For an NMRA or RPM meet, I can almost imagine a slide show recounting Pete Nolan's "Stupid Mistakes".... Imagine theatre style seating... the lights dim... and the emcee announces Pete Nolan... He enters the theatre from the top... and does a Chevy Chase style* tumble down the stairway... ouch! Live, from ______, it's Pete Nolan!!! * Reference to Saturday Night Live skits from the late 1970's for our younger readers.
That's actually a cool idea! You could tie in general safety items like proper ventilation and eye protection, etc. That would probably be a "smash" hit! Or maybe it would be "quite a trip".
Hang in there Pete! If you didn't give him crap, he would think you didn't like him anymore! Perhaps he ticked off the N-Scale Gods in some way.....probably by spending too much time on those ships and honey-doo's! It might be time for an HO sacrifice, Pete! 2slim
Guys, guys, guys . . . When I was six years old, I built an Iowa class battleship out of a 2 x 4, a hammer, a handsaw and different-sized nails. In the 52 years since, I've built furniture, houses planes, ships, trains, so I have a lot of "experiences." Not all my stupid mistakes are damaging to anything other than my ego--the steel pin across the track that I didn't find until I backtracked (OK, ripped out) an evening's wiring. I used to open annual sales meetings with a little stand-up routine about my stupid mistakes around the house. I think I've related some of them here--the waterbed, the lefthanded washing machine, the clogged sink. I never did relate the catflap that was too small, then too big; or the cat in the tree, or the burnt toast, or the potatoes that would not stay covered, or any of the hundreds of silly things that happen in life. Maybe I'll relate some of them in the cattle car? As I've admitted, some of these are exaggerated a bit in the story telling. I've learned over the years that humor sometimes requires exaggeration. But that's part of story telling and always has been. Maybe, now that I've shut down most of my government work, I can pull these stories together.
Pete I see you number these "events" sequentially.How about a greatest hits format,counting down to #1,with a drum roll of course...
There have been all sorts of ideas about what to do with these threads. Everything from starting a separate forum like Jerry's Engineer Classes to codifying them some way. My point of view is that these are fun for me. I do them when the mood strikes. I encourage others to participate because I don't have a monoply on stupid mistakes. If it gets too formalized, then it's more like work rather than play. I spent three careers researching, organizing and presenting information. For now, I'd prefer it loose and easy. I'm inventing stuff as I go along. I think a Pete's Stupid Mistakes Advice Column is a funny idea with a lot of possibilities, but it could be a bomb, and impossible to implement except very loosely.
Pete - I handled our "catflap" this way: I handed the saws-all to my wife and sister-in-law. They did the most beautiful job ever! Makes me wonder why I think I can do home improvements myself...:embarassed:
Enjoying Pete's wisdom So Pete when is the book due out?:shade: I have a wood burner in my wood shop, hint you don't have the entire market on mistakes. My motto in the shop is when I get good at what I do I will freeze to death in the winter. If only I could burn all the mistakes it would look like I was perfect :lightbulb: :angel: Then again the cost of my projects would out price the quality.
Ah yes, how did you guess it was my sister-in-law!? She wanted the catflap there. I explained to her that there would involve cutting through the 6 x18 beam that was holding up her house. Why not here where there is no beam? The story goes on forever. We agreed on a catflap size for there. I spent two days reinforcing things around the hole, then chopping through the beam. It ended up "too small," as the poor kitty rubbed her belly going through. I told her it was exactly the right size for an 8-lb cat. "No! Put a bigger door there!" The new There was my original suggestion of Here. It took about an hour. Of course, the cat always came out of the smaller door anyway!
Pete's Stupid Mistakes Advice Column Ah yes, hiding your mistakes by burning them--a common ploy, but not necessarily a Stupid Mistake. A Stupid Mistake needs an examination of the root cause of the burning. Many woodshop constructions, for example, require a left and a right side, as well as a top and bottom. You'd think any idiot could figure that out. I can't. I've often ended up with two tops and two right sides. Only Escher could put this together! "Why is the cabinet only 24 inches high, my dear? And only 24 inches long? I though we agree on 36 inches by 36 inches?" "I--err-ran out of wood." "But why is the ugly side the outside?" "Ahhh--it's a campy statement. The inside is beautiful." It also helps if you're burning something like $22/bd.ft. bird's eye maple. "Oh, that's a sweet smelling wood, dear. What is it?" "Oh, it's just some diseased maple I picked up." So, the root cause or the exaggeration of the effect are crucial parts of Stupid Mistakes. I quit now. Give me a scene and I can make almost anything out of it. But this is a railraod forum, right?
Bravo! Pete, I applaud your great sense of humor, and your willingness to laugh at yourself...for a hobby, we sure take ourseleves seriously a lot! I think the idea of sharing this info. is fantastic...both for the humor value, and to help make the hobby more approachable for newcomers. Anything that helps people relax, learn from their mistakes, and continue on their journey to their goals in the hobby is a good thing! If we come off as a crusty, grumpy bunch of self-satisfied experts, we turn people off...and perhaps even away from the hobby. I can't speak for Randy, but if Norm can help illustrate some Safety Tips or whatever, I am sure he would have an open ear! BTW, despite the fact you have make your Stupid Mistakes series a legendary feature, you still have all of your limbs, fingers, nose, etc. At least, you did last time I saw you! ;o) Have fuNNNN...
Hi Verne! Self-preservation does prevail! Now that I'm semi-retired, I may have more time to look at these kinds of projects. But then again, I may not. I'm all for collaboration--otherwise, I'd be hoarding my sense of humor in a private stash. Someday, perhaps soon, this will all come together in my head. My wife compares my mind to a great globe of primordial mist. You just never know when something will agglomerate and get ejected.
I seem to recall that scientists believe the "Primordial Mist" eventually produced a life-form....is there hope for you?mg:
I deeply admire Pete's sang-froid in the face of goofs, mistakes, and near disasters. In my case, they never seem to happen when I am alone.....oh, no! I wait for an audience! It isn't truly a screw-up unless there are witnesses! I tell myself this keeps me honest, since there is now no point in hiding (or burning) the evidence... :shade:
I went through several years with rather remarkable catastrophes including falling off a 12-foot rock cliff wile dragging a deer, loaded gun on my back, landing on my head and having the deer land on top me; that was good for 17 stitches and a new rifle scope, though having one that could see around 90-degree corners would be handy at times. And a living legend in the emergency room.... That was followed by the next summer when I drilled through my left hand... and the memory of younger years when I picked up a stepladder with a claw hammer on the top, went to move it, hammer hit me and knocked me cold. Ah, yes, that's when all my co-workers were helping me re-roof my garage... That was trumped by the following spring when I stuck my right hand in a snowblower (motor turned off, but rotor still spinning) and nearly lost four fingers.... Luckily the local hospital was catching on by that point and put me right through. Even luckier was that the surgeon was a model railroader himself. So..... Every year my wife REMINDS me that 'you haven't visited the emergency room lately and now is no time to restart' usually when I'm on a ladder, testing wires, looking into pipes, or trying to cut something with something else... I've been good. Honest. I've learned to injure myself quietly and in more concealed manners. But it's hard when you're a legend, trust me, I know, Pete. As Red Green says, "We're all in this together"....
