Household item warning

[bixaorellana]

I just had an unpleasant accident.

I was standing on a plastic step stool in order to saw a tree limb. It was this kind of stool: , but taller -- about 2 feet high.

Anyway, I was sawing away when the damned thing suddenly collapsed and I was on the ground, in pain and quite alarmed. When I finally got up, I noticed the saw was teeth side up where it fell between me and the remains of the stool. My glasses had flown off, but were intact.

I've had the stool for several years, and I guess it was really brittle, as it shattered into lots of sharp pieces. One piece was 7 meters away from where the stool was when it broke.

It's a handy little item to have around the house, but when I replace it, it will be with a metal one.

[Deleted]

That is a major piece of furniture in Africa and Asia.

[bixaorellana]

The white plastic chairs are ubiquitous here. Bars, taco stands, and cheap eateries have them, usually provided by the beer or soft drink purveyor. So, even though there was a class-action suit against them a few years ago in the US, I always figured they were pretty sturdy. I believe the suit was brought by people weighing @300 pounds, which wouldn't be a fair test of any chair's durability.

[spindrift]

Bixa - are you still in pain? Have you hurt yourself?

You'd better buy a small metal ladder. I have one for garden jobs.

It looks like this:

[bixaorellana]

Thank you, Spindrift -- I think I'm okay. I didn't get up right away, making a conscious effort to relax so that I wouldn't have painful tight muscles later. When I came inside I took a Paracetamol. Only the muscle on top of my left shoulder hurts a little right now, and I'm moving & using it to loosen it up. I know you didn't ask for all those details, but I'm passing this on because I think it's the best way to deal with this kind of mishap that can leave one feeling bunged-up for days.

I have the taller of the two ladders, and the little one will be purchased asap!

[lagatta]

I have a small metal kitchen stepstool, with two WIDE steps, very sturdy (warranted up to about 300lb, I believe, some very high figure like that). On sale at the "Canadian Tire" chain.
www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/6/Tools/Ladders/StepLadders/PRD~0611007P/Escabeau.jsp

Something similar but much less serious happened to me when I was scrubbing the baseboards, sitting on a low camp stool with a canvas seat. I have arthritis, and can't always kneel on the floor when it is acting up. The canvas must have been rotten. I fell on my back, not hurt but dismayed, hoping I hadn't been injured.

[bixaorellana]

You scrub the baseboards?! I'm in awe.

[imec]

I second lagatta's suggestion. We've got one and it's the cat's ass.

[lagatta]

bixa, I'm very messy (papers and stuff), but I'm fussy about clean. Never clean enough for my mum, of course.

imec, I bought that stepstool on sale half-price. Canadian Tire has regular sales on some of its items; they'll certainly be putting "moving sale" items on these days.

I might not advise it for work outdoors unless you have a patio, not a lawn, as the feet are smaller than in the type of stepladder spindrift shows. I live on the top storey of a triplex so I'm just using it in my own apartment and the balconies. The co-operative owns a long ladder and high stepladder.

I'm on the short side and one of my bookcases is at least 2 metres high, so for that, high shelves, changing lightbulbs etc.

[spindrift]

What are baseboards?

[imec]

Jul 2, 2009 17:29:16 GMT spindrift said:

What are baseboards?

Decorative wooden mouldings that run along the base of the wall...