Drove the '74 Gremlin to work .....and a NEAR DEATH work experience

[Gremlingts@xxxx]

 I drove the car to work today, and had a blast. I had to drive the car 
home in the rain using just the wiper shaft, it was annoying but doable. 
Other than that, and some annoying hesitation in the carb, it ran great, and 
got lots of stares. LOL.
On a serious note, I helped save two guys lives today, I work next door 
to a granite and marble company, we're used to hearing loud BANGs and thumps 
and the floor shakes, as they move 1,000 lb marble or granite panels around. 
About 8:30 this morning we hear a loud WHUMP....then screams. Silence, then 
more screams. then more screams. Oh SHIT! Three of us get up and run next 
door, out the back dock, and look into theirs...the two engineers were ahead 
of me. They sprang to help hold FIVE panels off this one guy trapped between 
them and an upright section...there was another guy lying below them! There 
was no room for me, so as I looked around, I saw a 2" square steel tube 6' 
long, so I grabbed it, climbed around and up the fallling sheets to the top 
of the panels next to them, thrust the bar down between, and helped pry the 5 
panels back enough with some help from another guy who climbed up after I 
yelled for some help, then the people below grabbed the guy underneath by the 
shirt and dragged him to safety. The second trapped guy then gets out, and 
we release the panels. Combined weight, 5,000 lbs! Whew, we were all shook 
up, the ladies who worked there didn't know what to do at first, I heard it 
was the proverbially headless chickens. But luckily it turned out ok, the 
first guy lost 50% of his blood internally, and damaged some organs, but he 
lives. The second guy whose screams alerted us suffered only minor damage. 
They were VERY lucky we came, as they had NO other guys around over there 
except two, a truck driver and a dock worker. The first guy apparently didn't 
follow procedure, and paid a heavy price for his lack of safety protocol. 
I called my fiancee Barbara later, to tell her what happened, as I was on 
an adrenalin rush still...and found out that that company is one her 
accounting company's clients! She said one of her accounting reps was over 
there at the time...we didn't see him, he was up front at the time, and this 
disaster happened in like 2-3 minutes, then was over. It seemed longer, but 
it really happened FAST! 
Needless to say, I had a beer when I got home...it's not often you run 
into a life-threatening situation every day! I shudder to think of what might 
have happened if we hadn't responded as quickly as we did. We could tell by 
the screams that this wasn't a normal situation, either. The second guy came 
back later, after a trip to the hospital, to thank the boss for our help. 
OSHA and the local Sheriff came over as well, to do some interviews. 
I drove the '74 Gremlin home in the rain, luckily my nerves weren't 
bothering me. Still aren't, but my arms ache from prying those panels back 
and trying to hold them away from the two guys. I think I'll go enjoy another 
Coors Lite, and thumb thru some old Popular Mechanics mags from the 50s I 
got at the auction this week....a GOOD end to the day. :) Whew. AMC ya'll,

Jerry Casper