BRRRRRRRRRZZZZTTTT... arse!
I was brought up in a house built from bricks intended for WW2 bunkers. Tasks such as putting shelves up required intense, prolonged effort with expensive masonry bits and seriously heavy-duty, hammer-action drills.

Many hired workmen have laughed off suggestions that no, really, they needed bigger drills (fnar) - but soon discovered that their own implements were woefully inadequate (fnar again).

So, with the thought of such walls fresh in my mind, I needed to put some holes in a wall of my stupidly low rent, ~1900-era flat here in Brussels. The local DIY shop had run out of relatively cheap electric drills, so I ended up with a semi-decent, hammer-action Black-and-Decker thing - made, of course, in some third-world sweatshop (County Durham!). I added some proper masonry bits to my purchase, and went back to my flat - ready to drill. Was my new drilling equipment up to the task?

Erm... Yes. My years of experience with Nazi-proof bunker bricks was of no use here - I introduced the drill-bit to the wall, the wall took one look at the drill, and promptly melted into a cloud of dust. Rawlplugs like chipolata sausages in an aircraft hangar, and all that.

Anyone want a second-hand drill? Only used for about five seconds total, if that. :-(
(Happy Idiot Talk now has an alibi for, Wed 9 Apr 2008, 20:21, Reply)