For Papa and other injured racers You guys are kickass! I hope if anything ever happens to me that I have 1/10 of the support that was shown for these guys... Rock On! I sent a very small contribution via Paypal Mike Henry http://wegorace.com/racers/MHenryHomePage.shtml
Matt and Sam, please e-mail me when you get the opportunity - I have some relevent experience that may influence your direction. [email protected].
Matt - Is this even remotely possible? http://www.gpk.com/qdview.htm# I like this concept alot, but is it possible? But the height of the table and the computer at eye level is the most important concept. Thanks in advance for anything you can do... Lisa E. R. Marques
Except for one issue - they call it a distinguished product for distinguished people - we know Papa too well to believe that for a second... That is pretty cool. Basic lazy susan with some flat panels. Check out this too - http://www.ram-mount.com/ it's the same mount setup I've been using for my GPS and cupholder on the bikes and in the trucks. Works fantastic. I'm looking at the laptop deal for in the motorhome for GPS stuff. Anyway, I was thinking that it's flexible enough that it might work for PT.
sam, i understand your concept. please fax me a sketch, nothing too exact, just a sketch and ill blueprint it with dimensions and send it back for approval. add papa sitting in the "user" position in the sketch. frank, brad and sean, ill keep you guys in the loop for input. its much easier to have something to look at on paper before we make changes or additions.
Um, I personally would like to see Papa in a hot pink desk, but Papa says something neutral. Brown, black, gray, along those lines...
MB- I'm going over there on Sunday. I try to avoid crossing the Potomac river but I'm making an exception here. I'll try to get some rough dimensions and see if I can sketch something out. Can you PM me your fax number?
Adventures in Virginia On Sunday we set up the new wireless LAN in Papa and Lisa's house. The Windows 98 machine took three hours to get working right, the rest of it took about ten minutes. Papa can now open documents on his old notebook from his new notebook. Select and play MP3s, etc. We don't have a desk yet for Papa so we set up the new notebook on the kitchen counter (which is pretty high) and, after about four false starts, ended up with track ball safety wired on the end of a piece of hardwood flooring, clamped to a angled piece of plastic, propped up on a video tape, clamped to the counter. A nice Ram mount with a firm gooseneck would have saved us hours. Anyway, with much fussing, trips to the hardware store, moving furniture and the assistance of a few yankees, we got it so Papa could drive his own self up to the track ball (no mean feet since the proper positioning has to be within half an inch or so and the chair moves a minimum of about one and a half inches. Go in too fast or to far and Papa will bust his lip on the track ball) and move the pointer around on the screen, open applications, close application, click and drag windows and documents, etc. Due to positioning issues we could only set it up for left click and pointer movement. Better mounting will allow him to use both mouse buttons. I observed "well, it sucks, but it works." Papa commented "actually, its not bad at all." When you stop to consider that it was the first time Papa had clicked on the WERA BBS by his own self for, oh, six months or so, it is a pretty momentous occasion. "Naturally Speaking" the voice recognition software, is installed and I hope that Papa and Lisa get it configured today (Hear that! Get on it guys!) With better mounting I think Papa will be able to use the joystick for his chair, the track ball for the notebook and the microphone for the VR software without assistance. The desk is going to be a big help. While we were there it seemed that pipe framework with lots and lots of tight gooseneck fitures with a variety of clamp devices (ie, one for the notebook, one of the track ball, one for books, one for papers, one for a reading light, one for a drinking cup) is going to be the way forward. The "desk" could be simply a ladder of pipe (polished AL would look nice) about eight feet tall, and five feet wide that could sit in weights on the floor, mount to the wall for security and expand upwards to the celing for stability. Everything else could be attached to that framework extending outwards. That way there is nothing for Papa to smash his feet on while driving the chair. The big first question which will have to be resolved before any more design is done...where is this thing going to go in the apartment. I am going out of town for a week. Lisa, you and Papa figure out where you want to put this thing (the wall behind the black couch? Maybe where the TV currently is?) and then we can figure out dimensions.
Glad to see this ball rolling and rolling well from all the info. Great things come to pass when people work together. Proof positive that this BBS is more like a Family than anything else.
Hey all, Just got home from work, I am in for $50 checks out tomorrow. If I wake up in time, haha.. God Bless david
I'm doing some research and I have a friend in the field checking on a desk for Papa. So...if I had dimensions for the area involved, it looks like I can get a desk already manufactured for Papa. Can anyone give some dimensions?
Trying to the new computer OK, this is my first post since June. I am using the new computer donated by Sam the voice recognition software. This is going to be a long learning curve. I am having a really hard time with this thing. I want to thank everyone who has contributed to this fundraiser. More than the money, the fact that you guys care that much is greatly appreciated. I don't know how much I will get involved on the board, as this is so slow to use. I will take baby steps and hopefully get to speed soon.
