Oven mitts

As a professional cartoonist and hobby guitarist, I think I may be a bit of a softie when it comes to my hands. At least that’s my go to excuse when I fail at twisting, turning or grabbing something. I’m only half joking though, because my livelihood really depends on me being able to draw. And I can see how especially professional musicians must really be careful with their hands. Sometimes, e.g. after hauling a truckload of 40 kg heavy granite sheets around my garden when we were remodeling our patio, I really barely can play guitar anymore on the next day. Holding a pencil is easier in that regard.

Anyway, what this comic made me think about and what I really wanted to get at is the fact that women seem to have a much higher pain tolerance when it comes to grabbing hot stuff. When I cook, for instance, I use oven mitts or oven cloths all the time, while my wife would grab pots, pans and lids with her bare hands all the time. I’ve witnessed this with other women too. The only thing I don’t know is if I am a wimp (hence my excuse of being an artist) or if other men have the same experience as me.

Tagged with: , , , ,
13 comments on “Oven mitts
  1. Yuhas 13 says:

    I call wimp as well, although my lovely bride does not handle the hot as well as I. She even takes cold showers.

  2. Fbs says:

    Depends – my wife is a true salamander, while Iā€™m glad to go to work these days because there is air conditionning at the office (and not home…yet !)

  3. Fbs says:

    A suggestion for Chuck : as instructor myself in a C172 on sundays, if you fly high enough, then you have air-conditionning …..

  4. Leirn says:

    I won’t give you an personal testimony but instead talk about someone else who really need his hands for work. Sean Mc Coll is a very good professional climber in Canada. Hand injury would mean no more climbing for a while. At the same time, he really has to push them to the limits sometimes to achieve his goals.

    But more impressive, despite the hard life of his hands, this guy manages to be a very good pianist, with a subtile and gentle touch, as I could see on some videos.

    Thank conclude, you are right to protect your hands when required. No need to harm them if it is not mandatory. But at the same time, keep in mind that they are not that fragile if you don’t do stupid things with them, so it not an excuse for everything šŸ™‚

  5. Joshua says:

    The heat tolerance is developed. You get it with cooking experience.

    I’ll just say that my solution to Chuck’s problem is very effective. It even handles the GPS problem. It is a remarkable piece of equipment known as a “student.”

  6. stef says:

    Interesting story, Leirn! Because the worst crippling of my hands I ever experienced was after going rock climbing! The power those climbers have in their hands seems incompatible with playing piano, to be honest. I need to check that guy out.

  7. Golub says:

    I would agree with Joshua. As you work with hot things, you slowly develop resistance and you also get to know well which parts are slightly less hot and which are just too hot to grab.

    My father in law worked all his life with heavy machinery and engines, sometimes really hot or sharp or both. He can hold stuff that would burn my hands in seconds.

  8. DeanRW says:

    I can handle hot pretty well, but I still protect my hands: I want to be able to use them for a long time, and for precision work as well. That doesn’t prevent me from chopping wood or doing other heavy stuff when needed.

    Regarding rock climbing vs. piano playing, I think the point is muscle balance, not only strength. Playing piano does indeed require strong hands, at least if one wants to do it reasonably well. If your muscles are trained, then your hands will be in a much better shape than if they only do occasional and unbalanced “heavy lifting”, which will indeed cause injuries more easily.

    The same is true with the back: sitting all day, for instance, tends to make back muscles weak and unbalanced, and even doing occasional gym sessions might only strenghten them in an unbalanced, dangerous way. On a side note, I find the “no-pain-no-gain” mantra rather stupid: respecting one’s body, every day, will still allow one to do hard work, but without crippling oneself in the long term.

  9. DeanRW says:

    I can handle hot stuff pretty well, but I still protect my hands: I want to be able to use them for a long time, and for precision work as well. That doesn’t prevent me from chopping wood or doing other heavy stuff when needed.

    Regarding rock climbing vs. piano playing, I think the point is muscle balance, not only strength. Playing piano does indeed require strong hands, at least if one wants to do it reasonably well. If your muscles are trained, then your hands will be in a much better shape than if they only do occasional and unbalanced “heavy lifting”, which will indeed cause injuries more easily.

    The same is true with the back: sitting all day, for instance, tends to make back muscles weak and unbalanced, and even doing occasional gym sessions might only strenghten them in an unbalanced, dangerous way. On a side note, I find the “no-pain-no-gain” mantra rather stupid: respecting one’s body, every day, will still allow one to do hard work, but without crippling oneself in the long term.

  10. Speedsix says:

    1st thing: I recently posted as “Fennek”. Sorry, my bad.
    Heat tolerance: Yes, you can train that. When tinkering with old car engines that wont let go of their spark plugs unless warmed up thoroughly you learn to ignore the pain for a moment: It takes some moments until your fingers get really hot and you can do a lot in that time if done with determination.
    Rock climing and piano playing: At the age of about 18 I had to decide if I wanted to get more and more professional playing volleyball or playing the classical guitar. continuing both of it was impossible due to the heavy impacts of the volleyballs on your finger joints. I went for the guitar and I never regretted this decision.

  11. jan olieslagers says:

    However hot or cold things may be, I totally absolutely HATE wearing gloves or anything alike. Only when working really nasty stuff (epoxy and such) will I wear some – and get rid of them as soon as ever I can. Along the same lines, though rather off-topic, I totally hate wearing anything on my head – when I was very young, at my brother’s marriage, I was required to wear a real genuine topper! That never healed really completely.

  12. Luke says:

    The key lies in grabbing the dish very lightly and by the edges. You can grab a hot dish by balancing most of it on your fingernails too. Or just use a kitchen cloth between your hand and the dish.

    Different dish materials make a difference too. Dishes made of foil cool almost instantly. Dishes made of metal will be cool in 5 minutes. Dishes made of glass will still burn you 15 minutes after being taken out.

  13. L says:

    FBS, climbing helps only in colder climates. Try living in Texas, Arizona or Mexico. 45C on the ground and 25C at 10k. Your 172 will be close to its service ceiling and you will still be baking in the sun anyway. BTDT šŸ™‚
    But yes, I do realize that those are extreme conditions. Most of y’all live in civilization with cooler weather.
    Doorhandles don’t bother me as much as, for example, leather seats or seatbelts in a low-wing aircraft. A seatbelt latch can burn you nicely if sitting in the sun for a few hours.
    Be careful out there and throw a blanket over your panel and seats if you can.

Leave a Reply to Yuhas 13 Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*