The Abilities Expo in Los Angeles is next week and while on the website I noticed the Abilities Expo in Boston is scheduled for the weekend after I'm due to leave NYC and head back to L.A.
I started wondering if I could make it work by moving everything back a week. Still spend a week in NYC but then spend the weekend of the Abilities Expo in Boston and then head back to L.A.
I looked at the Amtrak schedule and I would be able to change the ticket.
Then, I looked at Hotels. There are no ADA rooms available at Yotel Hotel for that week. I looked at other hotels in the Manhattan area and the prices are more than I can spend.
So after a hour of research it all narrows down to where I started...Boston will have to wait. If NYC goes as well as I hope, I hope to plan a trip to Boston next spring.
And now I only have to wait a week before I ascend that indoor rock climbing wall at the Abilities Expo!
Friday, February 21, 2014
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Adventures in Downtown L.A.
Haven't written an entry in nearly three weeks for the simple reason that as far as NYC is concerned, there's still not a lot going on. Except trying to familiarize myself with the Metro (buses & subways) as much is possible from a distance. It took me sometime to acclimate to L.A. Metro but I did no research then, I just learned by trial & error.
That aside, today I did what has become one of my favorite things to do: Wheeling it around Downtown L.A. That actually wasn't my intention. I had only planned to go to Target and go to a movie. I can sometimes be a bit of a turtle in the morning but I somehow managed to leave my apartment and catch a bus and get downtown in plenty of time to go to Target first and then go see the movie. That's when spontaneity happened.
The bus stop is on Olive/7th. I go right and I go to Figueroa but I go left and I can go the same distance (1/2 mile) to Spring Street where L.A. Cafe is. I looked at the time and I still had an hour and a half til the movie started. I really wanted a Lobster Grilled Cheese. I was going to wait til my birthday next month when I have lunch with a friend but time was on my side. I wish I could tell all about how great the food at L.A. Cafe is but the truth is...all I have ever had there is the Lobster Grilled Cheese. That is just pure food bliss!
Then it was time to go the mile up to Target on Figueroa. Unfortunately, I committed to the wrong side of the street. In other words, I chose the side where the curb cut-outs are not so pronounced and if I don't watch my "step" it won't turn out well. Anyway, I was committed to that side because it was the side that crosses directly to Target. Target took me all of about 10 minutes for what I was looking for. And then it was time to go another half mile down to the theater. I got to the theater with 20 minutes left on the clock before the movie began.
The movie that I saw was a fantastically, beautifully created story called "Winter's Tale". I highly recommend it.
Now I don't do this kind of day without fully charging my chair. But I love this kind of day where I can do everything "on foot". No buses, no wheelchair lifts...just navigating the downtown L.A. streets.
After the movie was over, it was time to get back on the bus to head back to the apartment. And this is where my day took a tiny bauble. I am boarding the bus as I do. I back up to get in. No big deal. The bus driver starts to talk to me like I'm a child (being in my mid-30s...that wasn't setting well to start) that I should board the bus facing front so I don't have to back up getting in. Here's the problem, when a person in a wheelchair boards a bus facing front they still have to do a 180 to turn around to park in the designated spot. Now, I don't drive a car but I don't know that I have ever seen a car that is parallel parking make a 180 out into traffic before they back up! I wanted to say all this but it was neither time or place. I just said, "I'm not new. Thank you though." I knew he was trying to help. And also if people don't really spend time with disabled people, those people seem to think that every disabled person is like the other. So I try to have understanding.
Advice for any wheelchair user that may read this or if you may have a friend/family member who uses a wheelchair and also uses public transportation. If you see the bus is near crowded, use the backing up method if you can. I have seen many wheelchair users through out my time here that think because they are in a chair the seas should part for them and they go front ways just because they are lazy. Some wheelchair uses are not able to drive backward. This isn't a safety issue, it is a courtesy and convenience one, and no one knows better than you how to drive the chair you operate every day.
This metro issue is probably one of the bigger things I worry about with going to NYC in 6 months. I'm comfortable with L.A. and completely ignorant to the ways of NYC. I just hope I can figure it out so I can feel comfortable leaving Manhattan and visiting other boroughs when the time comes.
That aside, today I did what has become one of my favorite things to do: Wheeling it around Downtown L.A. That actually wasn't my intention. I had only planned to go to Target and go to a movie. I can sometimes be a bit of a turtle in the morning but I somehow managed to leave my apartment and catch a bus and get downtown in plenty of time to go to Target first and then go see the movie. That's when spontaneity happened.
The bus stop is on Olive/7th. I go right and I go to Figueroa but I go left and I can go the same distance (1/2 mile) to Spring Street where L.A. Cafe is. I looked at the time and I still had an hour and a half til the movie started. I really wanted a Lobster Grilled Cheese. I was going to wait til my birthday next month when I have lunch with a friend but time was on my side. I wish I could tell all about how great the food at L.A. Cafe is but the truth is...all I have ever had there is the Lobster Grilled Cheese. That is just pure food bliss!
Then it was time to go the mile up to Target on Figueroa. Unfortunately, I committed to the wrong side of the street. In other words, I chose the side where the curb cut-outs are not so pronounced and if I don't watch my "step" it won't turn out well. Anyway, I was committed to that side because it was the side that crosses directly to Target. Target took me all of about 10 minutes for what I was looking for. And then it was time to go another half mile down to the theater. I got to the theater with 20 minutes left on the clock before the movie began.
The movie that I saw was a fantastically, beautifully created story called "Winter's Tale". I highly recommend it.
Now I don't do this kind of day without fully charging my chair. But I love this kind of day where I can do everything "on foot". No buses, no wheelchair lifts...just navigating the downtown L.A. streets.
After the movie was over, it was time to get back on the bus to head back to the apartment. And this is where my day took a tiny bauble. I am boarding the bus as I do. I back up to get in. No big deal. The bus driver starts to talk to me like I'm a child (being in my mid-30s...that wasn't setting well to start) that I should board the bus facing front so I don't have to back up getting in. Here's the problem, when a person in a wheelchair boards a bus facing front they still have to do a 180 to turn around to park in the designated spot. Now, I don't drive a car but I don't know that I have ever seen a car that is parallel parking make a 180 out into traffic before they back up! I wanted to say all this but it was neither time or place. I just said, "I'm not new. Thank you though." I knew he was trying to help. And also if people don't really spend time with disabled people, those people seem to think that every disabled person is like the other. So I try to have understanding.
Advice for any wheelchair user that may read this or if you may have a friend/family member who uses a wheelchair and also uses public transportation. If you see the bus is near crowded, use the backing up method if you can. I have seen many wheelchair users through out my time here that think because they are in a chair the seas should part for them and they go front ways just because they are lazy. Some wheelchair uses are not able to drive backward. This isn't a safety issue, it is a courtesy and convenience one, and no one knows better than you how to drive the chair you operate every day.
This metro issue is probably one of the bigger things I worry about with going to NYC in 6 months. I'm comfortable with L.A. and completely ignorant to the ways of NYC. I just hope I can figure it out so I can feel comfortable leaving Manhattan and visiting other boroughs when the time comes.
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