On 4/23/2011 3:40 PM, Jon Danniken wrote:
Smitty Two wrote:
Not at all a joke, and perfectly appropriate. Someone who is terrified
of ladders is orders of magnitude safer on one, with steady nerves.
I'm talking 1/4 milligram, not five grams.

You are supposed to be afraid of heights, it keeps you alive. The way to
overcome that fear is through gradual exposure, developing the confidence
and the motor pathways which enable you to safely reach the heights you need
to reach.

Circumventing this by taking a drug which reduces the anxiety only places
you in a situation which your brain has not been trained to deal with, with
a higher likelihood of making a mistake and falling. This is exacerbated by
the reduction of inhibitions caused by the drug, which, even in small doses,
cause you not to fully realize the danger you are in.

Ask your doctor if he thinks your advice is sound, but you already know what
he is going to tell you.

Falling off of a ladder isn't a matter of twisting your ankle, it often
involves damaging the spine, or worse, the cervical vertebrae, leading to
various forms of paralysis. Sometimes you get lucky and just can't lift
more than five pounds for the rest of your life. I know several guys this
has happened to over my lifetime, and it just isn't worth it.

If you are unable to train yourself to climb a ladder safely, and with
confidence, hire a gutter cleaning service.

Jon



Don't forget the decay curve of age. I did high work as a kid, and even
free-climbed rock faces at the local quarry. However, a few years ago,
apparently my body had enough of that foolishness, and started sending
me messages. Started around the same time I noticed that I was using the
handrail on stairways. WTF? I can't even stand close to the balcony rail
in the lobby at work anymore without getting that funny feeling, or
twist around halfway up my extension ladder to trim tree branches that
are getting into the house. And I carry the ladder around the house and
set it on the deck, to get on the roof now, versus extending it all the
way from the driveway by the garage door. That step back onto the ladder
from the roof was just getting too scary.

So, I do still do SOME high work, but I'm a lot more careful now, and
plan all my moves to minimize the trips up and down. But my place is a
one-story- if I had a 2-story, I think I'd probably hire the roof work out.

My inner ears are probably looking out for me. 18 and immortal was a
LONG time ago, and I don't bounce worth a damn any more.

--
aem sends...