Friday, May 24, 2013

This wouldn't have happened if he'd been a crossword fan...

Like most people I spent a certain portion of my childhood doing jigsaw puzzles.  Hours upon hours of painstaking searching, matching and fitting to create a picture that, with varying degrees of success, resembled what I saw on the front of the box.

So when I read about this fellow, who made a forty thousand piece puzzle out of pictures taken from the Queen's diamond jubilee, only to watch it crumble in front of his eyes as he pressed in a tile that had come a teeny bit loose [link], I winced with second hand dismay.

You poor, poor bastard.

Can you imagine spending quite literally weeks on something like that, only to watch it fall apart and not be able to do anything to stop it?  Luckily he was able to salvage portions of it, and he thinks it'll only take a few weeks to recreate the rest of it, but he must have been so upset.

His wife, according to one article I read, was less sympathetic about it all.  When a reporter asked her what she thought about her poor hubby's masterpiece crumbling before his horrified eyes, she just started laughing and couldn't stop.

What does she do when he has serious problems?  Kick him in the shins?

Seriously though, go watch the video below.  It's one of those train wreck situations.  You know it's coming, you know you're going to cringe, but you just can't look away.


62 comments:

  1. Wow, I didn't hear a single swear word come out of him in the video. I'd have been cursing worse than a sailor! Wish I lived closer. I'd be all over helping him put it back together!

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    1. I'd have been the same! Sailors would have been running down the road clutching their ears from the curses I would have screamed.

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  2. I'm not very good at puzzles. I can't believe he didn't anchor the pieces down in some way. Didn't he think this could possibly happen?

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    1. You'd think he would have considered it, but apparently not.

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  3. Once I mastered cursing I figured I didn't need jigsaw puzzles any longer. ;)

    S

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  4. Wow. That SUCKS! Poor guy. Reminds me of my first marriage. I put my life back together and he'll get his puzzle done. I feel for him.

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  5. Two words immediately come to mind: "Oh, s**t!"

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    1. Those are definitely the words that would have come out of my mouth.

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  6. You are unfailingly entertaining and funny! I'm giving you the Sunshine Award, and so please, if you choose to, stop by and get it. I'd love to hear your answers to the questions, and get to know you a little better. Knowing you, though, you probably won't answer them straight up. That's okay too.

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  7. Mum and I used to work the larger puzzles. Larger as in 1,000 pieces or more. Sure it took a while but as it came together and you looked for this one piece or that, you had a calm sense of accomplishment. Those were the days...

    I cannot imgaine working so long and hard on a puzzle of that size, only to have it crumble in a matter of seconds like that. He should have, could have glued it or something as each section was finished. That would have saved him some heartbreak in the end. I don't think anyone sould watch that video without wincing. At least there seemed to be larger chunks still intact. There is some hope in that.

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    1. That's true, assuming he can salvage the large bits it won't be as hard.

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  8. My first thought would have been to not flimsily attach a 40,000 piece puzzle to a wall.

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  9. As a wife, I have to say that I would have laughed uncontrollably as well. Or tell him to get a new hobby.

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    1. LOL! I imagine that after having him spend hours on it, she probably thought it was poetic justice.

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  10. Doh! Nooooo! It is pretty funny. Yep. I agree, uncontrollable laughter is the way to go.

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  11. ahahahahaha I am so sorry but that was funny...he looked like he was about to burst into tears tho, poor fella :(

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  12. It does look like enough of it is together to make reassembly easier than putting it together the first time.

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    1. Luckily for him. I think if it fell apart completely he'd probably just give it up as a bad job.

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  13. When I first read this, I was like "poor guy." And then I watched it and just started laughing. Clearly I have no soul. :)

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  14. Oh gosh, the poor poor man!!! I hope he got HEAPS of volunteers to help him put it back together. :(

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    1. I'm sure he managed it. At least there seemed to be some pretty big pieces left.

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  15. I actually couldn't watch it; my heart felt sad just reading your words about it! How pathetic am I???

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    1. When you watch it you can't help laughing, but you feel really bad about it.

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  16. I would have had a complete breakdown. No, seriously. They would have had to all the cops, because I would have totally lost it.

    Hugs!

    Valerie

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    1. I certainly looked a few minutes away from a complete mental breakdown.

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  17. Ouch. And you just have to love a supportive wife.

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  18. sob.
    poor bastard indeed.
    lol
    sob and love the lady wife...
    priceless x

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  19. Ugh, that is horrendous! I can't even imagine. I would have been sobbing if I were him. Seriously, if this had happened anywhere near me, I would totally be there as a volunteer helping him put it back together!

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  20. I am with the wife... when I saw that thing come crashing down I burst out laughing. Seriously, that's such a huge chunk of your life spent on something as precarious as a jigjaw puzzle held together at a slant. Perhaps it's my cruel American humor.

    Thanks, Kellie. Someone to suggest Sudoku.

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    1. I felt really bad for him, but I couldn't help laughing either.

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  21. Standing up like that it was disaster waiting to happen. Poor guy....what was he thinking?

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  22. I'm sorry, but I'm totally with the wife on this. :-)

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  23. Dude! You mean to tell me that EXTREME JIGSAW is a thing?!

    I can't wait until the next X-games. That's one event Sean White won't try to weasel his pasty, scarecrow looking self into.

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  24. Hi Kellie .. I haven't seen that 'accident' .. and it's got to be up in Sandringham so soon .. no wonder he wants volunteers ... I'm not sure what else his wife could have done .. how often do we laugh when someone 'slips on a banana skin' .. we can't help but laugh ...

    Good luck to him .. but thanks so much for showing us - PS I'm not that keen on jigsaws! cheers Hilary

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  25. I feel for him. When I was a kid, I would spend days on a jigsaw and then mum would decide to pack it all up (because she wanted the table). I would get so angry when I got home from school to see that my masterpiece in the making was gone and my time had been wasted. Mum would laugh or smile and tell me to play outside, which made me angrier!

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  26. I love puzzles, but I am afraid that 40,000 pieces would send me into fits. Not very bright to have left it unattached and at that kind of an angle. What a labor of love. Hope he gets it back together in time. Shouldn't be too hard if he works at it from there--the pieces aren't too mixed up.
    tm

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  27. Oh my goodness I could not even IMAGINE!!! But I suppose all you can do is get right back on that horse! Have a great holiday weekend my friend :)

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  28. I can't imagine how frustrated he was. I am sure when he gets it back together he won't be attaching it upright like that. I would of felt bad for my husband because he would be feeling bad. Sometimes it's just not cool to laugh even if they are being a dumbass.

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  29. Puzzles are my personal hell. I'd rather not spend my free time "figuring it out".

    But it's totally a train wreck worth watching!

    www.randomblogdrama.com

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  30. OMG. I cannot even imagine. Seems odd that it was up on an angle. I don't have the patience to do more than a 500 piece puzzle.

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  31. Poor, poor bastard, indeed! However, either my waking up at 4:00 AM is wearing on me, or I'm soulless like Lily, because after watching the video, I couldn't stop laughing. In fact, I'm still laughing. I may not be able to stop laughing.

    Still...poor, poor bastard!



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  32. That was painful to watch. It's been awhile since I've done a puzzle, but I enjoy them, and did several with my grandparents growing up. While I can see how it could be humorous, it mostly just induced a groan from me. That took a LOT of work. I was impressed that he managed to get it to stand up like that for as long as it was though!

    Thanks so much for linking up with the Lazy Sunday hop at Good Girl Gone Wife!

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  33. Ughh... That is definitely cringeworthy. I think he needs a new wife though, she's really heartless.

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  34. I have such a pit in my stomach right now. Poor guy.

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  35. Depending on my mood, I think I'd either be furious to the point of a meltdown, or excited that I got to start a game I enjoyed so much over again. There's a certain pleasure about resuming or restarting hobbies, but it dissolves too quickly if it becomes a job.

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