The Dangers of Freelance Writing

I'm working at the computer, and I hear a "pzzt", the computer shuts off and I smell electrical wires burning. I look down to find the leg of the metal folding chair upon which I'm sitting right on top of the power cord to my printer. The leg had sliced thru the cord, shorted out the circuit breaker and burned the floor surrounding the cord. Ack!! Considering the amount of paper from my overflowing trash can only inches away and the fact that the metal chair was a lovely conductor of electricity, it's a bit miraculous I wasn't zapped (good thing I hadn't washed my hair and been sitting there with a wet head!) I can imagine the headlines: "Pajama clad writer electrocuted by her office chair." My husband said it would have been a fitting way for me to go.

It's a dangerous job, but someone's got to do it.