Whats the dumbest thing you've ever done..?

[MaxRat]

Water, water...

Ok guys....whats the dumbest thing you've ever done..? doesnt have to be just PC related..I am talking life in general...

I'll go 1st...

I have my shop set up in a corner room in my basement. I am trying to make it a decent little room but the whole foundation is made of brick and the opening to the room is also brick.

There was no door in this opening so I got the bright Idea to put one in...Ok so I started putting a door in the opening. 1st I had to fram the opening, so I started by cutting some 2x4's to fit the sides and then glueing them to the brick and bracing them accordingly.

I glued the left side 1st and let it set about a week making sure the glue was good and secure, Then I started on the right side. I cut and glued the 2x4 to the brick and braced it over night. I cam back the next day and removed the braces to fram the rest of the door in. The glue I used for the right side was not the same as the left side so it didnt cure as fast...long story short... the glue was still soft..

I went down to my shop and found some Tapcon screws...for those of you who havent used these they are concrete screws... and they hold very well...So I drilled the fastened the right side 2x4 with these screws...Next I framed 2 more 2x4's on each side for a total of 4-2x4's total...Now I had to put spacers in between the 2x4 to build the rough opening out to within a 1/8inch of my opening for the door frame plus a top plate...

I used my handy-dandy level to get the top plate line for the right side 2x4's and proceeded to fram the door in..

Got that all done and I had to cut down the door frame about 3 inches to fit the opening, So I did that and proceeded to put the fram in the opening...Man this was going so well and the frame was fitting so nice... I pin-nailed the fram in with the same amount of reveal on both sides of the frame jamb.. pretty good huh...Next I hung the door back on it's hinges and closed the door so I could finish nailing the rest of the latch side of the frame for best fit...

Well thats where things started going wrong... the door just wouldnt close... I mean it fit good but the door closed at the top and had a 3inch gap at the bottom...What the holy heck.

Now I have framed many houses and installed hundreds of doors... what did I do wrong... I got the checking and some how the left side 2x4 (hinge side) was about 3inches out at the top...It was leaning in...

Well at first I just adjusted the frame and thought well it might work...but then it started to bug me about not being the perfect fit....but I had glued the 2x4 to the brick....So...I decided to take the frame back out and cut the glue on the 2x4 and move it to it was back in plumb...no problem...yea right..

Ok so I cut the frame back out with my saws-all and remove that and put it on the floor and remove the top screws in the plate and using a prybar I seperate the glue from the brick rather easy...

With the 2x4 now loose I figure I'll just tap the top corner with a hammer and move it to it's level...right..? well that was working rather well I had it moving pretty good and then it stopped...hmm I'll just tap (hit) it a little harder and...and...and smack...I slipped and hit a plastic water line that was running over the top plate and blew that thing apart...

Worst was my PC was on and running not more that 4 feet from the water rupture...The PC barely got any water on it...I dont know how but it was in direct line of fire...? I had to hurry up and go shut the main off all the while laughing pretty hard... as my son was watching me got pretty wet when the line shattered fron the hammer blow...

I must have hit it pretty hard as it busted over 20inches of pipe...? The wife came running and was in awe when she seen the mess...and then the dumb questions began...what happened...mmm the pipe ran into the hammer..

So I finnished moving the frame and had to make a trip to the local Menard for 2 fitting and a piece of cpvc pipe...1/2 hour later all was good again...

Needless to say I got that door in and it's in right this time...But I am starting to wonder if i'm getting Tim-the-toolman syndrome...

[David M]

I am way too embarrassed to say. I would imagine many others feel the same way. My wife and my best friend know. But I am not going to post it to the internet. Playing internet Truth or Dare is not a good idea in my case.

[Markoman01027]

joined PCMECH



Seriously, the dumbest thing I did was take a math course over the summer in college. Not a good idea.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by Markoman01027 Seriously, the dumbest thing I did was take a math course over the summer in college. Not a good idea.

What about that other thing?

Cricket

[MaxRat]

Oh...I've done dumber...

One time a neighbor of mine wanted me to change the camshaft in his truck...it was a 1/2 chevy... cam swap was pretty easy...I've done hundreds...

But this time while working on the swap the nice neighbor decided that we should have a few beers...then a few more...then a few more and so on....

Normally I dont drink...at all... but the cam swap went fine and I fired the engine up and idled it up to about 2500rpm and then noticed we didnt put the oil in the engine...?

That was the neighbors job...but I take the blame because I didnt check it... the engine lived cuz we only ran it about a minute with no oil and most engines will live about 15minutes with no oil at all...

needless to say...dont drink and work...atleast til after the work is done..


um I got more but....i'll keep quiet.... I'm not to proud or emabarassed to say when I mess up... it just happens...

[mairving]

Dumbest thing I ever did and still do is tell people that my job involves computers.

[pam123]

It happened in a kitchen and I really should have known better.
Why I dumped the vodka into a pan on the flames, I don't know why I forgot kitchen safety, but the flames had no problem going up the stream (ouch ).
It was a mess but the homard l'amercaine survived nicely.
It's still a family treat these days but I'm a lot more careful ( the burns healed in 2 weeks ).

The lesson?
Pay attention!!!!

edit : It needed a few more words

[Markoman01027]

Originally Posted by Cricket What about that other thing? Cricket

Heh..thats nothing compared to the math course...it was pure hell.

[rspassey]

I'm sorta in the same boat as DavidM. I mean I've done dumb things, I do dumb things almost daily, and then I've done DUMB things.

Here's one of my last ones:
About 2 weeks ago there was a school dance. My friends and I don't typically go - and most prominently we had hockey practice around the same time. Oddly, one of my friends got a date and went. While he was inside, we decide to run to walmart and get some jack stands and jack up his car and put the stands in place so the tires were just a centimeter off the ground. Then, when he would try to drive off, his wheels would just spin. To make a long story short, full of mess ups and what not, someone saw us doing this and went and told my friend in the dance. He came out (and he is the kinda guy who never gets mad and started cracking up because it was pretty funny). But, a teacher also came out, and she didn't think it was as funny. Obviously, we couldn't get in trouble, because she isn't our parents and we weren't doing anything illegal or against the school rules (we were only in the parking lot). Most of our pranks end this way.

[rwest]

I got ya' all beat. I told my wife about a girl that asked me out when I was at work. It got ugly real fast. Nothing happened but the accusations, and hurt feelings flew around like wet hornets.

It was 12 years ago. We obviously worked through it, but I still remember the whole incident vividly. I'm sure the wife does too.

[MaxRat]

geeze....some people just have no sence of humor huh...?

[rwest]

Ya' gotta admit, it was dumb.
No brainers are easy to do, trust me I've done plenty. But, plain dumb takes the cake everytime.

[fleeingpepper]

Originally Posted by mairving Dumbest thing I ever did and still do is tell people that my job involves computers.

Yea, kinda me too. I'm in my youth group at my church and people know I built my computer. Some people are straight up stupid. They ask me how to play a dvd in their computer and can't find the menu bar in windows media player. Then they think I'm stupid because they can't understand instructions. And it took me five minutes to explain that Windows Media Player plays more than music. *sigh* It may not sound stupid like that, but it has brought a lot of anger and annoyances.

[786ARS]

Originally Posted by David M internet Truth or Dare is not a good idea in my case.

Played that today yesterday and learnt some very important things like some of my friends can have very creative and disturbing dares.

My stupiest thing i have ever done, i dont think its appropriate, and if the persons involved were to hear about me telling other people about it, i would have to start digging a grave pretty soon.

but a really stupid think i have done is after a concert a while back, i was walking ith a couple of my friends back to the train station where i walked into a bollard that was very unfortunately for me at exactly the "right" height and made from solid granite. But the really stupid thing about the situation as that i was completely sober and happened to do it at a time when a lot of the friends around me had their camera phones handy.

Walking after that was difficult for a while, a very agonisingly long while.

[newbuilder14]

Think of the dumbest thing and I've probably done it. Just kidding.

Well, it was probably stupid for me to start playing Counter-Strike. I feel like my life revolves around it. It is fun, though.

[Panama Red]

I try not to repeat any dumb things I've done but I've sure done my share. The list is long so which do you want to hear about?

1. First grade, borrowed another kid's sled at school, tried to park it next to the bldg when the bell rang and ended up doing a head first slide across 4 other sleds and into the brick bldg. 6 stitches to close up my scalp.

2. 8th grade, football practice before school. "One last pass before we go in" Just as I caught the ball over my shoulder I ran full speed into a steel swing post. Right down the middle of the forehead. Broken glasses, bleeding from a cut on the bridge of the nose filled my eyes with blood, rapidly swelling head caused the coach to pick me up and run to the first aid room where they applied ice. 8 stitches, new glasses, severe concussion and never allowed to play football again.

3. Army basic training. Foolishly made some snide remark to a sergeant in civilian clothes about a PFC that was escorting our group. Admitted the comments next day when confronted by the same PFC. Met him privatley to "discuss" the matter in a locked barracks. Didn't know he was a Golden Gloves champ from Ky. Much pain and embarassment. The incident was reported by others and he was busted of all rank and removed from duty at that post.

4. Participated in a B&E with 2 other guys to rip off racing parts from another street racer. Hated myself later for doing it and the guy who engineered the deed pulled several more before getting caught and going to prison for 2 years. He never turned us in as accomplices.

5. Driving drunk and pulling out from a side street while view was blocked by parked cars. Caught the right side of a passing MG or Triumph with the right front of the bumper on my 70 Nova. The bumper was pointed and opened up the side of the other car like a can opener! Turned off my lights, threw it in reverse and whipped around, jumped on a nearby expressway entrance, drove to the gas station I managed and removed the British racing green paint from the bumper. Didn't get caught but never drank and drove again.

6. Changing leaf springs under my Nova. Put the car on jack stands in the driveway and removed the spring retaining bolts on one side. Had a big shock when the car came down nearly on the ground cuz the jackstand was supporting the rear end housing instead of the body of the car. Doh!

7. Removing the front coil springs on my 69 Z28 without the driveline in the car. The body was supported on 4 jack stands. Had always done it before with the engine installed. Floor jack was under the lower control arm to hold the spring pressure but with no weight pressing down, the body lifted up, the control arm kicked the jack out and the entire body shifted to the rear and the opposite side. Fell off the stands and just missed my legs. I was sitting on a creeper and pushed myself back as the car was falling. No damage to anything except my ego.

8. Using a big, blue tarp as an awning in front of our tent while camping. Tied it to a tree on one side and went fishing with my friend while our wives sat at the camp. Winds kicked up big time and we came back to find two angry women fighting a big blue sail as it tried to rip the tents out of the ground! Wished I'd have had a movie camera for this one. hehe

9. Going fishing alone on a chain of lakes I'd only been on once before. All were connected by marshy areas and the pathway in would close over behind you hiding the way back. No compass and no map book. Finished fishing and realized I didn't have a clue how to get back to the landing. It was getting dark and I was panicked. Finally saw another boat after wandering the lake for an hour or so and got directions from him - a local. Being lost and alone can be fearful.

That's enough I guess. I could add several more and I'm sure others will come to mind later. You all probably think I'm an accident waiting to happen now!

[rspassey]

I think I'm on the verge of doing another dumb thing. Well, I'm not doing it, but I'm going to be present. My friend came up with the wonderful idea of taking a normal parasail and attaching it to his car. Then, with the assistance of rollerblades, he wants to parasail through a park. The idea is an accident waiting to happen.

[786ARS]

not nececerally - i still have made some stupid desicions in my life, and really regret looking back on them now. if anyone wants my really stupid story, pm me. dont think its safe to say it here.

[rjfvillarosa]

uummm can I say these quietly....?

1. pull the straps of your rattraps (the little cage thingy that secures your foot to your bicycle pedal) so tight that your foot cannot get free, then ride off on your bike, the only way to safely dismount is to slow down and lean on a wall for support, not a good idea in town traffic, there are no walls in the middle of the road.!!
2. place a 9 kilogram LPG bottle inside a fibreglass portaloo, open the valve on the lpg bottle, throw in some unsuspecting passer by and a fizzing firework, then dive for cover after the dust and fibreglass from the resulting explosion settled, the unsuspecting passer bye (Micheal Ackerman) could not be found anywhere and was not seen for two days, when we asked him what happened he couldn't remember anything except us grabbing him.
3. lay flat on your back on the grass in a field then shoot the bolt from a crossbow as close to verticaly up as you can, lay perfectly still and repeat the proccess to see how close the returning earthbound bolt pierce's the ground next to your head.
4. replace all the coolant water in your friends car with petrol, sit and wait for the bang.
5. build a small fire, tip a 50gallon drum of diesel on it's side and remove the two filler caps, allow the spilling diesel to trickle down to the fire, watch as your newly created intercontinental ballistic missile launches itself at high speed only to demolish a block of prefabricated appartments that were only built the day before.
This was in my teen years and I haven't started on the rugby tour stories yet.

[Cricket]

Gee, someone has a colorful past.

Cricket

[tetsuo]

Wow. I have done some things so dumb it's amazing I am alive - went into some of them knowing they were dumb sometimes, but wanted some adventure. Is that what they mean by "redneck"? Maybe...but the dumbest things I've done were dumb on a level that got the FBI involved, many years ago. Another dumb thing got me a three day coma. And the broken bones I've had...

But what I will say, that was funny to me, was when I was sixteen. I had very long hair, and was washing it. I usually combed my hair out with conditioner in it while in the shower, but I had forgotten the comb. So I grabbed my mother's round brush, the kind with with a little ball on the end of each bristle. I stuck in my hair and without thinking got the hair wrapped around it. Then struggled for half an hour, making it worse, to get the brush out my hair. Finally it was wrapped tight against my head...I had to wait for my mum to get off of work to get it out.

[Brad the best]

1. ran diesel in the lawn mower , it went for a good half hour then quit . sorta embarrassing when your a heavy duty mechanic apprentice and your dad is a heavy duty journeyman and your step mom is a ope mechanic .

2. filled a inertube with acetylene and pure oxygen out of the oxy ac cutting torch .(dangerous if you don't know what your doing since acetylene becomes unstable and explodes at 20 psi at 25 degrees C . anyway filled it up and took it to my friends feild , covered it in gas and then layed down a trail about 50 feet long and lit it , ill just say this . it should of been a 150 foot trail . the bloody thing lit up like the sun and knocked us on our asses.

3.ran out of gas on my first day off heavy duty entry level , pushed my motorcyle about 1 km to my friends house and put some 32:1 two stroke oil in it(all he had) , thats along with the injector (its a two stroke) so i got about 16:1 fuel oil ratio , basically by the time i got up to the top of the hill the pipes were dripping so much oil (i probobly should of drained them more often) that ocasionally when you hit 7 grand they would light up . lets just not talk about the the amount of mosquitos i killed that day . frankly im surprised it ran

we just wont talk about the stuff i did on the quad or in bobcats , or bike ,


*max rat* you should of used some bulldog grip PL400 on that frame , it would of cured in a day and you would of had to brake the bricks out to remove it .

[rwest]

I just rembered about the time I was cleanig the fridge with bleach, and it wasn't doing as gooda job as I though it should. So I poured some amonia in on top of it. Bout 15 minutes later with my eyes burning and my throat sore from breathing the gas my sister walks in gives me the how, why not, and whatfor!

[rjfvillarosa]

Dumb things guaranteed to draw the attention of people with no sense of humour (usually bored policemen and immigration officials)

When in the small European country of Belgium do not disrobe the waitress (even if she is happy with the idea) of the bar you are drinking in especially if she is the owners daughter, and add insult to injury by singing “I can’t read and I can’t write but I can drive a tractor” in bad French accompanied by thirty or so of your drunken mates.
This behaviour is only going to get you handcuffed with cable tie type handcuffs and dumped in no mans land between Belgium and France, where the handcuffs have to be cut off much to the amusement and giggles of the French border guards. Leaving the tour bus and keys behind in a town you can’t remember the name of doesn’t go down too well with the tour manager either.

Walking down the main street of Hanover in Germany whilst handcuffed to a full sized plastic bath tends to draw the attention of the local Police, these very kind police officers will invite or should I say insist that you partake of their hospitality by spending the rest of the night in one of their nice comfortable cells, on a side note German handcuff keys do not fit British handcuffs and German bolt cutters only work between 8.00am and 5.00pm with an hour for lunch.

If you ever find yourself playing Rugby in Spain try to refrain from telling your opposite number in the scrum that his father is a goat herder and you could fight the toughest bull in the town with one arm tied behind your back.
A statement of this nature can only have disastrous results especially at three in the morning after the consumption of a large quantity of Vino Colapso, I am still uncertain as to how we managed to wind up in the bull ring at three in the morning complete with the most miserable, big, ugly and nastiest bull on the planet, cheered on and encouraged by my fellow merrymakers punching the bull in the face just seemed to upset the bull even more, my Spanish counterpart on the other hand decided that riding the bull was a far better idea, the bull having suffered the insult of being woken up in the middle of the night, punched in the face and now some drunken lunatic has just landed on his back decided it was payback time and he was off into the night at very high speed.
You try explaining to a Spanish policeman what you are doing in a bar at three in the morning, half the furniture is smashed and there is a one ton bull in the corner with a drunken Spaniard on his back, you now forget every word you know in Spanish and leave the local team to do all the explaining.

Back in Belgium this time in a little town called Vise, after an evenings merrymaking during which large quantities of very strong Belgian falling down fluid was consumed we decided to drag the party from the bar into the street much to the annoyance of the locals, bobsledding down the main street using wheelie bins soon attracted the attention of the local police and yet another night was spent in the local police hotel at the Belgian tax payers expense, at least the breakfast was better than what the German police gave us.

[tetsuo]

I just wanted to add that there is an art to doing fantastically foolish things. And each person has their own aesthetic. But if I were doing an installation in the medium of dumb, I would want to work with rjfvillarosa.. I think we share similar visions.

[MaxRat]

I have really done some dumb stuff...

I could do a list PR but I cant remeber it all...

Like...trowing water balloons at cars and hitting a state police car...bad thing was I hit it as he was going by and I hit him on the way back when he turned around...

made some of those 2litre pop bottle bangers with foil and the cops came...um...thru one on the alley and the police man didnt see it and some how parked his car over it...swore he was going to do a Barney Phife...

When to Olive Garden to get some carry out for the x-wife and a anniversary night and drank too much waiting for the food... dropped a buddy of and was in a car that was good a drifting on dry pavement and did it in front of a cop drunk...oops..he let me go...
Dont drink and drive...!

did a hole-shot in my 57-Chevy and hit decided to hook and my daughter bounced off the dashboard...(head hitting metal) havent ever done this again...

Drag raced a buddy down main street doing over 100mph in a 35mph zone when a drunk pulled out in front of me forcing my buddy into a phone pole at over 80mph...car died...he lived...


trying to turn around on a 2 lane round and rolled backwards and got hung up in the ditch...

getting stoned...literally... got hit in the head with a rock by a friend.... 20 stitches...

running thru a plate glass window and getting over 200 stiches.... (cute nurse...priceless)

doing over 180mph down I-80 in Wyoming the day before X-mas and getting blown off the road and living to tell about it....mmm rather stupid....

having long hair and getting it caught in a creeper wheel under a vehical for 3 hours until someone finds you... yep did that too...now it's way short...

trying to impress girls with a burnout and busting both motor mounts and flipping the engine 1/2 over and killing it....stupid...

Oh...good one... letting my friend talk me into tee-peeing his own house and hear his mom comming...hurdle the fence only to fall on her...dang it...

jacking up my buddies sisters car with jack stands and shoving a potato in the tale pipe...wasnt bad till the potato came out and blasting thru the neighbors picture windows...ouch...

have tons more....

[Hi Ho]

Wow, you guys are scaring me. I can't say I've done anything like most of the stories I've read here. The dumbest thing I can think of is helping my dad install a 600 pound window only to find that we installed it backwards.

[tetsuo]

Originally Posted by MaxRat having long hair and getting it caught in a creeper wheel under a vehical for 3 hours until someone finds you... yep did that too...now it's way short...

Ha. Mine too.

[Kareeser]

Running through a plate glass window?

I think that only works in the movies

[sgtspector]

How many Darwin Award winners have we got here. I dont think it's the dumbest thing I ever did but here mine. While working desk duty on a midnight shift as patol sergeant I get a 911 call at about 5:30 am. The elderly lady tells me she is on the floor and cant get up and she thinks she is having a heart attack. I tell her to hang on and dispatch two patrol cars and the paramedics and ambulance. I get back on with her and keep her talking until they arrive. The cars radio that they have arrived and that the door is locked so I direct them to take it down and get in there. So like the heroes they are one of them gives the door a brutal kick and it flies open only to stop about half way and come back at them. Poor Albert. The ladies husband was trying to open the door for them and was standing just inside when they kicked it open. The poor old guy got hit right in the center of his forehead with the edge of the door. What a mess. Blood all over the place but Albert never went down. Still all he was worried about was his wife. They went in separate ambulances and all turned out ok thank god. I guess she could have mentioned he was there but I never forgot to ask if they are alone in the house after that one. I actually went to apologize to Albert but all he could do was thank us for getting there so quick.