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Getting bricks off of a roof:
Following is a humorous story that shows the importance of making sure everything adds up. A man was injured at work and put the following narrative on his medical insurance claim:
I was hired to repair a chimney at a five story building. When I was finished with the repairs, I had about 500 pounds of bricks left over. Since I did not want to carry those bricks down by hand, I decided to hoist them down in a bucket.
I attached the bucket to one end of the rope and ran the rope through a pulley. The other end of the rope was attached to a pole near the sidewalk. After I loaded the 500 pounds of bricks into the bucket, I went downstairs to hoist them down. To ensure I had a good grip on the rope, I wrapped it around my hand a couple of times.
In box 4 of this application, you will note that I listed my weight as being 150 pounds. Since the 500 pounds of bricks weighed more than my 150 pounds, I was pulled upwards. As the bucket came down and I flew up, we met at the halfway point. This accounts for my broken arm listed in box 10a. As I reached the top, my hand jammed into the pulley. This accounts for my broken fingers listed in box 10b.
At the same time, the bucket of bricks hit the ground and shattered. Now the bucket weighed only 50 pounds. As noted in box 4, I weighed 150 pounds. As a result, I started to fall. As we got to the halfway point, I met the bucket rising up. This accounts for my broken knee listed in box 10c.
When I reached the bottom, I landed on the pile of bricks. This accounts for my broken leg and sprained back (listed in box 10d and 10e). At this point, I let go of the rope and the 50 pound bucket fell down and landed on my head. This accounts for my concussion listed in box 10f.
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