Archive for February, 2007

Jumping in — part 2

Sunday, February 25th, 2007

I have encountered many challenges since moving to Rochester, but the absolute bane of my existence is the Rochester Genesee Regional Transit Authority (RGRTA), sometimes known as the Regional Transportation Service (RTS). They also have a paratransit service called Lift Line. between Lift Line and RTS, there is a culture of intense hatred of, and absolute disregard for people with disabilities. It has been this way forever, it seems. The company has been sued, protested, and everything legal in between, yet these people behave with impunity. They don’t care, and they know that basically, there is nothing really that can be done about them. True, there are individuals withing the company, and certain bus drivers who are nice, but as a whole, I feel that RTS is beyond redemption. Of course, that doesn’t stop us from advocating for their customers who have been wronged, or continuing to try to get them to “straighten up and fly right”.

The current CEO is a charming “gentleman” named Mark Aesch, but don’t let his charm fool you. The man is an oily, slimeball, a liar who will outright lie to your face, and feel no shame, yet who will behave like a petulant child if he feels that you have wronged him. I experienced the horrors of RTS from the first time that I rode, and I got a taste of Mark Aesch when I attended the RGRTA Board meeting on December 7, 2006. I got the full Monty when I attended the Town Hall meeting on December 14, 2006.

The Board Meeting

Let me tell you first about the Board meeting. RGRTA Board meetings are held on the 1st Thursday of each month at their headquarters,usually in the conference room. Unlike every other board meeting that I have ever attended, though the public is welcome, members of the audience are not allowed to speak. Also, Mark Aesch, the CEO runs the meetings, NOT the Board Chair. In fact, it seems to me that the Board is fed only what Mr. Aesch wants them to know, and the Board seems to be a rubber-stamp Board, doing exactly what Aesch wants, with no dissention.

This Board meeting, oddly, was held in the bus garage because it was felt that there would not be enough room to accommodate all of the people who were attending. The garage entrance was inaccessible, so I had to enter through the bus bay. Needless to say, it was freezing in there! The media was present, which spoke to the importance of this meeting, as the Board was going to vote on discontinuingthree bus routes that went throught the Western suburbs — routes 76, 83, and 95. The audience was full of Lift Line users who were worried, and rightly so, because if these routes were cut, the corresponding Lift Line service would also be discontinued for these riders.

RTS is a strange bird. They seem to be proud of their shoddy performance and poor customer service. They have a nasty attitude, and sneaky ways. It appears that their Standard Operating Procedure is to disseminate misinformation or outright lies, or to hide information in places where most members of the public wouldn’t think to look. For example, there were supposed to be public hearings on the propsed discontinuance of the three bus routes. Mark Aesch complained that only 1 person showed up for the hearing. Of course that would happen when you put the announcement in the Rochester Business Journal, instead of your own website! No wonder almost the entire public hates them!

As it turned out, the Board voted unanimously to end the routes effective January 1st. The Lift Line users shouted and staged a mini protest, but were quickly ushered out, with the media in tow. Good for them! One of the Board members asked just as the meeting was about to be adjourned if it was true the the Lift Line users would lose ther services. Mark Aesch replied “Yes and no”. According to him, Lift Line users would get to keep their services until March 31st. As it turned out, it was far more complicated than that, and many Lift Line folks still lost their services on the 1st of Janaury.

December’s Town Hall meeting

RTS has Town Hall meetings once each month. Well, they’re supposed to. December’s meeting was originally supposed to take place at the Irondequoit Town Hall, in Irondequoit, a suburb of Rochester. On the day of the meeting, the location was suddenly changed to the Pittsford Library, in Pittsford, another suburb. Needless to say, since the change of information was not publicized, the only folks who showed up were a gentleman whose son is a Lift Line user, and the Advocacy Crew (Arlene, Dean, and myself), along with two of our interns. Arlene found out about the change because she happened to call RTS for some other reason, and on a hunch, asked about the Town Hall meeting.

Following is Arlene’s summary of the meeting. This is an overview of the entire meeting. My summary, which follows, focuses only on questions that I had of Mr. Aesch, along with his respones, if any, and my reactions.

RGRTA Town Hall Meeting, December 14, 2006

The RGRTA Town Meeting was held at the Pittsford Town Hall, and lasted about one hour.

RGRTA News
Mark Aesch also spoke about a new Advanced Traveler Information System that is being rolled out. This system will locate buses by satellite, displaying their position on an electronic monitor at downtown bus shelters and on the Internet. Riders will be given continuously updating arrival times.

Lift Line
Mark Aesch also revealed the Lift Line Ride Reminder system was not ready yet. They are hoping to bring it online in January 2007. Arlene Wilson, CDR Systems Advocate, asked how the new 20-minute window for Lift Line scheduled rides is working. Mr. Aesch stated he did not have current data on that.

A gentleman from the Webster/Penfield area expressed frustration at his son not being able to obtain a Lift Line ride for the family dinner on Thanksgiving. He further stated that his son could be transported during the week and wanted to know why he could not obtain a ride on that Thursday. Mark Aesch stated there could be several reasons; the holiday and weekend schedule may be different. He explained how Lift Line is a mirrored service of RTS, and can only go where it does, when it does. He also explained about the ADA, and how it limits service provision to ¾ mile beyond the route.

Deaf Access
Dean DeRusso, RCIL Deaf Systems Advocate, asked questions about disability access of the bus fare box system, signage posted too high and driver communication access for deaf and deaf/blind consumers using the bus system. Mr. DeRusso also asked about where to obtain multiple ride passes, outside of business hours. Mark Aesch took careful, detailed notes. He then referred Mr. DeRusso to the RGRTA website for a listing of where bus passes can be obtained, and informed him that all day ride passes are sold by the driver, on the bus.

Mr. Aesch also suggested that training for bus drivers on deaf communication might be beneficial. He also shared that new fare boxes were being requisitioned, as part of new capital purchasing. These new fare boxes will have smart card technology, so a person can waive their card in front of the sensor, and have their fare debited.

Lift Access & Pass Ups
Anita Cameron, a Systems Advocate from the Regional Center for Independent Living, introduced herself and shared her dissatisfaction with RGRTA bus service. She gave specific dates, and times of when she had been passed up by RTS drivers. She also documented an instance when a driver had sworn at her, and several instances of when lifts were inoperable. Mark Aesch, initially incredulous, took copious notes, and later apologized for the swearing incident.

Ms. Cameron also requested a number be established to the Operations Center, so people who are having issues with the lifts can call. Mr. Aesch did not feel this would be necessary, and people could contact the call center.

General Information
Ann Parsons expressed her displeasure with the new general information telephone system. RGRTA has changed the system to be a multiple step system, and has reprogrammed the outgoing voice to reference bus travel by direction (north, south, east, west).  She explained the difficulty of this for people who are blind or visually impaired. Mr. Aesch did not understand, so Ms. Parsons explained further that people are travel trained to use the bus independently by professional staff. If changes such as these are to be made, the staff needs to be appraised of this, so they can train people based upon current information. Arlene Wilson also commented that major road and some routes do not go true north, south, east or west, making orientation that much more difficult. Mr. Aesch took notes.

Closing
Mark Aesch reaffirmed the desire of RGRTA to address all concerns of people and requested the personal information of the people with questions and issues in attendance, to get back to them on their concerns.

Questions, suggestions and RTS responses at the 12/14/06 Town Hall Meeting

I have been here only a short time, and have already had 4 separate incidents of broken lifts. What is RTS doing to ensure that their bus lifts are properly maintained? Answer: CEO Mark Aesch maintains that the lifts are cycled every day, and does not understand why I am having problems. He said that 4 incidents of broken lifts in 3 weeks sounded excessive. I responded that I keep a log of all events that happen, such as a broken lift, or an especially rude driver. I did have this log with me. After the meeting, I was approached by a gentleman who said that he worked in Maintenance. I told him about each incident, and showed him my log. He asked specific questions about how the lift was behaving, and showed me the forms that the drivers use to make reports and evaluations. When I finished responding to his questions, he asked me if I thought that the problem was due to driver training, or actual mechanical issues. I told him that I felt that the problem was a combination of the two. I gave him my contact information and asked him to get back in touch with me. He returned my call the next day, and confirmed what I already knew. He further informed me that he was well aware that there are lazy drivers who don’t want to take the time to operate a lift, and he has set a message to all supervisors that drivers who lie about broken lifts will be written up and disciplined.

How is RTS tracking the number of complaints about broken or malfunctioning lifts? Answer: Mr. Aesch did not answer this.

I have called both the customer service line, and the general line regarding complaints. Answer: Mr. Aesch suggested that I call the call center number. I asked if all those calls wouldn’t be overwhelming to call center staff, and Aesch was somewhat insulting, saying that they had to have a centralized number for everything, not, say, one number for wheelchair users who are left-handed, and one for wheelchair users who are right-handed…he tried to go on, but I stopped him.

There should be a phone number that passengers who use wheelchairs can call to report these specific issues. Perhaps, the number can be the same number that the bus drivers use to report broken lifts. That way, the problem will be reported, and proper statistics can be compiled from these reports. Answer: Aesch thought that the idea was an interesting one.

Indeed, what is RTS’s policy regarding broken lifts? What is the driver supposed to do? Answer: Aesch did not know the answer to that, but said that he would look it up.

What is RTS going to do to address the problem of drivers not announcing stops? Answer: Aesch admitted that this is a problem, but did not offer any solutions.

I have been passed up so many times that I have lost count. Answer: Aesch tried to dispute this, but I stood my ground.

One of the first things that struck me about riding the bus here is the resentment towards passengers who use wheelchairs that many bus drivers exhibit. I am aware of the two-minute restriction that drivers must adhere to, and it is obvious to me that when a driver stops to board a wheelchair-using passenger, that two-minute restriction is violated because the driver must spend time securing the passenger’s wheelchair. When a driver is running late, or feels that he or she will be running late, it is not uncommon for them to pass up a passenger in a wheelchair. Answer: Aesch claims that the two-minute restriction is untrue, that perhaps I heard it on the street, or in another city. I responded that I have never even heard of such a policy until I came here to Rochester. Later, I learned that the staff person who told this to our group was present, but said nothing.

When the driver does stop, the resentment towards the passenger is clear, and often spills over, so that other passengers express resentment and hostility toward the passenger with a disability. What is RTS doing to address this “culture of hostility”? Answer: Aesch apologized for the rudeness of the bus drivers, but did not answer the question.

What is the policy regarding snow removal at bus stops? Answer: Snow removal at the stops and shelter is not their responsibility.

Last week, when we had the somewhat heavy snow, I left for work early in the morning, but since the snow was not shoveled, I had to return home and call a taxi to get to work. As we get deeper into winter, I expect that we will have much heavier snows, which will affect the operation of bus lifts and ramps, since they must be on a flat surface to operate properly. What have you done in the past, and what do you intend to do in the future? Answer: For the past three years, they have asked the sheriff to have inmates do the snow removal at the most widely used bus stops. RTS is willing to set this up for certain bus stops that are often used by people with disabilities. He asked that we call the call center number to put in our requests.

RGRTA Board Meeting February 1, 2007:

A View from the Audience

February 1st 2007 was the monthly RGRTA Board meeting. This time around the meeting was located at their main office in the boardroom– not the bus garage.  The public seating area had approximately twenty people, in three rows representing: the RGRTA union, the deaf community and people with disabilities.  

The board meeting began with an overview of the agenda that was established for the day.  There were fewer board members at this meeting then the one in December 2006.[1] The minutes from the previous meeting were approved.  There were some interesting customer service statistics in the reports presented by staff:

Annunciation (calling out) of bus stops: 24%
Customer satisfaction with bus cleanliness: 36%.

The Bottom Line

It was reported by the board that this time around the financial report was “more accurate and grounded”.  In light of this, RGRTA will not consider requesting further aid from the Governor of New York, because:

For this fiscal year, RGRTA had a 6 million dollar profit. 
Lift Line was under budget by 3.7 %.

This means the bus company is no longer losing money—it is covering expenses so well, even Lift Line, the Black sheep of the mass transit family, is doing well.

So, we must then we must ask:

Where does this surplus money go?
Who decides what it will be used for?
Does the board get to vote on the reallocations?
Does the community get any input?

Community Recommendations

The board then passed all proposed resolutions (union health insurance changes, contracts for various services) and then adjourned the meeting.  They announced they were going into executive session, so the public had to leave. One can only wonder what was being discussed in Executive Session.

Perhaps the RGRTA board should consider:

Stopping cuts to any more routes
Restoring abbreviated services to peripheral communities
Extending Lift Line services to 1 mile outside of the fixed route, instead of ¾ mile
Establishing premium services for border service areas
Providing alternative fixed route vehicles (small buses) for abbreviated fixed route provision.
     
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[1] The January 2007 meeting was cancelled. When asked why, the response was “No particular reason.”

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Jumping in

Sunday, February 25th, 2007

November 29, 2006 was the day when I actually sarted doing some real work! I have been keeping a log of sorts, and according to it, that was the day when I jumped in and began doing advocacy and activism.

NYAIL

The first order of business was to call the folks in Albany, where the New York Association on Independent Living (NYAIL) is located. Our centers are membrs of this organization. Within this organization is the Statewide Systems Advocacy Network (SSAN), of which all Systems Advocates throughout the state are a part of. There are specific assignments that come from NYAIL that each advocate must do, and it is directly tied to the funding that each ILC receives for its Systems Advocate position. The assignments include participating in at least one public policy subcommittee, and attending their teleconferences (I am on the Housing and Election Reform subcommittees), and responding to each Action Alert that is put out. The Action Alerts usually involve calling, e-mailing, or faxing letters to state or federal lawmakers to take or rescind actions that affect people with disabilities. You must then post how you or your center responded on the websites that have been created for that purpose. Each Systems Advocate is required to get volunteers, and to set up a network so that the volunteers can participate in the Action Alert as well. 

We are also required to design at least one training for our volunteers on any subject related to advocacy, I did a training along with a Power Point presentation called “Doing It Right” on how to properly document problems that one encounters with the bus company, or with the paratransit company.

Another thing that we must do is voter outreach and voter registration. As those of you who have been keeping up on my activities know, voting is an issue that is close to my heart, so this part is easy for me. We are required to ask our volunteers to sign a Vote Pledge tha they will vote in all elections. They are not required to sign it, but we must at least ask.

There are several other assignments that we have. We must make public testimony before a public body or group regarding an issue of importance to the disability community. I have already done this, testifying befor the Steering Committee of the County Community Development Block Grant grantor on the importance of affordable, accessible, integrated housing for people with disabilities. Each advocate and ILC must attend the NYAIL Legislative Day in Albany, the state capital, and visit lawmakers who represent their communities in order to speak to them about important issues affecting people with disabilities. This is part of the Legislative Agenda that NYAIL has. That agenda also includes lobbying for more state funding for ILCs, among other things. We have already done this. Our lobby Day was January 22, 2007. I wrote and sent out the letters requesting meetings, and we were able to meet with 11 of the 12 lawmakers who represent our area. Rochester had the largest group, with 48 people. We also visited the new Commissioner of the New York Department of Health (NYDOH). Overall, the day was very, very productive, and the meetings were very positive.

Another extremely important assignment that we have is to maintain a media contact list. We must also have a certain number of media hits each month for our center. This is very difficult for many centers, but not for CDR, and lately, for RCIL. RCIL had two media hits in January and ten this month because of a wheel in the snow that we did with our Mayor, and some stuff that I did, but that was so big that it deserves its own post.

Now, when we complete all of these assignments, we must complete a monthly report, that is due on the 15th of each month. It is easy to do this because we can post the report directly on the website. Each center receives a certain number of points for each assignemnt, and for getting the reports in on time. The points are tallied up, and if your center falls below a certain number, they must receive technical assistance from Albany, and the Systems Advocate must receive supervision from his or her supervisor. If the center continues to fail to reach the required number of points, the center will no longer receive funding for their Systems Advocate. RCIL had almost reached this point when I came. We were in danger of losing our funding for my position because my predecessor failed to do her job. Because of that, I feel as if I am operating at a disadvantage, and having to make up for the previous Systems Advocate’s poor performance. However, I have been diligent about doing the assignments and reports, and Chris says that I am doing a very good job, so I hope that we will pull ourselves up this year. If I have anything to do with it, and I have plenty, I will make sure that we do better than we have ever done!

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Getting my feet wet

Saturday, February 24th, 2007

The first week or so of work was absurdly easy — at least for me. I was given reams of studies, budget analyses, VESID reports, and other information to read. I enjoy reading, so I studied these items diligently, and took them home to pore over. I wrote questions that came to mind, and grilled Chris almost evey day. After a while, I started feeling as if I was being lazy, and guilt began to set in. I couldn’t believe that I was being paid just to read mounds of stuff! I went to Chris, and spoke to him about it, but he told me not to worry — he was starting me out this way because he wanted me to learn and to know the history behind things. I spoke to Arlene to see if she had gone through something similar, and she said yes. This was simply the way that things were done here because Chris and Bruce didn’t want us to be overwhelmed. “Don’t worry”, said Arlene. “You’ll have plenty to do before you know it, so enjoy the easy time while you can.”

The Advocacy Team then began having meetings to plan our strategies and upcoming projects. The Advocacy Team consists of Chris, the Director of Advocacy for CDR and RCIL, Arlene, who is a Systems Advocate for CDR, Dean, who is the Deaf Systems Advocate for RCIL, and Yours Truely, a Systems Advocate for RCIL. Chris has been around for 8 years, Arlene for a little over a year, and Dean and I are the newbies. Dean started only a little over one month before I came. Since CDR and RCIL share office space, staff, resources, and an Executive Director among other things, it is not unusual that we work so closely together. Sometimes, its hard for me (and others) to figure out where one agency ends and the other begins. CDR is very well known in the community, while RCIL was the recognized CIL in Rochester by the New York Association on Independent Living (NYAIL — you’ll hear much more about them in future posts). The problem was that RCIL was not doing much activism. Eventually, by my understanding of the history, an ADAPT coup of such stealth and subtlety ensued that no one at RCIL know or understood what had happened until it was over. From what I understand, there were some growing pains and struggles, and there is still a bit of baggage, but overall, it has turned out to be better for both CILs.

Anyway, these meetings of the Advocacy Team prepared me for what was to come, and in a way, I began to get scared. It had nothing to do with the work. Oddly, it had to do with writing. Chris and Bruce are red pen fanatics when it comes to writing, as they are very good, and very exacting writers. I was warned to be prepared for this, and to be honest, it caused a crisis of self-esteem for me. I have always been told what a good writer I am — in college, I’d never gotten less than an “A-” on a paper or any other writing, but I’ve always secretly thought that I wrote drivel and trash, and now, I was about to be found out. I told Chris that I am very sensitive about my writing, and that I would be devastated by harsh criticism. I suggested that perhaps, I should enroll in a writing course. Chris told me not to worry, and not to take it personally, as he goes through the same thing. He then informed me that he would, at times, be sending me his letters and reports, and he expected me to red-pen him, as well.

I was still nervous, so a few days later, Arlene took me aside to give me her take on things. She shared the story abut her first red-penning by Bruce. She was so devastated that she thought that she would be fired. Of course, that didn’t happen, as Arlene is a great writer — much better than I. Arlene explained that we (Rochester CILs) are often under pressure because we are seen in many ways as the best. We are the most active, we do the most advocacy and activism, our budget and policy analyses are often referred to, and quoted by the Governor and other state officials, and are sometimes written into state laws and policies. The rest of the state often looks to us to be the leaders and trailblazers in matters of disability issues. With this in mind our writing must also be the best. Arlene said that I wouldn’t be expected to be a technical writer; that would come in time, with much practice.Gradually, I began to fell better, but with that came the realization that I was rolling with the creme de la creme, and  that I had better start living up to their high (but not unfounded) expectations of me.

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Settling in

Thursday, February 15th, 2007

Today is awful — we’ve gotten over TWO FEET of snow, and there’s plenty more to come! It’s been snowing steadily for almost 24 hours with no end in sight. Of course, what we’ve gotten is a far, far cry from what they got slammed with in Colorado last month, or what our neighboring county here in upstate New York got dumped with last week.

Still, this is a far cry from the weather that we had when I first moved here. There was a dusting of snow on the ground that chilly, but sunny Monday, November 20th, my first day of work. I was picked up by Liz, one of my colleagues, and taken to the office.

My goodness, the office was HUGE. Liz took me to Chris’s office, and Chris and I chatted for a while. Then, he took me on a tour of the building. Wow, the place is big! It is the biggest CIL that I have ever been in, bar none. It took me several weeks before I learned my way around and stopped getting lost.

One important thing I did that day was to visit the loan room, where I traded in the venerable hospital johnny for a sports chair. So far, it is serving me well, and I am grateful to have it.

The next day, I took the bus to work, and learned about the horrors of the bus system. It is utterly confusing, and the majority of the bus drivers clearly don’t like people who use wheelchairs getting on their bus. I won’t go into any further detail because I’ll have plenty more to say about them in other posts.

I spent a couple of hours at work, then, my colleagues, Dean and Arlene, drove me back to the hotel to pick up my stuff and take it to my new place. We met Carol, the manager there, and she gave me the keys, and took me up. The maintenance guys were just finishing things up, and they lowered the shelves in the closet, and did a few other things.

Carol had some bad news for me. Although I had set it up to be done over a week ago, the electric company had not been over to turn on the electricity and heat. We called them, and they told us that they would be over tomorrow. Arlene went home to get me some candles, and I bundled up against the cold and settled down for the night.

An hour later, Chris called to see if I was ok. I told him that I was fine, but there was no heat or light. Not long after I hung up with him, Bruce called. He was flabbergasted that I had not heat or lighy, and came over immediately and took me to a nearby hotel. It was a nice one, and the staff were very nice.

The next day, I came in, and spent my first full day at work. Since this was the day before Thanksgiving, Bruce invited me over to his mother’s house, where the family would gather.

I took the bus home after work, and had a bad experience — I was cursed out by a bus driver because I asked to get off at the wrong stop. Needless to say, I wrote the incident down in my log, and reported it the following Monday when I returned to work.

When I got home, I found that the electric company had not been there. I called, and they told me that when they called the manager to say that they were coming, they got an answering machine, and their policy is not to leave any message. The problem is that the managemnt’s phone system is set up so that a recording comes on, then, you enter the extension, then you talk to the manager. Unfortunately,between the management’s policy with the phone, and the electric company’s policy I wasn’t getting any heat or light. Finally, I called the after hours line at the electric company, and was told that I had electrcity at the meter, but someone had to come out and turn it on at the breakers. I then called the emergency maintenance department at my building, and someone came out, but he was very unhappy about it, and yelled at me when between him and the electic company, they couldn’t help me. When Bruce called to see if I was ok, I told him what happened, and he booked a room for me at the hotel where I stayed the previous day. Since the hotel was very close to my house, I wheeled over. Bruce said that he would get one of the IL specialists to call the electric company on Thursday and get them to turn on the heat. Meanwhile, he booked the room for three days.

On Thanksgiving, Bruce came and took me to his mum’s house. As it turned out, she was none other than Norita, who worked in Human Resources! I liked Norita a lot; we hit it off pretty quickly. I had a very good time. The food was good, and I met Bruce’s family. A coupleof colleagues came over as well.

Friday, I did not have to work, so I waited for the call from the electric company. The day before, my colleague, Sadie, an IL specialist had called the electric company and insisted that they come over on Friday, instead of making me wait until Monday to turn things on. I received a call saying that they would be over, so I went home, and waited, and within an hour, the lights came on. Boy, was I happy! I spent the rest of the day unpacking my things and putting them away, then, I went to the store across the street called World Wide News. They have an amazing collection of newspapers and magazines from around the world. There is also a deli there, and they sell groceries and beer, as well.

I spent the rest of the weekend settling in, and getting to know my neighborhood. I visited the Midtown Mall, a place that has been around for longer then I have been alive, and I found the Family Dollar. It has since become a lifesaver for me, where I get all of my cleaning and household goods. Many of the days ahead were almost balmy, with temperatures in the 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, and even the 70’s! I, and everyone else was marvelling at the mild winter that Rochester was experiencing. We had a green Christmas, which I spent with Dean, my colleague, a Deaf Systems Advocate. Several of his friends came by, and we had a good time. The next day, we got some snow, but it soon melted, and we got some more warm days. Unfortunately, they were not here to stay, and by the second week in January, we got quite a bit of snow, which was beginning to melt by now, but we have since been hit hard, and I don’t think that this is going away for a while.

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The trip up

Monday, February 12th, 2007

Saturday, November 18, started early enough. I really hadn’t gotten any sleep to speak of since I’d spent the entire night packing the last of my things, and still had not finished. In some ways, this move was like the move to DC — I’d found a place, sight unseen, and had started packing almost as soon as I’d gotten the job offer. In other, more important ways, it was quite different. It was the first time that I had basically no help in packing, hence the last minute scramble. It was also the first time that I was moving flat broke, as I hadn’t worked in a while, and was living off of my savings. Recent identity theft had plundered almost my entire savings, forcing me to dip into my retirement fund, nearly depleting it. The tribulation I’d gone through trying to get that money left a bad taste in my mouth, and a fervent prayer that my next retirement plan did not come from a certain company catering to teachers.

Another difference was the stress level associated with this move. For a long time, things were up in the air — where would I get some cash? How would I get my stuff up to Rochester? Indeed, how would I, personally, get there? In desperation, I’d called several agencies in Washington, DC, and in Rochester, and learned what it’s like to live between the cracks. No one in the District would help me since I was moving away, and no one in Rochester would help, since I had not yet arrived. Eventually, I decided that it would be of no use wasting precious energy stressing over things. I have always been blessed with a peculiar sort of luck — or looking after by the Creator — things always had a way of working themselves out for the good when it came to me, and fortunately, this time was no different. My friend, Gwen offered to drive me to Rochester, and to pack as much of my things as she could into her small pickup truck. She also volunteered to help with the last of the packing. Great! the last pieces were falling into place.

By mid-morning, Gwen arrived with breakfast, and we finished packing, and loaded what we could on to the truck. I was grieved that I would not be able to take my TV, or DVD player or any books or tapes or other small comforts, such as my hand made stuffed animals, but there was room only for the necesities — clothing, my computer (thank goodness!), some bedding, my dresser, my toiletries, and whatever would fit in my knapsacks. We also took my microwave, and my guitars. The things that were left would be stored at my neighbor, Shonda’s apartment, and at Gwen’s place. Shonda came to help out, and to see us off. I called my mum, my sister, and a couple of friends to let them know that I was finally on my way.

Everything started out all right, but as we pulled on to the highway, one of the blue bins of clothing fell off of the truck. Gwen stopped, and gathered everything up, and we continued on our way. The ride was pleasant, and we learned much about each other. Whenever we stopped for gas, Gwen would check to see if everything was ok with my things.

At 10:00 pm, we finally arrived in Rochester. There was a chill in the air, but it wasn’t really cold. I was surprised, as I had heard about the legendary cold and snow that usually afflicts Rochester at this time of year. Gwen wanted to stop by my apartment to at least see what the area looked like before we went to the hotel. Arrangements had been made by Bruce, our Executive Director, for me to stay in a hotel from Saturday until Tuesday, when I would move into my apartment. We drove around the downtown area until we found my place, but we couldn’t see much in the dark. Gwen stopped to do a last check on the luggage. It was then that we found out the worst – my wheelchair was missing! I don’t know when it fell off but I remember that a couple of hours before, I’d heard a sound like a small rock hitting the truck. I remember discussing it with Gwen, but we both came to the conclusion that the sound was perhaps due to a rock, or something. In hindsight, that may well have been when the bungee cord snapped. We would later discover that the microwave oven was gone, as well.

Needless to say, Gwen felt terrible. Oddly, I was calm about the matter. My feeling was that Gwen had gotten me here safe, and in one piece, and that really was all that mattered. Looking back, I think that the reason that I was so calm was that I felt that once again, things would work out fine, as they always seem to, for me.

We made it to the hotel, checked in, and unpacked all of the smaller items. Then, Gwen went to get us something to eat. After about an hour, she returned with fruit, cereal, frozen dinners, milk, and juice. We ate, then, planned for tomorrow. Gwen had spotted an ambulance station, and wanted to stop by in the morning to see if they knew of any medical supply stores where a wheelchair could be had. We then got ready for bed, since Gwen wanted to make an early start. I curled up in bed with some comfort and consolation that I had managed to stow all of my CD’s and CD player into the knapsack that I usually kept on the back of my wheelchair, and had had the presence of mind to place it inside of the truck, at my feet. Thank goodness, that knapsack had not been lost with the wheelchair, or perhaps, I would have been inconsolable, as the music was one of a couple of small treasures that I had managed to bring with me.

Sunday dawned cold and snowy. I marveled at the weather change that had taken place during the night. Gwen was gone to get gas, and to find the ambulance place. I took a shower and dressed, and by the time I had finished, Gwen was back — with a wheelchair! Granted, it was a hospital johnny, a type of manual wheelchair used in hospitals and nursing homes, but it was far better than nothing. I asked her how she’d come by it. Gwen, who is a very spiritual, faith-filled woman, explained that she had prayed all morning to find a wheelchair, and when she stopped for gas, she noticed that the man at the gas pump next to her had on a clerical collar. She waited until the man had paid for his gas, and when he returned to his car, she stopped him, and explained what happened. After hearing her story, the man, who was a pastor at a nearby church, told Gwen that he indeed had a wheelchair that she could have, and invited her to follow him to his church, where he got the wheelchair, and loaded it into the truck. I was truely amazed by this, and very thankful!

We then got the rest of my things into the room, then, called Chris, my boss, to let him know that we had arrived safely. Of course, we told him the story about the wheelchair. Afterwards, we ate breakfast, then, Gwen prepared to leave so that she could make it back to DC at a decent hour in order to clear out a couple of things and turn in the keys. Her plan was to come back up on Tuesday with the rest of my things.

I saw Gwen off, thanking her many times for bringing me up. She still felt bad about losing the wheelchair and microwave, but I told her not to worry; what mattered was that we both were safe. As she left, she gave me some money to get me through the next few days. Since I was flat broke, you can imagine how grateful I was!

I spent the rest of the day relaxing and getting used to the idea that I was in Rochester. If there was any city with an ADAPT chapter that I wanted to be a part of, it was Rochester, and now, I was here! I kept pinching myself to make sure that I wasn’t dreaming. Finally, I went to bed. Tomorrow would be my first day of work — and the first day of my new life.

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Goodness, its been a while!

Sunday, February 11th, 2007

Folks, its been a while, but I am back! Yes, it has been well over two months, but I have been quite busy with the move, getting used to Rochester, arranging for my home Internet access, and of course, doing lots and lots of activism and advocacy!

Since its been such a long time, I am going to use the next few posts to fill you in on what has happened in the intervening two and one-half months — the trip up, settling in, my job, and all of the advocacy that I have been doing since I got here.

In the meantime, grab a snack and a drink, and find a comfortable chair to kick back and relax in, ’cause this is going to be a looooooong story!

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