1:09 p.m. - Sunday, Apr. 04, 2004
The Ramp
I have not made an entry in such a long time. I have been busy--no, really--I have been busy. I'm plannin' to move. I'm finally gettin' out and movin' closer to family and friends. My house is starting to look like a tornado hit it with boxes all over everywhere. I will be hiring movers whenever they finish with the handicap ramp.
The man I'm going to be renting from said that he could build me a handicap ramp and I gave him a check for $200 to cover the cost of it--wood and labor. Then yesterday some of my family went by the house and the ramp was straight out instead of angled as I'd told him to do it. That makes the ramp unstable when it's straight out especially if it's kind of long without proper support. It will bounce if you can imagine.
I called the man, Mark, up and told him that the ramp would need to be redone to be like I had asked for it when we'd discussed it the first time. He didn't like it too much. But he will get it right or he can refund my money. I will be coming into the house through the garage which has been turned into a den. But the back door from the kitchen has about four steps leading down and steps can be dangerous for me on the crutches, especially since going up and down steps makes me dizzy.
I told Mark the first time to begin at the kitchen door and build a wooden level step off, like a porch, area over the actual steps going into the room,leaving the steps below it intact for when the ramp is no longer needed and can be removed.
Then begin the ramp to the left of the kitchen doorway so that the slant would run beside the wall instead of straight out into the room. Another lower area level (little porch) should then be made at the end of the first slant in the corner to provide a turn around and give more stability by dividing the length of the ramp into two sections.
Finally,from the second level area build a shorter slant that will end flush with the flooring and will also allow plenty of walking space past the end of the ramp.
He told me that according to the handicap regulations the ramp is supposed to slant out so many feet per the height of the door steps. I couldn't make him understand that the ramp will still be long, but it will have level out areas to provide more support and stability.
So I got onto the internet and looked up some information about building a handicap ramp. There it said that not just anyone could build a good and reliable handicap ramp unless they had knowledge about how one should look. Evidently Mark hasn't seen one or didn't pay that much attention to how it was designed.
The way that I asked him to do it would keep the ramp from taking up so much space inside the center of the room so that furniture could be put there and provide more stability.
The way he's doing it, I've been told by family members, will not even leave me much room to turn around when I reach the end of it. And it's an eye-sore also because it comes right out into the middle of the room which would interfere with the placement of any furniture. The ramp needs to run along two connecting walls which will allow for more space inside the room.
It shouldn't be too hard to do or to understand. Maybe sight unseen it would be hard for a person to visualize what I'm describing, I don't know.
Here are some graphs I did of the idea. They're not drawn exactly to scale but you can see the basic design of the room. The first graph is the way Mark's doing the ramp now with the ramp covering the steps but no level area and slant straight down from the door of the kitchen area across the center of the room. That is dangerous actually. I could easily lose control and the ramp bounces because it's so long with not enough support. I could lose my balance and fall or the thing could break in two and, man, talk about a law suit if I'm the one who's on it at the time it snaps.
The little lines on the left indicate the entrance from the outside.
Right Way
As anyone can see, the right way would have the ramp in two sections running along the sides of the two walls. The first level area would cover over the steps. The steps will remain untouched beneath the first level so that later the ramp can be removed when it's no longer needed.
I hope Mark will work with me on this thing and not try to be such a "man", hahahaha. I would like to be able to move in sometime before the next year. But if we're goin' to go 'round and 'round over this ramp issue...*sigh*
I know some "man" (hehe) is goin' to question what I meant in the first line. Some men think they know everything and they want to do things the way they believe it should be done--right or wrong. They don't want any help or suggestions--especially from a woman. Then they become so obstinate if anything is suggested that they will go ahead and do it wrong anyway before they'll admit they're wrong. I've run up against a few of those and, believe me, they're no fun at all.
I sent a birthday card out to Ryan Merriman the other day. His birthday is April 10. And I watched a new movie (new for me anyhow) with Val Kilmer in it when he was younger. The movie is called "Real Genius" and it was pretty good, but I still like "The Saint" the best. Val did a great job with the character in that movie. I would love to see them come out with a weekly series based on "The Saint" with Val in it. I would love that.
I found a cute little article through a link on "The Matt Damon Column". From a story in the News Tribune about what your favourite Sesame Street character says about you:
" BERT: You are co-dependent, an enabler. You clean up all the messes your mate - Ernie, in Bert's case - makes. You also tend to lose your patience with said mate.
PERSONIFIED: Matt Damon
ERNIE: You are a free spirit, devil-may-care prankster who often does not think of the consequences of your actions. You also are extremely attached to rubberized bath toys - i.e., rubber ducky.
PERSONIFIED: Ben Affleck"
I thought that was just as cute as it could be and seems to be very close to the truth--oh, except for the rubber ducky part. I don't really know about that, hahaha.
