Another Purple Heart

Well, I have done it again. Actually, this is the tale of two tragic injuries to my left index finger in the span of a few hours--maybe less, it is all a bit blurry now.

The day starts off innocently enough--we are still cleaning various protions of our building here. The back store room being one of the last major spots--it is in need of some serious work--all kinds of stuff laying all over the place. Tools, equipment, consumable supplies, clothes from people that were deployed here over a year ago... You get the idea. There was one small shelf where cleaning supplies were located--that was nice. But Dusty (he's the microbiologist) and I decide that it is time to BUILD SOMETHING BIG and STURDY... Evidently, it is pretty easy to get some cuts of lumber around here, immpossible to get others. You guessed it--everyone wnats 2x4s, so those are hard to get. But 4.8 sheets of plywood and 4x4s and 2x6s and 2x10s were in ready supply--good for us. The next thing that everyone wants that you cannot get are screws for putting the lumber together--who builds with nails anymore--screws are sooo much better--well, they are only better if you have a powered screwdriver--we do.

So, we are cutting and nailing and screwing (we do have some screws, but the supply is limited and we use them very judiciously) the wood together.

About half way through this one of the guys comes back from a trip to the flight line looking hot and tired. He looks this way because the Hummer he took up there has a bad starter and wouldn't start... Had to wait and take the bus back--only about two miles away, but a much longer bus ride all around the base. Bummer. I tell him (again, I think) about the trick of moving the fan belt/fan/starter an inch or so to engage a different area of the starter--an area with some teeth that will engage the engine--works every time. This is a big strong guy--he goes out with another big strong guy (we have another vehicle--no bus ride) to retrieve the Hummer.

No luck. They couldn't get the fan belt assembly/starter to budge a millimeter. We finsih the section of shelving we are working on, and then I grab the other big strong guy, a screw driver and (just in case) a crow bar. We get to the stranded Hummer, I slip the screw driver down to a position of advantageous leverage and voila! The starer moves! I am so excited that the screw driver slips and using the leverage pinches my finger angaints the side of the pulley--what an idiot. But it isn't THAT bad, and I feel good because the Hummer starts up like it is meant to--beautiful. Only problem is that we don't have the key to unlock the steering wheel and drive it back. So, I clean the vehicle (two years worth of garbage are under the seats), try to stay hydrated--I did bring water, and maintian slight pressure on the finger.

Fast forward an hour. I am back hammering nails into shelving--it is beautiful--so much nice clean storage. Whack! Hit the exact same finger in the exact same spot with the hammer. I ignored it until someone pointed out that I was bleeding all over my pants. Really a small injury, but quite vascular, I guess. I had to do laundry anyway, so no big deal. The pants are clean, my finger works and the shelves are complete. If you had seen the area before, you wouldn't recognize it now. But I think I will get some more screws and make sure everyone else knows how to start the Hummer--it's probably safer that way...