Fear not: A Safety Lesson

               Just before Thanksgiving, I was trying to figure out how to cut a 10 foot, two-by-six board down to the size it needed to be for installing as a shelf. The electric saws I was accustomed to using were occupied, so my tools were two saw horses, an electric skill saw and some clamps. There was a bit of pressure to just figure it out, quickly; this was four months into a five-month volunteer building experience, and the builder instructors were encouraging us to fly the nest and stop asking so many questions.

I had used these tools separately before and I had cut a board down to size before, but I had never before cut a 10-foot, two-by-six board down to size using these tools. I positioned the board evenly between the saw horses. It didn’t seem quite right, but we were supposed to install at least one shelf before the approaching end of the day and I needed to get the damn thing cut. Trying to hurry and act confident, I moved things so that the leverage of each side would be pretty much balanced in the middle when I finished my cut in mid-air between them. The clamps were useless, so I grabbed a partner and asked him to hold the longer side to prevent it flipping up or falling in.

If you’ve had any experience in carpentry, you’re picturing this with something like a cringe or a face palm. Seriously? You cut a 100 lb, 10 foot, two-by-six board between the saw horses? Yeah. I mean, I knew there was a risk of pinching, I just only had one helper and…chose not to think about what would happen to the saw and probably me if I balanced the board wrong and the shorter but unsecured side flipped up.

Anyway, preoccupied entirely with forward momentum, I pulled the trigger. The unsecured side of the board magically and forcefully pulled away from me as I finished the cut, and I looked over, surprised, to see that physics had just been defied by the builder instructor, who was not happy.

So, for those of you who have not had any experience in carpentry, and/or are as hopeless as I am at coming up with quick construction solutions based on even the simplest spatial reasoning, especially under pressure: there is a correct way to configure a long, heavy board on saw horses for cutting with an electric skill saw. It is with the longer side supported entirely on both saw horses and the shorter side ready to fall down, away from you, off the end of the saw horse, harmlessly to the ground.

I have a 30-hour OSHA certification and I know better than to do, like, so many things on a construction site. Also, I value my own life, and the lives of the people around me. So why did I not just take time to think things through until I was certain what I was doing was safe? Because I was afraid, in this case of taking too much time.

There are emergencies when, truly, time is of the essence and the risks of slowing down for thoughtful, creative problem solving far outweigh the risks of ploughing forward on a wing and a prayer. Like when you’re being rocketed while running for cover, or pushing out a baby with the cord around his neck, or getting an IV into someone who is bleeding out. I’m really not diminishing this- I’ve done two of those things, and diligently trained for the third. Of course there are real and serious emergencies.

But most of the time, we’re not being rocketed by terrorists or giving birth and it’s better to slow down and think with the part of our brain that enjoys life and creates things. So what if I didn’t get the shelf installed that day? I was volunteering, and I want to learn how to work with wood. I should have taken some time to learn how to do some cool things with woodworking tools, maybe not installed the shelf until a few days later when it was beveled and shaped and stained to look like cherry wood.

Why do I allow myself to operate in emergency-mode when it isn’t necessary, and even put myself in harm's way to do it? I think it’s partially conditioning. Marketing people figured out how to manipulate consumers by appealing to base sensibilities a long time ago, and manipulation is becoming mainstreamed as communication. I hear it from the media, politicians, religious leaders, you name it - and fear is a great base sensibility to appeal to for manipulation. No time to think things through, it’s an emergency. Buy more guns, kick out the immigrants, be wary of refugees, don’t buy red Starbucks cups, stop eating meat, install CFLs, recycle, don’t buy anything, buy pink stuff, eat less fat, eat more fat, only eat GMO-free food, save more money, be resilient, floss your teeth, read the Bible – warning, warning, warning warning.

Warning nothing. Life is going to unfold until it ends, guaranteed, starting the minute we’re born. Mostly it will unfold in the rhythmic cycles of waking, eating, pooping, having sex and sleeping. That’s the main thing.  That is life. All the rest of it is whatever you believe it is - humans trying to figure out how to keep our shit together, humans trying not to get too bored, humans working toward enlightenment, humans trying to get to Kolob, whatever. It doesn’t matter. Life, though, that matters. More than construction deadlines, more than year over year revenue increase goals, more than religion, more than everything.

When I’m feeling stressed and harried, especially this time of year, I’m going to stop and consider what the emergency is. If I decide there really isn’t one, I’m going to relax and focus on what I can accomplish with the tools at hand. At the very least I won’t kill myself for no good reason, and maybe I’ll even create something really cool.

Icicles! They mean Christmas and coziness and...heat loss! If snow doesn't stick to your roof when it's freezing outside, and icicle curtains are hanging from the eaves, that means some of the energy and money you're using to heat your house is warming your roof instead of you and your loved ones.

Warm air flows toward colder air. If you really want to know how it works, check out this article: Heat isn't a THING, it's an ACTIVITY! But just briefly- you see how this house is made of materials which separate the inside from the outside? There are some spaces where boards aren't perfectly flush together, there are some spaces where the door doesn't perfectly fit in the jam, etc. That lets warm air out. Then there is the fact that the materials themselves are conductive. Ever touched a window in the winter? Brrr. Glass is HIGHLY conductive, heat goes straight through it. Most wood is also pretty conductive. Bricks are very conductive. And drywall is also pretty conductive. So your snow-free roof? It's being warmed by heat moving straight up and out, conducted through the framing and leaking through any air gaps. And the snowmelt is dripping down your roof and freezing, beautiful and glistening but not very efficient. So what to do!

Put a lid on it ;) Remember glass is conductive? Well fiber glass - insulation - is not very conductive at all, and putting a bunch of it between you and the outdoors protects the warmth in your house from being conducted through the framing materials the same way a lid keeps your hot beverage warm and scrumptious. Even better than a lid? How about one of those 12-hour Thermoses. Insulate as much of your house as you can, and seal the air gaps, too. There are lots of materials out there now that do both, a good local contractor will offer an energy audit as part of their services to help you decide what's best for you.


TIP: Yes glass is super conductive, more so than framing materials in most cases- but replacing windows is usually not as important as installing insulation. The framing material in your walls is also relatively conductive, and walls are a lot bigger than windows. Windows can be draped for low cost to avoid some heat loss. If you're doing an energy retrofit on a budget, put your money into filling your walls with the best stuff your local insulation contractor can offer you.

Of course, walls can be draped too. If that's your thing.