Tag: Power

If Anyone Asks

…Embrace were great. Or they would have been, anyway.

I’d had tickets to see them in Southampton on Monday 25 November for about six months, but a few unfortunate circumstances meant it wasn’t to be. To start with, I ventured out to Southampton far too early in the day. I went at lunchtime, thinking I’d make an afternoon of it (and to be fair, I did squeeze in a visit to Pizza Hut), but I also underestimated the mileage my wheelchair was capable of in doing so. The whole thing was ultimately killed stone dead by my insistence on doing a recce of the route to the venue once I was off the train – what I thought was only a few minutes in a straight line turned out to be a bit more than that. I’d seen the directions on Google Maps, of course, but they doesn’t account for how a wheelchair user might get to a destination, only a pedestrian on two legs. You can never tell where the next dropped kerb is – or how long a detour to find one might be – so the only option was to do a test run and get everything straight in my head.

Who would have thought that Southampton was so bumpy and rugged? Not me, that’s for sure. By the time I actually had to get to the gig, I was down to my last few bars of power. In the end, I got as far as hearing the band soundcheck from the pavement outside. The drums were pounding away within those four walls, muffled but tantalisingly close as I admitted defeat. I went home and felt like an idiot for the rest of the evening. Apart from everything else, £30 had gone down the drain because of my own poor planning! I didn’t really get over it until I’d slept it off. I could see things much more clearly the next day. I thought so, at least. I still felt silly, don’t get me wrong, and frustrated too – but not just for the reason you might expect.

As I’ve said, I only wanted to make sure I knew where I was going and minimise any mishaps in the process. I couldn’t have known I’d be creating them instead when I was leaving my flat, chair fully charged. I have to consider accessibility nearly every day of my life, to some extent, and as far as I was concerned neglecting the recce would have been irresponsible. Simultaneously, though, turned out to be the right and wrong thing to do. Moral of the story, able-bodied folks? Don’t take any of your trouble-free adventures for granted, because some of us can’t win. Being able to move from A to B without getting stuck or making a scene is something we really value, and we learn the hard way that it’s never guaranteed, even when we think every eventuality has been covered.

Mason

High Speed Thrill Ride

I must apologise for my absence of late. I know I’ve said that on many occasions, but I either couldn’t find anything worth writing, or I wrote forced and uninspired lines in the literary equivalent of pulling teeth. Then Friday came along. At long last, I was able to have the supercar passenger experience Louis had bought me for Christmas at Dunsfold Aerodrome – the former home of Top Gear. In an instant, I had exactly the kind of experience that should rightly be preserved on Third Time Enabled, one that left me grinning from ear to ear (as these photos will attest).

I’m not going to bore the non-petrolheads amongst you with too many details, though. I just want the record to show that it was a lot of fun, even though each of the four laps around the track frightened the life out of me! The first two were in a Lamborghini Gallardo LP560, while the latter two were in a Ferrari F430. I chose both cars from a list of ten, and even though it was a tough choice at first glance, I realised I had to go for the shouty, passionate Italian stallions – needless to say, they didn’t disappoint. My driver was a professional racer, too, so he was giving it the beans to say the least, and what conversation we did have was largely drowned out by the screaming V10 and V8 behind us. Not that he was fazed, flicking both cars smoothly from left to right as though he was moving a PlayStation joystick. He was as cool as a cucumber, directly contrasting with me as I suppressed a number of loud expletives. What a thrill though. What a thrill. There’s one thing I won’t be forgetting in a hurry – casually being told to keep my head against the headrest as he put his foot down, and the force hit me in the chest. For him, it was another day at the office doing what he did best, but I was totally knocked for six. Money well spent, I think you’ll agree. Thank you Louis, it was worth the wait without a doubt!

Mason