True story.
My dad was a soldier in Northern Ireland during the worst of the troubles in the 1970s. It was obviously a pretty miserable time, not only for the locals but also for the squaddies, who couldn’t go into town when off duty for fear of abuse or physical violence.

So, the soldiers were mostly confined to barracks, and to prevent them going stir-crazy, the powers that be decided they needed to provide some entertainment for the men. What better than a squash court? This would keep the soldiers happy, while also providing them with exercise.

A local firm was contracted to build the new facility, but with one important proviso: as this was a military base, the army didn’t tell them what the building was actually for – in this case, the ultra-top-secret activity of playing squash. They just gave the company the measurements, and away they went.

The court was built post-haste, and was ready in no time – but unbeknownst to the army, the builders had applied some good old-fashioned common sense to the situation. Noticing that the design hadn’t included any windows, the builders had thoughtfully included some. Right on the main wall of the squash court, where you’re supposed to hit the ball.

Cue angry complaints from the army that the building was in no way suitable. The builders agree to take out the window, and come back to sort things out.

A couple more weeks pass, and soon the window is no more and a nice smooth wall is in its place. Upon inspecting the outside of the building, the top brass are far happier with how the building looks.

Unfortunately, they soon discovered that the builders had hoisted their concrete mixer into the squash court through the window. They’d then taken out the window, and concreted over the hole… and then realized that the concrete mixer was too big to fit through the court’s door. So they’d just left it there.

There are few suitable hazards to have in a squash court, and a concrete mixer isn’t one of them. The army contracted a different building company to pull the wall down and get the mixer out again.
(silencer, Fri 4 Apr 2008, 21:38, 2 replies)

oxy-acetylene
I'm sure someone had access to a cutting torch, why not cut the fecker in to bits and give it back to the paddy builders?
(Lurkaloid awarded wanking black belt on, Sat 5 Apr 2008, 2:44, closed)

^ ^
good point. And far cheaper.
( flirting with badgers What? It sounded good at the time., Sat 5 Apr 2008, 6:18, closed)