People Doing Surprising Things: Do You Have Any Good Stories?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ivan Seeking
  • Start date Start date
AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers around sharing humorous and bizarre stories, with a focus on unusual incidents involving people and animals. One notable story involves a farmer who, after his cow ate cash, sent the cow's stomach to the US Mint to redeem the damaged currency, highlighting the absurdity of the situation. Other stories include individuals calling the police about stolen drugs and a mishap with illegal fireworks that resulted in a house fire. Participants also share personal anecdotes about reckless activities, such as riding dirt bikes at high speeds with eyes closed and past experiences at the El Mirage dry lake bed, where various stunts and land speed records were attempted. The conversation blends humor with a sense of nostalgia, reflecting on past adventures and the sometimes reckless nature of youth.
Ivan Seeking
Staff Emeritus
Science Advisor
Gold Member
Messages
8,194
Reaction score
2,524
Do you have any good stories?

I was just listening to a woman who works for the damaged currency division of the US Mint. They can only redeem damaged cash if 51% or more of the bill is recovered. Knowing this, a farmer whose cow ate his cash wanted to maximize his return, so he slaughtered the heifer and sent in the stomach!
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Ivan Seeking said:
a farmer whose cow ate his cash wanted to maximize his return, so he slaughtered the heifer and sent in the stomach!
After all these years of wondering where the term 'cash cow' came from, it's all perfectly clear. :rolleyes:
 
Danger said:
After all these years of wondering where the term 'cash cow' came from, it's all perfectly clear. :rolleyes:

Mmm, something about piggy banks and taking things too far.
 
Danger said:
After all these years of wondering where the term 'cash cow' came from, it's all perfectly clear. :rolleyes:

That is SO bad! :smile:

My favorites are the ones where people get their drugs stolen, and call the cops. I've heard a few good stories on that theme.

\hbar

The Rev
 
Or the people that had illegal fireworks and hid them in the oven when the cops showed up. Then someone not knowing the fireworks were in the oven turned it on and it blew up and burned the house down.
 
...cash cow...:biggrin:

There was one in the news recently, in fact I think I posted the story, where some guy was trying to torture rats by tying lighter fluid soaked rags to their tails, and then lighting the rags. Apparently he was doing this in his house. Guess what happened?
 
Ivan Seeking said:
...cash cow...:biggrin:

There was one in the news recently, in fact I think I posted the story, where some guy was trying to torture rats by tying lighter fluid soaked rags to their tails, and then lighting the rags. Apparently he was doing this in his house. Guess what happened?
Yeh, a program about the printing and minting of currency just aired again (I think on the Science channel?). I found the Liberty dollar very interesting--it is based on the gold & silver standard. It was confusing--it is legal to mint these, but how is it this isn't considered counterfeit?

Anyway, there was the news story about people target shooting in the desert some years back, and guess what happened to a guy who was shooting at a large saguaro cactus? Yep, it fell on him and crushed him to death.
 
SOS2008 said:
Anyway, there was the news story about people target shooting in the desert some years back, and guess what happened to a guy who was shooting at a large saguaro cactus? Yep, it fell on him and crushed him to death.

http://www.desertusa.com/july96/du_sag3b.jpg

Aaaahhhhhhrrrrrrrgggggg! Oh boy, that hurts.

I hit one of these once while doing about 70 mph on my dirt bike. The worst was the one inch barb embedded in the soft part of my ankle. the rest came out pretty easily...with the application of liberal quantities of alcohol [90 proof mostly].
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You hit that at 70mph?

Sounds reasonable to me. :rolleyes:
 
  • #10
Ivan Seeking said:
http://www.desertusa.com/july96/du_sag3b.jpg

Aaaahhhhhhrrrrrrrgggggg! Oh boy, that hurts.

I hit one of these once while doing about 70 mph on my dirt bike. The worst was the one inch barb embedded in the soft part of my ankle. the rest came out pretty easily...with the application of liberal quantities of alcohol [90 proof mostly].
Internally or externally? :-p
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #11
JasonRox said:
You hit that at 70mph?

Sounds reasonable to me. :rolleyes:

I Sure did. It wasn't as big as the one shown but the barbs probably were. I tried to go left but didn't quite make it, and I caught my handle bar and ultimately part of my body on the right side. This sort of thing actually is fairly common for desert bikers. For me it is but one of many stories; and I still have the scars to prove it!
 
  • #12
Evo said:
Internally or externally? :-p

Internally, of course. Injured, drunk, and cared for by four girls in bikinis. It was horrible. :-p
 
  • #13
Ivan Seeking said:
Internally, of course. Injured, drunk, and cared for by four girls in bikinis. It was horrible. :-p
Oh you poor thing! :smile:
 
  • #14
Even a bad day desert biking is a very good day.

But since this was only intended as a passing comment, back to the topic. :biggrin:

I love watching the old film footage of people trying to fly. One of my favorites is guy on ice skates, with wings attached to his arms, and rockets strapped to his back.
 
  • #15
No No Ivan you're not getting off that easily. Tell us about the girls in Bikini's.
 
  • #16
The Rev said:
That is SO bad! :smile:
Sorry... he didn't give me a lot to work with. :rolleyes:

SOS2008 said:
people target shooting in the desert some years back, and guess what happened to a guy who was shooting at a large saguaro cactus? Yep, it fell on him and crushed him to death.
What the hell was he shooting it with? If it was close enough to fall on him, you can hardly consider it target shooting. And it seems to me that it would take one hell of a lot of shots with anything of normal calibre to cut one of those suckers down. A light practise session with an RPG, perhaps?

Ivan Seeking said:
Injured, drunk, and cared for by four girls in bikinis. It was horrible. :-p
Where can I get me one of those cacti?

Ivan Seeking said:
One of my favorites is guy on ice skates, with wings attached to his arms, and rockets strapped to his back.
Sounds reminiscent of 'Captain Rollerball', a novelty act at the drags when I was into the scene (again, someone Hypatia probably remembers fondly). Rumour had it that he was the son of the president of Cragar Industries who make cams and wheels and manifolds and etc., but that's probably false. Anyhow, at the races he'd put on a Nomex suit, a crash helmet, and roller skates, then strap a peroxide rocket on his back and blast through the traps at about 50mph. Another (one-time) gig along the same line was Weenie McQueen (don't know his real name; that's what we called him). I think that it was in California. Anyhow, the Christmas tree broke down, so this poor guy had to flag-start a pair of jet cars! :eek: I still remember the picture in Hot Rod (or Car Craft) of the bugger cringing in fear for his life.
 
  • #17
Just for you danger...The Captian!
 

Attachments

  • rollerball_3.jpg
    rollerball_3.jpg
    50.2 KB · Views: 419
  • #18
hypatia said:
Just for you danger...The Captian!
Thank you, thank you, thank you... That is the best picture... Geez, that brings back a lot more memories than just talking about it.
 
  • #19
Danger said:
Thank you, thank you, thank you... That is the best picture... Geez, that brings back a lot more memories than just talking about it.

Hey, that could be your new avatar. It even has a nice ring to it... Captain Danger

What about the guy that made a rocket car and went airborne... straight into a cliff.
 
  • #20
Huckleberry said:
Hey, that could be your new avatar. It even has a nice ring to it... Captain Danger
That crossed my mind when I saw it, but I think I want something personal. If I can figure out how to do it, I'll use my Hallowe'en picture from the photo thread.

Huckleberry said:
What about the guy that made a rocket car and went airborne... straight into a cliff.
I didn't hear about that, but I do remember Fred Goeske's rocket-powered go-kart going sideways mid-track at about 100mph. It flipped and rolled a couple of dozen times and he broke his back, but he lived through it.

There was also some winner back in the early 70's who mounted a couple of RATO's in the taillight openings of a Firebird. They weren't quite straight... talk about 'taking it for a spin'... and of course you can't shut off a RATO once it's lit. I think that the Chief Engineer of the Disoriented Express designed that one.
 
  • #21
Huckleberry said:
What about the guy that made a rocket car and went airborne... straight into a cliff.
http://www.wagoneers.com/pages/RocketCar/rockit.html

--
I only pay attention to the Rocket Car legend because I'm 99% sure that I started the whole thing in the spring of 1978.
--
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #22
:biggrin: I kind of figured it was an urban legend but it was relevant to the last few posts and I just HAD to remark about Captain Danger.

Where on Earth do you find this stuff anyway? Not just this post but you pop into every thread with great stuff.
 
  • #23
hitssquad said:
I only pay attention to the Rocket Car legend because I'm 99% sure that I started the whole thing in the spring of 1978.
--
It's not the one I'm referring to, because that was in my high-school days (1970-74). They even did a spot based upon it in one episode of 'C.H.I.P.s', which ran from '77 to '83. I don't remember which year it was.
 
  • #24
Smurf said:
No No Ivan you're not getting off that easily. Tell us about the girls in Bikini's.

Well, since you asked... :biggrin: Custom Chevy vans with fuzzy dice in the window and built in beds and bars, dune buggies, motorcycles, sand rails, hundreds of miles of sand dunes, hills, and trails; lots of people, lots of alcohol, and lots of beautiful, tanned, women, in tiny little bikinis. I remember that one of our group was a drop dead blonde cosmetologist named, get this, Candy :bugeye: I always had Candy cut my hair; as often as possible in fact.

For better or worse, when I was in my late teens most of my friends were in their early twenties, which had a few benefits from my point of view. But we were all desert biking fanatics and they adopted me as part of a old network of friends who had been in high school together. For a number of years we made these trips which were one big wonderful party and about the most fun I've ever had.

With that, I will throw in one more story that gets back on topic. One of our favorite places to ride was El Mirage dry lake bed, in the California Mojave Desert. In many areas the lake bed as flat as a parking lot for miles.
http://aeve.com/digitaldesert/ddaa/em01.html

Sometimes on warm, moonlit nights, a bunch of us would line up on our bikes in the middle of the lake, side by side, and separated by maybe a hundred yards or more. We would then take off and ride at maximum speed with our eyes closed for as long as we could stand it. Depending on the bike and the sprocket ratio used that day, we were usually riding blind at something between 70 and 100 mph. Even though you knew logically that there was nothing to hit, it was a moment by moment struggle to keep your eyes closed. I don't think I ever went more than a minute...or maybe a little more... I'm not sure any more what the record was. Of course we were usually drunk and it was probably a much more dangerous stunt that we thought at the time. But I must say, it was almost like you were flying. It was incredible.
 
Last edited:
  • #25
Ivan Seeking said:
With that, I will throw in one more story that gets back on topic. One of our favorite places to ride was El Mirage dry lake bed, in the California Mojave Desert. In many areas the lake bed as flat as a parking lot for miles.
http://aeve.com/digitaldesert/ddaa/em01.html

Sometimes on warm, moonlit nights, a bunch of us would line up on our bikes in the middle of the lake, side by side, and separated by maybe a hundred yards or more. We would then take off and ride at maximum speed with our eyes closed for as long as we could stand it. Depending on the bike and the sprocket ratio used that day, we were usually riding blind at something between 70 and 100 mph. Even though you knew logically that there was nothing to hit, it was a moment by moment struggle to keep your eyes closed. I don't think I ever went more than a minute...or maybe a little more... I'm not sure any more what the record was. Of course we were usually drunk and it was probably a much more dangerous stunt that we thought at the time. But I must say, it was almost like you were flying. It was incredible.
Isn't that where the sail vehicles go? That seems like it would be so cool.

http://img231.echo.cx/img231/8813/11171mdisplay4ew.gif
 
Last edited:
  • #26
Ivan Seeking said:
Of course we were usually drunk and it was probably a much more dangerous stunt that we thought at the time. But I must say, it was almost like you were flying. It was incredible.
One of my same-generation friends, who just moved away, used to spend hours with me talking about earlier times, and we're both absolutely amazed at some of the stuff we lived through against all odds.

So speaking of which (and on topic for a change), there was a fellow in I believe Sweden who is considered the world's most unsuccessful suicide attempter. He tried to hang himself and the rope broke; he tried to shoot himself and the gun jammed; he tried poison and just threw it up; so he finally decided to try gassing himself. He settled in with his head comfortably ensconced in the oven, then after a couple of minutes of feeling okay, he decided to have a smoke while he waited. As soon as he struck the match, it blew all 4 walls out and the roof fell on him. Needless to say, he lived through it. :rolleyes:
 
  • #27
Danger said:
One of my same-generation friends, who just moved away, used to spend hours with me talking about earlier times, and we're both absolutely amazed at some of the stuff we lived through against all odds.

So speaking of which (and on topic for a change), there was a fellow in I believe Sweden who is considered the world's most unsuccessful suicide attempter. He tried to hang himself and the rope broke; he tried to shoot himself and the gun jammed; he tried poison and just threw it up; so he finally decided to try gassing himself. He settled in with his head comfortably ensconced in the oven, then after a couple of minutes of feeling okay, he decided to have a smoke while he waited. As soon as he struck the match, it blew all 4 walls out and the roof fell on him. Needless to say, he lived through it. :rolleyes:
It sounds like Rasputen--Leave it to a man (and his hard head). :-p :smile:
 
  • #28
SOS2008 said:
Isn't that where the sail vehicles go? That seems like it would be so cool.

http://img231.echo.cx/img231/8813/11171mdisplay4ew.gif

Oh yes, and it was common to have two or three gyrocopters swoop down on you, or even to see a land speed record set by a jet or rocket powered car. Many records have been set at El Mirage.
 
  • #29
Ivan Seeking said:
Oh yes, and it was common to have two or three gyrocopters swoop down on you, or even to see a land speed record set by a jet or rocket powered car. Many records have been set at El Mirage.
Oooooh swooping - a PF convention at El Mirage! :biggrin: I want to sail vehicle!
 
  • #30
Danger said:
One of my same-generation friends, who just moved away, used to spend hours with me talking about earlier times, and we're both absolutely amazed at some of the stuff we lived through against all odds.

I have said many times that I shouldn't be alive. My wife says that as well but with a disturbing longing in her voice. :rolleyes:

So speaking of which ... Needless to say, he lived through it. :rolleyes:

So at that point did he give up?
 
  • #31
SOS2008 said:
I want to sail vehicle!
Just take the extraneous contraptions off of your wheelchair and string a couple of your spare bras up on a stick... :biggrin:
That oughtta be good for some kind of record.
 
  • #32
Ivan Seeking said:
I have said many times that I shouldn't be alive. My wife says that as well but with a disturbing longing in her voice. :rolleyes:
:smile:


Ivan Seeking said:
So at that point did he give up?
That's the last I heard of him. He spent a long time in hospital after the explosion. There were very serious burns, a couple of broken limbs, and head trauma. He probably just gave up and figured that living was easier. :rolleyes:
 
Last edited:
  • #33
Danger said:
He probably just gave up and figured that living was easier. :rolleyes:

Well that's his problem; he's a quitter! :biggrin:
 
  • #34
Danger said:
Just take the extraneous contraptions off of your wheelchair and string a couple of your spare bras up on a stick... :biggrin:
That oughtta be good for some kind of record.
You just reminded me of another story (that fortunately didn't make the news). It was my birthday and some girlfriends and I had a limo for the night. The limo had a sun roof, and well, the girls started to take off their bras and were waving them out the sun roof. Some guys in a jeep pulled up and took one bra. Though laughing quite hard, I of course have it documented with photos--where did I put those?
 
  • #35
SOS2008 said:
the girls started to take off their bras and were waving them out the sun roof.
Waving which?

SOS2008 said:
Some guys in a jeep pulled up and took one bra.
oh...

SOS2008 said:
Though laughing quite hard, I of course have it documented with photos--where did I put those?
Yes, please... where? If you don't want to post them here, you can e-mail them to me. :-p
 
  • #36
Danger said:
Waving which?


oh...


Yes, please... where? If you don't want to post them here, you can e-mail them to me. :-p
Can't--what happens in birthday limo stays in birthday limo (otherwise known as the MAD spiral escalation policy).
 
  • #37
SOS2008 said:
Can't--what happens in birthday limo stays in birthday limo (otherwise known as the MAD spiral escalation policy).
Hey, I've already developed my own visuals; I'm just looking for clarification on a couple of points. o:)
 

Similar threads

How do I convince dad not to throw me out of the house because I wont get any job
Replies
5
Views
3K
Do Movies Teach Us Realistic Life Skills?
Replies
1
Views
10K
Mathematica This Week's Finds in Mathematical Physics (Week 226)
Replies
7
Views
3K
Mathematica This Week's Finds in Mathematical Physics (Week 226)
Replies
7
Views
4K

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top