One of the safety rules for hobbyist woodworkers is to let their family,etc know not to walk up behind them when they are running a cutting tool so as not to surprise them and cause an accident. I have informed my family and those that visit regularly of this practice and so work with some confidence in my garage that even tho I wear hearing protection when running the table saw, I won't be unduly surprised. Another rule is to keep your full concentration on what you are doing, so if I expect visitors, I keep the garage door closed and if the wife is out, hit the lockout for the automatic opener when doing a hazardous procedure. If the door is open, I usually face the back of the garage when running the saw so as not to get distracted at the wrong moment by the construction workers building the house next door or someone pulling into the driveway.
Fast forward to this past week: I am out in the garage (er.. shop) making a tennoning jig for my table saw. The weather is a nice & sunny and the garage is heating up, so I open the garage door. I am happily making the final cuts on some of final pieces when all of a sudden, my cheeks are wedged apart (not the ones adjacent to my beard, either!) Being one who tries to live his life by the mantra “expect the unexpected”, I did not over react, stopped pushing the piece past the blade, and looked around to see what was amiss. On my backside was a large black lab whose head is as wide as my b**t with her nose trying to appreciate my very essence, and to my left was another large golden lab looking at me with the expression that said “After she gets him down I'm gonna get the Good parts!”. It appears the neighbor's dogs (who raise Cain whenever I walk out into the yard and actually froth at the mouth when I run the riding mower) had discovered that his new deck built close to the fence was an ideal launching pad for jumping over it. I calmly said” Hi guys, let's get you back home” and proceeded to lead them back to their owner's house. They followed fairly well until we got to the edge of their yard when both could not decide whether to follow to the door (they prefer inside) or to bark at an intruder, so they did both.
So, my question is: What do you do? Work with sweat in your eyes, face the wall to not get distracted, or face the street and try to ignore the distractions?
I've got to say that I was proud of myself for my reserved composure. Funny thing, tho. I've never seen a black lab with a brown nose before!!
Go
Fast forward to this past week: I am out in the garage (er.. shop) making a tennoning jig for my table saw. The weather is a nice & sunny and the garage is heating up, so I open the garage door. I am happily making the final cuts on some of final pieces when all of a sudden, my cheeks are wedged apart (not the ones adjacent to my beard, either!) Being one who tries to live his life by the mantra “expect the unexpected”, I did not over react, stopped pushing the piece past the blade, and looked around to see what was amiss. On my backside was a large black lab whose head is as wide as my b**t with her nose trying to appreciate my very essence, and to my left was another large golden lab looking at me with the expression that said “After she gets him down I'm gonna get the Good parts!”. It appears the neighbor's dogs (who raise Cain whenever I walk out into the yard and actually froth at the mouth when I run the riding mower) had discovered that his new deck built close to the fence was an ideal launching pad for jumping over it. I calmly said” Hi guys, let's get you back home” and proceeded to lead them back to their owner's house. They followed fairly well until we got to the edge of their yard when both could not decide whether to follow to the door (they prefer inside) or to bark at an intruder, so they did both.
So, my question is: What do you do? Work with sweat in your eyes, face the wall to not get distracted, or face the street and try to ignore the distractions?
I've got to say that I was proud of myself for my reserved composure. Funny thing, tho. I've never seen a black lab with a brown nose before!!
Go