New CV equipment at the gym

[SusanDoris]

Recently, Hant CC - I presume they authorised the expense - replaced all the CV and strength equipment in all their local gyms here. State of the art it may be, but suitable for the blind? No!! The Staff are lovely and have been trying to work out the best way for me to use it, and being a rather determined sort of person, I will certainly find  a way of doing so.

However, I have today sent an e-mail to the UK offices of the US Company which nanufacture it, so I shall be interested to hear what they reply. In this - very politely but firnly expressed - e-mail I mentioned disability awareness.

The old machines (not that old) had a programmed key set up for users which was clear, simple and just right for my needs.


Just thought some here might be interested!

[Hope]

The old machines (not that old) had a programmed key set up for users which was clear, simple and just right for my needs.

Out of interest, was this 'clear, simple and just right for my needs' opinion shared by all disabled users?  If not, does the new stuff cater for some of thir needs which perhaps the old stuff didn't?

I ask because we had a similar situation in the county in which I live and what had been useful for some on the old stuff hadn't been for others and similarly with the new stuff.

[ad_orientem]

What does "CV" stand for?

[SusanDoris]

For those who can see, whether wheelchair users or not, the screen, a touch screen, has, as far as I know places to touch which will set up level, speed and time. There is one other gym member with sight impairment, but he can still read large print so will, as far as I know be able to locate the position and colour of places on the screen  .

CV = cardio-vascular
Most of the strength equipment - chest press, shoulder press, lat pulls, leg press and so on are not a problem; it is just taking me a while to get used to where to put the pegs in and how to adjust the seat etc. The benches are cumbersome to raise and lower, and free weights are only in even numbers - 2, 4, 6 kg, so the staff kept back the old 3s, 5s, etc for those of us who need them!

[ad_orientem]

Ah! Cardio vascular. Cheers. I was racking my brain and could only think of "curriculum vitae", but that's got nothing to do with the gym. 

I hope you get used to the new equipment. I should imagine it's quite annoying.

[L.A.]

It's funny how councils always seem to have plenty of cash available for doing really stupid things.

[SusanDoris]

ad_orientem :


LA: I did hear someone wonder out loud whether it was to encourage local people to vote the right way!

[Hope]

As ad_o says, I hope you get used to the new stuff quickly, Susan. 


Whilst in no way suggesting that this is the case with Susan, I sometimes wonder whether we do ourselves injustices by failing to give positive feedback in such situations.  We are often quick to complain when things are problematic; how often do we praise the staff and management 'officially' when things are going well.

[Harrowby Hall]

It's funny how councils always seem to have plenty of cash available for doing really stupid things.

It might be worthwhile checking up on what councils are allowed to do.

What passes for local government in England is actually very, very tightly controlled by Westminster. Councils have "powers" - the ability to take appropriate actions, and "duties" - tasks imposed on them by central government.

Often the "powers" they have are constrained by the imposed "duty". An example is rubbish collection: a council has the power to determine who collects rubbish and what happens to it but the frequency of collection is a duty determined by Westminster.

Councils have a number of duties related to public health and the provision of leisure facilities - so the existence of gyms and swimming pools may be the result of a duty imposed on them.

My local gym is run by a company set up by the council to act in as commercial a manner as possible - so presumably this is intended to reduce its impact on council tax as much as possible. Its day-to-day management and operational decision making is not a council activity. It is also possible that the gym does not own the equipment but leases it. This is how things are done these days.

Many of the assumptions of SusanDoris and others about the involvement of the appropriate council in decision making may be simply incorrect.

[Rhiannon]

As ad_o says, I hope you get used to the new stuff quickly, Susan. 


Whilst in no way suggesting that this is the case with Susan, I sometimes wonder whether we do ourselves injustices by failing to give positive feedback in such situations.  We are often quick to complain when things are problematic; how often do we praise the staff and management 'officially' when things are going well.

Slightly off topic, but I make sure I officially praise good service - in fact I do it more than I complain. I emailed the hospital where I was treated for pneumonia to say how brilliant the A&E staff were and the head office of an electrical chain to say how helpful and knowledgeable their staff were in our local store, for example.

I don't think that stops organisations from fixing things that aren't broken though, sadly.

[SusanDoris]

Hope: Thank you  As Rhiannon says, I agree about giving praise where it’s due. After my several hospital stays, I wrote to the various departments each time to convey my thanks and gratitude. Also, over the years, the Highways Dept have repaired quite a few pavement problems which have caused me difficulty and always sound very surprised when I phone and thank them!

Harrowby Hall: Very interesting post, thank you.

Rose: Thank you for the link.   I asked about the old equipment; apparently, some is sold on, some is broken up for parts and scrap metal or something.