Yesterday, rather than dripping the pickle across something, I managed to splash it. My copper tongs weren’t working well as I attempted to grab a small piece of wire from the crock pot and I bent over the pickle to look at it closely. Just as I peered in, the tongs snapped sending splashes of pickle onto my face. Although it only felt wet, I knew I should wash it right off. I wasn’t sure if any had splashed into my eyes, but ran upstairs and used my special eye wash to thoroughly wash my peepers. At the same time, I said a audible “thank you” to my son-in-law who purchased and mailed me the eye wash that I mounted above my sink. He said he wanted me to be able to “see” his son as he grew up. I think he’s a very smart fellow.

When my wits returned, I wondered why I take my safety goggles off following soldering and before I rescue pieces from the pickle. From now on, I’ll be leaving them on until I’m ready to leave the torch room.

I was lucky, the pickle on my face caused no harm – just a bit of excitement. It was, however, a big reminder about safety. When I rush around or when I’m totally comfortable with a potentially harmful technique, I think I tend to wave some precautions. This is just STUPID! If I don’t watch out for my health, I won’t be making jewelry or anything else. How about you? Let’s all be careful at whatever we are doing and stay safe!

By the way, if you don’t have a son-in-law like mine or husband like mine who makes me torch in a safe environment, get yourself a surrogate. We all need someone to watch after us.