John’s Tool Crib Moaning Chair

It is almost Christmas and winter starts in a few more hours actually. I wanted to take a little time now and let my readers know that for about three and a half months I have been unable to do any testing or writing. My shop building project has completely halted and all of my series articles were put on hold. There is no other way to put this but I must be the biggest klutz in history! It all started with my moaning chair incident.

I had my chair and it was breaking the metal base so I reinforced it with some wood and epoxy but I had only put on my first coat. I had planed on wrapping it with fiberglass cloth and several more braced pieces of wood to make it a super chair. Like I said I only had the first coat on when my wife came out and handed me the phone with my sister on the line needing to speak with me. Forgetting all about the chair repair I instinctively sat down and leaned back . That is when I heard the mighty POP! The chair instantly took a 90 degree port list and I was thrown into the chair arm with enough force to break two ribs and hit my head on my stoves stone base.

Well my wife heard the crash and came running but she picked up the phone first and told my sister what an idiot I had been. I already needed back surgery and that forced me into a few weeks of bed rest and more healing time than I could afford with my backlog of articles and boatbuilding.

Just a few days before we had my back surgeon set up consultation appointments to get started on the two back operations I have needed for over three years. So the accidental fall set me back even more because my surgeon wants me to have no other complications before getting my back operated on. I have already had three disks repaired or fused.

It seemed like I had just finished recuperating when we started getting wetter weather and one of the jobs I hadn’t done was fix the leak in the roof of my workshop. So with a big heavy tarp in tow with my wife to help we proceeded to put the tarp over the leaking roof. I was finally feeling pretty good but we couldn’t reach high enough to get the tarp from snagging so I took my walking stick and a clamp and held that in the air while my wife used a 2” X 4” with another clamp and we walked the tarp into place, almost. I was so busy looking up at the tarp that I didn’t see the mound of dirt I had built up after digging out the foundation of the shed over a year before.

It was an instant drop, like a rug had been pulled out from under me and I fell on my right side this time breaking three more ribs on the opposite side from the last time. Have you ever tried to laugh with broken ribs? Well Nan my wife was not a bit amused at this situation since the majority of all the work around the house was already being done by her and she was expecting some relief. More bed rest and I could only sleep on my back and that made me snore. Even sitting at the computer was torture so I could not write

Now I can type but getting around the house and town has become a problem because a few days after thanksgiving I broke my foot! I was just walking and I just slipped the side of my foot into a hole I didn’t see because we went to a friends house and had a bone fire in his backyard. As I walked out in the dark I injured my foot. I hope by the first of the year I will be better but the last half of this year has not been kind to me. It broke bone in the top of my right foot near my ankle. I was ordered by my doctor to elevate my foot so the swelling will go down and they can either set the bone or cast my foot.

That is when the invitations came for a trip to the biggest tool show of the year for writers in Florida. My wife has never been further than Nevada toward the east coast, in the dog house again for me! All I had to do was buy the plane tickets and my wife and I could have been guests at the tool convention. Well I promised the tool reps and my readers I will go next year, even if I am in a body cast. At least that is the way my wife puts it. This next year I have to put myself in overdrive and get one of those Segway scooters that can’t fall down in lieu of a moaning chair. I know if I get hurt again I might need to look for a new wife.

By the way does anyone need a slightly used moaning chair that needs a little TLC?

From the tool crib,

John