Do we want a Making Life Easier thread?

[Virginia]

Agate, I like that it swivels. I would think you can get far more places. Can you get new sponges and are they easy to put on?

[agate]

I haven't had it very long and so haven't ordered a refill sponge for it yet. Supposedly the sponge is machine washable and pops out easily. That's the manufacturer's claim. I hope it's true.

Its rating on Amazon was only 69%, and one review complained that the red microfiber cloth covers the sponge sheds red lint. I haven't noticed that (yet).

Some people (including me) found it hard to squeeze enough water out but if you don't actually dunk it in a pail of water and just run it under the faucet, it doesn't get so sopping wet, and the only major squeezing you have to do is after you're finished mopping and have rinsed it out and are going to set it up to dry. It does have little feet on it so that it can sit on the floor and dry more easily, and that is a neat feature.

[agate]

Time to revive this thread, maybe?

I've just made my life easier--in a way, and I hope I won't regret it.

I've cancelled my Medical Guardian system, disconnected it, packed it up, printed a shipping label, and am waiting for the mail carrier to pick it up. I was on the phone with them yesterday--for over an hour, mostly waiting on hold--cancelling it. They offered me two months of free service, then three months.

I've tried several brands of personal response system, and Medical Guardian did work better than the others. Back in WA state I had such a system for many years but it was provided free through the state's Medicaid system. Here in OR I've had to pay for it, and it's not cheap. My impression is that the technology has changed over the years, and these systems are no longer as straightforward as they were when I was in WA state. Now they are dealing with cellphones vs. landline phones, and the whole issue of WIFi connectivity.

I have 3 landline phones, including the captioning phone that depends on the Internet. I also have the smartphone that so far I don't turn on very often but that may change.

What prompted me to give up on the Medical Guardian, aside from the need to save $32/month?

The other day I tried to put it through its usual monthly test. I pressed the button and waited for someone to come on the line. Nobody did. Often there is a wait of a couple of minutes but this time I was waiting entirely too long. No voice.

After maybe 5 minutes I went to a landline phone and was about to call Medical Guardian. Just then my son called. He never calls, and so when I saw his name on the screen as an incoming call, I was terrified that he was about to give me some very bad news. No, he had just been contacted by Medical Guardian and was very concerned, thinking something was wrong. As he is under a lot of stress lately, I felt very badly about this.

And when I called Medical Guardian to find out what had gone wrong, I learned that they had already initiated whatever emergency response they would call. Very luckily they were able to cancel that, but I learned that that is what they would do if t pressed that button and they got no response from me.

How could they get a response from me when they weren't even on the line talking to me?

If they don't respond when you check your system but they do initiate emergency responses, that was so alarming to me that I didn't even want to try to fix whatever had gone wrong. Every time there is a problem with the system--and there have been several problems in the past, it involves being on the phone with them while dealing with various cords and buttons and lights.

I don't feel up to that much hassle. Dealing with any problems with TV, the captioning phone, the desktop, and the cellphone is complicated enough.

This apartment building has emergency pullcords in the bedroom and bath. If I need help and pull that cord, help will be summoned (911 will be called). And I could do what others here are doing--keep the cellphone on and handy and use it to call 911. In an emergency I might be too disoriented to remember to do any of these things, but at least now I won't have that button to remember.

I hate the idea that the already overloaded emergency response system would be called out on a false alarm just because I was testing Medical Guardian but they weren't responding.

I don't know if other personal emergency response systems work this way but I am no longer a fan.

Also, when I got on the phone with them just after this nonresponse incident, the young man told me how to fix the immediate problem I was having (the system kept screaming at me, "If you'd like to make a call, please dial your operator") and said he would call me back in a few minutes. He never called back. Days passed, and no call. So yesterday I cancelled Medical Guardian.

I had to pay $13 to send the equipment back, and there is a $50 "restocking fee" which might or might not be waived.

I'm wondering if some of these personal emergency response system businesses aren't doing so well now that people are using smartphones--and maybe that is why this one wasn't operating very efficiently.

[Virginia]

Agate, I didn't quite follow all that you said. I have had no problem being answered when I have checked mine out. I also only pay $19.95 per month for my Medical Guardian I have had mine for many years and love it so far.

You said the system was saying "if you would like to make a call please dial your operator"". When I am on my system I am not on a phone and don't even have one with me. I speak only to the person with Medical Guardian. I used mine in an emergency 3 times years ago. I wasn't in a room close enough for them to hear me. I was laying on my living room floor and my system is in my bedroom. I waited on the floor for them to come and let themselves in and pick me up. A few nights later I fell in my bathroom and had to push the button. I was close enough that time that they could hear me. That was when they checked my temperature and found that I had a high fever. They took me to the hospital. That time they did notify my brothers. It was serious then. The other two times they picked me up off the floor and led me to my bedroom.

If this one stops working for me I will try another kind, but in my situation I would not want to be without one. I wear it while I am in the shower and I would be terrified not to have it.

[agate]

irginia, I hope I didn't alarm you. Medical Guardian was top-rated as a personal emergency response system the last time I looked it up on a couple of Websites (Consumers Union and others) where there are ratings that are supposed to be dependable.

The problem may be that my Medical Guardian was hooked up to my landline phone, which is what I mainly use. I believe most users of that system are connecting in a different way but the WiFi reception in the area where I live turned out not to be so good. I went through a couple of different Medical Guardian devices before the most recent one, and even that one had problems.

The issue was that if I pressed the button to check the system (every month), someone was supposed to come on the line and respond but this time nobody came on the line. I wasn't sure how long I was supposed to wait before contacting them. I may have waited 5 minutes or more. When I started calling them, my son was already calling me, and Medical Guardian had already initiated their emergency response. I don't know why nobody answered there but that seemed to me like their mistake. They even said it was and begged me to keep on with it.

This probably would never happen to you because you have it set up in a way that is obviously working well for you, and your area may not have the connectivity problems that this area has where I am.

Also, this building is equipped with emergency pull cords in the bathroom and bedroom. If I can get to one of those pullcords, 911 will be called. The previous building I was in had the same cords but they weren't set to work, and eventually were removed. Here in this building they take those cords more seriously.

So seriously, in fact, that when the system isn't working right, a security guard comes to this building and sits in the lobby around the clock and walks all of the halls every 15 minutes to make sure everyone is OK.That has happened only twice in my 15 years here but I was glad to see that a system is in place here because there is no staff member here two-thirds of the time.

[Virginia]

It sounds as though you are pretty well covered where you are Agate and it always helps to save money. It does for me, but my safety is first priority, especially after having a few falls. I am more isolated than you are from what you have said about your place.

[agate]

In a house you definitely would be more isolated than in an apartment.

Many apartment buildings can be very impersonal and you never know anything about your neighbors but this one isn't like that. Since just about everyone here is a retiree, people are home most of the time and get used to seeing one another at the mailbox, in the laundry room, taking out the trash, and at regular meetings. Those who use the elevator probably have far more contact with one another. Also I think since we're all older people, we're aware that we're vulnerable and try to keep a watchful eye on one another without being too inquisitive.

I'm very lucky to be in this situation. If I were in a house, I would definitely want to have something like Medical Guardian.

[agate]

Has anyone tried a hand-held shower attachment? I'm thinking seriously about one, and the building management here just might be willing to install it for me, maybe even obtain it.

Assuming that then again they might not, I've been looking into them online, mainly at Amazon. Since I've never used one, I've been watching the videos. It looks as if some of them might be too big and heavy to hold in my hand but there are others that aren't so clumsy-looking.

One thing I can't figure out is why there need to be so many settings.. Many have 5-7 settings or more. By the time I figured all of those out and how to turn them off and on, I think I'd be ready to do without the hand-held shower attachment for a good long while. For instance:

Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...

OK, if you had a pet it might be useful to have a variety of settings for bathing the pet. And I can imagine that a hand-held shower would be very useful in helping to clean out the bathtub and even the tile surrounding it. But mainly I'd just like a shower that sprays out water at the desired temperature, with the spray not coming out too weakly. A convenient on/off switch would be essential, as well as an attachment to the existing plumbing that doesn't leak or come loose.

[Virginia]

Funny you mention this Agate. I just ordered a filtered shower head. It is an Afina. I have not received it yet. It is supposed to be good for skin and hair. It removes all contaminants from the water. Mine is not hand held. I sit in a shower chair in my shower and let the water run over me, so I just wanted a head and not a hand held one. From what you have said you are in a tub and it sounds as though a hand held would be good for your situation.

[agate]

Thanks so much! Years ago a neighbor had a hand-held shower, and I noticed that when it had to be removed, it was easily taken off--a matter of seconds--but I can't recall whether she'd been happy with the way it worked, and she's no longer here. It sounds like a helpful thing to have but I have problems with anything that has too many settings.

I tend to ignore all of the settings on this toothbrush I complained about a while back. If it lights up while blinking, it means one thing. If it lights up amber, it means something different from a green light. If it beeps just once, that's one thing, and if it beeps twice, it's another, etc., etc.

I'm trying to avoid any hand-held shower device that looks too high tech for me.