Christmas 2014 has been great.

Christmas has been very enjoyable with my darling Richie,

Even  though I am a quadroplegic now, this ms has really fucked my body but not my mind, I am still cheerful and enjoy everything I can.

So glad I get medicinal cannabis here and don't have to use opiates,which do more harm than good.  Canabis effectively curbs the pain,allows me to relax and enjoy life without any damaging my body..
In 2015 i shall post regularily,which
Which i look forward to.

Hfappy New Year.everyone.

Fairytales.

Still can't believe that KesterenRTD directly lied when they told me  in April 2012, that the Seetech pc would let me do everything I always did.

For example, write my blog, visit other blogs, read newspapers, listen to radio, send & receive emails.

What a shock to hear on 8th August, that the software could not cope with passwords which means that I wouldn't be able to stay connected.

The Seetech pc they were leasing via the health insurance was giving them lots of money for a pc which is essentially just a typewriter.

Makes me wonder how many others like who have been lied to and the health insurance who have been defrauded.

First longer post.

 
Brilliant being online again, especially after  nearly two years, which is thanks to Shannon Electronics excellent plug and play invention, the LipStick.

This invention of theirs has had a dramatic effect on my life, instead of passively watching the telly all the time now there is another option.

Now I  can get online again, write my blog posts, send emails, read newspapers, listen to music which I am thoroughly enjoying.

Being able to write again is special, as there many days when I doubted whether I would ever be able to use a pc again, it seemed for ages that this would be impossible. 

My hands started losing some functionality when we moved to this apartment in 2007,  we had to, as I needed a lift to let me go outside independently.

Without the help of  the mobility bus staff who carried me up, down the stairs in our previous apartment, a scary experience, one I endured for a year.

There was no choice, either put up with being carried or stay home all day and everyday, our apartment began to feel like I was  imprisoned in it, apart from medical appointments.    

Sadly when we had moved here despite the lift, I could not go out on  my own as I could not use the keys to open doors, the move was a year too late for going out independently.  
                 
It was horrible losing the use of my hands, first my right hand , my right index finger became floppy and unusable to type or do anything, a sad moment.

One consolation was for awhile it was still possible to use the mouse with my right hand and type with my left index finger , voice recognition was good, it helped me post and send emails.

This worked well until my left index finger also got too floppy to type with, luckily my little finger on my left hand allowed me to open and close things, Dragon voice recognition did the rest.

The Seetech pc did'nt work for me, I thought all I needed was more instructions how to use it, finally  the supplier KesterenRtd Het Dorp agreed to visit again on 8th August this year.

Their engineer stunned, Richie and I by telling us that it was not possible to go online with  the Seetech as the software could not process passwords.

 What a bombshell after more than  two years of being told I could go online and write blog posts, send emails, visit other blogs and buy presents.

 Turned out it was all lies, when we said take the Seetech pc away it is useless, they told us about the LipStick, so Richie bought it immediately, otherwise I would be still waiting.

Access denied has not been hijacked.

When I got the message that a friend  had problem accessing my blog, everytime she tried she was taken to this link:

http://neocounter.neoworx-blog-tools.net/

Richie tried to visit my blog he could get in until hursday when it became impossible, after some more research Richie discoved that  http://neocounter.neoworx-blogtools.net/ were bankrupt and they had been hacked.

I signed into my blog and went to layout and deleted the neocounter then Richie asked friends on facebook to check if they could visit my blog without prolems.

 It was good to know they could access my blog again, brilliant news.

Only thing I deled neocounter before seeing what the neocounter did, the  important thing for me is that my blog has not been hijacked.

Innovative Speech Technology.

 Some weeks ago I received this email, it is very interesting so today have decided to share it a blog post.

Hi Herrad,


I came across your blog, Acess Denied- living with Multiple Sclerosis , and I think your work is fantastic! I believe I have a story that you may be interested in sharing with your readers. First, I wanted to write a bit about myself:


My name is Nicole Caron, and I'm the Social Media Manager at VoiceItt. VoiceItt is developing innovative speech technology that will enable people that suffer from motor, speech, and language disorders to easily communicate using their own voice, by translating the unintelligible pronunciation into understandable speech. The software based solution can run on any mobile or wearable device, allowing the person to communicate freely with anyone anywhere.

The video on our Indiegogo campaign explains it all.igg.me/at/talkitt

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/talkitt-this-is-my-voice

We have been promoting our product through various radio stations and podcasts, and I thought this would be a great story for you as it's both technologically revolutionary and very emotional. Your support in sharing our story will lead us one step closer to changing the


Let me know if you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them. I’ve attached some photos and a press release.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon. :)


Kind Regards,
Nicole

Possible Problem.

A  friend mailed me the other day to let me know that when she tries to visit my blog Access denied,

 she keeps getting taken to another website.


http://neocounter.neoworx-blog-tools.net/


I wondered if anyone else has had this happen to them?

If so then there is a  big prolem which will not be easy to get it resolved because Blogger is unreachable.


Hopefully noone else has problems accessing my blog.

Happy Days.

The LipStick mouse has really added so much to my life since my darling Richie bought it for me  in September.

Finally I can access the internet, send emails, write my blog, at last after nearly two years access is no longer denied.

 Since getting the LipStick, I have been practising lots, learning how to use it, that reminded me of learning how to use  a mouse for the first time.

Learning how to use this one is just as hilarious, I have opened things I did not mean to open and closed others that were just opened.

Deleted emails and am generally having a laugh at my mishaps, have noticed that I am getting confident using the LipStick, this means I can gradually increase the speed.

This has given me a huge boost, it has done the same for Richie, it has cheered us both up, happy days! 
                        

Brilliant to be able to post again.

its enjoyable finally being  back online thanks to the Lipstick mouse, what a wonderful invention from shannon electronics.

brilliant to be able to communicate again, nearly lost hope began to think i would never be able to use a computer ever again,

now my life has been given a huge boost thanks to richie getting me the lipstick and a new laptop.

have to learn how to use both,windows8 looks very different to vista.

hope to be able to post regularly soon.

Brilliant being online again.

Feels wonderful to be able to do this thanks to the LipStick invented by Shannon Electronics.
 http://www.shannonelectronics.nl/

this invention is life changing, i  sent a mail with positive feedback to the inventtor thanking him.

Brilliant to be able to do this again, but it is tiring learning something new,i am tired now but happy.

Thanks to all my dear blog friends for your ccomments, they made me very happy.

Hope to answer them next time,lots of love to  you all.

Really apppreciate your visiting my blog especially after nearly two years of silence.

When i lost all function in my hands it was no longer possible to use my laptop which was extremely upsetting, i had hoped that my little finger on my left hand would keep going for awhile longer.                          
More from me next time, i need thc and  a drink.                                          

Really moved.

It was so good seeing my blogs again yesterday, first time since March 2013, its so good to be back.

I was really moved to find comments from dear blog friends  which I had not expected to find.

Thanks for your lovely comments, I hope to be posting reguarly soon as I get the hang of this LipStick mouse invented by people from the Technical University in Delft.

It is not very difficullt but it is quite tiring moving the mouse with my lips I am quitee tired after doig this short post  so will stop now for today.                                                                          

Just to say hello.

Just to say hello and Herrad is learning how to use her lip mouse and hopes to be blogging again soon
Richie

Feeling positive despite limitations.

 

Roberto Matta

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Matta 

Two appointments I was dreading one yesterday and one today went very well which was a tremendous relief for Richie and I.

The appointment yesterday was with my case manager as well as my advisor, they both work for the councils mobility Department.

They are both very good women, who have to work within tight parameters nevertheless they do as much as they can for me who is admirable.

2 other people were also present and they were Percy from Welzorg and Ruud from a company called Summit, they make the custom-built wheelchair backrest.

We were both not looking forward to this meeting however as soon as Jacqueline my case manager arrived the appointment started positively.

She suggested we make a list of all the things we did not like about the wheelchair, and there were many points all of which were noted.

By the time everybody was here the list was completed, at first the four of them turned their attention on the wheelchair examining it thoroughly.

Finally Percy said that there was nothing that his company Welzorg can do to improve the wheelchair finally there were no more prevarications.

Right away Jacqueline decided that the only cause of action now was that I needed a new wheelchair.

This means a new supplier so I do not have to deal with Welzorg anymore about my wheelchair which was fantastic news this cheered me up tremendously.

On the 30^th of January I have an appointment at 1400 with Annelies my advisor and somebody from the new wheelchair supplier Beenhakker to discuss the new chair.

In the meantime Ruud from Summit will temporarily adjust the backrest on the wheelchair, as soon as it known which wheelchair I will get he will make a custom built backrest for the new wheelchair.

Richie and I are very pleased with how things went yesterday this really is progress and this time we will make sure the new wheelchair is a good one.

At 1200 today I have an appointment with the doctor from the rehabilitation clinic as well as Milou the wound nurse.

This was the appointment I was dreading the most as I knew that Janneke the Dr was going to cut some hard skin off around the edges of the wound.

In order to stop myself lying awake all night thinking about it I took a sleeping tablet which worked very well.

The procedure seemed to take forever luckily I don't feel a thing nevertheless I was relieved when it was all over as it's not my favourite activity.

Janneke was very positive about the wound saying it was looking good and nearly healed up which was good news.

Hopefully trimming off the hard edges will help the wound to finally heal; it would be great if that were to happen at the same time as I get my new wheelchair.

Despite my increasing limitations I'm feeling very positive about the future and I'm looking forward to being able to get about again.

Precious moments.

                  

Roberto Matta

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Matta      

After I had written Friday’s post I found a piece of artwork by Roberto Matta and tried to publish on my blog sadly everything froze which was frustrating.

Deciding there was no need to panic I closed up my laptop thinking that I would be able to put the blog post on my blog on Saturday afternoon.

As usual everything went differently on Saturday so I did not spend any time using my laptop that day nor on the Sunday, nevertheless I managed to relax and enjoy the weekend.

Slowly I am beginning to understand that there's not much I can do when things either go wrong or don't go according to plan, its better that I remain relaxed.

However it is not always easy for me to keep calm and be patient, that is not really me as I am very impatient person, despite that I have learnt how to deal with it.

The weekend despite not going according to how I wanted was extremely enjoyable, Richie and I laughed a lot and dogs were very happy too.

today I'm just enjoying the fact that I've been able to access my laptop, check my e-mails and write my blog, hopefully also my Dutch blog.

Richie took the dogs for a long run to the Amsterdam Woods, where I'm sure they are having a fine time, as I am being able to write this.

The other thing that I have learnt very clearly is that it is important to enjoy everything possible to make the most of every precious moment.

Friday, 11 January, 2013. The tipping point.

Roberto Matta
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Matta

Writing yesterday was very enjoyable it made me feel a lot better; it is so good to have an outlet for my thoughts as well as my feelings.

I was very touched that I received so many supportive comments from blog friends, it was really lovely to see them all, and I was very moved by them.

Thank you for visiting and leaving your comments I really appreciate it so very much, probably more than I can express in words.

While I'm writing this I got the television on without the sound, it is the Antiques Roadshow on BBC two, a programme I like watching a lot these days.

It’s been a relaxed day to day, my pain as being managed well using THC, which I inhale using a vaporiser which is better for the lungs then smoking.

At the moment Richie has taken the dogs for a charge around the Rembrandt Park as well as plenty of playing with sticks and each other.

When they get home Richie is going to make us a delicious dinner of toad in the hole with roast potatoes, roast parsnips, cabbage and gravy.

Which I'm looking forward to, it's just the weather for it too as it has got a lot colder today, temperatures plunging from 10° to 5° and 3° tonight.

I have a lot of things swirling around in my mind that I want to write about, and am planning to do just that in the next days.

One of them is the death of the young promising medical student as a result of the brutal rape on the bus; there is quite rightly a lot of anger in India and elsewhere in the world.

It seems that this is the tipping point for the position of women in India and worldwide, hopefully 2013 will be the year when women stop being second class citizens.

Today I am taking it easy and just enjoying getting back into writing my blog regularly, I'm going to stop now and publish my post and enjoy the evening with my Darling Richie is tipping point

Taking one day at a time.

 

Roberto Matta

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Matta 

Getting back into writing my blog every day is proving more difficult than I thought, especially when everything seemed to be going against me.

Last Thursday when I wrote my first post since I stopped blogging on the 11^th of December I was very happy until I tried to post it on my blog.

I had chosen a picture by Roberto Matta, however when I went place it on my blog everything froze and nothing would cooperate with me.

After a while I tried to publish my blog post without the artwork but that did not work, in the end I was so frustrated that I decided it was better to stop and try again another time.

However everything went differently to how I planned and I did not manage to get back to using my laptop until Monday this week.

Then I was surprised to see that my blog post despite all the problems had been published on my blog just without artwork and a title and labels.

After I added the missing artwork, title and labels I realised I would have to stop as my index finger was not cooperating with me.

So I reluctantly shut down the laptop and decided to relax which is not always as easy as it should be, but I did my best.

Luckily this week I've been able to do my arm and leg exercises Motomed without the discomfort I have been experiencing in previous weeks.

Because the curvature of my spine is progressing it means that the backrest on my wheelchair does not fit me well anymore and does not support me as it should.

The result in recent weeks has been the I am sitting leaning to the left which is not a pleasant way in which to do 45 minutes of exercises.

I was getting quite downhearted thinking in due course I would not be able to do these exercises which are vital for my well-being.

Luckily Richie has been able to sit me in a wheelchair in such a way that I am able to do the exercises on the Motomed without any discomfort.

Hopefully my joy will be made complete when I can successfully publish this blog post with artwork, title and labels tonight, then I will be happy.

Taking a break.

Roberto Matta.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Matta 

When I decided to take a break from blogging on 11th of December I did not intend to stop for as long as I have, as it's now three weeks ago that I wrote a blog post.

On 11th of December there was a lot going on here, we had the unexpected visit from a good friend John, who we had not seen since 1993 apart from a brief visit in 1999.

It was quite incredible; it was very emotional but lovely to see him again after all these years, a very special visit from a special person who is a close friend of Richie’s.

When I decided to take a holiday from blogging I only meant to stop during John's visit which was from 8th of December until 16th of December.

On the day after John left I decided to extend my time off from blogging to enjoy the days before the winter solstice and then Christmas before writing again.

Apart from time off from blogging I wanted to see what life would be like without my laptop and my connection to the outside world via the Internet.

I discovered that I can live without my laptop and the Internet; however my conclusion is that I can live without but I'd rather not have to do so.

I still have so much that I would like to write about, during my time off there were days when I could feel that I was overflowing with ideas for my blog posts.

Last night I decided I would start blogging again from today; it's not easy as my left index finger which I rely on is not functioning well, and is becoming inactive.

I should have made more of an effort learning how to use the Seetech computer in August instead I chose to write using Dragon voice recognition.

So now I have a problem because I can not use the laptop like I used to and it is very frustrating to feel that my index finger won't work that is so frustrating.

There is nothing worse than sitting in front of my laptop unable to click on any items or to scroll down or to surf the net or do anything much.

The Seetech computer worries me, however I will not let fear rule me and I intend to learn how to use the Seetech computer so I can keep writing and communicating.

I have not only missed the writing I have also missed the communications with blog friends who have become important for me, I'm glad to be writing again today.

Join the conversation.

.Roberto Matta.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Matta 

It is very good John is staying here with us, it is nice to hear Richie talking with him in the front room, that is when he is not in the here with me.

My physiotherapist Matilda was here this afternoon 1400 for my Monday physiotherapy session.

She left at 1430 and I've been trying ever since to get my post dictated to the voice recognition software which was not easy.

Mainly because either the Dragon voice recognition software just did not cooperate with what I was dictating and just seemed to invent words.

Or because John was in the here wanting to talk and Richie would come in as well and before I knew it was a wonderful three-way conversation.

I'm going to stop now and look for artwork by Roberto Matta I will publish this on my blog and join the conversation.

A Special Occasion,

 

Roberto Matta.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Matta 

Yesterday Richie was very busy all day with me, the dogs and shopping for us and for our visitor who we were looking forward to a lot.

It was very exciting waiting for 20.00 when John said he would be here, and he was, it was very nice to see him again after so long.

We came to the conclusion that we had not seen each other since 1998 when we were still living at the Haarlemmer Dijk, before we moved in 2000.

Seeing John again was so natural, it did not seem like 14 years ago it felt like we had only seen each other a few weeks ago.

Good to be able to relate to each other just like we always did, nice to feel so relaxed in each other's company.

Richie is cooking dinner for the three of us, John brought us some vegetarian haggis, most of it is in the deep freeze, Richie has made some for us tonight.

Which we will eat with mashed potatoes and swede which is what is traditionally eaten on Burns night in January on Robert Burn’s birthday.

It really is lovely to see you a good friend like John again, I'm so very glad that he is here visiting us, this really is a special occasion being reunited with such a good friend.