Computer programs created by some of the country’ brightest students would let vision-impaired shoppers point cellphones at supermarket shelves to hear descriptions of products and prices.
Another program lets a Gimpy person guide a computer mouse using brain waves and eye movements.
The programs featured in this New York Times story were among those created by eight groups of volunteers at a two-day software-writing competition in California.
Many of us don’t appreciate physical conveniences until our bodies make it difficult for us to accomplish even the routine of daily life.
Cait has been rather immobile as of late and the inability to run errands and stay on top of her life was giving her Cabin Fever far too early in the season.
Riding in the car was fine. But the getting in and out was hell, especially when it came to slippery parking lots and unsanded sidewalks.
So she looked at what she needed to do, organized her route and in one drive took herself to breakfast, the bank, the pharmacy and the mailbox at the post office - all of which had drive-ups.
The drive-ups got her out and about, she listened to a good music CD she had just burned on her computer and her dogs got to ride through the Big Wide World, which ranks high on their entertainment list.
When Cait first moved from Canada to the United States, she dismissed this country’s many drive-ups as conveniences for lazy people - not that there is anything wrong with being lazy!
These days, however, it’s not much of a stretch to say that Cait finds drive-ups a life-sustaining necessity.
Earlier this year, the on-line magazine Slate did a “Geezers” issue, with stories such as “Pimp My Buick: New technology making older people safer on the road,” “The Best Adult Diaper,” and “The Senior-Citizen Cookbook: How your food needs change as you age.”
The writers at Slate put a lot of effort into this series and parts of it are very good. But a lot of it feels condescending and written by people who see the elderly as caricatures.
We haven’t linked to it until now because we felt so ambivalent about the writing. But there are empathetic nuggets within, especially for people caring for elderly parents who want a better sense of what it’s like to be in their parents’ shoes.
Marty’s mother was a phenomenal packrat who passed her clutter DNA to Marty, who after a lifetime of collecting prefers, these days, to think of herself as a “recovering” packrat.
Cait, who is considerably younger than Marty, enthusiastically remains at the zenith of her packratting - routinely dragging home “finds” from estate sales, other people’s curbs and second-hand stores, as regular readers of this blog well know.
So here at Gimpy Girls World Headquarters we’re always looking for cutter-busting gurus and bring you several fine ones today:
Jeri Dansky, a professional organizer from California, knows of beaucoup ways to organize and declutter. (She and Marty have been e-mailing recently about tech stuff and even Jeri’s e-mails are clearly written, concise and easy to understand - a rarity in the world of e-mail.)
The Kohler Company, a Gimpy Girl temple located here in Wisconsin, just issued this list of clutter-busting kitchen tips. (The Gimpy Girls so revere Kohler that if we could get down on our knees, we would bow up and down in front of Kohler Headquarters saying, “We are not worthy. We are not worthy.”)
And lastly, pick up a copy of Organizing from the Inside Out: The Foolproof System For Organizing Your Home, Your Office and Your Life
It’s getting pretty scary Out There with the financial markets collapsing, people losing jobs and energy prices up as we enter another winter.
For too long, we all have thrived on the Big, Better, More Theory of Life and now the bill is coming due. It seems the current situation will get worse before it gets better, giving us all the opportunity to re-evaluate what we really need to get by.
We’re hoping once the World rights itself, as it were, that more people will bond around the idea of shared resources, especially when it comes to designing, funding, and building living spaces that benefit everyone though the principles of Universal Design. This is not wishful thinking.
There’s a whole movement of ingenious people Out There working to give the world simple, basic housing supremely more functional than the spaces many of us live in today. And with necessity being the Mother of Invention, this crisis our world finds itself in may be the kick in the butt we need to move forward, band up and make things happen.
Designer, architect, humanitarian Cameron Sinclair is one of the leaders of this movement. Sinclair, a co-founder of Architecture for Humanity, embraces innovative and sustainable design to improve living conditions for all and he’s dedicating his life to hooking up like-minded people.
Sinclair inspires us and we hope he will inspire you. He would be the first to say that there are millions of people Out There moving Universal Design forward in big and small ways. If you know them - or you are one of them - let us know so we can hook up and help spread the word.
– Cait & Marty
The original Beacon Hill Village in Boston is catching on elsewhere as more people join forces to remain in their homes as they age.
The Washington Post reports here on neighbors in Fairfax County and Capitol Hill forming “villages” modeled on the idea of a hotel’s concierge service.
For an annual fee, the villages use a small professional staff and volunteers to arrange members’ transportation to the doctor’s office or the grocery store, to find in-home medical care or to compile a list of reliable contractors who do home repairs at a discount, the Post reports.
The village approach can be money-saving, the Post reports, noting the faltering economy has given the concept a new urgency.
If you know someone who takes medications and frequently has their cell phone with them, e-mail them this info about The Pill Phone - a wireless software application for medication management.
The Pill Phone is available through Verizon and AT&T for about $4 a month and is based on the best selling guide The Pill Book, which features information on more than 1,800 prescription drugs.
The Pill Phone reminds you when to take a medication and can even notify someone else - say a family member - that you have taken your medication or missed a dose.
The Pill Phone is the only FDA-approved wireless application for meds management, though given the FDA’s track record in recent years that may not be the best endorsement.
Click here to see a video of The Pill Phone in action.
Cait is at Abilities Expo in Minneapolis this weekend where companies from around the world are displaying myriad ways to live safer, easier and with more fun.
We wanted to give each participant a small gift, so everyone Cait meets will get the British safety whistle shown above. It makes one helleva noise and is sure to let anyone up to a block away know you need help.
Cait plans to try as many products as possible and attend numerous workshops for the Gimpy about aging successfully and living more comfortably at home and away.
Click here to view videos of some of the products she’s trying, including the ParaGolfer — a power wheelchair with an upright function that enables Gimpy golfers to stand on the course. (Cait doesn’t golf but she never misses a chance to drive something cool)
Eds Note: The Abilities Expo is scheduled to be in New York in April 2009 and Southern California in May 2009.
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Cait long has been an advocate for people with disabilities. Here she’s pictured in 1995 on the Great Wall as a Canadian delegate to the United Nations Conference on Women in Beijing.
Cait spoke at a leadership conference on disability in Beijing and she’s been regaling Marty with memories of the trip - prompted by the Olympic focus on China this month and the Paralympics next month.
Cait could have joined other women with disabilities for a bus tour where the bus actually got to park on the Great Wall and let people off to explore.
But Cait, being Cait, wanted the best view of the Wall so she crammed in a small van with non-Gimpy tourists, was deposited at the bottom of a steep cobblestone road and hiked — s-l-o-w-l-y — up seven flights of stairs to reach the Wall, the faster tourists pushing her aside and inadvertently whacking her with camera equipment.
She says the spectacular views were worth the huffing and the hassle and she liked what the humidity did for her hair.
We’ll probably get mail about this, but we love this video. When the Breast Cancer Society of Canada released this television stations throughout the country refused to air it.
Anything that reminds women to get a breast exam is a good thing, but there’s also something sweet and nerdy about these guys - especially the guy sitting in the middle of the sofa waiting for women to call.
Every month should be Breast Cancer Awareness Month. As Cam says, “They’re your breasts. You do it!”
