Things I wish I hadn’t done....

[billwarwick]

There must be lots of these.
Here’s mine (today). After failing to start a motorcycle yesterday to attend an MoT test, I spent most of today pretending I knew what I was doing, trying to get it running. Eventually it started, so I was crouching on my haunches listening to the engine running for several minutes,nodding knowingly that I had fixed it. Being not as young as I once was, I looked around for something to grab hold of to pull myself up. Unfortunately I chose the exhaust pipe.....
So what do you wish you hadn’t done?

 

[steve_sordy]

Not rejected that fine young lady just because I didn't like her new haircut.
In my defence, I was young and immature.
For the prosecution, she was smoking hot and I still have the occasional dream about her.

 

[The Hodge]

Stuck my finger in proximity of the disc brake caliper a few years back while cleaning my T130..
Next thing I know there is a very sharp stinging pain ..lots of blood and part of my first finger on my right hand hanging off ..
Luckily my neighbour was in his garden heard my profanities and was able to drive me straight to the local surgery ..who then sent me straight to my local hospital ..who stitched the finger back together..a few more hospital trips ensued to check the healing / change dressings..and now a few years later its as near to normal as it is going to get ...slightly deformed and there is a bit of a "dead spot" ..but at least its intact ..?..or should that be ??

 

[#lazy]

Mass murder .....oops !

 

[Zimmerframe]

Mass murder .....oops !

Is that just a new cool way of saying "Dieting" ?

 

[Zimmerframe]

Probably a pilot during the Afghan/Iraq wars who feels guilty for dropping the hate when he’s completely safe....same danger as a drone pilot, just can’t hit pause and go take a leak.

I was thinking more ... "Mass" - murder - ie - removal of mass .. hence dieting ..

Rather than well... you know .. people dying ..

 

[smtkelly]

Picked a guy to build me a car, because the owner had a lot of presence (read bullshirter) on the car forum, marginally cheaper, had a modern website and closer than my other choice. Who did no advertising, website from the 80's, ironically faster to get to although further away and one lady on the forum who'd always publicly bash them.

Well that was a mistake, 12months of delays on a 9 month build and he delivered a deathtrap. He swore everything was fine but I knew it was a lemon. I took it to the other guys. Turns out they were legit professionals (like £20million in real historic race cars in the workshop). They didn't advertise because they had more than enough work. The owner took mine for a test drive came back and said we'll lend you a car to get home because you shouldn't be driving this.

It needed about £6k in engine work, new brakes being major faults, in a long laundry list totalling £20k. I phoned the 1st guy and told him I wanted £4k back and never to see him again. He stone walled me I called in the lawyers. He stone walled them over 3years ran up a huge legal bill past the point of no return. In the end I had enough and instructed the lawyers to go to court. With in a week he settled, he'd run up a £100k legal bill from us which he had to pay a percentage and agreed to pay £18k in repairs. In the end I got just over £5k back and took me about 5years.

During that time more than a few people PM'd me to say they had similar experiences with him. Just like me on the advice of the lawyers they never spoke up as the courts take a dim view on it. So publicly I say nothing about what a sharletton that guy was but I've steered as many people away as possible.

Moral of the story: don't automatically give your trust to 'forum experts' they might talk the talk but not walk the walk, take the good and the bad said on the forums with a pinch of salt (Like the lady who put me off, turns out her husband waved through work on her behalf and unbeknownst to them this was 'her project' and she was footing the bill) and sueing people is the most draining soul destroying thing. The world flicked back into colour the day my lawyer phone to say he's settled.

 

[billwarwick]

Wow! And I thought I had it bad, burning my hand on an exhaust pipe!

 

[Tim1023]

Picked a guy to build me a car, because the owner had a lot of presence (read bullshirter) on the car forum, marginally cheaper, had a modern website and closer than my other choice. Who did no advertising, website from the 80's, ironically faster to get to although further away and one lady on the forum who'd always publicly bash them.

Well that was a mistake, 12months of delays on a 9 month build and he delivered a deathtrap. He swore everything was fine but I knew it was a lemon. I took it to the other guys. Turns out they were legit professionals (like £20million in real historic race cars in the workshop). They didn't advertise because they had more than enough work. The owner took mine for a test drive came back and said we'll lend you a car to get home because you shouldn't be driving this.

It needed about £6k in engine work, new brakes being major faults, in a long laundry list totalling £20k. I phoned the 1st guy and told him I wanted £4k back and never to see him again. He stone walled me I called in the lawyers. He stone walled them over 3years ran up a huge legal bill past the point of no return. In the end I had enough and instructed the lawyers to go to court. With in a week he settled, he'd run up a £100k legal bill from us which he had to pay a percentage and agreed to pay £18k in repairs. In the end I got just over £5k back and took me about 5years.

During that time more than a few people PM'd me to say they had similar experiences with him. Just like me on the advice of the lawyers they never spoke up as the courts take a dim view on it. So publicly I say nothing about what a sharletton that guy was but I've steered as many people away as possible.

Moral of the story: don't automatically give your trust to 'forum experts' they might talk the talk but not walk the walk, take the good and the bad said on the forums with a pinch of salt (Like the lady who put me off, turns out her husband waved through work on her behalf and unbeknownst to them this was 'her project' and she was footing the bill) and sueing people is the most draining soul destroying thing. The world flicked back into colour the day my lawyer phone to say he's settled.

It can be difficult knowing which battles to pick, when to act on your principles and when to swallow your pride. Had a small family shop once. Someone ordered some made-to-measure furniture from us, then decided she didn't want it after all once it was ready. We found out that she had a reputation of doing that. Our solicitors said it would be sorted in the small claims court in just one sitting. A couple of years, two court cases (one going all the way to the Court of Appeals in London) and a ton of cash later, we figured swallowing our pride might have been the better option. Especially as her husband was a solicitor (since been struck off). One part of the case was even discussed in the Houses of Lords and Commons.

Long time ago now and we've moved on.

 

[smtkelly]

It can be difficult knowing which battles to pick, when to act on your principles and when to swallow your pride.
Long time ago now and we've moved on.

I think at the time small claims didn't cover the amount I wanted. Stubborn principle kicked in, quickly the legal fees piled on then even if I wanted to drop the case I was opening myself up to counter claims on costs. It was a run away game of legal chicken.

It was a hell of a good life lesson and saved me from far worse since. Everyone starts out as friends, hand shakes seem enough, I was lucky that I prefered to email everything. Now I make sure to have a contract, there's a binding mediator for large sums, everything in writing (I follow up phone calls with confirmation email of what was discussed).

Also don't feel too sorry for me that car/experience lead me to buying this car and many wonderful experiences

 

[Supratad]

Seriously? How many posts in and no-one has said “ Your mum.”
Disappointing.

 

[Zimmerframe]

Also don't feel too sorry for me that car/experience lead me to buying this car and many wonderful experiences

You'll be buying a Singer next ...

Personally, I prefer "Above Zero Ice Driving" It's far less common ...

 

[yorkshire89]

I always liked to have my tyre logo's lining up with my valves on the bike.
So I put my tyre on and its not quite lined up, but thought it's fine, I'll just slide the tyre along the rim.
Grabbed the wheel/rim with one hand and gave the tyre a good yank to move it, it slid but then caught all of a sudden, and pulled the wheel with it (with my little finger between the spokes).
Result was a broken metacarpel in my hand and 6 weeks off the bike.

I don't bother lining my logo's/valves up anymore! ?

 

[steve_sordy]

I always liked to have my tyre logo's lining up with my valves on the bike.
..................................

Yep, I did that perfectly on one tyre the valve was EXACTLY in the middle of the logo. But only on one side of the tyre!!
Why don't tyre manufacturers take more care, it's a machine process after all!

 

[MSH]

Get married.

Dude....

 

[MSH]

Not buying an ebike sooner. Being an ebike hater for no fcking reason.

 

[Rusty]

Buying a Levo Comp.

 

[iXi]

So many regrets... Too many to list. Fml

 

[Janc]

Probably a pilot during the Afghan/Iraq wars who feels guilty for dropping the hate when he’s completely safe....same danger as a drone pilot, just can’t hit pause and go take a leak.

I had that guy as the pilot during a balloon flight. He liked skimming the ground, crashing the basket through trees and dipping it in lakes. The landing was a hoot when he said we'd entered a restricted traffic control area and were above the maximum wind speed for a safe gentle landing. Thank goodness he rotated the basket so we weren't under the bottles while being dragged across some corn fields.... Forgot to ask him if he was an MTBer!

 

[OldBean]

Sold this

a very long time ago But kept the Bird ............We are all a bit rusty now!!!!!

 

[RustyMTB]

Selling a Porsche 911 Turbo just before they tripled in value

I had to sell it, I was going to end up in jail, or dead.
Then hitting a pheasant in it, at an unspeakable pace on the morning of the first viewing wasn't good either.

View attachment 46128

Grilled pheasant...

 

[GrandPaBrogan]

Well, now that Christmas is fast approaching... I am reminded of the time I bought my wife the "Iron" she always wanted. I had it gift wrapped as a surprise, and put it under the Christmas tree.

In my defence, we were newly married and I had misleading information swirling around in my stupid male head. You see, I was told that women 'drop hints' when they really want something... but won't directly come out and say it. We were in a mall and she said, "ooh that's a really nice iron... the one we have at home is really old and I hate using it." It never bothered me when I use it to press my shirts but hey, a hint is a hint. Unbeknownst to me at the time - this doesn't qualify as a hint. It was just a complaint. Stupid me, I thought to myself "aha THAT's what she wants!"

Imagine the scathing looks I got from her parents (we do Christmas at their place back then). She tried to defend me of course but nah... I was the Christmas donkey from that day on.

Anyway, determined to make up for my lost reputation, I enlisted the help of a female office mate about what could possibly be the antidote for this blunder. Jewellery she said! So we looked at a catalogue and she noticed I was looking at the cheap end of things. No, no, no... she said, it'll only work if it is EXahPhENaSIVE. Ouch, this is gonna hurt real bad! I very reluctantly succumbed to her wisdom.

Fast forward to the following Christmas morning at the opening of presents. I was so excited - this was going to be my day of redemption! The gold bracelet cost quite a bit... but... all I got was, "oh that's nice hon, now let's see what everyone else has got." ?

During breakfast I asked her, "don't you like it?" She said that she appreciated the effort but she felt that it's just a waste of money to buy fake jewellery. ???

She was so sure I was a cheapskate (after the last time)... that the bracelet couldn't possibly be real. ??

Just as well, I had in my possession the invoice and valuation papers from the jeweller. She looked at it, and looked at it again and raised her eyebrows... then BOOM! All of the sudden I'm the 'man' again and even got a wink of approval from my father in law, haha! ??

 

[steve_sordy]

@GrandPaBrogan I'm not into one-upmanship, but I really can go one better than your iron. My wife loves gardening and she was complaining one day about how hard it was to get the fallen leaves out from the plants without damaging the plants. Same again the next day. So with Xmas coming up I resolved to solve this problem for her. I spent hours researching solutions and then prowling the shops looking at leaf blowers and suckers. Money no object. I bought this combined blower and sucker and had it delivered to a mate's house. His wife loved the secrecy and had tipped off my wife that something big and probably expensive was being hidden at her place, but that she couldn't possibly say any more.

The big day came and to say that she was disappointed was an exaggeration. She hid it well from the kids, but I could tell. She never used it. I used it once or twice to show willing, but it's still in the garage - probably full of spiders by now.

Her mate was disgusted and said so to her husband and then I got the piss ripped out of me down the pub. Word spread and I got odd looks from other women, yet strangely sympathetic ones from their husbands.

 

[GrandPaBrogan]

Lol you guys are idiots...

I KNOW... right?

I mean who gives an iron on its own for a present?! I should’ve splashed out and got the ironing board as well! ?

Oh btw, where I’m from, it’s the women that give what their men want in a b... no wait... ??

 

[steve_sordy]

If I had given her a dick in a box, I would have been sprayed with Mace, rolled in glitter and thrown outside while she went upstairs, starched my underpants and cut all the buttons off my clothes!

 

[steve_sordy]

You will never know if you don’t try!!!!

My statement was based upon other things I have tried and suggestions made!

 

[RebornRider]

Unfortunately I chose the exhaust pipe.....
So what do you wish you hadn’t done?

I needed to push a metal barb fitting into a rigid nylon fuel line. I clamped the fitting in a ViceGrip plier (not sure about the UK translation!) and put the assembly in the Mrs' oven which was set to something above nylon softening temperature. A short time later I used an oven mitt in my right hand to remove the ViceGrip with the part and successfully slid/melted the fitting into the hose while holding the hose with my bare left hand.

Then I used both hands to release the ViceGrip...

 

[Nicho]

a ViceGrip plier (not sure about the UK translation!)

Mole Grips.

 

[MSH]

Mdr-p rotors (220 & 203), ASSEGAI tire, axs clamps, magura BAT-KIT

 

[Zimmerframe]

I bought this combined blower and sucker and had it delivered to a mate's house.

I think the problem was that you bought a cheap 1980's Asian device where they'd not quite got the translations sorted.

When she unpacked this large brightly coloured box with "Big Blow Job & Suck you all off" plastered on every side, she thought you'd purchased some dodgy marital aid version of Twister combined with Hungry hippos !!!