When something seems wrong ...

Have you ever done something that didn't seem just right but you did it anyway? You know that the old woodworking adage is measure twice and cut once! Well this last week, more than once, something didn't seem right and it wasn't, but I didn't listen to my inner voice. The first thing that wasn't right... I brought a Saw Stop table saw home, as I am setting up a shop in my Garage. I was all excited and wanted it to be just right so I put a new blade and a new zero clearance insert on the saw on Tuesday evening. I came home on Wednesday and decided to cut through the zero clearance insert. On came the saw ... I began to raise the blade but it was hard to raise. I checked several things, but all seemed well, must be harder to cut through than I imagined, so even though it didn't seem right I just turned the crank harder!!! BANG !!! I tripped the cartridge and busted the new insert. I knew instantly that I had left the riving knife in the saw and by forcing it the riving knife hit the blade and tripped the cartridge. So much for my new blade and insert.
The second example was not woodworking related but just the same I didn't listen to my inner voice. We decided to paint our foyer. I went and got on my "old" painting clothes, a pair of white shorts with orange trim and an old white t-shirt. As I was trimming I had a drip which I wiped up with my finger and decided to wipe it off on my old painting shorts. Now just as I got ready to wipe it on my shorts... a momentary pause, you know there should be a lot more paint spots on these shorts because I do this all the time when painting. Oh well they must have come clean in the last washing or two. On went a big gold spot of paint. I didn't think any more about it until I was putting away a pile of laundry that I had neglected in the chair for my dresser. I got to the bottom of the pile and what did I find? My painting shorts, the white one with the orange trim and all the paint spots. I immediately thought back to the instant of hesitation and once again I should have listened. I now have two pair of painting shorts! The moral of the story. If it seems like something isn't right, its probably not, so stop for an instant and double check. You might prevent a lot of aggravation!