What Stupid Stuff Have You Done That Really Burns You Up?

[windshieldbug]

I recently bought an "as-is" car from a transmission shop ("mechanic's lien). They completely rebuilt the transmission, so I figured, at least, I wouldn't have to worry about the transmission...

bloke "The transmission tore up after a couple of weeks."

P.S. Can I Simi-Chrome polish my way out of THIS ****-hole?

But, was the transmission "Teacher Approved"!?

[TubaRay]

But, was the transmission "Teacher Approved"!?

LOL

[davet]

1st stupid thing: I drove my 1981 HMV Freeway with the parking brake on and boiled the rear brake (which had less than 50 miles on it). My excuse is that when the lever is pulled UP the brake is OFF, the reverse of what one expects.

2nd stupid thing: When repairing the wheel cylinder, the boots were obviously torn but the seals looked good, so I only replaced the boots. (What was I thinking?)

3rd stupid thing: Installed the parking brake into the shoes backward, resulting in 90% tear down to change it.

4th stupid thing: Ready to air up the tire: no valve! I had put the wheel on backwards resulting in a 50% tear down to reverse it.

Of course, when I went to bed that night I realized that it couldn't have been the boots leaking- had to have been the seals, so another tear down would be necessary the next day.

Results: I have decreased the rear tear down time from an initial 3 hours to about 45 minutes!

If you want to know what a Freeway is and don't mind the pop up ads, look here: http://davetibbets.freehosting.net/

[windshieldbug]

I've driven into the side of a mountain at 170+ mph (best I can figure).

But the good part is, I don't remember any of it!
(Or the previous week, or the previous year, or... )

[sc_curtis]

1st stupid thing: I drove my 1981 HMV Freeway with the parking brake on and boiled the rear brake (which had less than 50 miles on it). My excuse is that when the lever is pulled UP the brake is OFF, the reverse of what one expects.

2nd stupid thing: When repairing the wheel cylinder, the boots were obviously torn but the seals looked good, so I only replaced the boots. (What was I thinking?)

3rd stupid thing: Installed the parking brake into the shoes backward, resulting in 90% tear down to change it.

4th stupid thing: Ready to air up the tire: no valve! I had put the wheel on backwards resulting in a 50% tear down to reverse it.

Of course, when I went to bed that night I realized that it couldn't have been the boots leaking- had to have been the seals, so another tear down would be necessary the next day.

Results: I have decreased the rear tear down time from an initial 3 hours to about 45 minutes!

If you want to know what a Freeway is and don't mind the pop up ads, look here: http://davetibbets.freehosting.net/

Thanks for sharing! That is something I've never even heard of before, but it looks very interesting!

How's the gas mileage?

[davet]

How's the gas mileage?

I haven't measured the mileage. It was designed to get 100 mpg @ 40 mph with a top speed of 70. However, the 12 horse Tecumseh is 26 years old, so I doubt I'm anywhere near 100 mpg.

Remember the gas crunch of the early 70's? By the time this got into production in '79 gas was cheap again, so the company went bust in '82 after making fewer than 800 of these. As far as I can find out, there are around 100 still on the road.

[Dan Schultz]

My first marriage was a very good reason to be p**sed off!

[iiipopes]

Sean doesn't have enough bandwidth for me to really post everything.

[windshieldbug]

I am the walrus.

Coo coo, ca-choo!

[TMurphy]

I thought you would respond by saying "Shut up Greg, You're out of your element!"

No, Greg, this pachyderm is a nihilist; there's nothing to be afraid of.

Nihilist??? Say what you want about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it was an ethos....

[Jeffrey Hicks]

How about getting private lessons with Fred Marzan when you are a teenager. Then because you are a jackass at 14 you mouth off to another student of his how you dont like him. So then you are dumped by him as a student cutting yourself off from the only decent teacher available to you? Yeah i did it and it is why I still cannot play Air and Bouree twenty years later.

[LoyalTubist]

I studied with Gene (Pokorny) before he transferred from the University of Redlands to the University of Southern California. I don't regret it. I was only 13.

I auditioned for a major symphony job overseas, got the position, and turned it down because I didn't want to miss my comprehensive exam in grad school. Even though I got a 99% on the gradeless exam, I will always regret not going through with it. A few years before that, I auditioned for the band at West Point when I was in the Army and turned it down because my then wife didn't want me in the Army anymore. That was stupid.

[LoyalTubist]

Oh, about some of the things said about professional tuba players in this thread:

In 1975, the "First National Tuba-Euphonium Symposium-Workshop" was held at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana (mostly in Urbana.) I was 17 years old and it was my first lengthy trip away from my home in Southern California. My dad was an employee of the Santa Fe Railroad, so I used his employee pass to ride the Amtrak train from San Bernardino to Chicago for free, then half-fare from Chicago to Champaign.

It was all such a big thrill for me. I heard a lot of things said by some of the "older" people about certain players, but I thought everyone offered something worthwhile. The only low point of the conference was when a tuba dealer (one who is no longer alive) tried to "sell" me a tuba in the manufacturers' exhibit. Most everyone there knew I was only 17 and not interested in buying anything, except maybe a couple of T-shirts, a bumper sticker, and some sheet music. Mike Zucek of Mirafone in L.A. was in the booth adjacent to his and gave the man some choice words, which he ignored. There were actually people afterwards who said they were ashamed to have purchased one of his tubas afterwards. Bart Cummings was selling tubas then, too, and also helped me out.

I think most of the bad stuff people say about tuba players comes from unfounded rumors. I would hate to think of the tuba world as being anything akin to the lifestyle of Hollywood movie stars. Look, we have enough competition when it comes to auditioning for a job. It should be a friendly rivalry. (Be nice to your competitors and pray to God you get the gig!) And being weird is just a matter of course.

[MaryAnn]

Well, a few years ago when gold was still around $400 an ounce a friend of mine told me to put all my savings into gold because before too much more time elapsed the dollar was going to collapse and not be worth the paper it is printed on. Looks like it's coming to pass, and I didn't buy gold.

MA

[tubatooter1940]

We bolted our home-made cannon to the boat seat. When we fired our cannon (filled with home-made gun powder and a handful of nuts and bolts) the recoil broke our boat in half.
Other from that.. "Regrets, I've had a few, but then again, too few to mention."

[LoyalTubist]

We bolted our home-made cannon to the boat seat. When we fired our cannon (filled with home-made gun powder and a handful of nuts and bolts) the recoil broke our boat in half.

But seriously, no part of that is NOT cool!

"Is everyone OK?"

[tubatooter1940]

Everyone was fine. The slog back thrugh 3/4 mile of swamp was a pain but we survived.
That old wooden skiff may have been rotten but it was paid for and all we had.

[windshieldbug]

I never did get up the nerve to ask for her phone number…

Not to worry. Not only could she not play the horn, but she ended up being a dumpy, fat, stay-at-home mom for a sax player that was know only for often repeating, "Close enough for jazz!"

[windshieldbug]

What Stupid Stuff Have You Done That Really Burns You Up?

Yeah. I started on the trumpet!