Don't garden on Friday evenings

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Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2008 12:50 pm

For some unknown reason my left eye has come up as if someone has just delivered a vicious right hook, and though I am accident prone (I recently had my fourth electric shock and they barely affect me any more, I must have built up an immunity) I don't recall having any accident.

This reminded me of when I had been gardening one Friday evening and managed to thwack myself in the eye with a tree branch. I knew it was just more than the average black eye and won't go into detail. More importantly I don't usually garden in top hat and tails and I went by bus to the local infirmary, which wasn't easy as I just had to put a load of coins into the tray and ask the driver to take what he needed as I couldn't see straight. Laughing

Now - I hadn't changed my clothes but I wasn't so bad and with my eyesight there's no guessing what I would have put on. To me they were gardening clothes but when I finally got to see the Doctor he kept asking me to describe the branch, which was difficult as I didn't see it coming, or very clearly afterwards. I didn't want sympathy but his concern for this piece of wood was irritaing.

It only dawned on me later that being a Friday night he must have thought I had been brawling and this was all some devious cover story to hide some thuggery I had been involved in.

I'll go to my GP as she's more used to my peculiarities.

Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2008 1:14 pm

I avoid mishaps like this by spending every Friday night drunk indoors. My furniture is specially padded to ensure I don't wake up in A+E.

I'm surprised anyone is still gardening at this time of year... it's just too cold and wet to get anything done, so I've given up on mine til the spring.

Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2008 1:16 pm

Gomer, sorry this happen and hope your eye gets better.

Adamu's soulmate Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 337

Not that it was on a Friday evening but I know how much that hurts I did it myself earlier in the year with my lilac tree - eye was red for days

Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2008 2:49 pm

I'm down for a 'magical mystery' CAT scan a week on Monday. Maybe it's a pre-emptive strike as I'm about due another visit to A & E.

If I pick up any tool made by Black and Decker or a garden implement the hospital has to be put on standby with a transfusion ready.

I even set my hair on fire using an angle grinder, which was quite a result bearing in mind what damage I could have done. Foolhardily I bought my own but have lost the chuck key, which I think is a sign from above.

Juan's stalker Joined: 28 Aug 2008 Posts: 1423

Gomer hope your eye gets better soon! Sorry this happened to you and do be careful. Gardening can be very dangerous, no joke.
I wont even ask why you are immune to electrical shocks tho Shocked

Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2008 9:32 pm

Sorry to hear about the eye Gomer, may you heal quickly. As for the shock immunity I completely understand. I have been tasered so many times for certification and civic group display that I swear I dont even feel it anymore. I still fall over but there is no accompanying sissy scream anymore.

Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2008 10:02 pm

@Gomer, I hope your eye gets better. Perhaps you'd better leave off doing anything that could damage you if you make a mistake.

Typing on the computer should be safe enough, though Wink

And talking on the phone in a falsetto - but given the throat-soothing "medication" you take afterwards, I would recommend not attempting to do any delicate maneuvers afterwards.

@JBD - I'm not even gonna ask why you let yourself be tazered so much. :shaking head:

Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2008 10:49 pm

If Friday nights are bad, what will it be like trying to get sympathy over the holiday period?

Perhaps mindful of that, my father invented a Christmas game called Ten Green Bottles. He would take the ten green bottles, all filled with some stimulating liquor, and head down to the shed in the garden, where he would lock himself in and stay until all the nonsense was over, relatives gone home and the all-clear had been blown.

This worked for the family on many levels. Laughing

Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2008 11:17 pm

Well, this is clear evidence that ju-ju actually does works. Can you imagine how many chickens have been beheaded and tortoiseses trampled in the name of Mr G? It's a miracle you're still alive!

But seriously, sorry to hear about your eye mate, hope it gets better soon.

Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 1:22 am

Don't worry too much about the eye: here's your new av:

Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 11:29 am

I'm surprised that Roger the cabin boy didn't mention it, but look to the silver lining of this incident...this is the perfect opportunity for an EYE PATCH!

seriously though, hope you are a fast healer.

Master of Master Baiters Joined: 26 Sep 2008 Posts: 689

You all missed the pertinent point, different types of wood can be toxic hence the doctors question about the offending wood itself was not attempting to catch you out but rather to establish what remedy he should apply ....

TOXIC WOODS:

Types of reactions:

1) Respiratory: E.g. asthma, rhinitis, mucosal inflamation

2) Skin and Eye: Contact dermatis (excema), conjunctivitis (itchy,

watery, red eye), pruritis (itch) and other rashes

Here's a partial list (somewhat selected for boat building pertinence) on various wood dusts that cause toxic or allergic reactions.

Wood
Type of Reaction

Arbor vitae (thuja standishii)
1

Ayan (Distemonanthus benthamianus)
2

Blackwood, African (Dalbergia melanoxylon)
2

Boxwood, Knysna (Gonioma kamassi)
1,2

Cashew (anacardium occidentale)
2

Cedar, Western Red (Thuja plicata)
1,2

Cocobolo (Dalbegia retusa)
2

Cocus (Brya ebenus)
2

Dahoma (Piptadeniastrum africanum)
1

Ebony (Diospyros)
1,2

Greenheart (Ocotea rodiaei)
1,2

Guarea (Guarea thompsonii)
1

Ipe [Iapacho] (Tabebuia ipe)
1,2

Iroka (Chlorophora excelsa)
1,2

Katon (Sandoricum indicum)
1

Mahoghany, african (Khaya ivorensis)
1,2

Mahoghany, american (Swietenia macrophylla)
2

Makore (Tieghemella heckelii)
1,2

Mansonia (Mansonia altissima)
1,2

Obeche (Triplochiton scleroxylon)
1,2

Opepe (Nauclea trillesii)
1,2

Peroba rosa (Aspidosperma peroba)
1,2

Peroba, white (Paratecoma peroba)
1,2

Ramin (Gonystyus bancanus)
2

Rosewood, Brazilian (Dalbergia nigra)
2

Rosewood, East Indian (Dalbergia latifolia)
2

Satinwood, Ceylon (Chloroxylon swietenia)
2

Satinwood, West Indian (Fagara flava)
2

Sequoia Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens)
1

Sneezewood (Ptaeroxylon obliquum)
1

Stavewood (Dysoxylum muelleri)
1

Sucupira (Bowdichia nitida)
2

Teak (Tectona grandis)
2

Wenge (Millettia laurentii)
1,2

now you start to worry ... Smile

Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 12:12 pm

So you got wood followed by a black eye on a Friday night... I can follow the doctor's line of reasoning!

Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 1:26 pm

^^^ ElfQuest Rules

Reminds me of the time I was doing fibreglassig on a job, I was warned dont splash it. Ofcourse as the fibreglass is prone to setting fast, especially the way I make it, I hurried, splashed, screamed as it hit my eye and began setting. Managed to get across a tressle table filled warehouse to to the bathroom without seeing anything or bumping into anything.

As I'm there swilling massive amounts of water over my searing eyeball, in walks my friend with a load of stuff he thought we might need, including a pair of safety goggles.

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