Things learned the hard way.

[philSweet]

Back again- remember the gentle thief who stole the gears out of my autohelm and then put everything back together? Well I didn't clutter up that story with the fact that I wasn't nearly as careful (or experienced) as the thief (I mean the affirmative shopper) and I ended up unscrewing something with wires still attached with the predictable result that the wires parted. Otherwise, I was very careful indeed and arrived back home with all of the parts to the devise except one. It was only after I had resoldered the wires that I even realized that something was missing (at which point I looked at the IPB). So I go back to the boat and find the missing part in the bottom of a winch handle pocket and fish it out. It is the only part of the entire devise that requires the motor wires to be fished though it before they are soldered.

The good news is I managed to get the wheel components all back together without losing my bearings. I was so proud of that I dinghied in and had a beer.

The spacer cone is supposed to be between the motor and the plug with the wires run through it.

[WestVanHan]

I used to be in the car biz,and my driver for the summer was to be a '90's Mercedes 500SL.

Decided to change the oil-while being aggravated at the girlfriend who was bothering me while doing it-but screwed up and forgot to tighten things properly.
Also forgot a small tool kit on the injection cover,so when the hood closed it dented the hood upwards.
In a very fine mood,on the test drive the oil ran out and I screwed the crank bearings.

Was really pissed and threw a screwdriver at the ground,it hit just the right way and bounced back & stuck into my leg almost an inch.

So off to the hospital for a tetanus shot,a clean out,and 6 stitches.
Next day I was still furious at all of this,so I hopped on a plane to Mexico for a week- $1500- to cool down....then it cost me $6k to fix the engine.
So it cost me ~$7500 for sure,plus whatever I would have made in buying and selling cars for 8 days so maybe $10k total?

Oh yeah..and with the tropical funk in the swimming pool (they had a bar IN the pool..how am I supposed to ignore that?) my leg got all infected so back to the hospital for a day-antibiotics,IV drip and all that BS.

All for the sake of $40 worth of oil.

The sight of the car would get me p'd off,so sold it and the guy wiped it out the next day.

[philSweet]

There is no doubt in my mind that there are special gremlins just for thrown screwdrivers. It is particular to those situations when you know you shouldn't be doing what you're doing, but do it anyway. That seems to call them.

[WestVanHan]

Yes there are- a friend did the same once but he let go a touch too late and it went most of the way through his foot.

Post script: the needy girlfriend that was the root of all this,got very mad I went to Mexico without her. On my return a huge argument ensued and I ended up telling her to get lost.

The car/trip/medical expenses/lost income cost a lot, but I got off cheap as I found out years later she was a notorious tire biter/gold digger who would feign pregnancy/illness/family troubles for large sums of cash from guys.
I ran into her a couple years ago,working in a restaurant.

[philSweet]

Today's fiasco-

If ever you decide to do a little renovation on a campground reception desk area and ask the folks to turn their computers off because you need to pull power for a while- CHECK TO SEE WHAT THEY ACTUALLY HAVE PLUGGED IN TO THE POWER STRIP. I am now the proud owner of about 30 gallons of mostly melted ice cream. The freezer was plugged into a power strip intended for computers and I saw no reason to power it up when I left.

[Milehog]

Buy a different flavor(s) of ice cream and pour the melted ice cream on the new frozen stuff. Think of it as ice cream sauce.

[mydauphin]

A couple of years ago bought a couple of gallons of epoxy in plastic bottles. I put them in floor behind seat. I forgot to check covers, of course one spilled and left me dripping a mess for a month. Could not never fully clean it. Thankfully I only spill one part. and it did leave a shine on the floor. Now I check every container I buy.

[philSweet]

remember Murphy and his "sick note"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWeXpNyqOrU

It's been that kind of week.

Ten days ago I decided to mow the face of an earthen damn on the property. It's a pain. Different mower than I usually use. The drive system's crap. So I take it apart and tighten everything and it works but I have to squeeze the handle like crazy. Next day I wake up with a sprained thumb.

Those are a pain also. Like every time you grab a door knob.

Three days later, I'm setting up a tug-of-war and I fall in a hole. I'm not accident prone - honestly. I sprained my left ankle. Ever try to use crutches with a sprained thumb??

I was doing better today, hobbling around in the heavy boots I've been wearing for a week. I was changing a GFI outlet on a porch. Stood up and got a face full of wind chimes. I'm not clumsy, either - honestly. One chime got me in the eye. That was bad luck. What do you do when something pokes you in the eye. That's right, you jump. Ever jump on a sprained ankle?

I have just returned from the liquor store. I shall not be seen in public for a while.

[upchurchmr]

Recently I decided to build a Kayak for my son. It was going to be the best stripper anyone ever saw. Texas is hot, the kayak is 18'4" and my garage is 19', so it took up every free inch of the garage, even on a diagonal. I would open the door, scoot the back end out so I could get around.
One evening I am doing nothing but staring trying to imagine what is the next thing to do. I'm so hot I just cant think. Proud of myself to recognize this and decide to take the evening off. Carefully clean up, check everything out, and close the door on the last 1' of the boat - manually. With the stripping done but no glass there was very little strength, so the hull cracked ~6' up the boat in 4 places.

So much for a perfect job.

[philSweet]

Sounds about right. About the only boats I've gotten in the water without roadrash are the ones I've build in two hours for cardboard canoe races. I moved from ND to NC with a 70% build hull. Load shifted and a couch leg punched through the hull. I thought the hull was screwed up to the CB housing, but it wasn't, so the hull tore from the slot out to port.

We can probably run up a couple of pages of garage door stories. Who hasn't been working on their car, say swapping a tranny, and wanted more light, so you reached into the car and pulled the emergency brake instead of the hood release. Car rolls down the ramp and out the door, except the car door is wide open....

[PAR]

Never, I mean never let the other half, catch you grinding up polyurethane pieces for use in a textured anti skid paint job, in her kitchen blender. There's absolutely no convincing her that it's inert and can't harm a thing, in spite of eating a handful to prove the point. Lastly, pooping out polyurethane pellets for a few days will do wonders for your restricted colon.

Just saying . . .

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by PAR

Never, I mean never let the other half, catch you grinding up polyurethane pieces for use in a textured anti skid paint job, in her kitchen blender. There's absolutely no convincing her that it's inert and can't harm a thing, in spite of eating a handful to prove the point. Lastly, pooping out polyurethane pellets for a few days will do wonders for your restricted colon.

Just saying . . .

Sometimes ---just sometimes you can get excellent advice from this forum.

[hoytedow]

Originally Posted by upchurchmr

Recently I decided to build a Kayak for my son. It was going to be the best stripper anyone ever saw. Texas is hot, the kayak is 18'4" and my garage is 19', so it took up every free inch of the garage, even on a diagonal. I would open the door, scoot the back end out so I could get around.
One evening I am doing nothing but staring trying to imagine what is the next thing to do. I'm so hot I just cant think. Proud of myself to recognize this and decide to take the evening off. Carefully clean up, check everything out, and close the door on the last 1' of the boat - manually. With the stripping done but no glass there was very little strength, so the hull cracked ~6' up the boat in 4 places.

So much for a perfect job.

I hate it when that happens. I hope it is reparable.

[hoytedow]

Originally Posted by PAR

Never, I mean never let the other half, catch you grinding up polyurethane pieces for use in a textured anti skid paint job, in her kitchen blender. There's absolutely no convincing her that it's inert and can't harm a thing, in spite of eating a handful to prove the point. Lastly, pooping out polyurethane pellets for a few days will do wonders for your restricted colon.

Just saying . . .

Too funny!

[hoytedow]

Originally Posted by Frosty

Sometimes ---just sometimes you can get excellent advice from this forum.

True; frequently.