# How did I do it? (Brain teaser) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 24, 2022, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-do-it-brain-teaser/958292 "2022-01-24T01:48:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2022, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-do-it-brain-teaser/958292/1 "2022-01-24T01:48:31Z")
So yesterday my wife gets out of bed and all the slats in the bed come dislodged on one side and, next thing I know half the mattress/box spring is on the floor. Oh, great. How am I, 69 on my last birthday, going to lift a mattress and box spring in order to put the slats back where they belong? Well, the idea came to me and I had it done in about two hours. How do you think I did it? (I’ll come back in a day or so and see if anybody figures it out.) ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2022, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-do-it-brain-teaser/958292/2 "2022-01-24T01:57:15Z")
Got a scissors jack? Whatever you do, the mattress and spring are going to have to be raised, so something with mechanical advantage will be needed. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2022, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-do-it-brain-teaser/958292/3 "2022-01-24T02:01:06Z")
Bingo, in three minutes. (I actually used two.) ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2022, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-do-it-brain-teaser/958292/4 "2022-01-24T02:02:33Z")
never mind ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2022, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-do-it-brain-teaser/958292/5 "2022-01-24T02:06:15Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Bingo, in three minutes. (I actually used two.) Are you sure it didn’t involve a giant block of ice and locking the doors and windows from the inside? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2022, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-do-it-brain-teaser/958292/6 "2022-01-24T02:46:19Z")
Can of spinach? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2022, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-do-it-brain-teaser/958292/7 "2022-01-24T03:19:18Z")
I don’t care what you claim; I think you used a lever so long that it would raise the bedding whenever a truck drove off a nearby bridge into the river below. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2022, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-do-it-brain-teaser/958292/8 "2022-01-24T04:29:23Z")
Inject a bunch of upsidaisium into the mattress and box spring. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2022, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-do-it-brain-teaser/958292/9 "2022-01-24T05:01:50Z")
This why we got a platform bed several years ago. I could see me struggling to fix slats and not succeeding. In a few days someone would miss me, and they’d find my dead body, with a half eaten face(cats) and my legs sticking out from under like the wicked witch on _The Wizard of Oz_ ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2022, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-do-it-brain-teaser/958292/10 "2022-01-24T13:38:53Z")
So, you didn’t rig an elaborate rope and pulley system from the bedroom ceiling? ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2022, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-do-it-brain-teaser/958292/11 "2022-01-24T14:45:18Z")
I thought about it. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2022, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-do-it-brain-teaser/958292/12 "2022-01-24T15:01:53Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > you didn’t rig an elaborate rope and pulley system from the bedroom ceiling? You don’t already have one of those set up? ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2022, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-do-it-brain-teaser/958292/13 "2022-01-24T15:07:12Z")
I was going to add “You could use it for other things too…” ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2022, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-do-it-brain-teaser/958292/14 "2022-01-24T15:13:18Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > So, you didn’t rig an elaborate rope and pulley system from the bedroom ceiling I sorta did that in our barn when I needed to move a ten foot long gate to a new location. I oiled up the pins on the hinge but couldn’t get it to budge. Eventually I placed ratchet straps from either end of the gate to the joists and cranked, slowly lifting it off the hinge pin. I was so happy working smart instead of hard. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2022, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-do-it-brain-teaser/958292/15 "2022-01-24T18:22:48Z")
If it was an air mattress you could have just filled the room with 1 to 2 feet of water. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2022, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-do-it-brain-teaser/958292/16 "2022-01-24T23:36:07Z")
you missed the part where I gave my age (LOL) ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2022, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-do-it-brain-teaser/958292/17 "2022-01-25T01:05:34Z")
While the bed was dis-assembled, you should have used that opportunity to drill a hole through the ends of the slats and the rail, and then drop a cotter pi or bolt thru the hole. Then you won’t ever have this happen again. I can tell you that when it happens in the middle of the night when you are asleep, it’s very confusing! ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2022, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-do-it-brain-teaser/958292/18 "2022-01-25T01:07:47Z")
Didn’t really disassemble, just raised box spring and mattress. If it happens again, though, I’ll keep long-term measures in mind. ---
**Author:** ![Galactus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galactus/32/3581_2.png) [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2022, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-do-it-brain-teaser/958292/19 "2022-01-25T03:22:13Z")
My wife and I had this happen a time or two. I just slid the mattress and box spring off one side of the bed, fixed the slats, pushed the mattress back. Took maybe 10 minutes, with very little effort. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2022, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-do-it-brain-teaser/958292/20 "2022-01-25T23:09:52Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > I had it done in about two hours. Hell, I could have pulled the mattress off and removed the box springs, put the slats back in, put down the box springs and the mattress and remade the bed in about 10 minutes, and I’m almost your age. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-do-it-brain-teaser/958292.md?page=2)