Don, I'm so glad to hear that you too used a hair dryer to get warm. I thought I was tho only one. I went to college at Ramapo at the bordered of New Jersey and New York. Sunday night I got stuck in the snow and ice until a fellow student cam by about 45 minutes later. I had a 1976 model with belt drive crap. Bobbie
Smile Everyday > On Dec 18, 2014, at 5:11 PM, Don Price <donpric...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > A year after my injury, in Wisconsin, I went off to college at the University > of WI - Stevens Point, which is about dead center of the state. I knew > nothing about my spinal cord injury except that I was cold all the time and > missed a lot of classes because I didn't want to leave my hot chocolate and > warm dorm room. I, too, fired up my blow dryer quite often and it makes me > happy to know I'm not the only one who did that. > > It was the end of December and I had one of the latest final exams of anyone > I knew. The campus was deserted because everybody was done with exams and had > headed home for Christmas break. The sky was crystal clear and sunny, but > that didn't reflect the bone-chilling, -15 degree windchill that blasted my > face as I rolled about a half mile from Steiner Hall to the classroom > building where the exam was administered. > > I could hear the crunch of snow as I rolled over a few areas that hadn't been > shoveled too well. The rubber of my tires made strange creaking sounds as if > they were about to crack in their brittle condition and I had a difficult > time rolling in a straight line because of the bulkiness of my mittens around > the wooden dowel joystick I used back then. My trek was a bit longer than the > other students as the only accessible entrance to the building was in the > rear, behind the dumpsters and next to the delivery ramp. > > As I neared the back entrance my chair began to slow noticeably and respond > in a sluggish manner. I immediately glanced at my battery level. Had my > caregiver forgotten to plug in the charger last night?! Nope; the battery > level looked fine. Then I realized it --the water in my batteries (liquid > batteries back then) must be freezing up! I looked around me--no one in > sight; campus was a ghost town. Luckily, I was nearing the back door and knew > that warmth was only a minute or two away. My chair was creeping now, barely > able to climb the last bit of ramp that led behind the dumpsters and to the > door. Almost there now... whew, made it! > > I hit the electric door opener button, as I'd done so many times that > semester, only this time nothing happened. I pushed it again. Nothing. Again > and again I pressed the door opener, but no telltale click or whirring sound > answered my frantic stabs. I inched forward, tried to slip my mittened hand > into the door handle--no go, too bulky and slippery. With my teeth I pulled > the mitten from my hand and looped my curved fingers through the icy-cold > handle. Pull!..... Oh damn,.... it's locked! Are you f%$#ing kidding me?! I'm > cold to the bone, my chair is crapping out, nobody is around and I'm about to > freeze to death trying to go to a goddamn final exam?! This is not how I > wanted my life to end! > > Keep in mind, this was before cell phones. I had no way to call for help > except for my yells, and so that's what I did--HELP! HELP! HELLLLPPP! I > screamed. I pounded on the door, yelled for help and started to think about > my family learning that I had frozen to death because somebody had locked a > back door. At 15 below zero I knew I wouldn't last too long. > > I was getting seriously panicked and bordering hypothermic when a student > heard my pounding and came to see what the noise was. I was so thankful to > see her that I think I cried a bit. I don't remember anything about that exam > or how long it took me to warm up in front of the register, but I do remember > that lightbulb going on in my head: "I have to get out of this cold climate!" > > A year and a half later it was 112 degrees when I moved into the dorm at > Arizona State University. And, I loved every single one of those degrees. > > Don. > >