Repairs and Preventative Maintenance on My Mobility Chair

Just like a car, things need to be maintained or repaired on your mobility power chair and scooters. It isn't cheap either! Hard to do when you are a person who needs help walking let alone repairing your chair or scooter. Even something that sounds as simple as changing the batteries is not a little thing. Depending on how much you use it though your batteries need to be charged often. I make it a habit to put the charger on it every time I come back from using it. 

Last summer I purchased new batteries because it was not holding a charge very long. I did not want to be stranded somewhere. My friend who drives a scooter had to buy new batteries almost every year because she uses her scooter often. The batteries are not cheap! So it is best to build up an emergency fund for batteries and related repairs on your mobility scooter or power chair. The batteries I purchased were Mighty Max sealed lead acid batteries that are under warranty for a year. Since I got them though I have not used the chair enough to know how well they hold the charge.

I had tire problems and had to have new ones put on and that was NOT an easy fix. Somebody did it for me and getting the wheel off proved to be very difficult. It took weeks to finally get them replaced. These new tires have tubes and give a smoother ride. I keep a tire pump nearby to pump them up when or if needed. 

So I thought I was all set and ready to go! Then I drove to the store and it did not feel right to me. I prayed to get home on it. Turns out the caster wheels, particularly one on the front, needs to be replaced too. This is beginning to remind me of a car or a truck. Well, I have the caster wheels now. Just waiting to put them on. I have been watching YouTube videos on how to do it. I will need a couple of tools to do this. My problem is that I am not very strong so it is hard for me to do. 

So these are the two new castor wheels and hopefully I will get them put on soon. Maybe I can have a friend do it for me. The weather this winter has been good enough that I could have used Jazzy to go to the store. Instead I had to use Instacart and spend more money. Running to the store will not be something I take for granted again. I love my mobility chair and hope to keep using it! It has given me so much independence. I hate to have it sitting in my apartment not being used. Soon I hope to have it road ready again! 

Copyright © 2023 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2023  Kathleen G. Lupole

My Thoughts This Morning On My Way To The Store

TOPS' Parking Lot Entrance

I will admit that when I first got my mobility chair (which I call "Jazzy" throughout this blog) I was intimidated about driving it into the elevator let alone down the street. I would watch out my window when my neighbors would take off on their chairs and scooters with envy. Right up the ramp and out the driveway. I kept wondering how they could just get out there and take off bebopping along at a pretty fast speed. It took me awhile to master it. Once you do, it is such a feeling of freedom! Every time I check the weather in the morning it is with that thought in my mind. Can I take a ride with "Jazzy" or it going to rain? 

Today I needed to buy bacon for me and kale for Rabbit. So off I went! It was a beautiful day and lots of people were out. Some people had their masks on walking down the streets and many did not. I wear it in my apartment building's public areas. Once I am off the ramp, off comes the mask. It overheats me. Especially in the hot weather. I am not really near another person the whole way to the store. Before I go into the store I put my mask on. I have to remove my glasses to put it on or else it fogs up my glasses. Another thing I learned is once you have the mask on, keep your lips tight and breathe only through your nose. Then my glasses do not get fogged up. 

In our stores here in NY state we have to wear masks when shopping in our stores. Do I like it? No, not really. Do I think it is really useful? No, not really. I only do it because it is the law right now. One thing I do find useful about wearing the mask is that I can't smell perfume or cigarette smoke. My personal opinion is that I need to breathe to live. The mask blocks my air. Does my mask protect the other people? Only if I have the virus, which I don't. So I would change that rule to make people stay home if they have it. Wouldn't they anyway, because they are sick?

Everybody is always telling me to stay at home. Stay inside. Use an online shopping service for grocery shopping. I tell them they should stay at home if they want but I am not. I like to buy my own groceries at the store. I buy mostly produce, dairy and meat. I am kinda picky about that stuff. Not to mention that I am not going to pay extra for having it delivered if I can get it myself. The "experts" have told us for years that it is not good to isolate yourself when you are older. Luckily, I don't feel isolated living here. Some people who live alone need that day to get out. I buy online also but only the items I have a hard time finding. Not fresh foods. I am also an ingredient list reader and have to check every food I buy to make sure it doesn't have any bad stuff in it.

Fire Dept

The small city I live in, Norwich, NY, has a lot of history. The history has been preserved and I am glad it has been, I moved to this area, but not this city, in 1999 and I didn't know anything about it. As I learned more by research and going to various places to see the history for myself, I fell in love with it even more. Now I think what if that history had been destroyed or altered in some way? It reminds me when working on my family tree that sometimes a child brought up in a family with no legal adoption, could completely alter a whole family line. Sometimes they did that. A couple who had more mouths to feed than they could afford would give a child to their childless friends or relative. Forever altering an ancestor line. Nobody ever knows unless there is a written record of it somewhere. Destroying historical statues and buildings will never destroy the history. But people would have to research it in some way. 

Just my thoughts on my ride to and from the store today. 

Copyright © 2020 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2020  Kathleen G. Lupole

Updated 2021

Traveling To The Store

My apartment is about 3 blocks from my closest grocery store. I have not been able to walk to it. Not even with my rolling walker. Months ago, I made it as far as the post office with it, but I didn't feel confident enough to go that far. Especially across that large, hot parking lot. In February, I purchased a mobility chair. A few of my neighbors in my apartment building use these chairs and scooters to get around town. They travel at a pretty fast clip. I was excited about buying the chair, but scared to use it. Once I got over the initial fear that I was not going to tip over, especially going up and down the ramp, I started using it more.

Broad Street in Norwich, NY

I met a man one day who was shopping using his mobile scooter. He stopped and talked to me. I told him I wasn't sure if I could make it to the grocery store. I doubted if my battery would hold the charge long enough to go there and back. He took a look at my battery charge meter and said it was fine and I would easily be able to go there and back and then some. So I did. That was my first time. Ever since then, I have loved going places with my chair.

Pride Jazzy Mobility Chair

My chair, I call "Jazzy" due to the manufacturer named it that. It is made by Pride Mobility and I am impressed with the quality of every part of my chair. I feel comfortable now going up and down the ramp to my building and even navigating the sidewalk ramps around my city. There are areas along my routes that have bad deteriorating sidewalks and I am just careful going around those if I can. I do not want to damage Jazzy in any way or ruin a tire.

My New Shopping Bag

Now that I am able to go to the grocery store, I feel so much freedom in doing so. I bought a large zippered insulated bag for the back of my chair to carry my groceries in. It was $7.99 at my local Aldi's and worth every penny. I bought ice cream and drove home along a longer route than usual and when I got home my ice cream was still frozen brick hard. Now that is well insulated as it was a very hot day!

"I made it!"

If you are trapped inside due to any type of health issues, it can cause you to get pretty depressed. One of these chairs or scooters gives you a way to get outside and around town. Living downtown is a lot of fun if you can walk or ride to the little shops, drugstores, the library, parks, restaurants and cafes. During the good weather there are a lot of outdoor activities taking place within two minutes of my apartment. Just don't forget to put your battery on the charger at night! 

Copyright © 2019 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2019  Kathleen G. Lupole

Updated 2023