Learning from our mistakes OR shit not ta do

When I was teaching, I used to make the bonus on the final exam worth 20 points based on how good the answer was.
The question was "Describe to me the stupidest thing you have ever done, don't worry you'll probably never see me again" what makes this funnier is it was an organic chemistry class ;D
It made grading exams so much more fun.
I got some CRAZY stories. I wish I had kept them.
 
Yes Bradj, I'm a fish farmer who cannot swim. Get a lot of ribbing about too. My brother can't swim either. Did his tour in Nam on a boat.
 
Some crazy stuff here. Highly entertaining. ;D
 
New2meCB's steering wheel story reminded me of when I experienced a series of "Involuntary Reflexes".
I was a Tech working at a Dealership and was certified in "SRS" (Air Bag) systems. I was removing an airbag from a steering wheel that the 10mm nuts come from behind the steering wheel. Like 100's of times before, I was looking over the top of the steering wheel to see the ratchet as I loosened the nut. While pulling up towards my face the ratchet slipped nearly hitting me in the face.
1st Involuntary Reflex: Instictively my head pulled up away from the oncoming ratchet... guess what was above my head? That's right, the back of my head hit the windshield.
2nd Involuntary Reflex: After your head hits a hard object, you move it in the opposite direction. Nose smashes into steering wheel.
3rd Involuntary Reflex: After nose hits hard object, Head moves in opposite direction... hit windshield.

And Repeat.

I followed this 3 step process TOO many times in the blink of an eye before I gained enough sence to BACK OUT of that never ending cycle.
Lessons learned: "Don't pull a ratchet towards your face" and "Always plan an escape route."
 
Hahaha! Repeat... That's a hilarious image for anyone! Hahaha!

-sent from sea via corked bottle
 
Sounds like you guys were doing other 70s stuff in that shop
 
CCRider said:
Just two days ago, I was redoing the fork seals on my VF700 (yes, I installed them upside down but that's another story :-[). I had the bike on the centerstand with a short piece of 1X4 supporting the front of the engine. Not the most solid arrangement, but it's always worked for me before. I had the left fork leg removed. Since my garage is a cluttered pig sty, there's very little room to move around and as I was squeezing around the back of the bike, I bumped it and rolled it forward overcenter on the centerstand. As I watched in horror, It dropped, in slow motion, onto the right fork leg and pitched over to the left onto my 450. Luckily it just caught the brake pedal of the 450 and didn't knock it over onto my 350, which was parked just to the left of it.

My wife came out to the garage to try to help me get the bike upright, and of course in the process we managed to roll it over onto the right side, knocking over the table that I had all my loose parts on.

It was not a good day.

CC
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This one's damn good. Thanks for that. HAHAHA
 
Never close the lid on a grill that has the propane turned on... I was probably 12 or 13 at the time, and my dad told me to go start the grill. Ok, sure, I've done it tons of times, no problem.

The fancy-schmancy electric ignition was on it's last legs, so it took maybe 7 or 8 hits to get it started usually. This time it just didn't want to start, so me being the practical thinker said to myself, "if some gas is good, more is better" Shut the lid with the gas on for probably 10 or 15 seconds, opened the lid and hit the igniter. Well I'll be f$@%ed if it didn't start on the first hit.

Took off some eyebrows, luckily nothing too bad.

Told my dad the story and got the eyeroll and the line "Well that sure was stupid."



My uncle has some great ones from when he was my age, including one of how he flooded out an old Monte Carlo taking a "shortcut" home from work one day. My grandfather heard that story for the first time this past summer, about 40 years later... All he could do was laugh
 
On a climbing trip a couple years ago, drove my father-in-law's Rav4. We were at Red River Gorge, camped at Miguel's. After going through the Nada Tunnel, there's a trail and climbing area on the right, the "Military Wall" area. Parking is on the left. Parking for 6. The shoulder on the right was also lined with vehicles. I drove past all this and thought, "well, there's nobody on the left side yet, I'l just pull up there".
The ground looked solid, but was actually real nice, thick, axle-deep mud. The Rav sank in and then slid down to the bottom of the ditch. After the Sheriff arrived, we got to talking about racing, bourbon, fishing and beer. Real nice guy. Thought we were a bunch of idiots (at least I knew I was). He was in a bit of a mood, because I made him miss a big NASCAR race on TV. After a $200 tow truck extraction and a fine for "off roading" in a national park, I had a fun little story to tell.

Lesson learned: when considering parking on the edge of a drainage ditch, send a scout first.
 
dbg326 said:
Never close the lid on a grill that has the propane turned on... I was probably 12 or 13 at the time, and my dad told me to go start the grill. Ok, sure, I've done it tons of times, no problem.

The fancy-schmancy electric ignition was on it's last legs, so it took maybe 7 or 8 hits to get it started usually. This time it just didn't want to start, so me being the practical thinker said to myself, "if some gas is good, more is better" Shut the lid with the gas on for probably 10 or 15 seconds, opened the lid and hit the igniter. Well I'll be f$@%ed if it didn't start on the first hit.

Took off some eyebrows, luckily nothing too bad.

Told my dad the story and got the eyeroll and the line "Well that sure was stupid."



My uncle has some great ones from when he was my age, including one of how he flooded out an old Monte Carlo taking a "shortcut" home from work one day. My grandfather heard that story for the first time this past summer, about 40 years later... All he could do was laugh
Click to expand...


Ahhhh child logic.






Which I still use to this day while playing with fire. If a small flame is good, a big one is better, right?
 
Hoosier Daddy said:
New2meCB's steering wheel story reminded me of when I experienced a series of "Involuntary Reflexes".
I was a Tech working at a Dealership and was certified in "SRS" (Air Bag) systems. I was removing an airbag from a steering wheel that the 10mm nuts come from behind the steering wheel. Like 100's of times before, I was looking over the top of the steering wheel to see the ratchet as I loosened the nut. While pulling up towards my face the ratchet slipped nearly hitting me in the face.
1st Involuntary Reflex: Instictively my head pulled up away from the oncoming ratchet... guess what was above my head? That's right, the back of my head hit the windshield.
2nd Involuntary Reflex: After your head hits a hard object, you move it in the opposite direction. Nose smashes into steering wheel.
3rd Involuntary Reflex: After nose hits hard object, Head moves in opposite direction... hit windshield.

And Repeat.

I followed this 3 step process TOO many times in the blink of an eye before I gained enough sence to BACK OUT of that never ending cycle.
Lessons learned: "Don't pull a ratchet towards your face" and "Always plan an escape route."
Click to expand...
I've done a variation on this, only it involved laying on my back under the frame-rail of an old car. ;)
Pulling on a breaker-bar with the socket on a shackle nut, the bolt breaks, I hit myself in the upper lip with the socket/breaker bar. Rebound my head back into the nice soft concrete, then jerk it back up into the frame rail......good times! ::)

And a very good friend from high school is an avid fly-fisherman who cannot swim. He was wading on a large flat rock in waist high water when the current started sliding him downstream. He slid into a 15' deep pool, and of course coming back out the way he went in was impossible because of the underwater rock wall. :eek:
Luckily he had the presence of mind to take a DEEP breath before he went under, so he had time to walk across the bottom of the river and up the gravel bank on the other side. 8)
 
I think my worst was when I was installing air ride on a car of mine and had to shorten the 1/2" line. At the time I was too poor to buy proper tools and didn't have a cutting tool for the line. However, I had a dremel! Simple concept, and all went well until the disc shattered apart and half of it flung at my face. It was moving too quick to react, so I just feel it smash into my upper cheek and feel blood run down my face. Go look in the mirror to see where it hit and it was mere millimeters from my eye. My face was swollen for a bit and I still have a scar from that incident.

Lesson learned, always wear safety goggles and buy the right tools for the right job.
 
4eyes said:
I've done a variation on this, only it involved laying on my back under the frame-rail of an old car. ;)
Pulling on a breaker-bar with the socket on a shackle nut, the bolt breaks, I hit myself in the upper lip with the socket/breaker bar. Rebound my head back into the nice soft concrete, then jerk it back up into the frame rail......good times! ::)

And a very good friend from high school is an avid fly-fisherman who cannot swim. He was wading on a large flat rock in waist high water when the current started sliding him downstream. He slid into a 15' deep pool, and of course coming back out the way he went in was impossible because of the underwater rock wall. :eek:
Luckily he had the presence of mind to take a DEEP breath before he went under, so he had time to walk across the bottom of the river and up the gravel bank on the other side. 8)
Click to expand...

I honestly cannot understand not being able to swim.
As a rational adult its as simple as pushing water downward to push yourself upward.
I just don't get it.
 
SONIC. said:
I honestly cannot understand not being able to swim.
As a rational adult its as simple as pushing water downward to push yourself upward.
I just don't get it.
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I wish it was that simple. I can't swim at all. I've taken lessons but still can't. I couldn't even float, kept sinking to the bottom. :eek: My partial fear of water doesn't help, just not comfortable.
 
HerrDeacon said:
I wish it was that simple. I can't swim at all. I've taken lessons but still can't. I couldn't even float, kept sinking to the bottom. :eek: My partial fear of water doesn't help, just not comfortable.
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Sucks to live on an Island and not be able to swim. LOL. I kid, usually fear of drowning is the reason an adult can't learn to swim. Panic sets in and you get stiff, you can't relax, you can't float or move yourself right to stay up. Logic or rational has nothing to do with it.
 
Maritime said:
Panic sets in and you get stiff, you can't relax... logic or rational has nothing to do with it.
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Kinda how I feel about bike electrical systems...

:eek:
 
SONIC. said:
I honestly cannot understand not being able to swim.
As a rational adult its as simple as pushing water downward to push yourself upward.
I just don't get it.
Click to expand...

I'm not quite as bad as some others as I can swim and actually enjoy it but I will defend some that claim to "sink" when in water. I too sink.

Some are legitimately constructed physically in such a way that they in fact simply sink if they are not moving: most folks naturally float. Those who naturally float are far more likely to have an easy time at swimming or even learning to swim. Those who sink (like myself) have a far more difficult time at learning and even when you do, swimming is far more of a workout than a typical "floating" person. That, I can assure you. It's the only thing keeping me from triathlons. I've been harassed to no end to get into it (I do other types of racing) but know that I would exhaust myself in the swim so.....

I was forced to learn to swim as a kid because we had a pool, a boat and we live against one of the biggest fresh water lakes in the world. I continue to enjoy life in, on and around water (kayaking, fly fishing etc. etc.) but I NEVER go out in the Kayak without my PFD. If I'm in heavy current and there is any chance of falling when I'm fishing, I have a tiny PFD that you can barely see as well that I wear under my vest. Pull the cord and it inflates.

Not being able to swim is something that I would personally try and correct at this age however ESPECIALLY if you work around water or your hobbies see you near or in the stuff. PFD's PFD's PFD's people!

Living where I do, I have MANY insane/scary/tragic stories involving water.

Some people sink. That's the truth.

When I first met my wife, she totally didn't believe me when I told her I sink. She was convinced she could teach me to float on my back and I told her it wasn't possible. I bet her 20 bucks I could take a huge breath of air and sit cross legged and arms crossed at the bottom of the deep end of the pool.....................nothing weighing me down. Just sit there. She took me up on it and I was 20 bucks richer. I took a breath, stopped moving and sunk right to the bottom. Once there, I sat down cross legged staring at her. She'd never seen it before. I'm relaxed as hell around water and still she could not get me to float. We tried MANY times. Not happening.

This came up in conversation once with some friends and low and behold, another buddy of mine is the exact same way. He thought he was the only one. ;)

Sorry, that was way too long.

Back to the crazy stories............way more fun to read.
 
Anyone who weighs more than the mass of the water they displace will sink, as that's how buoyancy works ;)
 
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