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As I phrased it elsewhere: I like to sit.
A lot of good moments in Dragon*Con are prefaced by standing around in line for a long time. I am old and in lousy shape, and it hurts. Sometimes it's enough of a problem that I am too worn down to attend later good moments. At first, I thought I would purchase a collapsible camp chair in a bag from Target, either replace or cover the seat and back portions with something more attractive, either replace or use fabric paint to draw all over the exterior of the bag, and then start adding Devices as far as my inventiveness would take me; of course, it'd take me a minimum of a couple minutes to set it up any time I wanted to sit, and probably longer to put it away when I suspected I was about to move. I had, of course, heard of Rollators and felt they were wrong for my purpose, but a friend pointed out to me a much simpler tool: a cane that can fold out to be a tripod, with a little seat on it, for short sits while waiting in line.
I started with this cane seat, purchased for around $35 at a medical supply store in Huntsville. I dunno what they mean by "foam grip handle" unless they mean "the hard plastic we used to make the handle was, at one time, sorta foamy before it dried"; now it's hard as the metal bits. I'll likely be padding that somehow, in addition to Mad Sciencing it up. I wanted to get the Rubbermaid version, but had no success in my attempts to find it anywhere. The head of the cane was much better for costume purposes and for decorating/improving purposes.
(That reminds me: I have got to find a cheap, silent battery-operated handheld fan, that takes AA batteries, since that's what I have in the way of rechargeables, in a color that won't make my eyes bleed if I am about to discover a migraine. Bonus points if it lights up, veto if it has a cartoon or toy character on it!)
I am using Liquid Leaf (copper) to repaint all the silver parts of the legs, without sanding them first. I know, I know. If it makes you feel any better, I promptly got the stuff all over my hands, and had to scrub in the sink for over five minutes to make sure I hadn't given myself lethal metal poisoning. Also, I think I have painted a couple of blotches on the front porch ... well, it needs pressure-washing before we put the house on the market, anyway. It'll need at least two more coats, and then of course I'll need to collapse it and paint the bits immediately under the seat.
If the cane still operates after the paint is applied and dry, this project can go forward; if not, we're back to the chair-in-bag plan!
Once that's done, I've got a lovely autumn-leaf table runner that I picked up at Unclaimed Baggage for a couple of bucks; since I can't sew worth much, and![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
wookieegunner's sewing machine hates me enough to ruin any cloth I hand him, I'm going to get a pre-made small pillow somewhere and attach the table runner over it. It seems like a project that wouldn't take a competent sewing-crafter twenty minutes, so I figure it'll take me a couple of hours while I sit and watch Castle and Leverage. I can use leftover bits to make that pad for the handle, and while I'm on the handle, I should attach the jimmied arm for the fan; the goal is to be able to set up the fan so that it'll blow more-or-less toward my neck while I'm seated.
Eighteen days to Con! Aaaaaaah!
Update:
A lot of good moments in Dragon*Con are prefaced by standing around in line for a long time. I am old and in lousy shape, and it hurts. Sometimes it's enough of a problem that I am too worn down to attend later good moments. At first, I thought I would purchase a collapsible camp chair in a bag from Target, either replace or cover the seat and back portions with something more attractive, either replace or use fabric paint to draw all over the exterior of the bag, and then start adding Devices as far as my inventiveness would take me; of course, it'd take me a minimum of a couple minutes to set it up any time I wanted to sit, and probably longer to put it away when I suspected I was about to move. I had, of course, heard of Rollators and felt they were wrong for my purpose, but a friend pointed out to me a much simpler tool: a cane that can fold out to be a tripod, with a little seat on it, for short sits while waiting in line.
I started with this cane seat, purchased for around $35 at a medical supply store in Huntsville. I dunno what they mean by "foam grip handle" unless they mean "the hard plastic we used to make the handle was, at one time, sorta foamy before it dried"; now it's hard as the metal bits. I'll likely be padding that somehow, in addition to Mad Sciencing it up. I wanted to get the Rubbermaid version, but had no success in my attempts to find it anywhere. The head of the cane was much better for costume purposes and for decorating/improving purposes.
(That reminds me: I have got to find a cheap, silent battery-operated handheld fan, that takes AA batteries, since that's what I have in the way of rechargeables, in a color that won't make my eyes bleed if I am about to discover a migraine. Bonus points if it lights up, veto if it has a cartoon or toy character on it!)
I am using Liquid Leaf (copper) to repaint all the silver parts of the legs, without sanding them first. I know, I know. If it makes you feel any better, I promptly got the stuff all over my hands, and had to scrub in the sink for over five minutes to make sure I hadn't given myself lethal metal poisoning. Also, I think I have painted a couple of blotches on the front porch ... well, it needs pressure-washing before we put the house on the market, anyway. It'll need at least two more coats, and then of course I'll need to collapse it and paint the bits immediately under the seat.
If the cane still operates after the paint is applied and dry, this project can go forward; if not, we're back to the chair-in-bag plan!
Once that's done, I've got a lovely autumn-leaf table runner that I picked up at Unclaimed Baggage for a couple of bucks; since I can't sew worth much, and
wookieegunner's sewing machine hates me enough to ruin any cloth I hand him, I'm going to get a pre-made small pillow somewhere and attach the table runner over it. It seems like a project that wouldn't take a competent sewing-crafter twenty minutes, so I figure it'll take me a couple of hours while I sit and watch Castle and Leverage. I can use leftover bits to make that pad for the handle, and while I'm on the handle, I should attach the jimmied arm for the fan; the goal is to be able to set up the fan so that it'll blow more-or-less toward my neck while I'm seated.Eighteen days to Con! Aaaaaaah!
Update:
