grum64

Like everyone else, you're very kind. Me, write a book. I don't really think I have the ability to write a shopping list let alone a book. As for the 'public speaking', I haven't the nerve! I tried once, a few years ago or as I prefer to call it, BL, Before Lego. I gave a talk to the local cub scouts on Spinal Injury and found it really difficult.

Thank you for the information. I've been using the Brickset app on my iPad mostly.

Thank you. I've looked on Peeron for set inventories but not instructions. I'll take a look. I'm after a 8868 Air Claw Rig but either lose out in the bidding or they've been out of my price range. I might try sourcing parts & using what parts I might have in my spares cases. Might work out cheaper but I'd have to forgo my usual pre-requisite though, boxed sets with instructions only. Oh well. beggars can't be choosers. I've done this 'sourcing parts' once before and it worked out much cheaper than any set I'd seen for sale. It was an 857 Motorbike & Sidecar set my Grandon saw while I was browsing through eBay. He liked it but it was about £45 or so. I managed to find all the parts needed from Bricklink and my own spares. All in, it cost just over £11. I bought only used parts to add a bit of authenticity to it as well as to save money. No box etc., but it's for Jake so isn't really part of my collection. He has it on display in his bedroom..

I will. Thank you.

Good Evening Thank you for your comments and sharing your story with us all. TRULY INSPIRING. Like you, I find doing Technic very therapeutic. It helps my tinnitus, I seem not to notice it quite as much. With all you've achieved, your own company etc. you have every reason to be very proud.

You're very kind words are much appreciated. I seem to be saying that a lot since my posting. Everyone had been so kind with their comments, it's really humbling. I really don't think what I do is done through skill more likely just sheer bloody-mindedness! I've never been one to go at anything in a half hearted way as those who know me will testify. The MOCs that some of you guys create, that's what I call skill. I'm genuinely awestruck! I find the best way for me to approach Technic is to plan it like a military campaign. I spend a few hours in the evening prior to each days build looking at the instructions on my iPad and working out the best way to achieve the next step, my 'plan of attack' you might say. I find doing it like this speeds the process up.

Good Evening Thank you also for your kind words. As for the MOCS, the nearest I've gotten is the 8048 Buggy. I wouldn't really class that as a MOC though. I just stuck a motor on top of the 'cylinder block', a few gears on the back and another motor & gears for the steering. My grandson loves playing with it but is not happy as he can't his put a mini figure in to 'drive it' as the battery box has replaced the seats! As it was done using 90% of the kits parts it doesn't come close to the stuff you guys do. I've not really got the smarts to put an idea into reality. I'll keep trying though. Practice makes perfect. The 8043... It was indeed a bugger!!!!

I've just read your story and you call me inspiring. Like you, Lego has completely changed my life and I'll be forever grateful to all those involved in its design, production etc,. In fact I wrote to the head of the Lego company in Denmark to let him know how much I appreciate the staffs efforts. About 2 weeks later,to my surprise, I received a parcel and inside was the 8053 Mobile Crane and a really nice letter. What a company! By the way, I see what you mean by this forum being the friendliest place on the net.

Good Evening Thank you for your very kind words. About the LDD. Being a tetraplegic, I have very limited use of my arms but no use of my hands/fingers. I use laptop for things like browsing etc but haven't the fine control needed for drawing etc. To type, I use a piece of dowel strapped to my hand that has a rubber thimble on the end of it I've looked at LDD and had a brief go but struggled a bit. I've also tried MLCad. I tried to 'draw up' a double bucket alternative to the 8110's grabber, Windows 'Sticky Keys' prove usefull as does a trackball. I've had a few attempts but can't quite envisage how to get the buckets to meet in and even and realistic way with the teeth intermeshing. I'll get there eventually but my next build is calling. I've just got the 8868 Air Claw. Thanks again for your reply and kind words. Good Evening I'm overwhelmed by the response to my post. I thank you and everyone else who's taken the time to leave such kind words. As for the 8421, I did buy one from eBay, It cost me £77 but it had no box or instructions. Me, not knowing much about the collectability of some sets then sold it on eBay for £125 thinking I'd see another at that sort of price with instructions etc,. I've not been able to find one in my price range since. Lesson Learnt!!!

Hi Guys I'm interested to know if there are any of you out there that are disabled and build Lego Technic. In 1983 at the age of 19 I had a motorcycle accident that left me a Tetraplegic and confined to a wheelchair. Following a 10 month stay in hospital I was discharged to start my ‘new’ life. Since then my days have consisted of reading, listening to music or sitting in front of a computer tapping away aimlessly trying to pass the time. Besides my family and friends only the music gave me any real contentment. Unfortunately 4yrs ago I had another accident when the anti-tip device on my wheelchair failed while going over a step. The impact of my head on the concrete was enough to leave my hearing badly damaged, no more music, and I now have severe tinnitus. Until July last year I spent my time ‘wallowing’ in my own problems and wasn’t always much fun to be around. One day I received a request from my 4 year old grandson, Jake. He'd broken a little LEGO car he'd made and wanted me to help him put it back together. Although I have no use of my hands I didn’t have the heart to say no so after a bit of stalling and quick thinking I set about trying to help him by holding pieces in my mouth and guiding them to their ‘destination’. Although not always successful I persevered, had great fun and felt a real feeling of achievement & pride. The concentration also helped my tinnitus to the point that my moods have changed completely. That first little set took nearly a week. Following that I bought & built for him the 7638 Tow Truck, 7737 Coast Guard 4WD & Trailer and 7942 Off Road Fire Rescue set. These all took several weeks. After doing these sets I now considered myself to be an expert builder and decided to challenge myself so I bought the 7743 Mobile Police Command Centre and to my surprise I managed to complete it, all using my mouth and only needing help twice. It had taken me 3 weeks but I did it. I was so proud of myself I had what can only be described as a mad moment. I thought I'd try something a little bigger, maybe a Technic set. I whilst looking around I saw the 8258 Crane Truck on Amazon for £62.99 and bought it. My reasoning being if I couldn't build it I can always sell it. Well, cutting a long story short, after about 6 hours a day, 6 days a week and 22 weeks in total it was done. 1800+ parts all by mouth. The stickers were the only things I didn't do. Since then I've built the 8725 Bulldozer, 8043 Excavator, 8053 Mobile Crane, 8458 Silver Champion, 8285 Tow Truck, 8466 4 x 4, 8274 Combine Harvester, 8416 Fork Lift, 8048 Buggy (which I've motorised), 8262 Quad Bike, 8264 Rally Truck & numerous other smaller technic sets. You might say I'm hooked! I scour the internet, eBay, Gumtree, Friday Ads etc looking for boxed sets at a good price with my best bargain being the 8458 Silver Champion & 8285 Tow Truck bought together from Gumtree for £30 inc delivery! My crowning glory and the one I feel most proud of is my latest build. The 8110 Uni Mog. I now know the meaning of the phrase 'The agony and the ecstasy!' The only parts not fitted by me (not for want of trying!) was the pneumatic tubes. I'd be interested to hear from anyone in a similar situation to myself. Sorry if I've gone on a bit but there's no quick way of explaining an obsession!!! UPDATE I feel I must explain how I build so as not to mislead anyone. As I said, I have no use of my hands, I'm unable to move my fingers. The use of my arms, while limited, is enough to enable me to reach parts and either 'drag' them towards me or, after (I know, Yuk!) licking the end of a finger to make it 'tacky', pick small pieces up. The sets pieces emptied from their bags into the sets box by my very dear (and very understanding) Wife and using a spoon straped to my hand I load them into into sorting cases. I have acquired from various sources, 12 of the (8062) Technic Briefcases. Some with & some without the sets. Each has 2 trays and numerous adjustable dividers and as they're shallow they're better to reach into. Larger pieces are picked either by mouth (like a demented chicken pecking or so I've been told) wedging the piece between 2 fingers or using a pair of artery forceps, a surgeons tool similar to a pair of scissors (hitherto referred to as clamps). I hook my thumb through one loop and hold the other loop in my mouth. 90% of the pieces are picked up, joined, worked on by mouth but when I can't do this the same clamps and method described above are used sometimes to fix awkwardly sited friction pins in place or help squeeze pieces together. If the clamps won't do the job I find a swift whack with the solid part of the side of my hand, or 'Grum Knock' as my Grandson calls it, often does the trick. One other method is to use a thick terracotta coaster. The pieces to be joined are slid up against the side of the 8962 case or wooden tea tray if available and the coaster is then slid up to the pieces. It's then a matter of a few of the aforementioned whacks/Grum Knocks and usually 'hey presto' they're joined. However, pieces have been known to go flying of the table at a spectacular velocity until gravity takes over and it, rather inconveniently, lands on the floor. One piece was found on the patio having flown out the conservatory window! Note to self: It's better to sweat than to swear! I've also made 'cradles' from Lego to hold assemblies in place while working on them and use axles threaded through the holes in pieces to hold them in alignment while trying to join them. I've found that with a bit of lateral thinking and a few house hold bits and pieces I do get things done. All except those pesky pneumatic tubes. Again, I'm sorry for babbling on but I felt it necessary, after reading all your kind words, to make it clear what I can and can't do. If it helps, for those who might know, I'm a C4/5 (complete) Tetraplegic. UPDATE 12 May 2012 For those of you who I've not bored to tears or put to sleep, I've a further posting you might be interested in reading. I've now finished the first parts of what I call, somewhat grandly, Project 'Mog. If you're interested (and still awake!!!) you can find it by entering Project 'Mog in the search box at the top of this page. Apologies for the links to the pics, I've not got to grips with uploading pics to Eurobricks. If you're going to read it, thank you, if not, those who know me understand! I do tend to babble on! grum64 PLEASE NOTE: The above has been edited (09/09/2014) to remove a fulfilled request for help (Thank you) with a problem I was having and to correct spelling/grammatical errors.