Safety First

I have had a rude reminder recently about safety. Just so you know, accidents happen when you don't expect them. Over the years I have had a few accidents while working, here are just a few:

1) Back when I was still working in Green Bay, Wisconsin I stepped down off a deck right on to a nail sticking up through a board. It hurt like the dickens, but not for long thank goodness for ibuprofin. I was able to keep working, but that evening my sock stuck to the bottom of my foot.

2) About 9 years ago I was driving in a stake with a hand mall. I was holding the stake steady with my left hand and swinging with all my might with my right hand. The key to success is to actually hit the stake.... and not your hand. That hurt so bad that I couldn't move my index finger or my thumb. Off to the truck I went for some ibuprofins. I popped six of those suckers. I was back at work in 10 minutes pain free. It never did swell up or be residually sore.

3) About five or six years ago I was building a roof over my daughter's patio. A sharp piece of metal pierced my wrist. Blood all over and I still have the scar. But the job had to go on so out came the bandaids.

4) About four years ago I was finishing my nephew's basement. I had to stand on my tip toes to nail into the floor joists. The pneumatic nailer missed the joist and drove a nail through my hand. So I drove to the clinic and freaked out two receptionists and a nurse. Watching the Doctor work freaked me out, though. Out came the nail, on went the antiseptic, and on went the bandage. And it was back to work again.

5) At the same job I tripped over an air hose, caught myself on my finger tips and bent two fingers on my right hand, straight up. Man that hurt! I quickly grabbed the fingers and yanked them straight. Then I ran for the ibuprofin. Then it was back to work. My fingers were swollen for months.

6) Then there was the time when I lived in Green Bay that I cut my hand really bad. I got my youngest daughter to drive me to emergency where I sat bleeding for a couple of hours. I had enough of that. She took me back home and we bandaged it ourselves taping the wound together. That day I didn't go back to work.

7) Well, just the other day I was using my sawsall. Suddenly my finger hurt like the dickens. I looked at it and saw that I had sawed up under the finger nail of my left index finger. I had my helper bandage it up, took 3 ibuprofins, and went back to work. It bled until late that night. It's still hard to put my hand in my pocket.

So my tip for you today is..... don't hurt yourself. But if you do, at least take the rest of the day off and get yourself a Starbucks. After all, you deserve it.... and you won't get sympathy anyway. They'll just say, "what did you do a stupid thing like that, for?"