My $.02 and Recommendations:
1. Focus totally on what you are doing at the time when administratively handling the gun. Don't think about anything else other than the procedure you are executing.
Instructing someone else is almost by definition distracting, and if you add in other stuff (like recovering from sickness etc) your distraction level increases, so save the instruction for a location where NDs are a good deal less of a problem, provided of course you are following all the other rules at the time. At least if you messed up at the range, loud noises are expected, and since OF COURSE you are at least following all the other rules, the bullet is impacting in the berm or backstop, where bullets are expected to impact.
2. I highly recommend you get a ballistic pad for those times when you have to administratively handle your gun. Shooting the bed, the carpet, and the concrete floor are probably preferable to sending it thru the wall of your apartment complex, but hardly ideal. I have one of these jobbies:
http://www.safedirection.com/
It is a ballistic pad that you put the muzzle of your pistol or rifle on while you do administrative actions. It will catch the bullet if you launch one. I know of some instances when this product was used, and it worked as advertised. Runs you $100+, but an ND could easily run you a lot more. (And no, I am not affiliated with the company.)
Someone tried to tell me having one of these somehow encourages you to let down your guard. HOGWASH. By the Four Rules and common sense, you must have your muzzle pointed in a safe direction, which means something that really will absorb the impact of a bullet without damaging anything important. Lots of people think this means the wall or the floor or the gun safe or or the bookcase or whatever, but when you actually blow a hole in it, it doesn't seem like such a good idea. (Don't ask me how I know this!
) I'll bet you're not particularly happy about having a hole in your mattress and the carpet, and if your landlord has caught onto this, I'll bet he is not pleased either!I keep mine by the bed, on the floor, and each morning when I get up, haul my pistol out of the bedside drawer and chamber check it, I use the ballistic pad. I also take it with me when I travel, so in the unfortunate circumstance that I screw up at least I am not buying the hotel a new toilet or airconditioner -- or worse, answering questions about how my bullet ended up in the room/person next door/above/below/out in the parking lot. (In fact, when I fly, I put this in my luggage first, and at destination when I load up in the restroom, I just put the bag over the toilet and put the muzzle against the side with the ballistic pad).
Of course we should strive for perfection, but I don't buy the notion that "people who have had them/people who are going to" is somehow fatalistic or standards-lowering. It is an accurate appraisal and warning of human frailty. Jeff Cooper recognized that people screw up, so the Four Rules of gun handling are overlapping. If you do your best to follow all of them, then when you inadvertently violate one of them (as in your case), having followed the others prevents total disaster (as in your case also). Otherwise we'd only need one rule!
If you are carrying a gun for self-defense, then you will be carrying it and handling it in all kinds of situations and states of physical alertness/fitness. Mr. Violent Criminal Actor is not going to give you a pass because you are ill today and didn't handle your gun "to be safe." Ergo, you have to acquire the habits (safe admin handling) and accoutrements (e.g ballistic pad, quality holster, quality handgun) to allow you to be as safe as possible while still being armed. You can't be 100% safe while carrying a gun. Neither can you be 100% safe NOT carrying a gun. You have to assess the risk of each, and train and equip accordingly.
It's good that you felt like crap after the ND. Shows you have a sense of responsibility. Now, like the others said, figure out what you need to do to not have that happen again, and march on.
Best wishes,
elb