Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Fell off Ladder - What an Idiot!
Old 06-20-2005, 02:50 PM   #1
 
Posts: n/a
Fell off Ladder - What an Idiot!

An alder tree had been bent over by a recent storm, and was leaning on the house. I put the ladder against it from the side, and figured that when I cut (above where the ladder was resting), it would move down a bit, since it was no longer supported by the house.

Instead it sprung up, so that the ladder was all by itself in the air, with me at the top. Watched everything happening in slow motion. Almost broke the leg (twisted through the ladder), but came out with only major bruises and minor cuts.

Guess I'm just as stupid as those guys you see on AFV.

  Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Re: Fell off Ladder - What an Idiot!
Old 06-20-2005, 03:33 PM   #2
Full time employment: Posting here.
flipstress's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 538
Re: Fell off Ladder - What an Idiot!

Sorry to hear about your accident, but glad that you are not hurt too badly.
flipstress is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Fell off Ladder - What an Idiot!
Old 06-20-2005, 03:36 PM   #3
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
REWahoo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,004
Re: Fell off Ladder - What an Idiot!

Quote:
Originally Posted by TromboneAl
Instead it sprung up, so that the ladder was all by itself in the air, with me at the top.
Suggestion: Stick with the trombone, and don't try playing the saw....

REW
__________________
Numbers is hard
REWahoo is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Fell off Ladder - What an Idiot!
Old 06-20-2005, 03:39 PM   #4
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Eagle43's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: DFW
Posts: 2,016
Re: Fell off Ladder - What an Idiot!

You can't fly; you're not an eagle.
__________________
Resist much. Obey Little. . . . Ed Abbey

Disclaimer: My Posts are for my amusement only.
Eagle43 is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Fell off Ladder - What an Idiot!
Old 06-20-2005, 03:56 PM   #5
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: No. California
Posts: 1,858
Re: Fell off Ladder - What an Idiot!

Glad you landed ok. I always feel like an accident waiting to happen when I'm on a ladder.

Probably would have made a good video...
KB is online now   Reply With Quote
Re: Fell off Ladder - What an Idiot!
Old 06-20-2005, 05:56 PM   #6
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
wabmester's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 4,459
Re: Fell off Ladder - What an Idiot!

Now we know the real reason retirees die sooner than working stiffs.

My neighbor did the same thing about a month after he retired.

I get in all sorts of trouble myself. Most recently, I drilled a hole through the hot water pipe after my stud finder told me it found a stud for me to mount a towel rack.
wabmester is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Fell off Ladder - What an Idiot!
Old 06-22-2005, 12:00 PM   #7
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
cute fuzzy bunny's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Losing my whump
Posts: 22,708
Re: Fell off Ladder - What an Idiot!

My grandpa used to be a painter (among other things). He told in my early 20's to never get up on a ladder I didnt want to fall off of, because sooner or later that would happen. We werent talking about painting or actual ladders at the time, but the sentiment goes well with many risk taking situations. Subject was actually a prospective girlfriend.

I did fall off a ladder once, but I must have been loaded with good karma. I had a 40'er at too long an angle because I had to clear a lower roof and reach a gutter on an upper roof. Second mistake was it was sitting on a sloped driveway, sloping the wrong way. I nearly reached the gutter when it started to slide. Slowly. Slid down until it hit the lower roof, then started sliding off that. I said "Swell, I'm going face first into the driveway. I turned over onto my back with my feet on the same rung and my hands on the rails. When the ladder cleared the lower roof and started the actual fall, I was only ~6' off the driveway. Hopped off and over the side and landed on my feet. My neighbor across the street said he was going to run into the house to get a sign with "9.7" written on it and hold it up. Said I needed to "stick" the landing a little better if I wanted the full 10.0...
__________________
Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful. Just another form of "buy low, sell high" for those who have trouble with things. This rule is not universal. Do not buy a 1973 Pinto because everyone else is afraid of it.
cute fuzzy bunny is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Fell off Ladder - What an Idiot!
Old 06-22-2005, 05:56 PM   #8
Recycles dryer sheets
VoyT's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 445
Re: Fell off Ladder - What an Idiot!

Quote:
Originally Posted by wabmester
* *Most recently, I drilled a hole through the hot water pipe after my stud finder told me it found a stud for me to mount a towel rack.
Could have been worse ... while he was building his house, my cousin stopped the furnace man from sawing into the gas line.*
__________________
"Coffee: the finest organic suspension ever devised." -- Kathryn Janeway
VoyT is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Fell off Ladder - What an Idiot!
Old 06-22-2005, 06:33 PM   #9
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
haha's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Hooverville
Posts: 22,983
Re: Fell off Ladder - What an Idiot!

A college friend of mine became an actuary. Hanging around him is an exercise in finding risks you never knew existed. I have decided that as I get older, I will cease being a homeowner and do apartments only. I know I would never pay the outrageous rates that the local idiots charge to do things around one's house. I would do it, or leave it undone.

I have already stopped using a chainsaw. I am still almost as strong as I ever was, but lets face it, chain saws are an accident trying to happen. I buy my wood. If I need to cut something, I use an old buck-saw inherited from my Dad.

In a decent apartment these things will never be a problem.

Haha
__________________
"As a general rule, the more dangerous or inappropriate a conversation, the more interesting it is."-Scott Adams
haha is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Fell off Ladder - What an Idiot!
Old 06-22-2005, 07:00 PM   #10
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 3,875
Re: Fell off Ladder - What an Idiot!

Quote:
Originally Posted by HaHa
A college friend of mine became an actuary. Hanging around him is an exercise in finding risks you never knew existed. I have decided that as I get older, I will cease being a homeowner and do apartments only. I know I would never pay the outrageous rates that the local idiots charge to do things around one's house. I would do it, or leave it undone.

I have already stopped using a chainsaw. I am still almost as strong as I ever was, but lets face it, chain saws are an accident trying to happen. I buy my wood. If I need to cut something, I use an old buck-saw inherited from my Dad.

In a decent apartment these things will never be a problem.

Haha
You are right about chain saws and all sorts of basic hazards around
the house. I can see a hundred things from where I sit that could potentially kill or maim. Or, take my late lamented motorcycle.
That is pretty dangerous too. I am all done now, but rode many thousands of miles without a scratch. Anyway, it's like Al Pacino said...........
"You can get killed walkin' your doggie!"

JG
MRGALT2U is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Fell off Ladder - What an Idiot!
Old 06-23-2005, 07:09 AM   #11
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Lawn chair in Texas
Posts: 14,183
Re: Fell off Ladder - What an Idiot!

...by some irate homeowner POd about doggy bombs??

Sorry, couldn't resist...

__________________
Have Funds, Will Retire

...not doing anything of true substance...
HFWR is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Fell off Ladder - What an Idiot!
Old 06-24-2005, 04:07 PM   #12
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
BUM's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Mid Hudson Valley
Posts: 1,781
Re: Fell off Ladder - What an Idiot!

TA,

Sorry about your mishap. Mathematically, ladder + chainsaw = blood.

Recently I was on the roof working on the chimney. A gust of wind blew the aluminum ladder down! No one home nearby. What to do? I carefully jumped about 5 feet on to the carport roof then 8 feet to the ground - no pain no strain.

My uncle, however while on a stepladder in his garage, got his feet tangled and fell about 5 feet to his death. You're a lucky guy!
__________________
In a panamax down by the river.
BUM is offline   Reply With Quote
Re: Fell off Ladder - What an Idiot!
Old 06-24-2005, 06:13 PM   #13
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
haha's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Hooverville
Posts: 22,983
Re: Fell off Ladder - What an Idiot!

I got my own Darwin award today. I was walking along cutting grass, and didn't duck quite enough to clear a low 6" branch on an apple tree. Bam!! Blood all over, head hurting, feeling like a moron.

The cut was short, shallow and pretty straight, so I just scrubbed it and closed it with butterflies. An ice pack and some Jack Daniels is now fixing the pain.

What was I saying the other day about living in an apartment?*

Ha
__________________
"As a general rule, the more dangerous or inappropriate a conversation, the more interesting it is."-Scott Adams
haha is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Vanguard fund vtovx fell over 3 percent yesterday?? dpeters3 FIRE and Money 9 12-29-2006 03:26 PM
Building a ladder nun FIRE and Money 16 05-15-2006 05:38 PM
CD Ladder vs. MM setab FIRE and Money 6 05-12-2006 11:10 AM
Ladder vs Short Term Bond Fund WilliamG FIRE and Money 10 03-12-2005 03:25 AM
How Long is Your Ladder? wabmester FIRE and Money 15 02-02-2004 07:20 PM

» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 09:16 AM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.