Don Foreman wrote:

Hm. Mary was always in the house when I was doing stuff in the shop.
If something happened, she'd eventually miss me and come out to check.
Maybe I should start calling or emailing one of the kids when I start
something out there, and then call or email again when I'm done for
the day. I never work with tools after Miller time. I never used to
carry a cellphone but I always have one in my pocket now. Not turned
on, of course. "Chatting" on the phone does not appeal to me at all.

Put a netcam in the shop, so the friends / relatives can check on you
periodically and send help if necessary. You can also setup a watchdog
timer of sorts that you set when you start working in the shop and if
you don't hit the button to reset it when the alarm goes off every 15
minutes, it emails/text messages the friends and relatives to indicate
something may be wrong.