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Missing Tools & Other Stuff

oldflame

oldflame

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
Occasionally, when I'm was in a hurry I had "temporarily" placed a tool I was using in a convenient spot to be properly stored later. That's backfired often enough that I almost never wait to put the tool where it belongs now. Still, even though I'm mostly consistent in returning stuff to its rightful place, things disappear. As my memory fades it's ever more important to not take short-cuts when storing items ... because too often, "short-cuts" aren't.

Last week I had to clean lint from the dryer's moisture-sensor chamber. My tool pouch is only six feet away but a Channel Lock pliers and a screwdriver never made the trip back and I can't find them. This is crazy because I'm extremely careful to keep tabs on my pouch tools and it's only six feet away! The laundry area isn't cluttered, the other tools I used went back where they belonged and my wife, who finds 99% of what I misplace, couldn't find my missing "children." Multiple searches of the basement have left us baffled.

Since living in this house, things have unexplainably vanished. My extremely level-headed and highly organized mother often complained about the same mystery when she had lived here. Usually missing stuff eventually shows up and we remember how it got to where it was found, but enough things never reappear that it has become frustrating for my wife too. This doesn't just happen as Halloween gets closer. :oops:

How often does this happen to you?
 
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I just found the 3/8" combination wrench that went missing during brake repairs a couple weeks ago.

No, not in/on the car. Apparently brushed/knocked/slipped off my tool stand and fell into a box of totally unrelated stuff. Was on a tear that no stone would remain unturned until found, and now it's found on about the 3rd search effort.
 
Having been around the block too many times, I've experienced each of the above posts. old-tv-nut's suggestion is one I've found helpful and it works.

I have a theory about what painttoad posted, because it happens to me way too often: maybe our brains create a "negative" of what we're looking for, thus blocking the image?

Eventually, I usually find something and do remember why it ended up in that location. OTOH I've a list of things that went missing and never reappeared. Some of these are larger items and hand-tools. My missing pliers and screwdriver might be one of those never-to-be-seen-again mysteries; it has all of the hallmarks. We've looked under, on the sides, and behind the dryer. Those two tools were either on top of the dryer or on the floor and the several other tools I used are back where they started. I'm hoping to be blown away about where the escapees are found; if that ever happens.

Any ideas? Any psychics here?
 
oldflame said:
Having been around the block too many times, I've experienced each of the above posts. old-tv-nut's suggestion is one I've found helpful and it works.

I have a theory about what painttoad posted, because it happens to me way too often: maybe our brains create a "negative" of what we're looking for, thus blocking the image?

Eventually, I usually find something and do remember why it ended up in that location. OTOH I've a list of things that went missing and never reappeared. Some of these are larger items and hand-tools. My missing pliers and screwdriver might be one of those never-to-be-seen-again mysteries; it has all of the hallmarks. We've looked under, on the sides, and behind the dryer. Those two tools were either on top of the dryer or on the floor and the several other tools I used are back where they started. I'm hoping to be blown away about where the escapees are found; if that ever happens.

Any ideas? Any psychics here?
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I feel that way also about our brains creating a "negative".

I'll do a quick scan then if not found i have to really think what it looks like, shape, color and size. Get a mental picture and things are easier to find. Still doesn't always work. Then I'll ask the SO and she says "oh it's right there".
 
Constantly, but i have a bad habit of putting things down when I don't need them in my hand and its just gone. Been wearing glasses nearly 40 years and I still regularly lose them. I can't read with them on, so close work starts with removing them to any convenient flat spot and immediately forgetting about it. Then an hour or so later I realize i need them and have no idea where they are.
 
I usually find that after spending 45 minutes looking for the tool I just had in my hand, some jack leg set it right in the middle of the table I was working at.

Yes I'm horrible with this
 
OBMG74 said:
How about searching and searching and finally realizing that the tool that you have been searching for is in your back pocket?
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gadget73 said:
Constantly, but i have a bad habit of putting things down when I don't need them in my hand and its just gone. Been wearing glasses nearly 40 years and I still regularly lose them. I can't read with them on, so close work starts with removing them to any convenient flat spot and immediately forgetting about it. Then an hour or so later I realize i need them and have no idea where they are.
Click to expand...

i wear cheaters at the bench. i have 2 benches. maybe 5 pairs of cheaters floating around the shop. seems like most times i need a pair, i have to go look at the other bench and there will be 4 pair there. so i grab a pair then when i push them up on my head after i'm done, i realize the 5th pair was on my head the whole time. :dunno:
 
35 years ago I tore out the plaster walls and ceilings of my entire upstairs; which was quite an involved and lengthy remodeling project. One thing that added to the length of it was my retrieving additional tools that I'd need during the day. I'd know what I need and start walking down 2 flights of stairs and across the yard to the building where I stored my tools. Invariably I'd get side tracked talking to my wife or kids and start thinking about my next step in the remodel during the walk. So by the time I got to my tool box I'd totally forgotten what tool I was after. This was incredibly frustrating and it happened more times than I care to admit.
 
I used to own a hardware store that dealt mostly with farmers. One of the most popular and lost farm tools is the 12" adjustable wrench. They got left on a piece of farm equipment and "planted"in the ground.

One of my customers used to tape a corn seed to the handle of every crescent wrench, figuring if one got planted, the corn would grow and tell him where they were.

Don't know if it worked or not, but it's a funny story.
 
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