Steel and various bar stock going cheap

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>I haven't lost a leg, so can't give much in the way of direct
>experience - but I have lost several fingers and parts of fingers, and
>have other damage to my hands, eg neither thumb works properly, so I
>can talk from experience more generally.
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>In a way damage to hands is perhaps worse, as it's a much more visible
>injury, and people stare - though not as much as at people with
>disfigured faces. You get used to that though, after a while you just
>ignore it completely unless someone, usually a child, asks.
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>I have never minded children asking (or even polite adults asking, it's
>natural to be curious about these things) - it was the reaction of
>adults, telling the child not to stare/be so rude/whatever, which used
>to annoy and sometimes embarrass me. But it doesn't seem to happen
>nowadays - I ignore it, to the extent that I seldom even think of it,
>and to a large extent people don't even notice any more.
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>Your attitude is more important than theirs - if you ignore it, other
>people will usually ignore it too.
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>A slight limp however is not very noticeable or unusual, and I don't
>think people will notice at all, or remember, after a short time.
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>Quite recently my sister asked me to do a job which was obviously for
>the ten-fingered only - she had forgotten I don't have ten fingers
>(despite the injuries to my hands I often get asked to pull splinters
>out, change plugs, and do other fiddly jobs, as I'm better than most at
>them - the partial lack of dexterity and touch sensation is made up for
>by learned good hand-eye coordination, and knowing more about hands
>work than most people do).
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>There will be some things you can never do again - for instance I can
>never play the Bagpipes again properly, I don't know whether that is a
>curse or a blessing though. I don't think you could be an Olympic
>runner now (except maybe in the paralympics, which you just got the
>initial qualification for - you have only to work on a qualifying time
>now :)
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>These impossible things however are rare indeed, and almost everything
>will still be possible.
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>More so of course if you are "determined", though I don't know whether
>determination or willpower (or bravery - people said I was brave, which
>was nice but completely untrue, even bewildering) really comes into it.
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>A little bravery and determination can help with the initial healing,
>but once the pain is gone it's mostly irrelevant - a little ingenuity
>is far more useful.
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>It's more a question of whether you sink in a cycle of self-pity and
>self-doubt or not - you are left with a choice, either you just try and
>do it, when you will almost always eventually succeed; or you feel
>sorry for yourself. And while you can feel sorry for yourself for a
>time, it gets awfully boring.
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>If you realise that, willpower and/or determination aren't involved any
>more, you just get on with things. At any rate it was that way for me,
>much easier than giving up ciggies. I don't think you will have a
>problem with this, you don't seem the type.
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>I don't think you will have much difficulty in a workshop either. Maybe
>get a stool until the stump heals and hardens, and some levers or
>whatnot for moving heavy things around?
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