Did I Really Just Say That?

[closetgeek]

Please, make me feel better. I had one of those moments of epic stupidity, this weekend which was mercifully forgotten about it, until a few minutes ago, when a text revived the conversation. I was at a friends house, who is former Navy, sitting around and talking with he and his roomate, who is former Marine, about aircraft carriers. They were trying to help me get a grasp on what it was like, being on deck, during a take-off, which is why it was more embarrassing that my mind went where it did. He brought up a catapult and a person with even a room temp IQ would probably surmise: okay we are talking about planes taking off with minimul runway...ah that kind of catapult. Nope, I instantly visualize a carrier with superior battle and defense capabilites carrying a wooden siege weapon out of the Dark Ages. Why? I will never know. What's worse, I didn't even give my brain a second to catch up with the conversation. I instantly blurt out, Naval ships still use catapults? That was so bad it even took them a few seconds to stumble back into my intellect and figure out what I was talking about.
I suspect the mockery I will get from this one will probably equal that of the hazing I have been getting since I accidentally cooked the Christmas Eve Turkey, upside down.:doh:

[Nicolas]

It's never too late to join the Foreign Legion. ;)

[Ara Pacis]

Only when they run out of powder. :P

[blueberrydesk]

At least you didn't mean this:

http://www.mcphee.com/items/11418.html

Now that's a Catapult! :)

[danscope]

Hi, It should not be embarassing when amoung your genuine friends to have a "senior moment". It shall happen to everyone from time to time. And after all, they are sharing the experience of carrier duty with you, who have never been aboard durring operations. Laugh and be kind to yourself and enjoy the company and experiences of your mates. And yes, they too will have a senior moment any day now.
Best regards,
Dan

[Fazor]

Ah, it took me a minute, but I finally found the entry I was looking for. Here's an excerpt from The Encyclopedia Geekanica, under header "Navy Personnel Transports" . . .


. . . After many disasterous attempts at using landing crafts to move soldiers from ship to shore (think Saving Private Ryan), the Navy turned to the tried and true method of flinging the men ashore with large catapults, trebuchets, and, in some instances, by tying them to spiked posts and using ballistas. . . .

[Nicolas]

You can actually do this (get yourself launched by a trebuchet) in the game Age of Chivalry (which is a Half-Life² mod, for the geeks).

I should be the uber geek of that game, since I'd be the only person in the world having a custom knight skin for that game, but I didn't hear anything from the development team after I won the contest...On top of that, I don't play it anymore, not having a home PC with internet connection anymore.

And this is so off-topic, it wouldn't surprise me if this post would end up in the topic next to this one.

[HenrikOlsen]

Used to be you could actually do it in real life too (http://www.extremedreams.co.uk/index.php/Extremedreams/human_catapult/xsid/28), interesting movie clip with a really annoying choice of music at too high a level. Just FF to 2:15 or so.

[Buttercup]

We all have had moments like that, closetgeek. ;)

[closetgeek]

That's why I started the thread, share them :).

[Nicolas]

I must have had these moments, but apparently I banned them from memory so I can't share them anymore. Saved me from joining the Foreign Legion though.

[slang]

I instantly blurt out, Naval ships still use catapults?

Only the old fashioned models! The UK carrier Ark Royal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Ark_Royal_(R07)) doesn't need it, it only has a ramp to launch its Sea Harriers. I suppose it's too late to bluff your way out of it... but a consideration anyway :)

(yes, I know about build dates etc... just trying to help closetgeek!)

[pzkpfw]

My worst one was in a maths class in school (14 years old).

It was noted that the fuel tank of a particular car was 60 litres (or something).

I blurted out "but it's a 2 litre engine... how does the fuel last?".

Just an instant of insanity - but I then had to endure class-mates who could barely add 2 and 2 try to explain things I already knew about engines to me.

[Salty]

As a young Marine in a Navy school, I asked the instructor to repeat a rather involved explanation by asking, "Sir, could you tell me again how that circuit works?"

His reply: "Marine, it works very well."

Don't feel bad, closet geek. Smile.

[KaiYeves]

I have said some very stupid things in my life, including once saying that the Incas built pyramids.

[Trebuchet]

Don't worry about it Closetgeek, those airplane launchers aren't real catapults anyhow! ;)

[Ara Pacis]

I dno't know if it's too late now, but you could have said you were referring to the new electromagnetic catapults versus the old steam powered cats.

[Gemini]

A closed mouth gathers no feet.

[pzkpfw]

Don't worry about it Closetgeek, those airplane launchers aren't real catapults anyhow! ;)

Touche Trebuchet.

[mugaliens]

...since I accidentally cooked the Christmas Eve Turkey, upside down.:doh:

No worries - it was Austrailian turkey, right?

Sure it was... :whistle:

[Jens]

I don't see why you're worried about it. I sometimes ask questions like that deliberately, just to get a smile from people. Some people, like Leslie Nielsen, actually get paid good money to ask dumb questions!

[jokergirl]

*points at signature*
I too suffer from foot in mouth disease sometimes. Hence "If you had been silent, you would have remained a philosopher".

;)

[closetgeek]

I don't see why you're worried about it. I sometimes ask questions like that deliberately, just to get a smile from people. Some people, like Leslie Nielsen, actually get paid good money to ask dumb questions!

I wish I could have played it off as though I was just being silly, but my reaction, upon realizing what I had just asked, was just as uncontrollable as the question. There was no playing it off at that point.


I dno't know if it's too late now, but you could have said you were referring to the new electromagnetic catapults versus the old steam powered cats.

No, unfortunately, I had no idea of the existance of either of those.

Pzkpfw Why does it have to happen in a classroom? Kids don't forget anything!

HenrickOlsen That's pretty cool!

[Jens]

I wish I could have played it off as though I was just being silly, but my reaction, upon realizing what I had just asked, was just as uncontrollable as the question. There was no playing it off at that point.


Actually I wasn't suggesting that you play it off as being silly. Nobody can know that. It's just a question of not caring if people think you are ignorant. :)

[SeanF]

Was at a baseball game with my sister's family a couple of weeks ago. As we sat down after singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," my sister asked, "What inning are we in?"

We responded somewhat incredulously and she defensively, "Yes, I know I can just look at the scoreboard, but I just figured I'd ask out loud."

It wasn't until my brother-in-law said, "What did we just do?" that she realized it was obviously the seventh inning... :)

[closetgeek]

Oh I don't loose sleep over it. I am absent minded, at times, and wonder if he loves me because of it or inspite of it. If he says a joke, he will always look to me like he just won a race and is waiting at the finish line for me to cross. It's just hard to win those playful battles of wits when I give him so much ammo. It's all taken lightly and in fun but everytime I have a classic Tina-moment, all the previous ones are brought up. He even responded to my question with, "Yeah, it's upside down, too."

[closetgeek]

Was at a baseball game with my sister's family a couple of weeks ago. As we sat down after singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," my sister asked, "What inning are we in?"

We responded somewhat incredulously and she defensively, "Yes, I know I can just look at the scoreboard, but I just figured I'd ask out loud."

It wasn't until my brother-in-law said, "What did we just do?" that she realized it was obviously the seventh inning... :)


Tell your sister not to feel bad. I had to google it to get the humor in it. However, I suspect the way your brother-in-law asked what you just did, that it was something she should have known.

[DonM435]

Years ago I dropped my son off at a movie theater. I had to say to the lady at the ticket window "Here comes a silly question, but when does The Neverending Story end?"

[closetgeek]

Years ago I dropped my son off at a movie theater. I had to say to the lady at the ticket window "Here comes a silly question, but when does The Neverending Story end?"

Rofl, that one got a good laugh out of me!

[Tobin Dax]

In addition to keeping your feet out of your mouth, never sit with you back to the door while talking. And watch your coworkers for hints in their expression that someone you shouldn't say this in front of is standing behind you.

It happens.

[closetgeek]

Oh Tobin, if only I had that kind of control. I went on this self-righteous rant about the stupidity of teens getting pregnant, upon discovering that a classmate had just gotten pregnant, completely forgetting that my cousin, who had her first child at 17 was standing directly behind me. It is a fact, an open mouth gathers no foot.

[DonM435]

I was once at an education conference with my then-boss. One of the other guests was a fellow who had a deep purple coloration over maybe half his face. You couldn't help but notice it, but of course nobody mentioned it. I figured it must have been from some laboratory accident, but I now realize that it was probably a birthmark (like we used to see on Mikhail Gorbachev's head), only quite a widespread one. I forget Mr. Half-Purple's name, but let's say it was "Jones." (I'll forgo the Pythonesque impulse to call him "Mr. Semi-Indigo.")

Anyway, a dispute over some point or other comes up, and my boss says "Now, Doctor Jones and I discussed that very point all morning. I talked this man blue in the face, and he assured me that . . ."

I gagged. Did he really say that? He did. Did anyone else hear it? Never mind, I can tell from their faces, they did. My boss went on as if nothing had happened.

Nobody mentioned it afterward. I know that I didn't. Until now.

[KaiYeves]

When I was about four years old, my father and I were visiting the Bronx Zoo together. My dad went into the Bat House, which was (obviously) dark, and predictably couldn't see a thing.

So my dad then left the Bat House, went to the security guard outside and told him "I can't see a thing in there!"

"That's the point, sir. The bats like it to be dark."

[Tobin Dax]

Oh Tobin, if only I had that kind of control.
If I gave the impression that I had that control, I certainly didn't mean to.

It's been long enough that nobody's bringing it up anymore, but I ha a bit of a time living that one down. I was talking about bending the rules a little bit on something when a superior coworker walked in the room. It wasn't a big thing, it just wasn't well-timed.

[closetgeek]

Oh, don't forget, if you are going to rant about someone in particular, make sure your audience isn't related to your target...yep, done that. My boss really was creepy but alarms should have gone off when the newest employee approached me, specifically to as my opinion on our boss. Instead, I automatically assumed that he shared the same opinion and was waiting for the opening I provided. Unfortunately, it was a bit of an uncomfortable moment when he replied with, "That's my uncle!"

[Moose]

In addition to keeping your feet out of your mouth, never sit with you back to the door while talking. And watch your coworkers for hints in their expression that someone you shouldn't say this in front of is standing behind you.

It happens.

"He's right behind me, isn't he?" - One of my students, talking out of turn. And yeah, I was. *chuckle*

[Ara Pacis]

Oh, don't forget, if you are going to rant about someone in particular, make sure your audience isn't related to your target...yep, done that. My boss really was creepy but alarms should have gone off when the newest employee approached me, specifically to as my opinion on our boss. Instead, I automatically assumed that he shared the same opinion and was waiting for the opening I provided. Unfortunately, it was a bit of an uncomfortable moment when he replied with, "That's my uncle!"

See, that's the opportunity to either be embarrassed or to use come chuzpah. Instead of fumbling for a quasi-apology and retraction, I would have pushed the point home: "But you seem so normal." or "Were you adopted?" or "Well, I won't hold that against you."

[Gemini]

About four years ago I shot myself in the foot with the "Soyuz to the Moon" thread saying that it was far fetched that a soyuz couldd go to the moon (I know it isn't now, plus I was refering to the R-7 rocket anyway). I laid low for about two years before I started to actively post again. :(