Really stupid moves

[joa65]

I was mowing the yard with my Snapper rear engine riding mower. It had a 10 hp pull start engine. I decided to take a beer break. So I came wheeling up to the garage service door at top speed and shut it off. After a refreshing and relaxing couple of beers, I turned the key on and gently pulled the starter cord. That damn thing started immediately and took off at top speed. It was pointed at the street and traveling straight as an arrow at what looked like 30 MPH from where I was standing (with my mouth open.) Luckily(?) it hit a patio paver and turned 90 degrees to the right and headed across the driveway into the side of my wifes car. When I got to it, it was trying to push the car out of the way. It did not buff out.
Jeff

 

[djjsr]

I towed a 3/4 ton (military truck) with a towbar hooked to the tail of a 2 1/2 ton (military truck) and left the 3/4 ton truck in 1st gear. Max speed in 1st gear was about 5 mph, so as I was cruising down the highway at 55 mph that old flathead Dodge motor was probably approaching around 20,000 rpm.

It didn't make it. There was pieces and parts all over the place.

 

[tgreening]

Not paying attention and eyeballing the waitresses while running a meat slicer slicing tomatoes at the restaurant I worked at in high school. Zing went the end of my thumb. Never did find my thumb parts.

Bon Appe'***.

 

[G-force]

Too many to list. One that stands out. I had my dad over and was trying to talk him into getting a ATV so we could go riding together. He was worried that he would hurt himself riding one. I proceeded to show off how easy they were to ride. Well I tried to show off by doing cookies on wet leaves in my driveway, hit some dry asphault and flipped the quad over, went down head first WITHOUT MY HELMET! I ended up shattering my collarbone in 3 pieces. I'm reminded of this stupid move everyday when I get out of the shower and see the jagged bone jutting out under the skin of my neck. I just consider myself lucky I didn't hit my head (I still don't know how I avoided that)

 

[engineer2]

My brother had a beater '69 Dodge station wagon. Came home drunk one night and backed it into a tree parking behind his house. Only damage was it made the rusty gas tank drip. Those Dodge wagons had the gas tank right behind the rear wheel where road debris and winter salt would bombard it.

So he brings the tank and a case of beer and wants me to weld it up. No problem, but we gotta make sure there is no gas in it. We make sure it's empty, decide to purge it with compressed air for 20 minutes, and go inside and drink some beer.

Looks to be dry inside, but I'm still a little unsure. So we come up with a plan. We decide to push it into a snow bank, roll up some newspaper, stick it in the gas tank opening and light it. If it doesn't burn or blow up, it's safe to weld on. Brilliant idea!

Well, the newspaper burns down a bit and then there is this loud WHOOOOOSH! The tank jumps 3 ft in the air, the rolled up burning newspaper shoots out like a bottle rocket and goes sailing over the house 50 ft away!

We look at each other and both say "Oh ****". I run to find the burning newspaper in case it landed on the house. Never did find it.

Now the tank is safe to weld on. Except now instead of a rectangular gas tank with one leak, we now had a spherical gas tank with ten leaks to weld up. Had to jump up and down on it to get it back to its original shape.

Since then I've learned you must purge a tank with inert gas (exhaust gas, CO2, etc).

 

[Vethead]

Spent half on hour trying to get my 1100 Yamaha VStar into first gear and up my inclinded driveway. Would let out the clutch and tried burning it up getting the bike to roll. Then I realized I was upshifting with the foot shifter into 5th gear the whole time. When I realized my stupidity I kicked the foot shifter down to first gear and the bike drove great. Amazing how well it works when you shift down to first and try to roll out instead of trying it from 5th.

 

[d33pt]

how the hell did you not know your bike was in 5th gear for half an hour?!?!

 

[d33pt]

At my old house our driveway was really steep so if you were in a car, in the garage, chances are that you wouldn't be able to see what was behind you PARKED in the driveway. Anyway, woke up late one morning, running late for a meeting at work. I jumped in my van, opened the garage door, and immediately crashed really hard into our other car that was parked in the driveway. Surprisingly, not much damage to either vehicle.

Anyway, we've all been there. Just live and learn from it.

i've done this. it was my lifted truck vs my wife's tiny hatchback. didn't even see it until my rear bumper was halfway across the hood. that was an OH **** moment.

 

[Vethead]

how the hell did you not know your bike was in 5th gear for half an hour?!?!

Because I am a *****.

 

[gc11090]

Just got one to add to the list. Selling alot of old stuff on craigslist to clear out some room in the garage. I never let strangers see whats inside for security reasons. Guy coming to pick up electric scooter is supposed 2 call me when he is 20 minutes away, but calls infront of my house. run out to the garage with no shoes on, and go to bring scooter into the house. Removable seat falls off right on top of my foot. Got a huge gouge in one toe, and a few of them feel broke. Now i'm drugged up on the computer.

 

[Kevin7909]

Sigh...alright, i'll play...

When I was younger my dad showed me this neat trick...wet your hand and put alchohol on it and light it..The alchohol will burn and then u slap your hands and it is gone with not even the hand feeling warm (I have done it many times with success).

I am sure that many of you already see where this is going....

A couple of years ago I decide for the first time to show this trick to my beautiful bride to impress her (yes...I am dumb)...we are outside on the deck on a breezy day and I of course make a big show of putting alchohol on my palm and lighting my hand on fire...well....I forgot to put water on my hand....and as I said it was windy...I did the burn alright and slapped my hand...good to go and she is smiling...I am acting all 'Yeah..I know I'm cool'....

A few seconds pass....

...I then feel a terrible burning sensation accompanied with the stench of burning hair coming from the BACK of my hand...

I frantically slap the back of my hand while screaming in pain and running to the fridge to dip my hand in the ice chest part of the freezer. I hear my wife choking with laughter and she finally composes herself enough to come inside with tears in her eyes.

We get a big pot and half fill it with ice and most of the way up with water. I then lay on the bed all night with my hand in and out of the water (and we got more ice etc.). At certain points in the night I would hear her stir and then just burst out laughing...then she would go back to sleep....

Moral of the story....If you do this to yourself...sleep in another room

 

[Coach James]

I was helping a friend hang a heavy bag for boxing in his backyard. I was drilling a half inch diameter hole in a 4x4 for an eye bolt. I'm getting no where as there is barely a dent in the wood. After several minutes, I switch drill bits telling my buddy the first bit must be really dull. Several more minutes and still the wood is not giving way. Then I realize I had the drill in reverse.

When I was a kid, I wanted to see what would happen if I touched the spark plug on a running lawn mower. I found out. I don't need a refresher.

Also when I was a kid, I liked to play with fire. I turned an oil can with a trigger into a flame thrower that would shoot flame a good 8 feet using a combination of motor oil, kerosene and a few other chemicals from our shed. I had been burning something in the shed and didn't see part of it melt and drip onto the crowded work bench. At least not until I put my hand down on it. I felt a terrible pain, looked at my hand and saw this black molten mass stuck to my palm.

I tried to shake it off but no luck. I had to run 100 feet to the hose and run water on it by which time it hand seriously burned my hand. After peeling it off, I ended up with a hole nearly down to the bone wide enough to fit a pencil into. Took weeks for it to heal.

Ok another one. When I was a teenager, I went into a restaurant to eat breakfast. Everytime the waitress went by, she would give me a big smile. being a normal teenage male, I thought she might be sweet on me. When I went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror, I realized what was making her smile so much. I was wearing a t-shirt that had a front pocket on it. Only problem was, I had the shirt on backwards so the pocket was on my left shoulder blade. She was probably real nice to me because she thought I rode the short bus to the restaurant.

Coach

 

[crewchief888]

a few years back when i was living in florida, i was on my way to work one morning on my harley. it was cold that morning, down around 20 degrees or so. i was almost to the shop and caught a long red light, i pulled off my gloves and had them down next to the rear jug to warm them up, i saw th lights changing and as i pulled my left hand up i touched the rear plug wire, well the wire was bad and that SOB got me
i'm flailing around, my hand and arm are numb and the light changed, it was interesting trying to pull the clutch in, with my hands still cold, and my left arm numb

i bought a set of plug wires that night on the way home

 

[ZRX61]

When I was a kid, I wanted to see what would happen if I touched the spark plug on a running lawn mower. I found out. I don't need a refresher.
Coach

Reminds me of the time I decided to find out why it was a bad idea to have oil on your bicycle brakes... I made it all the way across the intersection at the end of the road & up the kerb onto the sidewalk...

The bicycle stoppped dead when it hit the brick wall.....


However, I didn't....


I carried on over the wall & into a garden full of rose bushes...

Guess I was about 8 or 9 at the time....

 

[ZRX61]

When I was younger my dad showed me this neat trick...wet your hand and put alchohol on it and light it..The alchohol will burn and then u slap your hands and it is gone with not even the hand feeling warm (I have done it many times with success).

I used to use glycerin for that trick....

 

[M900]

My friend was hanging out in his barn and he decided to burn a plastic straw(dont ask me why. he said something about the sound it makes. A "zing" like a projectile.). Well the fire went out and he assumed the straw was out and he threw it into a plastic cooler.

A minute later him and another friend went to the gas station to get something. While they were gone I arrived at his house / went out to the barn to have a seat and wait on them.
As I turn the corner into the barn I see flames engulfing a cabinet / three chairs / the cooler and a few other small things.

I end up grabbing the cooler(which was sitting under the cabinets catching them on fire) and attempt to pull it out to the center of the room so I can fight the cabinet fire. As I pull, half of the cooler separates from the rest of it in a long strand.(since it was melting. meaning part of the cooler fire is still under the cabinet but the other half of the cooler(still on fire) is in the center of the room)
I ended up kicking the rest of the cooler out from under the cabinets / grabbing the hose and putting the fire out.


After the fire (which my friend is bothered I put out because he would have gotten a new barn instead of this 25+ year old one)I look at the cooler and see my fingerprints melted into the plastic of the handle.
Stupid on his part for starting a fire.
Stupid on my part for grabbing melting plastic.(Anyone wrecked on a motorcycle wearing textile or another substance which will melt into your skin? Doesnt sound fun(I personally wear kevlar mesh which has better abrasion resistance than leather, so Im not worried)

 

[ihredo4]

Two more for me...Guess I'm not as bright as I thought I was. Thanks guys. lol

1st Dont armor all motorcycle seats...enough said.

2nd I was taking the engine and trans out of my truck one day. I had the front wheels up on ramps. I had the top of the engine all unhooked and crawled under it to unhook the bottom. I am laying on my back with my legs coming out from underthe passenger door. I had my knees up in the air to help my back. Anyway I am unhooking the draiveshaft and other stuff when I reach up and pull down on the shifter linkage to unhook it. When I did the truck rolled down off the stands and onto my knees. I was holding the whole freeking side of the truck up with my legs. My knees were between the frame and the weld seem outboard the frame. I am laying there screaming and realize as I am squirming my rubber boots are kicking out from under my knees and releasing my knees. For two years I had marks above and below both knees where that truck landed on my. Now I remember to block each wheel front and back. HERES MY SIGN.

 

[tylerae40]

i've had a few moments of stupidity, latest i tried to catch a falling 20L plastic drum with one hand- it hit the ladder on the harvester in front of me and bounced out smashing my bottom lip into my teeth, the old man thought it was hilarous. Another was I was working on a seeder replacing the pins and bushing, I was holding onto a four foot crow barb bouncing of the ground trying to get the pin to move. and move it did- as i came down the bar seesawed up and backwards straight into my forehead knocking me down and putting a neat number 7 imprint on my head where the side of the bar hit.
I also tried to remove a stubborne radiator hose on a 54 chev truck. after 1/2hr of trying with levers i tried pulling it towards me with both beceps flexing, till the pipe ripped clean and smacked me straight in the head again. Then i was working chair, unsecured on the bench with part of it hanging over the front i pushed down on it and knew what was comming the back leg of it followed the rest off the taple and crack me well and good in the forehead. you'd think i'd learn after the first two times?

 

[OccupantRJ]

Too many to list. One that stands out. I had my dad over and was trying to talk him into getting a ATV so we could go riding together. He was worried that he would hurt himself riding one. I proceeded to show off how easy they were to ride. Well I tried to show off by doing cookies on wet leaves in my driveway, hit some dry asphault and flipped the quad over, went down head first WITHOUT MY HELMET! I ended up shattering my collarbone in 3 pieces. I'm reminded of this stupid move everyday when I get out of the shower and see the jagged bone jutting out under the skin of my neck. I just consider myself lucky I didn't hit my head (I still don't know how I avoided that)

Dad wanted an ATV badly after that, didn't he? lol

 

[sharage71]

After we bought our house 3 yrs ago I was chainsawing a locust tree ( has 3 inch spikes all over it. I was trimming it up head high very non-chelantly and working my way around it. I stepped on a cut limb with the 3 inch thorns on it. One went through my shoe and into my foot. I was trying not to fall or step on anymore while finding a place to put the damn chainsaw down. The plastic sole of the shoe was holding the thorn in place very well. Finally got the chainsaw down and proceeded to pull the thorn out. I swear it was 6 inches long. Hurt for a couple of days. I thought about cutting the damn thing down but didn't want to get near it. It won.

 

[sharage71]

I towed a 3/4 ton (military truck) with a towbar hooked to the tail of a 2 1/2 ton (military truck) and left the 3/4 ton truck in 1st gear. Max speed in 1st gear was about 5 mph, so as I was cruising down the highway at 55 mph that old flathead Dodge motor was probably approaching around 20,000 rpm.

It didn't make it. There was pieces and parts all over the place.

Did a similar incident towing my 1980 Monza spider 4 speed. My dad was pulling it and I was in it. Towed it in gear. Destroyed the clutch and pressure plate. I was 16 and holding my sign. Felt like such a ******* punk kid. I was.

 

[lawfarm]

I had a 1977 CJ5 with a 304, T150 3 speed and 2 speed transfer case. I was going to swap in a T18 4 speed transmission. First time I did it, I installed transmission and then bolted on transfer case. Later, went to replace clutch, and I thought I'd leave the transmission and transfer case together as a unit, to save time.

In the absence of a transmission jack, I rolled under on a creeper, unbolted the transmission, and lowered it down to my chest, manually (just how I had done it several times before). The critical difference from previous times was that in the past, I had separated transmission from transfer case, thus dramatically reducing the weight. This time, I ended up pinned under the combined transmission and transfer case.

The jeep was jacked up just high enough that I couldn't roll out with the transmission on my chest, the transmission was caught on the jeep's body, and caught on my shirt. So I couldn't roll, I couldn't get the transmission off of me, and I could barely move...or breathe. Ended up resolving it with a lot of swearing, sweating, and some creative sliding. I separated the two and reinstalled them separately.

The other garage related goof I've had was installing a lock-right locking differential in the rear axle of my first truck, an F-150. Picture a young bachelor doing some truck-improvement. Working in the shop, cell phone on the workbench about 6' away from me, when I found out that the hole for the cross shaft in the differential was just large enough for my finger to fit in, but not quite large enough for my finger to come out (was trying to align diff gears). It was late at night, I was in the shop by myself, couldn't reach the phone or any other way to contact anyone, no one knew I was in the shop working, and no one had any reason to be in the shop (or really to check on me). I was picturing being found a week later, still stuck in the differential, and all of my efforts to remove my finger only seemed to make things worse.

I was contemplating whether I could reach the acetylene torch with my foot and cut the whole pumpkin/ center section out of the axle, when my finger slid out.

That changed my shop practices a bit, regarding telling others where I was, where I would be, when to check on me, etc.

 

[santagary]

While "fixing" a screen door and installing new screen trim, I wisely decided to use my new pneumatic brad nailer to fasten the trim instead of an oldfashioned tack hammer....long story short, I used brads too long and nailed the screen door to my new workbench. I managed to pry it off and had to clench about two hundred thousand nails on the back of the door...a little rattle can green paint job hid the mistake...kinda. I chuckle everytime I see that door and all those nails. g

 

[KCarGuy]

I had just finished buffing out a fresh paint job on a friends 1980 Camaro that I painted Honda Black Metalic with Dodge Plum Crazy Purple Z/28 stripes (not my choice)

I had also added a Full Fiberglass L-88 Hood on the car and was waiting for my buddy to come over with the lighter hood springs to install as well as the hood pins.

meantime I was washing it in my driveway and drying it off...when My wife as me to go pick up my son at the public pool. (the pool was just 2 blocks down our street)

Instead of moving the Camaro and grabbing my car, I figured that i could drive slow and the hood would be fine. (No hood hinges or catch on it)

Hey, its a calm day, no breese, only 2 blocks there and two blocks back...what could go wrong?

Half way there...whoosh!!! the hood just disappeared!

I stopped and was looking around, I saw a neighbor sitting on his porch looking straight up and followed his eyes as he started looking downward and behind me.
I saw the hood in the rear view mirror...Hit nose first right in the middle of the street!

I jumped out, grabbed it, and threw it back on the car...the nose was crushed and paint all spider-webbed...****! Threw the soaking wet (heavy) beach towel that I was drying it with, on the hood and picked up my son and Idled home.

Spent the next couple of days repairing it and getting it finished!

Stupid...What the Hell was I thinking? (that was over 20 years ago)...I am just a tad smarter now...A Tad!

*Oh, the Camaro also had Silver interior (ugh) and I have photos of the car...(Black Car, Silver Interior and purple stripes) and I'm the stupid one?

 

[vlpronj]

Used the radiator cap from the Electra 225 my Dad gave me on my ex's Nova, so she could get to. Didn't remember to replace it with the spare good one before I drove to work.

As soon as I heard the knocking, I realized what it was - but I was a few miles too late. Killed the 430 dead.

 

[tomstin]

Traveled to Scotland, picked up a rental car at the airport, Hertz begged me to take a manual as he only had one automatic left in the lot. No worries, I can drive a manual. Being from the states driving on the left takes some extra concentration. I get out of the carpark and thru the first roundabout without any problems and am quickly building my confidence.

The next roundabout, go to downshift, push in the clutch and reach for the shifter (with my right hand) and grab the door handle and released the door but catch myself before opening the door fully. I quickly learned if I rested my left hand on the shifter I was fine, but if I rested my left on the steering wheel, I instinctively used my right for the shifter. And the door handle was the first thing to grab!

For those of you who haven't traveled and driven in the UK, the pedals are the same, the shift pattern is the same, but using your left hand to shift takes some practice!

 

[38Chevy454]

I did exactly like KCarGuy, my old 70 Camaro drag race car had a fiberglass hood. Except in my case I forgot to put the hood pins back on the front. Took off down the street (testing.....) and about 25 mph - whoosh - the hood flys up and rips the bolts out of the fiberglass at the hinges. Over the car and landed, believe it or not, butter side up. Still had a lot of damage on the underside though from ripping the hinge bolts out.

Most lucky stupid thing was probably when trying to load a car on my car trailer with the truck and trainler on a fairly steep downhill. Parking brake not working on truck. Proceed to get the car onto the back of the trailer where the weight on the back proceeds to unload the hitch and therefore the rear tires that were holding the truck and trailer on the hill. The whole truck and trailer start sliding down the hill! You know the feeling - Oh ****, just watch it slide and see what happens as no way any of us could do anyting to stop it. Thankfully it went a bit sideways, the rear wheels went off right side of the road, trailer sideswiped a tree and took off several sq inches of bark and truck stopped when the front tires went off the other side. Had to find many rocks and other junk to put under the front tires to get the truck back onto the road. Had to go forward, as no way to back up, the rear tires just slipping. In the end no damage to the truck, trailer or car besides the tire skid marks for about 75 ft down the hill. Big increase in my anxiety and blood pressure. Overall very lucky as it could have been much worse.

 

[ZRX61]

Dropped an 8in lathe chuck on my finger this morning Swelling is subsiding.

 

[bjaspud]

Back in college I was the only guy with any mechanical skills. One spring we were removing a motor from a Volvo 122 using 6 guys, a rope and a 10' length of tree limb as our 'hoist'. I got the motor disconnected and had them lifting for all they were worth but the motor would not budge. The lifted and lifted and practically got the front end off the ground. That's when I noticed that the ground strap was till attached. Disconnected it and the darn motor practically lept out of the car with all those guys tugging. My bad.


College roomate has a brand new 1977 GMC Jimmy with that nice brushed chrome tailgate. The tailgate is down and I'm driving a car onto the attached trailer. Unfortunatley the trailer wasn't really attached. It was just 'sitting' on the ball. Car goes on, trailer tounge comes up. New tailgate gets a horrible disfiguring dent punched into it by the trailer tounge. Wouldn't you know it, he kept that truck for 15 years and loved to point our my stupidity. My bad.

 

[Hylke]

Great for a first post...

I've done a lot of stupid stuff too, and have forgotten about most of them rather quickly.

When I was sixteen I was rebuilding a Kreidler moped, it did 80 km/h with a 50 cc engine. The exhaust was pulling some false air and I tried to completely fasten the exhaust to the cylinder. Did my test run around the block and came back to feel by hand if the exhaust had loosened right up where it bolts to the cylinder. And some of you are right, the smell hits you before your nerve system does. Left a nice white wrinkle in the palm of my hand for a few weeks.

Two electric fence related stories from when I was even younger:

1. I used to mow the lawn for a friend of my parents. Was able to use a neat little tractor like mower. The guy had a pretty large field and was setting up an extra field for his sheep. Someone put down the wire for the electric fence in the grass, but this wire consisted of plastic orange rope with a strand of steel woven into it. With me being colourblind I did not notice the wire laying in the grass untill the wire got caught up in the mower and strangled it. Took half a day to try and get it out.

2. We went out on an excursion to a Monkey Zoo with a bunch of kids my age. The monkeys can roam freely within their own territory there. To keep them going from one territory to another bridges were build spanning canals which divide the territories. Monkey don't like to cross such a bridge across the floor, but rather on the side. So an electrified railing is mounted on top of the sides. Long story short: It's a nice height to sit on, need I say more??

 

[scheu]

I had one like KCarGuy. I was repairing a GMC Safari (Chevy Astro) minivan. Was a deer collision. Replaced the removable section of the core support, repaired the fenders, replaced the rad., cond., fan, etc.. bolted on the replacement hood. I'm feeling good at this point. Only had a $200-300 or so into it. Figured I probably should test drive it as I bought it wrecked. Checked the fuilds and pulled slowly on to the road. At about 30-35mph I realized I hadn't replaced the hood latch nor tied the hood down.... at about the same time as the brand new hood flew up and into the windshield, blocking the view of the road. Slammed on the brakes (hoping the hood would at least good down). Was a country road, little traffic. Drove back at 5-10mph.
The funny part was it didn't break the windshield. Ruined the new hood and the hinges but....
Scheu

 

[larry_g]

Traveled to Scotland, picked up a rental car at the airport, Hertz begged me to take a manual as he only had one automatic left in the lot. No worries, I can drive a manual. Being from the states driving on the left takes some extra concentration.
For those of you who haven't traveled and driven in the UK, the pedals are the same, the shift pattern is the same, but using your left hand to shift takes some practice!

I has a trip to Ireland and knew that I was going to be driving. I played a lot of mental games preparing for driving. I had no problems with the left shift or controls but was highly annoyed that you had to glance left to check the rearview mirror. Took a long time to sort out the mirrors. The other thing I had problems with was turning into parking lots, invariably I'd be on the wrong side.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[GzrGlide]

Years ago when I had my first car ( 73 Mustang coupe ) and was living at home I came home in a hurry to get something out of the garage and leave again. I pull up to within 5 or 6 feet of he grage and jump out to open the garage door ( no we didn't have an automatic door, or I wasn't priveledged enough to have my own remote ) and close the Mustangs door. Just as the door closes I realize that the car is still in drive and it's heading for the tin door.

Before I can get the car door open and get into the car and slam on the brakes, the car had hit the door, folded it back, bent the rails and the long hood of the car was about 1/2 way thru the door.

My mom made me wait up till my dad got home from the night shift and explain what happened. I had to buy a new door ( of course dad decided it was time to upgrade to a wooden door ) and pay for the new rails. Also had to install the door as it was starting to snow! Good times. Dad was amazingly calm about the whole thing.

2) A few years ago I pull up to my own garage on my Harley, and while I was waiting for the door to open (yes, I now have a garage door opener ), I forgot to put my foot down and me and the bike went over in what seemed lke slow motion. Lots of fun trying to pick up a 800 lb bike.

 

[Daniel Dudley]

Hey, you still have all your fingers and toes....AND they're still ATTACHED!

See, you ARE a smart guy. Seriously though, the car didn't look all that bad and no one was hurt. It could have been a LOT worse. Besides, your garage looks great so it was all worth it in the end.

I had a very, very, nice and rare collector convertible stored in my garage right after I built it. I never bothered to put the garage doors on, too much money, but the garage was loaded with stuff. We have all sorts of critters around here, and one day, it seems like tha cat must have been chasing one of them, because I went out to check the action and saw my crappy steel shelving pushed out from the wall, and an unbelievable array of stuff piled on the front of my car.

I cannot describe what I was feeling in terms of anger, stupidity and frustration, but I pounded the wall, and bellowed in frustration. My wife thought a truck had hit a deer on the road, so it must have sounded good.

Too cheap to buy doors, but there were doors on that garage the next weekend, and I eventually had to have the entire car repainted, there was so much damage. It took me three years to get the graphics package recreated for that car.

So much for original paint on a low volume, low miles car. I could never stand to look at ot after that...

 

[superfish]

Then there was the time I hooked my Fluke 87 to the electric fence to see if the fencer was working. Did you know the Fluke will repair a meter for $110.

Have you ever done something that you know is wrong but in a split second you do it anyway. I was mowing my yard with my Ford 8N and a pull behind Woods Mower. I'm not much of a lawn guy. Got up next to the house on a slope and had to cramp the wheel hard. Right then I knew it was going to bind. But, I did it any way. Didn't cost too much to have the universals welded to a new PTO drive shaft.

 

[Vincet]

2 years ago I was putting up some Bluebird houses. I pounded in a post, installed a Bluebird house, went on to the second one and started pounding it in, I was using a t-post driver tool - lifted it up too high and caught the top of the post which made that thing tilt and slam onto myself - on top of my head.... 11 staples later I was out of the emergency room. OUCH !!!!!!!!

I walked a couple hundred yards to my house, and into the bathroom. I called out my wife's name, my 13 year old daughter saw me and frantically called out to my wife and she took me to the ER. Later she told me if I hurt myself like that I really need to yell and get her attention....hmmm. I told her I was happy I could make it to the house. The t-post driver only weighs 30 pounds... I still think an airplane part that fell out of the sky and hit me...

Last summer my wife and I were walking in our back yard and she asked me what that empty post is for. I should put a Bluebird house on it some day!

 

[pcmeiners]

"Have you ever done something that you know is wrong but in a split second you do it anyway."
Yes, when very tired and aggravated, the most dangerous times for me, being around power tools.

My last really stupid move. Placed a 40 foot ladder on my house side which was covered with Tyvex, at the top I proceeded to shift the ladder slightly..ladder did more then move slightly. If it where not for an open window within reach as the ladder headed down, I would have been hurting bad. As it was, I almost did not get into the window, up about 30 feet. Damn, house wrap is slippery.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Back in 2002 i went on vacation at lake of the Ozarks with my wife and youngest son.We had a great time and were headed back to Illinois.I forgot to check all fluid levels and the boat trailer lug nuts,when just outside of St.louis all HELL breaks loose.I looked back in my rearview mirror just in time to see my drivers side trailer wheel break off the trailer.I was doing 80 MPH down a hill when the damn thing passed me! It was bouncing higher than the roof of my truck...it just missed us by inches! We just watched it like out of a ******** movie as it veered off into a wooded ditch and hit the tick infested woods like a howitzer cannon projectile.Once i jury rigged the spare tire back onto the trailer we headed to the nearest town and bought some lug bolts and put put them on.When i started to pull onto the local highway my truck wouldn't go out of first gear,my radiator had sprung a leak and was low on antifreeze.I guess the ****** fluid overheated and fried my transmission.Needless to say...it was a very costly vacation.It was kind of funny when i think of it now but i wasn't too happy back then.Now i check everything twice before i go anywhere.

 

[nehog]

Saturday... Put the head on my diesel generator (4 cylinder). Weighs about 80 lb. Block has studs, so have to lower down on the studs. Oh, did I mention that because of the case/enclosure you have to work it in from the side? By myself. Did I mention it weighs about 80 lb?

OK, got it on the studs. I really didn't intend for it to slide down the studs until I got my hand out. Honest...

Head came down, to which I said "Oh, ****" as I realized that there wasn't enough space between the studs to pull out my hand with it smushed between the head and the block, and there were limited tools at hand.

Lucked out, had two 24" pieces of 1x4, that I could just reach with my free hand to leverage the head. Pushed one down with my free hand. Does anyone realize that you can push a second down with your forehead? Do I ever wish I had pictures of an old fart trying to get his hand out of a diesel engine, levering up the head with a couple of pieces of wood and his head! (literally his head!)

At least it is *almost* back together now, only fan belt, radiator hoses, test and install injectors, and exhaust are left!

 

[bgott]

Let's see, this was about two hours ago...Waterpump job on a 6.6 Duramax. I don't have the special tool to remove the harmonic balancer so I lock an 18" pipe wrench on the lip of the balancer. 5' of pipe on a 3/4" drive socket and ratchet later, broken balancer and a broken pipe wrench. So then we jamb a pipe on the ground and hit the starter, the bolt comes right off. I'll pull the starter and see if I can screw up the flywheel with a pry bar to lock it up to tighten the bolt.