No good deed goes unpunished

[FS7]

Last week, an oblivious woman slowly but surely backed right out of her parking spot into the driver side door of my car. I heard something dent, and then pop back out. She drove off, and I had to chase her down. My car was dirty that day and I didn't see any damage, so I told her to forget about it. Later that night I realized there was a nice dent in the door - not extremely visible, but enough to annoy me.

Last night, I decided to screw a piece of scrap into a pillar on our porch. A bird (Eastern Phoebe, I think) insisted on making her nest on a ledge that is far too small (maybe an inch wide) so I thought I'd throw some scrap up there and help her out. When I went to screw in the little L brackets, the driver bit slipped off the screw and went directly into the side of my finger (probably to the bone) and now I can't really use that finger.

Fun times.

[EricU]

I have had pretty good luck getting rid of dents from the inside.  Really depends on where the dent is.  Nowadays, any hit means a dent though, always get an insurance info unless you really drive a beater

Hope you heal up soon

[CLETUS]

 the driver bit slipped off the screw and went directly into the side of my finger 

I had a T25 torx bit mangle up one of my fingers, man that hurt.

[FS7]

I have had pretty good luck getting rid of dents from the inside.  Really depends on where the dent is.  Nowadays, any hit means a dent though, always get an insurance info unless you really drive a beater

Hope you heal up soon

I should have done that. The woman was actually kind of rude despite backing into me and driving away. I really didn't want to ruin anybody's day, even somebody less than pleasant, but I guess I should have. Paintless dent repair would probably fix it easily enough, but I'm out of pocket now. I guess my thinking is that it's not a fancy car (Ford Fusion) and it's the daily driver. Additionally, in Northern Virginia, it does not seem to be possible to avoid door dings. I have them on all my vehicles and always have despite never doing it myself. There are at least two other dents on the side of that car (equally small) and at least one on the back bumper. If I had gotten the insurance, I could have gotten the car fixed and two dents removed (maybe, if they assumed the other on that door was related) and that still wouldn't be half the dents in the car. I'm rationalizing, I know.

My wife tells me the Phoebe is quite happy with her new shelf and seems to be expanding her nest. Is it worth it? I hope so. I love birds and I'd probably do it for any of them, but especially the ones that eat flying insects. 

It was an extended Philips bit - I would imagine a Torx bit and all its little sharp edges would be way worse. Not like this is pleasant.

[jteneyck]

I should have done that. The woman was actually kind of rude despite backing into me and driving away. I really didn't want to ruin anybody's day, even somebody less than pleasant, but I guess I should have. Paintless dent repair would probably fix it easily enough, but I'm out of pocket now. I guess my thinking is that it's not a fancy car (Ford Fusion) and it's the daily driver. Additionally, in Northern Virginia, it does not seem to be possible to avoid door dings. I have them on all my vehicles and always have despite never doing it myself. There are at least two other dents on the side of that car (equally small) and at least one on the back bumper. If I had gotten the insurance, I could have gotten the car fixed and two dents removed (maybe, if they assumed the other on that door was related) and that still wouldn't be half the dents in the car. I'm rationalizing, I know.

My wife tells me the Phoebe is quite happy with her new shelf and seems to be expanding her nest. Is it worth it? I hope so. I love birds and I'd probably do it for any of them, but especially the ones that eat flying insects. 

It was an extended Philips bit - I would imagine a Torx bit and all its little sharp edges would be way worse. Not like this is pleasant.

Ouch.  I can remember the pain;, the surprise of having done it was even greater.  Phillips bit for me, too, right through the fleshy part of the end of my little finger.  I got quite a cist in it that has finally nearly disappeared after 5 years or so.  

If your tetanus shot is not up to date (10 years, max.) you should get a booster.  You may also want to consider getting an X-ray to make sure there are no metal fragments in there, which I think is what caused the cist I got.   

Better days ahead.

John

[daddo]

Get the Phoebe to go poop on her car.

[FS7]

Ouch.  I can remember the pain;, the surprise of having done it was even greater.  Phillips bit for me, too, right through the fleshy part of the end of my little finger.  I got quite a cist in it that has finally nearly disappeared after 5 years or so.  

If your tetanus shot is not up to date (10 years, max.) you should get a booster.  You may also want to consider getting an X-ray to make sure there are no metal fragments in there, which I think is what caused the cist I got.   

Better days ahead.

John

I did that too. Back in 2016 I took a fall running and a rock (or something) punctured the palm of my hand. I developed a ganglion cyst that was right on a nerve and it has almost fully cleared up now. It doesn't take a foreign body - I did get an x-ray then, and nothing was in there. I don't think anything is in my finger now, but you never know. At least the bit doesn't look like anything has chipped.

I did once get a metal shaving in my eye. That became incredibly uncomfortable after a few days, and the doctor actually pulled it out with tweezers and then used a small rotary tool to grind out the rust. I didn't feel a thing and it cleared up quickly, but it sounds a bit scary. The doctor told me while he was doing it what would happen if I didn't get it fixed in fun terms - "Well, the pain would get really, really bad, pretty much unbearable, and you'd lose vision. If you had some disorder where you didn't feel pain, your eyeball would eventually turn into a giant ball of bloody pus, and then..." Good bedside manner he had.

My wife wasn't kidding, though. The mother phoebe didn't miss a beat and has quadrupled the size of her nest. It won't fall either. I hope she appreciates it.

[Stwood_]

I did once get a metal shaving in my eye. That became incredibly uncomfortable after a few days, and the doctor actually pulled it out with tweezers and then used a small rotary tool to grind out the rust. I didn't feel a thing and it cleared up quickly, but it sounds a bit scary. The doctor told me while he was doing it what would happen if I didn't get it fixed in fun terms - "Well, the pain would get really, really bad, pretty much unbearable, and you'd lose vision. If you had some disorder where you didn't feel pain, your eyeball would eventually turn into a giant ball of bloody pus, and then..." Good bedside manner he had.

I did that once. Metal chip off of a bandsaw blade sharpener for my woodmizer mill.
After 3 days of practically crying from the pain, went to the doc and he found a metal chip in there. Deadened my eye ( oh that was such a relief. oh oh oh ah) and pulled that chip out with a magnetic.

[FS7]

I did that once. Metal chip off of a bandsaw blade sharpener for my woodmizer mill.
After 3 days of practically crying from the pain, went to the doc and he found a metal chip in there. Deadened my eye ( oh that was such a relief. oh oh oh ah) and pulled that chip out with a magnetic.

I think you got lucky (not that getting metal in your eye is ever lucky). I was told that the outer layer of the eye generally "glues" the metal in place quickly, and it starts to rust within 24 hours (provided it is an oxidizing metal).

I know I was rinsing it multiple times a day, both in running water and in a bowl, and it wasn't coming out. My wife didn't see it and the doctor was surprised - both that she didn't see it and I didn't feel it.

Oddly enough, I was drilling out a hanging bracket to accept an S-Biner so the raccoons/bears/squirrels/whatever would stop lifting the feeder off the hook and carrying it into the woods. I should really rethink my love of birds.

[EricU]

I've never done anything like that to my hand that had long-term residual effects, but I have personal experience that makes me recommend that you don't use a metal lathe while wearing crocs.