Hey,

I am a pretty easy going guy, I get along with everybody, almost. About 20 years ago I was assigned to cruise timber in the winter with a guy I just could not stand; he just would not follow common sense rules and procedures even if they were for our own safety or the law.

We carried a homebuilt wooden snowmobile ramp in the back of our pick-up truck but we had the problem of the entire ramp and deck sliding out of the truck when going up steep hills. We decided to nail some short pieces of 2x4 to the sides of the deck in front of the truck wheel wells to keep the unit from sliding backward. Picture the two of us standing at the side of the truck holding one side of the entire ramp up above the rear fender of the truck. So I say to my partner, "You got it"(?), because I am going to let go and hammer the board on. He replies with "I could hold this all day if I had to", then almost immediately he drops the unit on my hand! I am hopping around sticking my bleeding/blackening thumb into the snow and he is laughing his head off. I disliked the man before, now I wanted to do him serious harm. My coworkers in the office wanted to burn through my throbbing thumbnail with a heated paperclip but I would not let them; I went to the emergency room of the hospital instead, where they burnt through my thumbnail with a heated paperclip, blood hit the ceiling!

Before I could return the favour to my "partner" he got fired for refusing to follow everyday safety rules, like stopping for stop signs while driving the employers vehicle.

My sore thumb today brings back old memories, I wonder if I could find him?

Mike