Long Haired Woman vs. Leaf Blower

Sometime ago I wrote about how trilled I was with my battery powered edger and leaf blower. I'm still thrilled with them. I admit I've used the leaf blower the most. It is a necessity here. It takes almost daily effort to keep Jim's ramp and the deck free of leaves.

I have not cut my hair since early 2004, and it reaches my waist. I always wanted really long hair and decided it was now or never to grow it out. I love it, my husband loves it, but it is sometimes hazardous to my health.

Did you know that if you are using a leaf blower (no matter what fuel type) long hair can be a problem?

It was early afternoon a few weeks ago and I decided to clear off Jim's ramp before heading to work. I hadn't tied my hair back that morning. In a hurry, as it was time to get ready for work, I grabbed the blower and started the task. All went well for a while. Then I leaned over to get the blower nozzle into a tight spot.

I felt a strong tug, and a stronger tug. Realization hit me in a split second and I turned off the blower. A sizable amount of my long hair had been sucked into the blower's intake. Hmmm. I tugged on my hair. Nothing happened. With a sigh of resignation, I sat in one of the porch rockers and began the slow task of gently removing my hair from the blower's intake.

It took awhile, but I disentangled myself without much damage to my hair. I just kept praying Jim wouldn't come to the door or one of the neighbors wouldn't stop by. It would be easier to tell about this than to be caught in the middle of the hair rescue.

Now this was bad enough and embarrassing enough. What is even worse is that I did the same thing again last weekend. I wasn't as severely entangled, but it had my hair again.

So the score stands at Leaf Blower 2, Long-haired Woman 0.

I'll keep you posted if the score changes.