A different experience with American Airlines

This post is from an email Rhonda sent me. She also went to the NAAFA Convention in Washington, D.C., but was on a different flight than I was on.

From Rhonda:

I just read your blog post. Your experience traveling with your TravelScoot sounds a lot like mine. Baton Rouge to D.C. on Continental went smooth, in fact, it sounds like a carbon copy of your trip only without Squeak (the scooter "specialist" at the Dallas airport).

D.C. to Baton Rouge on American Airlines started out okay in D.C. and ended okay in Baton Rouge. My problem was in Dallas, where the staff arbitrarily decided they would rather send my scoot directly to my next plane instead of giving it to me to ride to my connecting flight. (My TravelScoot actually never left the side of the plane during all of our conversations.) When I objected and asked them to give me my scoot to ride to my connecting flight, they would not change their mind. It became a battle of the wills when it really didn't need to be. Dallas was also the only place that the American Airlines staff decided to reassemble my scoot, instead of delivering it to me like I left it with them, using the travel bag and following Hardy's instructions.

I hate to think what would have happened to my scoot had I let them have their way. I came away feeling like the day was a disaster when, in fact, it was only the employees at one gate that were the problem.

I received a call today from AA and they have located my missing handlebar bag and are sending it to me.

What's the weight limit on the TravelScoot?

I'm still behind on my email from being on vacation, and this is one I want to answer on the blog, because I'm sure if one person is asking the question, more of you are thinking about it. This question is from Sandie...

Q. I looked up the info on line about the TravelScoot, and they look interesting. My question is about the weight limit. It says that the weight limit is #320 - did you and the others get them customized - or are you riding that #320 TravelScoot?

A. On the TravelScoot.com website the weight capacity is shown as 320 lbs. Yes, this is the same scooter I have. Mine is not customized. I talked to Hardy Huber at the NAAFA Convention and he's considering this a test phase right now. I've had my scoot since February, which is longer than any other supersize person has had theirs. Somewhere on his website it says that he set that weight limit based on the distance between the seat back and the handlebars, not on the capacity of the aircraft-grade aluminum frame. I regularly carry between 450-500 lbs on my scoot. There are some limitations at a higher weight, which I've written about on this blog, but they primarily deal with ramps and battery life.

Q. I weigh about #370-380, so would it work for me?

A. Yes, it will hold your weight just fine.

Q. Also - are the seats comfy? They look fabulous!

A. As Hardy says on the TravelScoot.com website, they're about as comfortable as a good quality dining table chair. I find it very comfortable, but it's not a seat I'd want to sit on for hours. It's intended for going the distance, and then you'll probably want to get off and sit in a regular chair. I do sit on it comfortably when there is no armless seating available.

In the picture you'll see the Louisiana contingency meeting with Congressman Cassidy's assistant. There were 7 of us in the room, talking with her about size discrimination and health care. For this meeting I stayed on my scoot.

Battery overload and motor overheating

Before you read this post please keep in mind that the problems I experienced at the hotel and in Washington, D.C. only happened to me. The other TravelScoot owners (Hardy, Rhonda, and Lynn Ellen), did NOT have these problems. They all carry less weight on their scooters than I do. With me, the batteries and whatever I was carrying at the time, I estimate that my scoot was carrying between 475-500 lbs.

If you're wondering if I would do it all over again, knowing what I know now, the answer is YES, ABSOLUTELY!

Dulles Marriott Carpet

The picture to the left is from the Dulles Marriott website. This gives you an idea of what the carpet looked like.

I had problems with my TravelScoot at the Dulles Marriott hotel, and it was because of the carpet. It was an exceptionally thick pile carpet, because I could feel the drag when I was riding on it. The drag wasn't a problem particularly, but what the drag caused was a stress on the motor and battery. Hardy, Rhonda, and Lynn Ellen felt the drag the carpet created too, but it didn't cause their motors to overheat or their batteries to overload. They could feel the difference because they know how it normally feels. The dozens and DOZENS of people who tried our TravelScoots didn't realize anything was different.

Our hotel room was at the end of a LONG carpeted hallway, and the meeting rooms were all along another long carpeted hallway. I had my sla battery and my l-ion battery stacked. If I used the l-ion battery and rode from the room to the meeting rooms, sometimes the l-ion battery would overload somewhere along the way. If I used the sla battery instead, which does not overload, I could go further, but then the motor might overheat.

Before this vacation I had NEVER experienced the motor overheating. What happens is that there's a protection built into the motor and if it gets too hot, it switches off. The way you know it's the motor is that you will still have a green light on the battery control near the throttle, but the scooter just won't go. I would sit for a few minutes and try it again and go scooting off. The sla battery never overloads because it's not sophisticated enough to have that sort of protection. With the l-ion battery, if it's pushed to hard it will overload and shut off. When that happens, you won't see any lights on the battery control near the throttle. This is confusing, even to me, so let's go through it again...

BATTERY OVERLOAD - Scoot won't go, and no lights are lit on the battery panel.

The SLA battery will not overload. When the l-ion battery overloads, it switches off and you lose power. You won't see any battery lights on the panel near the throttle. There are 3 ways to fix an overloaded battery.

1) If you were going up an incline when it overloaded, turn around and go back down the incline. Stay on the scoot and give it a good shove off with your a foot (or feet). You'll see the battery light come on as red and then when it goes to green you are back in business.

2) You can also plug the battery into the charger and that will reset the battery.

3) Hardy Huber's instructions say you can get off the scoot and give it a good push and it will reset the battery. I haven't been able to do that on my own yet (and I've tried!), but if you have a 10-year-old boy handy, just get him to run a few steps with it and the green light will come back on pretty quickly. A 56-year-old hubby can accomplish the same thing. (Thanks to mine for being there to get mine going again!)

MOTOR OVERHEATING

If the motor overheats you will still see a green light on the battery panel. If you're brave (or stupid, take your pick) and TOUCH the motor casing, it's going to be very hot. Sit still for a few minutes and try the throttle again and you'll be on your way.

DEAD BATTERY

When the battery starts getting low on power you'll see the light go from green to amber. When it stays amber that's your cue that you need to get somewhere where you can charge the battery or switch batteries. When it goes to red just picture the robot from Lost in Space saying, "Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!" Hardy says you have about a half mile left once you go to amber, if you weigh 180 lbs.

Sightseeing in Washington, D.C.

We went into D.C. three times. Twice for sightseeing, and a third time to go to "the hill" to meet with our Congressman's representative. These three days all involved navigating many ramps and hilly areas and I had many times when either my battery overloaded or the motor overheated. In an ideal world I would have gotten off my scoot every time I came to a ramp or uphill climb, but that's not really practical in D.C. Lynn Ellen went with us the second day and she didn't have any battery or motor problems. I really believe that once you get to a certain point, every pound makes a difference. I also had the SLA battery on it which added another 20 lbs. If you're wondering why I didn't just use the SLA battery the whole time, it's because it would have run out of power. Usually by the time we got back to the hotel I didn't have a lot of battery power left in either battery. We would either go back to the room and charge the battery or we'd plug it up in one of the meeting rooms or a restaurant.

Riding a TravelScoot through the airports

As you can see in the picture, I have two carry on bags on the handlebars of my TravelScoot. If I had that to do all over again I would have gotten a small rolling suitcase that I could have fit under my legs, and packed absolutely everything I could in my checked baggage. I would have even paid the $25 for a second bag in order to do that. At my size every pound can affect how the TravelScoot handles inclines. As far as I know Rhonda and Lynn Ellen did not have the same problems I had, so when you are reading this, keep in mind that with 26 pounds of battery, me, and two weighty carry ons, I had between 475-500 lbs on my scoot.

Which airport I was in when is just a blur, so I'm going to talk in generalities. When I was on a flat surface the scoot performed beautifully, as it did going down ramps. (Can we say wheeeeeeee!!!!!) When we moved into a train to go through an airport or changed from one surface to another (like where the plane connects to the ramp, or the ramp to the airport), most of the time it handled the bump well, but sometimes it would bump pretty hard.

I started the day out with a fully charged sla battery and a fully charged l-ion battery. By the time we made it through three airports and got to our hotel room, both needed recharging. I didn't begin using my scoot until we got to the New Orleans airport. We were very early for our flight so I did ride around the airport more than was required to get to the plane. In Dallas I rode it again, then made a long trek with it at the Dulles Airport to get to the place where we caught the shuttle bus. A good bit of this time I was also pulling my big suitcase on wheels.
The good news is that it was easy to put the scoot on the shuttle from the airport to the hotel. They didn't even have to fold it to store it.

If you can think of specific questions I haven't answered, please feel free to ask.

Flying with a TravelScoot on American Airlines

We found some inconsistencies with how American Airlines handled the TravelScoot, but overall it was a positive experience

NEW ORLEANS to WASHINGTON, D.C.

1) New Orleans: We checked in at the kiosk and then dropped off our luggage. At security I got off the TravelScoot and walked through the security check. They swabbed my scoot. I continued on to the gate where I asked for a gate check tag, which only took a minute to issue. Alan and I pre-boarded the plane. At the door of the plane we dropped the handlebars and put both the sla and l-ion batteries in the bag to prepare it for being stowed. (We later learned that this was a mistake. Putting both batteries in the bag made the bag too heavy. We should have left the sla battery installed (but unplugged) and only put the l-ion battery in the bag. )

2) Dallas: When we exited the plane, my scoot wasn't at the door of the plane. They had left it inside the airport at the door of the ramp to the plane. This was the only time this happened. When I went to get another gate check tag to reboard in Dallas, they cheerfully told me that they have a scooter expert named Squeak, and she would be right there to help me. She showed up immediately, walked to the door of the plane with me, then rode my scoot to the magical place they take them to put them on the plane. One of my friends who was flying with us told me she saw Squeak taking it on a test drive. It think it was the first time she'd seen a TravelScoot. This time we did not drop the handlebars or store the battery, because Squeak wanted to drive it to its destination.

3) Dulles: When we exited the plane my scoot was at the door of the plane. There are constant inclines from the plane to the airport building, and it wouldn't make it up the inclines with me so Alan rode it and I walked. The TravelScoot wouldn't handle the inclines because of my weight. As far as I know Rhonda didn't have any problems riding hers up the inclines.

WASHINGTON, D.C. TO NEW ORLEANS

4) Dulles: We checked in at the kiosk, and then dropped off our luggage. At security I got off the TravelScoot and walked through the security check. They swabbed my scoot. I continued on to the gate where I asked for a gate check tag, which only took a minute to issue. Our whole party of 5 pre-boarded the plane this time. We think this happened because Melissa and I were wearing the same dress, because a staff member asked her if she was with me and sent her to pre-board. (Wearing the same dress was an accident, but ended up being a good thing.) I rode my scoot to the door of the plane, where we lowered the handlebars and put the l-ion battery in the storage bag and left the sla battery attached.

5) Dallas: We had a weather delay when leaving Dulles so we arrived late to Dallas and we were afraid we were going to miss our connecting flight. We have a whole row of seats across the airplane. Greg and Melissa were sitting on one side of the aisle, and Melicia, Alan and I were on the other. Normally we wait and get off last, but this time Melicia raised the arm on the aisle seat and as soon as she could stand up she did, effectively blocking anyone from passing. (And who says their aren't benefits to being a big girl?) We moved off the plane faster than we ever have. My scoot wasn't at the door of the plane and they told us to check right inside the airport. Alan ran ahead to get it set up for me. At that moment Melicia and I heard one of the employees saying, "it looks like a little motorcycle..." and we knew it was my scoot. I started pulling it up the ramp, hoping Alan would come back to rescue me. It's hard enough for me to walk the incline of the ramp, and harder when I'm pulling a scoot. I didn't know it at the time but he was trying to come back and the staff wouldn't let him. If I hadn't showed up quickly he would have pitched a fit about it. About halfway there I tried riding it and was able to get it up the final incline. From there we took off at as fast a clip as we could go and made our connecting flight. We got there just in time for Squeak to tag my scoot again and walk with me to the door of the plane where she took it and rode it to have it put on the plane. Whew! Oh wait, maybe this was where we all got to pre-board. It's all a big blur now.

6) New Orleans: My scoot wasn't at the plane when we got off. We walked the ramp to the airport and I sat down and waited until they delivered it to us, which was only a minute or two later.

Coming out to the world

From Lynn Ellen:

I am pondering if it can be said that every sort of coming out involves the tension between revealing one's truth to the world and to ourselves.

When we come out to the world, we risk the possible negative attitudes of those around us, some of which may be known, other attitudes may be buried deep. But when we come out to ourselves, we face the deeply-seated attitudes that we have internalized or introjected from the world around us, and again we might find that there are feelings buried so deep we only discover them as we walk through the flames of the act of coming out.

Fortunately, the fears are usually before and during the moments of taking that walk, because the relief of expressing our truths, of embodying our real selves is a welcome gift. But each new encounter can involve a new coming out, but hopefully we can move through that initial anxiety more swiftly and with less of a roller coaster of anxiety each time.

The picture is of Lynn Ellen and me at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. It's a wonderful museum and well worth the time it takes to visit. If you go be sure and watch the film. It's only 13 minutes long and very informative. It displays on a 4-sided screen and on the dome ceiling.

Look, matching TravelScoots!

Facing Fears

"How can you stand in front of all those people at your workshop and ask them to face their fears if you haven't faced your own?"

I've got a lot to post from my trip to Washington, D.C. but first I need to back up and talk about what happened before the trip. We've talked some about the stigma of scooter use, and for me personally, my biggest hurdle was the thought of using it at work. I work on a campus with a 4-story building, and another building attached by a breezeway. The thinking side of me knows that my scooter use is protected under the same ADA regulations that wheelchair users have, but in the 12 years I've worked here I've never seen another employee using wheels of any sort (scoot or wheelchair).

Over the last few years I've been limiting my walking at work to the bathroom and other "have to go" places. Seeing how much my scoot has enhanced the rest of my life (and spared me a lot of painful walking), I knew it would do the same thing at work, but I wasn't ready to face it. Until, that is, Rhonda asked me how I could give my workshop at the NAAFA Convention and ask others to face their fears about scooter use when I hadn't faced my own.

The Monday before my vacation started I went for some lab work before work. I used my scoot for the first time at the lab, and it made everything so much less stressful. I wasn't worried about finding a parking place, or an armless chair in the waiting area, or about fitting into the chair where they draw blood. I just stayed on my scoot. When I finished there I loaded my scoot in my car and found a quiet spot where I could stop and think. Rhonda was right, and I knew it. In a moment of reckoning, I knew there was no day like today to face my fears.

So I did it.

I drove back to my office and unloaded my scoot, hoping no one would see and I could just sneak into my office. Ha! A coworker met me at the door of the building, and another one joined us in the hall, then another and another and another. EVERY reaction was positive. I spent a good part of the rest of the day talking with coworkers about my TravelScoot. I'm really glad I faced my fears, not just so I could stand at my workshop and ask others to face their fears, but because I have a coworker with heart trouble and she's having an increasing difficult time walking distances. She'd never seen anything like the TravelScoot before, and suddenly she had found something she didn't even know she was looking for.

Your fears may be different than mine. You might never have ridden a scooter at all and are afraid to even try one at Walmart. Or maybe you need one and you're afraid of what your family will say. Perhaps you've been staying home when you could be out enjoying yourself, doing your own grocery shopping, or going to work instead of staying home on a bad walking day.

Whatever your fear is, please know that you're not alone, and facing your fear ultimately leads to enhancing your life. There is such freedom in being able to move quickly from place to place without pain, or without triggering an asthma attack, or in saving your strength not for the distance, but for the activity you've set off to accomplish and enjoy.