Stupid Things I Have Done

[orezok]

Not me, but my dad. When I was a kid he had ‘39 Plymouth. Something was wrong with the differential so he rebuilt it. When he reinstalled it, he put it in upside down. I think the pinion gear was centered on the ring gear unlike todays diffs. Any way when he went to try it out, he has 3 speeds in reverse and one forward. OOPS! He pulled it back out and turned it over but in his frustration he forgot to put the lube back in. Drove it a couple of miles before it froze up.

 

[oosik]

Put on my jacket, work boots, gloves and walk out to the tractor. Then I realize I forgot the keys.

 

[deserteagle71]

Put on my jacket, work boots, gloves and walk out to the tractor. Then I realize I forgot the keys.

LOL! Do that all the time. Same with the mailbox key - my mailbox is about a half mile from the house and I walk down every day to pick up my mail. And when I get there I realize the key is still back at the house.

 

[MoKelly]

LOL! Do that all the time. Same with the mailbox key - my mailbox is about a half mile from the house and I walk down every day to pick up my mail. And when I get there I realize the key is still back at the house.

That’s ok. Today I walk to the mailbox and right as I’m getting ready to open the box I remember —- what an idiot!

MoKelly

 

[jjeff]

Not tractor related but I was in Thailand on a CAT team once, the grateful locals made us meals hungry I grabbed a bottle I thought was soy sauce, poured it all over my rice dish, unfortunately it was rancid fermented fish sauce, locals loved it I did not.

 

[Alan46]

That’s ok. Today I walk to the mailbox and right as I’m getting ready to open the box I remember —- what an idiot!

MoKelly

You sound like a boomer! Like me☮️

 

[oosik]

Man- that mailbox round trip makes my tractor key boo-boo look like child's play. It's 100 feet - house to tractor. You guys must get mail in one of those "cluster mail box" arrangements. Homes out this way aren't close enough together for that kind of arrangement.

 

[oosik]

My reading glasses is another of my problems. I've learned - leave the house, be certain one pair of reading glasses are in my pocket.

 

[Creamer]

I read this thread this morning and had a few good laughs. Then went out to get my lawnmower where it stopped on me last evening - in kind of a difficult spot partially under a tree on pretty good slope. I fight the tree branches and get on it and try to start it and it just clicked like a safety switch wasn't made. I checked everything and tried again - still nothing. I tried checking a few of the safety switches and all appeared to be working. Frustrated - partially with the difficult area to work in - I got out my tractor and drug it back to level ground. There I got on it to try again and saw that since it had quit on me I had never turned the blades off. Flipped that switch and it started immediately.

 

[MoKelly]

I read this thread this morning and had a few good laughs. Then went out to get my lawnmower where it stopped on me last evening - in kind of a difficult spot partially under a tree on pretty good slope. I fight the tree branches and get on it and try to start it and it just clicked like a safety switch wasn't made. I checked everything and tried again - still nothing. I tried checking a few of the safety switches and all appeared to be working. Frustrated - partially with the difficult area to work in - I got out my tractor and drug it back to level ground. There I got on it to try again and saw that since it had quit on me I had never turned the blades off. Flipped that switch and it started immediately.

All’s well that ends without extra expense!

Funny how the brain works initially when things don’t work. Once calmed down and able to think, we tend to find the answer.

MoKelly

 

[deserteagle71]

Man- that mailbox round trip makes my tractor key boo-boo look like child's play. It's 100 feet - house to tractor. You guys must get mail in one of those "cluster mail box" arrangements. Homes out this way aren't close enough together for that kind of arrangement.

Yup. That's the ONLY type of mail delivery we have in northern Nevada - other than having a box in town (20 minute drive) and picking it up there. So cluster mail boxes - huge banks of them. I'm actually lucky to live a half mile from the mailbox - some of my neighbors have to drive two miles.

Far cry from Pennsylvania where I grew up on a farm. There, every farm had its own mailbox and the mailman delivered 6 days a week...in an old two-stroke SAAB no less. Real mosquito killer - big cloud of blue smoke wherever that car went.

 

[scaredychicken]

I have a physical disability effecting my balance. Winter snow and ice last November was a challenge. Usually I make adjustments to make things easier. On this occasion I thought that walking the ATV battery back to the charger was a smart thing to do. Failed to negotiate a snow covered hole / dip in the yard. I fell, battery hit my chin. It looked like a crime scene, 5 hours at Emergency, and 6 stitches later, I realized that I should have put the battery into a carry bucket. I could have avoided all of that.

I didn't dare to shave for two months, but with the covid mask requirements ... no one knew that I had beard growth. (chin has recovered). The new ATV battery was 3 months old, completely faulty, and has since been replaced under warranty.

 

[oosik]

DesertEagle71 - your Pennsylvania mail delivery is what we have here. It's a mile down my driveway to the mail box. Use to walk it every day - 26 minutes round trip. Now it takes too long to walk. It's a quick trip on my ATV.

 

[Creamer]

Growing up in South Dakota we had it like Pennsylvania. And when we mailed something to somebody else later on the route the carrier stamped the letter marking the postage stamp and delivered the letter the same day. Then of course the stopped that service back in the late 70's and insisted that all mail go to the central post office to get sorted and delivery to farther down the line was now three days. Somehow this makes sense to someone?

 

[MoKelly]

Growing up in South Dakota we had it like Pennsylvania. And when we mailed something to somebody else later on the route the carrier stamped the letter marking the postage stamp and delivered the letter the same day. Then of course the stopped that service back in the late 70's and insisted that all mail go to the central post office to get sorted and delivery to farther down the line was now three days. Somehow this makes sense to someone?

Only to bureaucrats.

MoKelly

 

[PILOON]

My reading glasses is another of my problems. I've learned - leave the house, be certain one pair of reading glasses are in my pocket.

Spectacles, Testacles, Wallet and watch!

 

[plowhog]

the central post office ... Somehow this makes sense to someone?

I had a USPS PO box for over 20 years. On the 15th of one month, they put an invoice for renewal in my box. I was away on a business trip. I returned and came to the post office on the 3rd of the next month. About 18 days after they put the invoice in my box.

I went to the window:

Me: "I want to renew my PO box."
Postal employee: "Your box has been closed. You didn't pay by the end of the month."
Me: "Can I renew it anyway?"
Postal employee: "No, it was closed. You have to apply for a new box."
Me: "Is my old PO box number still available?"
Postal employee: "Yes it has not been reassigned to anyone else."
Me: "Can I apply for a new box and just get the same box number?"
Postal employee: "No, the computer assigns box numbers. You have to take what it gives you. I have no control over the box number it gives you."
Me: "If I get a new box but mail comes in for the old box, what happens?"
Postal employee: "It will be returned to sender unless you put in a change of address. You should also notify everyone that sends mail to you of your new box number."
Me: "Can I have the mail that was in my box when it was closed?"
Postal employee: "Sorry, it was returned to sender. We don't store mail."

*&%&^$&*($^*%#$#$

 

[plowhog]

Regarding "stupid things," mine is carefully disconnecting a trailer from the coupler, unhooking the safety switch, removing the safety chains, then pulling away in my tow vehicle without removing the electrical plug ..... ahhhh.

 

[MoKelly]

Spectacles, Testacles, Wallet and watch!

No phone?

MoKelly

 

[dodge man]

Add me to the list. We wanted to add a smart thermostat so we could keep track of temperatures in our house when we are gone. Looked at them on the internet and it looked like any idiot could do it. $99 on Amazon. So last Saturday I wired it up, it didn’t work. Put the old thermostat on it was blank. It took about a day and a half but I finally found a blown automotive type fuse, replaced it and was up and running. The app for the thermostat was on my phone showed how the wiring should go and at that point I should have quit, I didn’t think it looked right.

I talked to the people that put out geo thermal in and it isn‘t an easy hook up for an off the shelf thermostat. I feel lucky I was able to fix it without a service call or needing a new board for the furnace.