Another Helpful Hint: Don't hurt yourself

My posts about retail life and small acre farming are my most popular subjects, so today I thought I'd treat you all to one of the more important safety tips when working in a farm environment.

Don't clamp the gate's Y latch on your finger.

I know, I know, everyone does it, but it's not safe. Not safe at all. We're all especially prone to do it when the wind is blowing and our fingers are numb and the gate doesn't want to shut because there's a ton of snow in the way. I pulled hard on the top part of the gate while I braced against the pole on which the Y latch would clamp onto. My finger was in the way. And in the thoughtless way that all folks do these things, I pushed the latch down first chance I got anyway.

It took off a chunk of skin, which hurts, as these things tend to do, but the thing I seemed to have forgotten about (as one does when working around a farm) is that when metal and metal are forced together by extreme external pressure, any bone and flesh that gets in the way squishes.

Fortunately it only bent the joint backward rather than breaking bone or snapping tendon. I talked to the gate for a little while, and then I squeezed my finger nicely for a while, and I admired the blood dripping onto the snow. That's always pretty. And then I went home, talking to no one in particular because I'm quite the Chatty Cathy when the mood strikes me.

So, the point is, no matter how tempting it might be to go the easy route, remember, don't close Y latches (or any other sorts of latches) onto one's own fingers even when you're in a rush or you don't want to be bothered with doing it right. I got off easy. Next time, I might cry.

And that would be bad. That's, like embarrassing. Way worse than pain.

Just don't do it. Be safe. And stay warm!

Weather and Glass

My sleep schedule has turned around with the weather.  I woke up at 4am.  I may have to take a siesta today, though.  Good time of year for it.  Sleep through some of the heat of the day.

Having an early-to-rise sleep schedule is good news.  I typically get more work done inside and out.  I anticipate much writing, and I'm going to work out while I can still have the door open and the fan on full blast.  Working out indoors any time after 8am is really not a good idea, and outside after about noon is a distinctly bad idea.  Yesterday some of the paved areas I drove through were at about 105 degrees F.  I write less and more poorly when I haven't exercised, so making sure I get exercise in is important.  I watch the clock now and get upset with myself when I fail to slip the exercise in and have to wait until the next day due to heat load.  I suppose I could just do yoga.  

Speaking of working out, I'd been resisting even simple walking for a couple of days because I thought I'd bruised my foot when I got a cut from what I thought was a rock, running around with the dogs on a river trip.  The pain was quite sharp and localized and it aggravated me that I was limping with such an otherwise minor injury.  Turns out there was a piece of glass stuck in my foot.  I pulled it out last night--ahh, sweet relief!--and put some antibiotic ointment on it.  This morning my foot feels great.  The boy provided first aid on this one.  I thought it would be good practice for him, and I was right.  I'll have to let him know that when he cleans a wound out he should take a really close look at it, especially when the patient says something.  You know, like, it feels like there's a splinter in there or something.  Do you see anything?

It's only six a.m. now and I can feel already that it's time to close up the downstairs.  In another hour I'll have to close up the upstairs too.  The heat load we're carrying in the attic won't be reduced appreciably with these warm-ish nights, so I expect that the upstairs will be warmer at the end of the day each day until this weather breaks.  It's one of those infinite money kinds of things.  If I had the $$$, I'd have someone install an automatic fan up there to help vent out the heat at night.  But, so long as we have our lovely daylight basement where it stays about 70 degrees without AC, I don't have anything to really gripe about.  We're lucky to have an area to retreat to.  I really feel badly for people in upstairs apartment buildings without AC!