Just a quick note to say that I do not recommend chopping off the tip of a finger. Not that I did, but I got eerily close on Wednesday night when I cut halfway through my left pinkie in addition to the carrot I actually intended to cut.

Lessons learned, or as I like to call them, my Rules of Pinkie:

• First rule of knife skills: Accuracy over dexterity – I’d seen someone on TV and wanted to force myself to go a bit faster
• Use a fairly light knife that’s easier to control – my regular knife is dull, so I’m using this other one that’s much more heavy than I’m used to.
• Don’t practice speed when you mind is elsewhere – I was mulling over some programming problem not really paying attention
• Throw away the last bit of the carrot – better that than throwing away your finger. I was brought up to not waste food, but there’s clearly a point where it’s better to just eat it right away or throw it away – or get a dog.

All in all, the tip seems to stay put and the wound seems to heal weel. I still don’t have any feeling in the tip of the finger, but so long as it survives I’ll be happy. And I’ll try to be a bit more careful in the future: It turns out that finger is used for more than you’d think.