April Fools megathread

Aug 3, 2012
2,542
Performance Cruising Telstar 28 302 Watkins Glen
My wife and I are driving along in her new Ford Escape. She has her phone plugged into the Nav/Info system. She is playing a game on her phone, and the Nav screen in the car is showing the phone’s apps: music, maps, etc. While she is engrossed in the game, I slowly reach up and press the icon for maps, turning on the maps app on her phone! She complained and switched it back, not knowing that I caused it. A minute later, I did it again! She cursed, mildly, complaining about the phone as she switched it back. I am holding back laughter. A minute later... I DID IT AGAIN. This time she cursed more vehemently, “Damn Phone!” I am dying, holding laughter inside! She goes back to playing, and as I slowly reach toward the dash, she looks up and bursts out, “Geez you fekkin’ idiot!” I totally lost it in adolescent hysterics! About 2 minutes later, I casually reach for the dash. Not even looking up, she says calmly, “don’t even THINK about it.” I broke out in laughter and behaved. She is so nice for putting up with me!
 
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Oct 6, 2007
1,023
Hunter H30 1982 Chicago IL
Back in the 80's there was The Great Debate that began in Chicago as soon as The Tribune Company bought the Cubs from the Wrigleys about whether or not Wrigley Field should have lights for night baseball. Cubs owners (The Tribune Company) wanted lights. The local neighborhood (Wrigleyville) was in full voice resistance. It went on seemingly for the entire decade. But the writing was on the wall and it was going to happen. Of course, the lights eventually were installed in 1988 and the first game with lights was scheduled on August 8, 1988 (8/8/88).

I don't recall if it was April Fool's in 1988 or a year or 2 earlier. In those days, before inter-league play, it was always a big deal for the Cubs- White Sox rivalry to open the season with their last pre-season game, held in Chicago. It just so happened to coincide with April 1.

My favorite radio station of the day, WXRT, had Terri Hemmert in the morning broadcasting that The Tribune Company had pulled a fast-one on the locals and, in secrecy, had erected lights at Wrigley Field! The first game was going to be that evening between the Cubs & Sox! Hundreds of people drove by Wrigley that morning hoping to get a glimpse at the lights (they were not even installed yet)! I remember being tempted as I was driving to work on the Kennedy Expressway, going right past the exit at Addison St.

Another one that they (WXRT) pulled off, in 1980, the Mayor Jane Byrne April Fool Fest was to be held on Navy Pier! The headlining acts included some artists whom were already dead! Hundreds showed up at Navy Pier, which in those days was derelict and padlocked.
I remember the Wrigley Lights joke. I knew it was 4/1 that morning, but it was so believable that I still had to look toward Wrigley Field as I rode by on the El train.
A few years later, they did one announcing the grand opening of a new restaurant on Clark St owned by the WXRT movie critic, The Regular Guy. The name of the restaurant was “Here, Eat This!”
 
Aug 22, 2017
1,609
Hunter 26.5 West Palm Beach
Potato gun. Be afraid
Here in the States, the BATFE has vacillated between classifying those as artillery/destructive devices & toys. Depending on when you had one, you might have been just some guy out having some fun, or a federal fellon.
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,989
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
@JimInPB could you hear the accent of the actors? This occurred outside the jurisdiction of the BATFE.
They were in snow. The Royal Mounties of the Yukon did not believe that these toy makers were threatening the safety.
 
Oct 19, 2017
7,732
O'Day 19 Littleton, NH
Living on a boat at a marina as a kid, you have to learn to amuse yourself. Sometimes at the expense of others. My little brother had a leather wallet, but we didn't have anything worth putting in it. So... we Zeroxed a $20 bill and put it in the wallet with the corner just peeking out, then we grabbed a fishing pole from the Old Man's party boat. We tied the bare monofilament to the wallet and one of us hid around the East corner of the marina building with the fishing pole while the other casually walked the to the West corner and dropped the wallet. Then he'd race around the building to join up while the other patently waited for a "bite". We got one guy to almost walk the whole length of the marina building trying to catch that wallet.
"WE GOT THE MOTHER FISH ON!" That's what one regular "garbo" use to yell whenever he hooked a grouper while fishing on our boats. Made my brother and me crack up everytime.
Found this on Youtube. This is even better than using a wallet.

-Will (Dragonfly)
 
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Kermit

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Jul 31, 2010
5,657
AquaCat 12.5 17342 Wateree Lake, SC
My wife and I are driving along in her new Ford Escape. She has her phone plugged into the Nav/Info system. She is playing a game on her phone, and the Nav screen in the car is showing the phone’s apps: music, maps, etc. While she is engrossed in the game, I slowly reach up and press the icon for maps, turning on the maps app on her phone! She complained and switched it back, not knowing that I caused it. A minute later, I did it again! She cursed, mildly, complaining about the phone as she switched it back. I am holding back laughter. A minute later... I DID IT AGAIN. This time she cursed more vehemently, “Damn Phone!” I am dying, holding laughter inside! She goes back to playing, and as I slowly reach toward the dash, she looks up and bursts out, “Geez you fekkin’ idiot!” I totally lost it in adolescent hysterics! About 2 minutes later, I casually reach for the dash. Not even looking up, she says calmly, “don’t even THINK about it.” I broke out in laughter and behaved. She is so nice for putting up with me!
I’m pretty sure you need to find a counselor.
:-D
 
Dec 2, 1997
8,708
- - LIttle Rock
I once issued an office memo informing staff of the coming installation of voice activated locks on the restroom doors. It instructed everyone to report to H.R. to make two voice print recordings; one normal and one under stress.
Now that's creative...I LOVE it! How many people actually fell for it?
--Peggie
 
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Dec 2, 1997
8,708
- - LIttle Rock
Reminds me of an episode of the old WKRP sitcom... The weatherman came up with a scheme to deliver turkeys by dropping them from a helicopter. Unfortunately, the birds were frozen.
That was actually based on a true story. Except the turkey were live. The carnage was horrific! "I honestly thought turkeys could fly! "
--Peggie
 
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Oct 26, 2008
6,043
Catalina 320 Barnegat, NJ
A few years later, they did one announcing the grand opening of a new restaurant on Clark St owned by the WXRT movie critic, The Regular Guy. The name of the restaurant was “Here, Eat This!”
Marty Lennartz! "And I'm just a regular guy!" Inspiration for our own @justsomeguy? :cool:

Let me tell you how I miss that radio station! I have not bothered to listen to FM radio since I left Chicago. It is a complete wasteland for FM radio in NYC and all of New Jersey for that matter. (Maybe it's because I'm too far out to get most of the stations - but the ones I've heard are mostly annoying noise!) It absolutely sucks and there is no comparison to the creativity they had (have?) at WXRT. Count me as one of their loyal followers (displaced)!
 

pateco

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Aug 12, 2014
2,207
Hunter 31 (1983) Pompano Beach FL
Army Navy week Prank:

When I was a plebe at Annapolis, we had a WestPoint exchange student living with our company. He was a bit of a jerk to us plebes, so we decided to prank him for Army Navy Week. The weekend before we had bought a bunch of Christmas wrap in town. Starting Monday night we covered the front of the door to his room with a layer of wrap so that when you opened the door, all you saw was Christmas wrap. We did that every night for the week, and he would have to tear it down each morning. By Wednesday, he was crashing through it in the morning to try to catch anyone watching.This continued until Friday morning. On Friday, we wrapped his door as usual, and then pushed the Coke machine from down the hall in front of his door. When he came busting through the paper, he slammed right into the coke machine. We all had a good laugh.
 
Aug 22, 2017
1,609
Hunter 26.5 West Palm Beach
@JimInPB could you hear the accent of the actors? This occurred outside the jurisdiction of the BATFE.
They were in snow. The Royal Mounties of the Yukon did not believe that these toy makers were threatening the safety.
Yes, I did notice the accent. That is why I started my comment with "Here in the States".

I'm glad to see that our brethren, north of the border, are still allowed to have a little harmless fun. The relevant BATFE rulings here in the States are quite an overreach in my opinion. I don't want to get into it much deeper than that, for fear of turning this into a political discussion. I posted what I did, just so that people here in the US would know what they are getting themselves into if they try to duplicate those fun little antics.

By the way, a propane torch (not lit) gives you a much better fuel mix for one of those things, compared to hair spray or WD-40. Just don't overdo it with the charge quantity. Also, fresh Russet potatoes work best. The soft ones (like the reds) just come out of the barrel as mash. Of course, this information is just for our friends who still live in jurisdictions where such play toys are still legal.
 
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Nov 12, 2015
87
Catalina 22 Lake LBJ
NOt that I would know from personal experience but..... I have heard that starter fluid makes a great fuel for these guns; also slicing a potato into discs before pressing them into the barrel gives you more 'ammo' per potato. Good clean fun!
 
Aug 1, 2011
3,972
Catalina 270 255 Wabamun. Welcome to the marina
We don’ need no steenken assembly videos, we just need better glue for the end cap, which seems to be subject to getting blown off with amazing regularity. Such is the state for plastic pipe.
 
Jun 2, 2004
3,390
Hunter 23.5 Fort Walton Yacht Club, Florida
When I was a kid we made tennis ball canons out of duck tape and tin beer or soda cans. Mom could not figure out where here Aqua-Net kept disappearing to.

My daughter and I made one out of PVC but used compressed air for a science project. Later I took it over to a friends dock and shot golf balls a quarter of a mile into the bay.