Death to all Thermometers

Seriously guys, you can't take me anywhere!!  I just broke the third chocolate thermometer that I've had in my possesion.  Third!!!!  The first broke, as you know, right after I opened my toolbox for the first time in February.  The second one I didn't actually break, but I ordered it online and came pre-broken (thanks?).  And this is what just happened with the third...

We were making molded chocolates today, and I was determined to make my mother proud.  After all, she is queen of the chocolate molds.  So I tempered my chocolate and Julie and I made a praline mixture to fill the chocolates with.  I wound up picking this cool, conical looking mold (pictures to come later) and started making the shell for my chocolates.  After they were firm enough, I filled them with the praline, capped them off with the rest of the chocolate and stuck them in the fridge to harden completely.  Now, as I was trying to unmold them, the Chef was showing me how to whack the mold on the table to relase the chocolates.  So there I was, whacking away (dirty) and all of the sudden I notice this splatter pattern on my now empty mold and on part of my table.  It looked kind of like thinned out raspberry jam and I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was.  So I asked one of the other girls - "what is that?"  And all of the sudden the Chef is like, "You must be bleeding!"  I yell out, "I am??!!" and start searching my hands, expecting to have somehow accidentally cut off one of my fingers without even feeling it.  But no...what did I actually do?  I accidentally whacked the chocolate mold down on top of the chocolate thermometer that the Chef has lent me (because as you know, I'd already had 2 broken ones...) and shattered it.  That reddish-pink substance?  Oh that would be mercury...

Mercury!!!!

Lock me up, I am a menace to everyone!  Even the Chef made a joke about me not practicing Brooke safety...

I am so mortified.  I managed to clean it up and swore to Chef that I would buy her a new thermometer but she brushed it off and told me not to worry about it at all, that extras like that she's not worried about.  Luckily it didn't seem to get on any of my chocolates, I inspected them thoroughly and even Chef said that they would be fine.  *sigh*  Just another day when I thought about taking the day off to rest up....one of these days I'm actually going to listen to myself and just stay home.