What was your silliest mistake ever

[fred the great]

Whilst we are talking about silliest fettling bike mistakes can we have non bike related mistakes?

I'll join later but I have just recalled that there was an Engineer at my Office who told me once that mice has got inside  the Durex Machine and it wasn't working.

It was a Zerox Copier

Was that his silliest? I didn't ask

[BornAgainCyclist]

In the past 64 years I've said and done so many stupid things I could fill the YACF server.
Classic No.1 was driving onto the beach at Inch Strand (Southern Ireland) to watch the Sun go down with my girlfriend in her car. The incoming tide was getting close to the car, I started the engine to reverse up the beach to find the car had sunk up to its floorpan in sand. I managed to persuade some kind sole in the village to pull us out with a tractor - just in the nick of time.  We had to tunnel under the back of the car to get a tow rope around the live rear axle.
Classic No.2 was while waiting astride my bike to start a junior road race near East Grinstead.  On seeing a very attractive girl among the bystanders I remarked to the rider alongside how much I would like to "sh*g the *rse off that", (well I was only about 18 at the time).  He replied "that's my fiancé".  The race started a few seconds later and I immediately roared off up the road on a one man break (to be caught a few miles down the road).

[bikepacker]

Turning down Lowrey's Factory Gates painting for a knock down price, just a few weeks before he died.

[clarion]

Would have been worth a bit...

Probably more if it had been Lowry

[numbnuts]

leaving Australia
getting married
and giving her (the ex) the house
not taking up cycling sooner all those years wasted

[bikepacker]

Would have been worth a bit...

Probably more if it had been Lowry

Clarion, please let me off with the creative spelling of his name.

[tiermat]

Getting married the first time (but not the second)
Getting caught
Trying to get up for a pee after my op.....

[Chris S]

leaving Australia

or in my case, not taking up a sniff of a job in Melbourne.

[gordon taylor]

Like numbnuts - not taking up proper cycling a lot sooner.

[CAMRAMan]

Deciding that a wet fireman's pole (fnarr, fnarr!) was the best way to descend a 2-metre-high children's climbing frame in the rain. There was a rope down, there was a slide down, but no, I had to take the pole. As soon as I put my full weight on it, I inevitably slipped and my torso rapidly descended, leaving my legs to buckle very painfully at the knee and my entire weight to fall onto my ribs, breaking 3 of them.

Oh, and it was in Budapest, where the hospital was decidedly third world.

And the ambulanceman's diagnosis of broken ribs was to give me a hug to check.

And I had to go to the ante-natal ward (in an ambulance over many speed humps - in agony) to have an ultrasound to check for internal injuries. Joy!

[oncemore]

Passing my 11+

[Torslanda]

Turning down the chance, at 18, to own and run my own bike shop. Where I already worked.

ALL TOGETHER NOW!

YOU *$%^&ng IDIOT!

That's on a par with the bloke who said the Beatles weren't worth signing or Lord Rootes turning down the Volkswagen cos 'no one would ever buy that funny little car!'

J

[ed_o_brain]

The biggy has to be marrying someone whose ideals I couldn't possibly live up to.

Generally, has to be spending too much time talking and not enough time listening.

[Justin(e)]

leaving Australia

I'm going to fix that in May.  (Been in the lovely UK for 10 years, but it's time to return. )

getting married

No idea how I am going to fix that. (I messed it up last year)

and giving her (the ex) the house. 

Don't regret that. (It was fair - in the circumstances.)

not taking up cycling sooner all those years wasted

not applicable (I took it up young.)

[Greenbank]

Not selling the shares when everyone else was (and it was so obvious that I should have sold).

Thank **** I'm not financially motivated.