# Life lessons learned the hard way **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 17, 2021, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104 "2021-03-17T17:39:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2021, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/161 "2021-03-29T23:37:17Z")
Clean an expensive paint brush as soon as you’re done with it. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2021, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/162 "2021-03-29T23:48:14Z")
Never start projects on any critical house or car components on a Sunday afternoon. You may think something like draining the sediment from the hot water heater will be quick and easy, but you may learn that the sediment can clog up the drain valve so it won’t close and you may have to race to the hardware store before it closes and spend the evening installing a new drain valve. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2021, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/163 "2021-03-29T23:54:38Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Gasoline will dissolve a styrofoam cup If you have several six packs of warm beer, don’t pour a couple of inches of liquid nitrogen into a cooler and stand all the bottles up in the cooler. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2021, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/164 "2021-03-30T00:28:55Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I initially read that as “trying to romance a moron”, which is also probably a bad idea. [Julie Brown disagrees.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zALXQi1jUcQ) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2021, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/165 "2021-03-30T01:16:30Z")
Must remember that one. 🤔 * * * There are tasks that you think will take hours and hours, so you keep putting them off. When you finally get around to doing one of them, it takes a mere fraction of the amount of time you thought it would. Sometimes only minutes. There are other tasks that you think will take only a few minutes to an hour or so, and those actually take many hours, even many days or weeks. All computer-related tasks fall into the second group. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2021, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/166 "2021-03-30T01:56:16Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > There are tasks that you think will take hours and hours, so you keep putting them off. When you finally get around to doing one of them, it takes a mere fraction of the amount of time you thought it would. Sometimes only minutes. > > There are other tasks that you think will take only a few minutes to an hour or so, and those actually take many hours, even many days or weeks. > > All computer-related tasks fall into the second group. It’s not that bad in my case, I know both ways, but on a related note, my advice for IT folks is: “My Internet is down” can mean everything from a loose cable to global thermonuclear war, and everything in between. Anyway, always first check the cables. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2021, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/167 "2021-03-30T02:27:11Z")
And reboot, whether it’s your computer or your phone. Amazing how many people do this as a last resort instead of first thing. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2021, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/168 "2021-03-30T12:07:17Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > On a related note, when backing out of a parking spot, there is _ **always** _ going to be a jerk rushing by much too fast, who at that precise instant will be hidden by the immense truck right beside you. Yes, and you will be deemed to be at fault (at least in Massachusetts) and your annual insurance premium will go up by $350. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2021, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/169 "2021-03-30T20:03:52Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Everything not secured or left on the table of the sailboat cabin will end up broken on the floor. Which reminds me of when I was a teen and left stuff lying on the floor. If asked _why_ I left it on the floor, I would explain: _it can’t fall off_. j ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2021, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/170 "2021-03-31T08:54:36Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > > [@snowthx](#): > > > > Don’t scrape dried spaghetti noodles off the colander with your thumbnail. > > Yeah, I learned that one too. can someone explain this to me? ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2021, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/171 "2021-03-31T09:02:17Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Similar - don’t lean your skis or snowboard on the side of your car - the slightest movement will send them to the ground scraping the paint all the way down. Corollary: don’t lean your skis anywhere if there are other skis already leaning. Guaranteed that someone (possibly you) will start a ski domino cascade. I saw a teammate on our high school XC ski team knock over like 50 pairs of skis at a meet. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2021, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/172 "2021-03-31T09:51:48Z")
> [@Orville\_mogul](#): > > > [@Ulfreida](#): > > > > > [@snowthx](#): > > > > > > Don’t scrape dried spaghetti noodles off the colander with your thumbnail. > > > > Yeah, I learned that one too. > > can someone explain this to me? I believe that the dry noodle piece can be quite similar to a splinter and a splinter under a nail is particularly painful. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2021, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/173 "2021-03-31T10:18:31Z")
> [@Orville\_mogul](#): > > can someone explain this to me? So, you don’t want to learn the hard way, eh? ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2021, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/174 "2021-03-31T15:54:35Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > I believe that the dry noodle piece can be quite similar to a splinter and a splinter under a nail is particularly painful. To elaborate on my own misfortune with this lesson…squeamish do not read on… While a wood splinter is pretty close as an equivalent, the dried angel hair pasta will not hold together when you try to pull it out from under your nail. Nooo. It will break, leaving behind a nice piece that you can see under your nail, but have no way to extract. Hoping for the best, whatever that may be, after a few days (!) the noodle starts to putrefy and now an infection is brewing and the thumb is swelling. One way to drain the pus is to, ya know, poke a hole thru the fingernail using a hot needle (!!). Thankfully, that last maneuver was successful and I avoided further infection, while learning a valuable life lesson! ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2021, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/175 "2021-03-31T17:02:15Z")
**Cleaning Knives etc. in the Kitchen** I try to arrange it such that whomever starts the job, finishes the job. Dishwasher loader also unloads, washing up the the sink, ditto. Fewer “traps” and surprises that way. **When Backing Up in a Parking Lot** Precisely because of large trucks blocking sightlines, and idiots driving so fast people can’t detect them until too late, I have what I call the “5-second rule.” If I look one way, then the other, and the coast is clear, I allow myself to back up a little bit. Then stop and look again, because your idea about where the traffic is can only last for 5 seconds, after which the situation will have totally changed. Oh, but on the busy West or East coasts, I would revise this to “3-second rule” thanks to increased congestion. **Sailing** I read in a sailing humor article that when you are loading groceries from the pier to your boat, you learn to tell what fell off the dock and into the water by the sound of the splash it makes. I became fairly good at this: Ker-plunk! Was that an orange or a can of beans? Pash. Uh oh, the lettuce fell in… ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2021, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/176 "2021-03-31T17:06:19Z")
> [@Limmin](#): > > **Sailing** > I read in a sailing humor article that when you are loading groceries from the pier to your boat, you learn to tell what fell off the dock and into the water by the sound of the splash it makes. I became fairly good at this: Ker-plunk! Was that an orange or a can of beans? Pash. Uh oh, the lettuce fell in… Winch handles make a remarkably subtle, yet expensive _‘bloop’_ sound. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2021, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/177 "2021-03-31T21:37:19Z")
Learn to back-in park when you park perpendicularly. Thankfully, I never had to learn the hard way, but there were a few close calls. I’m always surprised how few people do this and how much easier it is. ---
**Author:** ![a6ka97](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@a6ka97](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a6ka97)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2021, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/178 "2021-03-31T23:30:50Z")
Do not store the bottles of Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce next to each other in the refrigerator door and not check to see what bottle you grabbed before blindly shaking the contents into the soup you are cooking. Advice from an old farmer- If you drop your gum in the chicken coop don’t bother picking up gum looking pieces hoping to find yours. Just 'cuse the cow pie looks dry enough to step on it may not be. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/180 "2021-04-01T12:48:35Z")
(Backing up into parking.) I agree, but this “debate” has been going on on the board for… decades. Kinda like the toilet-paper-roll-orientation controversy. Random examples [from GQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backing-into-parking-spaces/607299) and [from The Pit](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-backing-into-parking-spots/205841). ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2021, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104/181 "2021-04-01T13:32:50Z")
That’s part of the charm of this place. The really **important** issues never get settled. That way we live to discuss another day. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-lessons-learned-the-hard-way/938104.md?page=10)