BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....

Subject: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: gnu
Date: 22 Jul 10 - 06:00 PM

Vertical blinds in my bedroom.

They never wear out. Easily cleaned. Inexpensive. They look nice.

The f****** things rattle in the wind and wake me up. And they don't keep the sun out early in the morning in early summer so after a night of disturbed sleep I am THOROUGHLY pissed when the crack of dawn crawls up the crack of

And casement windows. Catch the breeze and funnel it in the house. Great stuff. Until you get to middle age and want air conditioning and find out ya gotta take out the lite to install a window AC for the summer and then reinstall it when fall arrives. Now, I bought this house with the present casement windows, but that was the gist of the casment windows.... sounds like a good idea, but crap, really.

Anybody got a "good idea at the time" to share?

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: open mike
Date: 22 Jul 10 - 06:45 PM

famous last words "here,hold my beer,and watch this......."

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: katlaughing
Date: 22 Jul 10 - 06:49 PM

ya gotta take out the lite to install a window AC the "lite?"

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 22 Jul 10 - 07:01 PM

Yeah, anything labeled as "lite", I wanna take out!

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: Don Firth
Date: 22 Jul 10 - 07:12 PM

Yeah.

How many times have the words, "Hey! Watch this!" been the overture to a trip to the nearest emergency room?

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: gnu
Date: 22 Jul 10 - 07:53 PM

kat... "lite" is the portion of a window which consists of the pane and its frame.

In a casement window, the "operable lite" is the unit that can be "cranked" apart from the jambs and sills.

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: gnu
Date: 22 Jul 10 - 07:56 PM

Oh... as opposed to a "fixed lite", which cannot be opened to allow air flow.

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: Gurney
Date: 22 Jul 10 - 09:54 PM

Another good idea. Well, at the time it seemed so.

I was breaking up an old piano. Nobody wanted the iron frame, and the strings were too tough to cut, so I decided to break the frame with one heavy blow from a sledge-hammer.

Dont do it! It didn't break, and it was two days before my hearing came right.
An unstructured chord on an 88-string guitar.

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: Midchuck
Date: 22 Jul 10 - 09:57 PM

How many times have the words, "Hey! Watch this!" been the overture to a trip to the nearest emergency room?

Those were the times the speaker was lucky.

Peter

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: frogprince
Date: 22 Jul 10 - 11:02 PM

"Lite", huh? sounds like that might be Canuckese for "window sash".
The scissors jack for my old Toyota Carolla had a big old screw with threads that looked just like vise threads. Plenty strong enough to hold up a corner of the car while I worked on the strut a bit. Just at the second I slid out from under there, the threads totally peeled like butter. It took a lot longer for me to stop shaking than it took the car to come down. I got away with only an honorary Darwin Award that time.

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: Janie
Date: 22 Jul 10 - 11:12 PM

Afraid I have had waaaay to many of them....

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: GUEST,anon - on purpose
Date: 22 Jul 10 - 11:26 PM

First marriage.

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 22 Jul 10 - 11:58 PM

My first marriage, which ended only with her death 3 years ago, was a ½-century delight; so sometimes one lucks out & the idea at the time was a good one after all.

Glad to say my second one is shaping up just fine...

~Michael~

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: Ebbie
Date: 23 Jul 10 - 02:25 AM

lol, Gurney

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: gnu
Date: 23 Jul 10 - 05:39 AM

Ditto that Ebbie... I can just picture it. Hehehee.

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: gnu
Date: 23 Jul 10 - 05:46 AM

froggy

In insulated glass production, the term "lite", or "light", refers to a glass pane, several of which may be used to construct the final window product. (Answers.com)

"Lite" is a commom architectural and engineering term. I have never heard the term "light" used for this purpose.

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 23 Jul 10 - 08:59 AM

I've never heard "lite" used in place of "light" for a window pane.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: gnu
Date: 23 Jul 10 - 10:00 AM

I've seen the lite.

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 23 Jul 10 - 10:18 AM

Washerless faucets.

They may seem like a good idea to a plumber, but it's too hard to get water which is neither boiling hot nor ice cold.

And why does the shower control have to operate differently in every hotel I go to?

I was once having a shower at a motel, when the cold water suddenly stopped, and I found myself in a cascade of dangerously hot water. It was in a tub, so I fled to the far end and cried for help. Fortunately, my husband was with me, so he came in and turned it off. (I hate to think what would have happened if I'd been alone.)

I mentioned it to the desk clerk later, and he said, "A little piece of lime must've got in the control. We'll look at it."

What kind of system is it where 'a little piece of lime' leads to scalding a person?

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Jul 10 - 01:10 PM

Pale beige wall-to-wall carpeting -- need I say more?

It was less expensive than hardwood flooring, especially on the stairs, and it looked so soft and elegant. But one of the cats did not take the move well, and tended to piss on it. And of course we live in a country with real, honest-to-God winter, which comes with muck, so filth got tracked on it. And then, over time, we noticed that dust accumulated in it, much to the detriment of my creaky asthmatic lungs.

So, six years after moving into the house, we had to get the inevitable hardwood floor installed anyway. By then, the task involved unloading the contents from 12 stuffed floor-to-ceiling bookcases, not to speak of all the other furniture in the house. If we'd had it done in the first place, the house would have been built like that.

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: frogprince
Date: 23 Jul 10 - 06:11 PM

You could have done worse than the pale beige. I worked in a family shoe store, in a wealthy area, and we had some fairly bright colored suede sneakers in sizes for fairly small rug rats. A young mother came in to complain that the sneakers stained her new snow white carpeting; we're talking about someone with a couple of little kids who was apt to hatch more of the little critters. A number of experiences there led me to believe that too much money can actually cause brain damage.

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: Ed T
Date: 23 Jul 10 - 06:15 PM

Applying "canned insulation foam" without gloves....and Gorilla glue also. It gets all over your hands, is almost impossible to remove and stays there fopr a few days....more importantly, the glue on your hands interferes with good sex....as I interpret it, (alone or with a partner...who does not enjoy the glue-hand maneuver) :).

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: Ed T
Date: 23 Jul 10 - 06:17 PM

Cross thread idea:
Jello, during sex.

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: Gurney
Date: 23 Jul 10 - 07:43 PM

Leeneia, the kind of plumbing that MIGHT do that is the kind with a 'tempering' valve. There, the water temp. is set very hot for the dishwasher and washing machine, and then 'tempered' with cold water for the shower and taps/faucets.

I'd have to ask some plumber mates, though.

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: Ed T
Date: 23 Jul 10 - 08:19 PM

Seemed like a good idea at the time....sex on the beach.
Problem....sand gets into everything.

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: Ed T
Date: 23 Jul 10 - 08:24 PM

This could be one of them in the future....are "gents" only interested in the articles?

http://www.examiner.com/x-38149-Celebrity-Headlines-Examiner~y2010m7d23-Hugh-Hefner-going-PG-Playboycom-adopts-new-officefriendl

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: Janie
Date: 23 Jul 10 - 10:06 PM

Posted a comment to a CNN article last night. Something I have never done before. Got an e-mail with a choice to subscribe to get e-mails when other responses were posted. Misunderstood and thought it would simply be notificiations if some one responded to my particular post. Thought there would perhaps be 2 or 3 and interesting to read.   When I opened my e-mail this morning, there were almost 200 "notification" e-mails from CNN, one for each comment posted regarding the article after mine!

Good thing I quickly found the "one click" unsubscribe link!

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: Melissa
Date: 23 Jul 10 - 10:22 PM

I had a freshly sharpened chain and some pieces of wood in the basement that were too long to fit in the furnace. Late in the night, I decided it would be a good idea to cut a few of them and save myself having to get fully/warmly dressed next morning and cutting outside.

Pulling a chainsaw is NOT a good idea without appropriately restrictive undergarments.

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: LadyJean
Date: 24 Jul 10 - 12:31 AM

I found the car of my dreams on ebay, but didn't know that five speeds means a stick shift. I'd never driven a stick shift before. I will never drive one again. Taking that *&^%$#!!! car up the hill in front of my house and blowing the clutch convinced me of that.

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 24 Jul 10 - 12:53 AM

Over here in UK many people still claim to prefer driving stick-shift cars. I had to hire a car while some repairs being done to mine a year or two back & could only get a stick-shift ~ it was like learning to drive all over again. I always say to such people that I would as soon light my house with candles.

~Michael~

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: Mo the caller
Date: 24 Jul 10 - 04:33 AM

Is the 'light' / 'lite' thing a UK / US difference. I've always thought of it as 'light' (UK), but I'm not sure I've seen it written

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: Tangledwood
Date: 24 Jul 10 - 04:51 AM

You could be rite Mo.

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: Ebbie
Date: 24 Jul 10 - 12:23 PM

Yesterday it seemed like a good idea to tack onto an existing thread a Paul Krugman article that I think is important. I doubt anyone re-opened that old thread, so here is the link:

Krugman: Addicted to Bush

(I promise not to do this again. "Seemed like a good idea at the time)

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: gnu
Date: 24 Jul 10 - 01:01 PM

Hahahahaaa!

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 25 Jul 10 - 10:03 AM

But Ebbie, it DIDN'T seem like a good idea at the time! None of those measures did!

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: GUEST,Bert
Date: 26 Jul 10 - 01:15 AM

Applying "canned insulation foam" in a house situated above 9000 feet.

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: Ebbie
Date: 26 Jul 10 - 06:11 PM

Washing a window indoors when it is freezing outdoors. (Try it sometime)

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: gnu
Date: 26 Jul 10 - 06:16 PM

Ebbie... a bit of rubbing alcohol (in the WASH liquid) might help.

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: Allan C.
Date: 27 Jul 10 - 06:12 AM

"Seemed like a good idea at the time...." - Bubba'a epitaph.

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: Micca
Date: 27 Jul 10 - 06:18 AM

It is actually No4 on the "$ Great Excuses" the complete list is

1 "I was cleaning it and it went off"
2 "I had it with me when I cam in"
3 "I was leaning against it and it came away in my hand, You Honour"
4 "Well,It seemed like a good idea at the time"

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: GUEST,Patsy Warren
Date: 27 Jul 10 - 06:45 AM

One day at High School I don't know why but I didn't particularly want to do any swimming on this day in the school swimming pool it was cold and I was bored. Anyway it seemed a good idea at the time just to slightly mention that I thought I had cramp coming on. Unfortunately it was within earshot of a Scottish classmate who was lifesaver trained and taught to react on an emergency and she was built like a big mountain woman. Then only a small girl flew out of the pool then she threw mme out on to the grass, put in the recovery position. She pummelled away at my shins manipulating my foot making me feel like a complete fraud and a very embarrassed teenager. So it is never a good idea to tell porkies.

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: Ed T
Date: 27 Jul 10 - 07:02 AM

No 5 on the "Austrailian Great Excuses" list:

"Honestly, officer,I was just helping the speep over the fence"

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: Ed T
Date: 27 Jul 10 - 07:03 AM

Speep = Sheep

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Jul 10 - 10:15 AM

Those of us who prefer a manual transmission (used to be "standard") in a car have our own good reasons -- your mileage may vary. Over 35 years of driving, I have identified the automatic transmission as a big, expensive thing that (1) I don't need and (2) is highly likely to break. I have experienced a broken clutch cable exactly once, but I have seen many a dead tranny in my time.

Also, if you live in a place that gets seriously bad, icy weather in winter, you will find some dangerous situations easier to get out of in a vehicle with a manual transmission.

However, with a manual gearbox, you must actually learn how it works. You can't get away with "aim and steer" driving.

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 27 Jul 10 - 11:41 AM

I would as soon light my house with candles as use a manual transmission after 20+ years of driving automatics. As to the icy-conditions argument, every automatic car has override 2nd/3rd gear positions for just such eventualities, & for use in hilly country, &c.
"Aim·&·steer" type drivers are just as likely to rush into top gear on a manual for the very purpose of aiming'n'steering ~~ that's a matter of personality, not of the vehicle being used to express it.

~Michael~

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: mousethief
Date: 27 Jul 10 - 02:48 PM

Opening, upside-own, at 5,400 feet, a half-empty mustard squeeze bottle that was last closed at sea level.

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 27 Jul 10 - 04:59 PM

My wife was once using a hand-held electric mixer, mixing up some (I think) cake batter.

The cord came unplugged from the mixer and the tip fell into the batter.

So, what do you do when any kitchen tool—a spoon, say—accidentally falls into the batter? You pull it out and put it in your mouth, right?

Her tongue was numb for a week.

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: HuwG
Date: 27 Jul 10 - 11:27 PM

Many years ago, I decided that the tacky-looking fitted white melamine wardrobe in my bedroom had to go. So, I pulled out a few of the boards before turning in.

The wardrobe, deprived of some vital supporting component, steadily sagged overnight, making deadful creaking noises, before finally collapsing before dawn, having kept me awake all night.

When I had carried the debris out, I then discovered that the room's carpet did not continue under the fitted wardrobe's base, but now ended two feet from one wall. So, it too had to go. When eventually I manoeuvered twenty feet and half a ton of worn carpet outside, I was confronted with bare floorboards, ill-treated with paint and other stains.

I decided to sand down and varnish the boards. I hired an industrial sander. At the place where I hired it, I was recommended to seal all doors, otherwise the dust would keep coating the rest of the house for weeks. I nailed dust sheets to the door frame, making an impenetrable seal. Then I realised that I had to go somewhere ...

Several sanding bands and a case of pneumoconiosis later, I started covering the floor with a tin of yacht varnish. With about four square feet to go, the tin ran out. That particular brand and make of varnish was no longer manufactured. I bought what looked like a similar varnish. The difference in shade made it look for years until all the floor weathered, as if I had an oil slick in the middle of the room.

My mother visited. She said, "Why don't you have a fitted wardrobe and a nice carpet? I'm sure they would improve the bedroom." Is provocation a legal defence in cases of matricide?

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 27 Jul 10 - 11:47 PM

Above fine story demonstrates that, in many, many cases, any attempt at DIY will fulfil the sad predictions & predications implied in the title of this thread. One should keep in mind Hilaire Belloc's invaluable Cautionary Verse ~~

Lord Finchley tried to mend the electric light
Himself ~ it struck him dead, and served him right.
It is the business of the wealthy man
To find employment for the artisan.

~Michael~

Subject: RE: BS: Seemed like a good idea at the time....
From: Charmion
Date: 28 Jul 10 - 10:22 AM

Ah, but Michael -- what about the money thing? If you buy a car new, an automatic transmission adds about $1,000 to the price. When it (inevitably) needs to be replaced, that'll be something like $1,500, please. Repairs, too, are steep. A manual transmission is far more robust and comes, um, standard ...

The candlelight metaphor doesn't work with cars. Functionally, electric light is better than flame -- it's cleaner, brighter, safer. Functionally, an automatic transmission is not better than a manual -- it just replaces human effort (and judgement) with a machine process. That can be a good thing -- for example, in a heavy vehicle with lots of power and torque, such as the fancy SUVs marketed to suburbanites who don't need them. In yer typical four-cylinder subcompact, it's just one more thing that leaves an adult sitting still.