I was out in the garage today , Working on running a wire for the dome light . As I tried to fish it down the windshield pillar , I reached up under the dash to get the end of the wire . I could touch it with the tip of my finger, so I pushed my hand in a little more . Bad move as my hand got stuck and I couldn't pull it back out . So there I sat on the floor of the cab with my hand wedged and I could not get it out . At this point I am thinking about my phone that is on my desk in the house , and even if I had it would I want to have the fire department come and cut the dash apart to get my hand out . My wife was in the house , but it would be hours before she came to see where I was . There was a bottle of oil on the work bench about 6 ft away, I thought if I got that , I could try and get some around my hand and slide it out . Just no way to reach it . After about 20 minutes , and a little panic , I finally managed to get free , only lost some skin on the back of my hand . So the moral is always keep a cell phone in your pocket . [ left pocket if right handed ] , When you are working alone .

 

OUCH! Lots of sharp metal under there, too! Good reminder!

 

I really feel like those electronic LIFE ALERT necklaces that summon help should be marketed to all kinds of people not just the elderly. I wished I had one when I fell off of the top step of a 6' ladder{ yeah the one that sais not a step} holding an electric hedge trimmer right next to the pool. Found out in a hurry that my dog isn't as helpful as Lassie was. Thought for months after that the payback was going to be that I had to be a missionary in some previously God forsaken third world country with lots of snakes. We are just flesh and bones. Be careful.

 

Cell phones are great to have for emergencies, that is if you have them on you.

My father-in-law likes to go to the back of the farm to cut wood. He's 82 and after milking cows for most of his life he has back and leg problems and can barely walk but he insists on going back by himself, if he was a easy guy to get along with he would have volunteers to help him and keep an eye on him but he's not fun to be around. Any time you ask him if he has his cell phone, which I got for him, half the time he will tell you he doesn't. My wife's aunt, my F-I-L's older sister until recently when we strongly convinced her to moved, lived out in a rural area with very few neighbors, none that could see into her back yard. The aunt liked to go out in the middle of the night and putz around in her yard. We bought her one of those emergency alert button with a lanyard to go around her neck. We'd stop once in a while to visit her, not too often, she and her brother have the same type of personality, and every time we'd find the alert button on her kitchen counter. They don't do any good if they aren't where you can get at them.

Dave, you story is kind of like an experience I had about 6-7 years ago. I was after work and I had come back from a field installation and it was about 7 pm. I needed to print up some drawings for the next day and the printer decided to take a dump on me. I take it out to the shop to open it and see if I could get it to work. I'm prying on the case and it lets loose and I ran the index finger of my right hand along a very nicely sharpened piece of plastic, slicing my finger from my base of my finger nail almost down to my second knuckle. I looked at my finger and I could see it was a nice deep gash and it was starting to pump blood as pretty decent rate. I go to grab my box-o-rags but it's out in the back of my truck and I'm leaking blood all over the place. I grab a dirty rag I has sitting on a bench just to catch the blood as it was falling to the floor. I go outside to get the box-o-rags out of the back of my truck and the cap is locked and my keys are in my right pocket, the same side an my injured finger. I go back into the building, go through my shop and office and into the common hallway used by all the tenants in the building and into the common men's room. I pull some paper toweling from the dispenser and try to hold the blood in, the sink looked like I butchered deer in it. Luckily I heard a door open and close, it was one of my neighbors who also stayed late. I called out to him and he came and helped bandaged my finger. I did clean up the men room.

This other time might be a little more relatable. I was super gluing a part to a stationary stand. I found out then that the little bit of super glue that oozed out was just enough to also glue the tip of my finger to the stand. I was by myself. I had to two options, I could pull quick and hard and pull off a good chunk of finger tip or I could wait around and hope someone would come into the shop. I then looked around and saw a gallon of lacquer thinner on a table about 7 feet away, about longer than I could reach. I looked around and found some boards and wire and McGyvered a tool to reach the lacquer thinner and pull it close enough to get a hand on and used it to dissolve the super glue.

Some of the goofy situations we put ourselves into. They do make good stories though.

 

Yup, I keep my cell phone on me at all times. My shop is on a rural road with the closest neighbor a 1/4 mile away. Nobody would hear me yelling for help.
Glad you got yourself unstuck in one piece.

 

Great suggestion, Dave. Now, if I could just figure out a way to have the other member of my family keep her phone where it is usable. I read your story to her but doubt if it made an impression. The story did make an impression on me. My phone is on my belt about 99% of the time.
Sorry to hear you lost some meat in the fray. Better than loosing the truck to an overzealous rescue squad with their jaws of life.
Your tetanus shot current? Mine isn't either....Stay safe out there, guys and girls.

 

My wife bought me a cell phone for Christmas over 2 years ago. I used it twice. once to call the home phone to make sure it would call out and once to make sure it would receive calls. It's now on a shelf in my garage.

Shortly after building our house, I was unloading my lawn cart full of rocks (the size of basketballs to coolers) on our fairly steep hill. the lawn cart tipped over trapping one of my ankles. After recovering from the initial shock and a little pain, after about 5 minutes, I finally was able to wiggle my foot out of my boot and out from under the cart. As it was in the 30's, I was glad my visions of freezing to death didn't pan out.

 

If you're not close to backup, Have a buddy with you. I never work on my truck alone without somebody knowing. Wife, nieghbor (who are very nosey anyway) My boy's allways want to help, but I learned years ago, that working in the shop alone can be very detrimental to you're well being. 20 or so yrs ago I was painting parts in the shop, (wife was out) and got overcome by fumes. She came home and found me sitting in my chair spazzed out. She opened the shop door and got me some fresh air. 20 min later I was OK. now I won't do anything to do with chemicals unless someone is home. I did use a mask that night, but like my Painter friend said. If you can smell it thru the mask, your mask is not working. Been good since.

 

Funny thing is , on most days I have 4 or 5 guys stopping in to hangout . It some times gets in the way with progress . So today when I needed help nobody came around . As far as having a phone on a shelve , It would be of no use if you can't reach it . I only turn mine on when I want to use it . I was never important enough to have a phone in my ear all day like some .

 

my father in law was living alone at 93 and had a life alert button. when he went to bed he took his hearing aids out, so if he pushed the button on purpose or by accident, they called him through the intercom. of course, he didn't hear it. so they call us. of the many calls, a few we arrived at his house, he was asleep. other times he wanted a tylenol. one time (during the day, hearing aids in) he had actually fallen, hit his head on a dresser and was bleeding quite a bit (cumaden). that made it worthwhile.

 

OK Dave, now if you would have had the 4 or 5 buddies around and you got your hand stuck how long would it have been before they would have helped you? I'd bet they would have stood there for at least 2-3 minutes until you worked up the nerve to tell them you had your hand stuck, then it would have been another 5 minutes or more before they stopped coming up with all kinds of "useful" solutions, meanwhile tickling your chin and other parts of your body. Then, maybe then they might become helpful and got you loose. Then think how many years the "The time Dave got his hand stuck in his truck" story would have been told and embellished. Some times it just better to suffer a little more and not have "help" around.

Now, since we're on a subject of safety. I'll add another safety procedure I always do. If I'm going someplace I've never been before, like going to look at something I found on Craigslist or having someone come over to buy something on Craigslist, I always let at least one person know what is exactly happening, where I'll be and when I expect to be back. I tell my wife and the times I couldn't get a hold of her I tell one of my sons. Preferably one of my boys will come along and even then I let someone know what's going on. I've realized this years ago when I went to another state with my wife and kids to pick up a truck advertised on eBay. After I met the seller at a gas station in a small town we followed him out into the middle of nowhere to a farm. After we pulled into the farm it got a little strange but I was able to call my brother and gave him a heads up to where we were and to call the cops if I didn't call him back within an hour. All ended up going OK and after we left I called him to let him know everything was OK.

 

bobj forgot to mention while your hand is stuck, your friends would be taking pics of you with their phones or making a video.

 

Oh my goodness, it sounds like something I would do, I'm glad your alright , but I have to admit It gave me a chuckle. P.S. Great stories guys.

 

Just remember to take that cell phone out of your pocket when you are inside the powder coat oven welding the sides in.

Yes you can EMP a cell phone.