dumb things we have done

Ya gotta include dumb fishing adventures: did wild world of sports show shark fishing in 80s, we were catching lots of fish and the film crew had lots of footage so capt said to me take producer out in inflatable boat and catch him a big blue shark.. so we hooked up a 200lb blue sjhark on 50 lb tackle, got in the boat , took 30 cal carbine and tail rope and off we went, just before we got out of earshot capt. Frank yelled to me teddy wave your cap if you have any problems....So I had the little outboard going in reverse the angler was in the front of the boat and the shark was towing us over the horizon,we got about half a mile away when we finally got shark up to side of boat at least to the point where the leader was at the tip of pole . I cranked off two shots to back of sharks head and he rols over dead.. easy enough. well he starts to sink so I grab a tail rope and pull up on the leader to get shark and tow him back to big boat. well up he comes dead and mouth wide open and neves make him clamp down on pontoon of boat followed by bubles and big hissing sound... well somehow I remenmbered to wave my cap and imediately here the diesel engine come to life and the cavary comes to our rescue...as the boat is sinking I yell to the angler to grab whatever is loose and hold on. By the time the boat got to us we were standing on submerged boat holding on to our shark, fishing pole rifle, gas tank, engine and whatever else...Boat was ruined
lessons learned it was fun but crazy , made some good footage and scared the crap oput of the film guys
Ted

I have done MANY dumb things but I will save those for later and tell you what my neighbor did last summer. He was thinking that his block chimney on the side of his house might be getting weak. The chimney is pretty tall exterior and goes about 8 feet up past the gutter line . His ladder takes him only to the roof so he gets up there with bare feet (he claims he gets better traction on the roof with bare feet) takes a big hammer and smacks one of the LOWER blocks . The block as he had thought was not in good shape and busted into pieces. The entire top of the chimney than crumbled down almost hitting him. I didn't see it happen , he told me the story when I questioned him why his chimney was laying in his driveway. At the time I am sure he did not think it was funny as it might have killed or seriously injured him but if you can picture the whole ordeal in your mind knowing he was ok than it is funny as heck.

Well, this one is not REALLY dumb, more of a learning experience. I'm shoveling a low-pitched roof to reduce the snow load. It is mostly done, and I'm standing and resting about halfway between peak and eaves. Sun has just gone down and a breeze has sprung up, and I realize that the little moisture left on the roof all around me has glazed over. I take a step, go down on my butt, and start sliding. I spread-eagle on my back and stop the slide just short of the edge. Lifting any part of my body out of roof contact threatens to start the slide again. To make a long scary story short, I kind of wriggled my way an inch at a time up to where I could grab the overhang from another roof and I'm saved, just like in the movies, everything ended OK.

My father in law drove tractor trailer and hauled flamabile liquids for Provan in Newburgh NY. He was always bringing a gallon of this or that home that he drained from the hoses at the end of the day. Some of this stuff made great paint brush cleaner but I never knew exactly what it was, he just would drop some off and say try this.

In those days I was burning wood in a top loaded down draft wood stove. One evening , little kindling and damp wood, I decided to add a some booster to get it burning. I smelled the stuff in the unmarked can Charlie had dropped off and thought it was kerosene BUT when I dropped in the match it burned like rocket fuel. This being a top loaded stove my head was over the opening when a 6 foot blue flame instantly shot toward the ceiling and just as suddenly went out. The next morning my wife (she was asleep during this caper) wanted to know why I had shaved off my mustach and eyebrows

I was discing my fields one fine spring and got a boulder caught in between two discs. Had a crowbar wedged inbetween the rock and a disc pulling with all my might and the crowbar sprung loose witha doing sound and hit me directly between the eyes. I came two with my 4 year old son saying " Dad,,, dad,,, why are taking a nap ? Are you tired dad?" Man it blacked both my eyes. Looked like rocky the racoon Scott

Almost as bad as the crowbar -- I had a heavy splitting maul stuck in a piece of yellow birch, very springy wood. I worked the maul handle up and down a fraction of an inch at a time trying to work it loose. Suddenly the crack in the log snapped back together shooting the head of the maul out due to the wedge shape. It came up about 18 inches and just barely ever-so-gently touched one of my front teeth. If I had been leaning even half an inch closer, it would have been off to the dentist for me.

Similar: my dad had a 12-inch maple snap off in a windstorm, but part of the trunk was still attached, it didn't break all the way through. He didn't realize it, but somehow the tree was balanced and the attached part was loaded like a bent bow, so when he cut it, it whipped up with tremendous force. Luckily he wasn't in the way, or it would have killed him for sure.

Pretty dumb thing someone else did:
"Hajji, of Hackney, east London, had concealed a $12,000 engagement ring inside a helium balloon. The idea was that she would pop the balloon as he popped the question. But as he left the shop, a gust of wind pulled the balloon from his hand and he watched the ring -- and quite possibly the affections of his girlfriend -- sailing away over the rooftops"


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080314/od_ ... rgCOIE1vAI

No explanation needed.

Wood'nCoal wrote:No explanation needed.

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John were you on it or did it drift away on you

coal berner wrote:

Wood'nCoal wrote:No explanation needed.

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John were you on it or did it drift away on you

I was on it. Obviously filling in the hole for a drywell (for rainwater--of course)
Hopped off just in time. That's what I get for rushing and not putting the rear tire weights back on first. Got a tad too close to the edge.......

John, that is a John Deere 316 riding mower, NOT a John Deere 350 or 450 Dozer !!

Greg L

Still working on coming up with something dumb I've done....(You know, so that I can try to fit in with you lower order folks) Almost an impossible task!

Ah!!!......here's one: (LOL---Oh...This is rich!)

My good friend Albert Eistein once asked me to kinda check the math computations he had performed in one of his silly "theories." To "Humor" him, I was just about to do that when I realized that I had failed to replace the dead batteries in my calculator!!
(It's embarrasing to admit now, but I have to realizde that I am (mainly) human.)

LsFarm wrote:John, that is a John Deere 316 riding mower, NOT a John Deere 350 or 450 Dozer !!

Greg L

Excuse me sir....I beg to differ. It is not a lowly "riding mower". It is, in fact, a John Deere 316 Garden Tractor. They were available with a full range of attachments such as: front blade, front snow thrower, 50" 3 blade deck (all of which I have), real rototiller run off the PTO, cab for foul weather use, tow-behind power grass bagger, probably other rear attachments for the 3-point hitch. It has a 2 cyl. Onan engine and hydrostatic drive. Hardly a "riding mower"!!

The only option missing was a device to prevent idiots like me from driving it into a hole in the ground.

OK, lets see the pecking order:
Lawn mower
Garden Tractor
Compact Utility Tractor
Farm Tractor

Industrial earthmoving equipment..

Sorry, I upset your 316, go give it a pat on the hood for me

Greg L

LsFarm wrote:OK, lets see the pecking order:
Lawn mower
Garden Tractor
Compact Utility Tractor
Farm Tractor

Industrial earthmoving equipment..

Sorry, I upset your 316, go give it a pat on the hood for me

Greg L

No problem Greg, it's done more then it's share of hard work around here. I do need something larger with a small excavating bucket on it.