[PLUG-TALK] I'm still alive!

[Rich Shepard]

On Sat, 11 Apr 2020, Russell Senior wrote:

> The other thing I remember is taking a spelling test the following week
> and having to write with the left (less injured and more nimble) hand, and
> being nominally right-handed, this led to a rather substantial regression
> in legibility.

In grad school at the U. of Illinois my (since) ex-wife left a pan of oil
heating on the stove. It flamed and I found it quickly and moved it to the
sink, burning my right hand in the process as the hot oil spilled back when
I placed the pan in the sink.

I drove myself the university hospital when they debrided the burned skin
and bandaged my hand around a roll of gauze. They told me the pain med they
gave me would knock my on my butt so I should call someone to drive me home.

I called a student in one of my classes who lived in a nearby dorm. She said
she could drive a manual transmission and came to the hospital for me.
Within two blocks of jerking forward and stalling the engine she admitted
she couldn't drive it. :-) We switched seats, I dropped her off at the dorm
and drove home at the eastern edge of Urbana.

This was two weeks before finals. I couldn't take notes -- even with my left
hand -- and my professors were gracious enough to give me oral finals for
each course. And learning to cope with only one hand (and the non-dominant
one at that) when dressing and doing other things took a while.

Now I keep a metal cover near the stove every time I heat oil for frying.

Rich