Rick, I just knew you were lurking out there. Sorry, but there's no traffic tonight. Maybe John wanted to tell us he'll be off list for awhile. marilyn ----- Original Message ----- From: "Moderator" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, February 21, 2010 9:54 PM Subject: Re: [Blind-Computing] WE'RE FINALLY READY!
: Hi John, : And this is related to computing, how? : I understand your fustration, but, : This is not the place for this particular message. : : Richard Q. Justice-list moderator : [email protected] : [email protected] : : ----- Original Message ----- : From: "John_Justice" <[email protected]> : To: "BLIND COMPUTING" <[email protected]> : Sent: Sunday, February 21, 2010 10:29 PM : Subject: [Blind-Computing] WE'RE FINALLY READY! : : : Hey group, : I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. Linda and I are both totally blind. : We just finished packing up our personal belongings in preparation for the : painting contractors and carpeting people who will be arriving next week. : The thing is, we have accumulated a lot of stuff in living here for the past : twenty-four years. When a painter comes in, they have to move everything : and that means record cabinets, stereo equipment, books, VCR tapes, : cassettes, all of our heavy coats, etc. etc. it took us quite a while to do : it all. : Even now, after two full weekends of filling cartons, I still have our sound : system to disassemble. That will mean labeling every single cable so that I : know how to put it back when they're finished. : Not every room in the house is being painted this time. Our kitchen, : hallway and hall closet, living room and upper hallway are being done. This : house is so old that the corners of the walls are starting to crack and some : pieces of plaster are falling down. It isn't as awful as it sounds. On the : corners of walls made of sheetrock, the builders usually use something : called a corner bead. It's a metal plate which extends from the floor to : the ceiling and protects the edges of the sheetrock from being damaged. But : as a house gets older, it settles and the thin layer of wet plaster which : covers that beading, dries out and cracks. Almost every single corner in : this entire house has the same problem but the ones on the main floor are : the worst. We live in a hillside home. that means the house is built with : an additional floor at the rear. Yu can come in the front door through our : main entrance and the kitchen will be on your left. On your right, is an : alcove which holds the stairs going up to the second floor. if you walk : straight ahead, you come into our living room/dining room area and there's a : door on your right which leads to a second set of steps going down. This is : a relatively modern home so both flights of steps are right above each : other. if you go down this second set of steps, you are on our lower floor. : there's a half bath down there, a laundry room and a big family room where : I'm now sitting. At the end of the family room is a double glass door which : leads out onto the patio at the rear of the house. : The front of this floor, where the stairs come down, is actually under : ground. If you look at the back of our house, you'll see the patio, then : two more floors above that. From the front, there's only one additional : floor. : There are a lot of hillside houses in Pennsylvania because the area is so : hilly. : : Now back to the renovation. We had to fight the landlord tooth and nail to : get this work done. We ended up filing a complaint with the Human Relations : Commission stating that they were treating us differently because of our : blindness. they were, there's no doubt about that. We are blind so they : didn't figure we'd need new paint or carpeting and they refused to do any : renovations. On top of that, they tried to imply that we had refused the : work. It was an awful mess! We had to bring in our own contractors to do : the work. But in the settlement, we got them to agree to spend up to : twenty-five hundred dollars on repairs, painting and carpeting. We got : smart there and used people who had worked for the landlord's agent. In : that way, we could be sure that the work would be done right. The : contractors would have us to deal with and, if they messed up, the : landlord's agent is a really nasty character. I have had several fights : with him in the past. It doesn't take much for this guy to go to four : letter words, yelling screaming and threatening. : : We had an old gas stove that was about ready to blow up. The pilots were so : badly corroded that they wouldn't stay lit and the oven changed temperature : as much as ninety degrees at any given time. They sent in some so-called : gas appliance expert who claimed that the stove was fine. So we brought in : our own licensed professional and he condemned the stove in writing. The : township building inspector sited the landlord and gave him ten days to : replace the stove. We got a new one but it's the cheapest one they could : find. At least it's a new one and it has those electronic lighters, not the : old fashioned open pilot type we used to have. : : The same thing happened with the refrigerator and they tried to give us an : apartment sized one instead of the standard nineteen cubic foot model we : had. I forcefully reminded the landlord that we were entitled to the same : equipment we had before and that right was protected by law. That sent him : off into another one of his famous screaming fits. : We did get the right refrigerator. : : But the biggest joke of all was our driveway. When it was installed thirty : years ago, the contractor had done a terrible job. As it got older, the : center of the asphalt sank until there was a huge hole in the middle of the : pavement which measured about eight inches deep in places. We begged and : pleaded to have that driveway repaired and they refused. But the building : inspector wrote them a letter informing the owner that if one of us was : injured by falling, the owner would be liable for all kinds of damages. : The driveway was resurfaced about two weeks later. : : : As you can imagine, the relationship we have had with the landlord hasn't : been all tea and roses. but we can't afford to move. If we could, we'd be : out of here. Those two flights of steps are hell for my wife. Her knee : surgery didn't work well and she has to climb up and down those stairs. It : causes her a lot of unnecessary pain. We like the house but we could do : without those blasted stairs. : I wanted to have a stair climber installed but Linda won't hear of it. : they aren't very safe for blind people anyway. : : Well, that's our story my blind friends. It has been one hell of a ride up : till now. : I hope that those contractors get in and out of here with the least possible : trouble. : : . John and Linda Justice : With guide dogs Jake and Zachary : PERSONAL E-MAIL: [email protected] : John and Linda Justice : With guide dogs Jake and Zachary : PERSONAL E-MAIL: [email protected] : For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: : http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ : : : For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: : http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/
