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 Msg  : 100 of 102                                                              
 From : Kirk Dehaan                         9:2300/0        Mon 17 Jan 94 09:04 
 To   : All                                                                     
 Subj : use of hand(s)                                                          
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An interesting situation fell upon me last week.  While removing a cup
of boiling water from the microwave I spilled it on my fingers.  I got
some second degree burns on my right index and middle fingers.  I am
right handed so I was somewhat handicapped for about three days.  Simple
tasks became very difficult.  I have a stick shift and shifting with two
critical fingers bandaged and unusable was difficult.  Even steering
without hitting my fingers was hard.

Feeding myself was even more difficult and I relied on fast food for a
couple of days so I could avoid cooking.  Had it been a disaster of
sorts with loss of power, etc. I would of had to break out the "gear"
and setup using about 1 1/3 hands.

Had there been a life/death situation where I had to defend myself I
would have been at an extreme disadvantage.  No doubt adrenalin would
have taken over and I assume allowed me to use my burned fingers without
knowledge of pain.  It's time to start shooting left handed.

Personal hygiene was amusing.  Taking a shower with one hand was real
fun.  At least I could still take a shower.

The whole point of this was to illustrate the how easy it is to become
incapacitated.  In the past I had made an attempt to try and use my left
hand for various tasks with just this type of situation in mind.  One
situation was while working on my car I found that I couldn't get my
right hand into certain positions but I could with my left hand.

A minor goal of mine now is to become as ambidextrous (sp?) as possible.

Kirk


--- WM v3.10/92-0010
 * Origin: The Rising Storm BBS in California  408-379-4329  (9:2300/0)

