So, remember my shower chair that broke over the summer? After a couple orders canceled by the sellers (the chair I wanted was not available from its manufacturer, despite every seller and their cat continuing to list it as available/in-stock) and a few months of waiting for the spare cash to come in, I finally ordered a new one, the “Drive Deluxe Bariatric Chair With Back.” It came in Monday while I was at work, and I was excited enough about it that I was seriously jonesing for a shower just to try it out.

Having given it a couple test drives by now, I feel pretty comfortable recommending it. It’s extremely comfortable, especially with the sturdy back (I specifically avoided chairs with snap-in plastic backs), which gives a chance to rest not only to my legs but to my core and upper back. And it adjusts pretty damn high, if you want it there (I love it there) — it also stays lower if you are so inclined. All I had to do to “assemble” the chair was to connect the back. (The box was very big, but also very light.) The only problem is the space it takes up; you can’t move around it in a normal sized bath tub (whereas you could at least safely step over my old backless chair), and it doesn’t fold up and hide away, meaning it stays in the bathtub permanently. Sorry, hubby.

I also have to give my good word for Metro Medical, the site from which I ordered. It had the best price on the chair out of sites that had an actual rating on the main price-comparison sites (froogle etc.) and free shipping — which, even with a delay (2-3 business days to order the chair from the manufacturer, as they had none in the warehouse) took all of a week to get here. The site is pretty well-designed (including much more detailed information than most sites will give on a product), has decently wide selection, and checkout was a breeze. All in all, an A+ experience.

And now it’s not nearly so hard on me to take a shower. And I get to have my first purchase with the word “bariatric” in the title. ;)