safety/idiots and sharp objects

[J Patrick Draine]

Dear List:
A few weeks ago we were giving advice to Terry about replacing a set 
of bass strings. Yesterday morning I started a job replacing a set of 
bass strings on a Samick grand. The vast majority of my income is 
from basic in home tuning, repair & regulation, but when a local high 
school's students periodically dump soft drinks onto the pianos' bass 
strings, I'll replace a set. Especially when the high school is empty 
except for a few janitors and secretaries, and the auditorium is 
slightly air conditioned.
Mistake #1: Gee I couldn't find a pair of thin gloves just before I 
left for the job.
Mistake #2: I didn't stop at a hardware store and buy some before 
getting to the school (thought I might have to go out to the hardware 
after I got set up before I "really" got to working).
Mistake #3: Found one (right hand) glove in the car and felt like 
"hey that's good enough".
Mistake #4: Due to an all time "high" of dangerous and pointless 
idiocy I decide to "save" some of the bass strings by straightening 
the coil -- which one can (I don't recommend it) do by slipping a 
screwdriver shaft through the coil and yanking on it. The only "good" 
reason for my doing that was that I air-headedly thought "hey if I 
screw up one of the new strings I could use an old one until I get it 
copied". A very poor reason indeed! Really, a total waste of my time, 
even under the best circumstances.

So after carrying out this very dubious procedure about a dozen times 
SURPRISE! a becket sliced right through the flesh of my left index 
finger, opening up a surprisingly large flap of skin, with lots of 
blood oozing out. After dripping blood around the school a janitor 
helped bandage me up, so I could then spend 3 hours in the emergency 
room waiting for a doctor to spend 5 minutes sewing me up.

So ... Thursday afternoon was a complete wash ($75 co-pay for the ER 
visit), and today I've elected to "do office work" and wait for a COD 
FedEx delivery (the bass strings from Samick). Have to wear a finger 
splint to keep the wound from opening up if I bend the finger.

This *was* the first time I've had a work related  ER visit in 23 
years, but it was VERY stupid on my part.
Basic safety procedures are VERY important! Being cavalier when 
working with very sharp stuff is really dumb!!

Patrick