Dumb things I did as a kid!

[ClemKadiddlehopper]

This one is better.

I lived in Caracas for two years. The last day before we left, I got up early and took the train to a slum called Petare (Venezuela's most violent). I wandered around uneventfully for a few hours than went home. I was told that all the bad guys would be asleep early in the morning, and I guess it was true.

 

[Pearl]

In my house, they only cared because I was the family servant. "Go fer this, go get that, go do this." I always wondered what happened when I left home. Did people get up and get themselves a drink of water then? Did they get up and go to the sink and get water by themselves, like they were always capable of but decided that being waited on was better? Who did the laundry? Who cooked? Who did the dishes? Who made beds? Who cleaned? Who shoveled the snow? Who mowed the grass? After I left home, I felt so free. I remember walking down a hall at college and wanting to jump and click my feet together.

Weedy, Clem, wow, I always knew I had a great mom and dad, older brother and sister were 10 and 14 years older so I had the prime spot! I was a loner and we were poor, but I was loved! Dad taught me a great work ethic and mom taught me about taking care of what you earn! Hope you are both happy, that's what life is about no matter when it comes about!! I'm m glad to know both of you, what little I know of you!

 

[Weedygarden]

Weedy, Clem, wow, I always knew I had a great mom and dad, older brother and sister were 10 and 14 years older so I had the prime spot! I was a loner and we were poor, but I was loved! Dad taught me a great work ethic and mom taught me about taking care of what you earn! Hope you are both happy, that's what life is about no matter when it comes about!! I'm m glad to know both of you, what little I know of you!

Thank you. There is much I could say, but I won't. I have enjoyed your posts and presence here, Pearl. Thank you for being here.

 

[Tirediron]

Mom was always redorating and once put an extra loveseat in my bedroom, under the wall of windows. Came in late with a friend once, stepped on the top back of that loveseat coming in, laughing our heads off, and a huge noise as the loveseat fell forward. Shocked mom didn't wake up.

What makes you think Mom didn't wake up, we didnt come by our capacity for antics just out of the blue, I would have sent mere mortals to the nut house, Mom And Dad took it in stride

 

[Tirediron]

Ok, going to start " dumb things I've done as an adult" , step up

Like the returned space monkey from the Simpsons said, Idont think we are going to tell them that

 

[Amish Heart]

If she didn't wake up, then she didn't much care what I did. But she was a very sound sleeper. Still is. And now she can't hear and won't get hearing aids, so it's almost comical.

 

[Spikedriver]

Ok, going to start " dumb things I've done as an adult" , step up

Bad idea. I doubt any of our dumb adult stories would get past the mods. I can get one past the mods though, and it's only three words long.

I got married.

It has a happy ending though.

I got divorced.

 

[winds-of-change]

No one cared where I was or for how long. No one asked. I could have been gone for months or years. I was usually camped out in the trees with my horse most summers. Out of sight, out of mind.

Home was not some place to be if others were there. I was never near the house on week-ends or when my siblings were there. I would get off the school bus miles from home and cut through the bush to avoid being alone with my siblings. My oldest brother was a biserker.

I grew up in the twilight zone, and never knew all the things you all talk about. I never spoke a word to anyone and once put the high-school gym teacher in the hospital when she snuck up on me and clapped me on the shoulder from behind. I flipped her over my shoulder and she ended up going threw the gym door. It wasn't intentional, just instinct. I was exempted from self defense classes after that.

Don't bring up police ect... they didn't exist along with anything else you all take for granted.


I have lived shtf and am not looking forward to round two. Last I will say on this subject. Probably said too much.

I’m so sorry. But I’m glad you had a horse. I had one for several years as a young adult and she was a great companion and I loved trail riding her.

But how did you and the horse get up in the tree?

Moving beyond 10 years old.

Growing up poor we didn't have money so I couldn't afford the senior prom BUT I could muster enough money for a keg of beer so I threw an Anti-Prom party held on the night of the prom. Lots or people showed up and of course the party got raided. Everyone got away except my younger brother that got arrested for under age drinking. I still don't know how he found out about it.

It well before that that my father told me:

When you graduate from high school you will get out, get a job,or both.

Joining the Navy fulfilled the both option.

Ben

I would have gone to your anti-prom party. No one ever asked me to the prom.

 

[Pearl]

I’m so sorry. But I’m glad you had a horse. I had one for several years as a young adult and she was a great companion and I loved trail riding her.

But how did you and the horse get up in the tree?

I would have gone to your anti-prom party. No one ever asked me to the prom.

A bunch of us skipped our prom and went drinking on the beach!! A lot more fun (and stupid yes)!

 

[Aerindel]

Gee, you took " if you are going to do something do it right" a little too far!

Particularly when you figure out why some of the fragments are so much brighter than the others...

 

[UrbanHunter]

My folks had a motor home and we were visiting my grand-parents in it... Mom and I got into a loud fight (argument) and I stormed out... Didn't have anyplace to go so I climbed up on top of the motor home and went to sleep in the roof rack.... Next day dad jumped in the RV to go to the store.... He got 3 miles before he pulled over to find out what the banging was....

It may not have been the dumbest thing that I did, but it is one of the few I can talk about....

 

[Neb]

One of classmates was always doing something industrious in the woods. He built a dam with 2 bull rope swings over the pond. Then he built a platform in the hillside that we could launch from. Those swings were popular because there was zero to do for teens and kept us off the streets.

But just taking turns swinging was not enough when there were so many ways to learn physics the hard way.

Swing1
It was found that if we wrapped one of the ropes around one of two trees then climbed the rope and mounting the seat we could stand on the side of the tree and launch. As the rope unwrapped we would pick up speed as we circled the tree trunk. Once unwrapped we would swing out toward a opposite tree. We could control our angular velocity by extending or pulling in our legs. When done right we would wrap around the other tree and land feet first standing on the side of the other tree.

Each time we launched we would gain energy and wrap higher on the trees. That could go on without end if done right. If done wrong we would smash into the tree.

Which i did resulting in half of my body beint black and blue.

Standby for swing2 and swing3 dumb stuff stories.

Ben

 

[Neb]

Swing2

After a mishap with 2 people swinging and crossing their swings we observed that the energy of the heavier person was transfered to the light person via the crossed ropes.

Eventually we loaded a bunch or big guys on one swing and the smallest guy on the other swing. That resulted in the heavy swing coming to a complete stop at the bottom of the swing path and the lighter guy ended 50' in the air.

Cool

Until the lighter guy swung back down to meet the static bunch of heavy guys.

Many injuries were experienced that day.

Ben

 

[Neb]

Swing3

The rule or use was that after we launched we could swing as long as we had momentum but then had to dismount and bring the rope back up the hill for the person waiting.

Eventually we found that if we jumped high enough when launching we could swing back over the platform and grab hold of the platform. There was a side game of how many times would repeat the cycle.

The LAST TIME i played that game I swung up over the platform and on the way down grabbed the platform as I swung past. But I was traveling too fast. My right arm kept a firm hold on the platform but not so much with my body.

Dislocated my shoulder. One of the most painful injuries I have ever experienced. Never been right since then.

Funny thing physics

Ben

 

[SoJer]

..just taking turns swinging was not enough when there were so many ways to learn physics the hard way.

I'm 100% certain we would have been Best Friends as Kids.. I am now recalling more and more 'Welcome to the Asphalt Classroom' incidents, Lol, some involving:

- 'Street Luge' with skateboards - that were Not designed for 'street luge' - with no 'PPE's ('Helmet / Elbow pads?? Pfff, those are for pu...' Aw, you know the rest.. Yeah, pretty sure I 'recreated every State-shape in the Union' in scab-formations over the years..

- 'Mag Scrambler Jumping', which - during Olympics-years - 'inspired' us (along with Evel Knievel, of course to come up with more and more 'elaborate' jumps..
Iirc, we got up to something like 7 or 8 'folding chairs', between the ramps, before One of the boys 'ate it' - and ended up having to go to the 'ER' for pretty severe damage to the, uh.. 'Family Jewels'.. That was the end of That bravado.

- 'Tree-a-Chuting', where we would climb a 'sapling', that was Tall enough to be 'dangerously high' - but still Thin enough, that when you got to the Top, you would 'rock and rock' until your Weight would cause the Entire tree to bow-over, 'Chuting you' to the ground.. It was a Lot of fun, actually.. Until we discovered Why you should Never do that in Winter.. >ka-Blam!!<

..and again - Miraculously, I never broke a single bone, though several of my friends had Many (collarbone (ouch..) ribs, arms, etc..) Until..

...Dislocated my shoulder. One of the most painful injuries...ever ... Never been right since then.

#metoo.. Yeah, 'survived Childhood', but Lost an 'argument with a black-iced sidewalk' on a Biz trip to DC, one year, and - Literally - had to do the 'Football blocker-charge' Into an Oak tree, to 'pop it back In'.. Yah - THAT - Hurt worse / 'deeper' than anything I'd experienced up till then, and has taken nearly 15 yrs, but.. Thru exercise / stretching, it's Almost as good as new - Until I 'tweek it just right', lifting / pushing myself-up at some wierd angle, etc, and then it 'Reminds me'...

..But at least I learned How to 'pop one back In'..

jd

 

[Camalot]

So there is a cut off date? Asking for a friend.

 

[Bacpacker]

Just read thru this thread. I need time to pick out a few highlights.

 

[Camalot]

Just read thru this thread. I need time to pick out a few highlights.

Lol. Right. So many memories. So little time!

 

[jazzy]

you guys are amazing! i dont know whether to laugh, cry or pour a big stiff drink. perhaps all 3, lol

 

[viking]

When I was in my mid teens my foster dad told me that if I scraped all the old paint off of an old flat bottom row boat and repaint it, I could have it. I took that boat out into some pretty rough storms where the waves were almost lapping over the sides, to boot, I wasn't a good swimmer either. The row boat ended up being shredded to pieces from an extremely nasty storm, all that was left was a piece of the bow where the rope was tied. I look back over my life and wonder how I ever made it this far, God must have had other plans for me.

 

[Haertig]

My "dumb stunts" all seemed to revolve around pyrotechnics, things I was fascinated with in my youth.

Incident #1: Experiment: Which is faster? Me running away, or a pile of dog crap flying after a firecracker was lit under it? Winner: Dog crap. Hands down.

Incident #2: We had these things at a yearly art festival called "confetti eggs". After carefully removing the very end of an eggshell and dumping out the contents, you filled it with confetti and glued a piece of paper over the end to hold it in. Smash it over your friends head for a lot of laughs. Experiment: What if you added gasoline to this confetti filled egg and lit it, would it explode? We placed our little gas filled egg out in the middle of the street and lit it. Totally unimpressive - it just sat there burning with a small flame like a candle. Then an elderly couple drove up in their Cadillac and stopped, out of an abundance of caution, when they noticed the flaming egg in the street. I thought I would go help by stomping the egg out to extinguish it. No such luck. Shortly after the stomp - milliseconds actually - I was standing in the middle of a gigantic flame pool. The elderly couples eyes grew wide as the slowly backed up and turned around. I was very fleet of feet at the time - having been well trained during Experiment #1 above - and I escaped without injury.

Incident #3: Bottle rocket wars. Two teams standing about 30 feet apart. Hold end of bottle rocket stick, light fuse, flip/fling at your adversary across the way, laugh wildly as rocket ignites a few feet from target, picking up speed for a magnificent impact and resulting dance of your opponent. Protective eyewear optional, but recommended.

Incident #4: Homemade cannon. You and your friend cut sisters twirling baton into an 8" piece hollow tube (without asking first, of course). Attach two wires to Polaroid flashbulb (the kind that melt when they flash). Insert bulb into baton and hammer end closed behind it. Fill tube with sodium chlorate - widely available weed killer (fertilizer?) at the time - mixed with a little sugar. Insert projectile in open end. Since this rock isn't round and doesn't fit well, hammer it in place so it's good and tight, ready for flight. Construct brick fortification to house and aim the cannon. Place picnic table benches on top of and behind fortification (for safety). Run wires around side of house (again, for safety) and attach to model train transformer. Move transformer lever to "full speed". After the ringing in your ears stops, peek around corner to discover splintered benches and no sign of bricks. Also, broken sliding glass door into your friends house. Dodge friends parents as they run out of the house screaming.

Note that I am still alive and approaching Medicare age, and my children know nothing of these childhood exploits. Except for Experiment #1. I had to warn them about that one, lest they try it on their own.

 

[Haertig]

Oh, I forgot one.

Incident #3.5: Upgrade to bottle rocket wars. Construct launch tube by cutting swimming snorkel so it is just a straight hollow tube. Break stick off of bottle rocket, which induces instability in flight, to make it harder for your opponent to predict and dodge. Insert bottle rocket head into tube, hold in hand and "aim" (as best you can with unstable flight pending), light rocket. Actually works quite well, until you make a mistake in the dark and inadvertently insert a firecracker into the tube instead of a bottle rocket head. No lasting damage (except to snorkel, which was shattered). Only a bruised hand.

 

[Pearl]

My "dumb stunts" all seemed to revolve around pyrotechnics, things I was fascinated with in my youth.

Incident #1: Experiment: Which is faster? Me running away, or a pile of dog crap flying after a firecracker was lit under it? Winner: Dog crap. Hands down.

Incident #2: We had these things at a yearly art festival called "confetti eggs". After carefully removing the very end of an eggshell and dumping out the contents, you filled it with confetti and glued a piece of paper over the end to hold it in. Smash it over your friends head for a lot of laughs. Experiment: What if you added gasoline to this confetti filled egg and lit it, would it explode? We placed our little gas filled egg out in the middle of the street and lit it. Totally unimpressive - it just sat there burning with a small flame like a candle. Then an elderly couple drove up in their Cadillac and stopped, out of an abundance of caution, when they noticed the flaming egg in the street. I thought I would go help by stomping the egg out to extinguish it. No such luck. Shortly after the stomp - milliseconds actually - I was standing in the middle of a gigantic flame pool. The elderly couples eyes grew wide as the slowly backed up and turned around. I was very fleet of feet at the time - having been well trained during Experiment #1 above - and I escaped without injury.

Incident #3: Bottle rocket wars. Two teams standing about 30 feet apart. Hold end of bottle rocket stick, light fuse, flip/fling at your adversary across the way, laugh wildly as rocket ignites a few feet from target, picking up speed for a magnificent impact and resulting dance of your opponent. Protective eyewear optional, but recommended.

Incident #4: Homemade cannon. You and your friend cut sisters twirling baton into an 8" piece hollow tube (without asking first, of course). Attach two wires to Polaroid flashbulb (the kind that melt when they flash). Insert bulb into baton and hammer end closed behind it. Fill tube with sodium chlorate - widely available weed killer (fertilizer?) at the time - mixed with a little sugar. Insert projectile in open end. Since this rock isn't round and doesn't fit well, hammer it in place so it's good and tight, ready for flight. Construct brick fortification to house and aim the cannon. Place picnic table benches on top of and behind fortification (for safety). Run wires around side of house (again, for safety) and attach to model train transformer. Move transformer lever to "full speed". After the ringing in your ears stops, peek around corner to discover splintered benches and no sign of bricks. Also, broken sliding glass door into your friends house. Dodge friends parents as they run out of the house screaming.

Note that I am still alive and approaching Medicare age, and my children know nothing of these childhood exploits. Except for Experiment #1. I had to warn them about that one, lest they try it on their own.

Fine line between kids knowing too much and protecting them from your mistakes

 

[Supervisor42]

Incident #4: Homemade cannon. You and your friend cut sisters twirling baton into an 8" piece hollow tube (without asking first, of course). Attach two wires to Polaroid flashbulb (the kind that melt when they flash). Insert bulb into baton and hammer end closed behind it. Fill tube with sodium chlorate - widely available weed killer (fertilizer?) at the time - mixed with a little sugar. Insert projectile in open end. Since this rock isn't round and doesn't fit well, hammer it in place so it's good and tight, ready for flight. Construct brick fortification to house and aim the cannon. Place picnic table benches on top of and behind fortification (for safety). Run wires around side of house (again, for safety) and attach to model train transformer. Move transformer lever to "full speed". After the ringing in your ears stops, peek around corner to discover splintered benches and no sign of bricks. Also, broken sliding glass door into your friends house. Dodge friends parents as they run out of the house screaming.

I had forgotten about this. We took yours one step further and made a mortar.
I discovered that a dead D-cell battery fit perfectly in a piece of 1-1/4" galvanized pipe.
Drill a small hole for a fuse in a cap, screw it on a 3' pipe and done! We had plenty of black powder and firecracker fuses.
Now, we were safe about it, and had haybales to hide behind.
How much powder to use?
We didn't want a dud so with our first shot, we went with about 3 tablespoons and propped it up at a 45° angle on a bale.
VERY loud boom!
That first shot drove the pipe about 6" into the ground and we could see the debris that was the D-cell battery in front of it. (proof-tested!)
We cut the powder in half and it was perfect, but we had no idea how far it went.
We lived in the bend of the river and set it up on the bluff.
I fired it several times and we could see the battery hit the water about 400 yards away.

...then we ran out of dead D-cell batteries.

 

[Bacpacker]

Well here goes my first few. 2 years old for all of them.

Stuck a key in a wall plug, Burnt a spot on the key and my fingers

Layed my hand up on a hot stove eye. Yep burnt again

Drank part of a bottle of shoe polish. Had to get my stomach pumped for that. Kicked my cowboy boots across the ER

This one was me and my 3 yo cousin. We had saw family pull down the license plate and fill up with gas. Grandpas truck was parked in his drive way, so we got the bright idea to fill his tank up. Too bad we used sand and gravel from the driveway. We both got severe a$$ whoopings for that. Papaw, parents, probably anyone else that thought we needed it. Luckily papaw saw sand on the bumper before he started the truck and figured out what we done. He had to drop the tank and drain it. Well deserved a$$ whoopin I gotta admit.

I started early

 

[Terri9630]

Ok I thought of a few I already got on trouble for. My parents were both deployed so I was with my grandparents. I was 4ish and wanted to go swimming. Grandma said I had to wait for Grandpa to get home. What she didn't say was that I had to wait for him to change out of his uniform first so as soon as he pulled into the driveway I ran around the house and jumped into the pool. Fortunately the neighbor saw me and dove in after me. He said I was sitting on the bottom of the deep end smiling like an idiot. It was a full sized pool with a 10ft deep end, diving board and spiral slide.

The second I was 6ish... I wanted some cookies that my grandma had put on top of the frig. I pushed my sister's highchair to the counter and climbed up it to get the cookies. Climbing back down I stepped on the tray part and flipped the highchair, hit the countertop and broke my left collarbone. Grandma found me sitting on the floor eating cookies and didn't even know I had broken the bone until bath time.

A couple of years later I broke my leg jumping out of a maple tree. Grandma said get down now, so I jumped. Broke both bones in my lower right leg.

 

[SoJer]

..pyrotechnics, things I was fascinated with in my youth...

Well, now That's something we two can Unequivocally Agree on! And, Man, you ain't kiddin.. What a 'blast'..

..I won't (and probably shouldn't - don't wanna get Too much 'external attention' focused, herein..) detail All of the 'pyromania', but.. I made my first successful batch of DIY 'BP' - using my rubber-barreled Rock Tumbler as a 'ball mill' - and the 3 constituents from one of those Real Chemistry Sets you could still Buy back then (Those were sure the days, eh? and, well.. It was 'all downhill - or should I say 'skyward' - from there'...

..But, short of that / all the ~July 4th / NYE mayhem, I'm sure you recall these puppies:

(..and, I'm sure you'll Also recall the 'unique pain stemming from learning Why you shouldn't scrape one with your Thumbnail'

..But the 'dumb' part, was - Of course - ratcheting up ever-more complex ways to give yerself an Afternoon and Evening filled with Tinnitus, by Detonating more and more and more of them, at the same Time.. Ya know - the Rock Hammer... to Grampas Framing Hammer.. to the 5# Sledge.. to Bricks dropped in a 'Diy vertical sled', made from drywall corner-bead and duct-tape, etc, etc, To, well....

..The probably 85# near-perfectly round Boulder, pushed up a little berm on the side of the House bordering the neighbors, that was - supposed to - roll down the berm, and crush / detonate an Entire 6-rolls at Once, set-up with some steel flat-bar I found, against the block retaining-wall, and, weeellll..

..Rock, being held in place with the Left hand (which was 'sandy'..) decided to teach the Right hand (which was still setting up the 'Rolls-stack' in place) a 'Life lesson' - which yielded my Right Thumb being the 'target', vs the Caps.. I pretty sure I screamed louder than the 'Boom' would have been on a db meter..

But, in order to 'relieve' the Massive plum-like hematoma under the nail, I at least did Learn something that day in the ER - The 'fine-tip cautery (or, soldering, if Diy..) iron / fine drill-bit technique' method to relieve the pressure / drain the bleed, so..

..I guess as long as we all Learned Something from our 'dumb actions', all was not lost on their happening.. At the very least, I certainly learned the definition of 'Dumbass' that day.

Good times..
jd

 

[Pearl]

Ok I thought of a few I already got on trouble for. My parents were both deployed so I was with my grandparents. I was 4ish and wanted to go swimming. Grandma said I had to wait for Grandpa to get home. What she didn't say was that I had to wait for him to change out of his uniform first so as soon as he pulled into the driveway I ran around the house and jumped into the pool. Fortunately the neighbor saw me and dove in after me. He said I was sitting on the bottom of the deep end smiling like an idiot. It was a full sized pool with a 10ft deep end, diving board and spiral slide.

The second I was 6ish... I wanted some cookies that my grandma had put on top of the frig. I pushed my sister's highchair to the counter and climbed up it to get the cookies. Climbing back down I stepped on the tray part and flipped the highchair, hit the countertop and broke my left collarbone. Grandma found me sitting on the floor eating cookies and didn't even know I had broken the bone until bath time.

A couple of years later I broke my leg jumping out of a maple tree. Grandma said get down now, so I jumped. Broke both bones in my lower right leg.

See, we knew you had something good

 

[Magus]

*SIGH* Get the popcorn..
Around age ten I found three sticks of dynamite that were left behind at the strip mine and blew a crater in the driveway.

At age fifteen I conducted my first napalm strike in the "rat pit" using burning garbage, a milk jug full of gasoline and a 22 magnum.

Around the same time I made a home made shotgun that used M-80s for power, still have a scar.

Blew the windshield glass out of the family car with a model rocket.

Mixed chemicals in the bathroom sink, turned the ceramic black and destroyed the plumbing.

Bought a copy of Kurt Saxon's poor man's James Bond, use your imagination.

Burned the top out of a three hundred year old pine tree with a home brewed rocket launcher.

Blew a ten foot divot out of the yard by lighting some high octane down a yellow jacket hole.

Decided rolling down a huge hill in a D-9 tire was a good idea.

Shot a vulture that was overhead with a 308. OMG the smell!

Nearly killed myself working two jobs getting ready for Y2K.

Had a one night stand with my son's mother. gods help the boy, he's not only crazier than me, he thinks he might be a transgaynongender WTFever it changes weekly.

Have fun, I got more.

 

[Pearl]

*SIGH* Get the popcorn..
Around age ten I found three sticks of dynamite that were left behind at the strip mine and blew a crater in the driveway.

At age fifteen I conducted my first napalm strike in the "rat pit" using burning garbage, a milk jug full of gasoline and a 22 magnum.

Around the same time I made a home made shotgun that used M-80s for power, still have a scar.

Blew the windshield glass out of the family car with a model rocket.

Mixed chemicals in the bathroom sink, turned the ceramic black and destroyed the plumbing.

Bought a copy of Kurt Saxon's poor man's James Bond, use your imagination.

Burned the top out of a three hundred year old pine tree with a home brewed rocket launcher.

Blew a ten foot divot out of the yard by lighting some high octane down a yellow jacket hole.

Decided rolling down a huge hill in a D-9 tire was a good idea.

Shot a vulture that was overhead with a 308. OMG the smell!

Nearly killed myself working two jobs getting ready for Y2K.

Had a one night stand with my son's mother. gods help the boy, he's not only crazier than me, he thinks he might be a transgaynongender WTFever it changes weekly.

Have fun, I got more.

Go big or or go home!! Felt bad for Neb's folks but man, your poor parents, you were expensive