As I hobble around the office here, hopped up on vicodin, waiting for another set of x-rays at 10:15 I offer you this.
Maintain your temper...
It all began with the painting of the bike last week. Everything went as it normally does. I get crap in the paint and it starts looking bad. Then there's the PERFECT tank shell which was done without so much as a single flaw. It fell on the floor...
After all of this, I was getting the bike ready to take to the open house on Saturday at Lake Country Powersports (my main sponsor). I picked up the bike from drucker (chassis optimized) on Friday morning and only had to paint the front fender before assembling.
I painted the front fender and it was gorgeous. I mean PERFECT... I put it in the garage under some heat to expedite the drying time. The whole family avoided the fender. Even the dogs stayed away from it. Then my boy comes running into the garage and trips over it, sending it flying across the floor.
Now, I'm one to cuss and yell, but I don't hit things or throw stuff. Until now... I reared back and kicked my tool chest. (right foot) About 5 seconds later I was on my back wondering if I would puke or pass out from the pain shooting up to my knee.
I got a set of X-rays and they said it's not broken, but here I am 3 days later and I still can't move it or put any pressure on it. It's swollen a good bit, and my foot is bruised quite heavily across the toe joint.
Insult to injury, the fender was dry enough that it didn't really screw it up.
I'm pretty sure something isn't right in it, but I should be able to hobble onto a bike on Fri, Sat & Sun. We shall see...
This has to be the dumbest thing I've ever done...
hey.. crap like that gets the best of us sometimes. Heal up quick bro. :)
After spending most of my life maintaining machines I've learned to walk away before letting emotions get hot...
I once watched a guy freak out about a valve cover or something not fitting on his Chevy Nova. He decided to take a swing at a mirror... I've never seen that many stitches on any one body part before or since. If you're hurried or stressed you're going to screw stuff up.
There have been many times this off season when I had a bit of trouble getting something to fit my bike. I can think of two instances where I was so close to punch'n somrthing. Your story may keep me from doing that in the future. I hope you heal up fast and good luck this weekend.
OUCH! Jeff, I hope your foot is going to be okay!
I TRY to stay calm when things go wrong. It's hard for me to stay angry for very long.
Although I did send a pair of gloves and a boot into the back of the trailer at maximum velocity yesterday. :-[
Stories like this are why I never hit or throw things.. I don't know man, temporary insanity...
Anyhow, NEXT year I will avoid this by starting earlier. 4 years ago I was ready in October. 3 years ago, it was late December. And it's been getting closer and closer ever since.
This crap of rushing at the last week ends now... Lesson learned...
Bummer Jeff - hope it heals quickly. It really only takes ONE time to let your temper get the best of you... you won't let THAT happen again!
Years ago, driving one of my cars (my hobby at that time was tinkering with Dodge Omni GLH Turbos) - car started giving me problems on my way home from work, after I had just spent the better half of a week getting it running right. As I got closer to home, the car got worse and worse... and I was getting more and more steamed.
I finally limped it into the garage, got out of the car, and in an attempt to let out some aggression - SLAMMED the door.
The resulting explosion of glass EVERYWHERE made me realize that was a pretty stupid move ;) Now I make sure to walk away before I get to that point.
So I just got back from Dr Twist-n-Poke. Man, I love her... She laughed at me and told me to think about it as I suffered through the pain.
Says it's not broken. Bruised like hell, yes, but not broken. Says I can race but should tape it up good...
You've got to get Queue a camera or video recorder. That would have been awesome to see realtime. :P ;D
QuoteYou've got to get Queue a camera or video recorder. That would have been awesome to see realtime. :P ;D
Jack, You slay me! ;D ;D
QuoteYou've got to get Queue a camera or video recorder. That would have been awesome to see realtime. :P ;D
I'm sure I could have won 10g with it off of AFV or some crap... Of course, it would have been like an episode of the Osbournes as I dropped about a million F-bombs before, during and after...
And if I were to get him a video recorder, he'd do crap like this on purpose! No need to tempt him. He gets in enough trouble!
QuoteThis has to be the dumbest thing I've ever done...
Nah, I'd say it was the second dumbest. #1 would have to be posting the story on the Internet for everyone to laugh at. :P ;D
Does this qualify you for the Mr. Potato Head Award? :o ;D
QuoteNah, I'd say it was the second dumbest. #1 would have to be posting the story on the Internet for everyone to laugh at. :P ;D
We could file this under a "Life Lesson" thread. ;)
Dawn :D
What good is stupidity if it can't be shared? ;D
I can soooo relate. Dropped my bodywork off at my paint sponsor after pre-mounting and drilling it, and carefully taping the front number plate exactly the way I wanted it. Waited FIVE DAYS to get it back, then put a slight scratch in the front fender while installing it! Man, I was just livid... ;)
Ah, and this is one of the reasons why I don't paint my own bodywork.
I'm a pretty happy guy.
But, in 2001, my GSXR600 was giving me fits. Not my fault. I was running up front in many races, then it would just kind of run out of fuel. My dealer said Suzuki claimed it was the black box, and they had to charge me for it. I felt in my heart that it wasn't the black box...my racer intuition.
So, I'm in GTU and I'm in second doing a good pace. Waiting to see what happens.
On lap two, it starts slowing down...engine stops running as I'm going into seven. I head for the grass. I hear the corner workers say something about fire and smoke.
I stop, get off the bike, and it is in fact on fire. I'm staring at the workers looking for a fire extinguisher, but no one seems very motivated to do anything. Finally, it gets put out. I'm pretty unhappy, and I'm getting more and more fumed. I get to the drop off point by the bathrooms at Blackhawk so that the bike can get all the extinguisher fallout washed off.
Someone takes the bike from me. Lets me just fume some more. At this point, I'm ready to hurt something. The helmet comes off. I know better than to throw that, so I get my glove off and take a good hard swing at the floor of my trailer's ramp door along with an explative.
Broke my right hand instantly. ;D Try riding with that...LOL!
Now I feel better! Thanks Dave :D
Sing it with me brothers & sisters! I'm stupid, but I'm not alone!!!! ;D