Look down at your finger nails right now

[Ready-4-ER-at-14]

I was typing and happened to notice that my nails were pretty long compared to when I normally clip them. I couldn't help but notice how exceptionally white the areas beyond the pink of the fingers were. Long and white tips. Locked in an apartment doesn't entail getting very dirty or snagging a nail.

I don't even drive my car now let alone think about hand washing it.

I mean I used to wash my hands with soap and water all the time but never as often or as long as this since I used to scrub in for surgery. My hands look like I've never done any manual labor all of my life.

Right now I sort of wish I had a free standing house out in the middle of no where... so I could do something manly like dig a ditch.. lol

 

[38Chevy454]

Mine are dirty from working in the flower beds. Helping DW with some transplanting, cleaning out old leaves or dead plant stuff. I have 2.5 acres and a lot of plants and beds to work on, OP can come down and I'll put you to work

 

[Stormy Kromer]

I live at "the end of the road" in northern MN. I am in a free standing house 5 miles from the nearest town on a one lane road with no neighbors in site.


I'm going to go outside and split wood when the thermometer reaches 40 in an hour or two. We still have over a foot of snow on the ground.


What I really miss is working on my dad's farm growing up in the 60's and 70's. We were too busy outside working to worry about anything.

 

[mn54]

I live at "the end of the road" in northern MN. I am in a free standing house 5 miles from the nearest town on a one lane road with no neighbors in site.


I'm going to go outside and split wood when the thermometer reaches 40 in an hour or two. We still have over a foot of snow on the ground.


What I really miss is working on my dad's farm growing up in the 60's and 70's. We were too busy outside working to worry about anything.

extreme social distancing. I hear the people up north in cabin country want to keep the city folk from coming up to their cabins until this blows over.

 

[W2R]

My nails are very clean, because I do a lot more hand washing than I used to do.

Also, they are much more nicely shaped and groomed (with all corners or snags filed off), because I have lots more time to do things like that. Same for my toenails! They are nicely clipped.

I never did much manual labor. So, probably the differences in my nails are much less marked than some of us are seeing. But still, they do look better.

 

[LOL!]

I have a yard to maintain, but I wore gardening gloves the last 3 days while working on the weeds. My hands are clean and my nails are trimmed. So are my nose hairs, my ear hairs, and ....

 

[travelover]

Mine got pretty dirty yesterday as the ground moles are back and I was setting traps which require sticking your fingers down in the tunnel to orient the trap correctly. But, they cleaned right up with a little brushing.

 

[Ronstar]

My hands take a beating. I live in a secluded area of 5 acre lots, where I do a lot of yard work, remodeling and woodworking tasks usually without gloves.

But right now coming out of winter, my hands and nails are at their best since I haven't done much lately. And I'm washing my hands more now in a day than I used to in a month.

Extreme yard work starts April 1. I need to get some good yard work gloves.

 

[MRG]

My nails look pretty good now. My hands and feet required a lot of attention this year from cracking skin. Nightly care with O'Keefes did wonders.

There was a time when my hands were tough as I worked all day long in sawmills and never wore gloves. No real need and they always wore out, my hands didn't. [emoji849]

While we live in a neighborhood it's not far to nothingness. If I drive north ~25 miles the road ends. If you are so inclined you can take off on foot or pack animals.

 

[Jerry1]

I'm just glad to have nails. I finally kicked my nail biting habit a few years ago. Maybe the reduction in stress from retirement? Anyway, they stay pretty clean because I've always worn gloves when I work outside.

 

[Rianne]

My nails are clean and I keep them trimmed. During this time I"m amazed at the women who still have inch or more long nails. I recall a news article about babies dying at an alarming rate in a hospital. They figured out it was the nursing staff with long nails and bacteria getting stuck underneath.

 

[ckelly78z]

Mine always have grease, sawdust, mud, and any other substances that a horse farm can provide...I might dig a ditch tomorrow with my backhoe !

 

[Offgrid Organic Farmer]

My nails always have something in them. Most of the time I can't even remember where the dirt came from.

I live on 150-acres of forest land in a large house that I built, we have a quarter-mile of river frontage in our backyard. Homes in our town are mostly spaced out a mile apart on the road. Our town's total population-density is 10 people per square-mile, so it is fairly rural.

 

[ugeauxgirl]

My sister just confessed that she's stir crazy. She lives in a city with a postage stamp yard. I live on 7 acres. I started a garden and weeded flower beds, divided perennials, repotted houseplants, tackled repairs, and I have plenty left to do. Also I'm banishing that winter "vampire" look.... My nails are dirty AND I have paint on my toes...

 

[Scuba]

My nails are clean but my hands and cuticles are very dry from the exponential increase in hand washing time and water temperature. I’m washing many times per day now with really hot water.

 

[RobbieB]

I been washing my hands so much I've got dry skin for the first time in 65 years.

Sucks.

 

[JoeWras]

I'm just glad to have nails. I finally kicked my nail biting habit a few years ago.

I bit my last nail around February 29. I'm ready to get my one month chip!

I shared elsewhere that I am so dang proud of this. It is hard. I know there's no physical dependence like opiods, nicotine or alcohol, but geez why is this so hard?

Anyway, I was pretty proud of my nails. Then Ready-4-ER has to remind us they harbor germs. (At least that's how I initially read the post!) I've never had that problem!

So yesterday I dusted off my christmas gift from 30 years ago and got out the brand new shiny nail clipper. Off came my one month's hard work. The thumb nails must grow slower, they are not ready yet. I'm just learning how nails work right now.

 

[street]

Yesterday I had mud to my elbows trying to set a trash pump along a creek at the ranch. My goal was to pump water from creek to a 400 gallon tote so I have water when I plant 50 berry trees at the end of month.
I have had dirty hands everyday for months working at the ranch or working in the yard. I haven't had a face to face talk to one soul in about a month now.

 

[ugeauxgirl]

Today my neighbor and I (we stayed 6+ feet apart) unloaded 1600 lbs of compost into our shared garden. There are 4 raised beds- we worked on different ones. I dragged my sons over to help. The 16 year old was much better at slinging dirt around than we were. Then we planted tomatoes, cukes, squash, peppers and basil. There were a few other things we wanted to plant but the plant selection at Walmart was pretty thin. We'll have to send my husband back to the transfer station for another trailer load of compost as we only topped off 3 of the 4 beds. I think I can skip my workout for today! My hands were so filthy my phone couldn't detect a finger print!