A few years of not adhering to safety warnings does something to the psyche, it gradually convinces you something everyone believes in; it won't happen to me. Yesterday was a good day for woodworking, and since I had so many projects to complete but no space, I decided to work off the bed of my truck. Not having a proper space meant that generally you had to make do, and I do that best.
So after completing a broom holder, I had some time so I decided I should take a break. By then the sun was scorching hot, and I wasn't in the mood for my next project which was a kitchen partition, so I decided to make a walking stick, since its going to be a fun thing to do. I used my electric planer, set it to 10mm, and planed away. I hated the sound of the planer, coz it literally shaves off your preset depth in the wood, and once it comes into contact it emits a high pitched shriek as you feel the triple high speed blades cutting into the timber.
But of course I didn't have a table, or a vise to hold it in place. One hand on the planer, and one hand on the wood, I planed away and marvelled at the speed and precision of the cuts. But then thats when it happened, I ran it across and somehow slipped as I felt my forefinger run under the blades. I jumped as I saw spurts of crimson liquid flowing from my hand. I thought I reacted in time even as I looked at my finger, now bloodied with blood flowing into the palm of my hand. I decided then that it wasn't just a minor cut, it actually took part of my finger off.
My mom put some sort of herb on it to stop the bleeding, so after that I couldn't make out where or how much of my finger is missing. I think it took a chunk of meat, and probably a part of my nail. Its bandaged now, with a tingling pain every now and then, as I blog with nine of my fingers. I guess I'll know in a few weeks how bad is it, once I get it cleaned up, but its a real annoyance not to be able to hold on to something now. The doctor said I need to avoid eggs and meat, I wonder whats the medical relevance of that. I'm just craving a good steak right about now.
