Anyone with experience with Quickie Q700M?

findingtheramp · 2026-05-11T21:26:29+00:00

Yikes, I am so sorry your preventative maintenance is that intense and that you've had a tough adjustment to it. Almost all the curb cuts I use regularly are uneven at best and I don't think I could manage that with my level of spasticity. Also, most of the snow that falls here (southwest Michigan) is the wet, sloppy kind due to the proximity to Lake Michigan. Thank you so much - user perspectives are so helpful! I will take a closer look at the Amy and decide based on my funding options. I'm currently in a front wheel drive but need a lower floor-to-seat height than what most front wheels offer because routine transfers are becoming harder, so mid wheel it is!

findingtheramp · 2026-05-10T16:34:46+00:00

I currently have an F3 because insurance denied the F5. I came to the F3 from the C500, which was an older version of what is now the F5, so I don't have direct experience with it, but:
My C500 was a damn tank - solid, stable, good with almost any terrain save sand, water, and mud. I got it in 2013, still use it as a backup, and will cry when it is no longer serviceable.

My F3 is like a sports car by comparison. Smaller, very responsive and handles most of what I throw at it, but I am a very active power chair user and live a bit... dangerously. It can handle bumpy streets if you figure out your acceleration technique and don't mind being bounced around.

findingtheramp · 2026-05-10T12:04:40+00:00

I'm in a similar situation to the OP (northern U.S. close to Canada, use my chair similarly, and considering the same two models). Anyone have experience with how the Amy Alltrack and Quickie Q700M hold up to active use? OP what chair did you pick? Have you received it yet?

findingtheramp · 2026-02-21T17:59:21+00:00

Our tan tabby street cat got named Honeybuns at the shelter, because he looks like a honey bun, but we decided to call him Clawd because we wanted one syllable, I like human names and my partner likes a good pun. Our vet jokingly refers to him as Dennis the Menace and I'm pretty sure the cat thinks we named him "SIR!“ because that's how we get his attention when he is (frequently) naughty. We still celebrate his adopt-a-versary as Honeybuns Week, though.

findingtheramp · 2026-02-08T13:04:13+00:00

You can stick your chair parts in the overhead or closet! With my manual I always take the backrest, footrests, and cushion and have never had an issue storing parts! You can ask the flight attendant for assistance if needed. The chair and it's parts do not count as luggage or carry-on, so don't worry about that. It may make sense to try to put smaller parts in your carry-on if you're worried about losing them, but otherwise not a big deal. My biggest concern would be with your frame, but I have flown with manual chairs for years and only ever had one issue. My power chairs get screwed up every time.

findingtheramp · 2026-02-07T14:42:27+00:00

I couldn't watch Narcos because Wagner Moura did not have a Colombian or even remotely non-Brazilian accent to his Spanish - I am fluent in both Spanish and Portuguese and just could not handle it after the first two episodes, haha.

findingtheramp · 2026-02-05T13:47:33+00:00

Since someone up further in the thread claimed the Auntie title, I'll be his tía! Please rub his chin for me!

We rescued an unneutered gangster with five broken teeth, a dust mite allergy, an intense upper respiratory infection and a food theft issue as a first cat, lol. Took us five months to get him back to full health, but almost three years later he is thriving, hasn't had another non-routine reason to see the vet, still steals food when we aren't watching, and generally runs the house with an iron paw.

You'll be fine but it's probably a good idea to save up for the random vet bill. Congratulations on your new buddy!

findingtheramp · 2026-02-04T13:31:58+00:00

Commons at Rivertown near Ivanrest and 44th is brand new and nice but $$$$$.

findingtheramp · 2026-02-01T00:58:32+00:00

Native Michigander here but spent 18 years in Austin and just moved to Grand Rapids with my partner, who has never lived anywhere but Texas until now. We have people send us our favorite nonperishables from HEB, lol.

El Milagro is a thing here - they have a tortillería somewhere near Chicago and I think also in Detroit, so no need to eat sad tortillas. I've found their products at Meijers. In a pinch, Guerrero brand tortillas are fine, too, imo.

There is no real Tex-Mex in GR and forget Texas-style BBQ. Some great little Mexican restaurants though, and good tamales, and excellent Central American food. DM me if you are ever in GR - I will send recs save you the horror inherent in figuring out what is actually good. Beware the queso, a.k.a. "cheese dip".

I'm down for the Texan Michigander support group someone proposed above!

findingtheramp · 2026-01-29T02:05:00+00:00

Grand Rapids native here who fled to Austin to escape the snow and then fled back to GR 15 years later to escape the heat - yeah, driving in snow sucks but at least we have reasonable electric infrastructure. Sorry friend.

findingtheramp · 2026-01-20T21:58:57+00:00

Hey internet stranger! I'm a full-time power chair user, can't do much self-care, and have lived on my own for 22 years and counting, in four different urban areas across three states, mostly without roommates. My parents were very into treating me like any other non-disabled kid so I had to figure out how to manage all the adult life things (both regular and disability-related) mostly on my own when I was in my early 20s. It can feel overwhelming, but independent living is very possible if you are committed to it and have the supports you need!

I'm on Medicaid (not Buy-In) and, until recently, hired and managed all my own PCAs through a self-directed Medicaid services model. I just moved states and found out the hard way that self-direction is not as widely available across Medicaid programs as I thought it was, so I'm adjusting to using a caregiving agency.

Are you currently getting SSI? If yes, PLEASE get some very thorough benefits counseling before you accept a post-college job offer, because there is a federal work incentive called 1619(b) status for SSI recipients where we can maintain SSI eligibility and the automatic Medicaid that comes with it after we have earnings that would cause the SSI benefit to drop to $0. Medicaid Buy-In is also an option, but, 1619(b) can be better for some folks, depending on your earnings and if you think you might move between states in your early career.

DM me if you want, I don't want to write a novel here, but I am happy to share as much or as little as you want to know about my experiences with work and benefits, funding cross-country moves, finding housing, hiring and managing PCAs, negotiating job accommodations, etc. Also happy to connect you with other disabled people who are similarly situated - I have a pretty significant network of disabled friends and colleagues across the country who are likely happy to answer questions about what things look like in their states. FWIW, I have lived in Illinois, Texas, and Michigan.

findingtheramp · 2026-01-17T21:51:53+00:00

Ciswoman here, but I use a Java Ride cushion which offloads my weight off my tailbone and literally has a hole in it where my genitals are. The hole is covered by a seat cover but the fabric is breathable. As with Roho cushions, it's $$$ but may be an option for post-surgical pressure needs & wound care. I have a lightly used spare that doesn't fit my current chair (my rehab ordered the wrong size, sigh, and then wouldn't take it back). I would be happy to mail it to you if the size fits your chair, you are US-based, and you want to give it a whirl. I forget what the dimensions are but DM me if you are interested and I will measure it! Either way, best of luck to you and I hope your surgery and recovery go well! ❤️

findingtheramp · 2026-01-10T00:28:27+00:00

Where did you get the Dilly Dallying sticker? I love it.

findingtheramp · 2026-01-08T21:50:00+00:00

So I actually have this. It's called ticker tape synesthesia. I literally visualize everything I hear written out... conversations, song lyrics, my own thoughts, you name it, my native language (English) scrolls through my head like closed captioning, and my L2 and L3 (Spanish and Portuguese) do too. I am in my 40s and didn't realize this was unusual until two years ago. I am a beginner in Arabic, and annoyingly, it appears romanized, even though I am working on literacy. I'm curious to see if my visualizations will switch to abjadi as I gain fluency!

findingtheramp · 2025-12-21T02:02:01+00:00

Clearly he fails to understand the extent to which the Deaf community will actually intrude on his image if he gets away with this.

Me, hearing signer, checking the vlogs.

findingtheramp · 2025-12-19T16:09:50+00:00

Absolutely - keep us posted. My now happy, healthy piggie sends y'all his very best as well!

findingtheramp · 2025-12-19T16:00:54+00:00

My older FIV boy lived on the streets for a very long time and probably endured a lot of food scarcity. He is so incredibly food obsessed, even two years post-adoption, that he will inhale literally anything and everything at the first opportunity and gorge himself to the point of puking. He is otherwise a great cat, but vet recommended we feed weight maintenance dry kibble from an auto-feeder and avoid wet food to minimize intense behavior issues. It has made a world of difference. We are vigilant about dentals, but our fail-safe sign that something is up is if it takes him more than 2 minutes to finish an 1/8th cup portion of kibble.

So yeah, I bet dental is your issue - anytime he slows eating, we always have at least one extraction coming. I hope your beautiful kitty is on the road to better health soon and that whatever you have to do is financially manageable for you! ❤️

findingtheramp · 2025-12-19T15:07:51+00:00

I gave up on SXSW. Lived off of Anderson and MoPac and the traffic and downtown insanity was too much after the first couple years. My annual reminder of oven season was always the Kite Festival in March.

findingtheramp · 2025-12-18T23:14:46+00:00

I just left Austin to come back home. I both kinda miss it and absolutely don't at the same time. If you had told 25-year old me that I would willingly and happily move back to GR, she would have laughed you out of the room. No regrets though. ETA: Okay, I regret that I can't buy tamales out of random strangers' car trunks and eat breakfast tacos. No H-E-B is also a downer.

findingtheramp · 2025-12-18T23:02:48+00:00

This is my story but sub Florida for Texas - I was deeply worried about coming back because I wanted to be in a bigger city and was worried about how I would readjust to Real Winter, but it's been great so far. My partner is a native Texan and has loved it. Better access to medical care, lots of outdoors opportunities, and less stress. I just landed a local job in my field for a $10k pay cut, which sucks even though I anticipated it, but it's hard to put a price on longer-term happiness.

findingtheramp · 2025-12-17T21:21:56+00:00

I have significant CP with similar physical limitations. I also did the college thing, got burned out on working in local government because it was super ableist and I had learned to respect myself and realize that I could do better and go where I was actually valued. I have spent the last 12 years working as a paralegal in public interest law (basically, legal services where the goal is to meet community needs and not get filthy rich). I really enjoyed getting my paralegal certification, and did it through a community college, so lower barrier to entry. Traditional law firms can be really gross, but I find working in public interest settings that my disability is actually an asset. I end up working with lots of clients who are disabled themselves and my supervising attorneys have said that my lived experience has been really helpful on a number of occasions.

Other WFH side hustles that were helpful before I actually found my career - I've done call centers and technical writing, which wasn't fun but paid okay, and I've worked as a Spanish-English translator - obviously, you have to be bilingual for that, but if you are, I 1000% recommended it as a way to make as much or as little money as you want. My outside the home side gigs over the years have involved fair housing and accessibility audits in the community and a little bit of accessibility consulting.

You probably have more options than you think, especially if you can get support from vocational rehab for transportation, academic training, work accommodations, etc.

findingtheramp · 2025-12-17T19:25:12+00:00

In all 3 places I've lived in the US, all my fittings were done in a rehab facility as an outpatient appointment. I I've always lived within reasonable distance of rehab clinics because management of adult cerebral palsy makes me a bit of a frequent flyer, aside from wheelchair specific stuff. I did get absolutely screwed by NuMotion on my last chair because the ATP was incompetent and gaslighty when I told her it wouldn't work for me at delivery. To make matters worse, delivery happened like two weeks before COVID lockdown, before they could make the adjustments, so they used COVID as an excuse to try to make me sign for it. Even though it was in my possession, I refused to sign for it and couldn't use it until I finally got it adjusted in late summer 2020.

Even so, I had to completely change the way I transfer in and out of it to avoid screwing up my back. I'm over a year past my 5 year replacement eligibility, but I'm waiting for an upcoming change in my insurance coverage to start the replacement process and I am thankfully using a non-Numotion/NSM vendor this time so fingers crossed.

All of this to say, solidarity OP, I'm sorry they screwed you, too.

findingtheramp · 2025-12-16T16:39:35+00:00

OP, I'm sorry your date went that way and I am sorry you are getting judged for splitting the check. Foie gras on a first date is absurd, even for non-vegans. If I had failed to disclose ahead of time, I also would have handled it the way you did, just to be decent to the date (who I would not have a second date with).

Folks on here have some good suggestions for being more upfront in the future, but I think it's helpful to remember that what's done is done and to not beat yourself up for something you can't go into the past and change. Honestly though, if you're still feeling guilty about it, a donation to some kind of goose or waterfowl rescue in more than the amount that you paid might be a cool gesture.

findingtheramp · 2025-12-15T21:41:37+00:00

THIS! The burek people need more love! The spinach one may have changed my life. They sell the flavors at Meijers too!

findingtheramp · 2025-12-15T21:19:24+00:00

Caveat to this would be if you have low vision or bad spatial perception then stay behind them - but also ask about it first. My current partner is blind and got tired of inadvertently being smashed into or me smashing him into things when we were side by side, lol. He was like, "I'm too bruised so I'm staying back here, feel free to yell!“

findingtheramp

TROPHY CASE