Always read the sign
Left a good electronics sales job for a bit of excitement, i.e. telecoms company needing transmitter masts hauled to the top of muddy hillsides in a Discovery 4x4, pegged down boy-scout style and telescoped up to 45 metres tall. then drove round the perimiter of the cell it was supposed to be servicing listening to talking books being broadcast over the transmitters' 1.8606 GHz and logging when it 'dropped'.

One evening my gran was taken to hospital after a stroke and I had no car to get to the out-of-the-way hospital some 20 miles away. could I borrow the survey vehicle overnight?

Yes.

No incident.

The next night, I assumed it was OK, so took said vehicle again. On the way back from seeing poor old gran, decided to call into Tesco on the way back. Ah, what's this? A height restricted entrance? 6 feet?

(Checks inside of sun visor for Maximum Height of Vehicle...185cm...erm, that's 6 foot).

O-kay...take it slowly.......

KRUNCH.

I'd forgotten about the active antenna bolted to the roof of the Disco to pick up the pre-GPS positioning radio signal. Actual vehicle height- 7'1". The threaded base transmitted all of the force through to the roof panel and put a crease along the length of the roofline.

The next day I returned to work, I went straight in and fixed the aerial with a replacement and got out to do the day's work with my engineer. Came clean to him. Heard nothing all day, hoped I had gotten away with it, or at least only in line for a bollocking.

Nope.

Got back to base in Small Heath, Brum, and was summoned. Sneaky Nigel, the cunt, grassed on me, so I didn't have the emollient 'well it didn't stop work for the day' as a riposte, as the boss, Oakman, had been saving up his speech since 8AM and would not be deterred from enjoying delivering every last syllable.

Shit. This single incident was the tipping point that ended up with my life being incredibly difficult, poor, unhappy and unfulfilled for the next 7 years.

However, I'm now doing OK, thank you very much, and would probably not have striven to improve myself if I hadn't have had to put up with shit. Now I am the envy of the me that used to sell electronics to nerds, geeks and model train enthusiasts.

But you're still a bastard, Oakman.
( Rotating Wobbly Hat That's not a banana. THIS is a banana., Thu 23 Feb 2006, 19:37, Reply)