Safety Fist: Today was not a Great Day in the Garage...

We had an ice storm today, so everybody was home and I retreated to the sanctity of the garage. I spent a good part of the day changing a lower control arm on the dog's Volvo, and after that, I decided to see if I could adjust the recently replaced, and poorly aligned, headlight on the wife's Honda Accord.

And that's when my right hand got stuck in the car.

I reached in near a spot that seemed to indicate the presence of an adjustor that I couldn't see from above. My hand went in easily, so easily in fact that I don't really remember anything about that part of it. But there was absolutely no way that I could get my hand back out.

I spent about five minutes trying to save face by moving my hand into every conceivable position I could, but it still wouldn't come out without tearing off large chunks of my flesh.

Eventually, I relented and yelled out to my wife. Several times. And each time a little louder.

Unfortunately, she couldn't hear me over the sound of the Hallmark Channel's 1500th Christmas movie with the exact same story line, that she was watching for the 1500th time.

Refusing to panic, I looked around at my options. I didn't have any tools within reach. I thought about trying to break the light housing, but wasn't ready for that. I thought that maybe I could cross a couple of wires to the horn, but I couldn't make that happen either.

Fortunately, there was a broom leaning up against the wall. I reached out with my left foot and pulled the broom my way. I used the handle to knock the house phone receiver off the wall, then hooked the cord, reeled it in and called her cell phone.

"Hellllloooo? Are you okay?"

"No. Get out here. I'm not kidding."

I directed her to the toolbox. With the help of some tools, I was able to remove a 10mm bolt and then use a knife and a door panel tool to remove a plastic clip on the headlight housing.

Still stuck.

I tried prying the housing away from the radiator support, but it still wouldn't budge. Still unwilling to break a perfectly good part that I would have to replace later, I asked her to grab a spray bottle of Simple Green. I soaked my hand down pretty well but I still couldn't get out. Finally, after a thorough soaking and some crazy twisting, my hand slipped out.

This was not fun.

I'm not sure how I would have handled this situation had I been home alone. Lord know's that I have done much riskier stuff when I was on my own.

In all seriousness, I was nearing the time of day where kinda needed to poop. If I was all alone and it came down to it, Simple Brown might have become my lubricant of necessity.

Remember: There's always something that you can do to save yourself.

Wow 

glad hand and poop all worked out. 
 

rule in our house, everyone wakes up and poops before leaving . If you don't poop, you don't go to school or work. Saves me from using nasty road side bathrooms for the family 

Simple Brown for president.

Did you get it adjusted?

I know on most of the honda products you can adjust the headlights using a long Phillips head screwdriver on the adjuster on the back of the light.  I may be wrong on that particular year.

Glad you saved your hand and your pants.

In reply to NoGuarantee :

No.

Woody said:

Simple Brown might have become my lubricant of necessity.

Glad you escaped with your digits and dignity most intact!

As much as I dont want one of the Alexa or Whatever things in the house, I have considered it as a safety device for the shop. Nobody would ever hear me yell in my shop cause it is so insulated because I dont want to bother the neighbors with grinders and whatnot. 

In reply to Woody :

Slide the screw driver down by where the u and d on the top edge of the headlight. You can see it in the photo you posted. Adjuster is down there 

Fookin' 10mm.

NOHOME said:

As much as I dont want one of the Alexa or Whatever things in the house, I have considered it as a safety device for the shop. Nobody would ever hear me yell in my shop cause it is so insulated because I dont want to bother the neighbors with grinders and whatnot. 

I dropped enough F-Bombs that Alexa would have thought that I was looking for porn.

In reply to NOHOME :

You know, that is a good idea, say 'call 911' if its gets that bad.  I work alone all the time doing dangerous stuff.

Glad to hear it worked out Woody.   

Woody said:

If I was all alone and it came down to it, Simple Brown might have become my lubricant of necessity.

I know that saying something should go into the magazine is the worst way to get something into the magazine, but I swear to God, if this doesn't make it in, I will cancel my subscription. 

In all seriousness, glad you're OK, Woody. My shop is 150' from my house, so if something happened, I might be in real trouble. I always have my phone on me, but that's no guarantee.

In reply to Tom_Spangler :

My phone was plugged in with music playing. Just out of reach of the broom.

In reply to mr2s2000elise :

I too follow the Home Turf Rule.  Some guys at work take pride at being paid to use the bathroom stalls. 

I hope the pic loads...

I bolted a rear su frame to my racecar.  It pivoted on the rearmost jackstands while I was under it...

I yelled for my wife to no avail.  

I did the biggest bench press of my life and crawled out and went and got her.

She sat on the front of the car to weigh it down while I finished bolting in the subframe and moving jackstands...

I keep my phone in my pocket or within reaching distance.  My garage is external and no one would ever hear me yelling.

P.s. I expected a safe word or at least some s and m E36 M3 with the title. 

Woody said:

Remember: There's always something that you can do to save yourself.

One of the ways that I've lived my life. 

I'm glad you got out of it ok. I think you get credit for figuring out how to get help.

Edit: credit for the non-typo title.

Glad you're OK! Honda has crazy headlight adjusters, I now own a 13" long Phillips screwdriver so I can adjust our Pilot's headlights. If it would help with the adjustment,  you're welcome to borrow it!

In reply to Datsun310Guy :

Those guys are ............. 

At least this didn't turn into 127 hours.

I had my shoulder dislocate while working under my car in our detached garage putting an exhaust back together. Luckily my girlfriend was near by but it still took me over a half hour to work my way out from underneath with her help, a few hours later after an ambulance ride to the hospital and a tiny bit of fentanyl and it was back in place.

This is a good reminder to keep the phone within reach.

• Phone always goes into my upper chest pocket of the overalls. It holds the phone which doubles as a flashlight AND is how I text my wife to help/"come look at this dumb thing I did"

If I ever have a band I'm calling it Safety Fist.  Glad you kept your hand.  I've had moment where I wondered if I'd get mine out of there intact.

In reply to minivan_racer :

Safety Fist is the opener for Danger Box and Grosh.

@wvumtnbkr, once I figured out that the car position in the photo was unintentional, that gave me an all-over shiver.