Hi Troops:

I was about 12 or 13 years of age when an Aunt and Uncle gave me a Christmas present that would serve me well for years, an X-Acto knife set. You know, three different sized handle in a neat little wooden box with a selection of about 15 blades. I think they still make it, although the larger handle has a plastic grip instead of wood now.
This was back when "solid" models were made of balsa wood. (Yeah!, I'm that old). I got a lot of use out of that set, and also learned the lesson that those sharp little blades would cut more than balsa! Oh Yea! Some of those episodes probably contributed to my Mother's gray hair.
One really painful "accident" occurred when that large round handle rolled off the workbench and fell. I grabbed for it and as it was falling point up I spiked my hand on the blade, in to the hilt, as it were. That one was deep. Fortunately, I didn't hit any tendons, but I bled like a tuck pig and it was sore as heck for weeks.
A young friend of mine has had such an episode and his Mother was complaining to me about it this evening and I figure maybe the advice I gave her should be sent out to a wider audience. Some years ago I was shown by another modeler how to keep those X-Acto type handles from rolling around. Take a piece of sprue, best a thicker piece, say around 3/16" or 1/4" in diameter and cut a couple of pieces 1" long. Lay a piece along side the X-Acto handle and tape it to the handle with a couple of turns of any kind of tape, Duct tape or even plain old Scotch. The handle will no longer roll.

Yours in the interest of preventing blood loss!
Bill Shuey

after cutting the large vain in the insie of his thigh. Not sure how true it is, but I spoze it's possible.

--JOn

n/t

Now you got me thinkin' again! Like when I was a lil' kid and read about all the mites that live in your eyebrows. Has nothing to do w/ your bathing habits, if you're homeless living in the gutter, doesn't matter, they're there all the time and you can't get rid of them. I was scratchin' for days until I prob read about something worse to worry about. 747s/pianos falling from the sky and squishing me, the grease from a Twinkie clogging an artery or two, Manson escaping from prison, whatever.

I guess if the #11 had eyes and severed the femoral, you'd be in big trouble if you didn't live next door to an emergency room or you couldn't fig out which end of a tourniquet was up.

On the news a few days ago, a young lady clerk was taken to the back of her dress store by a robber and shot in the back, execution style, base of the skull, don't recall the cal., but she lived w/ no ill effects whatsoever! Out of the hosp in days! Doc said the slug hit one of the thickest spots in the skull. X-ray showed it mushroomed and never entered the skull. Didn't even crack it. Lucky for her that bullet had eyes in her favor. And the scumbag couldn't afford a street 9mm.