Small deeds, small lessons: what is one minor thing that you learned never to repeat?

No matter how hot the day, don’t wear shorts when using the weed whacker in scrubby areas. My shins looked (and felt) like I had been set upon by angry weasels.

Not too speed up water boiling by putting an electric kettle on the burner full blast.

Don’t wear a sweater without a t-shirt underneath.

Oooh! Headed for the Darwin Awards already!

Don’t cook salt by itself on the stove top.

Don’t date the crazy girl.

Darn, @RedDeerGuy1. You’d better tell us what happened with the salt, or some of us are going to want to try it ourselves.

Beer in Rice Krispies, as seen on M*A*S*H, is disgusting.

@Jeruba The salt turned to obsidian and smoked up the apartment. Ruined the pot that It was cooked in. Had to throw the pot into a snowbank to stop the smoke from filling the kitchen.

@RedDeerGuy1, I don’t think it could have been obsidian, which is a glassy volcanic rock, but it does sound like you melted it down. What made you want to cook salt?

@Jeruba Scientific curiousity. I wanted to make sodium. The black stuff that resulted looked like black glass.

@RedDeerGuy1, wow, that’s you in a nutshell, isn’t it? I doff my hat to you.

Have you ever burned hard-boiled eggs?

@Jeruba No. I did however over cook microwave popcorn. I melted through the microwavable plate.

I recommend not eating enough Raisin Bran to equal to the same nutritional amount of Total cereal. (As per the commercial in the 80’s) I spent two weeks (seperate times) in the hospital. Took me twice to learn. Basically I ate two jumbo boxes of Raisin Bran cereal twice in Junior high school.

I was praying for a fart. I saw the X-rays. Lots of fiber.

@RedDeerGuy1, I had to burn hardboiled eggs twice, too, to learn my lesson: don’t nod off and nap while they boil. The pan goes dry, the eggs turn a revolting yellowish brown, they break with a loud crack (that’ll probably wake you), and they stink up the house. And you can’t eat ‘em.

Don’t oil your mini chainsaw chain (it’s pink!) without gloves. I’m still wearing a bandaid a week later.

Don’t run in ice with your hands in your pocket. You can’t break your fall.

Don’t try acrobatics on a sidewalk. Like an axel from figure skating. Broke my arm and needed a cast for a month. I’ve had 25 broken bones over my life. Mostly between grade 3 and grade 9. The other times were three broken ribs slipping on ice and the pinky toe several times bumping into stuff

Not me, but my brother (I learned from his lesson). He is 2 years older than me. As we were growing up we became friends and not just brothers. At one point we both got into tennis. One evening at the public court we started playing. It was a brutal game, neither of us wanting to give an inch. We started gathering an audience that was cheering us on. Finally, he won the final point. At that point he decided to jump over the net to congratulate me. His foot caught on the net and he ended up on his face. The crowd cheered.

Don’t leave your backpack on the bus with your passport in it.

I did the “forgot I was boiling eggs and they began going off like shotguns” just last week. I salvaged about 6 of them, peeled off the funny colors and tried one. Surprisingly, they tasted fine.

Don’t pull in too close to a sidewalk or the cement thingy when parking – when you back up you can pull something off or loose from your car’s front end.

@smudges, hmm, well, I admit I was not adventuresome enough to taste them, given how they looked and smelled. Maybe I would today. But nope. Learned my lesson.

I have “replied to all” in an email or two. I’m now very careful about that – checking and rechecking and sometimes even sending a copy to myself to be positive. >:O

If I write an email that is in any way controversial, or that I want to double check before I send it, I will type it but not put in anything in the “to” section until I finish the body of it, and double check grammar and spelling and wording, and then I’ll put the email addresses in. That way, I won’t accidentally hit “send” before I’m ready. I’ll also be really careful to read the email addresess, since I have a few friends with email addresses that start with the same letter and I don’t want to accidentally send to the wrong person by mistake.

NEVER confess that you’re in love with someone! Show it, maybe, but don’t confess it.

^And how is that working out for you?

Don’t stand near a bonfire wearing plastic sandals.

@chyna Very well, thank you. I am very happily not married, never have been, never will be. No kids, no exes, no alimony payments. And I still have my house!