The quantum state of things lost

[Kev]

I have a theory that there are at least two states of matter. The first is "found" - a state in which you can put your hands on things (even if stolen, the thing is still "found" - just not by you) ... the second state is "misplaced" - a state in which you can't find something, no matter how hard you try, it's effectively invisible.

Now I'm using the phrase "quantum state" because something strange happens as soon as you buy a "replacement" thing. Once you perform this seemingly unrelated activity it has the strange effect on making the "misplaced" thing suddenly appear.

Damn annoying [eek] [blink] [huh] I think I hate quantum physics [sad] [mad]

 

[greg mann]

You have completely missed the relationship of time and space. As you get older the condition accelerates exponentially.

 

[Stephen B]

You have completely missed the relationship of time and space. As you get older the condition accelerates exponentially.

[size=12pt]

Exactly, and then quadruple it when earlier this week a mate and I (both plus 60) were making kitchen countertops.

"Now where is that large square!?" [eek]

- - - -

Kev are you using this as an excuse to purchase even more F E S . . . .?

 

[Kev]

Kev are you using this as an excuse to purchase even more F E S . . . .?

Ummm, maybe - actually I forget [huh]

 

[jimbo51]

In my experience, the missing thing may also appear the day after you were looking for it, at which time finding it is no longer useful. That being said, I still cannot find my Domiplate or the little round spacer gizmos I bought for my Domino years ago.

 

[tiralie]

I just ask my wife.
They seem to know where everything is.

I do have to set up anything electronic, and occasionally turn on the TV/DVR/Reciever/AppleTV etc. but that's another discussion... [big grin]
Tim

 

[Walk On Wood]

I often see a misplaced item and make a mental note of where it is.  When i want to use that item, i can always remember making the mental note, but not where the item actually is.  Then, when i no longer need it, i will again see t and again mentally note its spot.  It's a vicious cycle, i think I'll go buy some tools.

 

[rmwarren]

Happens to me all the time. Someone will say "Wow, you lost some weight", to which I reply "Nope, just misplaced it, I will find it again soon enough...".

Happens less frequently, and I find it more quickly, every year that passes.  [doh]

RMW

 

[josephgewing]

I have an almost foolproof way to find something in the *misplaced* quantum state.  I go and buy a new one and suddenly the quantum state changes to *found*. 

My wife wishes I had a different way to change quantum states of lost items.

Joe

 

[Sparktrician]

I have an almost foolproof way to find something in the *misplaced* quantum state.  I go and buy a new one and suddenly the quantum state changes to *found*. 

My wife wishes I had a different way to change quantum states of lost items.

Joe

I'm wondering if we're related genetically?  I have exactly the same syndrome (minus your wife, of course...).  [embarassed]  I would note, too, that when I have an item that needs a "place" to retain its "found" status, it rapidly and spontaneously shifts its state from "found" to "lost" for an irritatingly long period.  Example: I keep an automatic center punch in the console of my truck.  Why?  I always can find it there.  If I place it somewhere else thinking that it's an ideal "place", like the drill Systainer, it seems to invoke the state change mentioned.  [mad]  Go figure... 

 

[Davej]

Is this not all related to the onset of senility  [big grin] [tongue] [eek].its happening to me too  [crying]
Dave

 

[Stone Message]

The thing that gets me, and it happens to me all the time, is that I always find the thing that I have lost in the last place that I look.

Peter

 

[land_kel]

So what do we call it when we keep looking, after, we found it in the last place I looked.

 

[peter halle]

So what do we call it when we keep looking, after, we found it in the last place I looked.

LOL.  Stupid?  I won't tell the million of stories on myself.

Peter

 

[Theshipstore]

I have a bad case of CRS lately on many things, it has to be old timers disease

[big grin]

 

[dltflt]

Just recently I purchased a screw extractor set to replace the one I have been looking for for the last year or so.  Right after I buy it I find my original set.  Really irritating.

 

[bkharman]

Just recently I purchased a screw extractor set to replace the one I have been looking for for the last year or so.  Right after I buy it I find my original set.  Really irritating.

I just did that yesterday!  I went to woodcraft to pick up some stuff and remembered that I needed a new 1" chisel because mine has been missing for months. Was really proud that I remembered to pick one up. Got home to put it in my "sharps" drawer and when I opened it, there is my 1" chisel. Wtf.

I would blame my kids but they are 4 and 6.

 

[wow]

I have a bad case of CRS lately on many things, it has to be old timers disease

[big grin]

I used to have a hat that said that...but I can't remember where I put it!

:

 

[dicktill]

I have a theory that there are at least two states of matter. The first is "found" - a state in which you can put your hands on things (even if stolen, the thing is still "found" - just not by you) ... the second state is "misplaced" - a state in which you can't find something, no matter how hard you try, it's effectively invisible.

Now I'm using the phrase "quantum state" because something strange happens as soon as you buy a "replacement" thing. Once you perform this seemingly unrelated activity it has the strange effect on making the "misplaced" thing suddenly appear.

darn annoying [eek] [blink] [huh] I think I hate quantum physics [sad] [mad]

Hi all,

I sent several folks the salient points from this thread last Sunday. Here are some comments back from my friend George (woodworker, but not Festool):

"Dick:

  This is an interesting state of affairs.  I have experienced it myself and employ the following remedy which was developed by Harold Seidel, my mentor at Bell Labs:

  Purchase about a dozen or so of the needed item and keep an inventory of them in a common place such as a storage cabinet or desk drawer.  When you can't find the item you're looking for and may have been using recently, just go to your storage cabinet and get another.  Repeat this process as necessary.  Eventually most of the items will be out and you won't be able to find any of them.  Shortly after taking out one more, all the others will re-appear.  Gather them and put them back into the storage cabinet and begin the process again.

  There is an interesting related phenomenon I experience regularly.  I will for example be using a 6" steel rule, set it down on the bench right in front of me and when I reach for it a little while later, it is nowhere in sight.  I can move everything on the bench looking for it and not find it.  Sometime later, after getting another, when I go to set the new one down on the bench in the same, usual spot right in front of me, the missing one suddenly is back, right there where I set it earlier, looked, searched for thoroughly and could not see it!

  Is this a form of selective blindness? (or maybe sczmaudas [Polish gremlins])?  Or is it truly a quantum state?"

Regards, Dick

 

[Sparktrician]

Speaking of Bell Labs, there was a story going around within the Bell System (back in the '60s) about new hires.  When they were hired, each was given a small leather sack of marbles along with their tools.  They had to carry that small sack with them on their tool belt everywhere they went while on the clock.  Once in a while one of the marbles would fall out or the sack might develop a worn place through which one or two might escape.  Eventually all of the marbles would be gone, and when that happened, they would be promoted to first line management. 

[big grin]