Thursday, October 25, 2012

All in a Days Work

Hey All,     Many of us have had days when we have great days at work.............sometimes it's just because we enjoy our jobs.  Not everyday is the same and some days surpass others in one way or another.
      October 1997.  This was a great year.  Penny said "I do" and and life was good overall.  On this one particular day, Penny and I had a dinner date.  I was a self employed Plumbing/HVAC contractor and had a boiler installation just two blocks from home.  Penny cautioned me not to be late coming home.............I was notoriously late for everything. Some habits are hard to break.
       My customer was a little 88 year old lady whom I had worked for quite a few years  and her sons family as well. I had a helper working with me then, a teenager from church.  He's a hard working lad and assisted me almost daily.  We cleared the way that we would bring the boiler in the house.  There was no basement entry so we had to go through the kitchen and down the basement stairs.  We were all set when the truck arrived with the boiler safely packed in a wooden crate.  The delivery man had only worked for this company a couple of months and he was late and arrived at noon. These things happen................I'm well versed.  He strapped the boiler on his heavy duty dolly and we brought it into the house to the top of the stairs. Now this guy was of athletic build............. thin and muscular.  We decided that he would take the top and my helper and I would brace the bottom and this was the way we usually did this.  About a third of the way down 18 steps I noticed something was just a little off.  The boiler was coming down faster than it should have been................so fast that it was bouncing from step to step and it made quite a bit of noise and vibration.   I looked up and the delivery guy was sitting on a step.......... he wasn't able to handle the weight and lost his grip.  The boiler was on its own...............with two guys below trying to get out of the way.  We made it too........................except that my helper was standing in the way at the bottom...............fascinated by bouncing boiler, still strapped to the dolly.  I leaned across and shoved him in the chest and jumped back to get back out of the way.
        I felt a sharp pain in the side of my head and then I was airborne.  I landed ten feet from the now overturned boiler........onto the cold concrete floor.  I realized what had happened after a few seconds and  got to my hand and knees................with blood dripping from the side of my head.  Poor Mrs C.  She made her way down the stairs and was pretty shook up.  She got me towel and wanted to call an ambulance..............the dolly handle had hit me in the side of the head when the boiler overturned at the bottom of the steps and had torn my ear about half way through.  I told her I had no health coverage and not to do that.  I had my helper uncrate the boiler and inspect it for damage and then went to the clinic in town.  The doctor wouldn't treat me due to the nature of the accident and insisted that I go to the hospital for xrays and stitches and not to drive. I searched for a ride and finally got one from Mrs' C's daughter in law.  We drove to the Vet......I mean hospital,  all the way behind a drunk driver going 30 MPH, swerving from lane to lane.  They took me into the emergency room and the Vet......I mean doctor ordered Xrays  and was preparing to put in stitches.  It was then he asked about insurance...............suddenly Xrays weren't necessary and I was told that a shot to numb the ear would only make the bleeding worse.  He stitched me up without anything for the pain.  To add insult to literal injury, I got a bill for 600 dollars from the Vet..............Oh, I mean hospital.  I'll get it right someday.
      Penny told me if I didn't want to take her out that night that  I didn't have to go to so much trouble.  My right ear was twice the size of my left for quite some time.  Many of you who have read my stories know that I have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.  This is another incident that could have been life threatening. God had decide once again to keep me around..............for what, I'm not sure.  I'm pretty sure my guardian angel is due for a vacation..............he or she must be tired.  I know I am.
      Until the next time......................God Bless.

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