Something happened while I was doing an experiment.
I haven’t written about inventing in a while. I haven’t done any experiments in months.
Back in December 2019 I was gung ho on this one idea—I was sure it would work. I’d been playing around with melting metals and minerals again to find my answer, and decided I needed a propane torch to reach the heat requirement.
My husband fixed the one he had, and fired it up. I put most of my materials on my crucible, and he moved the flame over it.
For this experiment, I needed to add the last ingredient when everything else was melted together, so I waited for the solids to turn into liquids.
He was wearing a welding helmet; I my sunglasses.
When I added the last ingredient, a brilliant flash of light sparked, so intense we immediately looked away. He was blinded in the welding helmet, and since I was just wearing sunglasses, not expecting that big of a spark, my eyes got the brunt of it, and I got flash burned.
My eyes ached all night, and I worried I might lose my vision, which sometimes happens with flash burn. Fortunately I didn’t. I got checked out by my optometrist who explained it was just really bad sunburn on the eyes. The ache slowly went away and I haven’t had any issues since.
That day though, I swore off inventing.
And I kept that promise, until a few weeks ago. I did a small experiment, which naturally didn’t work, but I am staying away from melting metals and anything involving a flame. I’ve decided to take a more careful approach to inventing, so I don’t hurt myself in the process. After all, Madam Curie died of cancer from the radiation given off from her experiments. I definitely don’t want to follow in her footsteps.
Have you ever had a scare in pursuing a passion?