Hello everyone, just to say that I'm not writing much at the moment as I've had a little ... accident. As you can see from the picture, my right hand is not fully functional, and given that it's my writing hand I'm forced to type with one finger on my left hand.
Yes, two weeks ago I was cutting through a steel pipe with an angle grinder when the tool caught an edge, banged against a wall and rebounded onto the back of my hand. Luckily, I was at home when it happened, which is a five minute walk away from the nearest hospital. Once there they ascertained that it was serious enough to be sent to the regional hospital, and I emerged two days later having had an operation to sew together a severed tendon and dig some fragmented disk out of the bone.
Although I've been using power tools for 25 years, this was my first experience of anything going wrong. It was a silly mistake that could have been avoided, and I've learned my lesson. I also got to learn a few things about the health system here, and got a free mini-break in a nice hospital with nice doctors and nurses. So, much humbled, I'm back home and recuperating.
Anyway, I'm pretty much handicapped for three months while it heals, which has torpedoed most of my work projects. At least I can catch up on a lot of reading - it could have been a lot worse.
***
In other news, I'm sad to report that heretical polymath and fellow peak oiler Liam Scheff passed away earlier today aged 45, having written this note. I wouldn't claim to have been a friend of Liam, having only become aware of his work six months ago, but I interacted with him quite a few times on social media and appreciated his rapier wit and sharp thinking. The tale of his demise is a sad one, but he bowed out lucid to the end and with true spirit. He was definitely one of the good guys - I've got his book Official Stories on order.
I hope you recover well, and are back in action soon. I don't suppose you're out on the bike either at the moment. It is encouraging to hear that the NHS is functioning as well as it is given all the headlines in the media at the moment.
ReplyDeleteCheers - lesson learned. Yes - the staff and facilities at Treliske were great. I even ended up with my own room with a view of some trees. Everything functioned well although I did have to wait about 10 hours to see a doctor to start with. This wasn't really their fault however as they were overwhelmed with very seriously injured people from three separate RTAs. That and several young men injured in motorbike accidents (i.e. scrambling) and some rugby players with broken bones. My injury was less urgent, by comparison.
DeleteHi Jason,
ReplyDeleteBest wishes for a speedy recovery. Mate, I totally feel for you as accidents can happen very quickly and without warning when you are working with power tools. And angle grinders can kick and buck very quickly. Ouch! I was out using the angle grinder with a super thin high speed metal cutting disc today as the bright yellow trailer needed some serious repairs. At one point the angle grinder disc bucked and the disc shattered. Fortunately the hand was nowhere near the thin cutting disc... You would have had a similar experience here in the hospital system between the wait and the surgery.
Hmm, I have known many lovely humans and other animals and when any one of them passes into death, I plant a tree in remembrance of them. Even near death Liam seemed full of life.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Chris. That's a good idea about the tree. In the meantime I've ordered one of his books, although I'd have no idea where the royalty payment will end up as I don't believe he had any kids.
DeleteHi Jason. The rural towns here are full of old elms (plus oaks and horse chestnuts) trees all lined up neatly along the sides of the main roads leading into and out of town. They're very neatly spaced and some even have plaques with the names of locals who had died in WWI and WWII. The avenues of honour are impressive to see and a stark reminder at how the rural towns were depopulated during those days. Perhaps the idea for the tree came from there? Dunno, who knows where ideas come from! Are you thinking of starting any new books? I liked the way you worked Art into a myth over timescale in The Seat of Mars. Hope your hand is healing. I had to laugh at my own irreverence: I looked down the "You might also like" list on your blog and read the titles: serious; serious; serious; serious; serious; serious; "Fluffy the Pomeranian..."; serious; serious; serious; I think you get the gist of it! ;-)! I'm mucking around with the writing tool of allegory at the moment as it seems to be effective. Dunno. Honestly, the replacement wood heater was installed yesterday and run for the first time today, so I'm breathing a big sigh of relief as the system seems to work and appears to have greater longevity. Cheers. Chris
DeleteGlad to hear your wood heater is working well. It's always slightly odd conversing with someone who's living through the opposite season to oneself - here it's getting quite warm and I'm in the process of blacking up our old wood burner as it's only role for the next six months is as a decorative feature.
DeleteI wish you a swift recovery. It sucks to be out of action in spring time when there are so many things to do - I grafted trees today myself. By chance I never had a serious accident - so far...
ReplyDeleteThanks, Gunnar. Yes, it really couldn't have happened at a worse time but at least it has taught me a painful lesson about the best laid plans of mice and men etc.
DeleteAnother Doomer Cripple!
ReplyDeleteTry using voice to text software. You can edit it with one finger and a mouse.
I had thought about that! I'm getting slightly faster typing with one finger but it really does suck ...
DeleteYou could always try the software "Dasher": ww.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/dasher, which is a software by which you choose letters with a pointer, rather than typing. The software predicts which letters you are most likely to choose next and expands them to make them faster to select.
DeleteThanks - I have regained the use of much of my hand now, but will bear Dasher in mind for the next time I decide to physically incapacitate myself ;-)
DeleteEeeek! May your hand heal swiftly and well...
ReplyDeleteThank you. It's already healing swiftly but I still have a few more weeks until it's fully functional once more.
DeleteThis must be driving you nuts. I had a cast on my left hand ( I'm left handed) once, and it was actually a good thing for rewiring my brain for "ambidextrocity" or the ability to problem solve doing tasks one handed. Just curious what you were in the process of building with the pipe?
ReplyDeleteI have several projects in the works, and am always interested in what homesteading tasks or tinkering others are doing.
Hi Steve - I wrote a long list of all the tasks I needed to get done before July - including building a shed, concreting the floor in the basement, skinning the poly tunnel, building some more raised beds etc etc - and the first thing on the list was to repair the washing machine in the back yard, which had lost its hook.
DeleteA little explanation is in order - clothes drying where I live tends to be done on lines attached to poles that are then hoisted up high by pulling on ropes, which are then tied off to cleats. The sturdy steel poles are about 30 feet high, and in our case, a hook through which to thread the rope had fallen off, meaning we couldn't dry our clothes without using the (expensive) electric dryer. It's really quite a sight on a warm, dry day to see so many clothes billowing in the wind above everyone's houses. Anyway, the pole should have unscrewed close to ground level for such maintenance jobs, but ours is old and had rusted up. Given that I didn't have an overhead cable elevator, and it would have been suicide to place a ladder against a swaying (slightly rusty) steel pole - I decided to cut it near the base so I could get it down to ground level, fix it, give it a coat of fresh paint and then make a concrete base (incorporated into a planter) in which to place it again.
It was while I was cutting this pole that I had my little mishap.
I wrote 'washing machine' - but clearly I meant 'washing line' - Blogger won't let you edit replies.
DeleteI wish you a speedy recovery, Jason! I use an angle grinder all the time to cut steel for the tools I forge. This is a timely reminder to never lower my guard when using power tools. The leverage they grant us in efficiency can very quickly turn against us. I wonder if the benefits of and the harms done by machinery end up canceling themselves out. Take care and enjoy your forced reprieve if you can.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tim. I've still got the disk that 'did it' - complete with the sizeable chunks missing from the edge (which surgeons later removed from my knuckle bones). I'm thinking of framing it on the wall as a reminder to always follow safety protocol.
DeleteI'm so sorry to hear about your accident!! It can happen so fast, and no previous usage actually guarantees it won't happen. I hope that it heals fast, and that you give it the time it needs, and remember that healing also makes the whole body tired, so give it extra vitamins and rest!
ReplyDeleteThanks Cathy. I'm ahead of schedule, in terms of healing, and can do a lot more with it now. I've lost a few minor nerves and can't make a fist, but other than that it is coming along nicely.
DeleteVery sorry to hear about your injury. Get well soon (and be more careful in the future; we need people like yourself!).
ReplyDeleteGreetings
Frank from Germany