Back to the Grind

Quite literally.  After a wonderful three day weekend, it was back to real life this morning.  And by real life, I mean that plastic socket sitting on my workbench waiting for me to show up and spend some quality time with it.  The only quality time needing to be had today was in the machine room...with the infamous Trautman sander (aka the grinding machine).  There are still bits and pieces I struggle with to get perfectly smooth and even and rounded out, but for the most part, I feel like I have become somewhat adept at using these guys and getting clean edges on my sockets.  The main thing being, I am finally not scared of them! Ha!  I have learned that although it does not feel nice when it catches the back of your pinky, there is not a lot of actual physical injury occurring.  Okay okay sure, maybe it has caused me to drop my socket on occasion out of fear and being startled, but I only dropped it once today so I am making improvements :)

Also, to anyone who has actually used this tool before, you know these pictures were staged.  I would never have my hair loose when working with this machine - there are horror stories of scalping and I really do not want to be one of those stories...not to mention the fact that I really like my hair.  I take my grinding very seriously so I cannot have people taking pictures of me when there is actual work involved.  You mess up these sockets and take too much off, you cannot put it back on and I would cry if I had to start from the beginning.  This is a room filled with numerous machines so we all just stand in single file formation, working and grinding away.  And on a side note, I think the safety goggles are quite the fashion statement.

Tomorrow we get to see our patients again, another morning spent in fancy clothes with Mr. R!  We will be putting our test sockets on the patients to see how successful we actually were in creating a socket that fits - the bottom line being, it is far more likely that I created a socket that somewhat fits, but will have to be modified all over again in the afternoon.  If at first you don't succeed...

I, personally, think this guy looks like a winner.  Tune in tomorrow for the results show...