Time flies when you’re having fun!

I once went walking in the dark and when i came home someone walking his dog was like, where did that dude with that insane flashlight go?
I always feel a bit awkward when walking around with big lights and people staring at you to see what you are carrying

That’s why most of the times I walk outside our village

As a naive high school student, I was at West Georgia College on a school trip. I went in to a bathroom, and my heart stopped, and I literally froze. There was a beautiful young woman. She saw my “deer in the headlights” look, laughed, and told me I wasn’t in the wrong place. She just came in with her boyfriend. Not a lot of concern for gendered restrooms, even in 1979 at WGA.

To this day, I still double-check the sign before I go into a restroom, and sometimes heave a sigh of relief when I see a urinal on the wall. Definitely not in the ladies room.

Thanks for the competition EDSG!

This spring I was camping with friends on a big family camp site, there were loads of children around. After showing off my (1000kcd) “Neal” LEP flashlight to my friends one of the children (he is 11 yrs) asked if he could check it out too, I thought that was ok as long as he did not shine at people or at tents, as it was dark and many were asleep already.

Well, admittedly he did keep his promise, no people no tents, but the next half hour he kept himself out of sight while there was a wild light saber disco show clearly visible in the slight haze going everywhere all over the camp site, I wonder how many quiet evenings were disturbed that day Obviously the boy had had a very good time when I finally got my light back.

Thanks for the competition.

One time I was telling some friends on a discord server about my flashlight collection. Big ones, small ones, how hot some of them get… Only to realize that at the start I had made a very unfortunate typo in “flashlight collection” (substituted a vowel) and everyone was mortified.

I was able to clear things up with pictures of my flashlight collection and I think they mostly understand it was a typo now.

One time on BLF I told sb56637 that he was "too cool for school."

I thought it was a compliment, but months/years later learned that it was an insult.

I felt embarrassed, though I don't think anyone else really cared.

Thanks for the giveaway and congrats on your anniversary, everydaysurvivalgear!  

raccoon city wrote:

One time on BLF I told sb56637 that he was “too cool for school.”

I thought it was a compliment, but months/years later learned that it was an insult.

Wellp, I’m fashionably sensitive, but too cool to care.

Similarly to EDSG’s story, I used the bustime app to catch/time the bus, but was running like a min late, so had to run/jog like 2 blocks to catch it. No belt, holding my backpack on my shoulder with one hand, umbrella with the other, literally just started thinking, “With my luck, my pants will fall down”, and they did. Like trick clown-pants, they just dropped to like mid-thigh with zero warning.

Had to stop, yank ‘em up, forego the umbrella that last half-block, and just get to the stop like 5sec before the bus.

Well sorta funny story…… we go a new VR ride at our arcade, and as we do before opening we bring all the families in to have a free night in the arcade and try out the new stuff….
Anyway went on the new VR Rabbids with my wife, after about 1 minute I felt REALLY light headed and a bit sick but there was NO WAY I was getting off before her…so I stuck it out only to find out she’d jumped off almost immediately as she felt sick too and I’d put myself through it for nothing lol! man that ride messes with your senses!

I once met Christopher Meloni, the notable actor from Law & Order SVU. We were at an off-off-Broadway play for a blind charity. We weren’t formally introduced, but were standing around a few people who starred in the play, chatting with them. I was with someone who knew a cast member. Anyway, when I caught sight of Meloni, I instantly recognized him, but since I wasn’t an avid watcher of SVU, I got the shows mixed up. I asked him if he was on NCIS. He glared at me with a caustic annoyed look and simply said “No, Law & Order SVU.” And then he turned away to start talking with someone else.

He really burned me for making an innocent mistake. Thankfully nobody else had paid attention to this short exchange, but I was embarrassed and then avoided the actor the rest of the evening. I laugh about it later, because I really couldn’t care less about the actor… I don’t know why I let that encounter embarrass me at the time. While I don’t hold a grudge, I wouldn’t go out of my way to ever talk to Christopher Meloni again!

Bort once thought he was being smart by suggesting a standard transmission car with a dead battery could be jump started by pushing it to a downhill then feathering the clutch as the car gains momentum, hence jump starting it.

We were not able to push it to a steep enough hill and everyone was not too happy with the Bort.

Decades ago I was a student at a technical college in NL, and in the final year our class made a study trip to former Yugoslavia. The only “independant” country behind the iron curtain, run with a firm grip by marshall Tito. Our last visit was was cancelled so our guide decided to take us on a trip around the peninsula of Istria. Which meant sitting all day in a bus. Late that evening we arrived at a small hotel, two stories high, almost in the middle of nowhere.
The group in our bedroom was too pooped out to go to the bar, but still was thirsty. Someone knew that the group in the next bedroom, who went to the bar, had managed to buy a 24pc case of beer. And because they were drinking elsewere, they would not mind us borrowing a few bottles. Their room was locked, but there was a rather wide ledge under our windows. And I drew the short straw.
So said so done. It was pitchblack, but the ledge was rather visible in the light with open curtains. It was hot, so all windows were open, and I was back in a minute. A few bottles in each hand. The next day we all went down for a swim,and I was amazed that it took us so long on the stairs to get there. When we arrived, someone pointed upwards and said: look thats our room. At that moment the blood in my veins turned into ice.
Our hotel was built like a real cliffhanger. On the landside it was two stories high, and on te waterside it was six stories high, starting at about 150 feet above the beach. Walking on a ledge with two hands full of bottles I was not worried. The worst that could happen to me was a 10 foot drop in the bushes. While in fact it was a 200 foot drop on a rocky beach!

I was working a maintenance job and had to go into the ladies bathroom to repair a leaky faucet so I asked one of the ladies to go in and check to see if it was occupied and to stand watch by the door; repair finished and on my way out I asked if she could get a candy machine installed in the men’s bathroom; she just smiled and said; “That’s not a candy machine sir.”

Hopefully not. You don’t want to walk into a stall and see an O Henry floating in the bowl…

One night when I got my first proper light (3 emitter XML Sky Ray King) I was walking along a secluded beach when I swept the beam over a naked couple getting it on.
I immediately swept the light away from them and did a quick 180 degree turn and walked off in the opposite direction.

At the time I felt pretty embarrassed by the encounter, but in hindsight probably not as embarrassed as they were!!!

Not paying attention I walked into the ladies room at a Cracker Barrel. Didn’t realize it until I entered a stall and saw a feminine product floating in the toilet. Oops. Back out I went as quickly as possible without making eye contact with anyone.

Lightbringer wrote:

Hopefully not. You don’t want to walk into a stall and see an O Henry floating in the bowl…

Or even worse; an Almond Joy.

Or a giant-size Charleston Chew.

how about in a Play and Naked in Church?

here we go:
one of the actors in a Passion Play was absent due to a medical condition.
the director knew me and i was in the audience. coat and tie and all that.
she asked me if i would fill in. she said she would defer the speaking role
to another actor, so all i had to do was walk in, sit down, and then walk out.
but…the coat and tie thing….because i had to dress 1st Century style.
short robe and sandals from wardrobe. so…off came everything except my
“tighty whiteys”, which, of course, with backlighting, showed through
the robe (the others wore dark tank tops and shorts.) well, they had to go
before i was to enter stage left. with my robe on, i dropped my drawers.
now on stage, i am in sandals and a robe above my knees and i sit down.
carefully. a little sideways. i slipped and everything slipped out.
instant stop. gasps. giggles. video was tight and missed it.
no lasting evidence other than eye-witnesses.
forgiveness is real.
it worked for me.

 Walking thru the halls of Loyola University on a day when businesses were recruiting for jobs . Each table had some keychain or squishy stress ball with their name on it etc ..  I got to the CIA table which was giving away pens. Kind of nice with a cool logo on them ."Oh nice! .."can I have more than just one ?" I asked the two recruiters who looked bored  kind of shrugged at me .  Thinking they needed a little excitement to liven up their day I grabbed a handful and started running away acting like a madman saying "I'm taking them all ..What are you gonna do about it? ..You'll never take me alive ..stinkin coppers !!!" 

Just wanted to give them a laugh at dinner that evening or a silly story to share later at the bureau.

  Later in the week I was at a flea market set up next to a guy I'd seen before who always had a Kawasaki enduro attached to the front bumper of his van  . I'd engaged him about his motorcycle before ...enough to know the guy is insane.  this time walking by I saw him pumping up a really small high tech climbing stove and said something about it . 30 seconds later you realize  ."Oh crap" here's the awkward silence from someone with absolutely zero social skills ..He's getting a bit peeved and says " why do you keep talking to me "?

 I try to gracefully explain he has a cool Bike and a neat stove ...oh screw it . i retreat back to my vehicle 20Ft away and out of the corner of my eye spot one of the dozen CIA pens ...So i hop back out and walk back over and start to ask him some more personal questions this time .. All the while using the PEN like an interviewer with a microphone .. I speak into the end  and nonchalantly tilt it towards him when he's speaking...After a bit i casually place the pen on his table propped up facing him and walk away .

I'm a bad man 

When my youngest was about 10 I was teaching her how to use a hand saw. When demonstrating I said it was important to place your hand and fingers in a way that you wouldn’t get cut in case the saw hit a knot and jumped. So of course I then proceeded to cut my finger when it jumped

Quite a few years ago, I backpacked a sea eagle 9 raft and 2hp motor out to Big Trout Pond, in the middle of May. When the ice breaks up on lakes, the fishing can be amazing. https://bit.ly/3D0LY8V

2 trips were required to get everything out there, from the parking area shown on map, out to the west end of the lake.

You see, I had a lake trout break my 14lb test line a couple years before (from shore) and I was determined to find that fish again.

Well, I’ve got 2 rods wedged under the motor mount on the raft and I’m trolling along, about 2/3s of the way down toward the east end of the lake. A lure hooks the bottom – my favorite rod gets yanked into the water.

I instantly decide to jump in after the rod. When I hit the water I figured out just as instantly that a fishing rod is not worth hypothermia, since the water must have been about 40F. I could have grabbed the rod if I took one more lunge and dunked my head, but I let it go.

My buddy, who was facing foward at that moment, and at first had no clue why the raft suddenly lurched, turned around and saw me in the water. Luckily he was one of my smarter friends and calmly turned the raft around to get me.

I climbed back in and we immediately headed back toward camp at the east end. The raft only goes about 3mph so I started thinking…if I start to get hypothermia before we get back to fire/sleeping bag, I’ll just go to the shore, strip down and run around until I warm up (was probably 50F outside).

Well, lucky for me, I was wearing Filson wool pants and a military surplus wool shirtjac under my rain suit. Within 5 minutes I went from shaking like a leaf and terrified for my life to warm (enough).

Lesson learned – if you’re as dumb as I am, wear wool, or maybe a dry suit, when fishing lakes with ice chunks in them!

Congrats, Henk4U2!

Thanks for the giveaway, everydaysurvivalgear!

Congrats Henk!
Nice stories everyone!

Nice, thanks for the giveaway and for hanging out for 6 years.

Tbh, I didn’t read the stories except Boazs because it was last, so I went back. You picked the right winner lol

Now I have to read the rest.

I’m very happy I still have a place in the heart of lady Fortuna.
Thanks for the giveaway, everydaysurvivalgear!

PM with PP address is sent.

As promised befor: get one give one.
Preparing a GAW starting some day next week.

Got the prize money. Thanks! You (EDSG) wrote that their (PP) exchange rate sucks.
You were ever so right, and that is even only half of it.

Because you send me dollars, I got the smart idea to buy something and pay in dollars.
What better place is there to buy BLF stuff than Simon? So said, so done.
But when I got the PP statements today, I was not amused. To say the least.

PP payed the bill from Simon (in dollars) and took it out of my credit card (in EURO).
And charged me with an exchange fee.

What about the dollars in my wallet? Well, PP converted them into EURO. In my wallet.
And charged me with an exchange fee.

But lets face it, the pro’s of today outweigh the con’s.
I got myself a nice little Convoy S10 (3000K) plus holster from Simon.
And for that I thank you EDSG! Now all I have to do, is to wait….for the mail(wo)man.