Was getting a non-prescription at the one and only pharmacy in a small town on the coast I go for my five year checkup. There standing in line for the white coat was a woodworker I've known for four decades. He has achieved world recognition for his furniture designs and his pieces get lovingly dusted in comtemporary museums. I walked once into his shop. He was dancing around a large walnut dining table top with a pair of giant beltsanders, one in each hand. The sight was amplified by the fact he is rather a small guy, and the two machines pirroetted smoothly and dustyly together over the surface. Could probably have put an eight foot straightedge at any angle across it and it would be dead flat. Awesome! I was IMPRESSED. He's the one what gave me the formula for a three part oil finish he used on 90% of his stuff leaving the shop.
Every once in awhile an apprentice or a student would be there in the shop wearing a partical mask. But I never saw him wearing one, never, and he was a smoker too.
Cautionary tales don't do no good, why would we have so many of them? I always manage to forget my mask until I start coughing. In the quiet of the night I can hear my lungs squeeling and whistling. Just a tiny bit of dust these days and I pay the price for the music. Break out into a claustrophobic sweat absolutely sure my lungs have filled up.
The famous craftman looked gray and resigned. He was getting drugs for his emphysema. Empysema is incurable.
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