Rushing related accidents
Most of the dumb things I've done seem to have been as a direct result of rushing through something. I know I should be more careful, and yet I cut corners to get it done. I think I've learned my lesson now, though, after my most recent incident.

I was at work late on a Friday afternoon, trying to finish up some doors for an industrial air conditioning unit I was building. Of course, I was trying to get away for the weekend as quickly as possible. Normally, I would clamp all four corners with large Bessie clamps, then drill. However, in my haste to get done, I decided to clamp only one corner. Of course, this gives things an opportunity to pivot, and pivot they did. I ended up with a 1/8" drill bit embedded in the first knuckle on my first finger on my right hand. Miraculously, I wasn't too badly hurt: it seemed to miss the tendons. I washed it, wrapped it, and it was fine about a month later.

I was lucky that time, but the moral is definitely don't rush through jobs to get them done. It's dumb, and you'll end up hurting yourself/taking longer to fix the mistakes/getting a bollocking from your boss for cocking something up.
(BlackArmadillo Avoided writing that article on, Thu 27 Dec 2007, 16:16, Reply)