing paper, but lo and behold you will not find any.  Instead, you will see drawings on paper that might be traced.  It might be a good idea to get some paper.

A bright light

Now for the hard part, this toy has a light.  It takes three AA batteries, but of course it does not come with batteries.  Either you have to buy new batteries for the toy or you have to be lucky like I was and happen to have a package of new batteries.

It’s all screwed up

You might think now I just pop in the batteries and I am set. You would of course, be wrong, because there are two tiny little screws that hold the battery compartment closed.  At first, I thought it would be necessary to get a tiny little screwdriver.  This would be a major undertaking for me since I am a bedridden paraplegic in bed.

Stubby to the rescue

I keep an Irwin stubby screwdriver with me on the eating table in front of me.  This screwdriver has eight big bits.  Fortunately, to my surprise, the smaller Phillips head screwdriver bit actually fit the small screws on the toy.

Bedridden again

Of course, I am in bed and even with a screwdriver bit that fits, I needed to contort my body in order to unscrew the battery compartment. Fortunately, the screws were held in place by a washer and did not roll away on the floor.

Put in the batteries

I inserted the three batteries and then closed and screwed shut the battery compartment.  This is actually better than most toys where the screws would be rolling away on the floor.  However, this is still difficult for a handicapped person who is nearly flat on his back in bed.  But then the things we will do for family.

The preliminaries

Before I get into the substance of this post, let me just mention that I have been busy working on the website.  I am preparing a second Freebie, growing my Pinterest followers, getting more Pinterest groupboards, learning HTML, and watching election returns.  Life is busy.  I need to take some time for fun, so I’m writing this blog post.

The five day aide

I had an aide for five days.  Right after my shower she comes into my bedroom and tells me she needs to go, and she wants to be paid.  I am disabled and I am not a bank.  I have no money.  I tell her to go back to my wife for money because I have none.  Apparently, she believes she did a lot for us.  This is the job.

How time intensive am I?

I frankly, am not time intensive.  Doing a diaper change takes about 7 minutes.  The patient lift takes about 5 minutes.  She may have to give me the bowl with my medications.  But then I take my medications.  I figure out which medications I take and when.  She has nothing to do with that.  When I’m finished with the medications, she takes the bowl of medications and puts the bowl on the black table two feet from me.  That takes at most 3 seconds.

What if I take a shower?

If I’m taking a shower, then she wheels me in the shower chair into the bathroom.  She plugs in my electric shaver.  I do the rest until I need to go into the shower.  I shave myself.  I clean my shaver myself. I clean my glasses myself.  I brush my teeth myself.  I use a fluoride rinse myself.  Then I call for the aide to wheel me into the shower.  This takes half a minute.  I take a shower myself.

Where is the shampoo?

She may or may not get shampoo, sometimes it is already in the shower, and hands me the shower spray.  This takes maybe three seconds on a bad day.  I shower myself and I can even do between my toes in the shower.  After the shower, she takes me out of the shower, wipes my back with a towel, because it is not easy for me to wipe my back in a shower chair.

What watch?

I dry the rest of my body with a towel. I put on my watch, which hopefully I took off before the shower, I have taken it off by myself while in the shower.  It is water resistant, not waterproof.

Back to the bedroom

She wheels me into the bedroom, it is easier to wheel me in backwards in and out of the room and it is much faster to wheel me in and out of the bathroom backwards. Then it’s 5 minutes in the patient lift and a 7 minute diaper change. After that it’s 2 minutes applying some cream to my legs. And that’s it.

Light cleaning

The rest of the job is light cleaning.  If not for the light cleaning, the aide would have nothing to do for the rest of the day.  Personally, I don’t think this is too much to ask of someone.

It’s just too much and turn up the Smartphone

Anyway, she thought it was too much and left after my wife paid her.  Earlier my wife found her down the basement with earphones in her ears listening to her smartphone.  How she was going to hear me call her from the shower upstairs while she had the earphones in her ears listening to the smartphone, I do not know.  Anyway, we are now looking for a new aide and adjusting our schedules.

Driver to take me to the dentist

I need to go to the dentist on Wednesday and we called the driver to confirm his availability.  Three weeks ago I had told the driver that I would need him that Wednesday, and he told me that he would be able to drive me on that date.  We call to confirm and sure enough he says he is leaving the country.  He will not be able to drive me.  We are looking for a new driver. We are trying to adjust our schedules.

This isn’t supposed to be political

I was really conflicted about doing this blog post.  This website was never supposed to be political.  But whether you are a registered Democrat, Republican, Independent, or some other party, this is a really important election.  How could it be that I have this platform and do nothing with it?  I would never forgive myself.

But, first a word about the website

But, before I get into the substance of this blog post, I would like to note that I have been really busy with my website.  I now have on my Home page a follow me on Pinterest button that really works.  I have a save to Pinterest button that I need to check out some more, but probably works.  And for those who do not need or want my Freebie on my Freebie page, you can now sign up for the newsletter, without signing up for the Freebie.

GDPR compliant – what’s that?

You will also note that I now have a Cookie Notice and a Cookie Policy.   I am in the United States.  I am a natural born United States citizen.  However, I am making an effort to be GDPR compliant for my friends in the European Union.  After all, this is the World Wide Web.  OK, now that I have totally scared myself (I thought Halloween was over.  Actually, we had more trick or treaters than we had expected and we had to go to the store to get more candy).  First time visitors to the website will have to click on the Cookie Notice, have the option to find out more information from my Cookie Policy, and find out more about the use of cookies.  While some bloggers apparently think this is a nuisance, let’s face it, no one really wants a Notice from the EU.

Back to the Future of our Country

Back to the subject of this blog post, in the United States, we are having our mid-term elections.  These are the off year elections.  Elections when no one is running for President of the United States.  However, there are many important congressional and local elections.

When is it?

If you want a say in your government, this is your chance.  Election Day is November 6, 2018.

Easier said than done for some of us

However, I realize as a handicapped person myself, how difficult it is for many handicapped people to get to a polling place.  In my case, I vote in advance by absentee ballot.  Some states allow for early voting, but many do not.

This is important – ask for help

This is the time to ask for help from your caregiver.  You need to get to a polling place, if you have not already early voted or mailed in your absentee ballot.

Charge your battery and go to your polling place

For those of you that have power wheelchairs, most power wheelchairs can go 20 miles or more on a single battery charge.  Make sure you have relatively good batteries and that they are fully charged before you head out to a polling place, which may be your local school or civic center.  Check your polling place in advance.  Make sure you are registered to vote.  I have been told (I have not checked this out) that North Dakota does not require registration.  Apparently, in North Dakota you can just show up at a polling place and vote without the need to register.  Make sure that you have whatever identification is required.

Time to use that van

If you have a mobility van and power wheelchair, this makes voting much easier.  But, check that the polling place is handicap accessible.  A few years ago I had a very difficult time getting up and down the stairs in the local high school to vote in a school board election.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is time to get out and vote.  This is your time to say something about your government.  Let’s not spend the next 2 years complaining about our government, if we don’t even make the effort to vote.  There are so many issues that are important to handicapped people.  This is a wake up call to handicapped people, their caregivers and others, that it is time to say something about your country’s government.