Did We Really Do That?

Another good friend of mine (but not so much at this stage of Matt) had a huge Garden in Sawbridgeworth. His parents were really cool, and he and his brother had all kinds of fun stuff like motor bikes, petrol go-carts etc.
I used to go round to this friends house regularly and he, his brother and I would race round and round and round on the various petrol "contraptions", getting gradually faster and faster!

Amongst the selection of "Hardware" was an old Moped, which I believe came from an elderly aunt of this friend. We named this moped "BERTHA".
Bertha had a few unique characteristics, such as no brakes! This was no problem, as all you needed to do to stop was open the throttle fully QUICKLY, where the engine would die, and you'd coast to a stand. A bit of practice, and you'd soon get a feel for it!

One day, I brought Matt along to this friends house, and there we all were..... Matt, S., A. ,and myself.

The Line up was:
Me - 125cc Go cart
A. - 125cc Trials bike
S. - 250cc Motor -x bike
Matt - 50cc Bertha

We briefed Matt on the opperation of the "brakes" and away we went!
Round and Round and Round and Round.... Suddenly Matt seemed to be getting really quick, maybe he was getting nerves of steel!

so we shouted to him to slow down...

He slammed open the throttle as we'd told him and Bertha took off!!!

I can see it like it was yesterday, as he shot off through the trees and hedge at the bottom of the garden at about 30 mph, Bertha screaming and pushing him in further and further!!

He wasn't (badly) hurt, and we all had a laugh about it!

Bertha never again did such a turn of speed! Matt must have a magical touch!

Tim

[Technorati tag(s): Did we really do that?, Crazy, Stupid]

One day, we were in our favorite science lesson with a teacher we'll refer to here as "Dr S.". He was running late, as was usual, but had asked the "prep room ladies" to set up a big experiment on the front bench as a class demonstration for us all to see.
It really was a huge setup. Tap pumps, bunsen burners, collecting tubes, bee-hive shelfs... the works!
Whils sat waiting for him, we decided it might be funny to have a little joke with Dr S. , so we "customised" the experiment slightly for him.
Every single pipe was moved in some way, but of biggest significance has to be the gas, water and drain pipes.....

Anyway, Dr S. eventually showed up, and cracked straight on with the demonstration!

It was spectacular! a fountain of water from the bunsen burner, a bubbling tap pump and syphoning collection tubes!!

He suspected we might have been somehow involved, but could proove nothing!

A good laugh was had by all!

Tim

[Technorati tag(s): Did we really do that?, Crazy, Stupid]

Whilst at school, the favorite subjects for Both Matt and myself were the Sciences, and Technology. I'm not sure if it was because we were good(?!)at them, or just purely and simply because we loved making, breaking and setting fire to things!
Anyway, back to the story.....
Whilst in a chemistry lesson one day, it came to our attention that the pressure present at the gas taps for bunsen burners was, in fact, really quite low. It didn't take us too long to figure out that, once lit, it was possible to remove the bunsen's pipe from the gas tap, and blow (using our mouth!) into the pipe. Blowing into the pipe simply the gas trapped in the pipe. It was therefore possible to walk around the Lab, carrying a lit bunsen burner whilst blowing into the pipe!
Once you had relocated to a suitable work bench you could simply re-attach the pipe to a gas tap, turn it on, and HEY PRESTO! the flame carried on seamlessly!
This was one of our favorite stunts, and one that somehow confused and amazed even the "brightest" class mates!

Tim

[Technorati tag(s): Did we really do that?, Crazy, Stupid]