Playing with Sharps

I need a week to just sit on my hands.

Every day, I manage to mangle them. It’s only small cuts but, boy, do they bleed out of all proportion.

One run-in was with the cheese-cutter. You wouldn’t think a tool like that needs to be so sharp. It’s not like cheese is concrete or anything.

Another dangerous gizmo is a cuticle trimmer. Very handy thing. With a blade shaped like a cloven hoof, it can really save you manicure money.

I recently bought a new one and — goodness me! — I wonder if lumberjacks notice a difference when they get a nice, new, sharp ax. One day, they’re leaning into it, really beating up on the tree, and the next, they swing with one elegant blow and the tree just snaps right over. Must be quite a shock.

And that’s how it’s going with the new trimmer. This one manages cuticles by getting rid of fingers.

Add in a few other near misses, things like water getting too close to things it shouldn’t, i.e. cell phones, live blow dryers, and I’m not safe for myself to be around.

The soldiers in the book I’m reading would not want me in their platoon. I’d be the fellow that gestured with my loaded pistol, then wondered why everybody ducked.

I promise its a good book, though, and you’ll hear about it soon.

Meanwhile, I made it safely through dinner preparations today, probably because it didn’t involve the cheese cutter. I mean, I used knives, but we all know a knife is sharp and we treat it with respect. It’s the sneaky-sharp gadgets that we have to watch out for.

We ended up with Pasta with Peanut Sauce and Chocolate Sauce Brownies.

Strangely, the pasta recipe never lists oil as an ingredient. You will need some.

The brownies call for Rich Chocolate Sauce, one of those things that requires standing at the stove and stirring patiently. I had no time for that kind of thing this weekend, so I substituted chocolate syrup.

I really wish I’d had the time, though, because the brownies use only a portion of that sauce. The rest keeps well in the fridge, hardening to a dense and tasty mud. I don’t know about you but to me a supply of chocolate is kind of like band-aids — something I want to stay stocked up on.