45 years ago, when I married my first wife.

The very first time I took a date to a nice restaurant I ordered a salad with my meal. I asked for a Caesar salad....with Ranch dressing.

When I first retired I thought I would earn some spending money as a substitute teacher. First class I was a little bit nervous. I started to write the days assignment on the board when a student started to clear his throat pretty loud. I asked him if he needed to go to the nurse but in a very low voice said that is not the board, that's an electronic white board that could display a paper and the teacher had markers made for the board. In between classes I scrubbed that board, but you could still faintly see my name up top.

quote:

Originally posted by slabsides45:
I once ordered from the menu in front of several professionals at a meeting. I caused quite a laugh when I said "I guess I will try the quin-o-ah salad, but that's a weird name!"

My buddy just looked at me like I peed in the punch and said "It's pronounced keen-wah..."

Oops.

I once mentioned that I wanted to try Souse Vide cooking. I believe I pronounced it soos veeday. I was corrected and never forgot.

First foray into a networking/computer/IT job…I put a BNC network back together w/o the resistor on the endpoint.

Going to my first HPDE on old DOT4 fluid. I found out pretty quickly it was a mistake.

MikeinNC will appreciate this one. When I was an Ensign (O-1) on my first ship and a newly trained and qualified boarding officer. Boarded a shrimp boat in the Gulf of Mexico (1982 time frame) and it was the first time I was the boarding team lead where we made a bust.

Went through the galley into the pilot house and noticed a good size bale of MJ on the table that appeared to have been cut into. Proceeded with the boarding and safety inspection. After looking at the vessel's papers in the pilot house went to the main deck to verify the ship's number on the main beam, which is in the main hold. Had the skipper open it up and it was completely full with more bales of MJ.

We pulled a bale out and I started to prepare the testing kit to verify it was THC. I was more than a little nervous, and fumbled with the vial and busted it open. The huge Gunner's Mate (who a year or so later probably saved my leg if not my life) said hey Mr. Sigfan you need to put some of the weed into the kit before you start breaking the vials. We all got a pretty good chuckle out of that.

Had to get another test kit and completed the test but never lived that down.

Yes it was positive and we arrested the crew and transferred them to the ship. A quartermaster and I drove the shrimp boat to Key West for offload.

Just getting into shooting big time and I bought my first 1911. Went to the range and kept having extremely weak rounds that would all bulge out on one side of the case and not cycle the gun.

Packed my stuff up, went home, and ended up talking to my boss on the phone that night. I was in the middle of explaining what happened with my shiny new .45 while looking at the cases when I noticed the .40 headstamp.

Oops.

Pretty much everything for the first time. No amount of study or youtube videos prepares one for the first job, there's just no substitute for (informed) experience. I say "informed" experience because sometimes you seen an experienced somebody, auto mechanic for example, doing something plainly wrong. Or maybe I'm not informed enough to know he's doing it right.

Flying into Abaco the first time with the plane owner. His dad meets us at the airport and nearly all the natives there are saying hello Doc to the father.
I said to Doc you sure know a lot of people here.
I delivered them as babies was the reply.

"hors d'oeuvres"....enough said.

This wasn’t me, I swear!

Worked at a GM dealership as parts manager. Guy was hired as a technician. Second day on the job he was given a pickup truck for an oil change, tuneup, new tires. Rookie stuff especially pre computer days.

Comes back to parts first insisting that I gave him the wrong parts as it won’t start, just backfires. After two or three times at the counter I said “Check your wires”.

After awhile I go out there and he’s now saying it needs a coil. Well it drove in and should drive out. Again I tell him “Check the firing order, 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 is it.”

He told me “You don’t know what you’re talking about, the number is right on the engine and that’s not it!” He then points to the casting number and said “It’s right here, can’t you read?”

I’m wondering what he’s talking about, looking at the intake he points to the manifold casting number, a seven digit number, at the same time he tells me I don’t know what I’m talking about.

I said “That’s a casting number, first thing it’s only seven numbers, there’s eight cylinders and where is cylinder nine (number was 39xxxxx)

He then starts picking up his tools and heads for the door saying “I don’t know anything about new trucks”. This was a ‘73 model in ‘79

quote:

Originally posted by hudr:
First foray into a networking/computer/IT job…I put a BNC network back together w/o the resistor on the endpoint.

I’ve done that.

The process of questioning potential jurors is called "voir dire." It is French for "speak the truth." The French would say "vwar deer." In other places, American lawyers say it like that.

Not in Texas. We say it just like Joe Bob from Deep East Texas would say it - "vore die-er."

You only say it the fancy way once in a Texas courtroom because it exposes you as a noob or (even worse) a Yankee.