[500ContyCruiser]

This incident happened about couple of years back.

Background,
I was traveling back from Texas to Bangalore. I was taking international flight from JFK via well known Indian international flight. On arrival at JFK and waiting for hours, got to know the flight has been canceled and we need to catch another flight from Newark. Transportation was arrange and things went fine, I reached Bangalore safe n sound.

After 2 days my baggage has not yet arrived. I called up airlines desk number and a lady pickup's up.

Lady: this is India's well known Indian international airlines and you are talking to so-n-so.. how can I help you
Me: Hello, my name is this.. and I explain her the story on what happened, of flight getting canceled at JFK
Lady: sir, may I have your boarding pass number
Me: given
Lady: sir, may I have your passport number
Me: given
Lady: <after checking locally> your baggage will be handed over in a day or two
Me: Thanks and what about the compensation because I have not received my baggage even after 2 days? <greedy me>

Lady: huh' you have Indian passport
Me: so what?
Lady: we dont give any compensation to Indians
Me: what?? how does it even matter? I havn't received my luggage and it will take another 1-2 days more for you people to return
Lady: still sir, you are Indian and you have reached your home.
Me: pass the phone to your manager
Lady: give me few minutes
<after a long silence>
Lady: sir, sorry my mistake.. we will compensate with Rs. 5000 /-

My happy! Got money and received the baggage without having to go through customs

[Scorcher]

A friend of mine had come down from Australia, he is an Aussie and was down here for a week, holidaying. He called me up last day and told me he wanted to go shopping and asked me to pick him from the hotel which is a lil’ far off from the city.

I dropped by his hotel and picked him after office. Headed straight to KFC and after filling up, as the car was already parked in a good slot, we set out by foot for the shopping.

After a while, I noticed him walking into a few casual wear shops and walked right out within no time as if he was looking for something and couldn’t find it. I asked him what it was and he told, he was carrying only formals and was looking for some nice..ahem, wait for it..thongs

I was like, Fish!, now what am I gonna do?

He was walking in and out of stores asking for thongs and there I was standing with all the blood drained out of my face.

Not to be judgemental, I was wondering how all this while I didn’t have a clue that he was..ahem.

I was keeping my fingers crossed not to come across a lingerie shop on our way.

After a while he too got fed up and told he wanted to grab a burger, we walked into Pothys and then he saw a sign “Men’s/Undergarments/Footwear” – 5th Floor”, there we go again!

The moment we reached the floor and walked off the escalator, his face lit up, I knew he found what he was looking for, I prepared myself for the embarrassment of my lifetime. He went and picked up a pair of flip-flops and came back and asked, where we pay for this?

Wha?? That’s it?

Then it occurred to me that flip-flops were called thongs in Australia. What a great land. Nearly gave me a heart attack.

Pheww!!

[fine69]

On a road trip to Spiti (HP) I and wife were enjoying the beautiful vistas on the road to Nako when I suddenly hear a loud pop!

I disengage the car usb charger immediately fearing some connection getting short circuit and stop the car on the side. I try to smell smoke but there's none in the car, try to feel the usb cable burning hot but its normal, everything from the galaxy tab to the cable to the usb plug seems alright, pretty sure the loud pop was from inside the car.

Fearing worse, I step out to look for a flat tyre, but why a sudden pop in tubeless? Is that how tubeless tyres burst? No damage to the tyres!

Fearing the worst now, did the spare tyre go bust? How the hell can the spare tyre burst like that!! I off-load everything that was in the boot of our swift (for a 10 day mountain trip, imagine), including the half ton equivalent rainbow sub but the spare looks alright too.

What could've possible popped? Fuses? Is that how fuses blow? But I have no clue where the fuses are, I try to look under the dashboard and see the fuses but not sure how to make out which one popped.

Are all lights working? Yes. Are wipers working? Yes. Can I turn the car off and then back on? Yes. What in the world popped then?!!

How about the underbody? Can't make out if anything looks out of place. Inside the bonnet then? Engine bay looks alright as well.

Having spent 20 mins trying hard to find the source I finally give up. I tell my wife that we better continue, whatever's gone bust should give out some signs sooner or later.

We reach our destination for the day (Tabo) and no issues with the car till then. The next day we start again and somewhere in the afternoon we park the car to have tea and wafers/biscuits. I step down and get the munchies bag from the backseat. I see a Lays packet open in the backpack and annoyed at my wife I ask her why wouldn't she clip the packet when there's still some wafers left. She says why should she when she didn't open any!

About 10 seconds of silence, the eureka moment and I shout out loud....

...."This little bugger popped yesterday!!!" <thanks to the high altitude of Nako, the wafers packet popped open while we were driving up, my notion that something from within the car popped turned out true as well>

While my wife laughed I heaved a big sigh of relief!

[SDP]

Originally Posted by fine69

....About 10 seconds of silence, the eureka moment and I shout out loud....

...."This little bugger popped yesterday!!!"
...

Reminded me of a similar incident that I had reported in my ownership log at: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post3077719

Yesterday night, I was heading home from work. I was about half a KM from my office and was just getting warmed up to the 12-13km drive. Typical half-lit street in Mumbai and then out of nowhere a loud DHAAAP!

My heart sinks! I was aware of my sourrounding, so the possbility of a car bumping into me was remote. But, same could not be said about a bike. A moments survey through all mirrors and a quick glance over shoulder revealed that there is nobody around. My mind is racing through all sort of worst-case-scenarios. I am in the middle of the road, can't stop there. So I slowly move to the left and stop some 50-60 feet ahead. While I pull the car to the side and get out of the car to investigate, mind is still in turbo mode.

Was it a rock? Unlikely, I have had hits from rocks earlier, the contact area is small so the noise is different ..more like a clang than a DHAAP. Does that mean this rock was much bigger? I hope not.

Did my tyre burst? Unlikely, its cold. Also the vehicle did not feel any different in the 50-60feet after the sound.

Did anythying fall off? Oh boy! Did the exhaust pipe came off and is now being dragged behind the car? That would be a disaster! Its almost 8pm. Support from RM and Mahindra-Roadside-Assistance might not be fast enough at this hour.

With my mind still juggling a thousand posibilities, I got off the car. First thing, tyres. Looked at all of them, they were fine. A sigh of relief. Next: visual inspection of the panels, hoping not to find a huge dent. Its dark, visibility is limited especially on the footpath side of the car. I use the reflection on the panels to figure out if there is a dent or a noticeable ding anywhere. Nope! Another sigh of relief. I get down on my knees and peek under the car. Nothing stuck, nothing noticeable missing, nothing dangling, nothing leaking. All is well!

Now I am confused. The sound was loud and came somewhere very near my car. There was no other car around at that moment. What was it? I decide to trace back the path to the appoximate point where I heard the sound. Brain still in overdrive. One possibility, a bottle! A empty plastic bottle- let's say Pepsi 600ml - with the cap secured would explode if I drive on top of it. With no cap, it would just get crushed. With a cap, it would puncture/rupture somewhere and make a loud sound. While I am walking back looking for any clues, I am getting more and more certain that it must be a pet bottle.

I reach the place. I can see 50 feet on either side and there is no mangled remains of a bottle. The street lighting is poor, but the road and the surrounding is clean. I am still trying to figure out what the hell happened. And then I notice water on the floor - almost half a liter - and a torn plastic bag just next to it! I heave a HUGE sigh of relief! Time to go back and verify my conclusion. I hurry back to the car and check for water on the car. Below the front left door, the black cladding, I see some water drops. Still not too visible. I open that door and hold it open so that the puddle lamp provides the much needed light in that area. Its confirmed, there were good amount of water drops on the black plastic cladding. I run my fingers on the entire cladding and notice that the water was loacalized just on the front part.

So that's it! Some kid might have thrown a plastic-bag water-filled baloon at the car .. or might have left it on the road and being transparent I did not notice it. Happy holi to that kid and happy holi to you guys!

[IronH4WK]

Originally Posted by Scorcher

The moment we reached the floor and walked off the escalator, his face lit up, I knew he found what he was looking for, I prepared myself for the embarrassment of my lifetime. He went and picked up a pair of flip-flops and came back and asked, where we pay for this?

so did ya get spotted by your mates shopping for the said item?

Originally Posted by Scorcher

Then it occurred to me that flip-flops were called thongs in Australia. What a great land. Nearly gave me a heart attack.

so, what do they call thongs in the land down under?

edit: no pun intended

[SS-Traveller]

So I get one more tele-marketer calling me this afternoon. It completely made my day. Guy doesn't speak English, which made the conversation hilarious.

TM: Sir, mein Livestock se bol raha hoon. (Sir, I am calling from Livestock.)

S: Livestock se? Kya kaam hai? (From Livestock? What are you calling for?)

The name 'Livestock' brings forth images of cows, buffaloes and goats to my mind. I am curious now, though at other times I hang up unceremoniously on tele-marketers without proceeding beyond the first sentence.

TM: Sir, aap sher rakhte hain? (Sir do you keep tigers?)

(At least that's what I understood at the first instance, though apparently the person at the other end was asking whether I trade in the stock market.)

S: Nahin, lekin aap ke paas gaay, bhains, bakri yeh sab hai kya? (No, but do you have cows, buffaloes, goats etc. with you?)

(The caller is suddenly taken aback and stammers.)

TM: Gaay? Bhains? Nahin, nahin, Sir, hum toh sher mein deal karte hain. (Cows? Buffaloes? No, no, Sir, we deal in tigers.)

(Or was that shares?)

S: Arrey bhaiya, sher toh livestock mein gina nahi jata, dictionary kholke dekho, livestock ka matlab sirf gaay, bhains aur bakri hi hota hai. Livestock mein sher, haathi, bhaloo yeh sab nahin aaate hai - woh toh jungle mein hi paaye jaate hai. (Bro, tigers are not included in livestock, check a dictionary, livestock means cows, buffaloes and goats. Livestock does not include tigers, elephants and bear - those are found wild in the jungles.)

TM: (making one more feeble attempt to sell whatever he called me to sell) Nahin, yeh woh sher nahin hai. Aap ne sher market mein kabhi sher kharida ya becha hai? (No, this is not that sher (tiger). Have you ever bought and sold shares in the share market?)

(I thought this fellow had properly put his foot into his own mouth. Time to go for the final cut.)

S: Kyaa baat kar rahe ho? Market mein sher kharidna-bechna gayr-kanooni hai. Naa hi aap sher kharid-bech sakte ho, uska khaal, nakhoon kuchh bhi nahin kharid-bech sakte ho. Police pakad legi. (What are you talking about? Buying / selling tigers in the market is illegal. Not only can you not buy/sell tigers in the market, you can't even buy/sell its skin, nails etc. The cops will arrest you.)

Frustrated tele-marketer hung up on me!

If any of you are keen to buy/sell tigers and/or are interested in raising a farm, do call this guy at +91-79304-88643.

================================================== =

By the way, at the rate the English language is being murdered in this country, I am not sure how many of you would want to visit this dentist to get yourselves a nice smile, but come back with a smirk.

[LithiumSunset]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

So I get one more tele-marketer calling me this afternoon. It completely made my day....

You made my morning, Dada. Absolutely rib tickling..

[condor]

Originally Posted by fine69

Fearing the worst now, did the spare tyre go bust? How the hell can the spare tyre burst like that!! I off-load everything that was in the boot of our swift (for a 10 day mountain trip, imagine), including the half ton equivalent rainbow sub but the spare looks alright too.

Did it occur to you, what the scene could have been, if the spare had exploded, with all the stuff on top of it ?

[fine69]

Originally Posted by condor

Did it occur to you, what the scene could have been, if the spare had exploded, with all the stuff on top of it ?

My wife always wanted a convertible!

[SDP]

Originally Posted by fine69

My wife always wanted a convertible!

Really good!!

Convertible? Your car can suddenly qualify for <4 meter tax benefits as well.

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by fine69

On a road trip to Spiti (HP) I and wife were enjoying the beautiful vistas on the road to Nako when I suddenly hear a loud pop!
...
Fearing worse, I step out to look for a flat tyre, but why a sudden pop in tubeless? Is that how tubeless tyres burst? No damage to the tyres!
...
Fearing the worst now, did the spare tyre go bust? How the hell can the spare tyre burst like that!! I off-load everything that was in the boot of our swift (for a 10 day mountain trip, imagine), including the half ton equivalent rainbow sub but the spare looks alright too....
...."This little bugger popped yesterday!!!" <thanks to the high altitude of Nako, the wafers packet popped open while we were driving up, my notion that something from within the car popped turned out true as well>

I recall a similar incident when I was returning with my friends in my old Accent, from a 4 day trip to Pondicherry around four years ago. There was a loud blast somewhere halfway (not a pop like yours). I could even feel the impact vibration in my seat. We feared the worst and checked the tyres - no sign of anything. Next even the spare tyre - nothing! I even recollect getting below the car and having a look at the fuel tank to see if something had happened there . The area we were passing through was remote with nobody in sight, so no one could have lit crackers close to the car either. Finally with no other alternative, we switched off the car for half an hour in the scorching afternoon heat in a bid to let the car cool down, assuming the temperature gauge was faulty and the car had overheated/was hence behaving funny (although there was actually nothing wrong with it).

Anyway, we continued the journey and reached home turf soon, much to our relief. While unloading all the luggage, we found a crumped, rubber mass crushed between all the luggage - my Football that I had carried for the trip. All of us have a hearty laugh whenever we remember the chaos this 'explosion' caused.

[Samurai]

Couple days back, my 12 year old son came to my room to check his weight on the weighing scale.

He: Oh, I am becoming too heavy...
Me: Why don't you exercise regularly, instead of dropping out every other week.
He: Yeah, I should exercise.
Me: Ok, go right now. Run a few laps around the apartment building.
He: Ok.

So he went... and he gets back after 30 minutes. After removing the shoes, he was back in my room, and gets back on the weighing scale.

He: This is useless. My weight hasn't changed a bit.
Me:

[Warwithwheels]

My friend shared this:

After a meeting I was coming out of a hotel and I was looking for my car keys. They were not in my pockets. A quick search in the meeting room... it wasn't there.

Suddenly I realized I must have left them in the car. My husband has shouted many times for leaving the keys in the ignition. My theory is, the ignition is the best place not to lose them. His theory is that the car will be stolen. Immediately I rushed to the parking lot, I came to a terrifying conclusion. His theory was right. The parking lot was empty.

I immediately called the police. I gave them my location, car number and description of the place where I parked etc. I equally confessed that I had left my keys in the car, and that it had been stolen.

Then I made the most difficult call of all, to my husband!!!

"Honey," I stammered; I always call him "honey" in times like these.

"I left my keys in the car, and it has been stolen.

" There was a period of silence. I thought the call had been dropped, but then I heard his voice.

"Idiot", he shouted, "I dropped you at the hotel !"

Now it was my time to be silent. Embarrassed, I said, "Well, come and get me."

He shouted again, "I will, as soon as I manage to convince this policeman that I have not stolen your car."

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by Warwithwheels

My friend shared this:

That's not a real life incident. That's a mail forward, one of many that's been floating since ages. Wrong thread, buddy.

[IronH4WK]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

That's not a real life incident. That's a mail forward, one of many that's been floating since ages. Wrong thread, buddy.

it could be somebody's real life incident. it's funny nevertheless

the funnies thread maybe?