The Times I Almost Lost a Finger
Back when I was 20 I had to have all four of my wisdom teeth out. I was always getting sore throats and they got infected, it was nasty. They put me under for the procedure so I don't remember much, but the pain afterwards was terrible. The dentist prescribed the pain killer percocet for me and the day after I was glad to take one. It was great.
I had this piece of crap Hyundai Excel and the oil pan had been leaking. I had a new gasket ready so I figured I would change it. Two days after the dentist and armed with another percocet I went ahead with the job. There were about 12 bolts around the oil pan, it looked just like this one:
I went inside to wash up, my hands were a oily mess. As I was washing them I turned my right hand up and looked.
My middle knuckle of my right hand index finger was almost totally exposed.
I sort of had a panic attack. I will not gross you out with all the details, but lets say seeing your knuckle work under the skin is not recommended. I did the best I could to disinfect it and get the flap of skin to go back in place. I went to the doctor but he was not willing to stitch it up due to how much time had passed, and he was concerned about infection. He said to me if it got infected, it would be deep and would be "an issue". I was terrified.
Long story short, it healed up well with no issues except a really bad scar. I also have never taken any pain killers of any sorts since then. Alcohol does not count!
The second time I almost lost a finger was not in the literal sense, but a trading sense. It happened last April.
I had been doing very well since the new year started when I began really trading shorter term again. Gains were good and things were going well. I got caught leaning very long when the Fukushima Disaster happened and that trimmed gains quite a bit. Later March and into April were not good times as my ideas and picks hit a cold streak. I was going on vacation the last week in April and I was in a state of not really caring. I had almost no positions and was re-thinking the whole thing.
All year I had been in and out of the stock KCG (Knight Capital Group). They had earnings coming up on April 20 and I had a gut feeling they were going to have good numbers after all the volatility of the spring. I was going to grab a usual sized spot the Monday before the 20th, but at that point even if my idea panned out (this was not chart based at all) what was the upside? I was in a state of ambivalence. To this day I cannot believe what I did.
I put 60% of my trading account in KCG before earnings.
And again, I was ambivalent. If it worked I would get ahead again. If it did not then I would take a break for a while after losing a finger on a trade. I did not even write about it (I mentioned a gamble way after) because I knew how stupid it was. Yes, your level headed, patient writer had a moment of crazy. It happens.
Long story short, KCG looked like it would collapse into earnings on Tuesday (yikes) but came out with a good report Wednesday and I cashed out for 6% gain. Not huge, but with that position size it was a big winner compared to usual 5%-8% part of account.
I went on vacation and I have been executing all my trades with the utmost discipline since that one trade. Looking at how the summer into fall went, maybe my lapse was a good thing because sticking to sound fundamental trading has saved my behind during the doldrums of credit crisis part 10 or which ever part we are on now.
I had not really thought about this again until I read this post by author BCLund:
Avoiding The Suicide Trade At All Costs
All three rules he went over brought the whole episode back into my mind. I won't do that ever again.
Have a good night.
So, I assume this makes you think you're as tough as my grandfather.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I'll agree to that. But I have two words for you: Evel Kneivel.
You had to grow up back in the day to understand. This guy was a daredevil. He would jump busses on his motorcycle, wipe out and break every bone in his body.
My friends and I would look at each other and say, "Cool." The next day we were out there, building ramps out of bricks and plywood, jumping drainage ditches on our dirt bikes.
Once, I hit the ramp doing about 80 mph, flew through the air--it was the best jump of my life--but when I landed the back tire of my bike hit a big rock. I wiped out, tumbled over three times, and lay wasted in the dirt.
My friends came running up and asked, "Dude, dude, are you okay?"
Yeah, no broken bones. But I never tried that again.
I am sure I am not as tough as your grandfather! Cannot believe you jumped that ramp.
ReplyDeleteWell, I know you're not as tough as my grandfather. Even with a bent finger, he challenged everyone to bend his his finger.
ReplyDeleteNot even my cousin Butch, who as a Marine, could do that.
My grandather was tough. That's what motiviated me to make those insane jumps. But it only took one wipe-out to convince me to never try that again.
Great story about losing fingers -- both literally and metaphorically!
ReplyDeleteI had all my wisdom teeth removed once, at it was piece of cake. But the Percocet I was given afterwards was the first time I had ever taken any drugs (prescribed or otherwise), and my body did not react well at all. To this day I'll never understand what people find so addicting about painkillers. It scared the hell out of me and I hope to never have to go through that again.
Hmm, maybe I'll write about it sometime.
I'm glad you still have your finger. Imagine you lost it? Then you'd be known as that guy missing a finger. (Not sexy.)
ReplyDeleteI think we all do something crazy at least once in our lives. You had a moment of total... what, spontaneity? Impulsiveness? Recklessness? You don't live your life that way. Was just a blip in your radar.
And it makes for a cool story.
Davis, yes those things are pure dangerous.
ReplyDeleteJH, glad you liked the story.
David, ugh, spelling!
ReplyDeleteLOL! I thought I was the producer of Highlander all of a sudden. Darn! :)
ReplyDelete