Ever do something so stupid you wonder if you should be left unsupervised?

[Fixr]

EVs are out to mess with people’s minds on that one

I think I would have a hard time adapting to one-pedal mode. But some folks apparently love it.

 

[Bessy]

Just as long as you keep the gas and brake separate on your mind you're good.

I had an aunt (maybe two now that I think about it) that got that mixed up. She had an early 2000s Toyota of some kind, and had the gas pedal floored when she started it. Quite a startle for everyone else who wasn't expecting it!

 

[ObnoxiousFumes]

I think I would have a hard time adapting to one-pedal mode. But some folks apparently love it.

I know going from three pedals to one would be hard for me lol.
But imagine switching back and forth! When I drove telehandler for a couple of years there were days that I’d hop in my truck at the end of the day and hit the left signal light for reverse

 

[WillyBoy]

My stupidity or the guy who wrote the book?

Rental car in another city. First experience with push-button start.
The rental guys had the car running, no problem. Drive down the road for a few hours and stop for lunch.
Return to car and push the button, nothing. Finally get the book out of the glove box.
Read through the starting sequence.

"Step on brake and then push button"

Try it 6 times. No Go.

Finally call Triple A. Guy shows up in a roll-back and takes a look, and starts it right up.

How about this slight edit to the instructions, you people in another country??

"Depress brake pedal and hold down while pushing start button" NOT do one operation and then do the other.

 

[PCustoms]

"Step on brake and then push button"

Pretty clear, step on brake, push button.

Not step on brake, release foot from brake, push button.

 

[firebirdparts]

@rancherbill, when I was a kid in 1960 my neighbor bought his son a used '53 Buick. The starter button was under the accelerator pedal. I am told Buick used that design from 1934 to 1960. Makes no sense because you could engage the starter if you floored it to pass someone.

There's a relay. They're not that clueless.

 

[Bunchgrass]

Here's one I hate to admit. During the pandemic and the toilet paper shortage my adult kids decided that bidets were the way to go. So they bought us one of the retrofit your toilet setups and I installed it. I wasn't impressed but too lazy to remove it right away. One night I nodded off in front of the TV, woke up to use the restroom and then head up to bed. Half asleep, my leg must have slightly bumped the bidet spray button so it started spraying a small stream of water that hit the bottom of the front of the toilet seat and ran down onto the floor. I didn't even notice until the next morning when there was water all over. Toilet paper is our friend.

 

[Bob Heine]

There's a relay. They're not that clueless.

@firebirdparts, thanks for the heads up. The kid never got the Buick running so I had no clue how it worked.

I really liked the way my '47 Ford was set up. The key had little to do with starting the car, it locked the steering column and ignition toggle switch (locked on or locked off). One quick button push and it started right up unless it was really cold and you might need a little manual choke. Also had a knob on the dash to control the throttle (primitive cruise control). On a cold winter day I could leave the car running while I ran a quick errand -- just lock the steering wheel and door with the key. It helped that gasoline was 25¢ a gallon. My Ford had a heater that used the engine coolant but my friend's '47 Ford pickup had a gasoline heater -- no waiting for the engine to warm up.

 

[Jay__Dub]

Yeah, but not as bad as these guys.

 

[rsparks64]

Wow, you're a pro at this! Me, I just grab the Sharpie cap in my teeth and use the Sharpie, then try to put it back in the cap 'cuz my other hand is holding the damn project. Instant bandito mustache.

I have not gotten the mustache, but have hit my tongue or teeth several times.

 

[Debcrow]

Yeah, but not as bad as these guys.

That's just insane!!!!
Trying to put that big engine/trans in the back of a Toyota pickup with a camper shell on it !!!!!

 

[Debcrow]

@rancherbill, when I was a kid in 1960 my neighbor bought his son a used '53 Buick. The starter button was under the accelerator pedal. I am told Buick used that design from 1934 to 1960. Makes no sense because you could engage the starter if you floored it to pass someone.

Same with all of the Studebakers I had. Once engine was running, the starter would not engage when pressing the clutch pedal where the starter button was located.

 

[CV428]

I'm generally a very cautious and analytical person- to a point where I get ripped on for it. Where I struggle is, I do almost everything myself with no help. I'm always figuring out how to make a 2 or 3 person job work with just myself. I make jigs, tools, you name it. Eventually, certain tasks push me to a point of desperation and things get risky and sketchy, but the adrenaline and frustration get me through.

Last year, I had to clear some land and all I have is a 21hp compact diesel tractor with a 740lb loader. There were boulders that far exceeded the lift capacity, and some massive slabs of concrete that were buried under excavated fill from a pool project a few years ago. Definitely not lifting those, but I could slowly tire-flip them along to get them out of the way until gravity took over and they tumbled down into the pit I was filling. One slab of concrete was probably 8'x6' (tried splitting it with a sledge but it wouldn't give). I'd wedge the loader under, lock everything, get off the tractor, and jack it up using random timbers or other rocks, get back on the tractor and do it again. Inch by inch. Eventually I was at such a steep angle that I used steel cable and winches to hold the tractor from skidding forward or tipping. It was safely dangerous and dangerously safe. When that slab was finally tipped up vertical, I had to lift the loader off and let gravity take over. The slab rotated in an unpredictable manner, caught the back of the loader which was at max travel, pulled a 4' wheelie and crashed down almost vertical. The only thing keeping the tractor from tipping forward and crushing me were those steel cables and winches. Scared me half to death but it worked, nothing was damaged whatsoever.

My wife checks on me now and then, gives me this exasperated look of "why did you even attempt that?" and then goes back in the house.

 

[hobie18]

Don't ask what I was doing just before this.

 

[RalphInCA]

I'm generally a very cautious and analytical person- to a point where I get ripped on for it. Where I struggle is, I do almost everything myself with no help. I'm always figuring out how to make a 2 or 3 person job work with just myself. I make jigs, tools, you name it. Eventually, certain tasks push me to a point of desperation and things get risky and sketchy, but the adrenaline and frustration get me through.

Last year, I had to clear some land and all I have is a 21hp compact diesel tractor with a 740lb loader. There were boulders that far exceeded the lift capacity, and some massive slabs of concrete that were buried under excavated fill from a pool project a few years ago. Definitely not lifting those, but I could slowly tire-flip them along to get them out of the way until gravity took over and they tumbled down into the pit I was filling. One slab of concrete was probably 8'x6' (tried splitting it with a sledge but it wouldn't give). I'd wedge the loader under, lock everything, get off the tractor, and jack it up using random timbers or other rocks, get back on the tractor and do it again. Inch by inch. Eventually I was at such a steep angle that I used steel cable and winches to hold the tractor from skidding forward or tipping. It was safely dangerous and dangerously safe. When that slab was finally tipped up vertical, I had to lift the loader off and let gravity take over. The slab rotated in an unpredictable manner, caught the back of the loader which was at max travel, pulled a 4' wheelie and crashed down almost vertical. The only thing keeping the tractor from tipping forward and crushing me were those steel cables and winches. Scared me half to death but it worked, nothing was damaged whatsoever.

My wife checks on me now and then, gives me this exasperated look of "why did you even attempt that?" and then goes back in the house.

Great story.

We never remember the adventures where everything goes right.

 

[Fixr]

I know going from three pedals to one would be hard for me lol.
But imagine switching back and forth! When I drove telehandler for a couple of years there were days that I’d hop in my truck at the end of the day and hit the left signal light for reverse

I have done the same more than once after a day with a backhoe.

 

[ObnoxiousFumes]

.My wife checks on me now and then, gives me this exasperated look of "why did you even attempt that?" and then goes back in the house.

I ask myself that question quite regularly actually.

I also am prone to stubbornly try to do things by myself, and not for lack of able willing people to help either. Darned if I’ll stoop so low as to ask someone else!
There is a real sense of accomplishment when you manage to complete a 2 man task alone though.

 

[AC-WC]

I had bought a car trailer someone had home built. After checking the welds realized they were stick welds and the slag was never removed....which led me to take a welding class, buy a welder and reweld EVERY single weld on the trailer.
Now comes the fun part-being a newbie welder I really struggled with upside down stick welds and got the brilliant idea to flip the trailer over. Had some friends come over, staked the wheels and used my truck to start pulling it/flipping. It got up to 90 degrees and then gravity took over. I floored that truck and it just missed hitting the truck. I think we used a longer chain when we flipped it back
I still have that trailer 30 yrs later.

 

[Bob Heine]

Every day I do things unsupervised and cannot help myself. My stubborn gene is not a recessive one.

I'm always figuring out how to make a 2 or 3 person job work with just myself.

After I inadvertently donated my left arm to a landfill, everyone wanted to help. I didn't resent the help but I did resent the complete takeover of the project so I was standing there watching someone else do the work. Slowly but surely I figured out smart (and sometimes stupid) ways to do things by myself. Having somehow reached octogenarian status, I don't even tell my family what I plan to do because they tell me I'm too old to be doing stuff by myself. I've switched to electric chainsaws because they are much quieter. Also battery powered tools so the compressor doesn't turn on. I'm thinking of moving the welders out of the garage and into the shed but it doesn't have 220 power so I'd have to run the generator and expose myself to endless tongue lashings,

I also am prone to stubbornly try to do things by myself, and not for lack of able willing people to help either. Darned if I’ll stoop so low as to ask someone else!

If help didn't equal takeover, I'd be fine with it.

When I had both arms I found a number of ways to do stupid things. When I was young I could carry my entire tool collection in two hands. When a headlight burned out on my '56 Chevy, I did the replacement in the dark sitting on a concrete block in the dirt. Removal involved a stainless steel retaining ring, which was held on with three pretty strong springs. I had no problem getting the springs off with a Phillips screwdriver. Putting the third spring back on didn't go all that well. Pulling hard on the hook end of the spring while holding the ring, the screwdriver kept slipping off. Pulled harder on the spring while looking closer at the target, the screwdriver slipped off again and I jabbed myself squarely in the bridge of my nose. I ignored the problem and managed to get the spring connected but I had a prominent ****** X on my nose right between my eyes so it looked like either "Stab here" or the start of a ******** tattoo. Old age wrinkles are doing a good job of hiding the X.

 

[dcg9381]

I think I would have a hard time adapting to one-pedal mode. But some folks apparently love it.

I have a 15 year old. I let him drive the Telsa. Once. Only once, because it teaches bad habits. Never mind the 60 time at 3 seconds. Everything you do is "look at a screen" and the 1-foot pedal (IMHO) teaches bad habits. It's advantage (if you want to put a kid in it) is collision avoidance, you can set an acceleration and a speed limit over posted speed.

Here's my latest F'up. I shot 9mm through a .223 flash hider. I didn't catch it because it was a new gun, and it did hit paper. I didn't catch it until the barrel tip blew up. Lucky, and I'm stupid.

 

[atch]

Well, it's been 5 months since anyone f***ked up around here. I was going to modify a 7/16" wrench this afternoon by heating/bending it. Welding gloves and wood stove gloves were within 10' of where I was working. Did I reach for them? NO!!! I grabbed the garden variety leather work gloves lying on the bench. Result: big burn blister on my left index finger. Wouldn't have happened if I had used my head for something other than for marbles to roll around in.

Next...

 

[Bessy]

I forgot to double check the breaker before attempting to move my welding plug on the wall. Uninsulated screwdriver probably saved my bacon when it gave me a very small zap when I touched the first screw, instead of blowing my shoes off my feet. Enough for me to go "hang on a sec!" And flip it off.

 

[Danno1]

Don't ask what I was doing just before this.

Patting a *****???



.

 

[Uncle murph]

I know I shouldn't, but I'm gonna go ahead and share my stupidity of the day in hopes that it will brighten someone else's day. If others decide to share their moments of cranial absence then all the better.

So I'm out in the shop a few minutes ago doing some TIG welding on a project for a customer. I have this bad habit of holding my filler rod in my lips while I re-position my work piece. It frees up my left hand and keeps me from trying to pick it back up while wearing gloves (a physical impossibility BTW)

This habit works out just great until I finish a long pass and only have about 3" of filler rod left and immediately grab hold of it with my lips to move my work piece.

I now have a nice little blister from where I was awesomely stupid enough to actually burn my lips while TIG welding!!:tard:

Needed to pull a mast,about 35’.Never done it before and no clue how (youtube wasn’t helpful)called a friend (he should have known not to answer)we disconnected all the stays,pulled it out and carried it vertically over to the side and dropped in the drink.Now it’s sitting on the bottom so we are 10-12 feet up,rotated it to horizontal and lashed it to the deck.Maybe not so stupid if it works.

 

[Bob Heine]

Mother's day 1969 and the toilet backs up. Plunger does nothing, snake does nothing so I check the 'almost finished' basement to find sewage seeping from around the cast iron pipe that goes through the poured concrete wall and into the septic tank. Head outside and start digging and the sewage is backing up from the dry well beyond the septic tank. A trench helps relieve the pressure and festivities resume.

I decide to add a second dry well and connect it as an overflow from the original. Mark a 12-foot diameter circle in the new location and every night after work I dig the hole a little deeper. Once the hole is shoulder deep I have trouble shoveling over my head one handed. The rest of the 10-foot deep hole is done in stages with a deep half and a shallow half where I can stage pails of dirt to be lifted by rope out of the hole. SWMBO mentioned my death trap to a neighbor and three idiots joined me to finish the hole. Rings of concrete blocks created a slightly conical chamber with a 3-foot diameter lid on top. Backfilled with coarse bluestone gravel and returned some of the soil to hide the mess. Why it didn't collapse on me is a mystery I don't understand to this day. Granted, there were a few small cave-ins that covered my ankles but it never occurred to me to invite witnesses.

 

[atch]

I was rolling a wheel/tire out of my shop yesterday; looking down at the wheel instead of where I was going. BANG!!! I felt like a linebacker hit me in the head with a 3-pound hammer. I have a couple of wooden racks that house my collection of spare distributors and I had run smack dab into it. Now I've got a goose egg about 3 inches long and 1 1/2 inch wide on the top of my head that hurts like the dickens when I touch it.

EDIT: you might notice that I beveled the corner at a 45° angle. If I hadn't there likely would have been blood to clean up.

 

[Wrench97]

Put a steering box on a F350 today, sat on stool air gun in hand to remove the 3 bolts through the frame into the box.....scooted over to the bolts air gun out ready to pull the trigger fell off the stool......right **** cheek still hurts.......

 

[CoogarXR]

Punched myself in the wallet today.

I have an electric heater on the ceiling in my garage that I use sometimes, but usually only briefly, because it costs so damn much to run (electric rates are high, plus it's just an electric pig in general). It has no thermostat; it's just on or off. Well I turned it on yesterday. I came out to the garage this morning to see that it was still on. I have no idea how I missed shutting it off. Good grief. I'm gonna hate to see what that cost me to run flat-out for 12+ hours.

At least it was toasty-warm in there this morning.

Huh, I wonder if that's why I saw stray cats climbing my trees last night before bed. My security lights were on, and I looked outside to see what was going on, and there was a trail of cats scaling the tree next to the garage. It was a strange sight to see. I didn't know what they were up to, so I opened the window and scared them off. They must have been going up on the garage roof to get warm, lol.

 

[Wrench97]

Punched myself in the wallet today.

I have an electric heater on the ceiling in my garage that I use sometimes, but usually only briefly, because it costs so damn much to run (electric rates are high, plus it's just an electric pig in general). It has no thermostat; it's just on or off. Well I turned it on yesterday. I came out to the garage this morning to see that it was still on. I have no idea how I missed shutting it off. Good grief. I'm gonna hate to see what that cost me to run flat-out for 12+ hours.

At least it was toasty-warm in there this morning.

Huh, I wonder if that's why I saw stray cats climbing my trees last night before bed. My security lights were on, and I looked outside to see what was going on, and there was a trail of cats scaling the tree next to the garage. It was a strange sight to see. I didn't know what they were up to, so I opened the window and scared them off. They must have been going up on the garage roof to get warm, lol.

Back in the mid 80's I had 3 electric heaters in the garage, I painted the wifes Pontiac Lemans on a Saturday in March just before noon. I had turned the heaters on Friday night shut them off while spraying then turned them back on when done.
Garage is a seperate meter from the house and normally ran about $12 a month for the door opener security light over the driveway and limited compressor and lights....that month the bill was $196 never again pulled the heaters out that summer installed a old hot air oil fired unit the next winter.

 

[CoogarXR]

Welp, I'm on a stupidity roll I guess. Yesterday, I was getting my chainsaw and my pole saw ready to do some spring trimming. Putting the bar oil in, setting the chain tension, all that jazz. The pole saw was new, so I had some extra setup to do. Anyway, after getting it ready, I grabbed the regular chainsaw, topped the bar oil off, loaded the saws, ladder and everything else on the tractor and took off.

Well, when I got to the first tree, my chainsaw fired up, puffed a little smoke and stalled. Wouldn't start. I thought, "huh, I thought it had gas in it". As I looked for the gas cap, my brain finally engaged and I realized that I had put the bar oil in the gas tank.

Grrrr...

I have only had this chainsaw (or any chainsaw) for two seasons, so I'm not super-used to it yet. The gas cap and the bar oil cap are both orange. At least it's a 2-stroke, so it's "used" to having oil run through it. At least that's what I'm gonna tell myself...

So I open the cap, and dump it into a bucket. Put a little gas mix in, shake it around, dump it out, add some more, dump it out. Then put in a little more and try to start it, and it seems fine. A little smoky, but fine. Hopefully it will burn off the residue and be OK. I told a friend (who works on chainsaws) what I did, he said it might foul my plug, but it should be OK otherwise.

Man, I feel stupid.

 

[PCustoms]

Probably better then gas in the bar oil...

 

[zimman]

I've built dozens of race car chassis including my own 64. Welding in the back of the Nova I caught the insulation under the package shelf on fire and did not realize it (welding hood) until the fire was rolling up the back window. If you ever see a 50 year old man try to navigate a jungle gym try that while on fire. LMMFAO.
Zim

 

[TheClaw]

Yes, all the time.

 

[MOwens]

I should have just stayed home instead of going into the machine shop. I woke up with walking pneumonia. Went to the clinic and they put me on a prednisone pack and some antibiotics. Off to work I go because I have people depending on me to get them going and it’s calving season.

Towards closing time I decided to get the tractor out and pull up a few t posts that were bent from snow removal and tidy up the gravel driveway while I am at it. Sure as can be, garage door only went halfway up and stopped. I didn’t notice it and I backed the tractor cab right into it. It was positioned just ever so perfect that you couldn’t see it was part closed. Bent 3 panels on a 14x14 commercial insulated steel door, tractor showed no damage.

Pulled up the first of three t posts with the bucket and chain. You guessed it. It snapped right at the ground. Off I went to get a spade. Before I could warn anyone a customer drives right over the t posts puncturing his tire. How they ran over it without hitting the tractor I have no idea. Now I get to replace a tire and a garage door. Dug out the t post and managed to break my fav spade in the process.

I don’t know if it was the walking pneumonia or if I was being stupid and oxygen deprived but I never have days like this. Like I said, “I should have stayed home today!”

 

[cody1325]

On a regular basis, and it typically involves stuff with an engine and getting it stuck.

It's why I got banned from using any tractor unless I had a spotter. At least with the 5400, it being manual prevented me from driving it. The 3038E drives like a lawnmower, so I can drive it rather well.

 

[Jeffrey D]

I did not lock out / tag out a fuel boost pump circuit breaker one night changing a fuel filter on a plane. Filter and bowl off, then it suddenly went into fire hose mode of Jet A. Myself and everything around me was covered in jet fuel. I had power off of the plane, but a coworker had turned on the batteries and tried to start the APU. By the time I got from the rear of the airplane, up the loading bridge stairs and into the cockpit screaming to turn it off, the mess was made. Airport Authorities, fire department, senior management, EPA all got involved. Lesson learned.

I also caught a plane on fire at the gate one day, I'll leave that story for later.

 

[Bessy]

I also caught a plane on fire at the gate one day, I'll leave that story for later.

"Later" like the very next post, right?! You can't leave us hanging like that, it's against thread rules!

 

[ctandc72]

Where has this thread been? Does it count if you don't actually get 'hurt' or something doesn't break? 30+ years ago in the Army, I've been party to 'disposing' of piles of munitions. After smartphones and the internet became widespread (I'm sure it was just coincidence) it became SOP to have EOD guys come in, rig it all up safely, blow it from a distance etc.

Not pile it all together, fill a can or two with JP8, back then you could still find some JP4 (gas/kerosene), then take bets to see who could set it all off with a good shot.

Or taking 55 gallon drums fuel of 'waste' and adding copious amounts of the most flammable substances we could find, then lighting small rolled up pieces of an unnamed explosive material that was used like sterno at times and take turns tossing them into the barrels until they lit off.

I did lose most of my eyebrows once.

Hypothetically of course.

 

[Lassen Forge]

Probably better then gas in the bar oil...

I know someone very, very close to me who did that one time - fortunately, I, er, the person could smell the fumes pouring off the spinning chain and the flung 2 stroke mix... before something (like the hot muffler) lit it all off...

Of course, there was the time I tried to use a file (sans handle, natch) to even out a galled brake rotor on my old gold wing with the motor running and in gear, the thing caught, slid off the spinning rotor, file into the comstar spoke space, and file tang through the palm of my hand... I STILL have the cutest little scar the width of said tang on said left hand.

Now, getting back to burning an airplane at the gate??? Enquiring minds and all that....

 

[ctandc72]

My wife was reading some of these over my shoulder. Then reminded me of her 'favorite' scar I have.

I was removing the bumper from one of the parts Broncos when I was restoring the 95. Running the air impact to remove the bumper. The nut came off, shook it out of the socket (it was HOT) and tossed it at my son. He grabbed it, realized it was HOT and tossed it back my way. I was holding up the rear bumper with one arm and it landed on the backside of said arm. It was either take the burn or eat the bumper. I now have a white scar that's a perfect outline of the nut.