It Wouldn't Stop Joe

God has a special Providence for fools, children, and the United States of America.

- attributed to Otto von Bismarck, first Chancellor of unified Germany

Should you pray for God's help when you're about to do something really, really stupid? I don't mean stupid accidentally or incidentally. I mean when you're actively and willfully planning to do something dumb. Very dumb, fantastically ill advised in fact. Planning to do exactly the kind of thing every ounce of reason says you should not do.

I needed a cable fitting for a repair yesterday and did not have a new one. So I either had to order one and wait a couple weeks to finish the repair, or use the lone one I actually already had. The trouble was, the one I had was welded onto the end of an old cable. That meant that for me to use it I had to cut through the weld with a high speed saw. I won't bore you with the details. But trust me, the very idea was far from smart. I had visions of lopping off a finger. The pointer on my left hand was even experiencing pre-injury phantom pains.

'Joe would do it', I said to myself, referring to me Grandpa Joe, who frequently took silly chances in life. Obviously that didn't really help my argument, as those of you who knew Joe would agree. Still, I thought, if I don't cut the weld and use the fitting the machine will be in the way for several more days and we don't have much room to work lately, it being so busy. I decided to do it. 

Rounding up whatever protective equipment I had on hand at the Shop, I prepared for the task. There wasn't much; Joe wasn't big on trifles such as preventing grievous bodily harm (or death) and I never actually followed up with the institution of better safety protocols. Still, I put on what I had and said a prayer (I honestly and sincerely did) to God for my safety. You know, like to not sever my jugular vein.

I managed the job safely, being very slow and deliberate. I then finished the repair. I did also take a minute to thank God afterwards for having steadied my hand and keeping me safe. I suspect, however, that my Guardian Angel is on his third pint.