Worst Audio Injury !!

The most memorable injury to me was mental (guilt) and real to "Joey" our pet cocketiel. During the winter months the birds stay in the house at night and often I will keep them in the listening room. Both Joey and Freddie love music, or so it seems, they can really get to talking and whistling up a storm when the music is playing. Sometimes my wife and I will "dance" with them, that we'll dance and have one or both on either finger and whistle or sing to the music. That and the music will generally get them whistling. They love it and it is a lot of fun for us too. On one particularly cold evening about a year ago the birds and myself were "dancing". It got a little out of hand and the bird started flying. I am always nervous when they start flying because of the tube gear, which they seem to instinctively stay away from but they can become disorientated and you never know. I thought, enough "dancing" for the evening, it was time to settle down a bit. Both birds ended up in their favorite place, perched on the back of the couch. I got Joey first and put him on the cage, which was on the floor. I turned around to get Freddie but he started flying again. I pivoted around to turn down the volume of the stereo and as I did I felt a soft lump on the floor under my shoes. I immediately got this funny feeling that whatever it was shouldn't be there. I lifted up my foot and there was Joey missing about half his feathers and just sitting there looking so helpless. I was pretty broken up thinking that there was no way he couldn't survive my 190 lbs. I held him and he was very listless. It was a Saturday night so I couldn't take him to his vet. I took him to an emergency hospital clinic. We waited and waited and Joey by this time was perched on my shoulder as listless as ever. The vet checked him out and everything appeared fine, no broken bones. He remained listless for about 2-3 days and gradually improved. But it took about 2-3 weeks before he started talking again. The guilt from this accident is worse than any physical pain I can ever remember incurring on myself. As for Joey he is fine and as irrepressible as ever.

Hey Tubegroover, I hope you are still able to eat Chicken after a horrible experience like that. Seriously, glad to hear the bird is fine.

Here's one for you. I went to retube my old VTL Deluxe Preamp, after it had been unplugged for 2 weeks. Well, the capacitors in this unit may look like "D" cell batteries, but they hold what feels like a car batteries worth of potentially fatal electricity. This I found out the hard way. I've got one hand on the metal case of the unit, and the other on one of the tubes. I'm "wiggling" the tube gently to free it and it comes part way out, backing into a verticle PCB (the tubes are mounted horizontily). Next thing I see is a bright flash, and a VERY loud "POP! CRACKLE!" sound. The current went in one arm and out the other, both arms and my chest tensed up so hard I thought I was having a heart attack. It was maybe a 1/2 second long, but it felt like about 10 seconds, before I broke the connection. My arms and chest were sore for about 2 days after this little mishap. Now this may sound like an easy way to drain the Cap's before you work on a piece of tube gear, but I wouldn't advise it :) I guess in a pickle you could revive someone having a heart attack this way.....

Tubegroover, it takes courage to tell a story like you did. Your love for your other family members, including the feathered ones is an insight to your personality. I can just imagine you dancing to music you love and enjoying the birds who are reacting to the energy and the sound . I suppose I should not be surprised that a person who cares so deeply for music would care equally about the well being of a small bird. For me, It was particularly enjoyable that you choose to share your experience.

Back in 1976 I had a pair of my brothers' home made electrostatic speakers. It was a big full range job and used a high voltage power supply for the diaphram. Incidently, the wire used for the power supply had a crack or cut in the wire, which found its' way to my foot as I walked by. It burned a small portion of my little toe, and threw me back, wondering if a 12 year old could really have a heart attack ...