What's your cautionary tale?

[BrightInMyNorthernSky]

Having just got through the most stressful week ever due to a nightmare situation of my own making, I thought I would share a previous and current cautionary tale.

1. Always remember to change the address on your V5 and not just your license. I didn't. DH got caught speeding twice on the same day on the same stretch of road (33 in a 30) in my car. Both fines went to old address. Didn't answer them, obvs. The whole sorry mess played out without me being aware and by the time it all caught up with me it was had been banned from driving for six months and fined £2k - five months earlier! So had been driving while banned for five months!!!

I feel there’s more to this story….

If you do a roller derby match on a slippier surface than you're used to, always change your wheels accordingly.

Don’t drive home people who are blind drunk on tequila. The vomit reeks for ages.
Feels like driving around in a tequila cloud, and I dread to think how it will go if I am stopped by the police for a breath test 😬

• and yes, I have washed, scrubbed and steamed

If you've got babies becoming toddlers, put your TV on a bracket high on the wall. And as for Sudocrem and permanent marker, they need to go in a locked vault somewhere.

Yup same as you. Change addresss or at least get a postal redirect. Not as bad as you but had my car taken by dvla because I did t renew the tax (back in the day when it was a tax disc).

My husband drilled a hole and attached a ring to it, then attached the curly cord to the ring.

Tbh is is very niche. But sounds painful 😣

Can confirm. Had some cans of Irn Bru in the back of my car for a few weeks. One day I'm driving along and hear a weird noise and eventually realise one of the cans has kind of exploded and Irn Bru has been spraying out of it like a garden hose. It wasn't even that hot.

Never ever pick your toddler's nose with a false nail that's ready to fall off.

Dont get too thick with neighbours
if you fall out they are too close to ignore or escape …
Familiarity does actually breed contempt

Me too!

I would always add legal cover to my home insurance now. Never used it, so don’t know how robust the cover is, but wish I’d given myself the option of finding out.

There was a thread recently asking whether some avoided inviting people over to their nice house in case it causes jealously and resentment - many were incredulous that this was even a thing and others were quite rude (the usual tiny violin comment etc) but money or perceived wealth really can cause issues between so-called friends.

This might just be me but never make any reasonably sized decisions (job, relationship, house etc) when you’re pre menstrual. Think it then revisit it in a week or 10 days and see what your thoughts are then.

You can change a house. You can't change its location.

Before going through with a purchase, properly scope out the area (visit it at different times of day, try the commute from there, try to get a sense of the neighbours) and if you're moving somewhere completely new, go and stay in a local hotel/ B&B for a few days in winter to check that you really like it.

Yes it was. Ending up with some extra metal in my ankle 😬.

Still the best fun I've had whilst keeping fit. Wouldn't recommend it after 40 though, my knees have never quite recovered

Ensure that your will is crystal clear, and include a statement of wishes alongside it if you have anything other than fairly bog standard wording.
Family members can, AND WILL, challenge whatever they can if they think it'll make them entitled to more money.
This holds especially true if said family members have done fuck all to care for the deceased person during their time of need.
(bitter? Me? Naaah)

I drove around without an MOT for about 3 months. Got mixed up between the car and the old campervan. Eep! Got off with it, somehow.

Oh, and this one is for the toddlers - don't stick a pea/ small shell/ tiny bit of lego up your nose just to see what will happen.

Do not confuse a tube of KY Jelly with a tube of Corsodyl Gel.

Crikey! So really, just take something to drink on each journey and remember to take it out of the car when you park!

When you get a new job, check their records on Companies House to ensure they're solvent. Particularly important if it's a fairly small company / family business.
My husband joined a small company, leaving a secure job to do so, for a progression opportunity and a bit of a pay bump.
6 WEEKS later the fuckers made him redundant completely out of the blue.
Looking on Companies House afterwards, the company had gone through several name changes and had a history of insolvency//make new company//run new company into the ground//rinse and repeat.

We are currently restoring a house, so this Red Adair quote has a certain resonance:
'If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur'

And in a similar vein from the military:
'Amateurs talk strategy, professionals talk logistics.'

And for 8-10 year olds-
don't cut your t-shirt with your scissors to see what will happen.
don't fire the "safety" arrows at the window to see what will happen.
don't fire your uncle's air rifle at the plate glass window to see what will happen.
(my brother, me, and my brother respectively).

I'm sorry that that happened to you.. Folk will challenge when you least expect it.

DH's kids insisted that they didn't want anything after he died, when I told them that their money from their dad would come via their legal rights (Scotland). I'd been his carer for some years.

It took a year to settle all the funeral and memorial bills. (Covid held up the memorial.) DH's kids waited a month before cashing their cheques, presumably whilst checking out the will. (It was written before his stroke, so they didn't have a leg to stand on.)

One of them cashed their cheque just before I went into hospital. Got a call from the bank verifying that I wasn't being scammed.

I was only in hospital for a day, but that must have been when the other phone calls came... A week later, the solicitor got two calls complaining that their cheques had "bounced"...

I got it sorted out - the bank was just worried that I was being scammed and they then had to wait an extra week for their money.

A year later, I sent cheques (on my husband's behalf - not included in the will) for a wedding and a graduation. The former was cashed on the day they received it; the latter, the day after. I had a wry smile about that.