While we review many Gimpliments Cait dearly would love to have, this one is on her mind more than most.
The Neptune lowers you into the tub in a seating position with a firm back support, then lets you remain upright, or recline gently, until you’re ready to rise back up via the remote control.
Getting in and out of a slippery tub is so risky for Gimpy people, so we can see how this would add to our safety - and to our comfort during our long Wisconsin winters.
We don’t know if this is being sold in North America, but in Britain they have a ceiling-mounted dryer that purportedly eliminates the need for towels.
Using a remote control, you adjust the heat and power and then “simply stand and enjoy the warm air” flowing around you from the Triton Body Dryer.
The Triton would benefit people with limited mobility, especially those who have trouble bending, balancing or need help in toweling off.
The manufacturer claims the dryer is gentler than towels and more hygienic because it reduces moisture in the air, making bathrooms less damp all around. The Triton, according to its makers, doubles as a quick, energy-efficient bathroom heater for cool mornings.
Featured below is a video demo of the dryer on YouTube. But since the video features a nude young woman caressing her lithe glistening body, you may be asked to sign in to YouTube and promise you are over age 18.
Cait & Marty came across this sturdy old wash tub at a store that recycles building materials. The legs were bad and had to come off, but the tub was in good shape and makes plants very happy.
Since the Gimpy Girls garden comprises mostly containers, our garden is not laid out in rows. Here we stuck a Turks Turban squash in with an old-fashioned Straight Eight cuke and ran a couple of yellow and white bean vines over the sides.
As you can see, it produces a wild romp of vines and fruit.
“Nothing is more overrated than mediocre sex nor so underrated as a good shit.”
Marty - who’s sometimes wrong but seldom in doubt - believes Allen Ginsberg said that and those words popped into her head this morning when both of her back scratchers went missing.
These are not elaborate or ostentatious back scratchers (if such things exit.) These are unassuming, bought-at-the-local-Asian-store, bamboo back scratchers. Simple underrated back scratchers - a Gimpliment integral to Marty’s well-being.
Marty, faithfully, keeps one in her computer desk and one by her bed. And now they’ve vanished. And on this hot, humid day, she’s rather desperate for them.
Marty’s father, Larry, appreciated a back scratcher and kept them at the ready. And when a back scratcher just wasn’t up to the task, Larry vigorously went up against the brick fireplace in the kitchen.
Featured below is some footage Marty found of her father enjoying a scratch on a long ago family camping trip.
New details about September’s New York Gimpy Film Fest - dedicated to the lives, stories and artistic expressions of the Gimpy. Cait badly wants to go, but can’t because gasoline is $100 a gallon.
Marty, who counts ironing among her hobbies, was startled when Cait recommended Oliso irons.
Cait doesn’t iron and has never owned an iron. So you know the Oliso must be unusual if it’s making Cait step near an ironing board.
Marty, who is never without a high-quality auto-shutoff iron, was immediately impressed by the ergonomics and safety features of the Oliso and the way it lifts automatically to minimize scorching when the iron stops.
Marty also was titillated by the Oliso’s “detailer” which lets the nose of the iron get deep into pockets, cuffs and around buttons. That alone is the difference between a shirt crisply ironed by a pro and one done by an amateur who concentrates only on the big wrinkles.
If the Oliso is as good as it claims, Marty’s next iron will be the Oliso TG-800 or, better yet, the TG-1000 as seen here.
If you were reading The Gimpy Girls when we first started, you have seen this outstanding video. It’s been a long time since we watched it and since we believe in recycling, here it comes again:
Surrounding the crutches are metal buckets and old feed troughs growing heirloom Lemon Cucumbers and Sun Berries - originally bred by Luther Burbank in the early 1900s.
The black cherry tomato is Cait’s favorite and they keep her happy with their complex sweet and red wine-tinted flavor. They’re a gorgeous color and grow easily and abundantly up to the first frost.
The Lemon Cucumbers are sweet, easily digested, prolific and hardy. Hands down, they’re Marty’s favorite cuke.
This was our first year growing juicy Sun Berries and they were a challenge but worth the effort. They’re remarkably like first cousins to blueberries with a bit more tang, and they aren’t terribly hardy but they can thrive in containers, which is nice.
We loved them. The birds loved them. And most of all those bastardly Japanese Beetles loved them. We harvested just enough to get a taste and get hooked.
Next year, we will grow three times as many and keep them covered in floating row cloth to ensure that we can go stark-raving piggy when those berries ripen.
The Foot Flush is an easily installed affordable Gimpliment that lets you flush without needing to use your hands or touch the toilet handle.
Eric Herbst, a musician, invented it to reduce the spread of germs and then discovered it was a boon to people with arthritis and back issues, parents of young children and caretakers of adults with disabilities.
When Herbst’s band would play in bars, he - like many of us - would flush the toilet with his foot because he didn’t want to touch the toilet handle.
Then one day he attached his drummer’s bass pedal to a cord and ran the cord up into the tank where he clipped it to the rubber flap that controls water flow.
And voila! The “Foot Flush” was born.
Click here to view an installation of the Foot Flush.
Eds. Note: Imagine hooking a Foot Flush to a Fish ‘n Flush or a Fish ‘n Flush to a Washlet. That would take bathroom living to a whole new level.
These tough supportive Glove Lights have a bright LED built into the side of the index finger - great for late-night gardeners, dog walkers and wheelchair users who seek more visibility.
With waterproof electronics, the gloves have a push on-off button, an easy-to-replace battery in the top of the glove and and a timer that automatically shuts the light off after seven minutes to conserve battery power.
The gloves feature stretch panels between fingers for comfort and ventilation. The palm is made with a synthetic material that affords a firm grip while the top of the glove is stretchable Spandex. The wrist has an elastic cuff with velcro closure.
Stack and Grow planters, and their kits, are a very Gimpy friendly idea for patio and balcony gardening.
The lightweight planters roll on wheels for ease-of-use. Their design gives you the ability to grow a great variety in a small space and you can buy extra components to expand your planters vertically.
As Cait told Marty: “This could help someone maintain their love of gardening if they move to a smaller home. You really could still be in the game with something like this.”
Stack and grow planters come in four colors. The maker also sells ready-to-grow herb kits and strawberry kits for the planters.
The Thumb Thing purports to reduce hand strain and fatigue while freeing your other hand for taking notes, quaffing a beverage or petting your pooch.
The Thumb Things bills itself as good for rail and bus commuters, especially if they have to read standing up. When the reader is finished, the Thumb Thing fits in the top of the book as a place marker. It comes in four sizes.
We haven’t tried the Thumb Thing yet, but here’s what’s bugging us: the thumb in the photo is straight up and down in the center of the book. Try that position at home pretending you’re wearing a Thumb Thing and it puts your wrist, hand and thumb in an uncomfortable-to-hold-for-long position. People just don’t hold books that way.
Eds. Note: In our heart of hearts, we’re wishing, hoping and praying for a Kindle - reviewed here by Seth Godin.
Well, actually, Marty is wishing and hoping and praying. Cait is just wishing and hoping.
While we review many Gimpliments Cait dearly would love to have, this one is on her mind more than most.
is an easily installed affordable 
