This past summer I had carpel tunnel
surgery on both my hands. The surgery corrected the problem, but the total
healing of the heals of the hand takes about a year. Well, Wednesday I chiseled
out two mortises on the top of my table. The mortises came out fine, but my
hand was really aching by the end of class. With the first mortise, I couldn't
tell how far down I had gone and had chiseled out a good portion of the board
below. With the second mortise I could better judge how I was doing and even
finished by chiseling from the back (underside).
On Friday, I went with Professor Evans to Habitat for
Humanity D.C. My luck it was sunny, but freezing. Since all the tasks involved
heights, I volunteered to work on the roof because that crew would be in the sun and warm. The task for the
roof was to put up sheathing. I didn't know it but, sheathing is thick plywood
that is hammered to the joists and is the first surface of a roof. There were
three staff members and five volunteers. Basically, the staff put down sheathing
adhesive on the joists, and placed the sheathing. Then the volunteers hammered
the sheathing to the joists at intervals of every six inches. It was tough
because once I got the nail in with only an inch remaining, the nail would bend
and have to be removed and a new nail hammered in its place. Because I didn't
have to hit the second nail with as many strokes, it usually made it in without
bending. I found if I could get the nail in with 12 strokes, all was great and
satisfying. But if it took 14 or more strokes, I had to do it all over again.
Uck! By lunch time, my hand was killing me. The lunch break only made it
stiffen up and hurt worse. I believe I did at least my fair share of the work.
I didn't take any breaks until after lunch, but I noticed our crew was all
working harder and slower than before. I think we were all tired. Over all it
was a fun and educational experience and I hope to join them when they go back
in the spring.
Surprisingly, the next day, my hands
didn't hurt at all! :-)
