I did a dumb...

I just had a fall, and have no one to blame, but myself. I was trimming some oak & maple branches that were casting too much shade in places that need some sun & air flow. To get to some of the maple branches, I stood on the 18" brick wall of my nearly full-shade garden, that I'm trying to turn into a blend of mostly-sun, dappled, & shade. Wulp. The top brick I was standing on wobbled & fell while I was stretched up and out as far as I could reach, and I landed amidst the combination of branch trimmings, mud (we've had a lot of rain), and rocks, around the base of that wall. Yay me.

At least I managed to get a couple big piles made, that, once trimmed & dried, should provide nearly a week's worth of feed for the goats, this winter, as well as a fair supply of tinder & kindling. Many of the branches I trimmed were long dead (and of course, many of those were in the trimmings I landed on - ouch) so no seasoning required.

John is not happy with me, because(once again) I started doing stuff like that without even letting him know what I was up to. But, the man is smoking a brisket today and I SURELY didn't want to interrupt him - or wait another day. It's a bit overcast, so no real sun in my eyes, the recent rains have cooled the temps way down into the low 70s, from the high 80s/ low 90s(F) - and, I want to get some more perennials into the ground! But, all that made me too impatient for my own good. So now, I'll be spending some time recuperating. Probably at least the rest of today. Just a few minor scrapes and bumps, on the surface - but I've been having a lupus flare and my knees have been going out at least every couple days or so, for the last month, so I had a certain... pain base, to start with. At least I've always kept a well-stocked herbal first aid... well, it's way more than a kit. More like an urgent care center, lol.

I didn't post all this just to whine, though. We've had a few staff injuries, in the northern hemisphere already, this year, and I've no doubt many other permies members have, too. So, this is my hope, in this post:

Be careful out there, y'all! Take the safety measures; let someone else know what you're up to, where you're hanging out (especially if you're literally hanging out!), use your ppe, stay hydrated, take breaks, to cool off, and before you do it, be ready to deal with any injuries/ mishaps. We care about you.

Carla did a dumb. Don't be like Carla.



p.s. As for y'all in the Southern hemisphere; please take care down there, with your autumn and winter chores and projects, too. No snow-shoveling injuries or heart attacks, please, y'all know the drill...

Carla Burke wrote:II didn't post all this just to whine, though. We've had a few staff injuries, in the northern hemisphere already, this year, and I've no doubt many other permies members have, too. So, this is my hope, in this post:

Be careful out there, y'all! Take the safety measures; let someone else know what you're up to, where you're hanging out (especially if you're literally hanging out!), use your ppe, stay hydrated, take breaks, to cool off, and before you do it, be ready to deal with any injuries/ mishaps. We care about you.
.

I hope you are feeling better.  I spent all morning in the ER and two painful days alternating between my desk and the bedroom.

I thought I strained my ankle helping the dog off the bed.

The blood work at the ER showed high level of uric acid so they feel it is gout.

Me too. Thankfully minor/superficial, but a chainsaw accident nonetheless. Was wearing safety glasses for half of the event at least... Only bled from scratching the itchy scratches the following evening, not when I got them.

It's always a good idea to take some time to reflect on what went wrong, how you might avoid it or do better next time. (and DO IT!) Listen to the voices in your head, especially if they're the only other ones there with you. "One more cut, before climbing back down the slope, for a drink and to sharpen this chain..."
Avoidable? Probably. More PPE like a face shield or a helmet with a brim would have helped. Check my chain tension before that cut, might have helped. Take the break, work on the chain, go back up to make the cut was the best I could have done that day.

Whenever the voices in your head say "just one more", "just a little farther", "just this once"... you ought to think twice. If they start singing "Time to do some sketchy shit, doo dah, doo dah!" you better stop. It's always someone else's voice singing "Dumb ways to die, so many dumb ways to die..."

I'm sorry to hear people are getting hurt!!! Hope everyone stays safe and that is the last we hear of this song!
Definitely agree with telling those evil voices to shut up, and I am definitely the PPE queen. .....But I also fell and broke my wrist this past spring (here it's winter now) doing stupid shit in the mud in the garden, so who am I to say anything???

Be careful out there folks! Glad you all survived.

In my opinion you have to split the difference between what you want to do and what you should do. I say this as the son of an 80 year old Vietnam combat vet whose got more pepper in him than a full shaker. Staying active is important, doing what you love is important, no doubt. But accidents happen and it's hard to recover at a later age, especially if you're rural.  To those coots out there like my ol' man, remember you got kin who loves ya, so just take a minute before you get up on that twelve foot ladder to recover the bee swarm way up in the trees.

Just remember to learn from your mistakes and don't do the same thing again!
Sometimes onlookers can see what's going to happen before it does. I was watching a "build your own house" programme on tv and thought the amateur builders were overstretching so they didn't have to get down and move the ladder/scaffolding etc. Sure enough, later in the programme one of them had a serious accident and ended up in hospital for several weeks, all because they tried to save a minute or two.
Having said that, recently I sprained my ankle falling down a 2" step. I was carrying something and couldn't see where to put my feet. Guess what? Now I make sure I watch what I am doing.

Stay safe and be careful everyone.

Ugh. Apparently, this advice needs to be expanded to the kitchen, and doing stuff when your brain is stuck in a 'foggy' mode... The nail was actually kinda pretty. Until I shaved that chunk of, then I decided the rest would be better off trimmed as close as possible, while it heals. Frankinsense & mānuka honey to the rescue!

Glad you are ok! My family always tells me that I should tell teen before I do something dumb. Like I know it’s going to be dumb before I do it!

How fast do your nails usually grow Carla? Watch for it trying to "in grow". Someone who was having that issue, I actually took fine sand paper and thinned the nail and used cream to soften everything so the nail would more easily grow over the skin. It grew out fine in the end, but it sure took a long time.

Ouch Carla!
I did the exact same thing to the same finger!!! About five years ago, while on vacation, cooking for company, and probably rushing. 15 minute delay for bandaging, washing the bloody tools and tossing what was on the cutting board... I should have used the time more wisely.

The first few days are the worst, when it's raw, then it feels strange touching things without the nail there for a few more days, then you sort of get used to it while waiting for the nail to grow back.

Owie! I can tell you were at least trying to hold the knife properly while cutting though. My left forefinger is throbbing in sympathy at the moment having been sliced into with a grass hook while cut and dropping in the orchard this week. Just a small, clean cut though, so another day with micropore tape should see it healed. Yours will probably take weeks to grow out.
I must find out how to safely use a grass hook....more enthusiastic than skillful at the moment I'm afraid.

Yikes!!! hope that heals up fast, going to be an ouchy few days for sure.

You remind me of an exclamation that's heard in my kitchen more than I'd like to admit: "THANK GOD FOR FINGERNAILS"
If I didn't have fingernails, I would have no fingertips left, at all. And I've already lost 2 fingertips to the mandoline (have since bought a safety glove, so at least that's sorted).

Yeahhhh... I'm more than a little embarrassed to admit, this is becoming an annual event. Me+a melon+a knife that's not as sharp/well-honed as it ought to be. Last year, it was my ring finger - same hand, but instead of being on the side of the nail, it was almost dead-center. Thankfully, my nails grow pretty fast. The mānuka honey will at as an antibiotic & moisturizer, to keep it from forming a scab, while it heals, so that the new nail growing over it doesn't form oddly/painfully, and there's no scab to fight for real estate. The trick for me is two-fold - I'm allergic to the adhesive in the bandages - so using a cloth finger cot is healthier, and keeping a cot over it while I do chores wearing gloves now means fishing the used cots out of the glove fingers, lol.

My nails are pretty thick & strong, too - so VERY happy for that! Had my nails been wimpy, I'm sure I would have lost that finger tip!

You'd THINK I'd have learned my lesson, by now. Simply taking a minute to hone that knife would have saved me a lot of trouble. So, the other lesson to add to my OP: A wise person maintains their tools, so their tools don't rebel!

Or since this is an annual event, buy a safety glove like Tereza did?

SERIOUSLY considering it. But, a sharp knife is safer than a dull one - which is what happened in both my incidents. I'm thinking the glove AND better tool maintenance, lol.

I find the glove is only really realistic for the mandoline- my close calls with knives are usually due to either dullness (facepalm) or more often, lack of attention. I'm trying to focus on mindfulness....

I was my husbands birthday and I was preparing dinner.  I was opening a new bottle of white wine vinegar, and my very recently sharpened knife was being used to cut between the metal screw cap and some safety rim attached to it, and voila!  deep cut on my left forefinger at the junction of the metatarsal and 1st phalangeal joint.  It was down to the bone and and needed a hand surgeon in the ER to put the deep stitches in.   I didn't loose any blood since I grabbed it as soon as I saw bone and cartilage, but it was not a great thing to do.  

It wasn't the sharpness or lack of, that aided in the mishap.  It was me not taking the few seconds to get a dull butter knife out to do the same job.  I needed to not be lazy.  Regret is a brutal teacher.

Kathy Vargo wrote:I was my husbands birthday and I was preparing dinner.  I was opening a new bottle of white wine vinegar, and my very recently sharpened knife was being used to cut between the metal screw cap and some safety rim attached to it, and voila!  deep cut on my left forefinger at the junction of the metatarsal and 1st phalangeal joint.  It was down to the bone and and needed a hand surgeon in the ER to put the deep stitches in.   I didn't loose any blood since I grabbed it as soon as I saw bone and cartilage, but it was not a great thing to do.  

It wasn't the sharpness or lack of, that aided in the mishap.  It was me not taking the few seconds to get a dull butter knife out to do the same job.  I needed to not be lazy.  Regret is a brutal teacher.

Ouch!! Yup! Using the right tool for the job can make ALL the difference in the world - especially when it comes to safety!

Since we're on the topic - when I used to work in a hospital 30+ years ago, a plastic surgeon said the #1 cause of sliced tendons in hands was using a sharp knife to break apart frozen hamburger patties.

Please - a dull butter knife does a fine and *much* safer job of it!

Jay Angler wrote:Since we're on the topic - when I used to work in a hospital 30+ years ago, a plastic surgeon said the #1 cause of sliced tendons in hands was using a sharp knife to break apart frozen hamburger patties.

Please - a dull butter knife does a fine and *much* safer job of it!

Sharp for cutting, dull for prying!

I just saw an ad for a tshirt that reminded me of this.

https://www.snorgtees.com/i-can-t-brain-today-i-have-the-dumb?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=home&utm_term=6382816924328&utm_content=dpa&fbclid=IwAR3baWi12VqzRfFotSYREye5K3zDK_0mjksIo1OTwB0UgBSvuuPUdH71t7U_aem_AdSBrd9zTRqBY3CgZ1Mfr56ufvYjNphgY5vnjwDIEuDiLj3JcrYl1e1Zsw4RRPxHTyUSxEu-AVeqphQdjkMhiJNQ

All better!

I had forgotten all about this thread until now! Luckily for you folks..... I did a BIG DUMB and you all are spared from seeing how bad this whole thing was at first.

I was training my pup's recall using my awesome new 10-meter line. My dog decided to take off after a bird. It had been a few years since I worked with dogs or horses on a long line, and I forgot the cardinal rule: IF YOU LOSE CONTROL, DROP THE LINE. I didn't drop the line, and got some pretty impressive rope burns all over my (dominant, of course) hand, one the one finger down to the white-and-shiny bits.

Today it's been three and a half weeks, and IMHO I healed up much better than I expected. Luckily I was able to get my hand soaking in cold water almost immediately (two fingers didn't even blister up afterward, I believe that's why) and I have some really awesome propolis and native bee honey ointment I keep around for this type of thing.

Ouch, Tereza!! Yup - instinct says, "DON'T LET GO!!" Or, in my case, roughly 18 years ago - "CATCH IT!!" An on the job thing, I caught a gallon jug of something toxic, not realizing there was no lid on it, as it fell from an overhead conveyor belt. I was lucky not to lose my vision, because a coworker got me to the emergency shower & eyewash station very quickly. Overcoming instinct can be a vicious lesson, as many in pro kitchens learn, fast. Many years before my 'catch it' incident, I saw a coworker catch a falling knife, so you'd think it'd have figured that one out. But, who thinks,  "let that gallon of ick hit the floor, and make a lake of ick!"