Averted close calls...had any?

[Nino]

I do miss that living room so. Had such a wonderful caretaker.....

Had .....

Man, don't give me them negative vibes ...

Gonna be alright soon & back on her feet again

Yeah, some of my stories are better than others, but they all go better with Mulata :-) - here's my closest call ( next to that DC 10 flight that almost ended on the side of a Columbian mountain ) :

Early '80's I was still single and living in Frankfurt. Had a stable relationship with my now wife, then girl friend.

She didn't like the big city and lived in a quiet village. I convinced her to try living in the city and move in with me.

She agreed so I renovated the large flat I was renting putting special emphasis on the kitchen.

Before she moved in, I arrived from a Beijing flight at noon, went to bed, slept too long, had a late dinner out, went to bed real late & very tired.

Dreaming & sleeping soundly I heard the kind of rustling sound a fire/flames make, funny sound.

Open my eyes and see the reflection of flames in the half open bedroom door.

Jump out of bed thinking this is a real baaad nightmare.

See flames & fire in the kitchen. The refrigerator is on fire, the top (where the freezer is ) is almost melting. I take only 2 breaths and it hurts my throat, this is pure burning melting fckw ... the chemical inside the freezer.

The refrigerator is right below a heating/hot water gas therm connected to the main gas line. The gas tube is right below the flames. About 20 cms. away. Will explode any time once the tube/valve burns through.

No time for rational thinking ( like wet a towel and breath through it ), I grab a bucket below the sink, fill it with water and throw it over the flames.

Big bang shortcircuit, all dark except for the nice flames. I was barefoot, just missed electrocuting myself nicely. Flames smaller.

Another bucket of water, by now I am almost fainting, can't breath anymore, it hurts.

The flames die, I open the kitchen windows and hang myself from the third floor just to catch fresh oxygen.

The guys from the fire brigade explained all the ways I could have gone "flying, burning, exploding, poisoned and I don't know what else" after I returned from the hospital and a treatment for smoke inhalation.

Actually, they explained how, had I not extinguish the fire, the whole building (and its 5 floors) I was living in would have made the national tv headlines in Germany that day.

Cause of the fire was a stuck regulator control (?) on the fridge/freezer that overheated the "engine" and caused the fire.

Insurance paid all damages, I renovated again but decided to move to my girl friend's village, bought a condo and got married.

Have had smoke detectors ever since.

[CanuckSARTech]

Had .....

Man, don't give me them negative vibes ...

Gonna be alright soon & back on her feet again

Correction made...."HAS".

Sorry - didn't realize something was up? Hope all is okay.

You can fill me in another day.

[Nino]

Correction made...."HAS".

Sorry - didn't realize something was up? Hope all is okay.

You can fill me in another day.

All is Ok - medical issue as reported by a " large bear" in our group. Is recovering now.

[CanuckSARTech]

And Nino.....when DOESN'T a little mulata make everything better??!?! LOL.

[CanuckSARTech]

All is Ok - medical issue as reported by a " large bear" in our group. Is recovering now.

Ahhh, okay. It just means more treats for us to bring down next trip then!

[Diamondog]

Hmmmm closet calls, stabbed in the belly and chest at a club as security also used to jet ski a lot was out one day in the water with a few others, one somewhat of a novice anyways we all got caught being stupid and careless and the novice ended up using the front of my jet ski as a ramp at full blast, problem was he was not experienced enough to remain calm and lost control trying to turn with no throttle....his jet ski launched off the front of mine my hand got smacked real good instinctually trying to protect my head which it missed by maybe and inch or two at full blast...

[Hopperb]

Great stories everyone and glad you are all here to tell them...

One of mine has to do with Tobacco. Here in this part of the states tobacco was once the largest cash crop for farmers and as a kid growing up on a farm we all did everything there was to do with the raising of the crop.

A few years later I was working with a group of nine others doing the cutting, hauling in as it was called, and hanging it in the barns to cure. We did this from August through September for several years. There were a lot of chemicals used in the growing but one main one is called Sucker Dope not sure exactly what the chemical make up is but it's what almost killed me.

We had been working in the fields all morning, day, and evening starting at dawn and finishing the hanging in the barn just after dawn the next morning. What caused the poisoning was the working in the dew where the tobacco was wet and the poison transferred onto my clothes then over time through my skin and into the bloodstream, working through those damp conditions twice in the fairly short period of time doubled the exposure.

I got home that morning and wasn't feeling well, nauseous but not to the point of throwing up, then I started hyperventilating and continued that for quite a while, long enough to where I was essentially paralyzed and couldn't move. Was taken to the hospital where they called the CDC (centers for disease control) who did the research and gave the antidote for the hospital to administer.

Doctors said that if I had gone another hour without care I would have died. Once I came out of it I realized three others of the crew I worked with were at the same hospital with the same conditions as they had been called by the hospital or CDC and came in to be checked. Their symptoms and condition hadn't progressed as far as mine and was caught before it became too bad.

Odd thing is I hadn't thought of that until reading through this thread - funny what can happen to us and we just forget or suppress until something like this comes up to remind us of how fragile life is.

Bill

[CaptainQuintero]

Just nearly had decaf coffee, need a sit down to recover now