I've been scarce around here lately. Here is what happened.

[moparedtn]

I'm over 200 so I obviously need to err on the side of caution.
View attachment 1484133

Time to get off the couch!
Tough it out, you can work one handed - merely a flesh wound.

 

[Red63440]

We all do dumb **** at times and some of us get to tell about it. Heal up and get back on your feet, we are all pulling for you. In the mean time I’m going up on my third story roof and see what I can fix!

 

[Sixpactogo]

Sorry to hear about your mishap KD but glad to hear you're on the mend. A good attitude always speeds the mending.

 

[Charles Cook]

Damn Greg. Get well soon brother.

 

[MarPar]

Holy **** Greg. Im glad it wasn't worse...and it easily could have been. Glad you are getting better day by day. Don't over-exert yourself and do **** too soon. You are going need time to heal properly or it the injuries will linger for a long time.

Thought of a song for you (and really the rest of us on this board lol)

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Holy **** Greg. Im glad it wasn't worse...and it easily could have been. Glad you are getting better day by day. Don't over-exert yourself and do **** too soon. You are going need time to heal properly or it the injuries will linger for a long time.

Thought of a song for you (and really the rest of us on this board lol)

Love me some Toby Keith... And yeah that one represents most of us here....

 

[cr8crshr]

It has been said KD, many a time, that it ain't the fall that gets you but that sudden stop!!! You hit it really hard if it knocked you out and a slight Concussion!!! We as we age have to realize that we are not as nimble and flexible nor sure-footed as we once were so this is in its own way a wake-up call to you. It appears you are mending quickly but the effects will stay with you for a while no doubt. So mend up and get back to somewhat normalcy, and then just hire someone else to do it for you instead of putting the ol' self back up there...cr8crshr/Bill

 

[1STMP]

Isn't the guide wire also used as a ground?

I started working home construction with my dad at age 14 and it wasn't too long before I started sub-contracting from him doing what was called gyp and deck. Did lots of other things too but that's for another time. Back then gypsum sheathing was used on the outside walls for insulation and water repellent under the brick and was constructed very similar to sheet rock but with a water repellent 'paper' covering and thicker. It was shipped 8' long and 2" wide and was much heavier than sheet rock. The roof decking was either 3/8" plywood or 1x4" strips with the plywood being for composition shingles and the strips spaced 4" for cedar shingles. Anyways, I spent a lot of time on bare frame houses chopping joists that stuck out above the rafters. Yeah, the framers dropped the ball on that but at least most were not sticking up by much so I just used a hatchet to do that job. Over time I got to where I could walk all over a bare frame without thinking much about it but these days, at 72 I don't even want to up on a completed roof anymore....and yeah, I've hit the ground a time or two but was able to get some control of the fall before hitting the ground. I too used to jump off of houses as a kid playing. It was a bit scary the first time though lol.

Fast forward from the mid 60's and 1970 to 84 when my dad and I built my 28x52' shop. Dad was 63 at the time and I was 33.....me being in good shape still but with dad being not as good, he only got up on the top to help me get the ridge board nailed in place and then he got down and never came back up again and now I know why. This was the first time for me to do a complete frame job and it went well with dad cutting rafters etc. The joists were easy and just put up a false wall down the center and laid the joists on it and once everything was tied together, the FW was removed....the shop has no inside support columns as the roof is a semi truss setup. Years before doing this, dad mis-stepped while up on a freshly framed house and ended up falling between a couple of rafters and cracked a few ribs. He never was up on the frame of that many houses and think he didn't like that part at all.

Glad you didn't get injured anymore than you did but man, gotta be more careful as we get older.....and each injury seems to come back to haunt us as we age....

"Isn't the guide wire also used as a ground?"
Yes.

 

[ckessel]

WOW! I'm glad you are on the mend, but I have to ask.
Did you file a workman's comp claim?
Has you spelling and grammar been affected?
All kidding aside, glad you are back and not looking up at plant roots. Or drooling while in a wheelchair. Or having a Bud Light.

 

[440 4 speed]

I have had a fused ankle since I was 16. Built our own garage when in my 20’s, built a cabin with a 12x12 pitch and cedar shakes, in our 30’s, but had the roof done by pros. Last time I was on our house roof 12x4 pitch was about 4 years ago.
When I was in my 20’s, some fellow that was 47 years old fell off his roof or ladder putting up Christmas lights and died. A few of us thought what was he doing up there at his age. How view points change.

 

[68BabyBlue]

Greg, as others have already said, this is certainly a wake up call. As you know, I spent half of my career in an inherently dangerous job, and got to the finish line relatively intact, after watching others not make it. Survival depends on diligence. Concussions are a serious deal, and your symptoms certainly fall within the norm. I made a new friend last year at the Carlisle Chrysler Nationals with personal and professional experience with them. "Disability Deb" was a physical therapist decades ago, with a specialty in teaching adaptive skiing. She has used crutches and a leg brace for six decades, but still works winter ski patrol five days a week, at the age of 76.

Deb has had three concussions over her lifetime, all from skiing accidents. She still has fall out from the first one. Her latest happened last winter, but this time she was wearing a helmet and her brace, rather than using crutches alone. She broke the helmet and the brace, but was back on the slopes a few days later. Her assessment - you need to live a full life, but be prudent about it.

So, sometimes it involves equipment (easy for us gear heads to relate to,) but sometimes, delegating stuff to others, which is often more difficult.

 

[davek]

Wow just caught this,glad your doing better Greg. Take it one day at a time. Were not getting any younger my friend.

 

[T2R9]

Scary stuff. A slip or fall can happen so quick and result in major injuries. 12' damn. Get better and truck on like you always did. I won't even get on a ladder taller than an 8' step these days.

 

[Nxcoupe]

Sorry to hear! Please get well soon!

 

[Kern Dog]

WOW! I'm glad you are on the mend, but I have to ask.

Has you spelling and grammar been affected?

My typing skills, while never all that great, have suffered. I make errors and skip letters. Posting here takes 3-4 times as long as usual. MY left arm has limited range and hurts. Correcting my mistakes is a MUST though given my track record of being so picky about it.
Delta V.....
Thanks for that article about concussions. I have somehow followed most of those rules simply by following the Dr's orders.
I'm healing up well, it seems although I've now had 3 nights with extreme difficulty sleeping. I'm blaming the steroid Prednisone for that.
Last night I tried to pass out but couldn't, so I came out to the living room and pecked away on the computer until almost 7:00 AM. I then took 2 Tylenol and a Flexoril. The latter is a muscle relaxer that will conk me out for hours, sometimes even if taken during the day.
Right now, I feel like the day after a car show where I feel tired all over and a little hazy minded. The pain is minimal though.

 

[skicker]

All kidding aside, glad you are back and not looking up at plant roots. Or drooling while in a wheelchair. Or having a Bud Light.

He's still having a Bud Light...

 

[Scott Engelhardt]

Sorry to hear about your fall. Relax and give yourself some time to heal.

 

[70ChargerRT]

I’m so glad you didn’t get seriously hurt. No matter how old you are you will learn from your mistakes. Get healed up and get back after it.

 

[VANDAN]

KD, it's not the fall, but the Sudden Stop that gets you Every Time ! Heal up quick, We Need Patriots Like You, Especially in Commiefornia !!!

 

[Kern Dog]

Thank you, Sir.