Talk about getting the crap scared out of you. I thought for maybe 5 minutes I was a goner. My job Wed had me using a high pressure water blasting gun, which is usually more of a strain on your arms, hands, and back than anything else. Living here in the south the weather has been abysmal lately. It was 101 degrees at my work that day. We work in hangars that pretty much act as the foil on a baked potato for us. Then add to the fact that I have to wear "rain pants" over my regular pants and it gets even more miserable. I guess technically you're supposed to wear the entire rain suit, but I don't think they want to enforce it too much in times like this.
The previous two days we had all been soaking wet the whole shift from sweating. On Monday I thought I was going to pass out. But Wed takes the cake. Didn't take much water blasting Wed to get me fatigued, then had to wait on another guy to finish something in the area before I could continue. While I was waiting I got a water hose and ran the lukewarm water over my head for 5 minutes. Whenever I stood up I would start feeling faint again. So when my co-worker finished in the area and I could continue I stood up again to climb my stand and it hit me hard. Pressure in my head, tunnel vision, tightness in my chest, not being able to get deep breaths, couldn't swallow well, chest itching and hurting. I was barely able to tell my co-worker(thanks Mike!) to call the folks to come check on me. It took them a few minutes to get there, and though I was feeling much better when they got there, I still felt like crap for a long while. I elected to stay at work the rest of the shift, but they had me on light duty thereafter.
I took yesterday(and probably today) off work. I still feel worn out in general, a bit out of breath, and the old ticker is also a bit fatigued, but so much better than yesterday. I've never felt like I was going to die for more than a few seconds in my life, so 5 minutes of thinking you're about to have to answer for your life here on earth(if you believe in that sort of thing) is a real shocker. I thought of my wife, my mom and dad, and how I'd always said the last place I wanted to die was at my job that I can't stand.
Moral of the story: take it easy in this weather, rest when you get too hot, drink lots of water WELL BEFORE you start working, and don't think you've got anything to prove if your dumbass big bossman gets on to you for taking a break 10 minutes early all the while knowing it's like trying to breathe inside a freakin furnace at the hellhole you work at(whew).
"I feel like I could take on the whole Empire myself."
