We all know that stuff is getting more expensive, especially those of us who drive and pay increasingly painful amounts of money for gas. But rarely do I notice non-gas price increases in my daily life as explicitly as I have in the past few days.

First, I noticed that my longtime favorite, Mad Mex Big Azz Margaritas, are now $7 during late-night and happy hour. For as long as I’ve been drinking them- 4 years, my entire legal-drinking life- they’ve been $6 during those times (which is the only time I ever get them). I feel like an age-old institution is changing. It’s only a dollar more, but now that the “special” price is $7, it seems not as good a deal, considering full price is only $2.50 more.

Two days later, I went to another one of my favorites, only to find that it too has been hit: Kingdom of Vegetarians dim sum, which has been $10 a person for the year or so that I’ve been gorging myself there, is now $12. This of course didn’t stop me from stuffing my face here, as I do regularly. Just maybe, next time, it’ll make me eat a little bit more to justify the extra $2 (if eating more is even possible there).

What’s next?

Today I was wheeling down the hill from the bus stop toward my apartment building when I saw my landlord. I was listening to my ipod (Tiff’s podcast, actually) so I didn’t hear exactly what she said, but it was along the lines of “Getting your exercise today, hmm?” I just smiled and nodded and didn’t think much of it at the time.

Actually, I should have told her that I took today off from going to the gym. She probably would have thought I was joking. When I thought about her remark later, I realized it represents an odd idea- that just because I, as a wheelchair user, am out and about, I’m somehow exerting myself more than normal or getting a workout. Maybe this is because most people aren’t used to seeing people in wheelchairs in public places (at least not by themselves). Sure, it takes effort and strength to push my chair around, but I do it all day, every day. I’m sure that every time she runs into able-bodied residents outside the building, she never thinks to joke about them getting exercise. I certainly wouldn’t.

This doesn’t piss me off or anything, like many comments people make to me; it’s just that the more I thought about it, the weirder of an idea it seemed. For the record, things I do that I consider exercise include swimming, cycling, and yoga. Note the absence of “leaving my house to go downtown”.

I was about to get into my car at the gym today when I heard “Miss?” I looked up, ready to bust out my usual “No, thanks, I don’t need any help” (like I’ve mentioned before, I get asked if I need help putting my chair in my car about 5 times a day). Then I notice the guy is wearing a National Wheelchair Basketball Association shirt. We discussed adaptive sports and he mentioned wheelchair basketball and tennis programs at Magee Rehab, which he is apparently affiliated with. With him as a contact, I plan to check out these programs and hopefully get involved.

And he didn’t ask if I needed help- likely because, as someone who works with active wheelchair users, he knew that I was fine on my own. Thanks, random gym guy, for being a nice change of pace (and introducing me to new sports).

Able-bodied people just love to use the wheelchair-accessible stalls in public bathrooms. From my observations, it seems that people tend to choose the accessible stall when they will be spending a relatively long amount of time there. Maybe they get claustrophobic pooping in a regular stall. I don’t know, and I don’t really care either. All I know is that yesterday, I really had to pee and a rude AB made me wait.

I was at the gym that I am trying out and will probably join. It was Sunday morning, so very few people were there, and the women’s locker room had about 3 people in it. When I got there I had to pee pretty bad, but the accessible stall was taken. The three other, regular-sized stalls were empty, and they were most likely empty when this woman came in and selected the accessible stall. After I sat there for a few moments, I realized she was probably there to take a crap, or perhaps do something else time-consuming- it was really quiet and she didn’t seem to be going anywhere. I briefly considered that maybe I should wait elsewhere- after all, I wouldn’t want someone waiting, listening to me poop- but I realized that I wanted to make her as uncomfortable as possible, and I definitely wanted to be there when she came out. People tend to feel bad, or at least they seem as such, when they come out of an accessible stall to find me waiting.

So I waited. I waited several minutes until she was finally done, by which time I really had to pee. She came out, saw me there…and didn’t say a word. If she had said sorry, like most people do, I wouldn’t be writing about this right now. But the fact that she saw that I had been waiting for her able-bodied ass to use the one stall that my crippled ass can get into, and said nothing, pissed me off. And it’s not like she didn’t see me; she held the stall door for me. I wanted to yank it out of her hand and say “thanks for nothing, bitch”…but I’m too nice.

Waiting to use the accessible stall in a public bathrooms is one of the more minor annoyances of using a wheelchair. Don’t think that I’m all bitter because I had to hold it for five minutes. But it’s just another example of the ignorance and self-absorbed behavior that many able-bodied people display all the time. What’s an able body good for when it houses a closed mind?

Funny I should have mentioned back in November that I was skeptical if my vote in PA’s late primary would even matter. Little did I know my adopted state would become such a battleground.

For the past few years I’ve lived in high-rise apartment buildings that serve as the area polling place, so I don’t have to go far to vote. On Tuesday I went downstairs unsure of how they would accommodate me. I’d never tried to use a voting booth from a wheelchair before, but knew I wouldn’t be able to reach the buttons. I’d seen numerous articles online about inaccessible polling places and many resources listed to help disenfranchised disabled voters, so I was prepared to have to fight to vote. But I just rolled up, ducked under the curtain, and they lowered the machine to perfect wheelchair-user height, and away I voted. I love when things are easier than I expect; I wish this was more often the case.

Later that day I saw a mini motorcade advertising some book that has something to do with the election. It consisted of a car, a hearse with road signs on it, and a pickup truck with a boxing ring in the back that had a black man mannequin and white woman mannequin wearing boxing gloves and tshirts advertising the book. The mannequins bore little resemblance to the candidates but I’m assuming that’s who they were meant to represent. The whole thing was a really odd sight. And the pickup truck had an inscription on its side window:

HE’S NOT FOR BLACKS OR WHITE
HE’S FOR ALL MANKIND
LET’S SHOW THE WORLD
AMERICA IS NOT BIASED

Except towards, you know, the women part of ‘mankind’.

The last time I wrote about buying long pants I had been inspired by a post on BeautyAbility, and this time is no different. Tiff (of BA fame) wrote recently about the great selection of long pants at New York & Company, and I just had to see for myself. So today I trekked to the King of Prussia mall to do just that.

I am in no way shopping-averse. I enjoy clothes buying as much as the next girl. But for me, going to the KOP mall is like shaving my legs- a time-consuming pain in the ass that I only undertake for special occasions or when absolutely necessary…though KOP has significantly less risk of injury. It’s giant, which is good because it has just about everything you could want, but bad because that requires you to haul your ass great distances to find what you came for. I always plan ahead for my occasional KOP trips- find out exactly where the store I want to visit is located, and figure out the closest entrance and place to park. Today’s trip was no exception, except that all my planning was for naught- I went way across the mall to what I thought was the food court where I was meeting Jim for lunch, only to find out that he was in another food court back near where I started. By the time I got to the right area, my arms were about to fall off.

Speaking of arm fatigue, that’s a consequence of shopping from a wheelchair. Not because of pushing yourself around, but because you have to reach up to search through even the lowest clothing racks. It’s unexpectedly arm-tiring. I can barely get through half a rack at TJ Maxx before my arms start burning.

Back to the pants. Tiff was right- NY & Co has tons of ‘em. I got a few dressy ones and even a pair of yoga pants- all gloriously long. I’m unreasonably excited about getting to work out in long-enough pants for the first time in my wheeling life. If online pants-shopping is your thing, check out all NY & Co’s tall pants here.

I was headed to the checkout at Pathmark today when I heard a ruckus coming from the self-checkout line. Even though this line was three times the length of all those for regular checkouts, I had to see what was going down, so I got in line.

Apparently some skanky-looking girl, who I had seen a few minutes before and noticed her ample midriff hanging out of her not-so-ample tshirt, had gone straight to a self-checkout machine without waiting in line, thus cutting about 6 people. A woman who had been waiting said something to her and the girl responded by freaking out and yelling at the woman. I’m not sure exactly what was said, but the (much older) man who was with skanky girl responded by inviting everyone in line to smack her up. When of course no one did, the man yelled “I thought so!” as if the other customers’ unwillingness to fight somehow vindicated his skanky girlfriend/daughter.

There were murmurs of “junkie” and “she don’t even know where she is” coming from the head of the line, but I’m not sure there were drugs involved; I think she was just a rude bitch. The guy behind me said “I feel ashamed and dirty to be in this store”, which I couldn’t help but feel was kind of an affront to everyone there, not just skanky girl and her old man.

Nothing this interesting ever happens at Acme. Pathmark has more drama and more handicapped parking spaces. And the people doing the announcements about sale items and such sometimes remind me of Cheryl from The Good Girl. To top it off, it’s cheaper. Pathmark, meet your newest fan.

“One for Timecrimes, please.” I had never asked for one for anything before. Yesterday was big for me- it was the first time I went to the movies alone.

In college, I dated a guy who was big on alone time. This was a new concept for me as I never really felt the desire to do anything alone. Except the normal alone things, like, you know, peeing. So I decided I would do some typical social activities- going out to eat, going to the movies- alone in order to try to gain an appreciation for it. That didn’t last very long.

One day I went to a restaurant by myself and it was horrible. Instead of a booth, where I could hide out in relative privacy, they sat me out in the middle of the restaurant at a table, parading my loser-y-ness for all to see. Since I had just come from class, I had notes and such in my backpack, and was glad to be able to flip through those and look like I had something to do. But it didn’t help much; I still felt awful. That experience brought my doing-stuff-alone plan to an abrupt halt.

Fast forward 3 years to last weekend. The Philadelphia Film Festival was going on, and while I had managed to catch two good films with friends, there was one more that caught my eye. With no friends interested, I was left with a choice: see it alone or possibly never get to see it again. I mulled it over all weekend and finally decided to confront my solo-moviegoing fear and just go.

As I drove there I was a little nervous. But by the time I bought my ticket for one, my fears had mostly subsided, and I began to think: this is actually a little fun. Before the movie started, I made small talk with another solo viewer and realized I didn’t feel horribly awkward like I had that day at the restaurant three years ago. As I rolled out of the theater afterwards, I felt exhilarated. I had seen a movie alone and loved it.

While I enjoyed the film itself, the experience was much greater. I can’t wait for this year’s Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. Last year I missed many films I wanted to see for lack of someone to go with me; with my newfound moviegoing independence, this will never happen again.

By the way, I considered revisiting the eating-out-alone experience. I think the biggest problem I’d have nowadays is that I’d be bored. I suppose if I really wanted something from a particular place I’d go there by myself, but I eat out to share good food with someone I like. It’s different from seeing a movie, which, even if you’re with someone, isn’t really a shared experience. Unless you’re making out.

There are a few things I forgot to mention about the NAF AMM in Las Vegas. I went to a session on wheelchair yoga, which I enjoyed. It was presented by the sister of an FAer and her husband, who are yoga instructors. It wasn’t as stereotypically yoga-y as I had imagined, which makes sense; most of the yoga poses that I can picture aren’t really doable in a wheelchair. The moves they demonstrated were more like stretches. Regardless, I liked it, and am trying to do it on my own. You can see wheelchair yoga poses and a summary of their NAF presentation here.

Dancing With Ataxia is inexplicably all the rage at NAF AMMs now. I went to this session last year in hopes that it would be about wheelchair ballroom dancing. It’s not; it’s about walking. The guy talks about strategies for re-teaching yourself how to walk normally. This frustrates me for two main reason: first, that’s like saying “ataxia is all in your head; if you really try, you can get over it”. I’m all for using physical activity to improve ataxia or at least slow its progression, but I just don’t buy that by walking a different way (with my head up, for example, as was one of his tips last year- um, I can’t tell where my feet are without looking. Walking with my head up is not gonna happen) I can walk regularly again. And second, he has nothing for wheelchair users. That’s what happens when your whole thing is about walking. Feel free to read what he has to say for yourself, but I must warn you: the website is terrible. I hope for his sake that he at least hires someone competent to redesign it for him.

When planning my trip to Las Vegas, I was wary of what my food options would be. I brought along Luna bars, dried fruit, and instant noodles, but there’s only so much of that stuff a girl can eat. It turns out that my fears weren’t totally unfounded: there were few vegan options in my hotel, but I ate decently elsewhere. In hopes that this will help other vegans on their future visits to Vegas, here is most of what I ate.

First and foremost: RONALD’S DONUTS. It’s a totally normal, un-vegan looking place, but about 3/4 of their donuts are vegan. And they are truly amazing. Fresh, soft, and crazy good- just like I remember donuts from back in the day. These are not the mediocre, cakey vegan donuts you get in natural foods stores or order online- these are the real deal. My favorite was Boston Creme. I’m not sure exactly why Ronald’s makes vegan donuts, but I’m sure as hell not complaining.

Ronald’s is an absolute MUST for any Vegas-visiting vegan. It’s off the strip (in Chinatown) but really easy to get to. Take the 203 bus from in front of Fashion Show Mall (on Spring Mountain), get off at Arville, and walk up Spring Mountain for just a bit, and you’re there. Or you could take a taxi, if you have way more money than I do. It would be walkable (2 miles from the strip), but I-15 is in the way with no pedestrian crossing.

I had read about Veggie Delight prior to my trip but came upon it by accident on the way to Ronald’s. It’s of the “fake-meat Asian” restaurant genre, and isn’t all vegan- there’s a vegan page on the menu. I got pretty good basil chicken for about $10. Do the opposite of what I did- go here for lunch and then walk up to Ronald’s for dessert donuts.

Despite its name, the Cheesecake Factory has served me well on numerous occasions, and this was no exception. My mom and I went to Caesar’s Palace just to eat here (the bad art they had for sale in the Forum Shops and the cheesy animatronic show outside the restaurant were just added benefits). I like Evelyn’s Favorite Pasta minus the cheese.

This was on sale at Caesar’s Palace for the low low price of $6,000. The whole store was like that.

The buffet at my hotel, the Flamingo, was limited in terms of hot vegan food (I had rice and potatoes), but there was tons of fresh and dried fruit, some of which I had never seen before, and of course a salad bar (though not a particularly well-stocked one- there were no tomatoes! I thought tomatoes were, like, a salad bar law). Due to the price ($16 for lunch and $20 for Sunday brunch- kinda steep for salad and fruit) I wouldn’t recommend it, but if you’re there and your mom is paying, you won’t starve.

I didn’t go there, but there was a Chipotle near my hotel, which would have come in handy had I needed one more meal. Their website is so obnoxious I’m not even linking to it. Go find it yourself if you really want.

So, Vegas-ing vegans, don’t despair. You might have to search to find food, but you won’t be hungry and might actually have some decent meals. And you don’t ever have to go to Subway, as this site might have you believe. And if you don’t go to Ronald’s, I’ll kick you.