[AT] OT: Retiring from roof work

[Gene Dotson]

    Gosh,Dean, sorry to hear of your painful peril. I have noticed as I get 
older, I think more of the pain that could come from such situations. I 
sometimes overthink possible outcomes and perhaps take more time to get 
tasks done. So far, I have all my digits and only a couple broken bones. 
Hopefully I can go out of this life as a complete body.

                    Gene



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dean Vinson" <dean at vinsonfarm.net>
To: "'Antique tractor email discussion group'" 
<at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Saturday, March 31, 2012 8:45 AM
Subject: [AT] OT: Retiring from roof work


> Some years ago I came to the realization that high work involving an
> extended extension ladder no longer held much appeal for me.   Memories of
> the many thousands of square feet of barns and houses I'd painted from an
> extension ladder many years ago, confidently zipping up and down that
> ladder, had gradually been replaced by an awareness of how high up I was 
> and
> how much harm could result in the event of an accident.  So I had some 
> good
> gutter-guard strips installed on my house, gave up on high Christmas
> decorations, and decided I'd hire out any high repairs that needed doing.
>
> But the low roof, the single-story roof over my garage, still felt within
> range.  So I was up there this past Tuesday evening, spraying some mildew
> treatment on the north-facing second-story wall of my house that's nice 
> and
> accessible from that garage roof.  I used the extension ladder but didn't
> need to extend it since it's only eight feet or so to the gutter.  Before 
> I
> climbed up the first time, I worried that the base of the ladder might 
> slide
> out from underneath me once I had my weight on the ladder, since the 
> asphalt
> driveway slopes slightly downhill and away from the garage.  To guard
> against that possibility, I flipped the little "feet" from the normal
> hard-rubber pad position to the spiky metal fork position, assuming that
> would prevent any sliding.  That's the part I wish I could go back and put 
> a
> little more thought and effort into.
>
> After a couple of trips up and down the ladder to apply the spray 
> treatment
> and then to rinse it off, I was on my way back up for a third time, with 
> the
> garden hose and a scrub brush to tend to the bad spots.  When I reached 
> the
> height of the roof, with my left foot still on the ladder I reached my 
> right
> foot out for the roof... and felt the bottom of the ladder sliding out 
> from
> beneath me.  It's no fun to have that moment of clarity about exactly what
> is happening, when it's something you'd really rather not happen.
>
> Fortune smiled greatly upon me, though, given the range of potential
> outcomes.  Some neighbors saw me fall, came to my assistance, called for 
> an
> ambulance within seconds, and I was in an emergency room within minutes. 
> I
> suffered a couple of hairline fractures to my right hip socket, and a
> hairline fracture to the right front side of my skull, and a big gash on 
> my
> forehead.  None of those injuries required surgery or a cast, and I'm now
> home from the hospital and back on my feet with the assistance of 
> crutches,
> free to bear as much weight on my right side as I feel like, free to start
> working my way back toward a normal routine.
>
> In hindsight I'm kicking myself big time about the base of the 
> ladder--about
> correctly recognizing the danger but then falling into complacency and
> taking a shortcut (and the wrong one) to address it.  Those spiky feet are
> probably best intended for use on a lawn or bare soil, not a hard surface
> like asphalt.  Given the slope of the driveway I should have taken much 
> more
> robust steps to make sure the base of the ladder was fully restrained.
>
> I'm very grateful to be alive, unparalyzed, and with no more than a black
> eye, some stitches, a pair of crutches, and a lot of tenderness to deal
> with.  But I don't think I need to be doing any other roof work in the
> future.
>
> Let's be careful out there!
>
> Dean Vinson
> Dayton, Ohio
> www.vinsonfarm.net
>
>
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