Runa was a trouper and a real sweetie driving me into town on short notice and
helping me move around, and help me tend to myself.
Don't do this, gang, it HURTS.
The Emergency room techs were tellling me about the kinds of stuff they had to take care of on and after the 4th - people doing unwise things with pipes filled with firecracker powder, and losing fingers, hands, eyes, etc. Not good.
We had burned 5 pounds of (explosive) cannon powder and detonated two pounds of ammonium nitrate + fuel (metal hydrides) and this was all safe, legal, coordinated with ATF and Washington County dispatch. Calling in "Incident 286 Complete. No casualties, no damage," and having the dispatcher say "Excellent" before hanging up capped off a perfect 4th of July afternoon filled with negative delta G. (Gibbs Free Energy - in other words we started with chemicals very full of nitrogens and double bonds, broke them all, formed smaller elemental products with MUCH less chemical energy, and the difference being released as velvety smoke and VERY LOUD THUNDEROUS BANGS.)
Then I wound myself worse than I have ever done using firearms and explosives (always in a legal manner)
by slicing myself open on a jagged, stupid ROCK.
Drat.
