Pride Goeth Before a Fall...

Okay, for those of you who don't know, my man Patrick finally got a job about two months ago working for a cable contractor. We were so excited to finally get a break! (And I was so excited when he got tired of quoting Jim Carrey's Cable Guy after about the second week.) However, we were in uncharted waters as we slowly discovered what his job really entailed. It's been kind of a steep learning curve for us at times. (And when I say "us," I mean "him"...most of the time.)

For my part, I never really pictured cable guys as the Steve Irwin of installers...I thought they were more along the lines of Jacques Cousteau. Y'know, difficult to understand and rather bland on the people skills scale. Turns out I was wrong. It's a good thing Patch is part spider monkey, because this job has him climbing up phone poles and contorting into all kinds of odd positions, just for the sake of the almighty HD channel. And this last week, he became very familiar with the phrase "had to learn the hard way."

I was almost finished at the clinic when I got an unexpected phone call from him. Before I even finished saying "hello" I hear: "Caite, I got in an accident." Then before I can form the question he added a rushed, "But I'm okay. Don't worry." (Has that phrase ever had the intended effect in all of history?...Don't worry, Mrs. Smith, it's only a minor contusion. You'll be back to rights in no time...Nope. I don't think so.)

Well, since I knew he was healthy enough to call me, I let my panic slip into worry for his equipment the company loaned him. We don't have the money to replace anything. And once that concern was addressed, my brain could finally focus on the story of what exactly happened...

The long and short of it was that he was preparing to connect a wire to a customer's roof. He had his ladder balanced on the icy alley between the fence and the house, and was standing on the top rung when he suddenly sneezed; and that little convulsion was enough to shake the ladder from it's spot--sending him tumbling down into the 3 foot wide space. Somehow, to our very great fortune and luck, he managed to land in a little snow drift...after tearing his pants from ankle to crotch and nearly impaling his leg on a fence post.


The Pants


The Thermals


The nasty bruise/welt on the upper thigh.

I guess the truly lucky part is that--apart from his sudden tenderness, and ability to change color--he didn't even come home limping. You wouldn't even know he was hurt to look at him! (Just ticked off.) So, may I say thanks to any and all of you who pray for us: it's working!