Camping down at the state office!

Greetings!

For anyone who has lived in Southern California for an extended period of time knows they will eventually have to face a tax increase. It is just a way of life out here. The moment you think that a politician or city councilmen will stick to their promise of lowering taxes, the opposite occurs. Like I said, its just a way of life out here. This time though, its a bit more serious.

I have lived in the Los Angeles area my whole life and my wife has been here over half her life as well. 2008 was a great year as well as a trying year for many of us who are restricted to a wheelchair. Some of us choose to make our voices heard and others chose to sit back and hope for the best. My wife and I have always been the couple that chooses the road less traveled when it comes to protecting our rights and benefits. We are not the type to sit back and do nothing.

On Monday June 22nd, my wife and I made plans to attend the protest that was occurring in downtown Los Angeles late in the afternoon to make our voices heard in regards to the plans the California Democrats had in store for several of our programs funded through the state.

My wife and I along with our friends and caregivers had sent many emails to each other to design a plan on the night of June 22nd 2009. The plan was simple.......we wanted the lawmakers, legislatures, councilmen, everyone to see the faces of those they wished to cut services to with the deciding votes they were going to cast.

We all stayed "locked" together all night long to prove a point that these services are not for sale to the special interest groups.

It was a cold night, but our spirits kept us warm and our message was heard. Once again, thank you to all who participated on the memorable night outside the state office in downtown Los Angeles.

Sincerely,

Randy and Cathy Horton

Oceanside Great, Greyhound not so great!

Greetings,

Forgive me if it takes me a little longer to write this today. I have been typing a letter to Greyhound in regards to a disaster of epic proportions!!

I'll come back to this in a bit.

This past Sunday my wife and I had a great trip planned to visit friends in Oceanside California. We were so excited and prepared for this weekend getaway, that we both woke up at 4:00 a.m. to get to Union Station at 7:00 a.m. Let's fast forward a bit, the bus ride down was pretty and peaceful. We had great food and great conversation with our friends. We took some great photos of each other and the ocean. The day was quite pleasant. As the sun began to set, my wife and I began to say our good-byes to our new friends and we made our way back to the bus station that was supposed to take us home. It didn't turn out that way....

Back to the beginning, long before we set foot on the bus, we, like every bus/train or plane passenger made our reservations when we paid for our tickets. My wife and I both received confirmation numbers verifying that our special travel arrangements would be met....they were not!

My wife and I were turned away by the driver of our "scheduled and paid for bus" back to Union Station. We were not very pleased once again.

This non-sense continued for another three hours, until Greyhound finally sent a bus that would take us back to Union Station.

As many of you know, my wife and I live quite a distance from downtown Los Angeles. We then had to arrange travel from Union Station to our home many miles away. All of our planned travel arrangements made days if not weeks before, were completely disregarded. Last time I checked, I was billed for these tickets, but not provided the services I paid for. Needless to say, we are not done with this matter, but, here are some very special photos our of trip on this very long day.

Sincerely,

Randy and Cathy Horton

I am pleased to announce!

Hello everyone,

It has been one week since the ballot election for the position of "Chairman of the Consumer Advisory Committee" and I am glad to say that I earned the most votes for this valuable position at the Regional Center. I am also very happy to say that I am once again part of the Board of Northern Los Angeles Regional Centers.

I come to this committee with over 8 years of experience and a lifetime of meeting, networking and relating to others with similar disabilities.

During these tough times, I plan to listen and start conversations with everyone who is willing to work together. There has to be a better solution and policy then what we have. No more cuts for developmentally disabled adults.

In addition to this great position, my wife and I celebrated out six month anniversary this past Saturday. We both decided we wanted to share the day together at our favorite place down at Disneyland. Sometimes though, life likes to send its little challenges when you least expect it. On this anniversary, apparently, Disneyland had a "blackout day". For those of you that don't know, a blackout day is a day when a season ticket holder....can't attend with their pass.

Since my wife and I had traveled so far for our anniversary, the ticket master was nice enough to let us in anyway. It turned out to be a great day.

At least we know our wheel chairs are strong!

Greetings everyone,

As usual, it has been an exciting week for my wife and I. We were fortunate enough to attend the Abilities Expo held in Anaheim California. I have attend this program for over ten years now, and am still amazed to see many old as well as new faces.

There is no one else I would have rather been with at this program then my dear wife Cathy whom made her first visit to the Abilities Expo.

My wife won't leave me alone, until I find a way to get her a brand new pinball machine!! That's not to say, that I didn't have a great time playing pinball, but my wife is a bit more persistent then I am. We both scored pretty high on the scoreboards which made it difficult to stop playing.

***On a side note...is there anyone out there who is looking to donate a pinball machine?? My wife and I would forever be in your debt!***

After a nice lunch, my wife and I made our way to our favorite place on earth.....located not too far from the Expo, "Disneyland"!

Now, on a side note to our readers, my wife and I had commended how well Disneyland had begun preparations for wheelchair friendly rides and attractions, but, this past Sunday, we may have to revise that statement.

After a joyful ride upon the park's touring train, there was a miscommunications between conductors. As we know, there is a front and back conductor to every train. Unfortunately, the back conductor thought it was safe for my wife and I to exit.....he was wrong.

The train's ramp had lowered, but, the train was still moving and I nearly was crushed. I was a bit shook up, but the Disney staff was extremely sorry and offered us free dinner as that was the least they could do.

**As a lesson to everyone, make sure any moving vehicle is fully stopped.***

Other then that, my wife and I still had a great time and plan to return this coming Saturday.

We will have more this following Tuesday!!

Randy and Cathy Horton