Mishaps & understanding spouses...

Powder coating car parts in the kitchen oven-I think I was the guy who added the warning for others to follow.

It wasn't all for not-we got a better oven and added convection fan.  We love it, and my powder coating has since been shopped out.  Things happen for reasons.

Cleaned my racing helmet in the dishwasher.  Something came loose, jammed the thing-a-ma-jiggy at the bottom and a small flood resulted.  A day before we were hosting my son's first birthday party.  I feared for my life for several weeks.  Celibate for at least two weeks.  Will not make that mistake again. 

Quick. You can hit a convenience store and grab more creamer. If you get home and the lacquer thinner has worked, no harm done. If, as may be more probable, the lacquer thinner eats the base off the creamer, you'll have creamer...or possibly an escape from the house.

I have:

-- spilled turkey grease on the bottom oven burner, causing clouds of black smoke.

-- accidentally tossed a 2"cube of Styrofoam into the woodburner along with some cardboard, resulting in stench that nearly ran us out of the valley, never mind the house.

--set fire to an oven mitt I was wearing on my nearly numb hand, so I didn't realize it was burning. (This is why they make silicone oven gloves now. Less bulk, more flame retardant.)

--Becky

BBQ real dirt for the layout even though it was on the porch didn't go over well at all. She was not a very happy camper for a few days.  Bad smell.

Heck I probably could make a list when it just comes to my trains.

Larry

I sat a train on the white carpet last Christmas and it left a grease mark. Thankfully I'm single, but my mother was very upset

I cleaned tube track in the dishwasher once...ONCE.

I used the oven once... I wonder how many guys have an oven in their garage! 

At least it's next to the beer fridge!!

You think YOU screwed up? Last year eating left-overs....I dropped a container of turkey gravy on my MacBook Pro. Final repair cost came to about half the cost of buying a brand new one, which perhaps might have been a smarter idea. Add that and the necessity of having to give it up for a week, which is VERY difficult for me, I was not having a lot of fun afterwards....

I've made it a point to keep my train hobby out in the garage, and the rest of my home life in the home.

The only time I make an exception is when one of my wife's knick-knacks is broken and needs fixing--then I break out the glue and hobby tools and do what I can.

Jeff C

Well, I have been known to "Bake" harmonic balancers to make them easier to slip on the crank snout. When I was a teenager, the muzzle loader barrel always went with me into the shower (killed two birds with one stone). Then there was that Pontiac 389 tri-power that I assembled in the basement and then "test started" it on the floor just to see if it would run (it did).

Gilly

Now that takes guts!

I presume you were not married at the time?

Sounds like a '65 or '66 GTO?

Rod

 My Uncle used to rebuild his Harley every winter. Rode in the patio door. Rode out in spring. He set up a table right behind the couch so he could watch TV with the family, and build the motor.

  That memory firmly planted, every air cooled VW engine I rebuilt was assembled "in house", two in living rooms. One 1906cc stroker, we brought a trans into the living room to start and run it, for a 20 min initial break-in. Used the coffee table. Small old house 30'x30', open windows, winter, rain & wind, loud music from a compilation album (vinyl) by a new band called Mettallica .(not a misprint here, look it up)

  Within the next few days I was cleaning the "garage"(5'x30'?? for convertibles only!), for installation in the buggy, and pulled my Great Grandpas Marx CV right out of the dirt floor with a soil rake. A buried Jackpot. It was my Grandmas childhood set. She put it there after setting up a tree, the train, and then finding out her new husbands mother had been killed by a reckless Detroit trolley driver. The driver ignored a hundred+ yards of warnings that she was stuck (fired, but no charges). Gramps was there with her, and got to talk to her, and say goodbye, as she lived for while. But I guess he didn't like any railed vehicles after that. He wouldn't play with my trains with me. It hurt my feelings that he wouldn't, but I always figured he was just avoiding stepping on my other Grandpas toes(a Lionel collector). I didn't know anything of the trolley biz until I found the MARX CV train, and asked Grandma if she knew anything about it. She asked I take it, but kept it hidden from him. He suffered in silence while I played with mine so many times. It needed a repaint, etc. And got a baked enamel finish in Great Grandpas old electric stove that was hooked up in the garage(summer cooking pre-air cond.?) Don't try that in the house! Even on low, it really wreaks, but it worked nice!

 I would have likely rinsed the opened computer for a bit with hot distilled water, then put it in a box of rice for a few days(phones too). Used to put soda-pop covered arcade video game boards, and power supplies into industrial dishwashers (no detergents, etc.). Result was clean, shiny, working boards. Longest dry time ever? about 5 days, 2 after I took the relay covers off. They filled with water...so next time I only rinsed it! Hey, water is known to dry.

 I ruined my Mom's brand new hardwood floor, stain and all. I pulled a Christmas tree fleece out from under my track because I feared any sparks setting it ablaze (& repositioning presents for making tunnels easy). A few hours each day, of all die cast post war running(cars too!, so lil' bro couldn't Casey Jones it with the 1033.) on 0-27, with the straight edge ties. It ate up a big rounded square around the tree. Curves were the worst areas.

 Nobody even noticed till the tree came down, and the track came up. Semi-soft still I would guess. The old floor, and the repaired floor took the beatings fine.   

No major mishaps to report, but she does let me rearrange dining room furniture for a holiday layout..  But there was that one time she used up all the glue...  ON PURPOSE!

All I can say,  don't try sodering  wires on the dinner room table.

FYI

Super glue takes the gloss finish off a marble coffee table.

PS: any ideas on how to restore the finish. 

Bob

So did she eventually unstick you, or did you get out yourself?

Polish like you've never polished before ...Now swear, and call a stone guy. Really. (Wood stain for me. I slipped at work on a wet marble floor)

  There was a headstone maker near us, they often appreciated the opportunity at some extra work. His polishing, unmatched. Devoted to his industry, you just had to wait for him to finish yours 100% sometimes. 

Mishaps may happen here but misunderstandings seldom occur. Following the Lords rules, I have always done what I wanted, when I wanted and spent as much as I wanted. There are never any arguments as I'm not a little kid that has to ask mommy for permission. On the other hand I do not interfere with Paula's purchases either. We are both grown up enough to do what we want with our money and always spend responsibly within our means. If there is ever a mishap, no one gets chastised, we just correct the problem and/or buy what is needed to replace what was broken. It a very simple arrangement without conflict. Life is too short to have conflict in your life.

Never admit anything, and blame the cat.

Teaching boys that locomotives have dirty wheels even when they are brand new is hard.  Especially when they take them off of the track and lay them on the white carpet!  They leave a nice grease impression.  Now I have no idea who has a 4 bedroom house with white carpet unless it was 2 couples with separate bedrooms but it was in there when i bought it and I am going to finish the layout room in the basement long before i worry about replacing it.  

Use denatured alcohol and blot up the stains. Dont rub. Been there, done that.

Holy molly that sounds expensive! ....yep molly.

I find that the kids and dogs are MUCH worse for the carpets than trains.  A long time ago I tried to dry a Lionel Helicopter Flat in the toaster oven.  Phone rang.  What a mess.

Jon  

Not married and very fortunate to live long enough to get married. My mother wanted to kill me. It was for 1967 GTO and it wasn't even mine. It belonged to my friend Robert Frazee. BTW, the basement didn't have an outside stairway!

Gilly

The worst of it is (not very bad) that our cat uses the layout to hide under when he senses that things aren't going his way.....

Two hints for spilling stuff:

Next discount store trip, buy the cheapest jug of scoopable cat litter you can find, preferably unscented (helps hide your mistake.) Also pick up a box of baking soda and some cornstarch if you have light carpeting. 

Next time a wet or oily mess hits carpeting, layout or furniture, dump a handful of cat litter on it. It'll pull up the moisture and you may be able to lift the mess without anyone's being the wiser. it'll even get rid of accidental human and pet effluvia. If you pick up the solid clump of spilled coffee or LaBelle or what have you and there's still residue, dust it with more litter in a thin layer and wait a bit before you scoop it up. If it's watery rather than oil-based, a DustBuster will do nicely. 

If you get wheel goo on white carpeting or furniture and don't have one of those little spot cleaners, or if there are still stains, dust the spot with cornstarch. It's good enough camouflage that most people won't notice while you wait to get some cleaning foam on the spots. (It also picks up moisture and grease, so the spots may be easier to remove.) Plain Dawn dish detergent and water will get grease out of almost anything that can be wet and dried.

Finally, greasy hard surfaces can often be cleaned with baking soda and the pads of your thumbs. It's mildly alkaline and unlikely to scratch if you apply almost no pressure. It works to hide dark stains on white, too, but it's slightly whiter and more reflective than corn starch and may show more, which at times can be Really Important.

When we lived in Texas I got black paint on Her white carpet. Then I got black marks on the white carpet the one and only time I set up a carpet layout.  So when we moved to Arkansas my wife made me set up my trains in this.....

She does not know that I have gotten white glue and paint on the carpet in the train building, It's under the layout and she does not look there.