[Rupert]

I had this old TV, it was a big box, weighed at least a hundred pounds, but I don't watch much TV, and it worked just fine. About a month ago it must have died in its sleep.....I turned it on one morning to catch the weather and it was blank, I checked everything, power, cable box....yep, it was plumb dead! So heavy I had to get two young guys from up the street to put it in my truck to take to the local dumping yard.

I lingered around a week or so, didn't miss it much......Mrs Rupert has her own TV on the wall in our bedroom, so there was no hurry to replace it. When I finally got around to looking, I ended up buying a Vizio 47" Smart TV. (So far, it seems to be a hell of a lot smarter than I am....I may not live long enough to ever understand how it works?)

Anyhow, back to the "idiot part" you are looking for......I wanted to wall mount it and run all the wires in the wall so they wouldn't be hanging all over the place. I bought the best swivel wall mount on Amazon, and set out to mount it. Not a big deal ordinarily, but with my broken foot, everything turns into a big deal after a few minutes of exertion. I got the wall mount out of the box..it was heavy......looked it all over(key part of the story)...and began to measure on the wall, locate studs, drill, cut out for wall boxes to run wires hidden behind the TV etc. Took half a day.......not a quick as I used to be.
Mounted the wall mount, it was sturdy, in perfect alignment, ready to hang the TV! Looky Mrs Rupert! I got 'er done!
Went to mount the mounting hangers on the back of the TV......Hmmmmm, something looks strange here? Those little hooks at the top...where do they hang from? Well, you idiot, they hang on the plate you mounted flush to the wall, not the plate you have hanging out in the air! You got it backwards.......

I spent the next hour trying to get Mrs Rupert to go to the store, shopping, maybe a walk in the park, visit some friends? Nope, she was right there in the living room reading and wasn't going anywhere. Finally, I had to confess when she saw me taking it all down.
She didn't laugh too hard, sort of a choking little giggle........"Once again, you didn't even glance at the directions, did you? Like that time we were lost in Oklahoma, but you didn't need a map, and we ended up way off in Arkansas and almost never got back."

Did I feel like an idiot? Yep, of course I did, but I'm gonna feel better about myself when I read my K5 owner's manual. I've been putting it off for several years now, but I think it may be time I start paying attention to maps, manuals.....and Mrs Rupert!

As you see, I finally got it all up...now if I can only figure out how to operate this "Smart TV" !



If you want to confess, feel free to tell your story here.......if you are like me, you have more than one to tell!

Regards!

[MarkJerling]

LOL. Yes, the male's approach - If all else fails - read the manual. I'm exactly the same.

[Rupert]

LOL. Yes, the male's approach - If all else fails - read the manual. I'm exactly the same.

Wonder why we are like that? Do we think we are just so damn smart and talented that we don't need instructions?

COME ON GUYS! Tell your idiot stories here, so I can show Mrs Rupert that I am not the only male idiot around. Although, I think she already knows it...we have two sons just like me. My youngest son graduated from college...one of the best engineering colleges in America, with a degree in Engineering Technology. When his first son was born I bought him a bicycle( yeah, it was a little early for a newborn) My son's wife...with a HIgh School degree had to put it together for my new grandson. How could she do it when my son got it all wrong....she read the damn directions!

Tell your stories...we have plenty of space here, and you have plenty of time, time you saved by never reading that new camera manual!

Regards!

[normhead]

I hate thinking about those stories Rupeert, most of them are still way too painful.

[Clavius]

Yup... This story sounds just like most of my IKEA-adventures.

But putting the tiles in my backyard takes first prize though. Covering my whole backyard with 140m² of 1m² tiles... (I hate grass.) I did it for the first time and was really very proud and pleased with the end result. So straight, not a single one out of line. And then I realized I still needed to put some electric cabeling in the ground all accross the yard!!

And I can't even blame it on ignoring a manual. Beat that!

[kdf9511]

I'm a motorcycle rider and a few years ago I was in a hurry trying to get the bike ready for a run from Houston to N.Texas for a BBQ and get together with a bunch of friends. Well in my rush to get the bike ready I had to swap out a front tire. I got it mounted the day before the run and got up there and my buddies were checking out my bike and asked why I put it on backwards. What do you mean I got it on backwards. Turns out it was a directional tread pattern and had big arrows on the sidewall to indicate direction of rotation and sure enough I had gotten it on bass ackwards. I rode that thing for four years with that tire on there like that. Needless to say I have checked that little issue every time since.

[normhead]

I once told my 4th grade class I wanted to be an Actress.

The peels of laughter still hurt... they didn't have to start rolling around on the floor and wetting themselves and stuff... it wasn't that funny...
It was just a little mistake...

I once asked my mother what daunterly meant. "Oh say can you see by the daunterly light."

I once sold a boat and motor I'd bought second hand because I couldn't make it run right. I didn't know where the fuel shut off was. It would run then stall because it wasn't getting enough gas. Then run again. The guy who bought it from me opened the line and took off for a test drive... I thought..."darn."

Someone else post, I have to stop myself from thinking about this stuff.

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Last edited by normhead; 05-05-2014 at 10:03 AM.

[Rupert]

I once installed a water heater in a tight little compartment on the outside wall of a house. We had to lift it in there and were having no luck, when I asked my helper to get in the compartment and lift from the other end as I lifted from the bottom.........went right in! Unfortunately, my helper was stuck behind it with no way out. ( I bring him a sandwich ever few days!)

Yes Norm, there are too many of these stories to tell. We are not nearly as smart as we think we are. Fortunately, most of the time we catch ourselves without anyone else noticing that we are certified idiots......I tried hard to keep Mrs Rupert from seeing my mistake, but was unsuccessful. Now I will have to live out my days being reminded of it...along with all the others she has filed away in her "I married an idiot" file. They have memories like an elephant...they never forget!

Regards!

[manntax]

Anyhow, back to the "idiot part" you are looking for.....

Hilarious post ! Thanks for giving me a good laugh
--manntax

[Rupert]

Hilarious post ! Thanks for giving me a good laugh
--manntax

Manntax - Don't try to weasel out! You have a story to tell, we all do! Go ahead and tell it, we promise to keep it right here among ourselves!

Regards!

Come on guys....you'll feel better once you share your story....stories......let's hear them!

[manntax]

Manntax - Don't try to weasel out! You have a story to tell, we all do! Go ahead and tell it, we promise to keep it right here among ourselves! Regards! Come on guys....you'll feel better once you share your story....stories......let's hear them!

Yeah of course I do -we all do THAT IS why we love to read other's stories . . that gives us a bit better feeling about themselves and provides so needed excuses isn't it ?
I need to think about one too - my self-consciousness still holds up at this time of the day :P
--manntax

[dngr]

I'm a motorcycle rider and a few years ago I was in a hurry trying to get the bike ready for a run from Houston to N.Texas for a BBQ and get together with a bunch of friends. Well in my rush to get the bike ready I had to swap out a front tire. I got it mounted the day before the run and got up there and my buddies were checking out my bike and asked why I put it on backwards. What do you mean I got it on backwards. Turns out it was a directional tread pattern and had big arrows on the sidewall to indicate direction of rotation and sure enough I had gotten it on bass ackwards. I rode that thing for four years with that tire on there like that. Needless to say I have checked that little issue every time since.

I've done that twice now on my mountain bike.

Was up on the mountain with my bike one day. Blew the tube in the front tire, got a new tube in fine, nothing I haven't done before. It was only till I had the wheel back in the fork that I realized the rotational direction was backwards. Finished the ride like that, and changed it when I got home.

Now, I was up on the mountain again the other week, and put a sweet dent in my rear rim (pretty sure it only happened because I like to run my rear wheel tubeless and at 12psi). Again, it wasn't until I had the tube in and the tire mounted up that I realized that I had put the damn tire on backwards! Now, having the front reversed was no big deal, but I sure noticed how poorly my braking was with the rear reversed. Only flipped it around this weekend.

[ivanvernon]

I live in northern Ohio, and work in downtown Cleveland. I drove a Toyota Cressida at the time, and it had a nice electrically powered moon roof. After a snowy night, I brushed off the snow on the windshield and took off for work. On the way there, I decided to turn on the inside car lights, but pushed the button that opened the sunroof instead, dumping skads of snow all over me--dressed in suit and tie for work. It was such a shock, and I felt like a complete idiot. Instead of becoming angry, I burst out laughing at the sheer idiocy of the moment.

[Rupert]

Keep them coming.....Mrs Rupert needs to know I am not alone in my idiocy!

One from long ago......My Dad was a big man, mostly all muscle and at the same time, highly intelligent. He had three degrees, was a bird Colonel in the Army and was a nuclear weapons instructor. No dummy, and one of his degrees was in engineering. He like to work on an old Nash car he loved....'52 model, I think. Ugly thing it was, and we all made fun of it. It looked like a tank, and the neighborhood kids tagged my Dad with the name "Tank" because of it. He didn't mind, he loved that old car......

One day he was in the driveway working on the motor, maybe a tune-up...and he dropped some little part down in one of those dark places down in the engine compartment. If I recall, a tiny little screw. He had been trying to fish it out for a long time. He had a magnetic rod, but he screw was not magnetically attracted.....he had some wire...nothing worked. He became frustrated and got a little angry...or maybe a lot?
Anyhow, Ricky Brewer from next door heard him and came over to see what was the problem......."Hello Mr Tank, what's the trouble?" My Dad told Ricky, who replied..."Hand me that rod" Dammit Ricky, it's not magnetic, the rod is worthless. " Give it to me Mr Tank." Ok, here it is, but I told you it's worthless. Ricky took out a wad of chewing gum from his mouth,stuck it on the rod and promptly retrieved the screw, handed it to Mr Tank and walked away without saying a word. My Dad stood there with his mouth open...I can still see the look on
his face.....PRICELESS!

Regards!

[kdf9511]

I've done that twice now on my mountain bike.

Was up on the mountain with my bike one day. Blew the tube in the front tire, got a new tube in fine, nothing I haven't done before. It was only till I had the wheel back in the fork that I realized the rotational direction was backwards. Finished the ride like that, and changed it when I got home.

Now, I was up on the mountain again the other week, and put a sweet dent in my rear rim (pretty sure it only happened because I like to run my rear wheel tubeless and at 12psi). Again, it wasn't until I had the tube in and the tire mounted up that I realized that I had put the damn tire on backwards! Now, having the front reversed was no big deal, but I sure noticed how poorly my braking was with the rear reversed. Only flipped it around this weekend.

That's probably a lot easier to fix on a mountian bike that on a motorcycle.