Ever have one of those days..?

Its not 10.00am yet and my morning has not gone well.

My 30 year old Digimatic vernier has started to lose its display, I,ve cleaned the contacts and fitted a new battery but its still playing up, I hope its not on the way out, I,m quite attached to it..

I then dropped my dial gauge onto the concrete floor which has not done it any good at all its now sticking, knackered I guess.

Then to top it all I have cut a slither off the end of my finger with a Stanley knife..

I dont think its a day for the workshop...

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I seem to have that type of day quite a lot. I remember spending abut 3-4 hours one day making a small part then promptly dropping it behind the lathe never to be seen again. Another similar, spent again about 3 hours machining a part, I'd just about finished when I decided to wind the carriage into the part rather than away from it completely destroying it. There isn't enough swear words for them days.

The secret of managing such days is realising early enough to stop before a major disaster and focus on another activity, well away from the workshop. I haven’t been able to crack this yet and only give up after having made a major faux pas.

Dave W

Sounds like a duvet day before you do yourself an more damage

It's a rare workshop day when I don't make a mistake. Likewise it's a rare day at the gliding club when I don't get a rollocking for something or other!

Andrew

As the old saying goes - "the man who never made a mistake never made anything".

Mike

I know it's time to stop when I can't find something I put down half a minute ago...

Working on the boat last week (woodwork) I could not find my pencil which I had just used. So I dug another out and continued. Driving home looked in the rear view mirror and noticed a pencil behind each ear. Not the first time I've done it either. Gets embarrassing when you walk into a restaurant for a meal sporting dual pencils.

You Gents are lucky, snapped My Achilles tendon 2 weeks ago. Had surgery and now confined to the recliner for 8 weeks at least. Shop is in basement, 10 feet away and I am not allowed in. Plenty of work as Spring time is here. I get to watch through the window.

Sorry to hear about the tendon Mark.

A mate of mine had the same happen to him a couple of years back, on a Saturday evening. Not a good time to require an ambulance. Finally picked up by one from well outside the area. He ended up giving the paramedic directions to the hospital.

Good news is that he made a full recovery. Do so hope you do the same.

Mike

Mike

Seems like the older I get the more of these I seem to have, square root of pi x age ÷ clumsy clucker constant.

Bad luck on the Achilles, I have a herniated disc and the NHS has said they will fix it in no time. No wait, they said they couldn't give me a time that's right. But the niche NHS consultant said he would see to me mighy pronto for the price of a small car.same operation, same nurses, same outcome, except a lighter bank balance. I'd rather have a go at fixing it myself.

I find throwing things a great comfort at times of stress, then apologising to SWMBO and collecting my projectiles from the garden calms me right down.😂

Mick

Hi Mark, in Feb 2017 I had my right achilles tendon resected to remove a large 10-15 mm dia calcified growth inside it. The doc resected it but there was enough damage that he added an artificial tendon to it woven into the calf muscle and attached to the heel bone with some stainless screw eyes. Doc did a great job and all healed up well afterward. No more horrible pain as I had before the operation from that big ball inside my tendon! The worst part was staying still for 9 weeks afterward, in 3 different casts, and applying no weight at all to the leg during that time. I got used to the routine though, I'm sure you will too. Great time for planning and sketching if your caregivers can get you a hard backed sketch pad and pencils, calculator, etc. I had gathered up all necessary bits and supplies to make a couple of Airfix plastic model kit locomotives and a couple times a week my wife would get out the boxes of stuff I needed set up on a card table so I could work a while. Made the time go faster!

One big problem I had was with the Percocet pain killers that were prescribed for post-surgical pain. They did work well on the pain but cause a major digestive blockage which was less than convenient in the state I was in! The Percocet are addictive too, and when I ran out, my brain was sending me major anxiety messages to get more of that stuff. However after a few days off the stuff I was fine, and did not need the meds by that time. Dangerous stuff though, easy to see why people get hooked on it. Smooths the day right out though......suggestion though is to take as little Percocet or other opioids as you can and get off it as soon as possible.

I was very careful to follow the doc's instructions exactly to the letter, same when you start physiotherapy. If you do, you greatly improve your odds on a great recovery. Good luck!

Those of you who have read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance will recognise these situations as Gumption Traps.

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