Sad but (not) ironic...

[REWahoo]

hey, you're the one who gave us something to do all day.

Mea culpa...

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

This thread has been very helpful to me - especially the part where we take the time to search for roofing deaths in various forms, deliberate as to whether satellite dish deaths qualify, and have Dex enlighten us that killing yourself by falling off a roof is the reason he "tries not to do stupid things."

Is this one classy board, or what?

"Best of the board" candidate?

P.S. I once was cleaning the second story window atop a big ladder. A hornet landed on my hand on the rung, at the same time my 10 year old son thought it would be fun to sneak into the room, crawl toward the window and jump up and scream to scare Daddy. I jolted to one side, somehow saved a fall by grabbing a shingle (which cracked but didn't break).

Unfortunately I still do stupid things.

 

[Meadbh]

I once knew an OB who fell off his own roof (trying to LBYM). He suffered multiple trauma and ended up in the ICU, where he had to observe an emergent cesarian section on a woman with ARDS (for people who are not Rich_in_Tampa, that's a life threatening lung condition). Of course the poor (stupid) OB was on a ventilator himself and couldn't do a thing to help.

After that, the OB made no further attempts to hang up his shingle.....

 

[Nords]

"REW enjoyed 25 years of retirement, spending time with his extended family and his hobbies. Sadly, he was retired for 30 years but as he knew, nothing is perfect."

The back pages of my alumni magazine always have at least a dozen obituaries, usually crafted by shipmates or classmates. There's even a full page of advice on how to write an obituary for a military audience and another one for a non-military audience.

So in our "What to do if we wake up dead" papers I've included a draft of my own obituary. (Wait until spouse finds that!) The military details make it easier for the actual writer to do the job without having to waste a lot of time getting it wrong, and it's a good way to focus on what I think is the important stuff in life. It was kinda fun to write, too, although not as much fun as "I told you I was sick"...

After that, the OB made no further attempts to hang up his shingle.....

You've been waiting a long time to get that punchline off your chest, haven't you?

 

[ERD50]

enough to make me question how we value the life of a roofer.

I think you need to focus on the irony part, not the fact that he was rich.

Euell Gibbons, natural foods advocate[SIZE=-1], died of 'natural causes'.

there must be more, all I can think of right now. - ERD50
[/SIZE]

 

[Achiever51]

I think you need to focus on the irony part, not the fact that he was rich.

Euell Gibbons, natural foods advocate[SIZE=-1], died of 'natural causes'.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=-1]there must be more, all I can think of right now. - ERD50[/SIZE]

At the time of his death, Dr. Adkins -- the Adkins Diet Doctor who created a high fat, low carb diet-- was obese, weighing nearly 260 pounds, and suffered a heart attack which may have caused his death.

 

[dex]

At the time of his death, Dr. Adkins -- the Adkins Diet Doctor who created a high fat, low carb diet-- was obese, weighing nearly 260 pounds, and suffered a heart attack which may have caused his death.

Not exactly correct
The Smoking Gun: Archive

 

[Sandy]

A great Sat night read. This group is endlessly entertaining. Beats anything on TV or the movie DH rented for himself and the kids. Thanks.

 

[Moemg]

Just last year a fairly young wife of one of the local doctor's died when she fell thru the roof while getting out christmas decorations.

 

[ERD50]

Well that kind of put a damper on the party

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

I think you need to focus on the irony part, not the fact that he was rich.

Euell Gibbons, natural foods advocate[SIZE=-1], died of 'natural causes'.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=-1]there must be more, all I can think of right now. - ERD50[/SIZE]

my sense of humor may be lacking but i fail to see the irony of a roofer dying from a fall. that's not irony, that's obvious. i mean, he's on a freaking roof; how did you think he'd die? his ironic death would have been if a roofer fell on him.

now that could have made national news without noticing his riches.

ps qualifying note: having spent most my entire life in the construction industry directly or tied to, i'm rather sensitive to construction-related deaths.

 

[ERD50]

my sense of humor may be lacking but i fail to see the irony of a roofer dying from a fall. that's not irony, that's obvious. i mean, he's on a freaking roof; how did you think he'd die? his ironic death would have been if a roofer fell on him.

now that could have made national news without noticing his riches.

You're right. I hadn't actually read the story, just the thread title and comments. Since the thread title had 'irony' in it, I figured it was an irony. But he was actually checking the construction of his own roof. I was thinking that he was up there, putting up Christmas decos or something unrelated to construction and he fell through a roof that his company constructed. That would be ironic - no?

I should be more careful with morbid humor, sorry - ERD50

 

[clifp]

Always found Jim Fix dying of a heart attack while running to be ironic.

Plus it had the added benefit of pissing off my marathon-obsessed ex-girlfriend

 

[ERD50]

Always found Jim Fix dying of a heart attack while running to be ironic.

That's the other one I was thinking of! Thanks, I can sleep now

Great way to justify a couch potato life-style. Forget the double-blind studies, this anecdote suits the bill - I'm stickin' with it!

-ERD50

 

[Meadbh]

You've been waiting a long time to get that punchline off your chest, haven't you?

Yes, but the story is true!

 

[Meadbh]

A great Sat night read. This group is endlessly entertaining. Beats anything on TV or the movie DH rented for himself and the kids. Thanks.

That's what keeps me coming back.

 

[dex]

my sense of humor may be lacking but i fail to see the irony of a roofer dying from a fall. that's not irony, that's obvious. i mean, he's on a freaking roof; how did you think he'd die? his ironic death would have been if a roofer fell on him.

I have to agree - the incorrect use of this word is one of my pet peeves. There there is so much of it going around these days. Remember when all the celebs were using "Penultimate" incorrectly? Now you hear "Conventional Wisdom" used as meaning correct; when it really means that which is generally assumed as correct by the masses but is in fact wrong.

Irony - incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result

 

[REWahoo]

OK all you irony purists, point taken and the thread title has been modified to reflect your objections.

I have the same reaction to the use of the term "mute" vs. "moot" but usually don't point those mistakes out as I don't want to be seen as pedantic. But that's a moot point I suppose.

 

[ERD50]

OK all you irony purists, point taken and the thread title has been modified to reflect your objections.

I thought maybe the irony referred to the fact that this rich guy came from humble beginnings, no silver spoon. And we never heard about any of his seven kids partying it up on the news:

Hendricks grew up hauling and laying shingles alongside his roofer father, leaving school in 11th grade to work two 40-hour-a-week jobs: one in a factory and one at an electric utility. In 1963 he launched a roofing business that seven years later would employ more than 500 workers. To keep those employees busy during harsh midwestern winters, he and his wife started hoovering up real estate, much of which they rehabilitated and sold.

-ERD50

 

[Nords]

... but usually don't point those mistakes out as I don't want to be seen as pedantic. But that's a moot point I suppose.

Only if you're the penultimate pedantic.

Later I'm going to have to try typing that after a couple frosty beverages...

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

i can't decide if it is ironic or pathetic that i don't understand why no one ever takes me seriously just because i'm always screwing around.

now eyerony is sometimes in the i of the beholder. to think that a roofer should know how to keep from falling off a roof, yet falls, is indeed irony. but to know how dangerous it is to be a roofer, then when a roofer falls off a roof, it is not irony.

however, it is always irony when the roof falls on the roofer. (unless of course you're the guy who shored up the roof. in which case, it is simply liable.)

 

[calmloki]

Quote:
Originally Posted by REWahoo
... but usually don't point those mistakes out as I don't want to be seen as pedantic. But that's a moot point I suppose.

Only if you're the penultimate pedantic.

Later I'm going to have to try typing that after a couple frosty beverages...
__________________

Is the ultimate pedant going to remain mute?

 

[HFWR]

"REW entertained thousands daily with his trademark [-]deadpan[/-] bedpan delivery."

There...