Forehead Smack Moments
 

Somewhere, in the last two weeks, I was shooting photographs. At some point, I decided to switch from my 18-70mm zoom and use my 50mm fixed lens. Something, I think, must have distracted me and somehow I just kept on shooting.

Someplace, I left my Nikon lens sitting, glass down, and there it remained.

:banghead:

I didn't realize it until tonight when I noticed the empty pouch in my camera bag. It is gone. Long gone. Forever. Some lucky person picked up a nice piece of glass for free. This has to be the biggest, most expensive mistake I've ever made.

:cuss:

...well, biggest and most expensive mistake that involved my money.

God dammit. It's not even the loss of the lens or the money I paid for it, it is just that I forgot it and was that absent minded at that moment with something that important. Somebody smack me, hard.

350 miles after I took a light reading with my pentax 1º digital spot meter, I stopped the car for another photo op and looked to see nothing where the meter should have been. ouch.

That was about 15 years ago. I still feel dumb. More recently I drove of with my lens caps and lens spanner on the roof. Glad it wasn't the lens.

All is not necessarily lost, Kitsune.

Walking out of the local Fred Meyer (a superstore with groceries and department store type goods), I heard something beepbeepbeepbeeping as I walked past an ATM with a Visa Card poking out of the slot. I took the card and walked into the bank (the little inside the store mini branch) of the bank sponsoring the ATM, and asked them if they knew how to reach the customer on the card (it was the same bank on the card). They said they could and would return the card to their customer.

Now, that was just yesterday, so I don't know if it's back to the owner yet, but people *do* turn in orphaned valuables. It does happen.

footfootfoot's story reminded me of another found tale.

On a curve in the road was something...I pulled over and checked it out--someone's camera bag, tripod, batteries, spare memory cards, all the paraphenilia *but* the camera. It appeared that somebody pull off the road, got the camera out, put the bag on the roof, took the picture, got in the car and drove off. The bag made it halfway through the next curve in the road.

They had a business card in the bag (good idea!) and I contacted them, verified the info and mailed the kit. I'm not bragging, I'm just saying it happens. It could happen to you.

My dad's friend had a story like that... he found a (man's) ring on the bathroom sink at a casino, with a big expensive jewel in it. His theory was someone took it off to wash their hands, and forgot to put it back on. Being a practical man, he let the staff know he had found "a ring", and told them if anyone came looking for it and could describe it to him he'd promptly return it to them, but he would not be handing it over to the relatively-low-wage staff behind the front desk. He was there for another several days, and checked back repeatedly, but no one claimed it.

So he kept it, and wore the ring for ten years.

Finally, on another vacation to Vegas, he took the ring off to wash his hands in the bathroom, and accidentally walked out without it. Moments later he rushed back, but it was gone. He didn't bother inquiring if anyone had found it, he figured it was just time for the ring to move on. :)

Well, I had a nice little GPS unit that I placed on the roof of my car to get satellite info. I forgot that I had put it there and my GPS now resides forlornly somewhere on a Wild Mustang Preserve near the Utah border or else some rancher or hunter is happily using it. If the latter is true, can't say as I blame the person who found it since there was nothing on the GPS that would clue a person in to its owner.

On the other hand, my driver's license once fell out of my coat pocket on a dirt back road near Blanding, Utah when I'd stopped to take a rest break and walk around a little. A few weeks later I got my license back in the mail from a resident of Naturita, Colorado who also had stopped at the same pull-out and discovered my license lying on the ground.

Last night b/f and I were talking about Brunei - something to do with one man, the Sultan of Brunei owning a whole country - and I turned around and said to b/f, 'Is Brunei a democratic nation?' b/f said, 'No, it's a kingdom'. D'oh! That was a head smacker if I ever had one.

Don't have any camera stories. Sorry. :)

OMG - BigV's story just reminded me of something that happened this summer (bear with me - it's funny in my sick mind)
We have a population of about 8-9 thousand people. During tourist season we can easily double the amount of people in town and we only have 3 banks within tourist reach that have ATM machines.
OK so here's the story. I refused to carry a purse/ wallet at the time (I do now, but I don't like it). My ATM card was normally carried in my back pocket, and because of that it had curved a wee bit in the shape of my derriere. Late one evening I put the card into the bank ATM machine, and it jammed due to the curvature. I couldn't get the card out!
The next day there were tourists lined up at least 20 deep... all trying the ATM that wouldn't work.
I was too embarrased to go to the bank and ask for my card back.

About 15 years ago I went to use a cashpoint and found it was already on the withdrawal screen. I wasn't sure if what I was seeing was true, so took the option to withdraw £10.

At that point I realised that someone had simply walked away from the cashpoint leaving their card in there. So I removed the card and got my b/f to hand it in - with the money - at the local police station. I thought he looked more honest than me :)

Fast forward to last year when I made a withdrawal from my account, took my card and walked away without taking my money.... The man behind me in the queue ran after me, crossing a busy road in order to return it. Cashpoint karma.

No camera story, but I did drop an uninsured mobile down the toilet. I had a stack of books in my hands with the phone on top and went into the bathroom to get a tissue. In slow motion I watched the phone slide off the books and into the open toilet. How many times did I replay that in my mind, with a different ending...?

Recently, I had computer problems. At first, I thought Windows just needed to be repaired. I couldn't locate my original XP home disk or product key, so I bit the bullet and bought a new one. I unwrapped it, put it in the drive, but when I turned it on, it wouldn't boot. I took the computer to the shop, and the man asked for the disk and product key code, which was on a sticker affixed to the cellophane wrapper - WHICH I THREW OUT! I thought it was just the price tag and bar code. :headshake :rar: So I had to buy ANOTHER XP home - yes, the third one for the same goddamn computer. http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/sp...smiley-008.gif

Spexxvet, that's not :smack:, that's karma trying to save you from yourself, despite your best intentions.

one time when i was in El Paso dropping off a fare, i was distracted by a ramp rat (a line service representative for the airport) while i was preflighting. well, damn this is stupid, i forgot to replace the oil dipstick and close the hatch on the cowl. i did the rest of my walk-around and never caught what i'd done until after take-off and noticed the hatch flapping in the wind. "uh-El Paso tower, N12345 has an open hatch - negative emergency - just need to return to the airport." i taxied back to where i parked, picked up the dipstick and put it back. heh, yeah, i sure felt like a dipstick for that one! :smack:

I hope you fished it out and dried it out - I've put a mobile phone through the washing machine and it worked once it dried out afterwards!

Some guy tried to retrieve his a few months ago on the metro north train out of NYC. Got his arm stuck in the john. tied up the train for hours. all the others too.

metro north intended to sue him for expenses and lost revenue. Not sure of the outcome, but I hope they won.

I tried it a couple of times over the next few weeks, but it never worked again properly - very impressed that yours did!

I had a pager that recovered from a toilet dunking, but the speaker was never quite the same. It was more of a whisperer than a pager after that.

At least it fell in post flush.

Must have been the toilet water. :(

I am waiting a call from a student today, to arrange for him to come and collect his phone.

I found it on my way home last night, and promptly used it to call "Home" to reassure the person that their phone was safe and well. If it hadn't been giving off a low battery warning I probably would have waited for a decent hour, but I figured they'd be happy to hear from me, even though it was late.

Oops.
"Home" to a student is the home of their parent. I got a poor old Dad out of his bed with a random story about a found mobile. He tried to contact his son all night and finally got him at 04.00...

From trying to be a Good Samaritan I think I actually caused more trouble.

Nah. You may have been a catalyst, but the father and son caused their own trouble.

my precioussssss
 

Reading yesterdays horoscope too late

Today's Outlook for
Monday March 05, 2007
Yesterday |TODAY| Tomorrow

The Sun's annual conjunction with Uranus, the most unusual planet in our solar system, can rattle our metaphysical windows and shake our emotional walls. Even the Moon's entry into polite Libra at 4:25 am EST isn't enough to moderate this wild and unpredictable energy. Still, we should think twice before acting in a potentially offensive manner. :smack:

One ring to rulle them all...

Reading horoscopes
 

Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 11:00 pm
Cancer:

Partnerships can be tricky, and right now you're feeling some tension with someone you have to work with. Problems from the past are resurfacing, and you're having a hard time forgiving and forgetting. You may need a bit more time to cool off, so if you can postpone this joint task, you should. If you can't, then the two of you need to agree to disagree so you can work together toward a larger goal. Be rational, not emotional -- and get busy.

:redface:

I remember leaving my 126 Kodak Brownie camera on a bench at the Trevy Fountain in Rome in 1964. I was 8 and when we had left and I realized that I had forgotten it, it was too late. We went back and looked and it was not there. My dad got mad at me and said something about how I should never have been entrusted with such a valuable camera.

Not quite the same value as your loss but at that age it sure seemed big.

Remember folks, pay it forward. Your good deeds will come back to you. Good Karma.

Not when he finds out she ratted him out to the old man. :lol:
btw, welcome to the Cellar if you haven't been. No, even if you have been.

About 15 years ago, my daily driver was a big old, formerly indifferently maintained, six-cylinder Ford Falcon. G/f & I decided one weekend to drive to my parents property in the sticks, about 250km away. Being a clever lad, I remembered to top up the oil, check the tyre pressures etc before we left.

About half way into the trip there, I got a flat - the front nearside. When I jacked the car up I saw a big smear of oil all down the inner guard and under the car. Further investigation revealed an absent oil cap and no oil reading at all on the dipstick. I'd left it off when I checked it earlier.

Luckilly, I had a full bottle of oil in the boot, so I refilled the engine and luckier still, found that the oil cap had become wedged in the engine bay and not got lost on the road somewhere. The journey was completed without further incident.

Conclusion: With karmic help, I'm almost smart enough to counteract my own stupidity.

Heh.

My first car, my first love, was a Triumph TR250. It ran like a scalded dog. 2.5 liters of straight six power, dual Strombergs (with whom I had an unbreakable non-aggression pact: I didn't fuck with them and they didn't fuck with me), and that tiny car (I could reach both outside door handles at the same time from the driver seat) (I could place my palm on the pavement and still see over the dash) (small and light)... [/reverie]

Anyway, I washed it, I cleaned it, I tuned it I loved that car to death. Once, during the summer, I had the hood open, and noticed a drip of oil. I traced the source of the oil the the 1/8 inch semi-rigid nylon line from the sending unit on the block to the oil pressure gauge in the dash. There was a minute crack in the line, and the oil naturally seeped out of the crack.

I *needed* the oil gauge so I decided to tape over the crack. Stop laughing, I was 16? 17? I taped it real good too. My dad wandered over and observed that a better idea would be to just back the line out of the little brass fitting in the block, insert a machine screw in the hole, and drive it with no oil pressure gauge until I got a replacement line.

Dad! I am taking care of this. I have cleaned and taped this very thoroughly. It'll be fine.

Ok.

I should say that about this time my dad was going through some mental problems, and was about as sharp as a pound of wet liver. About as smart as a box of rocks. He made a miraculous recovery as I aged a few years, miraculous I tell you.

Back to the story...I took the patched TR out for a drive in the mountains. We lived in Southern California at the time and I decided to make a circle trip up I15 through the Cajon Pass and up into the mountains, through Big Bear, Arrowhead, Crestline. Man, that's some pretty driving country, and especially so in the California summer in a convertible. Heaven. That sweet throaty growl as I wound up and down through the gearbox, the pop pop pop after I double clutched and downshifted for the next turn, I miss it still. Rowwwwwwrrrrrrrr, I'm sure some of you remember that sound fondly as the car is slowed by the engine braking when you're off the gas and in gear.

But something was wrong this time. It went Rowwwwrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. pffffft. Now coasting. Into the parking lot of a NAPA auto parts store. Karma can be brutal.

Yes. The tape patch was utterly worthless. No, it was sufficient to slow the leak until I was ALL THE WAY INTO THE MOUNTAINS before it permitted the last life sustaining drop of oil to seep between the well lubricated layers of tape on that oil line.

The tow truck trip was about $250.

The new engine was about $650 (and I lost the chrome valve cover and got a dumb red one instead :()

The lesson that Father *does* know best was priceless, and he never ever said I told you so. I can only hope to have a recovery as miraculous as his.

Middle of a tropical storm... if you have not been in one, you cannot imagine the rain. "just jumping out" for a "sec" to give a friend a fiver before heading home.
This is before the days of cell-phones, AAA (I was about nineteen) for me, and around ten at night and I live in a small town (no one was around, the friend was working and could not leave).
I realized that I felt the lock depress under my hand as I closed the door to my running, lights on, wipers on, radio on, vehicle just as I heard the slam of the door.
I had to hold the car to stand, water washes over my ankles, the streetlights go out...

Erm, did you happen to ....ahh...look at the pictures or text messages on there??

There's some really interesting things on other peoples phones :blush:

I'd die if anyone found mine.

I used to landscape under the summer sun in south Georgia on the fairly expansive grounds of a large hospital complex. One day, while digging a hole to plant a tree, I heard the unmistakable clank of shovel on metal. More like a *tink* than a clank, I suppose. I put the shovel down and moved some clay around and what did I find but a military dog tag. I dusted it off, cleaned it up and took it home to show my father - a career Army CSM. FF to the end - it belonged to a WWII vet who had since passed on but my father tracked down his son and gave it to him.

The local fishwrap published a big article on it. Apparently, the family had lived on the grounds long before the hospital was built - it had been underground for at least 30 years.

Just got a call from Reception. The young man dropped off a bottle of white wine for me. Some people are just lovely.

Wow...that is wonderful. Around here, you can't even get a thank you wave when you let a car go ahead of you.

Good karma-girl! :)

SG put the Karma in Chameleon.

Well, if you hadn't been driving on my road, I wouldn't have had to wait for you to tell me to go ahead of you. Is that the look they give you? I've seen way to much of that. ;)

A very cool story and a very cool dad to do such a nice thing.

My second car was a Chrysler sedan with a slant six. In hind site a great car, the thing just worked for 150K, even if it was as boring as plain white bread without butter. On one occasion I drove it to Southern California (from the interior of BC) and back. Being such a long trip I was extra vigilant checking all those things you father told you needed to be checked before leaving: oil, P/S fluid, trans fluid, tire pressure, all the exterior lights, diff fluid, the works.

Now the intake manifold on a /6 is something to behold. The engine is fed by a single carb set a significant distance from the head so the runners are ridiculously long, you can serve a three course meal on the thing. It was only when I checked the oil in Portland that I noticed the transmission dipstick laying on top of the intake manifold. Apparently I got distracted way back in BC and never actually put it back after checking the fluid level.

Maybe he saw your pictures on the Cellar.:rolleyes: