Fiascos

Bryan and I each had our own dangerous fiasco this summer, thankfully it all turned out ok.

Vegetable slicers have very sharp blades and should not be used without a guard. This is what I learned. I was making dinner and slicing potatoes and carrots. Having a hard time getting the carrots to stay on the guard I would cut them first without the guard and then with it. Unfortunately I cut one too far and took a chunk out of my knuckle on my right middle finger.

I was at the sink before it started to bleed and Bryan walked in from picking something up at the store just as I got to the sink. We rinsed it off and I applied pressure with a paper towel while Bryan finished dinner. Worried about how deep it was, our first call was to the instacare but they had just closed. Then we called a nurse on a 24 hr hotline provided by my insurance. Justin had to talk to her for a bit but she told me to at least talk to a doctor. So our  final call was to Karlee’s brother who just finished medical school. We were able to email him a picture of my finger for him to see how deep it was.

It was really deep but not to the bone and since the nerves and ligaments are on the bottom of your finger there wasn’t really any damage to worry about. Without any skin there to stitch together a doctor could do little more than bandage it for me So we wrapped it in gauze and tape twice, the first time the tape was too tight and turned my finger purple. We also taped a popsicle stick to my finger so I couldn’t bend it and break whatever scab was being created.

The ordeal took almost an hour and a half and I felt faint twice during it. While I still can’t bend it as well as my other fingers it is healing well and I can use it for many things.

I am happy to say I have used the vegetable slicer since that but only with a guard.

Bryan’s story:

These two stainless steel pots used to be the same color.

Bryan put a pot of water on the stove to help loosen the food that was stuck to the pot. After turning the stove on he went out to get the mail. He came back to find the pot engulfed in flames and black smoke filling the house. He immediately turned off the stove and moved the pot and the fire went out pretty quick. I got home from work a couple moment after he came back outside.

We were bewildered as to how the fire had started until Bryan remembered the day before he had moved the grease catcher than had been on the stove and had spilled grease on that element. It only took about a day to get the smoke smell out of our house and with both our efforts the kitchen is clean again.

I am glad we have each other to lean on in times like these and that no lasting damage was done and perhaps some lessons learned.