STILETTO – a high pointed HEEL on a woman’s shoe or a small dagger.

WHEELS – a medieval instrument of torture or a vehicle for personal mobility.

It sounds like a tractor, feels like a tank and we’ve had the new car just over two weeks now. Familiarisation - it’s just never easy, is it ... and with a wheelchair?!

Some of it's self-inflicted, like, taking our first trip, under time pressure, at night, in pouring rain, not even having found out how to turn the lights on! Painful. Until EaZyD found a light by hitting the switch with his head - that helped!

Other problems are ... not our fault. Who expects the battery to be flat on the 3rd trip? Luckily, our old car is still hanging about. We bought a new battery the next day – who needs that kinda hassle?

Smaller issues are just manufacturer specific, say, electric windows that open automatically on one touch but don’t close the same way, a radio that doesn’t turn off with the car. We’ll get used to this stuff but meanwhile … annoying!

Worst of all is adjusting to the realities, and limitations, of travelling in a wheelchair adapted vehicle. For instance:

• a ramp that is barely wide enough for the wheelbase of my different wheelchairs,
• a lock down mechanism for my main wheelchair that my other chairs cannot clear easily,if at all,
• a tight turning circle combined with various bits bolted to the floor that make it even harder to turn,
• travelling with wheelchair and car shifting like techtonic plates with my pain-wracked body suffering the consequences, and,
• removal of the central console leaving no place for me to put any drinks or gadgets that I might have on me (oh, OK, this last is minor but it is deeply irritating!).

At the moment, I dread every trip but I know I have to persevere. It will all improve over time. I am in no doubt that this decision was the right one but I feel so worn down by being … so physically challenged all the time.

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