Hi folks, true it has been a while since I posted, I hope to get a steady stream of blogs this weekend.

Mainly because I’m leg-up, not in terms of business acumen, but because my leg is actually up on high.

You see, I drove it into an invisible pole the other day while I was cruising 41st & Oak streets in Vancouver yesterday.

So the story goes:

Driving my a power wheelchair within the familiar environs of my home community, I have developed a habit of taking my eyes off the “road” for longer than necessary to look around, glancing at construction sites, spotting performance cars is a thrill! I can do this brief vision respite because I know the area well enough: I know there are five big sidewalk bumps on that side, I know I need to turn sharply at that corner to avoid a hole, I know I need to lower the front of my chair to take the hill approaching, I’m aware of all the ramps or letdowns in my area, I know I can zoom warp factor 5 on that stretch of sidewalk because there is (almost) never anyone using that area.
Averting my vision to loo around for a minute or two is okay, I can do it because I’m familiar with the area based on routinely driving the sidewalks.

Comparingly: The mega construction projects on the south side of 41st Avenue, between Oak & Cambie, really caught my attention!
I was transfixed at this beehive of construction, this newness. So astonished was I, that I continued to drive with my full attention on the big prize, that I did notice until it stopped my locomotion, a two foot high yellow concrete pole! I didn’t see it until it rammed my left leg, pressing the back into the chair!

Pain erupted! I took my eyes off the sight across the street, looked down at the sight in front of me, reversed away from that useless pole!

Then, for the next ten minutes, I succumbed to the pain. I popped, and dry-swallowed, two Ibuprofen (which I always have with me). After a couple of minutes, I stretched my leg, I knew it was not broken. I put some weight on it as I hobbled into the nearby 7Eleven, having driven yonder, to get a cup of joe.

Had I been paying attention, I would have spotted this useless, invisible, pole, avoiding it.

The morale of this story is: in a familiar area I can let my mind wander, but in an unfamiliar area, I need laser-beam focus. And I need new glasses!

Have a good day y’all!