sometimes, you're just lucky

[can't sit still]

Not so lucky. In norcal, there was an accident and power lines fell on a bucket truck. The driver in the truck had the presence of mind to make a clean jump from the truck. Out of force of habit, he reached over and started to close the door. He never got it closed.

[ygmir]

yeah, from my years running backhoe, I know, that you never make contact from ground to vehicle, if, there is electricity involved......he did right, to jump.......dang, the mind fart to close the door.......

also, IIRC, if near power lines that are down, you "hop" to get away, something about the power surfacing in concentric circles or something, and, you don't want to end up with one foot in and one foot out (hokey pokey?).
to create a circuit.........

By the time I saw the lines and realized how close I was, it was also to late to hop.....I was already there.......

[gyre]

Playing with power lines...I'd like to say I'm surprised.

There are a lot of myths about high voltage.
I'm interested in the hopping thing.
Might be a theory about keeping the charge from making a circuit through your body.
You're always taught to keep a hand behind your back when you can.
You don't want voltage through your heart or head.


Next you'll be flying a kite in the lightning!

[ygmir]

ok, so......I'm putting some left over fascia gutters in my metal rack.
as I'm sliding them up, one slides back at me, the sharp edge pointed at me.
I can't let go, since, they'd all fall on me, so, I pull my head back, and, 10' of sharp galvanized sheet metal touches and runs across my throat.....scratching but not cutting me..........dang, that'd take a big bandaid.......

[gyre]

Fun with steel, huh?

I found a video of someone climbing on top of a train and touching the power line for the train.
Quite a dramatic flash.
I feel more cautious around power now.

[ygmir]

yeah, it's always fun with something..........

The granite I work with can be exciting.......I had (had, that is) a helper driving a forklift, while we were raising a 2.5 ton slab for a sign up to work on......he was just to lift it, while I put blocks underneath......well, he forgot it was in gear, and, it lurched, tipping it......I jumped back, and, hit the forklift, falling straight down. The slab hit about 6" in front of me, breaking into sevaral pieces and cracking the concrete floor........that would have hurt.......

[gyre]

Those cartoon carnival type accidents are really to be avoided, Ygmir.
Hard to repair.
Happens in the big steel houses every so often.


When I was working on a recording studio down on beale street, some guys down the street were moving a tall aluminum scaffold and rolled it into high voltage lines, 50,000V or higher.
Because of the wheels, they became the ground.
I'm told they went up in flames.
After seeing the video of the train, I think that was literally true.

For those unaware, aluminum makes a dandy conductor for lightning or any voltage.

[Ugly Dougly]

Those cartoon carnival type accidents....

I get this image of Ygmir in clown outfit on a stretcher. The paramedics are trying to keep straight faces.

[ygmir]

so, I pull into my driveway yesterday...........

and, note, a section of pine tree, 30' tall, 38" dia. just "fell over".......it had been standing there for years, (after being topped) with a gate hanging from it.
Luckily, it fell in pretty much the only spot it could, without damaging anything around it.....except said gate......

Termites had eaten it off, cleanly, right across at ground level.
I figure it weighs about 3K lbs..since, my tractor won't even lift it.


Of course, I knew someday it would rot.......but, thought there'd be signs......it still looks totally solid on the outside.

I'm imagining, in the few days previous, having decided to swing that gate open........I would have had to rely on my cat-like reflexes and speed of a puma.......

[Dr. Pyro]

The question everyone I'm sure is asking: "Is Clyde OK?"

[ygmir]

hahah, yes, Clyde is fine.......he's fast like a hummingbird..........

[ygmir]

is it only me?............


so,
I was meeting looneytunes, for the ride up to the playa this morning, to deliver the first load.

as I walked around the truck, pre-trip inspection, I noticed the bumper was hanging sort of "odd".
with the trailer, and, 2K lbs of stuff on it, I thought "it's just the weight"
well, luckily, I looked underneath.....

all four mounting brackets had torn loose. Well the brackets hadn't torn loose, the bumper steel itself had torn, and ripped, from the years of stress.
and, the test the other day, had taken it over the edge.........
so, I limped back home, and proceeded to weld everything back together.

Dang lucky I checked, it would have probably come off, on some big bump, on I80, and sent the trailer careening off the side of the road.
well, maybe not, I've got a good safety chain, and, electric emergency brake away switch.

but still.........

so , two hours later, and, lots of welding, I made it out and back safely.

Jeeze...........

[gyre]

Bumper hitch?
That's why I like receivers.

Some are quite rugged though.

[gyre]

What are your safety chains attached to?


And do you really know their proof rating?

[ygmir]

Bumper hitch?
That's why I like receivers.

Some are quite rugged though.

no.
receiver hitch, welded to 8"x8" square steel tubing.
through bolted to frame in several spots, two, directions, perpendicular to load.
no problem with the hitch or receiver.

7/16" forged safety chain approx 8k W.L., 32K B.S. (IIRC)

*edit to remove snarky statement that is of no help*

[gyre]

And that all started to fail?

Holy crap!

Or maybe I'm not clear what failed?
Why would the bumper fail if it isn't under load?
I'm missing something.

[ygmir]

yes, after 17 years of very heavy loads (I use equipment fairly hard)
the steel fatigued. At least, that is my supposition.
my attachments held, brackets held.......all was fine. Maybe defective steel in the tubing? Maybe, just to much heavy use?
well
it's now reinforced and seems just fine.........I'll do further evaluation,but, feel I've addressed the stress issue that only held for 17 years/170K miles........

[gyre]

Good catch.

There's always a stress point somewhere.

Only aircraft and racecars get the engineering needed to fail simultaneously, in theory.

Sometimes people wonder why these things are so clearly over built.
I had a car that was towing a racecar and trailer, light load.
It hit a bad pothole on a bridge, which destroyed the trailer, and nearly wrecked the whole rig.
Not good on a bridge.

The bumper split right through, but held.

Still...

[Edana]

Mine's pretty small in comparison to some of these, but it definitely had an impact on my psyche!

Husband and I were driving home from a friend's house. Stopped at a red light on one of those major city arteries. I don't remember the exact sequence of event, but I do know the next thing I saw was that our airbags had deployed and the inside of the car seemed to be filled with smoke.

A drunk driver had hit us from behind, without slowing at all. She caused us to push into the car in front of us, which caused a series of cars hitting cars in front of them. All in all 4 other cars (5 including hers) were damaged. Not only did she do that, she somehow managed to drag us through the intersection - our car ended up about 100 meters on the other side.

Needless to say our car was completely totalled. Husband and I both managed to force the doors open and get out. Emergency vehicles came screaming up and started trying to save the people in our car, but were completely astounded that we were both out the car and standing there with nothing more than minor bumps and bruises.

Stupid bitch left the scene *with her airbags deployed* so the cops were trying to piece together what happened. Turns out she hit us so hard that she left an imprint of her license plate on our rear bumper. Perfectly legible. Police were able to trace the plates and were about to send someone off to the address when bitch came back to the scene. Smelled like someone had dumped a keg of beer over her. Her comment to the cops "I think I hit a red car". You *THINK*????????????

The entire evening at the scene everyone who saw our red car commented that it looked like someone might have died in there. Nobody could believe that we were both standing there talking to them.

Estimated speed at time of impact - 70mph.

[ygmir]

that is hardly "small"......egad.........so happy you're ok

If I may ask, what sort of car, protected you so well?

[Edana]

If I may ask, what sort of car, protected you so well?

Believe it or not, a Ford Focus!

(And I drive another one now - I prefer small cars, and I know first hand that it does well in really bad situations. Bitch was driving one of those big Lexus SUVs.)

[theCryptofishist]

Turns out she hit us so hard that she left an imprint of her license plate on our rear bumper.

I realize that it's smaller than the other, but wow. That's a nice piece of luck.

[gyre]

The imprint thing isn't unheard of.

I got hit from behind like that, just not as fast.
Like being shot out of a cannon.

[ygmir]

My "Black Knight/Steve Irwin" experience yesterday:

So, I'm breaking concrete, and, had to use a 3 lb. drilling hammer and chisel, to get the last "bits".
I'm swinging the hammer, moving the chisel, and all is going well.
I feel a "sting" in the crook of my left arm"

It seems, a shard of the chisel head, flew off as I was striking, and, embedded itself in my arm, coincidentally, into the vein, (artery?) that is exposed on the inside of my elbow, where they draw blood when I donate.

well, not thinking, I pulled it out, since it seemed pretty big (big being relative), and it hurt.

hahaha, looked like the "Black Knight" from "in search of the Holy Grail".
blood was squirting several inches at at time.
Hahaha, my first thought was of Steve Irwin, when pulling the stinger out........
but, of course, this wasn't nearly so bad.
I held pressure, stuck a rag over it and close my arm to hold it, so, I could still swing the hammer with my other hand.

It sealed up just fine, in a while.

my helper almost fainted, though, when he walked up and saw all the blood.

[Ugly Dougly]

I held pressure, stuck a rag over it and close my arm to hold it, so, I could still swing the hammer with my other hand.

It sealed up just fine, in a while.

my helper almost fainted, though, when he walked up and saw all the blood.

You Viking stud you!

Was that in the town you took us to last week? Maybe that spot is in need of an exorcism?

[ygmir]

I held pressure, stuck a rag over it and close my arm to hold it, so, I could still swing the hammer with my other hand.

It sealed up just fine, in a while.

my helper almost fainted, though, when he walked up and saw all the blood.

You Viking stud you!

Was that in the town you took us to last week? Maybe that spot is in need of an exorcism?

hahaa, yup, I was working on the stone I showed you, that I got the rubbing from.

[ygmir]

so........

I was walking next door, to shovel off the roof of the house, and heard a loud "crack"..........about 30' of the top of a cedar tree had snapped in the snow and wind, and fell about 20' in front of me.

sure, not too close a call, but, I suppose had the top been turned 90 deg. from it's ending orientation, it would have cracked my melon........

dang.

had me looking up all morning after that.

[Trishntek]

Thanks for bumping the thread Yggy,,,, as I read through these, I'm reminded of something that many say cannot be done. Back in '77, I worked in a uranium mine running heavy equipment. While working on a berm on the edge of a highwall with a D9, working from the top of the wall, I was told to work the dirt away from the wall, a 32' drop because there was a drainage ditch at the bottom of the wall since it was below the water table.

The berm had built up as the scraper crew I was working with had stayed away from the wall a respectable distance and was about 12' high. It was frozen solid and as I worked it with the ripper and run the blade to spread away from the wall had a pretty good start on a path wide enough for the scrapers to whittle it away. Just one more pass to make it a little wider,,,, suddenly I caught a frozen area hard enough to shift the entire machine sideways,,,, enough to tip the damn thing over on its side,,,, to the 12' side and fortunately not the 32' side.

It was kinda that slow motion thing where I had time to put one hand against the ROP and hold onto the shifter with the other hand. Boy did I get shit for that! But she was back on her tracks and we were pushing dirt before the end of the shift! I'm just glad it kicked toward the short side!

[ygmir]

Thanks for bumping the thread Yggy,,,, as I read through these, I'm reminded of something that many say cannot be done. Back in '77, I worked in a uranium mine running heavy equipment. While working on a berm on the edge of a highwall with a D9, working from the top of the wall, I was told to work the dirt away from the wall, a 32' drop because there was a drainage ditch at the bottom of the wall since it was below the water table.

The berm had built up as the scraper crew I was working with had stayed away from the wall a respectable distance and was about 12' high. It was frozen solid and as I worked it with the ripper and run the blade to spread away from the wall had a pretty good start on a path wide enough for the scrapers to whittle it away. Just one more pass to make it a little wider,,,, suddenly I caught a frozen area hard enough to shift the entire machine sideways,,,, enough to tip the damn thing over on its side,,,, to the 12' side and fortunately not the 32' side.

It was kinda that slow motion thing where I had time to put one hand against the ROP and hold onto the shifter with the other hand. Boy did I get shit for that! But she was back on her tracks and we were pushing dirt before the end of the shift! I'm just glad it kicked toward the short side!

dang..........that's gotta pucker you up!!!!
you mean, someone said you can't tip a D-9?

[Trishntek]

Considering their low center of gravity, in the day it was considered something you had to do on purpose. The boss threatened to put pontoons on it,,, lol.

Yeah I puckered and stayed in the seat as it settled,,, no seat belts in those days either,,,, squashed my hardhat though.

Once you get those tracks sliding sideways on frozen ground,,, they're like ice skates.