I guess we all have those days that we do something really stupid and wonder how did that happen. I know how it happened. I was still tired this morning from my week of intense activity. My new floors were ordered and I had 2 days notice (one of which I was out of town) to clear and dismantle everything from laundry room, bathroom and kitchen. To save money, I told them I would move the stove and fridge, remove all the baseboards, transition strips and the moldings and handle for the crawl space access.
If you have ever had this sort of job done, when they are there, you have to be on top of everything, running around finding things to prevent the destruction of other stuff. An example is the plumber arrived early. I had only 6 hrs sleep and no breakfast yet. He looked at the two toilets to be removed and asked where was he going to put them. Yikes! I didn't want them sitting on my front lawn so I quickly found some cardboard and cleared a carpet out of the way in my bedroom him to put them on. The other bedroom was full of everything from the 3 rooms and it's entrance was going to be storing the one piece washer and dryer while they did the floors. That behemeth thing has not moved since 1991 and had all the dust behind it to prove it. I couldn't access it to clean behind it or to remove the baseboards beforehand so I had to rush in and do that before they started ripping the floor out. It took 3 of them to move it. So it went. It was worse when they tried moving the washer/dryer back and I didn't get a chance to reinstall the moldings. There's no way I can move that thing. That's the back story. Sorry it's such a long one.

This morning, I'd had some coffee and breakfast. My stove and fridge are still sitting where my table would be normally. I have to wait 2 days for the glue to set before moving them back or I'll have permanet roll marks across the new kitchen. I lifted up the crawl space cover with a screw driver, thinking about reattaching the handle and moldings all of which needed cleaning up before that task. I noticed some liftting of a section of vinyl so I got my clamps to help set it. I didn't want to leave the crawl space open so I put a peice of cardboard over it. Bad move. You know what's coming. An hour later I went in to check, turned to look at the cover standing against the wall and as I turned I put my foot on the edge of the cardboard which gave way. It seemed to all happen in slow motion as I went into the crawl space one foot at a time. There was nothing to stop me or grab onto although I tried. I crashed against the edge of the framing as I hit the milk crate at the bottom, normally a 2 foot step down. But my leg gave way and crumpled as the other leg down and arms hit the framing, then my neck hitting the back edge. What a scary experience. I know I could have broken my neck. I have major bruises on one arm and my legs. There's a lump on the left side of my neck where I hit it. Of course I iced everything, put arnica cream on all the bruises and spent the next 4 hours resting. I'll phone the chiropractor in the morning. And I've put a chair in front of the cardboard and the cover that is sitting there but not in place yet.

The R.I.C.E. and arnica must have helped a lot because about 4 or 5 hrs later, I was in the garden digging up my potatoes. They looked beautiful!

I don't care if I don't have a stove for a few days. The fridge is plugged in. One toilet was leaking before the floors went in and I was hoping that the removal, replacement of supply tube and new seal would fix it but it hasn't. So I have to call him tomorrow and have him come back. It must be the washers where the bolts attach the tank to the bottom part that are gone. It is about 16 years old.

The moral of the story is that when you are tired, accidents happen. Your judgement and alertness are off. Just wait! You don't think anything will happen but it does. Thanks for listening and be careful. You can never take too many precautions. Barb