Sampson

The older I get the more time I spend looking for the wrench, socket, fill in the blank, that I just set down. It just amazes me how something that was just in my hands can simply disappear. Today I was under a Jeep I am working on and could not find a 7/16" nut I had just had in my hands. I was sure I was loosing my mind. It had just been there a second ago. I searched and searched and finally had to go to the parts store and purchase another one. Imagine my delight to find a 7/16" nut stuck to the magnetic base of my flashlight tonight when I was putting up my tools. Maybe I am not losing it after all.

oldcutlass

Yup, I feel your pain.

rootney

OMG!!
I did a 455 assembly and transplant into my 350 '72 cutlass this year.
Near the end it was taking more time to find the tool then use it.
That was just a general mess with memory issues mixed in. but on the memory thing, I looked EVERYWHERE for a tape measure during a home project last spring. After the time it takes to fill a bladder(~2-3 hours) I discovered it in the bathroom. SOB!!!

steverw

Glad im not alone

Lady72nRob71

Garage gremlins do it - they have infested my place, too.
I spend more time looking for crap I just had then the actual task at hand.
Screwdrivers were my common disappearing tool. When they went on sale I bought 3 more sets. I do not seem to lose them as often now!

droldsmorland

Memory's the second thing to go! Sanity is the 3rd...LMAO at this thread! Gremlins DO exist. Being a wrench for the last 30+ years, ya we've met... just a few times! How about when you drop something under the hood and if your lucky enough for it to go all the way to the ground..... then....where does it land? In the exact fricking center of the vehicles foot print. Literately and this is NS.... I have used a tape measure to do an X under the car and said errant dropped item is generally within an inch of the the center of the X. Ive tried this tape measure trick as a sanity check several times for sheets (and to calm down) and its within a friggin inch every time! How is that possible? Has to be some phenomena at work other than GD Murphy and F-ing gremlins! OY!

KDV

Haha! Glad it's not just me

lazy394

KDV...how true!!
3 months ago I changed the front seal on the 98, trying to undo the harmonic bolt I dropped the 3/4" socket.
I have not seen it again .
The floor was clean and there is nothing under the harmonic...total mystery!

Macadoo

I once lost my entire 1/2" socket wrench. Had to use my 3/8" the rest of the day. That night, cooking dinner, yup, there it was....in the fridge! It had been there since lunch, apparently.
Lol, awesome thread.

Yellowstatue

Welcome dear friends...I am not alone!!! Car keys are my current problem.

Sampson

They say misery loves company. I can tell I am in good company here. It is somewhat comforting to know that I am not the only one who has Lost IT.
Now off to the garage for another day of adventure........

J-(Chicago)

I call it my mouse problem.....except I'm the big mouse.
Everywhere I had been, I ended up leaving little tool turds and making a mess.

citcapp

Look in the microwave. I find all sorts of things there.

front spring perch is a common spot for sockets, nuts, bolts, etc

don71

Oh, I'm so glad you didn't fine the ice cream in the cabinet where the bowls go.

I heard that someone did that once. (not me). hmm...yuck.

And I was just about to suggest a magnet!

z11375ss

I have had this gremlin haunt me for a long time. now more than ever. To combat it i try to make sure i set things down in a tool cart or caddy, everytime I need to take it out of my hand. That way I know it has to be in there. But, sometimes it isn't. Damn Gremlins.

Octania

I can actually lose stuff without putting it down now. It's that good/bad.

rocketraider

I bought magnetic trays for this very thing. You wouldn't think those would disappear...

Does anyone else have tool-eating cars? That blue Starfire I have has eaten many of my sockets.

I honestly did not lose as much stuff when I had to lay on my back in the dirt and gravel to work under a car. I had a friend who would work on cars laying in the grass, you can imagine how that went. He'd work on them after leaves had fallen too. No telling how many tools are in his parents' yard.

FMB42

Yep, I left my memory around here somewhere...

droldsmorland

Them are some kool tools you got there Macadoo I think that borders on A.D.D.

The_Jeremiah

I have a large collection of magnetic trays for this reason, I worked in the field for a few years, I was always mad because I would set something down and 2 seconds later couldnt find it! The worst part is, im only 24, when I am older, I am doomed!

oldcutlass

I have an etch a sketch memory (if I shake my head I forget) and a terminal case of CRS (can't remember stuff), between the 2 its a miracle I get anything done sometimes. My car also gobbles up tools and fasteners. There is a stubby screwdriver that went into a third dimension.

costpenn

I'm up to about 450 hours on my current project. If I assume a very conservative 5 minutes an hour is spent looking for tools that means I have wasted more than 10 hours on this project alone (again I think that number is too low) In the future, I'm going to try to get in the habit of setting down my tools in one designated spot.

Sampson

Wow Joe! That really puts it in perspective. Not sure about your time but I Would double the amount of time I spend looking for tools to 10 minutes per hour. That too would be a conservative number.

sammy

I had to share....the other day I put my favorite screwdriver in the kitchen cupboard and the peanut butter on my work bench in my attached garage...that was Dec 31. Jan 1 I did this to my truck....I backed into my elevator that is attached to my wood processor....! I am losing it!

Rustbucket2

Man, that sucks. my wifes friend back her car through her garage door, she was sure the door was up ! When I part cars out, I think I find all of your missing screwdrivers Rob, I find them under seats, in between drop-offs and quarter panels, I found one between radiator and radiator support, big screwdriver ( straight about 13 inches long) I bet that drove someone crazy losing that.

don71

Welcome Rustbucket. All garage doors are up until the insurance assessor and body shop forum tell you they are not.

As far as lost tools go, my neighbor says they sound like a 22 long rifle shell after they leave the fan blade/rear tire and disappear into the sunset.

I don't know why he would say that, he has been such a good neighbor.

z11375ss

lol!

73aussie455

This was sent to me by a close friend and may go some way to explain our problem, I did have a good chuckle...

Quote;
Brains of elderly are slow because they know so much....
By Sarah Knapton, Science Correspondent

Older people do not decline mentally with age, it just takes them longer to recall facts because they have more information in their brains, scientists believe. Much like a computer struggles as the hard drive gets full up, so to do humans take longer to access information, it has been suggested.
Researchers say this slowing down it is not the same as cognitive decline.

"The human brain works slower in old age,” said Dr. Michael Ramscar, “but only because we have stored more information over time. The brains of older people do not get weak. On the contrary, they simply know more.
Also, older people often go to another room to get something and when they get there, they stand there wondering what they came for. It is NOT a memory problem, it is nature's way of making older people do more exercise"; End Quote.

My Delta seems to have an uncanny ability to fabricate parts- nuts, bolts etc, as there are always leftover parts at the end of a job on her than when I started...

Sampson

I hear ya Aussie. Makes me more comfortable knowing the cause of the problem. Now if I could just find the defrag button and do a reboot........
By the way, I find it better to come up with extra parts at the end of a job than to come up short. Less trips to the parts store

Ted, sorry about your truck. I could start another thread on similar mistakes. By the way having peanut butter in the garage make perfect sense. A screwdriver in the cabinet is not such a bad idea either.

After thinking about the magnetic base of my flashlight eating the 7/16 bolt I checked the base of one of my magnetic parts cups. Sure enough there were 2 small #8 x 3/4 screws from a project from several months ago. I lost sleep over that deal trying to figure out what happened to them........

sammy

Thanks Steve, I guess "losing it" and "losing it " can refer to many things....truck is fixed, now I need a rear window

Octania

I found that I have a helper. When the wife decides my stuff has resided in the kitchen long enough, she puts it in a generic bag or box and then hides it in another room, or the basement. YEARS later I find said box....
"huh so that is where that went"
After I spent hours looking for it. NEver is a note left saying for example "I moved your Shtuff to xxx"

Yellowstatue

Ha Ha; I have three carb kits in boxes for my J2. My wife has tidyed up and put them away in a secret location that even she can't remember. It's over a year now and I am not buying more carb kits.

Sampson

My wife gets soooooo tired of me saying " do you know where?" She can find things I haven't seen in years.

Maybe I have a permanant concussion! I have a lot of the symptoms except the hit in the head!

Symptoms of a concussion vary depending on the severity of the injury and the person. ... The signs of a concussion may include:
brief loss of consciousness after the injury.
memory problems.
confusion.
drowsiness or feeling sluggish.
dizziness.
double vision or blurred vision.
headache.
nausea or vomiting.

Macadoo

Well you're not going to find them until you buy some more. At least that's how it works for me.

Bunser

The above posts explain a lot of things! Glad I'm not alone.

rocketraider

Friend just said need to add one to this- "Looking for my beer I just had 2 seconds ago"

I said, you drank it dumbass!

67442nut

Wish I had all the hours back that I've spent searching...searching...searching...searching.....