Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Splinters, String Cheese and Black Salve

One of those days....

This morning was my daughters second day of school. She woke up tired and had a list of complaints - socks were too short, shoes were too new and uncomfortable, not enough sleep, book bag too heavy and switching classes too difficult. This morning was the complete opposite of the glorious morning yesterday. On the first day of school she was ready early, ate breakfast and had a few minutes to listen to her favorite music. How quickly things change!

I arrived at work to find out the owner of the company was visiting and I completely forgot today was the end of month. Orders need to ship, reports need to be run and statements need to be sent out. I unloaded cartons from my car and realized I have a metal splinter in my hand. A trip to the first aid kit to retrieve alcohol swabs and tweezers. No luck. The sliver of metal is still in my hand.

I brought a few items from home for lunch today including a pack of string cheese in the fridge. I open the cheese to find a black piece of material (rubber?) in the cheese. I immediately made me suspect of the whole package. Do I throw it all away? My co-worker suggested I send the company an email. Who knows where the black object came from?

Back to the splinter. My hand is now red and irritated because I tried several remedies to remove the splinter. I tried to use the tweezers to pull out the splinter. I soaked my hand in water to soften the skin. Someone suggested I cover the splinter with tape and pull the tape off quickly. Nothing worked. If the elderly woman who lived next door when I was a child was still alive, she would run into the house and bring out the black salve. It was a tar-like ointment with a nasty smell. She was always running into the house to get her jar of black salve.

Any ideas for the splinter?

6 comments:

sandman said...

Nuts! Sounds like a rotten day - hope tomorrow is better. As for the splinter, you could try this:

http://www.wikihow.com/Remove-a-Splinter-with-Baking-Soda

Don't know if this works, I've never tried it...

Michele said...

Interesting.

I will give it a try. Sounds better than the other suggestion I received...."dig it out with a needle".

Thanks!

Sis said...

There is a ointment at the drug store you can buy that draws the splinter out. It's white though - not black.

Journeyman said...

Loved the title of your blog post, sounds like a book title.

Hope the splinter's out. I'm of the dig it out mindset.

Frank said...

You could always just leave the splinter alone. It will fester a little, and then gradually, it will work itself out. But usually, I just get a sharp knife and start digging.

Michele said...

Splinter is out! My brother wants to find a recipe to make black salve. I found an individually wrapped tool in the Zee First Aid Kit made for splinter removal. I never got to try the baking soda remedy.

I guess "dig it out" is good advice. :)