Stupid Things I Have Done

[Gem99ultra]

Back in the day when I was super smart and thought I was a top notice MOPAR mechanic I decided to swap out my 440cid motor for a 383cid motor. That was to fit into a certain class at the drag races.
Popped out that 440cid in no time and dropped in the 383cid. But - disaster... the 383 wouldn't start. After checking and rechecking everything at least a hundred times over a 6 month period of time, and burning up 3 rebuilt starters, I finally succumbed to reading the Shop Manual.
Surprise - the 383, although it looks pretty much identical to the 440, has a reverse firing order.
Switched the plug wires around and viola! It purred like a kitten.
Lesson Learned: RTFM (Read the F****** Manual!)

 

[KubotaToy]

one day I bought a really cool Vintage Miners Kit in a leather pouch. I paid $15 at a garage sale. Kept it for a few years, packed it when we moved.

In our new location, we started going to Antique places in the area. I brought my item in on about the 5th trip out (1 hr away). I left it for Appraisal.

Called back the next week. No Answer. Drove by, when we were next in the area. The acreage, buildings etc that had been full, were EMPTY - they had closed down and moved. Uggh, I still regret leaving it with my new friend.

Had a similar thing happen recently with a new startup small business that did heavy advertising in the local area for small engine service. Thought I would throw them some work, took a couple of mowers in for service. They looked legit and had about 50 sitting around their shed and seemed to be working on them. Said it would be a few weeks to get to them, I was ok with that. Two weeks later, I drove by the location, nothing there, everything gone including the shed and mailbox. Turned in theft report to the police, was called a few weeks later by an investigator, told me this has happened a few times in the local area. He said after a few times they move on to another rural area. I asked what in the heck they do with all the mowers and equipment, he said they pawn or take them to auctions. Cannot be much money in that but I guess enough for them to do it.

Lesson here, don't trust everybody...

 

[beowulf]

I may have posted this on a similar thread here years ago, but it bears repeating.

My advice: If you are interested in having an auger with a nice bend in it, you will need to auger in about three feet deep and then pull forward with the tractor without first pulling out the auger. That will give you a nice curved auger which, if you leave it laying around afterwards, is a nice conversation starter. And if you really want this to work more efficiently, do it in the Summer when the ground is really hard - makes bending it easier.

 

[Frankenkubota]

I had a 1982 corvette. Battery was just like any other car.

Maybe they changed in in 1984.

MoKelly

they did

the 84 they said was a bone cruncher

 

[oosik]

Gone to sleep in my recliner with a wad of Copenhagen still in my mouth. Swallowed the entire wad. Thank God, I have a large bottle of Pepto.

 

[BleedingOrange]

Friend of mine had a Corvette, a 1984 I believe; he said he had to remove a fender to put in a new battery...took him half a day.

I have a 1990 Corvette, same body style as a 1984. For starters, they have a flip up front.
There is one small panel that takes 5 minutes to remove, that gives you access to replace the battery.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

I have a 1990 Corvette, same body style as a 1984. For starters, they have a flip up front.
There is one small panel that takes 5 minutes to remove, that gives you access to replace the battery.

It's possible he exaggerated. He bought that car in an estate sale; low mileage, and lost his rear when he sold it. Seems no one wanted an '84 Vette.

 

[Doofy]

Gone to sleep in my recliner with a wad of Copenhagen still in my mouth. Swallowed the entire wad. Thank God, I have a large bottle of Pepto.

Been There, Done That! Thoroughly enjoyed Skoal and Copenhagen with an occasional dip of Garretts snuff to change things up a bit. Finally had to give it up when I realized it had become a 24 hour-a-day habit. I had even stopped spitting (didn't want to waste any). $7 a can didn't help much either when I was going thru a couple cans a day. Been over 10 years and I still crave it. At least you had Pepto!

 

[k0ua]

You guys that have swallowed your chew really "grosses" me out. Yuck. But I guess on the bright side, you have now been de-wormed.

 

[oosik]

So you've had a bout with the "chew" also, Doofy. I smoked in the 70's - unfiltered Camels. Then the vending machine price jumped to $0.55 per pack. I just dead smack quit. Never gone back.

Now here comes Copenhagen. Started about ten years ago. Quit three time since I started. The nicotine craving in chewing tobacco is SO MUCH greater than in smokes. It just damn near drives me crazy.

It's been suggested that I fill my Copenhagen tin with dry meadow muffins. Farmer told me that is a sure cure. I should hope so.

 

[Doofy]

Oosik,
A bunch of us locals worked at an antimony mine about 50 miles up the Tok River back in the winter of '71. They worked us hard and fed us little and most of us started chewing to lessen our appetites. Started out with Beechnut, graduated to RedMan and then on to Skoal and Copenhagen. The sissy chews didn't have enough nicotine to calm the addiction.

I stopped chewing when the wife quit smoking 10 or so years ago. I'm surprised I didn't od on all the nicotine patches, gum and lozenges it took to quit. Thank God they finally started passing them out for free.

My only vices now are good food and binging on TBN!

 

[Fuddy1952]

So you've had a bout with the "chew" also, Doofy. I smoked in the 70's - unfiltered Camels. Then the vending machine price jumped to $0.55 per pack. I just dead smack quit. Never gone back.

Now here comes Copenhagen. Started about ten years ago. Quit three time since I started. The nicotine craving in chewing tobacco is SO MUCH greater than in smokes. It just damn near drives me crazy.

It's been suggested that I fill my Copenhagen tin with dry meadow muffins. Farmer told me that is a sure cure. I should hope so.

Chew is amazing. Mine was loose leaf Red Man then switched to Levi Garrett. It started just when mowing then about a pouch a day, especially since my friend & neighbor used Copenhagen. I asked my dentist about it and he pulled a pouch of Levi out of his pocket saying you mean like this?
Nicotine is amazing, calms you down plus is an energy booster. But then I quit 25 years ago. I went to bed shivering like I had the flu.
Never touched it since. It's highly addictive.
One Grandad (physician) didn't even drink a soda, passed at 85. Other one drank, bad diet, smoked cigars then chewed the cigar butt with chew...lived well into 90s. Genes it must be.

 

[Doofy]

Only cigarettes that I ever tried and enjoyed were Half & Half that used pipe tobacco. They totally disappeared about the time I decided to keep smoking them.

 

[BravoXray]

We had a mechanic/operator working at our family construction company back in the '70s that chewed Red Man, all the time. The driver's door on his company pickup always had spit stains running down it. Looked really gross, and dad finally told him that either he quit chewing in the company truck, or buy the truck. He bought it.
Years later when we moved out of the building and were pulling benches and equipment out from the wall to load up and move, there was probably half a bushel basket of tobacco wads behind them where he had thrown them rather than throw them in the trash. Luckily he wasn't still working for us then, or dad would have canned him on the spot.

 

[airbiscuit]

I had a friend who was an electrical lineman. He was always sloppy, and always had snoose on his clothes. We asked him why he chewed snoose. He said when he was on the pole, if the snoose leaked out of the right side of his mouth, the the pole was leaning to the right. If the snoose leaked out of the left side of his mouth, the the pole was leaning to the left. If the snoose leaked out of the both sides of his mouth, the the pole was level.

 

[airbiscuit]

Two guys are sitting in a bar. One guy orders another beer, but has run out of money. The bartender says he will give him a beer if he takes a sip out of the spitoon. The guy walks over to the spitoon and DRINKS THE WHOLE THING! The other guy said "He said just take a sip, why did you drink the hole thing?" The poor victim says "I had to - it was all one gob."

 

[scaredychicken]

So - this is an interesting question.

At the farm we are pretty isolated and I need to go places you cannot see or hear from the house. Mowing, bush hogging, cutting up limbs, all the usual stuff. Often, I’m at the farm by myself.

My wife and kids INSIST I take the phone. What if I get hurt? Just a bunch of what if’s? It could be critical to be able to call for help.

Also, my wife says, what if she or one of the kids gets hurt? Don’t I want to know ASAP v. 5-8 hours later when I get back to the house or barn? How would I feel if after 5 hours of working around at the farm I get back and my son has a message she was in a car accident?

I’d prefer NOT to have the phone simply because I’ve “lost” it several times. It’s a pain to go looking for the thing.

But, I see their points. So, I take the phone. It can be made so it only rings for their calls. Other calls don’t make a peep. Only issue is not to lose it!

MoKelly

TAKE THE PHONE - a couple of years ago a good friend's tractor rolled and pinned him for about 8 hrs on the side of the driveway. He was not able to reach his phone (in his pocket) but managed to yell loud enough that a passing motorist stopped and 911 was called. Miraculously, my friend survived that horrific experience. He gave this testimony at a Men's Breakfast a few months later.

 

[scaredychicken]

airbiscuit - WHAT IS THE OPPOSITE OF "GOOD POST" ? That was disgusting, and I'm grossed out but still laughing.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Oosik,
A bunch of us locals worked at an antimony mine about 50 miles up the Tok River back in the winter of '71. They worked us hard and fed us little and most of us started chewing to lessen our appetites. Started out with Beechnut, graduated to RedMan and then on to Skoal and Copenhagen. The sissy chews didn't have enough nicotine to calm the addiction.

I stopped chewing when the wife quit smoking 10 or so years ago. I'm surprised I didn't od on all the nicotine patches, gum and lozenges it took to quit. Thank God they finally started passing them out for free.

My only vices now are good food and binging on TBN!

I don't know about Antimony mining, but the company I used to work for had Uranium mines, among other things. I smoked at the time, and I had to give up smoking the night before or they wouldn't let me go down into the mine. Seems that the combination of Radon gas in the mine and cigarette smoking was almost a 100% guarantee of lung cancer...so consequently, the miners...you guessed it...all chewed!

I also thought it was odd; there was a drive-in store about a quarter mile from the mine, where you could drive up to the window and buy beer. Needless to say, they were lined up for half a mile at quitting time!

 

[Quebecguy]

Guess how I learned that a string trimmer can send a pebble flying fast enough to shatter the rear window of a pick-up truck.