Sports in Hamilton this Weekend

Our Auckland team were invited to compete against the Waikato wheelchair sports group in Hamilton this weekend. Yesterday only four of us, out of the eight players in the Auckland team went to Hamilton. Dad arrived to pick me up at 9.30am and off we went to Hamilton in the lovely wet weather!! It rained most of the way, some heavy spells of rain too. We got there early enough to have some lunch. I was glad to find two disabled toilets there, each had a rail on either the left or right side.

Playing Hockey
We played hockey first and it was a lot of fun even though the gym was tiny. Auckland team took the win of 2-0. The Waikato players did pretty well and it was good to meet up with them. They are a younger group of players than our group.


Playing Balloon Soccer
We them had a quick game of balloon soccer and that was a crazy game as the Waikato team kept taking the balloon down our end and scoring for us heheh. We did score a couple of our own goals though XD

It was great to finally be able to compete as an Auckland team instead of splitting up the team to practice against each other.

After playing some sports we headed off to an Foocie opening and to welcome the new Muscular Dystrophy Northern Waikato Field Worker, as well as afternoon tea for everyone. I had a nice hot cup of tea and some choco cake. I took more photos and talked to people. Dad and I left about 3.10pm and headed back to Auckland. We stopped at Bombay rest area and had some food and a drink at AUTOBAHM Cafe then home. I enjoyed the day out.

iPod Nana 4GB Arrived

I pulled my curtains open this morning and found a big brown box at my door *knows exactly what it was* :) Opened the box to find my iPod Nano in there in it's small box.

Inside box I got: iPod nano, earphones and USB 2.0 cable, dock adapter and Quick Start guide.

Goes to open it all up and try add some music and photos.

RSS FeedBurner Added

I decided to add a RSS FeedBurner to my blog so vistors can subscribe to my blog and recieve emails on new blog posts.

To subscribe: Look for this icon on the side bar on the right hand side and click it. Then click on 'Get ~*Smiles Magical Land*~ delivered by email :)

Lost orca needs public's help

Aucklanders can help to save a healthy but confused killer whale today by keeping an eye out for the lost orca.

Washed up on the city's west coast on Friday and relaunched on the east coast's Takapuna Beach on Saturday, the orca was spotted high up the inner Waitemata Harbour's Henderson Creek yesterday by a pair of kayakers. Orca Research staff responded, with police, coastguard and boaties, to try to shepherd the juvenile 4-year-old female to the Hauraki Gulf. But boat traffic, especially from ferries, further confused the whale, Orca Research Trust founder Dr Ingrid Visser told the Herald. Time and again people lining Tank Farm's Wynyard Pt watched the orca head out towards the Hauraki Gulf, shepherded by the small flotilla, only to double back towards the Harbour Bridge when a ferry came near. "Every time we get her lined up, another ferry comes past. And they are very acoustic animals. So every time [a ferry] goes past it has a huge effect." The whale was lost, but not unhealthy, Dr Visser said, and its behaviour indicated it had every chance of survival if it could make it to the city's nearest orca pod - thought to be just off Waiheke Island last night.

The juvenile orca is believed to be healthy, despite its recent adventures. Photo / Richard Robinson

The orca's harbour excursion did not prove the decision to launch it from the east coast was wrong, despite stranding on the west, Dr Visser said. "The thing that we were really concerned about was that she was very traumatised about getting caught up in the surf. She is very young, and very disoriented. The Manukau Bar is a pretty gnarly bar, and the weather yesterday was atrocious." Trying to launch the whale on the west coast would almost certainly have left it stricken again, she said.

The orca's beaching did not prove it was unwell, Dr Visser said. New Zealand had the highest rate of orca strandings in the world, about one a year, mostly from hunting errors. Orca hunted stingray, often into very shallow water, and juveniles sometimes came in too far, she said. "But we've spent about five hours with her and she's still swimming very strongly. She's just a bit disoriented as to how to get out. And that's understandable. She doesn't have a map in her head of the harbour. Normally she has her family to tell her where to go."

Taken from NZ Hearld

Icy Blast

Talk about cold!!! It's been very cold this month with icy blasts of wind, hail, lot's of thunder n lightening and rain, oh and snow in some areas. Some areas have had hail as big as marbles cover there lawns and the roads creating bad conditions.

There was lots of thunder and lightening, in fact there was more than 3000 lightning strikes that hit New Zealand. The icy blast is meant to clear over the next week. I hope it does.

The coldest spell this year are: temperatures in Auckland fell to just 6 degrees at lunchtime, 10 degrees in Wellington, and Dunedin had a high of 4 degrees. So you can see how cold it's been. Over night temperatures in Auckland fell to a low of 8 degrees and over the next week they could fall as low as 5 degrees. I think I will add more blankets on my bed as I can't sleep when I get cold. Saturday was Auckland's coldest day of 2008.

Snow clouds, yes snow clouds were seen over Auckland city on Saturday!!! I read in the NZ Hearld that 'If Sky Tower was 3 times its height it would be snowing on the top', imginae that happening hehe.

2008 Philips Tri Nations

Thought I'd keep a score table here for the 2008 Philips Tri Nations. Last night New Zealand All Blacks played against South Africa and it was a pretty tight game for awhile but the All Blacks took the win.

05 July | New Zealand vs South Africa | Wellington | Result: 19-8
12 July | New Zealand vs South Africa | Dunedin | Result: 28-30
19 July | Australia vs South Africa | Perth | Result: 16-9
26 July | Australia vs New Zealand | Sydney | Result: 34-19
02 August | New Zealand vs Australia | Auckland | Result: 39-10
17 August | South Africa vs New Zealand | Cape Town | Result: 0-19
24 August | South Africa vs Australia | Durban, SA | Result: 15-27
31 August | South Africa vs Australia | Johannesburg | Result: 53-8
13 September | Australia vs New Zealand | Brisbane | Result: 24-28

Whale rescue mission at Takapuna beach

I was off to Albany shopping mall this morning with Mum and Dad and I can't believe what I saw, as we were driving onto the Western motorway, an Orca Whale on a trailer alive!! I have never seen this before and it made me think of the movie 'Free Willy' which is about freeing an Orca whale, a movie I really enjoyed too. Here is the story below...

Whale rescue mission at Takapuna beach
The latte-drinking cafe set along Takapuna Rd had probably never seen anything like it. Moving along the road at a gentle pace towards Takapuna Beach was a 3.4-metre Orca whale on the back of a trailer. And no less than the son and grandson of the late ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau were among onlookers who got a close-up view of the dramatic whale rescue at the North Shore Beach today.

An unusual sight at the Takapuna boat ramp this morning. Photo / Herald on Sunday

The whale first became stranded yesterday at Huia beach, west of Auckland. In an unusual move, the whale was transported today by road to be released off the North Shore beach. The whale was described as a 3.4 metre juvenile female of about three years old and had seen beached since 3pm yesterday. It was looked after overnight by Project Jonah and Department of Conservation staff.

Department spokesman Bill Trusewich said the whale was small enough to be handled and a decision was made this morning to move it by trailer to Takapuna, on Auckland's North Shore. The reason was that the waters would be calmer at Takapuna than at Huia. The 43km journey took about 90 minutes. Department spokesman Bill Trusewich said the whale appeared to be in good health during the whole episode.

Jean-Michel Cousteau and son Fabien, who are guests of New Zealand orca researcher Ingrid Visser, are in New Zealand shooting footage for a television programme.

Taken from NZ Hearld

My day at Albany was great and did some shopping and looked around the shops. We had a yummy lunch with some wine..of course :)

WOAH!!!

WOAH!!! I just won an iPod 4GB Nano :)

The winner of walkingisoverrated.com’s first ever iPod nano competition is…

Jenny Smyth!

For her fantastic review of Auckland’s Sylvia Park Mall.

Congratulations Jenny, I’ll be in touch shortly to send out your prize!

To all those that entered, thank you so much, and don’t feel too bummed - there’s a new iPod competition starting next week! Stay tuned!

See my review below by clicking on the link

Review: Sylvia Park Mall, Auckland

Poly-Emp Meeting (Job Support)

I decided to give Poly-Emp a go and get them to help find me some employment. We meet up this afternoon and discussed what jobs I'm interested in, what skills I have to offer, hours of work and lots of other things. M explained to me what Poly-Emp does and got me to fill out a form. Poly-Emp helps those with Intellectual Disabilities so I will be a challenge to them as I have a Physical Disability. S was there as she will be my support person and helping me find a job. S took a lot of notes and will contact me later. We came up with two goals/plans...

Short Term Goal - Look for a job that I can do at home for 4-6hrs a week. Jobs like typing up Medical reports, teacher reports etc anything I can do from home.

Long Term Goal - Look for a job that I can do out of home, up to 15hrs a week and maybe have some hrs to work from home.

Overall the meeting went well and S will check out the local schools and a few other places I suggested.

It's been Cold

It's been very cold over the last couple day's with strong winds, heavy rain and some hail. I was out and about in the cold wind yesterday morning then I went inside Henderson's Westfield mall and warmed up a bit. I did go out in the cold again to get to another lot of shops but missed the heavy down pours of rain.

Today I'm just surfing the net and chatting to friends and keeping warm. It's only showers today but it's still cold.

New Washing Machine

The other day my washing machine didn't get to finish it's load. I has turned the machine on, it started filling up with water as normal then the machine made a noise and stopped. I tried every thing and nothing got it going, let alone being able to open the door to get my washing out. Someone came out to look at it and said the drum had rusted through along with a hole in it :o and many other problems. He managed to get the door open so I could get my washing out, which I got washed next door. It was time for a new washing machine.

Old Simpson 5.5kg


I got a 7kg Samsung front loader washing machine and it was delivered and set-up this morning. The guy took away my old machine which was good.

Orthotic Centre

I went to the Orthotic Centre with mum today to sort out some winter shoes for me. I'm going to get the same shoes made as last time, those were made in 2004. The new shoes will be leather and have baby wool inside to keep my feet warm. But sadly I was told they won't be finished till September when Winter is almost over!! But guess I will have them for next winter.

I need to keep my feet warm as I get chillblains on my toes and they are quite sore. I had these over the last 2 years and thought they were pressure ulcers, but looks like they are chillblains.

Once I get my winter shoes done, they will make me another pair of shoes for everyday wear, like the ones I wear now.

Mum and I went to Slyvia Park for lunch and some shopping after.

2008 Iveco Series All Blacks vs England

Last night my brother and I went to the All Blacks vs England game and what a game it was!!

I totally loved the game and whole outing, Eden Park was fully seated too. Loads more people there making it hard to get to our seat, but we got there and stayed. My friend Richie and his carer and other friends I knew were all there too. It wasn't as cold either, which was good.
All Blacks take the win 37-20

Dan Carter (Dan the man) set up a tri and kicked all the conversions, he got lots of points
07 June | All Blacks vs Ireland | Wellington | Result: 21-11
14 June | All Blacks vs England | Auckland | Result: 37-20 (I went too)
21 June | All Blacks vs England | Christchurch | Result: 44-12
03 September | All Blacks vs Samoa | New Plymouth | Result: 101-14

More about the game here

Leon Baker Passed

I got some really sad news this morning, that my long time friend Leon baker passed away last night around 7pm :( I've known Leon for the past 19 years and have lots of memorys. Leon was 32yrs and had Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy which is a progressive disease that get's worse as he grows older.

I will miss you Leon and your in my heart forever:)

Power Module and Other Parts Arrived for my TDX 5 - Update

After talking to a Eddy at Invacare we got things sorted.
Just a Record For Myself. The below solved the 'Press Reset' problem on my TDX 5.

To use Tilt/Recline and Elevating leg rests via the joystick in Drive 4, I did the below settings...

Drive 4
No Driving - ON
Tilt/Recline - 4-SWITCH
Standby Mode - OFF
Standby Select - OFF
(I can still use my Single Toggle Switch for Tilt/Recline while I'm driving as well as no driving)

To have the Standby Time option, working in Drive 1, Drive 2 and Drive 3, I did the below settings...

Drive 1
Standby Select - ON
Standby Time - 1205%

Drive 2
Standby Select - ON
Standby Time - 1205%

Drive 3
Standby Select - ON
Standby Time - 1205%


I'm going to now add ALL the settings in each drive on my settings spreadsheet, for future reference

Power Module and Other Parts Arrived for my TDX 5

The 'MK5 Power Module' that was ordered on May 9th and it arrived and was put on my TDX 5 today. The tech calibrated the HDTTGB motors as I asked for them to be done.

I was able to reprogram my settings back into the PM with my programmer. I have all my settings on a spreadsheet even the Standby settings. I set Standby Mode ON in all 4 drives, then I was able to set the Standby Time. After doing this I ran into the problem of 'Press Reset' on my LCD. I then turned Standby mode OFF in all 4 drives again and was able to move. Standby in ECU was ON, can't remember if this was ON or OFF or even recall having this setting but I left that.

Drive 4 is for Tilt/Recline via the joystick as well as elevating leg rests. I use the single toggle switch mostly for Tilt/Recline instead of via the joystick. At the moment Drive 4 is drive-able and I can't use 'powered seating' via joystick. I'm guessing I need to turn the Tilt/Recline setting ON so I can use those via the joystick as well as my toggle switch. I'm hoping by turning Tilt/recline ON will also enable me to use the joystick for the elevating leg rests which is left/right via joystick.

I'm going to ring Invacare tech tomorrow to see what I need to do.


I also got some new tread/foam filled tires and new arm pads arrived. One arm pad went on and I made sure that the arm pad wasn't moving an inch. The tech didn't use the new screws either, just the current screws that were used on the old arm pads. I've had issues with these arm pads before. The tech put them on, then the next day the screw fell out, then the tech arrived to screw it back in, then the following weekend the screw and arm pad came completely off on both sides. If this happens again, I will be really frustrated. The right side arm pad needs to go back to the workshop and a new hole drilled (tappered or something, they call it) so the arm pad sits foward more. I really dislike the way the arm pads go on the arm rests, there is no 'adjustability' for the arm pads and it's very annoying.

Apart from that my TDX is all good... Time to clean my chair I think HA

Got a Hard drive for Backups

I went into DickSmith and I asked the guy about who I can talk to about HDDs and then I released it was my Mac friend Matt who used to work at JB HI FI. I was so happy as I knew he'd be able to recommend what I need, he uses Mac too.

So after 3 weeks or so researching Hard drive's (HDD) I bought a Western Digital 500GB My Book Studio Edition. I feel relieved now as it's hard finding out all the information and getting the right equipment HAHA!!


Matt also said that the My Book HDD that I bought was newer model than the one he got from JB and mine is much smaller.

It took minutes to setup, power in, Firewire 800 in and plugged into iMac. I just need to set it up to backup tonight....will udate.

UPDATE: I've completed my first backup and it only took *wait for it* 31 minutes!!
I only had 19.42GB used and Time Machine says it was backing up 790.683 items WOW that's a lot, more than I thought I actually had. It does backups every hour, just any new changes.

Speakeres are setup

I now have a set of Logitech X - 530 Speaker's setup around my iMac:XD and they are loud!!


A friend of mine got the latest set of these so gave me his speakers. You should see the Sub on that set, it's freakin HUGE!! and the sound is even loader.

He's handing me his old Sony 26" TV too so I be able to put that into my bedroom. He got a 26" LG LCD Tv and has hooked it up to his pc and it's an awesome setup.

Rugby Super 14

I went to the last four Blue's games at Eden park with my brother Ben and I loved the whole outing. The amphispere at the rugby was awesome and the games were tense too. The Blue's actually won 3 of those games and some of them had nail bitting endings which made it more exciting!! The disabled area in the ASB Stadium is great, security was great too and the food stalls, bar and cafe were all accessible.

Blues vs Stormers 17-14
Blues vs Bulls 23-21
Blues vs Brumbies 11-16
Blues vs Hurricanes 19-17

Anna

Anna my sister came up to stay with Mum and Dad for a month in March/April which was nice. Anna and I had a girls day out at the mall spending money hehe and some window shopping. We then watched some dvd's back at my place and had some drinks:XD Other days we all went out as a family. Mum, Anna, Ange and I went to the Food and Wine show at the Viaduct too and that was a good day.

It was nice to have Anna here with us and I miss her, as she is back home.

Show Your Ability Show 2008

I went to the Show Your Ability road show today and it was pretty good. I got to see some back cushions that i personally am interested in, which were the Motion Concepts backs.

Invacare unfortunately didn't have a TDX SR on demo as it's arriving tomorrow, so hopefully the TDX SR will be at the other shows.

Invacare did have a 'pimped up' TDX SP though and WOW!!! Rims painted gold, castor forks painted gold, lights, radio and speakers, PSP, GP, seat decoration, 8 Que ball on top of joystick controller etc.. Below are some photos

TDX SP Pimped up with lights, radio, PSP, GP (global positioning) etc

Wheelchair Sports Started Up

Electric wheelchair sports started up again today and it was fun. I played hockey today and it went well, no idea who won.

I then went food shopping after

The Black Sticks did it, they are going to Beijing!!!

The Black Sticks did it, they are going to Beijing!!!

Black Sticks captain Ryan Archibald with the cup

Black Sticks captain Ryan Archibald and Phil Burrows after the golden goal

New Zealand celebrate victory

Olympic hockey tournament participants New Zealand

The game was so tense to watch, we thought Argentina had taken it but in the last few seconds the Black Sticks scored the golden goal, what a goal that was too. It was 1-0 to Argentina at half time, then the game ended in a draw 2-2. NZ took the win with 3-2.

World Hockey Olympic Qualifier - NZ vs France

YAY New Zealand beat France 2-0 which means New Zealand are in the final playing against Argentina tomorrow. Ireland will be playing against France.

World Hockey Olympic Qualifier

I went to the World Hockey Olympic Qualifier the other day to watch my first live hockey game and it was awesome!!! Since I play the game it made it easier to follow.
I sat above the teams area and had a clear view of the whole grounds.
The 2 games I watched were New Zealand vs Argentina which we lost 0-2. The other game was Ireland vs USA and Ireland kicked USA butt's heheh 7-0 Argentina, Ireland and New Zealand are the top teams but Argentina is the better team as I have heard. Argentina had great defence along with great attack when playing against NZ.

NZ didn't play too good that day I thought, compared to the game I watched 2 day's before. Every time the NZ team tried to pass, Argentina players were all over the NZ player's. But we did score then Argentina protested about our goal bad's sportmans ship.
My Auntie and Uncle are here from Ireland to watch the hockey and of course are wanting Ireland to win. So it's been kinda funny trying to see what teams I want to loose to keep NZ top and get into the finals. NZ did beat Ireland 2-1 :D

Web site click me

I'm Back!!!

Woah what a week or so I've had. I found out that the motherboard had blown and would have to replaced along with a new CPU and DDR RAM (my pc is 4yrs old). I decided not to get it fixed. I had to wait a week before I could get a new computer (money reasons). I had been researching in getting a new computer since August 2007 and was debating over a windows pc or a Apple iMac.

I am now sitting in front of my beautiful iMac:) It's such a nice computer and will take me a little while to get used too.

.::Isn't she just beautiful::.

iMac, 20-inch, 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Apple Mighty Mouse
SuperDrive 8x (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
2GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
Apple Keyboard + Mac OS X
Apple USB Modem
320GB Serial ATA Drive

iWork 08 (pages=word, numbers=spreadsheet, keynote=powerpoint)
AppleCare Protection Plan (wsrrenty)

I did manage to order it all under Educational as Dad works at a Uni :XD
I ordered it yesterday and it arrived today from Sydney, Australia. That's fast delivery!!!

One thing that I find I will have to get used to is: the menu bar for each program. If I'm using a browser the menu bar is up the top next to the Apple icon, if I click on another program like yahoo messenger or Adium or whatever, the menu bar is still at the top but changes per program you click on. It's the same for the Mail program and here I was trying to find the mail menu bar, when I realised it was at the top.

Good to be back online again :XD

Computer Is Slowly Turning On Me

My computer is really failing on me now gahhh I didn't think I would get it going again.

Last night I got home and turned the computer on and nothing happened so tried again and still nothing. Now my heart was starting to beat a little faster getting worried as I had not backed up my stuff. I turned the power off at the wall, my brother checked all connections and plugs and all ok, swtiched power on again. I turned the pc on, it's green light came on then it died. It did this quite a lot, it just never started. Later I tried again and finally the pc started up, green light on, diskdrive light flashes (normal) and HD was running. Nothing was on the monitor, monitor had power to it so nothing wrong there. Modem, USB Hub lights were not all on either so I knew the HD wasn't loading. I left it going for 20mins then turned it off. I tried turning it on again and it didn't start up at all again, the green HD light came on but it quickly turned off.

Today I tired turning it on again and all I got was a quick start, green light, then it went off. Did the power wall trick again and nothing. I guess it's not the Power Supply, which I thought it might be, but it can't be that since the HD is starting up every so often. It could be the HD struggling to start up, as this is failing I've been told, but again I don't know. I turned the pc on again and this time I got a blue HP logo on the screen and then nothing else so later turned it off.

Well I don't know what happened, but it was good, the computer started up straight away, got the HP screen then the windows loading screen..this looked promising. I let it carry on and it finally loaded up and here I am.

I'm backing up stuff as I type this and I'm not going to turn the freakin thing off!! I don't know what's wrong, but will give my tech shop friend a ring and see if she can idenifiy the problem. It's time to get my new computer!!

It's been awhile but I'm back for 2008

It's been awhile since I last blogged, infact 2007 flew by so no news for that year.

Racing legend Brock killed in car crash

Nine-times Bathurst 1000 winner and Australian motor racing legend Peter Brock has been killed while competing in the Targa West Tarmac Rally in Western Australia.

Brock was competing on the second day of the Targa West Rally when his Daytona Coupe hit a tree on a country road near the small community of Gidgegannup, about 40 kilometres east of Perth.

Brock, 61, was killed and his co-driver Mick Hone was injured. Hone was later taken to Swan Districts Hospital where he was reported to be in a stable condition. The Confederation of Australian Motorsport said the crash happened at about midday local time. No other cars are believed to have been involved. The road had been closed to traffic and spectators and road rules had been suspended for the race.

WA police spokesman Graham Clifford said the Major Crash Unit from Perth was at the scene and was investigating the accident. "We believe that a vehicle is approaching a sweeping bend and for whatever reason lost control, left the road and collided with a tree," he said. He said it was unclear how fast the car was travelling when it crashed into the tree. "At the time it was a speed section, so it would have been travelling fairly quickly at that location," he said.

It was the first time Brock had competed in the rally. Event organisers will hold a meeting tonight to decide whether the race will continue.

Prime Minister John Howard said Peter would be remembered as a legend. "I was shocked and saddened to hear of Peter Brock's death," Mr Howard said.

"The removal of Brockie takes away a legend of motor racing in Australia."

'Peter Perfect'

Known as 'Peter Perfect' and the 'King of the Mountain', Brock won the Bathurst 1000 nine times in the 1970s and 80s.

In 1969 the Holden Dealer Team gave Brock his first break to drive at the Bathurst 1000 - he placed third.

He became the team's lead driver and won his first Bathurst 1000 in 1972, going on to win the 1979 race by a record six laps.

In 1980 he became the first driver to win the trifecta of Bathurst, Sandown and the Australian Touring Car title in the same year.

Brock's Bathurst reign was marked by a long-running rivalry with Ford driver Allan Moffat, and the pair were so intensely competitive that they never flew on the same airline together.

In 1997, Brock retired from full-time V8 Supercars racing and launched the Peter Brock Foundation, which provides support to a wide range of community programs. But returned to Bathurst to win the 24-hour race in 2003.

Peter Geoffrey Brock

26 February, 1945 - 8 September, 2006

Taken from here and here

~*Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin Dies*~

'Crocodile Hunter' Steve Irwin has been killed in a stingray attack near Cairns on Australia's far north coast today - Monday September 4th, 2006.

Irwin had been filming a segment for his daughter Bindi's upcoming television series. Irwin was in the area filming his own documentary, to be called Ocean's Deadliest, but weather had stalled filming. Irwin decided to take the opportunity to film some shallow water shots for his daughter's television program.

"It is understood he was killed by a stingray barb that went through his chest," and put a whole into his heart.

Crew members aboard the boat, Croc One, called emergency services in the nearest city, Cairns, and administered CPR as they rushed the boat to nearby Low Isle to meet a rescue helicopter. Medical staff pronounced Irwin dead when they arrived a short time later.

Stingray attacks are extremely rare. There have only been two similar deaths reported in Australia.

Irwin is famous for his enthusiasm for wildlife and his catchcry "Crikey!" in his television program "Crocodile Hunter," which was first broadcast in Australia in 1992 and has aired around the world on the Discovery channel.

He rode his image into a feature film, 2002's "The Crocodile Hunters: Collision Course" and developed the Australia Zoo as a tourist attraction.

Prime Minister John Howard, among many other politicians, expressed his "shock and distress" at the death, saying that "Australia has lost a wonderful and colourful son.

” Steve Irwin's body was flown to a morgue in Cairns, where stunned family and friends were gathering on Monday night. His wife Terri was informed of her husband's death while on a walking tour in Tasmania, and returned to the Sunshine Coast with their two children Bindi and Robert.

"He died doing what he loved best and left this world in a happy and peaceful state of mind. He would have said, "Crocs Rule!"


Steve Irwin
1962 - 2006

~*Carpet is Completed!*~

CARPET IS ALL DONE!

Yep I can't believe it, but they finished the lounge today, the two bedrooms and hallway was done yesterday, I'm so happy it's done. It looks great too, like a brand new flat.

Now I need brand new furniture hehe. I do need to buy a new sofa/bed. My Dad and brother are back around tonight to move furniture back, well some of it anyhow LOL my technology stuff. Boxes of stuff will be moved over tomorow and the weekend.

~Carpet Update*~

I rang my Housing NZ person and said the carpet is being done on Wed finally and that was all good. I asked him to get onto the outside as the mould inside has got worse, after it was cleaned up abit when the people came to clean the mould off the walls. The mould had grown back on the walls too so my mum had to clean that. I said it's not a waiting job, it has to be done in the next two weeks or month!! So he's sorting that out now, but will hear from him this week.

My Mum and Dad came over on Sunday and helped clear out my flat as much as we could so there isn't much to move when the carpet people arrive. So I had to pack up all my books, dvds, ordaments, trophys, everything that was on shelves etc into boxes. The sofa that was sitting on top of the mouldy carpet was put in the van, it has mould growing on the seat of the sofa under the cushions, so the sofa will be binned. I was going to sell it. I'm buying a new sofa/bed soon. Dad then packed the van with all the boxes and anything I didn't need.

The spare bedroom is empty now and my lounge is pretty empty too. Not much for the capet guys to move so the job be quicker. I am going to ask them to do the lounge the next day as my family are going to move the entertainment unit, pc etc into the other rooms. I can't wait till the new carpet is done:)

~*Casey*~

I took a photo of Casey with my new Sony digital camera and then I decided to add a border to the photo and some other things and here is the end result.

~*Chill Blains*~

I noticed that I had some briuse like sores on a couple of toes and thought they might be chill blains but I'm still not 100% sure what they are. They are small raised (swallon?) purple bumps which are not broken skin. I have two on my little toe, two on my middle toe and one on the inside of my big toe which is the smallest one. Then I have one on top of my big toe on the other foot which hasn't changed and it fairly flat looking and redish/purple. The only two that were sore were the middle toe ones, but were not sore to bother me too much.

I think over June I got these as I had only been wearing my white medical sock (thin material) and my compression stockings and shoes. When I was out and about I could feel my feet were like ice blocks as I wheeled around against the icey wind. So I think it's half my fault for not wearing cotton socks over the top and my bad circulation, but I thought wearing socks over my compression stockings would make it harder for me to get my shoes off etc.

I've been wearing woollen socks now since beginning of July and this is helping. My feet and legs below the knees seem warmer at the end of the day, and my chill blains if that's what they are are going down and looking better apart from one. So these woollen socks are helping with the circulation too by the looks. Also during the night my biomad overlay is helping too as it keeps my circulation moving in my legs.

I have contacted my nurse at the Dr's and let her know about them and she said if you feel like they need looking at, to come in and she will check them. But so far the sores are getting better, just have to make sure they don't break down.

~*June was very Icy Cold*~

I'm still around, just haven't had much to say as I haven't done a lot during the Icy cold patch in June. Yes June was really icy cold here and gave us an early start to Winter. We don't normally get cold weather till August at least. I was kinda stuck inside for a while due to the wet cold weather trying to find things to do.

~*Carpet Ordered*~

Four days ago I got a call from a guy about the carpet..surprise surprise. Finally they are ordering the blue/grey carpet for me, still no idea when the next phone call will be to arrange days. So this is just an update of this yearly process..

~*Carpet to be done on..*~

wahooo Carpet is going to be done next Wednesday 16th!!! They coming over at 9.30am. They will go over to Thursday as well to do the lounge.

~*Another Mould Update*~

Well after a few phone calls to my Housing NZ guy I get some action lets hope things get going from today, because christmas is coming.

A guy turned up at my door asking about new carpet and I said yep you got the right place and I haven't heard from this other guy for ages. The guy came and measured up the bedrooms, hallway and lounge all over again..sighs I don't get what is going on but there is a HUGE lack of communication here.

He gave me 3 carpet peices to choose a colour, I said where's my eight choices? he said eight , I said yea the guy said I had eight choices, he laughed and said no, only three.
Grey/blue (my neighbour has this and looks nice)
Green (maybe)
Cream (won't be cream)

I asked him if this is the same cream carpet I have now and he said yep, i was like wow the colour has faded heaps and it's down to the base, some areas the concrete.

I asked him if they will put an underlay under the carpet and he said no as it's costly and due to the wheelchairs driving over the carpet, it turns it up. I said well wheelchairs will do that to most carpets anyhow. He is going to ask about the underlay. He also said the hallways is going to be lino what? I said no, I want carpet and he agreed with me and said it will be carpet.

I then told him that the other guy and I had discussed the rooms and that one room would be done per day due to all the furniture. He said the 2 bedrooms and hallway can be done in a day, it's an easy job. I said as long as I have access to the bathroom, he even asked me how many times I need to go so I said maybe twice. I then talked about my bed and said it can be broken down but take time and a few men to do the job. They are going to do half the bedroom, then lift the bed over and do the other side. I also said that the lounge as a lot of stuff in there and if it's raining we can only move stuff to the bedrooms.

I'm one of those people that get worried that things might break and things are not put back excatly where I like them and reachable and easy access to things.

He is going to give me a weeks notice or so before they come out so I can get family to help move some things.This guy did the carpet next door and the bathroom upgrade before the new lady moved in. Lets hope I don't wait months for the next step.

~*Power blackout causes chaos in Auckland*~

Just heard this now on 12pm midday news Power blackout causes chaos in Auckland
A Vector spokeswoman said the cause of the Auckland blackout was a fault on the Transpower network. She said: "An earth wire has snapped and fallen across the 110 kv feeder from the Otahuhu substation.

**Instead of 20min train trips people got a two hour train trip as the lights had to be done manually etc
A spokesman for Ontrack in Auckland said: "We haven't been able to bring trains into Britomart station (Central Auckland). Passengers have been discharged at Newmarket and the Strand and subsequent services have been scheduled to operate to and from there.

**Hospital is on backup power, all surgerys cancelled unless emergency.

**People at work being sent home, people outside standing around on the streets

**Power won't be back on in some places till 3pm or so

Now this is a wake up call to the goverment to get another line in from Otahuhu to Papakura out South more so there is another wire. We only have one wire and if it breaks like it has today all power goes

Auckland's Power hang ups

picture from the Hearld

All caused my this wire click here

More than 700,000 caught up in power crisis..click here

~*My Sister is off Travelling*~

My sister and her boyfriend flew out of New Zealand early this morning to start there travelling. They are going do travel to some Country's, meet friends and family and find some work over there to get some more travelling money. She has left the Winter behind and gone into Summer. I will miss her, but she will have a great time and will be back one year:)

~*Mould Update*~

WAHOOOO I'm so excited!! OH you want to know too ok here goes...I got a call this morning from a guy asking if he can come over sometime and measure up the house for...NEW CARPET ...I said yep, today? so he's coming after midday. *jumps up and down in excitement*

He arrived and even asked me what rooms, LOL so I said ALL rooms, so he went and measured them all up. Then I asked him about the process and that I was a bit worried about stuff being moved, and also me being able to access the bathroom when needed while they do the carpet. We both decided that they will do one room, per day. Like do my room, have the bed on one side, then move the bed to the other side and do that part. As the bed will have to be broken into two, it's not an easy thing to get outdoors, and if the weather is crap then they can't move it.

He also said that Housing NZ will provide some guys to come over and help move things, as well as my Dad & Brother as they can move the fragile stuff hehe and they know excatly how things are put back into place for me. I'm so fussy He will come over next week and give me 8 colour choices for me to look at and I can choose the colour over the week. He will then ring me back and give me some dates and times for each room, so I can then orgainse family to help move stuff. OMG I'm excited, but worried about my precious entertainment stuff.

Once the carpet is done in the lounge, I will be keeping the sofa and extra chair out in the carport in front of the van, as I don't want them LOL. There is a shop across the road from me who sells second hand furniture and he said he will take the sofa and x2 chairs for $75 once he has sold one set, he has in his shop, so I took the offer. I will then buy a sofa than goes into a bed. YAY I will have more room too.

~*I bought a Camera*~

Yea I bought a Camera today:) Yesterday I got a nice surprise in the mail, a Hill and Stewart $50 voucher!!! Talk about good timing. Also it said that Wednesday (today) all day was 12% off certian Brands!! I got a bit excited. After talking to my Dad about it, I met him today at the mall, where there is a big department store (Hill and Stewart). First we went into Camera House and got some information and more advice (head spinning) on what to look at. I narrowed it down to four cameras which were Sony DSCW50, Canon A620, Canon IXUS750 and the Canon S80.

I went over to Hill and Steward and talked to a guy after waiting 30mins. The guy didn't know anything about them, so I still had 4 to choose from LOL. I then got the price for all the Canon's with the $50 voucher and the cost of the Sony with the 12% and $50 voucher, the Sony turned out to be the cheapest, and I didn't have to pay so much after getting the insurance money. I then narrowed it down to the Canon A620 and the Sony DSCW50. I went to Noel Leeming store next door LOL just to hold the two cameras to get the feel of them.
The guy I talked to there knew camera stuff, which was a bonus as this helped me decide what to get. I got the SONY DSCW50!!! Time to go play with my new toy hehe

My sister bought a camera today too, we were having fun looking at them all, all week We wanted them all LOL Anyway she got the Canon S3 IS

~*Casey & Camera Update*~

Is back!! Casey has healed well with the antibotics and is back to her usual self again, which is good to see.

I have been busy researching on Digital Camera's and what I want in a camera. I do like Sony and Canon in that order due to good quality and pictures. I have even created a spreadsheet with the specs I'm wanting along with some Canon and Sony camera's. I rang my Insurance yesterday to find out how much they would give me. They said my Song DSC-P71 Camera is worth $387.57 minus my excess fee and I get $228.50:( What a loss!! I payed heaps for my camera, it gets stolen and I only get the above amount back, so I will have to fork out the rest for a nice decent digital camera.

~*My cat Casey got in a fight*~

awww my poor baby, Casey (cat) was attacked by the usual ginger male cat right near the door Friday night. Casey came around to the door looking scared, normally the door is open for her to come in but I had it shut. I didn't even go and open it for her, as I was talking to my friend who was here. Next minute the ginger cat had jumped on her and I couldn't move in time as my chair was in standyby mode, but I yelled to distract the cats, but it didn't work.

Casey came in and went off to my room like she normally does after getting hurt. Casey had come to me when I called her and I grabbed her tail and she hissed at me, and I saw a spec of blood on my hand. errrr here is anohter vet bill coming!! Later I went down to my room and saw some dripped blood on the carpet, it seemed alot of blood to us, so I was now worried.

Next morning which was Saturday I rang the vet as I knew they were open till 2pm. The vet that normally comes down to my house to see Casey, was off and the other vet couldn't come down I couldn't get her there either. I just wanted to make sure she was ok and wasn't going to get any abceses (sp). I kept Casey inside all day Sunday while I was out.

Today I rang the vet and he came and saw Casey, and checked her over and found the spot with Casey screatching in her meow cat way, never heard her like that ever, scared me abit. Casey has an open wound..bite in her tail and that is the sorest part, she may have a bite in her leg too, but she been through enough with the vet. You could see she was real sore. The vet gave her pain relief and injection of antibotics too. Now I have to give her some antibotics, starting from tomorow via paste, given via a syringe type tube via the mouth, so I hope I can get it in her when she's on my lap LOL

Now for the vet bill

~*Digital Camara Gone*~

A few hours after the people had left, after cleaning all the mould, I had noticed my Digital Camara was not where I had put it (ready for me to take to the v8 Supercar racing). So I went on a hunt for my camara and couldn't find it. I thought when I get in my manual chair tonight I will go through the trolley the camara was sitting on and make sure it's not been put in another trolley shelf.

Last Sunday which was Easter I went out with my family for the day and took my digital camara with me, in my bag. I hadn't used it, so it stayed in my bag all day. Later that night I checked the digital camara's battery to make sure it had enough power for the following weekend so I can take it to the V8 Supercar Racing. The batterys were ok, so I put the camara into it's camara bag and put it on top of the trolly, where it normally sits.

Tuesday came around and the people came around to clean the mould off the walls, there were three of them. The guy was doing the lounge and I was in the lounge all the time except at the end when I went and checked the other rooms to see if everything was back to normal. The guy had to move the sofa to get to the wall, then he moved the trolley where my digital camara was sitting on top. I helped him move some other things and put them on the sofa, he moved the trolley and got to work. I was still in the room watching music on tv.

After it was all done one of the lady's asked me to check the bathroom and bedroom to make sure everything was back where it should be etc, so I did that. Now at this point is where I left the lounge.

Back to the lost digital camara, I still couldn't find it and this was really strange. Dad had dropped the van back on Wednesday night, so he too had a look around, even in places I couldn't get too. He pulled out the sofa and had a look to see if it had fallen there. Nothing. It feels awful, as I could have put the camara somewhere and it's just not coming to me. I rang my Tenant Manager and asked him to contact the people to see if they had accidently picked the camara up with the other things. I also found the lady's cell ph# and rang her and asked her the same thing (not wanting to accuse them) and she said she will get back to me. She rang me back to say she talked to her boss and her boss said I should get my tenant manager to come help look. I told her that I've had my dad look and I'm just checking with everyone who's been at my home over that time etc. I even think, she said that she still hadn't asked the guy who cleaned the lounge, but she did say that he wouldn't do that, to risk his job. Who knows, he might not be trusted!

I rang the Police in the weekend to see if they could come out and do a police report, but my local poilce station was closed and the other Branch wouldn't come out. I rang the local Police station this morning, they asked me to go to them to do the report and I told the lady, I can't as I can't get into the station as it has steps and I use a wheelchair. She then told me to come to the back of the station, then ring them on my cell ph to say I'm outside. I said it's a week tomorow, she said that's ok, anytime this week you can come up. Tomorow is another public holiday too so I can only get up there when the weather is fine.

~*V8 Supercar Racing*~

I went to the V8 Supercar Racing yesterday and it was awesome a part from the crappy weather of wind and rain which left me with wind burn I think My brother and I sat in the disabled stand which was up on top of a hill so we could see the whole track almost!! Great place for the disabled stand and it was covered and had a lot of room which was good. They had two disabled porta toilets by the ramp too When I used the toilet, I had to reverse back out to swing my footplate a side to be able to transfer, as there wasn't enough room for the chair to move.

The v8 super cars sounded awesome at the start as they roared there engines then skidded off to a good start, I loved the starts hehe.. Think the first supercar race was 30 laps and this is where John Bowe lost control of his Ford on his own and crashed into the safety barrier at 220+km and a peice of wood off the safety barrier flew off and hit a photographer's leg, which is now broken The race was stopped while the safety fence was repaired and this took an hour. The race then started again with no pit stops this time as they were all done and Mark Scaife in in HOLDEN won!! YEA!!

Check out the news on this accident here

Before the last supercar race, they had some other cars racing and Formula Fords so that was kewl. I missed a drag car doing some smoke burn outs, but the I saw the smoke as it came up to the top of the hill hehe where I was, looking at all the neat Holden stuff and trying to get some freebies.

The last and 2nd supercar race started abour 4.30pm and it was a great roaring start, aww the noise of those v8s...you gotta love it... 50 laps this time and it had its spills and slides and safety cars coming out. Mark Scaife in his Holden Racing Team car WON!!! YEA Holden won again!! This means Holden has won 12 times at Pukekohe race track.

Mark Skaife on the way to his win at Pukekohe see here. aww I love the look of the red and white Holden Racing Team car with it's lights on heheh

Picture taken from here
New Zealand's Greg Murphy was the man I wanted to see win, it be his fourth win here at Pukekohe but he got in a crash on the first race on Saturday which almost totaled his car But they techs worked on it all night and he raced and got a massive cheer from the crowd Check here I bought a Murphy hat too

A Porsche GT3 flipping over the safety fence into the srowd..here

Next year will be HUGE as it's the last time it's going to be at Pukekohe, then we have the Street race in Hamilton which will be kewl to go too

~*Mould*~

I live in a small Housing NZ flat, it's 2 bedroom and open planned living room, dining room and kitchen. I've been here for about 7yrs now and love it, although I do get lonely. But I have all my online friends to chat too.

Mould, yep, I have mould growing in my carpet under my couch. The mould is almost the length of my couch too, it's discusting!! It stinks when the couch is moved too. I guess I'm used to the smell now since I'm living in it I have mould on the wall too where the couch is, mould above my bed headboard going up the wall and onto the ceiling and some in the bathroom and laundrey. During the night, I wake up with streaming watery eyes and a blocked nose from this mould. The mould everywhere, mainly the lounge is now a Health and Saftey Risk.

Lounge


Above headboard of bed



I have informed my tenant manager at Housing NZ sometime at the end of 2005. When she came to do the 6month house expection, I told her to pull the couch out, she said I just have a peek and so she did. I then showed her the mould in my room and told her how it is affecting me at night etc. She noted it all down and I said the carpet needs changing, and she said yep. She said I can choose the colour carpet out of two colours LOL so I said good. She also got a guy to come out later that day to look at the outside where the water wasn't draining. Basically the water is coming down the slope from the Golf Course to my flat and has no where to go. The mud on the side of the flat is also blocking the vents in the bricks. This all means the flat on that side is so damp and wet causing problems. He said they would need to remove all this mud, put a drain in on this side of the flat and down the back of the house and hook it up to the main drain, to drain it all away. They are also going to have to prevent the dirty mud from going into the drain.

Nothing had happened since all this talking and looking at what was causing the problems, yet the guy said it has to be done before winter I emailed my tenant manager again with 3 things that were discussed and needed doing. The gutters were done, but nothing else. She then moved to another Office in another area I rang her and said what is happening, she said I'm not doing anything with my clients now, contact the office.

I have a new tenant manager now and I went to the office on 6 April to meet him and dicuss the mould problem, having photos in my hand of the mould. He was quite embarressed that it was at this stage and nothing had been done. He came around the next day and had a look at all the mould areas and looked at the carpet. He said that the whole flat will have new carpet and this will be an URGENT JOB!!! Finally something's going to happen He was really nice, talked about DVD's I liked too, had some interest. I also asked him if he can orgainse someone to come clean the mould off the walls as my carers can't do that and I have no one else, and he said, yes I will see what I can do.

Today: I just had three people come clean all the mould off the walls!! WOW this is awesome, it looks all clean in those areas too. I feel really happy that this has been done and will thank my tenant manager. Will find out when the carpet and outside willbe done..these will be big jobs, lots of furniture moving

After living here for 7yrs I think I've finally got a good Tenant Manager So once all this is done, I can move onto the other little things I've asked to done over those 7yrs.

~*Happy Easter*~

I had a pretty good Easter:) I went out for lunch with family at Mission Bay and it was nice. We walked along the waterfront and went up to Massey Point. I hope you all had a good Easter too.

Six-Wheel Revolution

Features Sampler
From the print edition of New Mobility October 2005

Six-Wheel Revolution
By Mark E. Smith
When it comes to innovations in mobility products, the influences on our lives are often subtly profound. For Jenny Smyth, a 32-year-old Web designer, the latest innovations in six-wheel power chair technology have fostered independence far beyond what's promised in glossy manufacturer brochures. "My six-wheeler allows me to now get into my laundry, and even turn around, which was a shock, as I didn't even think that it was possible," says Smyth, who has used a six-wheel power chair for 11 months.
Smyth's everyday success with six-wheel technology isn't unique, with users of all ages and lifestyles enjoying the benefits of the most important trend in power chairs to evolve into the mainstream mobility market over the past five years.

This was taken from New Mobility here

To read the whole Article, which is pdf format, click here - coming soon

~*Happening Things*~

It's been awhile since I blogged something interesting, so here I am. I really enjoyed watching the Commonwealth Games held in Melbourne, Australia over the weeks it was broadcasted on TV. The Men's and Women's Hockey games were very tense to watch, very close games. It was even better to see the last GOLD medal go to the New Zealand Netball team, what a game that was!!! Way to go KIWIS!! I also enjoyed watching the closing ceremony and all the fireworks..

I bought a Hydration Pack the other day and have attached it to the back of my powerchair. It's better and easier for me, than having to carry a watter bottle everywhere. The tube of the hydration pack is just long enough too, this was one of the problems I had, when finding a good pack. As when ablebodied people wear these packs, the tube is just long enough to go over there shoulder and reach there mouth, as for my situation, there needs to be a longer tube. It's not perfect but it works.

I have a new neighbour too, she seems nice. My neighbour before moved just before Christmas to Hamiltion, his home town.

~*Melbourne Commonwealth Games 2006*~

I watched the opening Ceremony last night and it was awesome! Loved the fireworks all over the city and the whole thing really. Today I've been watching some swimming, rugby and others sports from the games.

Jusr watched the Final Men's 200m Butterfly swimming event and BURMESTER Moss from NZ got GOLD!!! Yeah!! This is New Zealand's first GOLD Medal..wahoooo..more gold to come!!

~*Pasifika Festival*~

I went to Pasifika today with Mum and Dad and it was pretty good, it was my first time at this Free event.

Pasifika Festival is on every year in March, when it is the South Pacific's largest Pacific Islands community event. It is the only day you can visit Pacific Island villages without leaving Auckland. You will see, smell, taste, feel and hear the uniqueness of Auckland's Pacific Island community. Be entertained by everything from contemporary arts and music to traditional food, handicraft and cultural performances. Immerse yourself in the total Pacific Island cultural experience at Pasifika.

It was really crowded too and I couldn't get near many of the stalls or food stalls which was frustrating for me as I too wanted to check out the stalls, to see the different things/food in the different villages. My neighbours are Fijian and they were in the Fijian Village, but I didn't see them. One thing I enjoyed heh was eatting Half a Pineapple filled with chopped pinapple, watermelon, passionfruit and topped with ice cream, this was so good and was also a huge seller for the Fijian Village.

I enoyed seeing Nesian Mystik singing, that was a huge bonus to watch them sing live and I was fairly close to the stage too. Nesian Mystik sang about four songs then Adeaze (2 brothers) came on and sang too, both these bands are NZers. Here are some photos of Nesian Mystick...
From where I sat

.....::Close up::.....

I also saw David Wikaira-Paul (he's Tama off Shortland Street) singing too and he wwas really good. It turned out to be a 'very' hot sunny day and I didn't go prepared so I got really sunburnt on my face and arms. I heard on the news that it would rain and it would be increasing over the afternoon so that's what I prepared for!! Typical NZ weather changed, but it was worth it for the day out. Overall it was a enjoyable day out.

~*Show Your Ability Roadshow*~

Show Your Ability Roadshow is a one day show in six different places in New Zealand. Invacare and Hatfield Mobility are supporting the Show Your Ability again this year. Pulling together suppliers of rehab and home healthcare equipment. It's an event where occupational therapists, phsiotherapists, Needs Assessors, ACC case managers, and Service Co-ordinators can meet and try out NZ's disability equipent. Also there for Jenn to view equipment and try some powerchairs.

I was at Show Your Ability Roadshow today, which was really neat, lots of new and updated equipment to see and hear about. Invacare's stand was right near the door and it was a huge stand with some new powerchairs to see and try out. I didn't try any of them, but did see how the New Standing Dragon Vertic powerchair working. Invacare also had a new powerchair called the Adventure Alber.

Standing Dragon Vertic Powerchair



Grant Demoing the Standing feature
Link to PDF brochure for Invacare Dragon Vertic

Adventure Alber Powerchair - Good outdoor chair

Click here for more info on the Alber

Invacare also had the TDXA powerchair there which isn't a new chair. It's made at Invacare in Australia and the TDXA has Rollerchair seating on it, comes with 4 pole motors and Dynamic controls.
TDXA powerchair with Rollerchair Seating


This is the Typhoon
with Electric Tilt/Recline, Seat Lift and elevating legrests

Ok that is all Invacare's powerchairs.

Now here is something a bit different, it's called
The Explorer
Great for sand, farms and area's a normal powerchair can't drive on

WOWZERRRSSSSSS

~*Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony - Invacare TDX5*~

Great to see Vancouver Mayor Sam (a quadriplegic) waving a 16-foot Olympic flag in the ceremonial hand over at the end of the Turin Winter Olympics - using his TDX5 with a special attachment.

Vancouver Mayor's Special Flag-Waving
Device to Help Quadriplegic in Handoff - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/22/AR2006022202716.html

Here is a picture from the closing ceremony (taken from the Olympic website http://www.torino2006.org).



What a special moment for him:)

~*Speedway*~

I went to Speedway last night with my brother Ben and it was a good night. We found a good spot to sit at this time. It was the Sprint car championship tonight and I was going for Allan Wakeling (Kohan car), the car in the above picture and he won too!! The sprint cars were doing 30 laps and he started near the back, then was in second spot. Half way through the last lap the USA guy leading the race lost some control over his car on a corner and Wakelling (Kokan) took the lead and won the race LOL you should of heard the crowd roarrr. I went into the puts to have a look at the cars half way through the evening and at the end of the night I went onto the race track with a friend of mine also in a powerchair and we drove around abit. Ben and I then went through puts again before heading home.

Photos taken from http://www.springsspeedway.com/index.sm