I've found that when I'm reading a book I have to hold it open with my one hand, which depending on the size and weight of the book can get tiring after a while. Also, I then don't have a spare hand to turn the page and sometimes the book just doesn't want to stay open. If I'm laying in bed reading it's a little hard to hold a book open when I'm on my side reading, especially if it's a hardback.

Now, don't get me wrong, it's not like this is a major obstacle in life, but it's always a delight when something comes along like solves these minor irritants and currently I'm being delighted by my Kindle 2.

The Kindle is easy to hold in one hand, or lay flat on the bed, or rest on one's knees and the e-Ink reflective screen really looks like the printed page, quite amazing and a pleasure to read even at an angle, just like a real book. I don't have to try to keep it open or put it down to flip pages, I can even hold it with my i-Limb hand!

But wait, there's more…I can buy and download books on the fly, have all my books immediately to hand anywhere I go and all in a device that's slim, trim and looks like a super-sized iPhone.

Thank you Amazon!

I showed her the data sheet on the i-Limb hand and she agreed that it could make quite a difference for me and agreed to put in a referral so I can get one…the process is underway! I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Kaiser agree to pay for it.

Since I meet Stuart Mead, CEO of TouchBionics, earlier this year I have been able to get an i-Limb hand in advance of getting through the Kaiser approval process, so I contacted Rich Sire at Diablo Prosthetics & Orthotics to start the process of getting it fitted. The guys at TouchBionics and Rich have been great!

And the hand arrived this week. It comes in a heavy duty case, all sealed up, that contains the hand itself, cosmesis (the outer skin), battery & charger, instruction manuals and a cute, little toolkit.

So on Friday I met with Rich to start the process of fabricating a socket for the hand. The first step was to use a myo-electric tester to find the best sites for the electrodes. Once these had been identified Rich was able to mark up the test socket he’d built so he knew where they would need to be located.

The next job is to fabricate a full test socket that I can then really use to try out the hand before he makes a final carbon fiber one. If all goes well I should be up and running with in the next month!