Suprised I still own all ten toes.

I received this comment yesterday on this post and it made me laugh:

DIYD,

Mowing a telephone wire!?! That’s a new one! We’ve heard concern about running over the cord of (non cordless) electric mowers but not phone wires! As for safety, would probably recommend the person doing concrete work (in your blog pic) NOT to be barefoot as well… there are a few corrosive ingredients in most mortar mixes…

Be careful,
MG

First, this is from a website called Mow Good, which promotes environmentally responsible law mowers. I use a reel mower for exactly this reason. Second, MG, I also heartily recommend NOT building a stone wall barefoot, but mostly because it is incredibly likely that if you are me, you will drop a bone crushing piece of stone on your toes. The cement and some additives in mortar are corrosive, but my feet are like leather so I didn’t have any problem with that.

I am eternally barefoot and have been since I was 5 and my dad decided I should wear penny loafers at every available opportunity. I am still rebelling.

In honor of my loafer-free feet here is a collection instances in which you should do as I say, not as I do, and WEAR SHOES.

1.) When laying a hardwood floorwith a pneumatic nailer…
kitchen floor- kit works

(Okay, okay, don’t mock the haircut people I was working, not trying to win a beauty contest.)

2.) When staining a hardwood floor. Also, drinking beer and sniffing stain fumes? Probably not a good combo for the brain cells.
kit staining

3.) When using a dremmel to cope shoe molding.
DSC01488

4.) When standing on the “this is not a step” portion of a ladder. Or sitting on top of a pergola roof.
Hammering on roof

(Although I still maintain that gripping things with my monkey toes gives me more balance.)

5.) When standing on a ladder using a sawsall.
Trimming down posts

6.) When sweeping dry mortar into flagstone mortar-joints.
brushing2

7.) When using a miter saw located on the ground.
DSC01692

8.) You can’t really tell. But I put this pi cure up to prove a point… I am so scared of the router that I actually put on shoes to operate the thing. Considering the above… that means serious business to me!
DSC01704

Absolving myself of all responsibility: Seriously. Just because I do this stuff and walk away with all my toes intact, doesn’t mean you will also. I’m just saying.

9 Responses

  1. I do everything in chacos… well, I did until I got a yellow jacket caught between my shoes and two of my toes. Sounds like barefoot would be better. Can’t wait till the morning temp is above 30 again so I can ditch my clogs for my chacos!

  2. LOL! I have a problem of going shoeless in the worst times too. Glad to see that I am not the only one, and that you do indeed have all your toes still. 🙂

  3. You gotta be barefoot when standing on the top rung of the ladder so you can use your monkey toes to hang on. 😛

  4. In regards to this topic, it is often hard to locate honest information on the Web. Thanks for sharing your ideas on gardening and related topics. Incidentally, do you have any good suggestions on where I can search for more useful ideas on the Internet? Keep up the great work!

  5. The following time I read a blog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as much as this one. I mean, I do know it was my choice to read, however I actually thought youd have one thing interesting to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something that you may repair in case you werent too busy searching for attention.

  6. Hear! Hear! to leatherfeet! Hanging crown molding with my mom I was constantly slipping on a pair of flip flops and kicking them off. Why bother you may wonder? The deck, where the miter saw was, was like a hot-ass frying pan. So it went like this – put the on, make some cuts. Carry the piece in, kick ’em off, climb the ladder and use the nail gun to stick it the wall! Nail guns, bare feet- well would be the first nail in my foot!

  7. I tend to do outdoor activities in flip flops which could be considered a step worse than barefoot. Shoes just get messed up during DIY.

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