Stored in a Safe Place

November 23, 2008

Delroy shrugged.  "Hugger Mugger" by Robert B. Parker  ♦♦♦♦◊

Dear Aunty Babble,

I am working on a wonderful [___________] (fill in the blank - quilt, sweater, scrapbook, etc.) and I cannot find the [_______] that I just cut/had in my hand (circle one or both).

I haven't moved more than 2 feet from my machine/chair (circle one or both) and it's just GONE. What happened?

Signed,
Finally Lost It

Ahhh, yes. You are experiencing the "Stored in a Safe Place" phenomenon. It is quite common to artists and crafters, I know from personal experience. I am not sure about other professions or hobbies, but I hazard to guess that this is a universal occurrence. Note I did not say 'global' - I can't prove it, but I'm sure that there's some cyanide-breathing multi-ped out in the galaxy somewhere that's thinking, "Zerbinetky-swurm!" as I type.  (No, I don't need to translate - y'all know perfectly well what that means.)

There's no clear rule for how long your "safely stored" items will stay in storage, nor is there a measurable percentage of probability that when you do find them, you'll actually remember putting them in that safe place. Unfortunately, there is also no guarantee that you actually will find said items again.

Depending upon your patience level, your sense of whimsy and the literal availability of additional materials, you may try this common tactic:

Re-cut your missing items. Once you've done so, the probability of finding the original missing items is exponentially increased.

This also frequently works with purchasing a replacement item. Poll your friends as to how many seam rippers or size 7 dpn's they own - or should own, if they were all retrieved from the safe place at the same time.

Oh, one more thing: It is very unusual, once you've found "the safe place", that you will find all missing items at the same time. It is fully possible that if you return to a place that you have searched multiple times, the missing item(s) will appear there, as if they had never been moved. I think it might have something to do with inter-dimensional time- or space-shifting.

Live long and prosper, my friends.

You do know that all of this silliness is just the precursor to rhapsodic turkey posts later in the week, right? I currently have over 70 pounds of turkey in my house right now (Mr. W. notwithstanding).

Actually, I'm thinking of feeding Mr. W. frozen vegetables and ice cubes so I have room to store another frozen turkey.

I'll let you know how that flies.

Labels: babble, THESE

permalink 4 Comments:

At 11/23/2008 9:54 AM,  Julie Babbled Back:  

SEVENTY POUNDS of turkey? Woah!!
And yes, the phenomena you describe happens to me all the time. One day I will find all three of those Clover seam rippers that are lurking somewhere in my house! My husband once found an expensive pair of embroidery scissors in my car.

At 11/23/2008 11:31 AM,  Edna Babbled Back:  

Your post had me smiling and giggling while nodding my head. I know that the space continuum has "shifted" in my sewing room and around the house more than a few times! Sometimes resides in my brain too... get downstairs and wonder what I was going there to do or get. LOL Just discovered I have TWO 12" squares - guess I forgot I already had one.

E

At 11/23/2008 12:24 PM,  Brenda Babbled Back:  

Oh, how I can relate to this...you know I must have over a dozen scissors in my house and when time comes to cut the darn thread I always, inevitably, have to get up and hunt one down. Never, ever, is there a scissor "where I left it". I think they have legs; they just see me coming and run to hide where I wont fond them. you;d think cutting a little bit of thread was such a big deal. Hey, I just figured it out! I have lazy scissors....that's it! Thanks for helping me figure that one out! LOL!
Oh, and you can send me some turkey...there is no way I am cooking up that bird. Last year I bought the whole meal from Boston Market, LOL! Precooked, hahahaha~
I'm so bad...but my DH is so grateful there is a turkey, he doesn't care who cooked it, hee-hee...

At 11/26/2008 7:56 AM,  Julie Babbled Back:  

I gave you a blog award. Visit my blog to find out about it!

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