oh yes, an Allen wrench." An Allen wrench? Check, please!
More nerve-wracking was that my doctor was a Scot and we here in the club have great experience with what happens when you let a Scot start tinkering with hardware. For all I knew, my arm was about to resemble a Lotus on the way back from a car gig! And did this operation involve oil?
First to go were the few screws holding the retainer together. These were pretty simple. Doc thought the brace would just lift off and then he could pop the pins out one by one. Unfortunately, the other major screws were all smaller than any of the hex keys available to modern medicine. Mention was made of ordering another set and having me come back next week. Demure damsel that I am, I stated in the clear and unequivocal tones known so well to my close friends that that option was not acceptable.
Knowing that the doctor drove a Jag gave me an idea. I asked him if the same tools he used to adjust his SUs could work. (Hey, John, pretty impressive, huh!) He said that actually they would work but only his mechanic had those tools.
I said I never knew a British car owner who didn't have to be his own mechanic occasionally, and particularly a Scot who would pay one, but okay.
It was at this point that Maynard the electrician entered the scene. I don't know anything else about him, only that I'm indebted to him forever.
Maynard was fixing the light fixtures in the office when he came our way and heard about the doctor's dilemma. "You need smaller keys?" he said? "Hey, I've got more in my truck!" And indeed he did and between his electrician's tools and the doctor's forceps, they pried that brace off my arm forever. A few movements with the electric drill and POP-POP-POP-POP-POP went the pins, much like when you gear down an overreved GT. (Thanks, Jim, for the simile!)
By the time you read this, my Mary Kay Pink fiberglass cast will be off and all that will be left will be the scars from the pins. I'm more careful when I'm around ice. I opened my first can of soup yesterday. I'm using the hairdryer. It's great.
And all due to a gallant electrician. Thanks, wherever you are.
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