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With a tip o’ the hat to Words of Wisdom, Watch Out! and It’s About Pants, I’d like ya’ll to reminisce about those scars, nubs of fingers and broken hearts. Like the space between one eyebrow I got when I knocked myself out with a cats paw in a clients’ front yard demo-ing a boxed-post fence: complete with bugs-bunny orbiting stars and myself starfished out on the lawn.
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Now see Clay, here all this time we thought you "snuck-up" on the backside of your Weaver K-6 scope, a might too much, and touched off your .270 Winchester. A "hypen-ated eyebrow" we called it. You could always tell who owned one that way!
;)
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George, I'm coming your way, be careful, I might try to get a job.
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Clay, thought you was goin' to New Yahk. Did you wise-up, er... come to your senses..., umm....
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My primary service area will consist of Manhatten, Brooklyn and Queens. For special projects I am willing to travel to Massachusetes, New Hampshire and Maine. I will do my utmost to work with you to meet your needs. Most jobs are completed on a 'quote basis' or a 'time and material'.
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Clay: Haven't you ever nailed your hand with a pneumatic nailer yet?
*Good Grief,Clay tell me you havent. Lonecat, if you tell me how long you were stuck to that roof, and how much of it you took to the E.R. with you, I might tell you my story. JonC
*Wow!! You guys make me feel good about myself again. I shot one in my hand 2 years ago laying roof sheathing, 8d from a Senco 325. 10 minutes from hospital, 1 1/2 hour wait before they pulled the nail, then they want to get me Demoral (?) after they pull it. Didn't hit any bones. The gun had a broken safety spring and the operator had his finger on the trigger as he jerked on the hose to unsnag it.
*This thread is sick!!!!I like GLUE and especially after reading about these mishaps. Tornados, hurricanes or Sunommies there is not greater loss than blood in mine eye.Screw the roof!!No needles. Congress should outlaw nailguns. People don't shoot people. Carpenters and roofers shoot themselves. Drives up the cost of healthcare for everyone. BAN those weapons!!
*For some reason, I've ended up taking several people to the ER that shot themselves with nail guns. I'learned that you get better service if you do b notremove the nail yourself. If you take it out, all you have is a minor wound, which they do not take seriously. If you leave it sticking out of your hand, it seems to be a novelty or something. Gets a lot more attention. My personal best injury was falling through a hole in a roof. I was working on a house that had 2 dormers in it. The boss wanted the plywood cut out under the dormers for ventilation. I started to cut one of them out, but couldn't quite reach the other side. So I moved my foot up on the plywood I was cutting out in order to reach farther. I ended up hanging upside down inside the trusses, with several scrapes and pulled muscles.
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i lasted just one day on construction for this very stupid reason:
at the end of my first confusing, laborious, and altogether unrewarding day, i was assigned to help unload some 10 massive I-beams off a truck by guiding at one end as the cranes lowered them onto cardboard pads on the concrete deck. needless to say, this was very loud work, and my partner stood separated by the length of the beam (some 30 feet), and was unable to hear me. as my sole remaining task for this day was to ensure these big suckers rested squarely on the pads, i glued my attention to the beam. first four, no problem. just grab the guiding wire, steer the beam down, signal thumbs up to indicate it was down and in place, unhook, and wait for the crane to pull away and bring the next girder.
then i missed the target. as i was steering my end of the beam down, i saw that i was going to miss the pad by a few inches. sonofabitch. teh beam was only a couple of feet off of the ground, and swinging it around that fast would've knocked it off at the other end, so i figured the easieast solution to rectify this mistake without taking her up and out again, was to move the pad. so i gently nudged the cardboard over with my toe, right in line, and then the beam sank that last foot, right atop my workboot.
motherlovin' sonofa gottadamn.... i instinctively pulled up on the support wire, maybe hoping for that national enquirer kind of strength certain midwestern mothers are suddenly bequeathed when one of their offspring rolls under the wheels of the family truckster, but to no avail. the beam settled into my foot more, and i felt it flattening like wile e. coyote's upon catching an acme-catapulted boulder. so i gesticulated wildly, waving my arms, thumbs up, to indicate the operator should lift it back up. of course, the thumbs up meant he was to wait till we unhooked the beam and then pull the dangling wires away.
last resort, i reached down and grabbed a wooden shim and hucked it at my partner, oblivious on the other end. he looked up and saw me yelling and fruitlessly yanking my body from this concrete and metal sticking place, and ran over to the operator to raise the beam.
well, he did, and i hobbled right over to the foreman's truck, whereupon we cruised slowly and gently to a walk-in clinic, where i was to learn, in the span of three minutes, i hadn't broken anything, but had to stay off the severely bruised lump that somewhat resembled my foot, i was a lucky cheap bastard for not investing in steel-toe boots (the metal plate would've surely crushed my toes like a vise), and i was to look for new employ real soon, as i had just recieved a blazingly obvious message that i was not cut out for construction.
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Ahhh! The darker side of our illustrious Sean does appear. Now be careful you don't slam the keyboard sliding tray shut on your finger tips at the end of the day. Great story Sean. When should I expect to see it on the back Cover of FHB?
Pete Draganic
*Guess I've just been lucky. I didn't know that my partner had rewarmed up my coffee in the microwave (like to the boiling point) and took a sip from my insulated cup (with cover...you get your coffee from a 1/4" hole). Burned my tongue. As I spewed the coffee out all over the prints my partner said, "What's wrong?" I pointed to my tongue and said, "Sore" but it came out sounding like "Thor". Been Thor for years. Thor
*Thor?...as in, "ring the bell with the Daisy" Thor?
*clayB,God, I've seen it all in my years of hiring carpenters.Broken bones, nail gun nails sticking out of or through different parts of peoples bodies, slashes and tears that need many stiches, eye injuries, ear injuries, head injuries, neck and back injuries. Fingers torn or gone.....the list goes on.Please be careful.Accidents happen. Ed. Williams
*Working mostly by yourself has its ups and downs. It's handy sometimes to have a grunt around to fetch stuff. I coulda used one the day I tripped over the string line.I was rebuilding the floor and walls of a cottage porch that had, over many years become closed in and then became living space. It was one of those classic places that would cause my old man to observei "It can't fall down, there's nothing holding it up" Having removed the many layers of flooring that had been added one layer at a time in an effort to give it some rigidity, I was down to the old log lying on bedrock that served as a beam and a couple of piles of dry rock "posts". The underside was mostly gently sloping rock, but there was one fairly deep depression (2'?) full of rock shards. I had a few string lines up and towards the end of the day my steel toed boots were getting a might heavy to lift. The grunt that wasn't there might have got me whatever tool it was I suddenly needed, but he didn't so I had to. The first boot cleared the string line, the second din't. As I went flying downwards, I refexively reached out my right hand to save myself, and drove it with great force into the pile of rocks lying in the depression.It was almost quittin time anyway, so thinking I had just maybe sprained my wrist, I packed up and went home. My handswelled up like a friggin balloon, and the pain got so bad during the night that I couldn't sleep. The next day the local Doc. sent me off to the city Emerg. My wife, who drove me sat in the Emerg waiting room, and watched various interns, nurses etc all take turns gawking at my x-rays. I had to recount my story of the workboots and the string line to three different doctors. . . seems I had broken three bones in my hand in what are called i spiral fracturesclassic fist fight damage, the fact that my work gloves had saved my hands from any cuts or abrasions made my story sound quite suspect, and I guess they were wondering if they should report me for assaulting someone.-pm
*"...my work gloves..." Gloves?! man, I was just startin' to respect ya Patrick...gloves...man, that's pitiful...George! You see this?...man...probably uses "lotion" too...
*Hey. . . gedoudamyface. . . I was grubbin around movin rocks covered with porcupine sh*t etc, and tearin apart old rotten framing. . . this weren't no friggin trim job!!And you try workin outside in one of our winters without using "lotion"( bag balm) on your hands. You friggin wooses in the wet west don't know from bad working weather!!! All you gotta deal with is a little toe fungus!!-pm
*Patrick M.When you mentioned "tourist season" on another thread, Does that mean it's OK to shoot them up there?JonC
*YB, it all started to go to hell-in-a-handbasket with the invention of the twist-off bottle cap... before that, men were men...
*...bag balm is a man's lotion. You salvaged a bit of respect there. Now, if you were to say that the gloves had the fingers cut (or worked) off of them, then maybe certain allowances could be made...
*I hate to wear gloves , never found a pair that would fit. Bag balm means you don't need the doc.Fill the gash with bag balm and wrap with the handy mans secret weapon (duct tape)
*Duct tape makes good first aid equipment.It is a bit surprizing had well job site damage heals under duct tape.Have had a few nasty utility knife cuts that I just cleaned out by swearing at,sucking the blood off,and then wrapping up with duct tape. Let it stew like that in its own juices for a few days and it heals up pretty nice.described this method to a friend who is a nurse and she turned pretty green.Some times she looks at me ,shakes her head and just mutters "stew in its own juices"Still got all fingers,thumbs,and assorted scars,Stephen
*Gets me to thinking 'bout the Good Ole Days. I liked to take what ever tool was handy to pop the top. Now, everyone justs looks at ya screwy if you don't twist.BTW: Never had Guinness inna bottle--only the real stuff, good for strength--but I bet they don't use twist tops.
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Hey Rich, A WORM DRIVE?
Was in a clients crawlspace about a week ago, came out with little flea like critters crawlin on my boots. Shortly thereafter got a chigger like rash on both calves, hit it with the nail polish (wife's, I swear) and the suckers MOVED one inch under leg to one side. After two days of being intrigued by the idea that I'm about as close as I'm ever going to get to being pregenant, I hit it with some leftover lindane from a bad scabies incident (bleading hearted stray-cat adopter am I), whereas both affected areas swelled up into a raised purplish mound from which skin came a' peelin'. SO, not only a scar but ABSOLUTE fact that this industry is eating my flesh. Not sure how many ounces shy of a pound of said flesh I am due, but it's close.
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Last fall I had to go through a real clean sliding glass door about a thousand times a day. open the door, go get another tool, close the door. Over and over. At quitting time, (paycheck in hand) I walked smash into the ****ing thing- bent my glasses and almost broke my nose. Client was a lawyer and was very concerned.
*JonMost of the tourists around here are yanks, from Ohio mostly, they tend to shoot back, we have other ways of gettin em but I am sworn to secrecy-pm
*jb/ybIf the truth be known I was only two days into my latest man-i-cure, and the little honey that did it kept whinin' about all the broken bits, and sharp ends and weird muck up under and such, and threatened to charge me extra if I didn't start wearin gloves. . . so in the interests of cross gender politics and such, I decided to wear them when absolutely necessary. . . the right hand fingers are always worn through. . . I've got a hell of a collection of left handed gloves ifn ya know a worthy amputee.-pm
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I've known several fellow wood butchers,who occasionally have missed a nail,but bulls eyed
a finger,resulting in raised voices and rapid waving. Did the same several times myself,with the same results! Last time, I rubbed the spot,which was a genuine blood blister,it hurt like heck rubbing it and it hurt like heck not rubbing it.So I rubbed it some more,maybe 15min.worth.I never got a blood blister at all.It's been tender for 2 weeks,but it avoided the usual pretty blue spot.
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Clay, where's this house? I just want to add it to my "list of places not to go"... thanks.
*That Tyvek tape is about the stickiest stuff I've ever seen. I think if you cut it into strips it would make excellent butterflies. JonC
*Patrick - Actually, I do know a worthy amputee, if you're serious. I have an uncle who lost his right hand in a farming accident.
*RonYou tryin to make me feel bad for wisecrackin?? If you're serious, and your unc wouldn't be insulted, depressed or otherwise ticked off, email me his address, but pleasei preparehim in advance!!Die hard recycler-pm
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Those of us that live and WORK in Ohio can afford vacations because we dont waste money on gloves, lotions, manicures, or pink silk panties like some wusses who shall remain nameless.
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Hey Max! You sound like you got a hardon for pink silk panties. Whadda matter Mr. Boyd, momma throw your Viagra down the crapper?
Hey Max!! You aren't the guy who cut his finger off in the chop saw are ya'? Remember how I taught you about my "lunch box" first aid kit? Sure you do Max...we stopped that little stump from bleedin' didn't we mate? Popped open that Durkee's pepper shaker and had you stick what was left of that prissie digit right smack n that pepper didun we ole maxie?
Stopped er bleedun' right niftie eh?
Now tell em how to use that super glue instead of a bandaid......Maxine? Works real good for mason's strawberries too donut it?
Max.....You the pro at this vacation crap....I have to give you that much.
You got to hold back on tellin' these guys about your vacation getaway secrets....cause you ""can afford vacations because we dont waste money on gloves, lotions, manicures, or pink silk panties""
BTW, do you and the old lady still belong to that "swingers club" down there around New Concord?
Oh!!!!!! you mean you're not actually THAT Max????
nevermind!
*Somebody needs to spend some of that goverment grant money and study the effects of duct tape on healing wounds. Then I can say "I told it would work dear."
*I sure am glad to see this thread! I thought I was the only klutz. But now I see I have lots of company. There is comfort in knowing I'm not alone.Actually construction work is more dangerous than police work, they just get a lot more publicity.Re duct tape: I took a sutureing and emergency medicine course at the local hospital ER a few years ago since I was working a lot by myself away from emergency medical care. Lots of duct tape for keeping wounds together stories. So, old Red Green has it right when he says duct tape is good for everything. Personally, I hate the pain when it is removed but in a pinch...
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I've meaning to type this one in, although Senco may think it slanderous: I've known THREE people to shoot themselves (these were leads) with those shorter snubnosed Senco guns. It seems like the smaller sized body (and therefore less weight) make it do that shoot-bounce-shoot (therefore blowouts, jams, carnage and death). I had one of an old bosses on my truck for a year (no one else would carry it) and I hated and feared that thing.
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Well guys, you got me thinking about pain and injuries on the job. One particular injury comes to mind but it is not construction related. It occurred during the adventurous times of my life when I had a bit of an odd occupation. Check out the attached pic of an old newspaper article and see for yourself. This happened exactly 7 years ago at almost the exact same time as I am posting this. It was closer to 3 am though.
I nearly died in this incident and still feel the after-effects daily. Wish duct tape could have fixxed this one!
The pic is kinda large so I linked to it instead of making it show everytime to all of you.
Check it out
Pete Draganic
*Bounty hunter?!? My. The article is a wonder of understatement.
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DAMN Pete!
You are the second trades/bounty hunter I have met, do you ride a Harley and go to bike week too? And from your picture, please remind me not to get too bitchy around your posts.
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Thanks for the compliment Clay but I'm really a lot nicer than I look. Just ask me! No Harley yet. Three kids and a wife seem to put a damper on those little extras. They are the same reasons I quit Bounty Hunting.
Andrew, bet you woulda loved going to pick up a few with me in those days. Man did we used to wreak a lot of havoc. Every now and again I miss it. Wish I could have some of the moments on tape.
Pete Draganic
*Who ranks lower with the perps (er, suspects) -- cops or bounty hunters?
*I'd have to say the cops do. Folks usually know that you can't get away with half the crap with a bounty hunter that you can with the cops. Many are the ass whippings I've seen distributed to the unruly perp. Of course I never took part in these. One of my partners was a big black fella named Reggie. He wasn't the sharpest guy in the least but he wasn't afraid of anyone (or any twenty guys at a time for that matter). He had quite a knack for adjusting an attitude. I remember once that we had to gain entry into an apartment in the projects. Block walls and heavy duty steel entry doors. Reggie made quick work of it with a few good shoulder shots. Bent that door nearly completely in half.Another memorable moment with good ol' Reggie was a guy giving us all kinds of crap over us looking for his cousin. Reggie picked him up, through him across the dining room, through an open doorway to a bedroom where he bounced of the bed, hit the wall and landed head first on the floor. Amazing how a little something like that can bring out the cooperation and pleasantness in a guy.It sure is a good thing that I was never so aggressive.What a time,Pete Draganic
*Hey Pete,With a work history like that how in the world did you ever have trouble collecting from that hair salon job?You should carry that clipping around to show to "slow pays".GGGGood LLLuck,SSSSStephen(man I hope pete has a sense of humor,he lives to close for comfort!)
*Believe me Stephen, I have contemplated the alterior methods of bill collection. I must be getting too damn responsible these days I guess. Andrew should be glad to know that I'm still leaving it up to my attorney.I am assuming you live in Ohio. Whereabouts?Pete Draganic
*PeteYer just gettin old and slow like the rest of us. . . some call it lazy, I calls it calculated energy management.-pm
*Patrick,
Joseph FuscoView Image
*JoeI have so little time as it is, I don't know what I'd do with any more communication tools. . . do you ever get spam with any of your other toys???
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Only the ones with the exotic asian girls, I'll bet...
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With a tip o' the hat to Words of Wisdom, Watch Out! and It's About Pants, I'd like ya'll to reminisce about those scars, nubs of fingers and broken hearts. Like the space between one eyebrow I got when I knocked myself out with a cats paw in a clients' front yard demo-ing a boxed-post fence: complete with bugs-bunny orbiting stars and myself starfished out on the lawn.
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Akron