a roundabout way to sing the praises of safety glasses

Mar 24 04:11 UTC 1992

About 2 weeks ago I replaced the U-joints on the driveshaft of my truck. In
the process of pounding out the old bearing cups (for lack of a suitable
hydraulic press), I got hit in the cheek by a pice of metal. I wiped up the
blood and didn't think much of it until today, when I had my teeth cleaned and
X-rayed. The dentist wanted to know how I got the piece of metal buried in my
cheek - he was initially worried that the hygenist might have broken off one
of those pointy implements. At that point I decided that I was very wise (and
fortunate) for having been smart enough to wear my safety glasses. I could
easily have ended up with the sliver buried in my eye. WEAR YOUR SAFETY
GLASSES (and check your smoke detectors - ask tnt).

response 2 of 5:

Mar 24 10:42 UTC 1992

I think you're thinking of the jugular vein, which runs down the side
of the neck and returns blood from the brain.  The aorta is a large
artery that constitutes the main outflow of blood from the heart;
seeing as it is buried in your chest cavity, it's somewhat unlikely
that it would be hit by a flying metal sliver.

But yes, Fred is right -- always wear your safety glasses.

response 4 of 5:

Mar 25 00:40 UTC 1992

I had it dug out this morning. It couldn't have gone in deep enough to hit a
major blood vessel. Anyway, if it had, I could have put a tourniquet around my
neck, right?