Embarrassing Moments

Believe it or not, not everything we do is hardware related. Although I rarely leave the house anymore, I try to entertain myself in a number of ways.....some successful, and some, well, not so much.
We've all done our share of stupid, or less than genius level things, and today I'll share with you the three best stories my wife loves to share with everyone. They may or may not be Darwin Award candidates, but they've gotten more than their share of laughs from friends and family.

Something Paul, Sean, and I were talking about yesterday was the fact that you have to have a good sense of humor to work at HL, as it's a tough crowd (ask Dave of Jeff). One quality we value as much as any knowledge is the ability to have fun, and laugh at yourself as easily as you laugh at others. So kick back, read on, and have a laugh at my expense. Then think back to some of your own stories (we all have them), and head over to the forums to share with us some of your less than stellar moments.

My Own Burning Man

My first story happened not long after I was married. My wife and I were still trying to piece together our first home, a 700 sq ft cardboard box in northern California. My grandmother, trying to help, brought us a nice gas grill for our back deck. While by no means new, it was serviceable, or so I thought. Being mid September, we decided to fire it up while she was there, and have a nice little family BBQ.

After running to the store to secure a small propane tank, I got everything cleaned up, connected and ready to go. The grill featured a "starter button" which when pressed created a spark to ignite the grill. After turning the gas part way on to ignite the burner, the button failed to work. As I bent over to look, my Grandmother tried one more time, with my face directly over the grill, and a cloud of accumulated gas!

Although I never saw it, my wife told me my entire head was lit up like a Jack-O-Lantern. The smell of burnt hair kinda killed my appetite, but the BBQ continued, with me no worse for wear. Well, except, for missing an eyebrow and most of my goatee and hair on the left side of my head.
Keep your Mouth Shut

Next on the list is a story I can blame no one but myself for. One evening I was deeply entrenched in work at my desk. As I was busy benchmarking, I was also trying to put the finishing touches on a mod I was working on for my test bench. As I was busy concentrating, I grabbed a tube of Super Glue I had to secure two pieces of plastic together.

As one hand was full, I for some reason decided the best way to open the container of glue was by pulling the end off with my teeth. Yeah, you see where this is going. Problem was, I had already removed the cap, and instead pulled the stopper off the end of the tube releasing a large glob of Super Glue into my mouth and onto my lip. Luckily I only glued half of my mouth shut (although I'm sure my Mother In Law would disagree). Refusing to go to the hospital, I gently separated my teeth and lips, losing only the top layer or two of skin, then spent the rest of the night listening to my wife chuckle and make comments about how much she enjoyed the short silence.


The Friendly Skies

Long before I began writing reviews, I had two hobbies to pass the time. The first was collecting baseball cards (at the high point I had over a million cards, which I sold to start my computer habit). My other hobby was RC cars and planes. One Christmas, my wife bought me an RC plane. It was a complete beginner kit, thankfully.

After a couple days assembling the plane, and a crash course in flying and control, I enlisted a family friend to come over and help me launch the plane on its inaugural flight. Following the instructions carefully, we developed a plan of action, where he would hold the plane while I ramped up the throttle, exactly as we were supposed to. After a few rehearsals, we readied ourselves for the maiden (and only) voyage.

As I ramped up the throttle, my friend panicked, and kind of threw the plane to get it away from him...right into my house! As the plane hit the wall, the engine broke loose from its mount, and still going at full throttle, it proceeded to devour the entire plane, working its way down one wing and the other. Thankfully the tail section proved too much for the engine, causing it to bog down and finally sputter to a stop.


Well, there you have it: Entertaining, and for the most part, really stupid stories/experiences. Now that you've had a laugh, or even just a good chuckle, head over to the forums and share your personal anecdotes. And don't for a moment feel alone here, we all have them, whether we want to admit it or not.