Stupid Things I Have Done

[WinterDeere]

Problem I had with refurbishing an 1890s, horse drawn grader was the babbet bearings. That is a lost art. And the archeologists threw a hissy fit about converting to modern bearing axle assemblies.

Head over to owwm.org, lots of guys there still rebuilding machinery with babbit bearings, everyday. I used to own a whole shop full of babbit bearing machines, but now I have only two (planer and bandsaw).

 

[ultrarunner]

My dad born 1900 used to tell me how he used to “scrape” and fit babbit bearings. A lost art

The true definition of a skilled craft…

I’ve pulled shims to compensate for wear and used plastigage to measure clearance.

 

[gsganzer]

When my youngest daughter was in her early teens, she really wanted to see California. So, I used some of my airline and hotel points and booked us a trip. I was trying to make the trip fancy and memorable, so I was trying to book us first class. If anyone is an American Airlines frequent flier, then you know how much of a hassle it is to try to redeem points. I swear, they have an algorithm that tries to keep you from getting both the outbound and return with points. I was finally able to do it, but it meant we departed from Dallas Love Field and returned to Dallas-Ft Worth. Normally a hassle, but not a big deal for a special trip.

Anyway, some weeks or months pass and on the day of our "big trip" the daughter and I head to the airport. Yup, you guessed it, I went to the wrong airport. Fortunately, the ticket agent was able to get us a new flight from DFW, it just wasn't first class.

My daughter still reminds me of it.

 

[BravoXray]

Back in 1970 when I was a student at Purdue, I had not attended the physics class lectures all week, but decided to go, for some reason on Friday.
Walked in and sat down to be informed that today was the mid-semester exam. Took it cold and still got a 92%.

 

[1Mech]

And when things are hot riveted together, the rivet flows into the holes, and locks up the relation of the holes to each other. So, location and size of holes can be less precise than if you're designing and building with bolted connections.

Problem I had with refurbishing an 1890s, horse drawn grader was the babbet bearings. That is a lost art. And the archeologists threw a hissy fit about converting to modern bearing axle assemblies.

Back when I worked in a machine shop, job shop not production, we would pour babbit bearings every so often, then hand scrape them in. I always liked doing them in the winter, as the heat in the shop wasn't the best and the air conditioning was an open door and window. We would also hand scrape brass bearings in big punch presses. I learned a lot on that job!

 

[MossRoad]

Back in 1970 when I was a student at Purdue, I had not attended the physics class lectures all week, but decided to go, for some reason on Friday.
Walked in and sat down to be informed that today was the mid-semester exam. Took it cold and still got a 92%.

Way to absorb that information!!!

When I was in school, I'd tape record myself reading questions and answers. Then I'd play it back with an earphone while I slept on repeat. Worked great.

 

[masseyrider]

Back in 1970 when I was a student at Purdue, I had not attended the physics class lectures all week, but decided to go, for some reason on Friday.
Walked in and sat down to be informed that today was the mid-semester exam. Took it cold and still got a 92%.

Here in Ontario High Schools at the time we had grade 13 for people University bound.
I had a Chemistry class taught by a teacher I couldn't stand.
A friend of mine was also in that class and she would let me look at her notes and let me know when there were going to be tests.
I was in class at most once a week.
When I wrote the final exam I got 98%.
The teacher grudgingly passed me with a 90% final mark.
I should have failed for lack of attendance but the principal pushed it through.

 

[MossRoad]

Here in Ontario High Schools at the time we had grade 13 for people University bound.
I had a Chemistry class taught by a teacher I couldn't stand.
A friend of mine was also in that class and she would let me look at her notes and let me know when there were going to be tests.
I was in class at most once a week.
When I wrote the final exam I got 98%.
The teacher grudgingly passed me with a 90% final mark.
I should have failed for lack of attendance but the principal pushed it through.

One thing I've pondered over many times is the question of is it better to know all the answers or know where to find the all the answers?

 

[WinterDeere]

One thing I've pondered over many times is the question of is it better to know all the answers or know where to find the all the answers?

Is it better to have buried the bodies, or know where the bodies are buried? The latter, I suppose…

 

[ning]

One thing I've pondered over many times is the question of is it better to know all the answers or know where to find the all the answers?

You should know at least some of the answers, but overall knowledge of where to find all of the answers is more important in life, I've found.
Most work doesn't require instant recall - most of life is an open book test.
The most common things in your work & life of course you should have that knowledge right in mind.