Pavel Nedvěd / I have already admitted that my travelling outside home or orientation inside are not outstanding. I am going to talk about the inside today. It is not going to be a list of housework, that's what self-helping manuals are for. More likely I am going to share some of my personal experience. I would like those, who are more skilled and experienced than me, to contact me. I bet there are plenty.

How I move through the flat

The first two flats were pretty good. The hall was long and narrow, nowhere to turn. There was also quite a lot of furniture which helped to lead the way, for example a big piano in the livingroom. My new flat has big empty spaces, there's nothing to hold onto. I have been thinking of buying a long, narrow carpet which would be placed on the floor leading from the porch to the hall. I don't like walking through my flat with outstretched arms, or worse with the white stick. Even though nobody can see me. When I am at the porch, it might be about 10 meters before I reach the hall. That's why I beg my regular visitors to be patient at the door. If they ring the bell repeatedly I sometimes get furious. If somebody calls me I ask them to hold the line longer so that I am able get hold of the phone. I can not clearly tell directions by my ears so looking for the phone takes a while. If I am in a bigger hurry I may knock down a chair,or hit the piano, the fridge or the cupboard only becuse I move a bit too much to the left or right. I also appreciate if the phone and the inside and outside door bell sound differently. Usually it is not like that, so I took care of the changes myself.

Visitors are coming

Especially for announced visitors I always have some kind of refreshment ready. It might be a cold platter, some sweets or a bowl of chips and peanuts. In that case I do always keep my share separated from the rest, because more sensitive visitors might get disgusted if they saw my hand cruising the common plate. You cannot prevent that some visitors do your dishes. After the washing is done they just stick them onto various places in the cupboard. When they have left I got to find the above mentioned dishes and fix the misplacement. Once I don't do it imediately I have to look for those things later on and I remember the visitor with anger or ungratefulness. For example, I keep separated the glass, tupperware or microwaveable dishes. The cleanness of my dishes can match other peoples', it just takes me longer to do them. I had to improve the cleanness of my glass as some of the deeper glasses would have ugly stains at the bottom and none of the glasses was ever really shiny. Sociability together with good food has its value though, even bigger value then has a good chat, where we can show one very important personal quality: our ability to listen.

Flat aesthetics

It is good to have a friend with a good taste who can help you choose your curtains, bedsheets, clothes or similar. I used to be friends with painters and sculptors so I have a few paintings and, on safe places, even some sculptures. I used to look at them quite often back in the days and even today I like to think I can still see them. I know they please my visitors. For example I can still recall the cloudy sky on one of the paintings, you feel as if you could almost touch those clouds. Sometimes people bring me flowers. I like that because they smell nice. I also like music, recorded or my own.

What knowledge is mostly useful at home

Finding things according to the directions of a clock-face, for example food on your plate or simply some things, lying on the table in front of you. The information that you need to look for things on the table proceding from the edges to the center is also very useful. This way you don't knock things down. I still find it difficult to remember to protect my face with a hand while bending down. Sometimes I just bend over recklessly and hit my face or forehead on the back of a chair.

What bothers me most?

Me and other people who help me, too: we are fed up with looking for misplaced things or things I have just dropped. Eyes are quick, hands are incredibly slow. Imagine the area or space an eye is able to capture within seconds and how little a feeling hand can do! But now it is up to you to share your experience: How do you for example manage if more blind people are visiting at the same time? Are you relevied if only one of them at a time is moving around while the others are sitting still? Are you so sorry when you accidetally step on a dogs paw? Do you travel through your flat without bouncing things at all? Are your non-blind friends and visitors considerate and do they know what they might complicate your life with? Are you bold enough to explain that to them without anger or remorse? Are you patient if your momentary wish is not carried out with priority, willingly and exactly how you want it?

I am showing a mirror not only to you, but myself, too. P.N.

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