Things I've learned the hard way . . .

geepondy said:

Make sure you clear your pants of ink pens before washing and drying. I've actually had one make it thru ok but the other melted in the dryer, leaking and staining my clothes with the heat permanently locking in the stains and hence three pairs of pants and a couple of shirts were ruined. I also spent a bit of time with cleaning fluid and a scrub brush removing what got stuck inside the dryer wall.

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didn't have pens....I had two packs of Orbitz gum.....theres a good layer of that mixed in with colored cotton threads on the tumbler

yeah...that sucked

Re: Things I\'ve learned the hard way . . .

AJ_Dual said:

The dial tone in live phone wire is about 45 volts. The ring signal depending on the REN rating of your home's service drop, could be as high as 90 volts.

Both have the potential to create a very interesting sensation when you're stripping phone wire with your teeth because you were in too much of a hurry to go get a wire stripper from the basment.

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haha!
happened to me.
got a ring when i was stripping it, and with the shock i hit my head in the bathroom door i was leaning.

ended up with sore tongue and head, no good, but funny story to tell.

If you want a highend knife, or light, or whatever. You're best off just saving for it. Because buying anything else thats cheaper is just delaying the inevitable. You'll save cash in the long run if you buy "the one" first.

Don't forget to tighten the lug nuts on your car. I forgot on one of my first cars and I made it a mile or so and the steering got very loose. Got out and checked and two nuts on one side and three on the other side were missing. The rest were about 1/2 unscrewed.

A DMM dropped in a sink full of water, even for a fraction of a second, WILL get water inside and blow its fuses.

...Which leads us to my second lesson...

Only lend loaners.

:hairpull:

PlayboyJoeShmoe said:

Don't put bleach in the washing machine... ask me how I know!!!

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you bleached your grandmothers hand painted dishes?

Right after you buy some replacement fuses for your supposedly water-damaged DMM, it'll have dried off sufficiently and function normally again.

Right after a music CD has been missing for weeks and you purchase a replacement, the "lost" one will turn up.
Yes, this has happened to me...more than once. :green:

After making a backup of your PC, check it and make sure it's good before you need it.

1) Making fishsticks in a toaster oven with slide-out tray *without* a shirt on, in the event the tray slides out, may result in a very painful burn.

2) Glasses are an incredible piece of technology. When driving at night, leaving them at home offers no benefit to the house.

3) Had a friend in high school who did this, so this is his "learned-this-the-hard-way", not mine. Back in high school, we thought it was really cool to split water into its components, oxygen, and hydrogen. My friend split water, filling up an old coffee can with the gaseous product. Then he brought it to school. Now, mind you, most of the gas probably escaped- coffee containers are *not* scientifc containment vessels. Anyway, my friend went around telling people about his flammable creation, except, instead of telling other kids how he "split water," he went around telling everyone he made a "hydrogen bomb." Yup, *that* went well...

buy the best you can afford.

This was an interesting day. Many of these I already knew, but seemed to need restating:

1.) Just because you tightened the setscrews on your soldering gun tip fifteen seconds ago does not mean they are tight now.

2.) Often times the MOST powerful soldering implement that can be effectively controlled is the best tool for the job, as it heats what needs to be heated in the shortest amount of time, not giving surrounding items that shouldn't be heated too much time to heat up.

3.) Always slide the shrink tube on first.

4.) Always have extra connectors and leave yourself extra slack in the wires so you can clip off the connector you crimped on without sliding the shrink tubing on first.

5.) A vise makes a dandy heat sink when you're soldering connectors on to short wires and don't want the shrink tube you slid on earlier to shrink in the wrong spot

6.) It doesn't matter that you've used the remaining heat in a connection you just soldered to start the shrinking process on shrink tubing by sliding the tubing quickly and perfectly into position and letting the heat do it's thing a million times before. The ONE time you will get it wrong is when the connection will be in full view and the electrical tape you have to use to make up the gap will be enormously obvious. This will, invariably, be with the last connector you have or the last of the correct-size shrink tubing you have, and stores will be closed or you won't have time, so that clipping off the connection and starting over won't be an option.

7.) Burning insulation sets off smoke detectors. The smoke detector and/or the ceiling move on their own so that the smoke detector is always six inches out of reach, no matter what you're standing on or poking up towards the ceiling to push the "hush" button with.


:buddies:

A corollary to DieselBomber's rules -

The sturdier you make your solder connection, the more likely you'll need to remove it again to correct a mistake. :ohgeez:

PhotonWrangler said:

After making a backup of your PC, check it and make sure it's good before you need it.

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And make sure it and your PC are connected to a high quality UPS/surge protector. I lost my HD and HD backup due to a fatal flaw in a cheap surge protector. I lost EVERYTHING. Both HDs were complete losses, even after I sent them to one of the top data retrieval companies using a clean room-the whole nine yards. Four years of work totally lost.

I now run a two disc RAID setup in my PC, along with a 500GB external HD, both connected to an excellent APC UPS with on-screen monitoring. I also make CDs/DVDs of critical files.

One other thing I'd suggest. For those living in likely terrorist target locales it's a good idea to duplicate critical files and send them to a family member or someone you trust who lives in a "safer" area. Folks living in the Midwest or other relatively non-threatened areas may find this alarmist, but for those of us who experienced 9/11 first-hand it is simply being realistic.

Brightnorm

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The_LED_Museum said:

Right after a music CD has been missing for weeks and you purchase a replacement, the "lost" one will turn up.
Yes, this has happened to me...more than once. :green:

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On a related note. Before giving away your old CD player, make sure your favorite Santana CD isn't in the player.

Bruceter

I left behind a 3-CD carousel type stereo when I moved in late-2004, and wouldn't you know it...three of my favourite CDs at the time were still in it. :shakehead :green: :shakehead

Ouch !

:mecry:

_

Lessons learned this morning:

All jars in the kitchen should be labeled.

Beef bullion and brown sugar look identical under casual inspection.

Eating oatmeal with beef bullion instead of brown sugar because you don't want your wife to find out what you've done and tease you mercilessly for months about it will give you a stomach ache. :sick2:

:buddies:

Don't weld the brackets up until you KNOW you can then get the object up on to the brackets!!! In this case a tank for an air horn. I had to take the bolt out that steadies the fender but everything worked out ok in the end.

Just have plumbing and wiring to go!