Author Topic: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.  (Read 95733 times)

BlueHouse

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #300 on: October 29, 2017, 06:12:47 PM »
leaned against a railing of a 2 story balcony which broke causing him to fall 2 stories (no broken bones, just very bruised)

Somehow that seems unfair, despite having done many riskier things where he probably escaped deserved injury.
I had someone fall off a balcony in their hotel room onto our patio while on spring break in Ft. Lauderdale in the mid-80s.  We held his hand until the ambulance arrived.  He fell onto a large decorative boulder on his back.  Couldn't move anything probably due to shock to spinal cord.  We heard he survived but we never knew if there was permanent paralysis.

cerat0n1a

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #301 on: October 30, 2017, 06:41:12 AM »
leaned against a railing of a 2 story balcony which broke causing him to fall 2 stories (no broken bones, just very bruised)

Somehow that seems unfair, despite having done many riskier things where he probably escaped deserved injury.
I had someone fall off a balcony in their hotel room onto our patio while on spring break in Ft. Lauderdale in the mid-80s.  We held his hand until the ambulance arrived.  He fell onto a large decorative boulder on his back.  Couldn't move anything probably due to shock to spinal cord.  We heard he survived but we never knew if there was permanent paralysis.

I was in hospital for a few days after getting struck by a car. The man on one side of me had fallen 120ft off a tower block he was working on, broken his neck, spine, arms & legs and had been in there for six months but was on the mend. He was full of life, real life and soul of the party - trying to chat up the nurses, listing all the things he was going to do when he got out. On the other side was a man who had jumped off a bridge in a failed suicide bid and broken both his legs and smashed up his face,. He was a bit quieter, as you might expect.

All irrelevant to the topic in hand, but it occurs to me that I'm probably the only one who has spent two years without the use of one leg as a child, due a rare bone problem.

jc4

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #302 on: October 31, 2017, 01:17:47 PM »
I've got a couple that are usually unique.
Dropped 17 lbs in 3 days (131>114).
Gained 16 lbs in 1 day and 31 lbs in 2 weeks (114>130>145).

Can I throw going 3.5 days with zero food, zero water, and heavy exercise in there?

I am really curious about the circumstances that led to all three of these things happening.

I would put the odds at 95% that he's a boxer, wrestler, or some other sort of fighter trying to make weight.

I've cut similar weights for tournaments (wrestling, jiu-jitsu, judo, muay thai) but was never given a whole day to gain it back (weigh ins were on the same day as the fight).  Also, I'm closer to 200 lbs.  Dropping 130 - 115 is much more difficult (and harder on the body) than dropping 200 - 185.

I lost 30 lbs in a week when I had blood poisoning . . . but that was kinda a near death experience, and it took me three months to put it back on.

You got it. Cutting weight for wrestling. And matches were same day as weigh ins. Drinking a half-gallon of water and I'd feel good to go in about an hour after weigh-in.

Primm

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #303 on: November 01, 2017, 03:03:23 AM »
I can't believe I forgot about this...

My boyfriend (who is 6' tall) and I slept in the trunk of my car which is a 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse, a small 2-door sports hatchback. In a parking lot.

I know many of you have slept in cars, but I'd be impressed if you did it with two people in a 2-door sports hatchback (and not in the front seats, doesn't count!)

Did it. In a 1990s Acura Integra with my 6'3" then-boyfriend on the side of the road between Phoenix and Vegas, after we found out his sister-in-law, whom we were going to visit, didn't want us to take my dog. Oh yeah, there was a Chihuahua sleeping in the car with us, too. A not-quite-potty-trained Chihuahua puppy who peed in the car by our feet. And somehow this all seems like a *good* memory now!

Did it. In a 1986 Mitsubishi Cordia Turbo with my then-fiance, now ex-husband. We had a communication breakdown around who was the designated driver at a BBQ with friends at the lake, so had to stay overnight.

Mrbeardedbigbucks

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #304 on: November 01, 2017, 05:15:20 AM »
I went foraging for truffles in Croatia and I dug up the 2nd largest truffle of the season.

AlanStache

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #305 on: November 01, 2017, 07:03:27 AM »
I went foraging for truffles in Croatia and I dug up the 2nd largest truffle of the season.

Do you have to bring your own pig or can you rent by the hour?  (I am in fact NOT banned from any pig rental agency ;-)  )

A Definite Beta Guy

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #306 on: November 01, 2017, 07:52:03 AM »
I've got a couple that are usually unique.
Dropped 17 lbs in 3 days (131>114).
Gained 16 lbs in 1 day and 31 lbs in 2 weeks (114>130>145).

Can I throw going 3.5 days with zero food, zero water, and heavy exercise in there?

I am really curious about the circumstances that led to all three of these things happening.

I would put the odds at 95% that he's a boxer, wrestler, or some other sort of fighter trying to make weight.

I've cut similar weights for tournaments (wrestling, jiu-jitsu, judo, muay thai) but was never given a whole day to gain it back (weigh ins were on the same day as the fight).  Also, I'm closer to 200 lbs.  Dropping 130 - 115 is much more difficult (and harder on the body) than dropping 200 - 185.

I lost 30 lbs in a week when I had blood poisoning . . . but that was kinda a near death experience, and it took me three months to put it back on.

You got it. Cutting weight for wrestling. And matches were same day as weigh ins. Drinking a half-gallon of water and I'd feel good to go in about an hour after weigh-in.

Been there, done that. Had to quit wrestling because I hated the weight management, especially since it was coupled with real heavy exercise. On weigh-in days, EVERYTHING looked like food.

I also didn't know anything about proper diet at the ripe old age of 15, so I am sure that was a contributing factor.

Poundwise

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #307 on: November 01, 2017, 08:11:14 AM »
  (I am in fact NOT banned from any pig rental agency ;-)  )

The fact that you haven't been caught yet doesn't mean you're not guilty.

Warlord1986

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #308 on: November 01, 2017, 08:12:15 AM »
When I was thirteen my parents took me to visit family in NYC. All of us went to a museum (a natural history museum? I can't remember) and my older brother was supposed to look out for me. He abandoned me and I hung out in the museum until closing time. Noticing that everyone was gone and probably back at the apartment. It was dark in a strange city and I was at that age when I dressed like a tart at any given opportunity. I walked some miles back and entered the apartment like a boss.

When I was eleven years old I was accosted by a high school kid on a bike. He told me he had a gun and I better give him some money. I told him to fuck off.

I was a hardcore li'l mofo back in the day.

I also passed out in the Amazon rainforest. Alcohol was not involved.

Edit: I also realized a childhood dream of mine and met Bruce Coville at a Writers' Conference. The conference sucked, but he was everything my inner nine-year-old knew he would be. <3
« Last Edit: November 01, 2017, 08:45:16 AM by Warlord1986 »

boy_bye

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #309 on: November 02, 2017, 04:13:11 PM »
One more thing just happened which I think is pretty unique?

An Australian witch accused me of plagiarism (wrongly) and a bunch of her witch friends threatened to hex me. ROTFL -- I seriously couldn't have made this shit up!

Dollar Slice

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #310 on: November 02, 2017, 05:17:41 PM »
One more thing just happened which I think is pretty unique?

An Australian witch accused me of plagiarism (wrongly) and a bunch of her witch friends threatened to hex me. ROTFL -- I seriously couldn't have made this shit up!

Wow! I hope you survive the hexes :-)  I saw that post last night in my FB feed... didn't know it was an MMMer!

401Killer

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #311 on: November 03, 2017, 11:37:00 AM »
I've been in a CNN documentary and on TV domestically and internationally a ton of times.

« Last Edit: November 03, 2017, 11:46:48 AM by 401Killer »

partgypsy

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #312 on: November 03, 2017, 11:58:22 AM »
leaned against a railing of a 2 story balcony which broke causing him to fall 2 stories (no broken bones, just very bruised)

Somehow that seems unfair, despite having done many riskier things where he probably escaped deserved injury.

I remember when my lil brother let me know about the accident (he was on the same balcony at the time, and saw the whole thing is slow motion), said something like "this time it wasn't his fault"

OurTown

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #313 on: November 03, 2017, 12:42:59 PM »
I arranged "Pictures at an Exhibition" and "Peter and the Wolf" for pipe organ and performed them.  I also set the text of the biblical Book of Revelation to music as an oratorio.

EMMoneY

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #314 on: November 03, 2017, 05:49:49 PM »
I was once the only woman in a week long 42-person meeting (we were all from tier-1 automotive parts mfgs) to discuss tactics to help get US vendors approved to make components for a specific Japanese auto manufacturer and 'teach' the corporation way of doing business.  Of the other 41 there were two other anglos: a bald man and an American of Italian descent with black hair.  The remaining 39 were Japanese men working in the US, 'stationed' at various facilities owned in part or in whole by the mother corp.  I'm blonde, with green eyes.  The Japanese, at least back then, worked all day long and well into the night.  We met for breakfast, had official meetings, had lunch together, more meetings, had dinner together, more meetings, then had 'entertainment' provided at whatever venue the mother company had chosen for the late evening.  I've never since been hit on that many times in so short a number of days.  Not many hold their booze well but they seem intent on drinking.  Fortunately a nice guy from the facility closest to where I worked stuck close stayed sober and told other guys to take a hike.  Apologized and explained that green-eyed blondes are considered exotic in Japan.  I hope he's well but I doubt it that was decades ago and he smoked like a chimney.

Jane Dough

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #315 on: November 05, 2017, 06:57:18 PM »
-Passed the May 1974 CPA exam with the minimum passing score of 75 on all four parts.
-Hopelessly sank into hip deep snow when my son and I were walking a desolate section of the      Athabaska glacier in Alberta,Ca .Due to my son's efforts I lived to write this today.
-Proud recipient of a tshirt for correctly reciting the Whopper jingle at a Burger King in Urbana,Illinois
-I used to bake 200 dozen Christmas cookies for holiday serving and sharing
-Worked as pollworker during the recent Presidential election and assisted a voter born with no arms or shoulders. She completed the 3 page ballot form ( neatly filling in ovals)with her feet,my assistance consisted of placing her  handbag back on her after reviewing her picture ID. We are without excuse if we fail to vote.
-Watched from my kitchen window as a mouse ran across our screened pool patio into the waiting mouth of a rat snake which was about 5 feet long
-Drove with son from Miami to Seattle for his internship,putting  5,000 miles on the car over 11 days due to much sightseeing




Abe

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #316 on: November 05, 2017, 09:25:40 PM »
Various trauma operations that are better left un-described.

More rewarding: removed a 17 inch tumor out of a patient's back who was having intractable pain from it. Now he doesn't! Woo!

Cache_Stash

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #317 on: November 06, 2017, 01:15:02 PM »
Drove solo from LA to Upstate NY in 54 hours.  48 Hours of driving, 6 hours sleeping on side of road.  I picked up a hitchhiker just outside of Denver and I asked him where he was going.  He told me Des Moines, Iowa.  I dropped him on his doorstep 14 hours after picking him up.  (Note: not sure of the 14 hours.  This was around 1991.  26 Years clouds the mind.  Amirite?)

DoubleDown

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #318 on: November 07, 2017, 04:16:33 PM »
I've got a couple that are usually unique.
Dropped 17 lbs in 3 days (131>114).
Gained 16 lbs in 1 day and 31 lbs in 2 weeks (114>130>145).

Can I throw going 3.5 days with zero food, zero water, and heavy exercise in there?

I don't mean to target anyone in particular or to be a jerk, but I find these kinds of extreme weigh-in measures to be ridiculous, unnecessary, and most definitely dangerous. I feel like if one can't compete in their own, proper weight class without going to these kinds of ill-advised measures, they're doing something wrong. We're not talking about the difference between fighting a 135-lb scrappy person and a 300-lb sumo wrestler; the weight classes are already granular enough that a few pounds shouldn't make a difference. Skill is 99% of the equation; the difference between fighting a 150-lb and 160-lb person is just not that great. Or, if you're normally a 170-lb fighter trying to beat up on 145-lb fighters in order to "win", what's the point?

On the danger side, it is easy to imagine someone becoming perilously dehydrated and going into shock doing heavy exercise with no food or water in three days. With no one around to administer aid, the results could be fatal.

RidetheRain

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #319 on: November 07, 2017, 05:06:00 PM »
I've got a couple that are usually unique.
Dropped 17 lbs in 3 days (131>114).
Gained 16 lbs in 1 day and 31 lbs in 2 weeks (114>130>145).

Can I throw going 3.5 days with zero food, zero water, and heavy exercise in there?

I don't mean to target anyone in particular or to be a jerk, but I find these kinds of extreme weigh-in measures to be ridiculous, unnecessary, and most definitely dangerous. I feel like if one can't compete in their own, proper weight class without going to these kinds of ill-advised measures, they're doing something wrong. We're not talking about the difference between fighting a 135-lb scrappy person and a 300-lb sumo wrestler; the weight classes are already granular enough that a few pounds shouldn't make a difference. Skill is 99% of the equation; the difference between fighting a 150-lb and 160-lb person is just not that great. Or, if you're normally a 170-lb fighter trying to beat up on 145-lb fighters in order to "win", what's the point?

On the danger side, it is easy to imagine someone becoming perilously dehydrated and going into shock doing heavy exercise with no food or water in three days. With no one around to administer aid, the results could be fatal.

Agreed. Please, please dpc don't ever do that again. The faceless people on the internet are worried about you.

GreenSheep

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #320 on: November 07, 2017, 05:13:00 PM »
I've got a couple that are usually unique.
Dropped 17 lbs in 3 days (131>114).
Gained 16 lbs in 1 day and 31 lbs in 2 weeks (114>130>145).

Can I throw going 3.5 days with zero food, zero water, and heavy exercise in there?

I don't mean to target anyone in particular or to be a jerk, but I find these kinds of extreme weigh-in measures to be ridiculous, unnecessary, and most definitely dangerous. I feel like if one can't compete in their own, proper weight class without going to these kinds of ill-advised measures, they're doing something wrong. We're not talking about the difference between fighting a 135-lb scrappy person and a 300-lb sumo wrestler; the weight classes are already granular enough that a few pounds shouldn't make a difference. Skill is 99% of the equation; the difference between fighting a 150-lb and 160-lb person is just not that great. Or, if you're normally a 170-lb fighter trying to beat up on 145-lb fighters in order to "win", what's the point?

On the danger side, it is easy to imagine someone becoming perilously dehydrated and going into shock doing heavy exercise with no food or water in three days. With no one around to administer aid, the results could be fatal.

I'm glad you brought this up because I always wondered about it, but I have zero knowledge or experience to back up my "Wow, that seems nuts" reaction. I remember watching the boys in my high school classes spit into empty soda cans all day and thinking it was crazy.

rye_machine

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #321 on: November 07, 2017, 06:41:07 PM »
I watched Chuck Norris's personal trainer, who is now a monk, give a sermon entirely in Latin, complete with lots of animated yelling, fire and sword waving. Also, he believes wholeheartedly he is the keeper of the holy grail.  It was a small, bizarre gathering.. I only feared for my life like 3 times. He made me take communion- I'm not even catholic.

GuitarStv

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #322 on: November 08, 2017, 08:00:56 AM »
I've got a couple that are usually unique.
Dropped 17 lbs in 3 days (131>114).
Gained 16 lbs in 1 day and 31 lbs in 2 weeks (114>130>145).

Can I throw going 3.5 days with zero food, zero water, and heavy exercise in there?

I don't mean to target anyone in particular or to be a jerk, but I find these kinds of extreme weigh-in measures to be ridiculous, unnecessary, and most definitely dangerous. I feel like if one can't compete in their own, proper weight class without going to these kinds of ill-advised measures, they're doing something wrong. We're not talking about the difference between fighting a 135-lb scrappy person and a 300-lb sumo wrestler; the weight classes are already granular enough that a few pounds shouldn't make a difference. Skill is 99% of the equation; the difference between fighting a 150-lb and 160-lb person is just not that great. Or, if you're normally a 170-lb fighter trying to beat up on 145-lb fighters in order to "win", what's the point?

On the danger side, it is easy to imagine someone becoming perilously dehydrated and going into shock doing heavy exercise with no food or water in three days. With no one around to administer aid, the results could be fatal.

It is dangerous, and you typically feel like shit after a cut.

I'm a very big fan of contests with weigh-ins close to your match time for this reason.  When cutting weight, if the weigh in was in the early morning and the match was in the late afternoon I could gain back the weight no problem.  If the weigh in was immediately before the match, there just wasn't enough time to gain the weight back.  You end up fighting weaker.  Closer weigh in times are the reason I gave up on cutting and moved up a weight class when competing in BJJ.

Anon in Alaska

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #323 on: November 23, 2017, 04:45:35 AM »
Drove 135 mph, in neutral, on a dirt road, north of the Arctic Circle.

Anon in Alaska

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #324 on: November 23, 2017, 04:57:57 AM »
While at an airport as a child I was reading a book. A man said "It looks as if you like to read. Would you like me to give you a book?" I said yes.
He gave it to me and wandered off. His book, now my book, turned out to have a rather large hunting knife (no sheath) inside of it!

It was also written in a language I did not recognize, maybe Sanskrit. I thought about telling security, but this would have required talking to security while having a hunting knife, so I ended up throwing the book and the knife away.

runbikerun

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #325 on: November 23, 2017, 05:05:35 AM »
While at an airport as a child I was reading a book. A man said "It looks as if you like to read. Would you like me to give you a book?" I said yes.
He gave it to me and wandered off. His book, now my book, turned out to have a rather large hunting knife (no sheath) inside of it!

It was also written in a language I did not recognize, maybe Sanskrit. I thought about telling security, but this would have required talking to security while having a hunting knife, so I ended up throwing the book and the knife away.

This was probably the beginning of an epic adventure spread across five films and a prequel series, and you threw it away?!?

ACyclist

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #326 on: November 23, 2017, 07:16:10 AM »
I've kayaked the 17 mile Napali coast leg in Kauai. 





partgypsy

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #327 on: November 23, 2017, 07:39:06 AM »
While at an airport as a child I was reading a book. A man said "It looks as if you like to read. Would you like me to give you a book?" I said yes.
He gave it to me and wandered off. His book, now my book, turned out to have a rather large hunting knife (no sheath) inside of it!

It was also written in a language I did not recognize, maybe Sanskrit. I thought about telling security, but this would have required talking to security while having a hunting knife, so I ended up throwing the book and the knife away.

This was probably the beginning of an epic adventure spread across five films and a prequel series, and you threw it away?!?

Thanks a lot potential Indiana Jones!

GuitarStv

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #328 on: November 23, 2017, 07:48:33 AM »
While at an airport as a child I was reading a book. A man said "It looks as if you like to read. Would you like me to give you a book?" I said yes.
He gave it to me and wandered off. His book, now my book, turned out to have a rather large hunting knife (no sheath) inside of it!

It was also written in a language I did not recognize, maybe Sanskrit. I thought about telling security, but this would have required talking to security while having a hunting knife, so I ended up throwing the book and the knife away.

This was probably the beginning of an epic adventure spread across five films and a prequel series, and you threw it away?!?

Thanks a lot potential Indiana Jones!

That knife and book . . . belong . . . in a museum!

Anon in Alaska

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #329 on: November 26, 2017, 06:55:57 AM »

That knife and book . . . belong . . . in a museum!

I assumed he was a hijacker who chickened out, and wanted someone to help him get rid of his knife.

change_seeker

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #330 on: December 04, 2017, 07:00:07 PM »
I was a test driver for a prototype skid-steer hybrid electric 6X6 vehicle built for the US Special Forces.  That in itself is fairly unique, but it gets more interesting.  We were proving out control theories at a National Guard facility on the East Coast.  One lane gravel road, one lane of grass on each side, and then a wall of trees.  At 45 mph the vehicle began to drift left, I applied steering correction, then full lock, then locked up the brakes.  These attempts to change course were in vain.  Fortunately I hit a 3 foot boulder at the edge of the trees, and the vehicle rolled 270 degrees back into the grass.  I say fortunately because it was an open cockpit, and I would probably not have lived to tell the tale had I ended up in the trees.

surfhb

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #331 on: December 04, 2017, 10:24:21 PM »
I witnessed an alleged Mossad Bombing of an alleged Palestinian money man while on the way to Gemco to buy an 8 track tape copy of AC/DC's Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.    Beat that suckas!

Apple_Tango

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #332 on: December 04, 2017, 11:25:47 PM »
Mostly posting to follow....

But I've got one? Kayaking through mangrove trees in Thailand when I was a teenager, my paddle got stuck between two trees horizontally but my kayak kept going. My face smashed into it and broke my braces off. Usually people just break them by chewing gum or something, so it was a pretty unique story to tell my orthodontist.
Also monkeys jumped on us and went through our backpacks, which was cool but a little scary at the time.




talltexan

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #333 on: December 19, 2017, 08:44:44 AM »
I've kayaked the 17 mile Napali coast leg in Kauai.

I love that coastline, got to take a raft ride.

Fitzy1

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #334 on: December 22, 2017, 10:11:59 AM »
Had a live boa constrictor wrapped around my body.

Roughly 10-15 feet long as I recall, though it's been over 20 years now.

I was in the boy scouts, and I forget the reason why, but we had a speaker come to the local middle school for a presentation. He had asked for volunteers. My father, thinking it was a joke, urged me to participate. Every time I exhaled, the snake tightened just a little. I'm guessing the snake had been fed prior to the exhibition, since I'm still alive.

Others, but likely I'm not the only one on the forum:

I taught myself how to lucid dream after watching Vanilla Sky and reading up on the subject. I've had 3-4 dreams where I was able to fly, which was really, really awesome to experience. I stopped practicing lucid dreaming before college, since it cut into my sleep quality.

Saw the ghost of my great-grandmother the night she died, but before anyone discovered she had passed. I don't blame you if you don't believe this though; since I don't believe most other folks ghost stories. I certainly believe roughly 0% of anything on TV.

I can trace my ancestry back to notable Viking Rollo Rothbrok (spelling?), recently made famous by the TV show "Vikings" as the main character Ragnar's brother. This was really cool to learn since I was a fan of the series for a couple of years before I traced my lineage. Hardly unique though, I'm guessing there are presently thousands of people who could make this claim.












Firehazard

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #335 on: December 22, 2017, 06:50:36 PM »
Jumped out of a perfectly good canoe, and swam for about 4 miles through a murky, alligator infested river in Florida.  Young, drunk and stupid.
« Last Edit: December 22, 2017, 07:08:59 PM by Firehazard »

cerat0n1a

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #336 on: December 23, 2017, 01:04:52 AM »
I can trace my ancestry back to notable Viking Rollo Rothbrok (spelling?), recently made famous by the TV show "Vikings" as the main character Ragnar's brother. This was really cool to learn since I was a fan of the series for a couple of years before I traced my lineage. Hardly unique though, I'm guessing there are presently thousands of people who could make this claim.

More like tens of millions, I would think, probably most people in the UK & Ireland would be descendants of his. Just about everyone who had children in Britain in the ninth or tenth century would be an ancestor of the current UK native population. Being able to produce a paper trail to show ancestry that far back is pretty unusual though.

Roger D

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #337 on: December 23, 2017, 02:28:24 AM »
I can trace my ancestry back to notable Viking Rollo Rothbrok...

More like tens of millions, I would think, probably most people in the UK & Ireland would be descendants of his. Just about everyone who had children in Britain in the ninth or tenth century would be an ancestor of the current UK native population. Being able to produce a paper trail to show ancestry that far back is pretty unusual though.
Good point. I can trace my ancestry back to William The Conqueror (1066), due to a link to a minor noble a few hundred years ago. Once you have a link to the nobility, it's straightforward to trace ancestry back further (even after taking into account suspected illegitimate children).

But millions of Brits must also descend from William The Conqueror, even if they don't know it. After all, it's 32 generations ago, and 2 to the power 32 is a very big number (even when you reduce it to allow for intermarriage).

marty998

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #338 on: December 23, 2017, 04:50:06 AM »
I can trace my ancestry back to notable Viking Rollo Rothbrok...

More like tens of millions, I would think, probably most people in the UK & Ireland would be descendants of his. Just about everyone who had children in Britain in the ninth or tenth century would be an ancestor of the current UK native population. Being able to produce a paper trail to show ancestry that far back is pretty unusual though.
Good point. I can trace my ancestry back to William The Conqueror (1066), due to a link to a minor noble a few hundred years ago. Once you have a link to the nobility, it's straightforward to trace ancestry back further (even after taking into account suspected illegitimate children).

But millions of Brits must also descend from William The Conqueror, even if they don't know it. After all, it's 32 generations ago, and 2 to the power 32 is a very big number (even when you reduce it to allow for intermarriage).

Practically everyone in Asia is descended from Ghengis Khan right?

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #339 on: December 23, 2017, 05:02:17 AM »
Wrote for a film score review magazine while in college. Also worked for a poetry press in college & due to that, got to befriend Jeff Tweedy (of Wilco). Attended Easter Vigil mass at the Vatican (lapsed Catholic at the time, now an agnostic). Some of the best experiences of my life.

cerat0n1a

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #340 on: December 23, 2017, 06:47:04 AM »
I can trace my ancestry back to notable Viking Rollo Rothbrok...

More like tens of millions, I would think, probably most people in the UK & Ireland would be descendants of his. Just about everyone who had children in Britain in the ninth or tenth century would be an ancestor of the current UK native population. Being able to produce a paper trail to show ancestry that far back is pretty unusual though.
Good point. I can trace my ancestry back to William The Conqueror (1066), due to a link to a minor noble a few hundred years ago. Once you have a link to the nobility, it's straightforward to trace ancestry back further (even after taking into account suspected illegitimate children).

But millions of Brits must also descend from William The Conqueror, even if they don't know it. After all, it's 32 generations ago, and 2 to the power 32 is a very big number (even when you reduce it to allow for intermarriage).

It's generally reckoned that everyone in England who's not a recent immigrant or descended from recent immigrants would have King John (of Robin Hood fame) as an ancestor from the 12th century - by similar maths to what you posted. When you get as far back as the Norman conquest, you've added another 4 generations.

gypsy79

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #341 on: December 23, 2017, 07:00:05 AM »
Climbed from the passenger seat to the roof of a moving car and laid face forward, holding on to the windows, while the driver took belly dropping hills and 60 mph country road straightaways.
I know no one else here has done that because no one else here is that stupid.

Michael? (If you are Michael, then I was the stupid, 16-year-old driver.)

Rosy

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #342 on: December 23, 2017, 09:42:23 AM »
Been mistaken as "oh and your wife" to more than one of my co-workers.

Did not get that, could you elaborate?

Simple been on business trips over the years and had hotel and or restaurant people mistake me as my co-workers spouse; this has happened with multiple co-workers.
It's happened to me too.  The fact that it can't be chalked up as a one-off for the purposes of this thread is testament to chronic sexism that sees a woman and sees a spousal appendage rather than an independent economic operator.

Am I missing something? It seems to me that if you're not wearing business attire and it's not lunchtime, it would be most reasonable for someone to guess that you're probably married if you're at a hotel or restaurant together. No one has ever assumed that my husband is my coworker; they always assume he's my husband. Of course if you're staying in different rooms at a hotel or requesting separate checks at a restaurant, then it would make more sense to assume you're probably not married and might, in fact, be coworkers on a business trip.

I'm a woman, and I understand that there are still areas of life where we are not treated equally to men, but I think this might be a case of looking for offensive action where none was meant. And in the long run, I think it makes people less likely to take our complaints about truly offensive situations seriously.

Really? You've never been the only woman in a business situation and of course you were taken for the wife? You've never had to work twice as hard or prove yourself to be smarter than your colleagues and then when the time came for a review and a raise you did not get the promotion? because -
 well - as was explained to me by my boss - "he" had a family to support and I was only a wife.

He said that straight to my face - perfectly nice guy and otherwise a great boss - "he" had a decision to make and he only had one promotion to give and yeah, well, he knew I was doing a better job, but still - I was not a family provider.
So I ask you, what would you have done?
Is this a situation that is perfectly acceptable in your book?

This was back in 1973 and I was smart enough to know that if I made waves it wouldn't get me anywhere - perhaps even make me unemployable. A woman raising a ruckus over a job and money - good god, what will they ask for next?:)

I did the next best thing, I talked to the lady in HR and told her I was looking for a new job asap. I did not want to give her the real reason, but she was older and experienced in such matters and in the end, I told her what really happened. She saw that sort of thing all the time, but also didn't make a fuss - it would have cost her her job and she was rather fond of it and nearing retirement.
However - I found myself the recipient of a mentorship and she found me a much better job with a significant raise.

But the thing is, it doesn't always end this well and job hopping back then was frowned upon - these are different times and things in the workplace have become easier for women. I am glad to see the sexual harassment wave - it is the next step and long overdue.
Certainly, the men are becoming uneasy over it or laugh and deny it away, but in a time when locker room boys abuse is openly talked about, I do think women have a chance of being heard in that arena as well.
It is always an ugly fight to speak up about taboo subjects, but if we want change, we have to be the change. (and no, Obama was not the one to originally come up with that slogan:)

We are just strangers on the internet and perhaps you are too young to appreciate the roadblocks the women of the 20th century have removed and fought for. Not to mention that the USA was one of the last countries to allow women the vote.
"Allow" - pffft!!!

Anyway, I just wanted to say that it saddens me to see a comment like this one from a woman - we should support one another - in any way we can.
Men close rank and the good ole boy network is alive and well - make no mistake about that.
The truth is that I have had women bosses that were even worse, because they tried to fit in so very hard - it is still a man's world, never forget that. It doesn't mean I can't go on and find ways to equalize my job, my pay, my world.
My decision was to pick a field that at the time was a man's prerogative - I was one of two women in a class of 32 to become a commercial underwriter. It was a good choice, but even then, a woman could only advance so far - those glass ceilings are real and will remain so in my opinion.

One last point, since you are on MMM I will assume that money and FIRE is important to you. The money lost over the years because of being paid less than a man can easily become a huge factor in retirement and certainly cost you years in reaching FIRE.
It may be an innocent assumption to be mistaken for a wife and as such no big thing, I agree with you there - but it shows where women stand in our society. Yes, I know the original comment was not about money - but the fact is - one thing leads to another.
So let's speak out and please do not be one more woman who accepts the status quo and seriously suggests not speaking out lest we are mistaken for that one woman in hundreds of thousands who speaks untrue.

Let's hope you never find yourself in a "truly offensive situation" whatever your definition of that might be. These things can get ugly and destroy your life. Even the "mild discomfort:)?" of loss of pay increases over several years or missing a promotion can result in having 25% or more reduction in income in retirement.
I never wished to be part of the statistic that shows women earned less so they have less to live on in retirement.

Anyway, I didn't mean to derail the thread, just to point out that one thing leads to another and because I have promised myself to never again let a statement such as this one stand unchallenged. Carry on:) ...

sol

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #343 on: December 23, 2017, 10:14:33 AM »
Rosy,

Thank you for sharing your story.  I think your perspectives are important for people to hear, especially if they're facing similar circumstances.

But as straight white male who has devoted his entire professional life to supporting the changes you want to see, I feel I should also point out that the following statement was pretty disappointingly sexist and discriminatory, and undermines your entire message.

Men close rank and the good ole boy network is alive and well - make no mistake about that.

Whenever you lump all members of a group together and then make negative and discriminatory commentary about that group, you are NOT "being the change" you are contributing to the larger problem.  At least, that's true if "the problem" is people who perpetuate discriminatory stereotypes.  Maybe not a problem if you just want to tear down one gender at the expense of the other but that's not really social justice, is it?

If we want to see real change in society, we all need to work on it together.  Women cannot change the world alone.  Minorities cannot change the world alone.  We need everyone to get on board, including people in my demographic, and you only alienate them with comments like that one.  It's totally fair to talk about the injustices you have experienced, and that continue to plague big parts of civic life, but it's not helpful to lay the blame for those sins at the feet of people who are personally not responsible and who may otherwise be open to supporting change. 

By way of analogy, if you are a white American then your ancestors are responsible for genocide against Native Americans but it doesn't help struggling native communities if I go around shouting "racist!" at every white person I see.  For some of them it's a fair description, but for the rest you do more harm than good by establishing and then reinforcing divisive social positions.  This is how we end up with the people like Richard Spencer, who thrive on that us vs them mentality.  That's not the way to fix things.

CoffeeR

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #344 on: December 23, 2017, 10:35:30 AM »
I can trace my ancestry back to notable Viking Rollo Rothbrok...

More like tens of millions, I would think, probably most people in the UK & Ireland would be descendants of his. Just about everyone who had children in Britain in the ninth or tenth century would be an ancestor of the current UK native population. Being able to produce a paper trail to show ancestry that far back is pretty unusual though.
Good point. I can trace my ancestry back to William The Conqueror (1066), due to a link to a minor noble a few hundred years ago. Once you have a link to the nobility, it's straightforward to trace ancestry back further (even after taking into account suspected illegitimate children).

But millions of Brits must also descend from William The Conqueror, even if they don't know it. After all, it's 32 generations ago, and 2 to the power 32 is a very big number (even when you reduce it to allow for intermarriage).
The MCRA (Most Recent Common Ancestor) of all humankind is a subject of research, but may be as little as 3000 years ago. There is both statistical and genetic evidence for this.

former player

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #345 on: December 23, 2017, 10:47:34 AM »
Rosy,

Thank you for sharing your story.  I think your perspectives are important for people to hear, especially if they're facing similar circumstances.

But as straight white male who has devoted his entire professional life to supporting the changes you want to see, I feel I should also point out that the following statement was pretty disappointingly sexist and discriminatory, and undermines your entire message.

Men close rank and the good ole boy network is alive and well - make no mistake about that.

Whenever you lump all members of a group together and then make negative and discriminatory commentary about that group, you are NOT "being the change" you are contributing to the larger problem.  At least, that's true if "the problem" is people who perpetuate discriminatory stereotypes.  Maybe not a problem if you just want to tear down one gender at the expense of the other but that's not really social justice, is it?

If we want to see real change in society, we all need to work on it together.  Women cannot change the world alone.  Minorities cannot change the world alone.  We need everyone to get on board, including people in my demographic, and you only alienate them with comments like that one.  It's totally fair to talk about the injustices you have experienced, and that continue to plague big parts of civic life, but it's not helpful to lay the blame for those sins at the feet of people who are personally not responsible and who may otherwise be open to supporting change. 

By way of analogy, if you are a white American then your ancestors are responsible for genocide against Native Americans but it doesn't help struggling native communities if I go around shouting "racist!" at every white person I see.  For some of them it's a fair description, but for the rest you do more harm than good by establishing and then reinforcing divisive social positions.  This is how we end up with the people like Richard Spencer, who thrive on that us vs them mentality.  That's not the way to fix things.
Thing is, sol, that ever since human beings first circumnavigated the earth (1522, yes I did have to look it up) the social, economic and political structures of the world have been set up by and for the benefit of able bodied, white, heterosexual men.  The legacy of those 500 years is deeply embedded, and the last 100 years of growing recognition of that fact has still only scratched the surface of entrenched privilege.

I see Rosy's statement about men closing ranks and the old boy network as a statement of that fundamental truth.   Are there men who are part of the change we want to see?  Absolutely.   A statement about the biased structures we all live under does not need to be, and should not be, taken to be a personal attack on our male allies.

Jenny Wren

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #346 on: December 23, 2017, 10:48:21 AM »
I helped pull a man out of a burning plane that had just crashed in the field by my high school. We were on the short 7 minute break between classes. We were also the "bad kids", using the break to go outside and smoke.

Our school was near a small air field and this plane came in low and crashed. It was surreal. There was five or six of us and we just started running toward it -- no discussion or anything. The plane was on fire when we got there and we moved things out of the way until one of the guys was able to get the unconscious pilot out. Emergency service from the airfield showed up a few minutes later, but by then the whole thing was on fire and the pilot would likely have been toast. We later heard he survived.

When we walked into the school, the school cop started yelling at us about being late and detention -- until the real officer walked in behind us and explained the situation. Needless to say, we didn't get detention. Probably the only time smoking saved someone's life, too.

sol

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #347 on: December 23, 2017, 10:51:07 AM »
The MCRA (Most Recent Common Ancestor) of all humankind is a subject of research, but may be as little as 3000 years ago. There is both statistical and genetic evidence for this.

On of my close relatives was on the cover of Time magazine for this research.  It's a much more complicated topic than most people realize, but the short version is that direct lineages from individuals are much harder to trace than originally hoped, even if you're doing straight maternal or paternal lines only.

In reality, we are all descended from (and contain genetic material from) millions of other people who's specific identities we don't know how to trace.  And just to complicate the whole thing, we each inherit different random portions from our two parents (and are all constantly mutating over time in tiny but sometimes significant ways), so that even people who have identical family relations to a known historic person can have vastly different genetic makeups.  All of the commercial dna sites are ignoring approximately 100% of your personal dna, and only testing for the tiniest little pieces of footnotes.

sol

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #348 on: December 23, 2017, 10:55:14 AM »
I see Rosy's statement about men closing ranks and the old boy network as a statement of that fundamental truth.   Are there men who are part of the change we want to see?  Absolutely.   A statement about the biased structures we all live under does not need to be, and should not be, taken to be a personal attack on our male allies.

I did not see in her statement a description of historical injustice.  I saw a stinging indictment of an entire group of modern day people, painted with a broad brush, applied to current living humans some of whom are present and participating in this discussion, and labeling them with a negative stereotype.  Not helpful!

It's the difference between saying "African American slaves in colonial America were illiterate" and "black people are stupid".  One is a description of a historical injustice.  The other is just racist and inflammatory.

runbikerun

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Re: Tell us one thing you have done that no one else here has.
« Reply #349 on: December 23, 2017, 03:47:35 PM »
It's the difference between saying "African American slaves in colonial America were illiterate" and "black people are stupid".  One is a description of a historical injustice.  The other is just racist and inflammatory.

No: it's not. It's the difference between saying "American society has been structurally organised in a way that privileges white people, and a lot of people are unwilling to acknowledge the benefits this brings them" and saying "white people are racist crackers". The point of comparison, when you're taking offence with something said about men as a group, is not the discriminated-against cohort.

There is a deep and fundamental difference between lumping together members of a discriminated-against grouping and lumping together members of a dominant class. Arguing that they're the same thing disregards the core point that's being made: it strips out centuries of social context and deeply entrenched prejudices and starts from the assumption that there's no difference between "men close rank" and "women are dumber than men". One is the problem: the other is an imperfect reaction to the problem.

But all of this may be of topic, so apologies for any derailing.

 

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