Well, if you're sick with a respiratory virus you're supposed to drink a lot of hot tea, right? So I've been sipping and sipping. My tea water comes from a plastic device called a "Hot Shot" given to me by a dear friend many years ago. You put the water in, press the "heat" lever, wait for it to boil. It shuts off automatically and then you press another lever, labeled "Dispense," to drop the water into your cup. Easy, right? Not if you're befuddled like me. I use disposable styrofoam hot beverage cups (thank you, Hampton Inn) which are just right for one cup 'o' herbal tea. So I loaded the tea bag in, pressed "Dispense," and filled the cup. But what I did not notice, though I had noticed it before, was that the tag for the tea bag was caught in part of the shelving that the tea water machine was on. So when I picked up the tea cup, the tag pulled it back, the flimsy cup bent, and very hot water spilled all over my left hand, part of my right hand, and then all over the table and everything on it.

As a well-known sarcastic television comedy meme would put it, "Isn't that special." Brown tea water covered the table, soaked the placemat, and meanwhile I was barking with pain and annoyance. Naturally, it was about 1 AM so I couldn't call my friends for help. What could they do anyway? I quickly looked up what to do for minor burns in my health-maintenance reference books. Soak it in cold water, they said, until the pain goes away. If there's a blister, don't break it. Wrap it carefully if you have to work with it. I soaked and soaked. (I also made another cup of tea successfully, despite using only one hand. Only a glass measuring cup for my tea brewing now, thank you!)

Now after two hours of soaking it in cold water, the pain and swelling have finally gone down. Yeah, I really, really did not need this added inconvenience. Fortunately the worst of it is on my left hand and I am right handed. In fact I am now able to type with both hands, so it's recovering already (though I must be very careful with it). Later I will break open one of my many aloe plants and anoint the area with natural juice. Just another moment of late-night blundering under the weather. This has nothing to do with physics or calculus, unless you want to be really obnoxious and talk about heat transfer or leverage or gravity. Well, I think it's time for another cup of tea. Along with something stronger.

Posted at 3:16 am | link