What puts the wheels in Wheeling Chef?

Yesterday it came to my attention that March is Cerebral Palsy awareness month. Cerebral palsy is the name given to a group of   disorders  that  impact muscle coordination and   is characterized by;

• Muscle tightness or spasm
  
• Involuntary movement
  
• Disturbance in gait and mobility
  
• Abnormal sensation and perception
  
• Impairment of sight, hearing or speech
  
• Seizures

Cerebral palsy can occur during fetal development or shortly after birth when specific areas of the brain are damaged. It is not a progressive disability nor is it curable, it is also not genetic or contagious.  Why do I care? Cerebral Palsy is what puts the "wheels" in the wheeling chef. 

I was born with moderate spastic cerebral palsy that affects my legs and my hands to a slight degree.    It may seem strange that a person with a condition that affects my hands would choose a culinary career,  but the involvement in my hands is slight but  my condition does sometimes cause me to come up with creative solutions turning  difficulties into  challenges  to be overcome and adapted too not seen as barriers that cause me to throw my hands up and surrender!


I have been asked if I would take accept a cure to my disability if it were offered. No I would not, I don't suffer from my disability, I am grateful for it. I have done more because of my disability then many of my non disabled friends. I run my own business, I am able to participate in a sport that I love That is not to say that life isn't frustrating at times but who can honestly that they don't get frustrated at times?
I was dealt a hand in life that includes a condition that makes life interesting, and requires me to improvise and adapt to make things work for me, but that makes life fun. 

Some of you may have questions about cerebral palsy. I am no medical expert but I live with it everyday so feel free to ask me any question you may have. I will answer them as best I can.

And now you know a little more about your favorite wheelchair fencing  cookie baker and how I roll!
Now its time to get back in the kitchen and make some cookies, The Cincinnati tournament is in two weeks!

The Delta saga continues

On July 1st I posted  an open letter to Delta on my blog, detailing my flight experience on June 12th.  A member of the Delta Assist Twitter team contacted me that night and asked for my flight my fight info and claim number.  After I provided the information the Delta Assist Twitterling asked for a contact email, and told me that a file would be created.  A file was going to be created?  A file was created on the day of the flight when I talked to my first customer service representative and then again on the 21st when a letter was sent to corporate customer care.  Ten days after the letter was received by corporate and eighteen days after the flight I had heard nothing from Delta,  not even a “We are looking into this” or  a “Go to hell, this isn't worth our time.”  So I took action by posting my letter.

I didn't expect anything to happen over the holiday weekend so I went on with my weekend, including attempting to practice in my Delta-modified fencing chair. On Sunday I was enjoying the Braves game when I saw a Delta commercial where they claim to have the customer's back; they are not just building a bigger airline but a better one.  My experience indicated that was not true, so I re-posted my letter on Twitter.  Another Delta Assist agent contacted me and asked for my flight information and claim number.  This time when I provided the information I informed the agent that they had already received this information on the 12th of June, 21st of June, the 1st of July and now the 3rd of July. It was at this point that I discovered yet another customer service failure.

When I discovered the damage to fencing wheelchair I reported the damage to the first line customer service representatives at the airport. I was told that I would be contacted the next day by a Delta representative to discuss what they could do to assist in the repair and/or replacement of my mobility device. When I told the Delta Assist agent this they informed me that average turnaround time for a response is thirty days. When one person tells me one thing and another tells me something else, the frustration level understandably rises exponentially. I was promised that my case would be escalated yesterday. I won't hold my breath on this one.

I do have to thank the Delta Assist individual that I communicated with on Sunday; they were the first person to apologize and offer to take action on my case.

I'm starting to wonder if Delta sees its disabled customers as secondary citizens whose safety is not as valuable as those people who have a Delta Sky Miles credit card, whose right to mobility can be compromised for the convenience of gate agents, and who can be given false promises to shut them up.

I wish to thank my friends on Twitter and Facebook who have shared my experience with their friends and family. I will keep you updated on how things progress.

An inspiration? Me?

After I posted my last blog entry, a good friend said

“You never cease to amaze me! You are a brilliant, admirable and inspirational leader on all levels. You are truly one amazing person and I am proud to call you my friend.”

Ive never seen myself as amazing, or inspirational i'm just a guy who is doing what he can to make his way in this world, and finding a way to support his passion and his dream Just a modern day pirate who plays with swords and decided to play by his own rules charting his own course, granted selling cookies isn't anything very dashing, but it works and as my friends will attest I’m not one to do anything that is conventional. Maybe its my unconventionality that makes people think I’m inspirational, I don’t know, but I am honored to be seen the way my friends see me.

On Thursday I head out to Edmund Oklahoma, for a tournament, I have to admit that despite the fact that I’ve been to a few, i'm a bit nervous, I keep wondering if i've done enough training since the last time I took to the strip, and if my mental prep is enough, but more so I'm nervous about letting my friends and followers down. I see my customers and friends as my sponsors and partners in this adventure and I want to make sure that they see a return on the money the invested. Yes each and every one of you is in my corner when I am on the strip. Ok so maybe I'm less of a pirate and more of a Privateer! As always thanks for reading and wish me luck in Oklahoma!