'Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.' - Maya Angelou

Seat elevator on power wheelchair. I got a chair with a seat elevator in my late teens and it was a total game changer for me. I was suddenly able to access so much more of the world and operate more independently, and eventually live alone on my own. I was barely able to get it and had to fight insurance as it was very costly at the time. Now in the USA, they just became standard through CMS (Medicare/Medicaid) which typically becomes standard industry wide, meaning seat elevators in power wheelchairs are now available to everyone with insurance. That's pretty amazing to me that this type of technology will be the default now.

Oh wow how neat, I had a red & white husky named Kiba when I was younger! What a handsome fella.

My GSD used to hang out in the tub while I was in the bathroom getting ready. It started when I told her there was no room for both of us in there so she found a space for herself, then she just did that from then on.

COVID is airborne. It can move through the air, remain in spaces for a long time, and generally transmit much easier through the air than most realize. People don't need to be in real close proximity to the deer to get infected, just close enough to share some air. With lots of people, lots of deer, and lots of COVID, there's lots of opportunities for cross infection.

They compared the genetic sequences of the collected deer samples to available human ones and found 3 that were nearly identical, which suggests direct spread. From the article:

Lastly, the genetic data suggested three spillovers of deer-adapted SARS-CoV-2 viruses back to humans—two in North Carolina and one in Massachusetts. For this, the researchers compared the deer SARS-CoV-2 sequences to sequences of viruses isolated from humans, available via public databases. In all three possible spillover cases, SARS-CoV-2 isolates from human cases were over 99.9 percent identical to deer-adapted viruses collected from deer in the corresponding states.

There are some! Unfortunately they haven't really caught on well, not easily available unless purchasing outright and they're usually 10s of thousands (most power chairs are) and not covered by insurance. I really want to try one, this is one I'm really interested in that can climb stairs.

Thank you for saying this!

Also, if positive for covid seek a paxlovid prescription if available. It's an effective treatment that can reduce illness time and severity but has to be taken early in your illness. Same with a flu test and Tamiflu if positive (though less likely to be flu right now depending on where you live).

Yea unfortunately that's the disability tax, most things designed for disability are expensive. That's a cool design, I hadn't seen it before. Maybe in another decade the tech will be replicated in mobility aids.

Another reason besides price for why the 2 wheel balancing chairs aren't used more is just functionality. Many people who use power chairs aren't able to balance well, my own is pretty poor, so there's an even more limited market and unfortunately we live in capitalism.

He was a pain in the butt, I loved him!

Toe tufts! They can sometimes get matted or the cat could become obsessive about cleaning them but if those things aren't an issue there's no real reason to trim them. There's no harm in trimming them if wanted but also not necessary.

My ambivalence about this is how it'll impact folks who can't pump their own gas. I'm disabled so having an attendant to pump is so nice, in states without it's a hassle to call someone out to pump who may not have ever done so or even know that they can do that. Folks even get pissed at having to disrupt work and come out, or even refuse. It's a barrier that impacts disabled folks access to independent travel. Will this be the fate of Oregon, maybe not immediately but eventually? Great for folks who want to pump their own but for disabled folks who've never had this barrier before it's going to suck.

Hello, just wanted to give a friendly suggestion to use terms like "wheelchair user" or "person who uses a wheelchair" instead of "wheelchair bound" or "confined to a wheelchair". There are many articles explaining why in more detail for those wanting to know.