# Stuff you learned the hard way **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 12, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-learned-the-hard-way/560484 "2010-11-12T21:34:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-learned-the-hard-way/560484/61 "2010-11-16T15:08:31Z")
Mixing cream with water will not give you milk. Make sure to check that you are, in fact, just drinking a big glass (or 2) of lemonade in the morning and not some crazy mixed drink your roommates made a pitcher off and put in the fridge. No alcohol taste at all, but it did make my 9 AM class a little more interesting… ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-learned-the-hard-way/560484/62 "2010-11-16T15:18:47Z")
> [@Scubaqueen](#): > > never, \*\*ever \*\*go on a road trip without overnight reservations. > > that way you don’t end up in a fleabitten lantana, florida, roach farm with a chair under the door knob while listening to the open-all-night drug buy/party going on next door. :smack: If it was the Super 8, I’ve been there, done that! ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-learned-the-hard-way/560484/63 "2010-11-16T15:20:36Z")
> [@pedescribe](#): > > While it is more efficient, it’s also more risky. Much, much more risky. Fortune favors the bold and all other similar lies. You make a good point, but you must remember all the exhortations concerning picking up the ball and running with it and all the other similar lies. A little calculated risk is a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-learned-the-hard-way/560484/64 "2010-11-16T15:36:56Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > If it was the Super 8, I’ve been there, done that! :eek: 😃 y’know… i do believe it was. the former SO, a former cop, was NOT PLEASED. neither of us got much sleep that night. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-learned-the-hard-way/560484/65 "2010-11-16T16:17:24Z")
There is no good reason to lower the hammer on a Browning Hi Power with loaded chamber … Piano repair is expensive and 9mm bullets do damage ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-learned-the-hard-way/560484/66 "2010-11-16T16:21:28Z")
If you’re seventeen, and a university has offered you a free ride _with stipend_ for your undergrad experience, don’t turn your nose up at it because it’s not a top tier school. No one really cares where you got your undergrad, and free is free. Do not do this to three separate schools. No, not even if your parents are helping you. God, I was an idiot. Of course, this isn’t exactly a lesson I can use… ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-learned-the-hard-way/560484/67 "2010-11-16T21:53:45Z")
> [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](#): > > If you’re seventeen, and a university has offered you a free ride _with stipend_ for your undergrad experience, don’t turn your nose up at it because it’s not a top tier school. No one really cares where you got your undergrad, and free is free. Do not do this to three separate schools. No, not even if your parents are helping you. > > God, I was an idiot. Of course, this isn’t exactly a lesson I can use… My life occasionally feels like I’m the cosmic answer to every student who ever put his hand up in class and asked “Isn’t that worst-case scenario a bit far fetched?” 😛 - Lent friend money. (Lost money. Lost friend.) - Fucked the crazy. Got fucked by the crazy, except not in the good sense. - Have a 2,5" scar accross my palm. From a papercut. Seriously. :smack: - Got girifriend. Dumped girlfriend. Girlfriend moved to South America to become a carpenter. And lesbian. - Broke leg when skating. (Girlfriend’s plank. Not available for catharsis or tinder.) The list goes on. ETA: Forgot to mention; - Don’t date professional musicians. Your bad break-ups? Yeah, they don’t become scars. They become ammunition. You’ll be hearing of it. _On the radio_. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-learned-the-hard-way/560484/68 "2010-11-16T22:26:19Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > That includes putting it into **CDs, bonds** , etc.: they’re still loans, they just happen to be loans to a corporation instead of to someone with a face. Certificates of Deposits are insured up to $250,000 by the FDIC or NCUA. U.S. Treasury bonds, although they are guaranteed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government and have almost no risk of default, can lose value on the secondary market due to interest rate risk. So if you can’t afford to lose money, CDs are as good as a savings account. Treasury bonds are close to risk free if you can hold to maturity, and of course corporate bonds are more likely to be defaulted on and suffer the same interest rate risk of treasury bonds except more so. ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-learned-the-hard-way/560484/69 "2010-11-16T22:34:06Z")
> [@Linty\_Fresh](#): > > When your inner voice starts yelling at you that there’s something wrong in your life, believe it. That inner voice is smarter than you are. This, IMO, is the key to a happy life. And I really like your signature too. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-learned-the-hard-way/560484/70 "2010-11-16T22:37:44Z")
“Sore” and “injured” feel similar. Do not try and “work through the injury”, you will make it much, much worse. When it comes to work/business/finances/legal matters, put everything in writing and KEEP A COPY. People (and pets) that you love will die. Spend time with them while you can or you may regret not doing so when they are gone. In a relationship, if something bothers you bring it up as soon as you can talk about it rationally. Don’t hope it’ll fix itself, it’ll just lead to an explosion later. Live within your means (ideally, within half your means!). I understood this but I’ve seen a number of people who didn’t and I got to watch what happened to them as a result. Checking that a knife is sharp by drawing it across your fingers will work out exactly the way a moment’s thought would indicate. Don’t buy cheap tools. ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-learned-the-hard-way/560484/71 "2010-11-17T00:19:10Z")
Don’t use Armor All on the Bench seats of a '73 Buick Electra 225 4-door. I took a left and slid clear across to the other side. Halloween tip: A sign placed next to a bowl of candy that reads “Take One Please” translates to “Free Bowl of Candy”. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-learned-the-hard-way/560484/72 "2010-11-17T01:43:13Z")
> [@Illuminatiprimus](#): > > Don’t mix friends and money. > > For those of you not paying attention the first time: DO NOT MIX FRIENDS AND MONEY. > > I don’t care how good a friend they are, don’t do it. > [@dwc1970](#): > > Never loan money to friends (small amounts, such as helping them with lunch, for example, are okay). For big loans, no matter how much they assure you that they’ll pay it back, don’t count on it. It only takes one or two episodes of Judge Judy to learn this. 🙂 "It was a _looooaaaannn!_ “If it was a loan, what are we doing in court because I’m trying to get the money back?” I learned the hard way that my brother-in-law is a egotistical nincompoop who can hold a grudge indefinitely. That probably doesn’t help the rest of you. ---
**Author:** ![GiantRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@GiantRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GiantRat)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-learned-the-hard-way/560484/73 "2010-11-17T07:28:40Z")
> [@prettydorky](#): > > If you’re in a car accident, GET A POLICE REPORT. Even for minor fender benders. As a corollary… don’t trust cops in NJ who insist that you get an accident report (after a municipal vehicle hits your car), but won’t get out of their car to look at it, won’t question the offending party, and then give you a piece of notebook paper with a fake 6 digit number on it. God I fucking hate New Jersey. It’s the Medellin Cartel of the Northern hemisphere. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-learned-the-hard-way/560484/74 "2010-11-17T07:36:15Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#): > > Certificates of Deposits are insured up to $250,000 by the FDIC or NCUA. U.S. Treasury bonds, although they are guaranteed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government and have almost no risk of default, can lose value on the secondary market due to interest rate risk. > > So if you can’t afford to lose money, CDs are as good as a savings account. Treasury bonds are close to risk free if you can hold to maturity, and of course corporate bonds are more likely to be defaulted on and suffer the same interest rate risk of treasury bonds except more so. Lesson to **Fuzzy Dunlop** : do not assume everybody lives in the US; also, the fact that something is insured does not mean the insurance will pay up fast - be it in the US or in Bohemia. CDs are insured in Spain too, but the people who had them in Rumasa banks when the government ate it took years to be able to recover their money. I repeat: do not make loans of money you can not afford to lose. Having it unavailable for five years instead of the five months it was supposed to be out of your hands counts as “losing it” for cashflow purposes. ---
**Author:** ![Haunted\_Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/94ad74/32.png) [@Haunted\_Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haunted_Pasta)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-learned-the-hard-way/560484/75 "2010-11-17T09:21:21Z")
Being in a bad relationship is worse than being in no relationship at all. Thing is, everybody learns that the hard way. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-learned-the-hard-way/560484/76 "2010-11-17T11:48:00Z")
From yesterday evening: attempts to demonstrate the wonders of physics by showing that a cooled sausage casserole will stay in the dish while being spun around its axis will result in an interesting new “splattered gravy” design on the kitchen walls\* \*and ceiling, and cupboards, and close family members ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-learned-the-hard-way/560484/77 "2010-11-17T14:45:27Z")
> [@Wallenstein](#): > > From yesterday evening: attempts to demonstrate the wonders of physics by showing that a cooled sausage casserole will stay in the dish while being spun around its axis will result in an interesting new “splattered gravy” design on the kitchen walls\* > > \*and ceiling, and cupboards, and close family members With a correlation between the amount of design and the axis on which it is spun? ---
**Author:** ![rostfrei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7bcc69/32.png) [@rostfrei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rostfrei)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-learned-the-hard-way/560484/78 "2010-11-17T18:11:44Z")
Never loan money to a friend. I’ve done this twice, and got burned twice. The first time hurt the most. It was in 4th grade. A girl asked me to borrow 40 cents and I foolishly did. I never got that money back. And in the early 1970’s, 40 cents was a lot of money for this poor kid. The second time was a bit more, 200 bucks. A friend needed money to buy food and pay some bills. I never got that money back, and whenever I casually mentioned it, I always got an excuse. Eventually, this friend started avoiding me and I haven’t seen her or heard from her in many years. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-learned-the-hard-way/560484/79 "2010-11-17T18:30:04Z")
> [@Valgard](#): > > … > > In a relationship, if something bothers you bring it up as soon as you can talk about it rationally. Don’t hope it’ll fix itself, it’ll just lead to an explosion later. > > … I could have spared myself a lot of grief if I’d learned this sooner, both the “wait til you’re rational” part AND the “ignore -\> explosion” part. ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-learned-the-hard-way/560484/80 "2010-11-17T19:02:24Z")
> [@heraldgwena](#): > > In addition to this, NEVER believe anyone when they say they want to just pay for the damage and keep it out of insurance. This is a great way to get burned. I don’t care if it is a priest driving the church bus, get their insurance information. If you get a police report and the cop believes it was the other persons fault, ask the cop to issue them a ticket for reckless driving. If you’re really pissed at them tell the cop you think you smell alcohol on their breath. Poke holes in potatoes with a fork before you bake or nuke them. If not they will explode. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-learned-the-hard-way/560484.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-learned-the-hard-way/560484.md?page=5)