Defensive Disclosure

I don't know which is worse--having my wife tease me about getting a manicure or admitting that I stuck my finger in a fan, which required the manicure repair. Since she is going to broadcast my manicure to the world, I felt I had to defend myself.

But, there's the rub--the manicure is, in my mind, sort of an effete activity, but sticking your finger in a fan is just stupid. Here's the story: this house, like most short sales, was neglected and the refrigerator was one of the many victims. When things leaked, the tenants failed to clean and the tube that was supposed to carry the condensate out the back was plugged so that the condensate ran down the inside of the insulation and onto the floor. As I was attempting to fix this problem, and after running down all the other likely fixes, like repairing all the couplings for the ice maker, I attempted to pull the condensate tube out of the little reservoir located next to the fan and stuck my finger in the fan instead. The blade sliced the nail of my index finger down to the nail bed about halfway to the cuticle.While that was painful enough, the next several days were spent trying to avoid snagging it...and boy, that would hurt. Next time, I might unplug the appliance before working on it. They ought to point that out someplace (lol).

I tried bandaids. Did ok, but they have to be replaced several times a day, and I think this is going to be a long term problem. Then I hit on a solution that I thought would be the ticket, a latex finger guard. Only it looked more like a finger condom. The fine print of the package said it was good for inserting suppositories, too, and that image is difficult to dispel from my brain.

So, I asked if we had any super glue. Well, we do, but just not here. Linda then brought up the idea that we could go to the local nail salon (are those things ever ubiquitous?) and it sounded like a good idea. They said they could take care of the matter, it was discussed briefly in Vietnamese among the nail techs, and voila, I had my first manicure. Albeit, only one finger, but still...

Leaving for Kansas City, bringing back the rest of our belongings. I didn't need a nail torn off to cap that trip.

I think I deserve some liquid painkiller after all that.

As an aside, Tommy gave me his old Nook, Matt gave me a gift card to B&N for Christmas, and Gerry in Brazil gave me a recommendation, Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President about President Garfield. Looking forward to it as one of the things it notes is that this was in the days before germs were recognized as the cause of infections, so there were all kinds of people, like Alexander Graham Bell (of telephone fame) and his physicians who poked and prodded the gunshot wound and eventually caused his death. This was in the 1880's, but treatment was archaic.

The New York Times did not think much of him nor expect that his place in history would be "exalted." This author disputes that opinion and I am eager to find out more.