The stupidest thing you ever did

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edro

edro

Lifer
Apr 5, 2002
24,326
68
91
In recent years?

Tried to haul 16' boards in the back of my 8' bed truck.

I stacked wood on top and secured them down with tie downs...
It worked until I tried to climb the steep inclined winding road on the way home.
I went slow and was only 2 miles from home, but the incline + bumps in road caused them all to slide out.
I had to park on the road (no area to pull off) and throw half a dozen 16' 2x10 boards back into my truck and secure quick enough to get out of the way.
People fly down that road and I knew I would cause an accident.

Only one slow truck passed me before I was able to load/restrap/move and make it home.

Dumbass...
 
ControlD

ControlD

Diamond Member
Apr 25, 2005
5,440
44
91
This was some time ago, 1997 I think.

I was in Bangalore, India doing a machine installation. I would periodically get a fault from one of the servos, and the help text in the manual said to check the motor leads coming out of the drive running to the motor. I had this brilliant idea to go ahead and start the machine back up and wiggle the connector to see if I could replicate the fault. On those old drives you couldn't see the connector, you just had to reach up under the drive until you felt it. Turns out, the genius electrician that ran the wire used too large of a gauge on so he simply folded the extra copper back down over the connector. So, when I reached up there I grabbed all of that live wire for a servo drive running at 100% (can't remember the size, it was a large one). It literally felt like somebody punched me in the back. Several hundred volts of PWM DC. Luckily I let go quickly. My hand was burned pretty good, but I survived. I looked at my mechanic, threw the disconnect, said "fuck it" and proceeded to get fairly drunk.

I have a feeling if I died they would have just rolled me in a ditch somewhere.

I could have checked the connection with power off. In hindsight that might have been a better way to go.
 
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Imp

Imp

Lifer
Feb 8, 2000
18,828
184
106
I went to grad school and thought that it would help me in my career and people would respect me more... HAHAHAHHA! Should have put the $10k tuition into Bitcoins -- they were <$50 then.
 
B

Brian Stirling

Diamond Member
Feb 7, 2010
3,964
2
0
Many years ago, when I was a young punk, me and some buddies would hang out at the apartment complex that was being expanded nearby. There was a spot at the top of the complex that overlooked the road below by about 80 feet or so and the hill leading down to the road was way too steep to climb, probably 70 degrees give or take. The road itself was heavily crowned and a couple feet above the ditch between the road and the hill.

Now, the apartment complex was still under construction and they had a trash pile a little too conveniently close to the corner of the complex overlooking the road and on this particular day they also had about 4 truck tires -- not the rims, just the tires. So, being punks and having everything we needed to be pucks we grab the tires and waited until we heard cars coming along the road below. We timed it just about perfect as the tire wheeled down the 70 degree embankment, hit the ditch, and was then launched right across the windshield of the car driving by. I don't think it actually hit him but it was fucking close!

After a second the guy, probably sitting in a pile of shit, came after us but we were like 10-12 year olds and knew the place like the back of our hands -- the guy had no chance to catch us.

Good times...


Brian
 
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Banana

Banana

Diamond Member
Jun 3, 2001
3,132
23
81
Many years ago, I was doing minimum-wage data entry for a financial company. I found a glitch that enabled me to make text appear in another part of the software. Being Stupid Me, I made
some very crude remarks appear system-wide. Amazingly, I was not fired after confessing to the prank.
 
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olds

olds

Elite Member
Mar 3, 2000
50,122
778
126
Confused "Load" with "Line" on an apartments service panel while dripping wet from the pool and standing on a garden hose in a pool of water. Someone was looking out for me that day.
 
B

Brian Stirling

Diamond Member
Feb 7, 2010
3,964
2
0
oldsmoboat said:
Confused "Load" with "Line" on an apartments service panel while dripping wet from the pool and standing on a garden hose in a pool of water. Someone was looking out for me that day.
Click to expand...

You are lucky to be alive.

I've seen a horrifying safety video of a man electrocuted from 120VAC -- the video shows him unable to let go and shaking for many minutes. Maybe the most brutal thing I've ever seen. Do not fuck with electricity -- even 120VAC can end you life...


Brian
 
shortylickens

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,081
136
Joined the Navy.


Did me no good and probably some damage. Wish I could go back and rethink that decision.
 
John Connor

John Connor

Lifer
Nov 30, 2012
22,757
619
121
lxskllr said:
Physical...

Was working on an abandoned farm, and was checking out the barn. Saw a rope going up to the hayloft. It had two ends of rope going to the floor with a loop on one end, and through a pulley on the ceiling. I thought putting my foot in the loop, and hauling myself up with the other side seemed like a fun idea. I got about 3' off the floor, my foot in the loop went horizontal, and I fell, cracking my head on the concrete floor. I saw stars, and I'm lucky I didn't split my skull. Physics is funny that way :^(
Click to expand...


That hurts just reading that. Hitting your head sucks! I ran into an ibeam at a place I worked at once when I was walking and not looking a head of me. My forehead and nose hurt like hell. LOL!
 
shortylickens

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,081
136
I was actually referring to the beatings and that time they tried to stick a marlin spike up my ass.

But eventually Woodring got a bad conduct discharge for assault and my life slowly improved.
 
John Connor

John Connor

Lifer
Nov 30, 2012
22,757
619
121
Brian Stirling said:
You are lucky to be alive.

I've seen a horrifying safety video of a man electrocuted from 120VAC -- the video shows him unable to let go and shaking for many minutes. Maybe the most brutal thing I've ever seen. Do not fuck with electricity -- even a quarter of an amp can end you life...


Brian
Click to expand...


Fixed that for you.
 
John Connor

John Connor

Lifer
Nov 30, 2012
22,757
619
121
shortylickens said:
Joined the Navy.


Did me no good and probably some damage. Wish I could go back and rethink that decision.
Click to expand...


I almost joined the Navy. A lot of my room mates in Job Corp were all joing the Army and Navy and wanted me to come with so we'd be in basic together. This was before 9/11 mind you and my room mates were all saying, "come on! Not like there's going to be a war."

Well, my mom is happy I didn't join. Sometimes I wish I had. I was in JROTC and was always an Army brat type playing Army all the time, running around with my toy guns. And I had a SHIT ton! And wearing camouflage. In fact, as soon as I came home from school I'd change into my camouflage and patrol my neighborhood. Even created treaty's with other kids. LOL! I was pretty serious. So yeah, a military career for me should have been where I went. Now I'm too old (35), too fat and missing a damn disk in my lower back. FUCK! Perhaps when the SHTF I can work radio or radar.
 
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