Test drive - grrr...

[davidgillon]

Drove into town for Saturday lunch, parked the car and got the chair out of the boot, and all the while someone was hovering, clearly wanting to park behind me, in a space I was convinced wasn't big enough (which was why I'd pulled right forward to the edge of the bay - make certain no one parked in front and blocked me into a space too small to get out of). Got back to find he'd managed it, leaving me just slightly less than the width of the chair to access the boot....

Grr....

On the positive side of things, all four of the regulars made lunch* for the first time this year, and got to see me in the chair for the first time. It was just as well I'd brought the chair as initially it was three of us at a table for two, though they did eventually manage to find a table for the four of us.

'It looks very, um, robust' to quote the part-time wheelchair user. Yep, you could say that.

In other positive developments, pushing back from the restaurant to the car is still uphill, cobbles and historic flagged pavements all the way, but I made it without having to stop for breath for the first time.

* Pork and fennel meatballs, in an I forget what it actually was sauce, with Jasmine rice. Not bad, though I might have gone with a tomato-based sauce from preference. Surprisingly good value at £7, less than I'd normally pay for their burger and chips.

Comments

[jesse_the_k]

"Um, very robust!"

That deserves a t-shirt.

Do you(/UK/town) have blue-badge spaces with an 2-foot "access aisle" on the side? In the US thoughtless folks often park on top of them if they have a skinny car.

[davidgillon]

Do you(/UK/town) have blue-badge spaces with an 2-foot "access aisle" on the side?

Yes, the UK-wide standard is 1200mm (about 4ft) at side and end, and you do find people who are clueless about them (though usually it's idiots with an SUV rather than something skinny).

Though Saturday's incident was actually in on-street non-disabled parking, in a marked bay that's long enough for four or five vehicles nose to tail with plenty of space between cars if people park sensibly. There is a disabled car park just across the street from the restaurant with half a dozen spaces, but it's almost impossible to get a space in.