Look at the picture of my right hand. Do you notice that one of the fingers has a bend in it?
Actually, I’ve been pretty lucky with respect to broken bones. I’ve broken that finger and a toe (same toe - twice).
The finger break happened when I was in college. I was working for an electrician. I’m NOT an electrician, I was kinda “the kid” on the job site. As in, have the kid climb into the 125 degree attic, or have the kid crawl under the house and look for that wire.
It was not glamorous work but I enjoyed it. I liked the camaraderie with the guys I worked with (There were no female employees in the company and I can not recall any woman construction workers on any job site). I learned a lot - skills that have helped me as a homeowner. It was great and I earned a gaudy $3.00 an hour! (Of course the minimum wage in those days was $2.05 an hour)
I broke my finger using what’s called an impact-drill. It’s a drill that spins and hammers at the same time. It’s used to drill holes in concrete. That’s what I was doing: drilling a hole in a concrete ceiling so we could run some wires. Unfortunately, the bit (That’s the pointy end of the drill that actually does the drilling) got hung up on a piece of steel wire inside the concrete and spun the drill uncontrollably in my hands, taking my right hand on an alarming ride.
It hurt!
Since it was lunch time anyway, I stopped working, had lunch and worked the rest of the day. My whole hand hurt and my finger was swelling so much I could not put my work-gloves on.
That night I went to a walk-in medical center and they put a splint on my finger and told me not to use the hand for anything strenuous for a week or so.
I did not listen. I went to work the next day with the splint on and continued working - but no more drilling!
I didn’t take good care of my finger and I guess that’s why it’s got that bend in it.
I guess I should have listened…
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