Adapted Makeup Brush

The photo in this post is a re-creation of a makeup brush, extended by a tongue depressor, held on with white cloth medical tape, that my friend, Delynne, used to use. For whatever reason, she no longer needs this simple but effective adaptation that allows her to independently perform an important part of her grooming.

A lot of people with a disability have perfect grooming lower on the list of priorities, following those list items necessary to live life in a healthy way. Somehow, Delynne has managed to do both and always looks great when you see her. I respect that.

It was good to have a subject to photograph and include that is outside the realm of understanding to a guy like me. She has given me additional subjects to shoot, one of which involves a large space outside, an air compressor, coffee creamer, lasers and a bit of trial and error. You'll know it when you see it this summer.

Source: Doctor's office or order a pack online.

Barbecue Tools

Last week we looked at the Reaching Rod that I use for a number of tasks around the house. By far the most important is using it to safely lower the lid of our barbecue. By hooking the curved portion through the leftmost teardrop shaped hole near the handle I am able to gently pull the lid forward to begin lowering it. As it descends the handle of the barbecue rests against the neck of the rod, the hook remaining in the teardrop shaped hole, so that the lid does not slam shut. With our previous barbecue I was able to use the fork of our barbecue tool set to do lower the lid gently. The shape of the new barbecue lid's handle necessitated finding an alternate way. A prime example of one method not necessarily working for everyone or every circumstance. Base your own solution on this information.

Regarding the tools that I use to barbecue, there is nothing special about them except that when purchased we were very intentional about choosing tools that had a good rubber handle. This handle made for ease of inserting in The Gloves yet provided enough friction to safely flip a nice, big, juicy steak. More challenging than that are grilled vegetables because they can be floppy or more likely to roll or slide off of a tool, but I manage by being extra careful when cooking them. Unfortunately, the shafts of the tools we first chose were somewhat flimsy and they did tend to bend when put under any pressure, such as sterilizing the flipper by placing it under the lid between uses. The tools we bought recently have a nice rubber handle but sturdier shafts which we hope will make for less flex when dealing with something heavy such as a whole chicken.

At first I thought that the triangular hangers at the end of the tools would be helpful. They ended up getting in my way so I removed them. Otherwise, it was just a matter of trying a few tools until we found the ones that suited best. This is definitely not something terribly unique, just a matter of purchasing what works best for you.

Source: Hardware and Department Stores