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