Man Without Pants

Loud, nerdy, disabled Scottish-American writer. I like video games, animals, and animation, so expect to see a lot of that. Cis/het/he-him-his pronouns. Languages English & French. Let's be friends. Current Fundraising Project: https://goo.gl/q53RaI My Fundraiser: https://goo.gl/TgNvlr

[rinellawashere]

FYI, Not Dead

Just so folks know, since I finally swung by and checked my messages after several months: no, I am not dead, and no, I was not a scammer. I just... really don’t use Tumblr much, to be honest.

For reference, I’m posting this on 6 June 2016. I do have a new chair now, a replacement funded by the YouCaring drive. It’s nearly identical, and it’s great. I also managed to graduate from college, and am now enjoying the life of the working stiff.

I disappeared partly because I seldom use Tumblr, and partly for shittier reasons. A few days after the initial post and the outpouring of Internet Love, I got a bunch of Internet hate, including a whole storm of accusations and insults that a disturbing amount of my fellow students seemed to take at face value. Also a few threats, which were ever so much fun. I didn’t want to post about them since I hoped they’d just fade away, which they did, and that sort of kept me off the site.

Anyway, there you go- quick update, hoping to post more often in the future. I’m currently editing the first episode of a YouTube series on disabled life, to go up whenever I’m done. Should be fun!

[rinellawashere]

So Close

We’re within $167 of being able to afford a new chair. Please, at this stage even small donations are incredibly helpful. If forty people each donated $5, this would be done immediately. Thank you all so much.

https://www.youcaring.com/david-rinella-437103

[rinellawashere]

Where did the name 'rinellawashere' come from??

Honestly, I just use it for everything! Rinella is my surname, and the "was here" just felt like a nice informal greeting. Don't really know, I've been using it since I was 13.

[rinellawashere]

Unfortunate Fundraiser News

Last Friday, I was measured for a replacement chair. It all went well- the new chair is pretty much an exact replica of the stolen one. However, they sent me the price today, and it’s much higher than I expected- $4,259. The current fundraiser is $172 below this.

I hate to do this, but I’m going to up the goal on the fundraiser to reflect this. I’m really hoping we can get enough to not only afford the chair, but also have at least a bit of excess to donate as planned.

As usual, if you can’t afford to donate please signal boost, and wish me luck.

https://www.youcaring.com/david-rinella-437103

[rinellawashere]

I hope you get your wheelchair my sweet little love muffin

Like four people have called me a love muffin in my inbox. Is this a thing?

[flimsywrists-deactivated2017070]

Click here to support Wheelchair for Shelbie by Shelbie Lynn Paulley

Shelbie was nineteen years old when she was first diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that causes her body to produce defective collagen and results in weak skin, joints, and blood vessels. Shelbie experiences frequent dislocations of her hips and knees, making walking...

Hi guys, my wheelchair fundraiser is up now. Signal boost if you can, please!

[rinellawashere]

Quick signal boost for another fundraiser- once the #wheelsformackenzie fundraiser meets its goal, this one will take its place up top, and get daily boosts.

[rinellawashere]

Is there anything I can do, donate to a fundraiser or something, to help you in the meantime before you get your chair back? This entire thing is ridiculous and wrong and shouldn't be happening at all, and I want to help you as much as I can without being in Portland (as I'm from New Jersey).

Well, I’ve got a fundraiser, which I’ve got a link to up there in my description, but it massively cleared the goal. Instead, I’m currently trying to help raise funds here for a girl up in Washington who needs a new chair!

If you wanted to donate to me, please donate to her instead- I threw in a few hours ago, but every cent helps!

https://www.gofundme.com/kf5yydrw

[rinellawashere]

An Update and a Request

Hey there! It’s been one week, almost to the hour, since I found out my chair was stolen. In that time, the Internet has been pouring support on me. The YouCaring fundraiser has hit $4,087 dollars, over a thousand dollars past the original goal. I’ve got over three hundred messages of support sitting in my inbox from all over the world.

And on Friday, I was measured for a new chair.

This has all been amazing, and I’m incredibly grateful for the kind of charity and love I’ve experienced. I am incredibly fortunate to have received it.

Let’s see if we can make it happen again.

Mackenzie McCullough is a teenager from Washington, and she’s got a huge list of diagnoses, the only one of which I can even spell is Ehler-Danlos Syndrome. The current chair she has is an absolute clunker, and she can’t make it move at all, rendering her immobile. She needs a new one, badly, but insurance can’t help.

Maybe we can. A family friend of hers reached out to me with the link to her GoFundMe, asking if I could help. I figure that this is maybe what part of this blog can become- a place to help direct all the goodwill I’ve received towards other people who need it.

Please, if you can help, do so, and if not, signal boost. Let’s give a kid back her life. #wheelsformackenzie

https://www.gofundme.com/kf5yydrw

[rinellawashere]

I can't wrap my head around what you must be going through or how you are staying so civil about this because if this were to happen to me I would not have been able to remain so level headed through all of this. I hope you are doing better. I'm sorry that happened to you.

I guess I’m just a generally positive guy? Way I look at it, what’s probably gonna be the worst thing to ever happen to me has already happened years ago, and I’m fine. Took me a while to get here- spent about a year in deep depression- but once you’re out, it feels amazing.

[rinellawashere]

Did you get your wheelchair back honey?

I’m afraid not, we’re still looking! I’ve got a loaner chair for now, and while it’s a junker, it’ll do until my chair is located or I get a replacement.

[rinellawashere]

Wait I'm just confused as to why it was even on your front porch in the first place. Don't you need it to get around your house ? (Sorry if this sounds ignorant or anything I'm legitimately just confused as to how this works)

Oh, no, I use a cane for short distances, which works fine in a small house like mine, and my house is (or was, we rearranged stuff so it won’t happen again) very cramped. So I’d gotten in the bad habit of storing it outside.

[rinellawashere]

Can I ask how exactly it was stollen?

I mean, you can. I don’t really know details, since I wasn’t there. I like to imagine there was rappelling involved, though.

Jokes aside, they stole it off my front porch.

[rinellawashere]

A little more prepared this time, though not any more photogenic. Why is my hair an M?

[rinellawashere]

A break from the wheelchair posts to appreciate the absurd creature that lives in my home.

[rinellawashere]

I don't even know how you're handling this so well. Stay strong, friend.

Because I’ve got thousands of people sending me amazing, wonderful messages like this. I have never felt so loved.

[rinellawashere]

GOAL MET

OH MY GOD

I hadn’t checked it for a few hours- I was in class. I swing by once I get home and to my absolute surprise, the fundraiser is sitting at $3,790 out of $3,000.

I am floored. I am in shock. This is absolutely unbelievable.

Please don’t stop. Every single cent of excess will go immediately to charity. At this point, by donating, you can help disabled folks in Portland improve their lives, just like you’ve all already improved mine.

Thank you all so much. I can never say it enough. 

[rinellawashere]

Yik Yak has been very supportive in helping find my chair.

Clearly, the sentiment isn’t universal.

Also, no, the chair was not in fact there.