Friday, May 27, 2011

The day Jim did a oops...

(Richmond, VA)  Hi 83 Lo 71 - Not much happened today, just our typical blogs, email, TV, and a quick trip to Wal-Mart. So Dee thought this would be a good opportunity to humiliate myself and tell what happened to me (I mean us) a couple of days ago. I was going through one of our kitchen drawers looking for something (don't remember what) when I found this small leather case that looked like one of my several pocket knife belt pouches. I wondered how the heck one of my knives made it into a kitchen drawer. (I have a modest collection of knives that I have in a special box stored in our bedroom closet.) I unsnapped the top of the case and noticed something white sticking out. My brain was still locked onto the fact that I KNEW this was a knife pouch, so I grabbed the white "thing" and gave it a tug. It came off in my hand.  Hmmm... that's strange. Still not thinking, I tried to push it back on. Of course you see this coming, right? When I pushed on it a small amount of liquid sprayed onto my left hand, on the fleshy part between my thumb and forefinger. At first I thought, "What the..."  Then I thought "WHAT THE....!" My brain finally connected the dots... and about that time I starting feeling a slight tickle in my throat. And then a very bad tickle, then coughing, and eyes watering, and nose running...  Dee, sitting in her recliner with her head buried in her laptop, realized what happened and TRIED to holler at me for being such a moron. But  she couldn't get anything out because SHE started coughing, and her eyes were spewing tears, and her nose was spewing... well, you get the idea. She jumped up and raced me to the kitchen faucet. She won, so I had to run to the bathroom faucet (fortunately it's not far away in an RV). After splashing copious amounts of water on our faces, and down our throats, I opened our fantastic vent to air the place out. We eventually started feeling better, and it didn't take long to get the fumes out.

So it all ended well. We weren't in any real danger, after all pepper spray doesn't cause any real harm. But I gotta tell you, that stuff is POTENT! It was just a short spray onto my hand, and nowhere near my face. I couldn't imagine getting a direct spray into my face. And really, it wasn't my fault, was it? I mean, shouldn't she have told me she moved her "personal protection sprayer" from the car to the kitchen drawer? (She said she didn't want it in the car when we reach the Canadian border.) Anyway, we full-time RV'ers are supposed to tell about our mistakes with the hope that we help others avoid the same mistakes. But for the life of me I can't see how this will help, because no one else would be that stupid, would they?

12 comments:

A couple of newer paintings 2019 said...

Good job, Jim!

Actually you shouldn't be bringing it across the border at all. If they find it.....

JB said...

Sounds like the water worked but I think they recommend oil, any kind of oil, if you take a direct hit. Just for info the Canadian border guys frown on Pepper spray as a defensive weapon but I still think "bear" spray is somewhat acceptable. Like they say just answer the man's questions and if he happens to hit on that one tell the truth.

Rod Ivers said...

If it makes you feel any better, I wouldn't have had any idea what it was either, and would have ended up spraying myself too.......

GGuncle said...

if you go camping in bear country when you go out west,be sure to have some of that with you. thats what is in the spray cans of bear repellent that they sell in sport stores out that way. dom...

Donna Traill said...

That is really a tough lesson to learn. Glad it worked out and no one was hurt. Sorry for laughing out loud.... but...

Along the Way with JnK said...

Know the feeling...we tested ours once outside of course but into the wind...you all know the rest of the story! That stuff is potent!

LakeConroePenny,TX said...

Oh, dear, I have one of those, too, I hope my great grand
children never find it!
So glad that you are both OK, but I expect you had red eyes for a while.

I don't think the customs officers object to you carrying wasp spray, you know, the kind that shoots 20 feet out.
I keep some at each door in case of intruders, hoping that it will give me enough time to grab something more lethal and call 911.
Happy Trails, Penny, TX

Gail Houle said...

Hahahahaha! Good one! Well, at least you know it's still good :)

I was going to buy one of those but now, I'm not so sure!

John and Carol said...

Wow! That was certainly a big surprise. Thanks so much for telling your tale of woe. It could happen to anyone.

Budd said...

Sometimes it is hard to remember that even though the full-timing lifestyle is mostly about each person doing what they can do... when they can do, there are still pockets of "my space" that are quietly "owned" by just one person.

Kitchen stuff is Merrily's and if I move, change, update, or even think about doing any of those to kitchen stuff without a leading question or comment, I will be brought up short when she discovers it.

What is even more difficult to remember is that no one feels a need to mention any changes they make in "their spaces" to the other one. Why should they?

It might be nice to hear an occasional comment from Merrily that she noticed I switched the contents of the screwdriver drawer with the "probes" drawer in my tool box.... but I know my hopes are too high so I have to respect that if I am rooting through one of her spaces I owe at least, an honorable mention that I see something different..... before I touch it.......

But occasionally, I still forget, anyway, and there ARE booby traps.... count on it.

Paul and Marti Dahl said...

I have been sprayed in the face with it for training twice. It is no fun at all, trust me on that.

And don't bring it in to Canada, as nice as Canadians are, they have no sense of humor when it comes to that stuff.

Anonymous said...

Had to read this to Stu....thanks for sharing! LOL!!!

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