gravity is a harsh mistress
27 04 2005Monday night, I was lying in bed trying to sleep when I realized that I hadn’t turned on the alarm for the house. I was about half-asleep at that point and was just going to let it go, but I told myself if I was paying for the alarm I was going to use the damn thing.
I’ve got a split-level house, so the stairs are divided into two sections with a landing in the middle. I made my way down the first section alright, but I rounded the corner too fast (I tend to go bounding down steps, given my long legs) and when I went to step on the first step of the lower section, my foot didn’t have enough traction (mostly due to the fact that I was wearing socks, I believe) and went flying out from underneath me.
This resulted in me starting to fall not so much on my posterior, but more on my back, given the momentum of my foot flying out from under me and the slope of the stairway. I instinctively tried to grab something to slow or stop my fall, and my left hand managed to find the handrail that’s bolted to the wall. Sadly, it was apparently not designed to support the entire weight of a person my size, and the lower fastening point came off the wall and slammed to the floor at almost the precise moment I did.
After a prolonged utterance of a four-letter word that starts with “f” and rhymes with “duck” and then laughing at what a klutz I am, I got up (happy to not be paralyzed), set the alarm, and went back to bed with a slightly throbbing back.
You wear socks to bed:?:
Sometimes, when it’s cold in the house. They normally don’t stay on very long.
Nothing wrong with a little home makeover in the middle of the night. Socks to bed though, dang. The only time I wear socks when I sleep is when I sleep outside up near the Canadian border and it get’s below zero. Besides that, how’s that back?
No complaints. It only hurt immediately after the fall. When I woke up the next day I couldn’t tell anything had happened. No breaks, no bruises (aside from my bruised ego).
So glad you are ok — but what exactly did you break ???:???:
The railing on the lower part of the stairs. I fixed it before I went back to bed, but if you look at the wall underneath it, there is a scuff mark from the bracket.
Sometimes I wear them to bed too (socks), but since I quit smoking I have had a nice boost in circulatory function and have not needed them. Glad you are okay though.