What is the dumbest thing you've ever done?

[steeveshephord]

Hello everyone,

I'm not sure what the dumbest thing I've ever done is at the moment (there are too many choices Tongue), but I'll probably think of something soon....

[hls30.com]

I'll get it rolling.

The dumbest thing I have ever done-AKA my Darwinian Challenge:

Early in my Z experience I had a problem with the gas tank in my 1976 280Z 2+2.

I drained and dropped the tank, and forced air through it with a leaf blower, until bone dry. It still smelled like gasoline(petrol)so I sealed off all of the openings except the filler, put a hose on my water heater, and filled her up with hot water and the calcium deposits that form as boiler scale. I suspended the tank from two trees with ropes and proceeded to shake it up. I drained and refilled with more hot water(fewer deposits this time) and some Dawn dish washing soap. and shook her again. I repeated this until the water coming out had no color on it when draining(about ten times), and there was no gas smell. I filled the tank with hot water and caustic soda. and left it in the sun for two days, rotating it every time I thought about it.

I rinsed the tank, filling it with clean hot water eight times, and shaking it.

Then comes the dumbest thing-I tried to use a match to see into the tank.

I could not smell gas, no film in the rinse water, so I thought I was safe.

Well, the tank didn't care that there was no film, and no odor, the match sent a jet of the prettiest blue flame you ever say(complete with the chooooooosh sound) about two feet out of every opening in the tank-one of whic was about 10 inches from my right calf. I lost all of the hair on that side of my leg from my ankle up past my knee, and had a crusty covering about 16"x8" where skin once was. It hurt like only someone who has been burned can imagine. I ignored the pain, and as I was alone, I beelined it to the hose I had running a couple of feet away and rinsed everything down. I won't get too graphic in any of this, but I had a buddy who is a medic, and I called him and his response was either call an ambulance or head to the emergency room-In my young and dumb days I chose not to, but to take care of it myself-bad insurance in the early years-so I got a shower, covered it loosely and went to find some sulfadine cream. After the third pharmacy, success! I cleaned the burn three times a day, once in the morning-once on my lunch break, and once when I got off work. Work was the fun time-at home I had a shower wand, at work I had a sink. I'd scrub until I couldn't stand it, then coat it up with sulfadine, and cover it with gauze.

My buddy came to visit a couple of days later and told me the burns were too serious 3rd Degree) to deal with on my own, and urged me to go to the Hospital. Not me! I just kept up the treatment, nothing for pain, just keep it clean and covered during work, and clean and open at night. In a little over two months everything was looking much better. In Six months everything was better still but it was obvious something happened in that area, but the end of the year there was no evidence anything had ever happened there. My buddy the Medic still can't believe there is no scar, the hair came back, and the skin healed.

Someone was watching out for me, Darwin-and Murphy were obviously some where else!

Will

[Zs-ondabrain]

Short and simple. I actually LICKED my finger, before sticking it into a light bulb socket, to prove it had no power to the socket. I was wrong.

There's way more but we'll leave alone for now.

Dave

[geezer]

Not the dumbest thing I've ever done, but definitely on the list. I was changing the differential on my Mopar after successfully scrambling it while doing burnouts one afternoon, for no particular reason other than to see what would break first. Anyhow, there is an access hole in between the wheel studs allowing you to remove the axle retaining nuts with a socket and extention on a ratchet. For whatever reason that I can't explain, I stuck my finger into that access hole past the second knuckle and quickly realized it wasn't coming back out. There was a semi sharp edge on the backside of the hole that locked down and dug into the skin on my finger when I tried to remove it. There wasn't a nice chamfer like on the front. It could have been worse I guess because a friend came by to see how the job was going and after much laughter, verbal abuse and the confirmation of me being the jackass of the month, I did get a lift to the hospital. It was bleeding pretty good by the time I showed up in Emergency with the axle. The Triage nurse didn't think my condition was life threatening enough, so I sat in the waiting room for a few hours with the axle on my lap. It was somewhat embarassing and difficult to come up with creative answers after being asked a dozen times..."what happened to you?" Eventually, after waiting my turn and then soaking in ice water for a half hour and the use of some kind of lubrication and a flexible nylon sleeve inserted around my finger I was at last free, if not any wiser.

[angry_dave]

The dumbest thing I have ever done, well, I told the pilots the sheppards hook did not have a ground cable attached in a chinook helicopter before doing a sling load of a 155mm cannon. They said try it anyways. While retrieving the sling legs with the sheppards hook, it dawned on me that chinook helicopters make A LOT of static electricity. So when i touched the load with the pole, all of the static electricity that had been stored on the airframe immediately disharged via the stupid newby crew chief. The flash was so bright, the guys standing in the hanger 200 meters away came running because they thought something had failed and we where crashing. I could not move my arm for three days.

[Lazeum]

I'll get it rolling.

The dumbest thing I have ever done-AKA my Darwinian Challenge:

Early in my Z experience I had a problem with the gas tank in my 1976 280Z 2+2.

I drained and dropped the tank, (...)

I rinsed the tank, filling it with clean hot water eight times, and shaking it.

Then comes the dumbest thing-I tried to use a match to see into the tank.

It's funny I've done exactly the same thing like you did... Rinsed the tank so many time with water, soap, etc... and put a lighter inside to check if there was still gas inside :stupid: (the kind with long nose you use to lighten a fire) Luckily, nothing happens so I went with my torche to seal it with silver...

Only difference is that I filled the tank completely until no air could still exist inside.

My dumbest moment was when I coated the inside of my gas tank (after welding) with gas resitant paint floor.

I found out when I went out of gas on the highway because of clogged gas filter and gas lines.

Picture of the mess (this is a fourth of what I removed from the tank this day)

Not my story but the one from my friend with his Porsche 911 :

- He was usually pushing his car out of his garage with his foot on the bumper since his yard was having a slope. He had put a pile of sand to stop the car.

- One day, he cleaned up the yard but he did not change his habit with his 911.

- Sure enough, one day he pushed the car that started to roll over the slope with no more bump stop faster and faster, he then jumped into the car from the passenger side and pull the e-brake to stop it.

- there was a tree on the way, the door caught it and bent the door, the hinge and the front fender. The paint was 3 weeks old when it happened...