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Oops! The Silly Mistakes Thread

Trade War now looms between the US and Wakanda.

The US Department of Agriculture listed Wakanda as a free-trade partner - despite it being a fictional country.

A USDA spokesperson said the Kingdom of Wakanda was added to the list by accident during a staff test. The department's online tariff tracker hosted a detailed list of goods the two nations apparently traded, including ducks, donkeys and dairy cows. In the Marvel universe, Wakanda is the fictional East African home country of superhero Black Panther.

The fictional country was removed soon from the list after US media first queried it, prompting jokes that the countries had started a trade war. Wakanda first appeared in the Fantastic Four comic in 1966, and made a reappearance when Black Panther was adapted into an Oscar-winning film last year. The unusual listing was spotted by Francis Tseng, a New York-based software engineer who was looking up agricultural tariffs for a fellowship he was applying for.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50849559
I guess the trade war is breaking out as they are not willing to export vibranium.
 
Note For Future Reference: The thing going bump in the night might be one of your automated toys ... :roll:
N Carolina couple call 911 on vacuum thought to be intruder

’Twas the night of Christmas at a North Carolina house, no creature should have been stirring, not even a mouse.

But a Forsyth County couple awoke with a fright, as something was moving about their house in the night.

They dashed to their closet and hid in fear, dialing 911 with a sensitive ear.

Responding sheriff’s deputies searched the home, and found a robot vacuum alone. The source of the scare had quickly been sorted, WGHP-TV reported. The robot had seemingly started and gotten stuck, its beeping and banging made the audible muck.

Homeowner Thomas Milam said the vacuum named Harry was new. They’d had it for days, maybe just two.

He said it’s not better to be sorry than safe, and he’d call 911 again, even if making a mistake.
FULL STORY: https://apnews.com/e20a2ff598b0c335ebf277f17fc12d79
 
I'm not sure which was the bigger mistake - giving the boy a magnifying lens for Xmas, or the boy's immediate impulse to burn things with it.
Boy's magnifying glass Christmas gift leads to front lawn fire

A Texas mother said a fire that razed her family's front lawn started with her 12-year-old son's Christmas gift: a magnifying glass.

Nissa-Lynn Parson of McKinney said her son, Cayden, 12, received a magnifying glass for Christmas and the boy and his brothers decided to use the gift to burn some holes in a newspaper in the family's driveway.

The newspaper burst into flames and wind suddenly carried it to the front lawn, where the grass quickly caught fire. ...

"Everything was under control until the boys came running into the house telling us that a corner of the lawn was on fire and the Christmas lights were melting," Parson wrote.

She said the family sprang into action. ...

Parson said the flames were extinguished with no damage except for some melted lights and a scorched lawn. ...
SOURCE: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2019/1...-leads-to-front-lawn-fire/1081577805470/?sl=1
 
Well, at least the cops got a good laugh out of it ...
Florida police respond after parrot cries, “Let me out!”

When someone in a Florida neighborhood heard chilling cries and the words “Let me out!” they dialed 911.

Little did they know the cries were that of a 40-year-old parrot named Rambo.

After the call, four Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputies pulled up and questioned a man who appeared to be repairing a car in his driveway. The Palm Beach Post reports that when the deputies explained their concerns, the man smiled, then told deputies he’d introduce them to the perpetrator. When he returned with the parrot, the deputies burst out laughing.

The man told officers that he taught Rambo to scream “Let me out!” when he was a kid and Rambo lived in a cage.

PBSO officials could not be reached for more details. The agency did tweet a link to a video Saturday, saying, “Our deputies in Lake Worth Beach came to the help of someone screaming for help. Hilarity ensued.”
SOURCE: https://apnews.com/1ceb50398e70c70ecde9be56ef8a2d34
 
Over breakfast, just watched an advert for Barclaycard, featuring Simon Cowell.
In it he explains how you can save money by paying off what you owe on your credit card more quickly.
Not to do so would be ridiculous, he declares "like me hosting a talent show in Antarctica".
Cut to scene of a frozen-looking Cowell sitting at a desk IN A SNOWSTORM!

Now, call me a pedant if you like, but even I know that Antarctica is the driest continent on Earth, where rain or snow are virtually unheard of.

So, sorry Barclaycard, but I believe this was really filmed in a studio somewhere and I suspect your supposed trip to the Antarctic was aborted for some reason and, for propaganda purposes, you had to cover it up!

You heed my words - they will be making conspiracy movies about this soon and people on Fortean-themed blogs will still be discussing this suspicious event decades into the future...
 
Now, call me a pedant if you like, but even I know that Antarctica is the driest continent on Earth, where rain or snow are virtually unheard of.
There is plenty of ice. That was once snow.
There is a desert in Antarctica, right enough - where it is the driest place on Earth. But that's just part of that continent.
 
A sandstorm doesn't need sand coming from above. Same with snow.
 
Facebook apologises for Xi Jinping offensive name translation gaffe
Facebook said on Saturday it was working to find out how Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s name appeared as “Mr Shithole” in posts on its platform when translated into English from Burmese, apologising for any offence caused and saying the problem had been fixed.

A statement about the visit published on Suu Kyi’s official Facebook page was littered with references to “Mr Shithole” when translated to English, while a headline in local news journal the Irrawaddy appeared as “Dinner honors president shithole”.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jan/18/facebook-xi-jinping-mr-shithole
 
..name appeared as “Mr Shithole..

But we all know a prominent African leader with that name.....but it is not pronounced as we would.

It is Sit-hol-ee
 
B.C. man who accidentally poured 16,680 litres of wine down drain fails to get job back

mission hill.jpg

(photo: Mission Hill Family Estate Winery)

VANCOUVER -- A former employee of a B.C. winery won't be getting his job back after thousands of litres of wine were accidentally flushed down a drain.

The former Mission Hill employee – who was fired with cause – filed a grievance that was heard before a labour arbitrator in December. The incident which led to his dismissal happened a little over a year earlier, in November 2018.

According to the labour arbitrator's decision, Brent Crozier had worked for the Kelowna-based winery for over a decade.

Crozier had worked as a cellarman for several years and his main responsibility was blending wines and transferring them between tanks. As part of the process, Crozier was expected to run a test to make sure lines were properly connected between the tanks. He was also expected to check the lines every 15 minutes during the transfer.

The decision states that on Nov. 19, 2018, one of the valves was left open during a transfer. As a result, 5,680 litres of sauvignon blanc spilled onto the floor and down a drain. Mission Hill estimates the value of the wine at nearly $162,500.

The decision states Crozier checked the tank 20 minutes after starting the transfer, which is when he realized wine was spilling onto the floor.

"I was freaking out. I could not believe I forgot to change over the valve," Crozier said in the arbitrator's ruling.

The arbitrator's decision states Crozier "felt horrible about the whole thing," and that "he would be more attentive and more careful in the future."

About a month after the spill, Crozier was hand-delivered a letter that said he was being "terminated with cause," citing "negligence in seller duties culminating with (him) pumping 6,000 litres of estate sauvignon blanc down the drain."

But that wasn't the only time Crozier accidentally spilled wine down a drain.

About 18 months earlier – in 2017 – the arbitrator's decision said Crozier "made the same mistake and flushed 11,000 litres of wine down the drain."

After that incident, Crozier apologized to management and promised to be more careful in the future.

"He agreed he had failed to live up to expectations in that regard,"
the arbitrator's decision states.

"Earlier efforts by the employer to impress upon (Crozier) the seriousness of an error of this magnitude failed to achieve the desired result and, in spite of them, he committed the same disastrous error in 2018."

The ruling states Crozier's "carelessness in 2017 and the disastrous consequences" should have led him to apply "himself conscientiously to his duties." Instead, the arbitrator wrote, the consequences of the 2017 incident "had no effect."

As a result, the arbitrator found Mission Hill's decision to terminate Crozier's employment was "not an excessive disciplinary response."

The decision states that in the winery's 50-year history, Mission Hill has only had two cellar operation incidents that resulted in a "total loss of wine down the drain." Both were the result of Crozier's actions.
 
B.C. man who accidentally poured 16,680 litres of wine down drain fails to get job back

View attachment 22692
(photo: Mission Hill Family Estate Winery)

VANCOUVER -- A former employee of a B.C. winery won't be getting his job back after thousands of litres of wine were accidentally flushed down a drain.

The former Mission Hill employee – who was fired with cause – filed a grievance that was heard before a labour arbitrator in December. The incident which led to his dismissal happened a little over a year earlier, in November 2018.

According to the labour arbitrator's decision, Brent Crozier had worked for the Kelowna-based winery for over a decade.

Crozier had worked as a cellarman for several years and his main responsibility was blending wines and transferring them between tanks. As part of the process, Crozier was expected to run a test to make sure lines were properly connected between the tanks. He was also expected to check the lines every 15 minutes during the transfer.

The decision states that on Nov. 19, 2018, one of the valves was left open during a transfer. As a result, 5,680 litres of sauvignon blanc spilled onto the floor and down a drain. Mission Hill estimates the value of the wine at nearly $162,500.

The decision states Crozier checked the tank 20 minutes after starting the transfer, which is when he realized wine was spilling onto the floor.

"I was freaking out. I could not believe I forgot to change over the valve," Crozier said in the arbitrator's ruling.

The arbitrator's decision states Crozier "felt horrible about the whole thing," and that "he would be more attentive and more careful in the future."

About a month after the spill, Crozier was hand-delivered a letter that said he was being "terminated with cause," citing "negligence in seller duties culminating with (him) pumping 6,000 litres of estate sauvignon blanc down the drain."

But that wasn't the only time Crozier accidentally spilled wine down a drain.

About 18 months earlier – in 2017 – the arbitrator's decision said Crozier "made the same mistake and flushed 11,000 litres of wine down the drain."

After that incident, Crozier apologized to management and promised to be more careful in the future.

"He agreed he had failed to live up to expectations in that regard," the arbitrator's decision states.

"Earlier efforts by the employer to impress upon (Crozier) the seriousness of an error of this magnitude failed to achieve the desired result and, in spite of them, he committed the same disastrous error in 2018."

The ruling states Crozier's "carelessness in 2017 and the disastrous consequences" should have led him to apply "himself conscientiously to his duties." Instead, the arbitrator wrote, the consequences of the 2017 incident "had no effect."

As a result, the arbitrator found Mission Hill's decision to terminate Crozier's employment was "not an excessive disciplinary response."

The decision states that in the winery's 50-year history, Mission Hill has only had two cellar operation incidents that resulted in a "total loss of wine down the drain." Both were the result of Crozier's actions.
I f****d up in a small family owned chocolate factory once ..

You have to 'smelt' chocolate (correct spelling .. smelled?) first .. large cylindrical vats of milk, white and dark chocolate .. you'd run it into a standard sized bucket, I was agency hired so I can't exactly remember why but it was a very slow process so I'd get distracted and do other setting up jobs at the same time .. I'd been warned not to take my eye off the ball so to skip to the end .. the large pool of rapidly cooling so now pretty much solid chocolate on the factory floor.

I was told to lift it up and chuck it back into the vat. The vats did have filters to be fair.
 
A little extra fiber is probably good for candy lovers. Thanks. Thanks a lot.
 
At university a lad in my Halls was magic mushroom enthusiast - he once spent many early morning hours collecting a decent autumnal hoard, boiled them into a tea, and drained them over the sink with a colander.

It was only after he finished that he realised he should have kept the liquid and chucked the mushrooms.
 
B.C. man who accidentally poured 16,680 litres of wine down drain fails to get job back

View attachment 22692
(photo: Mission Hill Family Estate Winery)

VANCOUVER -- A former employee of a B.C. winery won't be getting his job back after thousands of litres of wine were accidentally flushed down a drain.

The former Mission Hill employee – who was fired with cause – filed a grievance that was heard before a labour arbitrator in December. The incident which led to his dismissal happened a little over a year earlier, in November 2018.

According to the labour arbitrator's decision, Brent Crozier had worked for the Kelowna-based winery for over a decade.

Crozier had worked as a cellarman for several years and his main responsibility was blending wines and transferring them between tanks. As part of the process, Crozier was expected to run a test to make sure lines were properly connected between the tanks. He was also expected to check the lines every 15 minutes during the transfer.

The decision states that on Nov. 19, 2018, one of the valves was left open during a transfer. As a result, 5,680 litres of sauvignon blanc spilled onto the floor and down a drain. Mission Hill estimates the value of the wine at nearly $162,500.

The decision states Crozier checked the tank 20 minutes after starting the transfer, which is when he realized wine was spilling onto the floor.

"I was freaking out. I could not believe I forgot to change over the valve," Crozier said in the arbitrator's ruling.

The arbitrator's decision states Crozier "felt horrible about the whole thing," and that "he would be more attentive and more careful in the future."

About a month after the spill, Crozier was hand-delivered a letter that said he was being "terminated with cause," citing "negligence in seller duties culminating with (him) pumping 6,000 litres of estate sauvignon blanc down the drain."

But that wasn't the only time Crozier accidentally spilled wine down a drain.

About 18 months earlier – in 2017 – the arbitrator's decision said Crozier "made the same mistake and flushed 11,000 litres of wine down the drain."

After that incident, Crozier apologized to management and promised to be more careful in the future.

"He agreed he had failed to live up to expectations in that regard," the arbitrator's decision states.

"Earlier efforts by the employer to impress upon (Crozier) the seriousness of an error of this magnitude failed to achieve the desired result and, in spite of them, he committed the same disastrous error in 2018."

The ruling states Crozier's "carelessness in 2017 and the disastrous consequences" should have led him to apply "himself conscientiously to his duties." Instead, the arbitrator wrote, the consequences of the 2017 incident "had no effect."

As a result, the arbitrator found Mission Hill's decision to terminate Crozier's employment was "not an excessive disciplinary response."

The decision states that in the winery's 50-year history, Mission Hill has only had two cellar operation incidents that resulted in a "total loss of wine down the drain." Both were the result of Crozier's actions.
Should have gone to Specsavers!
 
A sad reflection on my 60 years of mechanical experience. But as a self-chastisement I will relate the following.

A few days ago I went to start my car for a trip into town. It turned over, but wouldn't start.

I uttered a few choice oaths and thought 'Damn glow plugs'. It's a Diesel.

Checked the plugs. No problems there.

So, got to be air in the fuel. I had issues with this when I first got the car. Got the wife to crank over the engine and sure enough there was a steady stream of air bubble heading down the (clear) supply line towards the fuel pump.

Harr, gotcha.

So I decided the first thing to do was to ascertain the source of the air. And the best way to do this was to run the engine from a separate fuel container. Thereby isolating the front end fuel from the rear end.
So, I went down and bought a gallon of fuel. Made up a short line and connected the container to the little hand Prime pump. Pumped all the air out of the system.

Started the car. it fired up immediately. Success !

Then it started running very rough and stopped.

Bugger !


Anyway, called it a do for the night. Considered that my old reliable car was dead. Failed fuel pump. Very expensive.

Wife pretended to commiserate, but already had her eye on a nice Alfa Romeo.

While pondering on the problem in the wee small hours it dawned on me that I had missed something. Something niggling away at the back of my mind.

I had noticed a smell of petrol.

PETROL !

And sure enough, there was the problem.

When I went to the fuel station I had mistakenly filled the can with petrol. And during the flushing out of the air I had been filling the system with petrol, not Diesel. Diesel engines do not like petrol, no lubrication properties.

So in the morning I went down and bought Diesel. Repeated the whole operation and this time it ran properly.

I also found a small air leak by the fuel filter that was the real culprit.

And the Alfa once again became a figment of my wife's imagination.

Why didn't I notice as I was doing the job ? Who knows. Probably concentrating on getting rid of all the air to the extent I ignored the smell of petrol.

So, it just remained to look in the mirror and say 'who's a silly boy'.

INT21

:(
 
And the Alfa once again became a figment of my wife's imagination.

A few years ago Techy wanted to buy me a BMW Z4. Not my type of car AT ALL but someone he knew was selling it and he had first dibs, and he wanted to treat me.
So he'd point them out when we were driving along and say 'You could have one of those!' and I'd be baffled. I can't tell one cr from another and had no idea how posh it was, and already had a highly serviceable Ford Focus.

Anyway... while he was waiting for me to take the bait the garage where the car was kept collapsed under the weight of a flood. A wall fell on the car and it was written off. No new car for me!
 
Heh, we just had a chat about it and agreed that the Beamer would've been too fast for me. The flood was an omen!

Always helps to have God on your side.

Beside, the BMW mentioned is more an ulalume machine.

(dives behind wall and digs deep hole)

INT21 :)
 
Always helps to have God on your side.

Beside, the BMW mentioned is more an ulalume machine.

(dives behind wall and digs deep hole)

INT21 :)

I know next to NOTHING about car makes so Techy could've been pointing out 20 different models when he was hinting about the Beamer!
 
I knew nothing at all about the BMW or that Techy was hoping to buy it for me until he showed me a photo of it half-buried under the disassembled brickwork, saying 'Here's your car!'

He'd test-driven it a couple of days before and the deal was nearly done, and then it was gone. Mad, eh.
 
Come now, Madam. Can't have it both ways.

Do you mean I wouldn't have known what car Techy was pointing out if I took no interest?

I didn't know he was indicating the same model each time and only found out after the actual car had been totalled and Techy's plan was foiled, which is when he told me the whole story.

I'm no wiser now and still couldn't pick out that car.
 
'Not my type of car AT ALL' would indicate a certain level of knowledge, would it not ?

(Observes the accused squirming uncomfortably under the prosecutions laser like intellect and rock solid logic)
 
'Not my type of car AT ALL' would indicate a certain level of knowledge, would it not ?

(Observes the accused squirming uncomfortably under the prosecutions laser like intellect and rock solid logic)

No, because I only found out after it was all over that Techy had been hoping to alert me to that model and that it was posh. At the time he'd say 'You could have a car like THAT one!' and I'd say 'I already have a nice car!' and we'd both laugh. I didn't know he meant it.

I have no interest in cars. Why does it matter?
 
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