Things that go missing

[MusicMan]

I know, I know it's trivial, but we all know about the socks that go missing in the wash. But it's on my mind..
This morning I did the washing, and I put my wife's bras in one of those little wash bags, Two of them.
When I hung it all out later, there was only one of those bras. Plus I was missing a sock, but I can't remember putting two of them in. Hunted high and low for that missing bra. Gone.

I put it down to high strangeness, and commented to my wife that maybe they had ended up in another dimension.
I'm guessing this happens a lot. Once my mother in law appeared in a magazine with a photo of a wash basket full of odd socks.

So, perhaps it's a warning that strange things are about to happen. Awareness = ON.

 

[flashgordonv]

Hi Musicman

This is not an uncommon occurrence I think. I particularly struggle with things which go missing, only to turn up later in a place where I definitely looked, on some occasions, many times. I've often theorised that they move into a parallel dimension when there is a thinning of the barrier, and pop back out again some time later when the barrier thins again. Just a theory and usually stated light heartedly, but it happens often enough to warrant consideration IMO

 

[Yupo]

Happens to me as well. And it is strange. I have wondered if I have an invisible companion messing with my head sometimes. Or maybe like the item was borrowed and soon replaced when I started looking for it. Because when I find it, it is sitting right in the open such as with prominent placement on the middle of the kitchen or bathroom counter, where it would not have been missed before. Neither would I have left it there.
I went to You Tube, looking for an old Renn and Stimpy show clip about them going through a black hole and entering a world made of all our world's lost socks. Thought it would add some humor to this thread. But then a moderate hunk of time went missing from my current reality...

 

[Haiku]

No I think that there is more to this. About 6 years ago my wife’s mother’s ring disappears. She tore through the house looking for it. She suspected that one of the other sisters or sisters in law might have picked it up at some time. It was sitting in a small dish on the window sill on her side of the bed. Now fast forward to last year, we took a 2 day camping adventure. All of the family was with us for the camping event. We fully locked all doors when we left and we were the first to leave the camping event to return home. When we arrived home the doors all still locked, we entered the house. My wife grabbed the dirty cloths and headed into the laundry room. On the floor in the middle of the room was the ring in question as if it was set there to get someone’s attention. It did.

About two days later a sister in law called and was asking odd information about the wife’s mother. The ring did briefly come up in the conversation. We believe that she was the one that took the ring from the moment it was missing. This conversation with her on the phone was just odd and may have confirmed our suspicions.

Now just how did this ring just return to my wife, I do not know. Did her mother, in spiritual form, retrieve the ring and return it, it is a possibility. Did it fall into another reality and just returned, your guess is as good as mine. I blame STS for the loss of things, and I praise STO when things are returned. My intuition states that there are ‘holes in your backyard’, or a portable hole like in the Bugs Bunny Cartoon, Haiku …

 

[Keit]

I put it down to high strangeness, and commented to my wife that maybe they had ended up in another dimension.
I'm guessing this happens a lot. Once my mother in law appeared in a magazine with a photo of a wash basket full of odd socks.

Interestingly enough, it happens not only with socks or bras. ;) There was even a bona fide scientific study published in 2005 about disappearing teaspoons.

The case of the disappearing teaspoons: longitudinal cohort study of the displacement of teaspoons in an Australian research institute

BMJ 2005; 331 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.331.7531.1498 (Published 22 December 2005)
Cite this as: BMJ 2005;331:1498

Objectives To determine the overall rate of loss of workplace teaspoons and whether attrition and displacement are correlated with the relative value of the teaspoons or type of tearoom.

Design Longitudinal cohort study.

Setting Research institute employing about 140 people.

Subjects 70 discreetly numbered teaspoons placed in tearooms around the institute and observed weekly over five months.

Main outcome measures Incidence of teaspoon loss per 100 teaspoon years and teaspoon half life.

Results 56 (80%) of the 70 teaspoons disappeared during the study. The half life of the teaspoons was 81 days. The half life of teaspoons in communal tearooms (42 days) was significantly shorter than for those in rooms associated with particular research groups (77 days). The rate of loss was not influenced by the teaspoons' value. The incidence of teaspoon loss over the period of observation was 360.62 per 100 teaspoon years. At this rate, an estimated 250 teaspoons would need to be purchased annually to maintain a practical institute-wide population of 70 teaspoons.

Conclusions The loss of workplace teaspoons was rapid, showing that their availability, and hence office culture in general, is constantly threatened.

We propose a somewhat more speculative theory (with apologies to Douglas Adams and Veet Voojagig). Somewhere in the cosmos, along with all the planets inhabited by humanoids, reptiloids, walking treeoids, and superintelligent shades of the colour blue, a planet is entirely given over to spoon life-forms. Unattended spoons make their way to this planet, slipping away through space to a world where they enjoy a uniquely spoonoid lifestyle, responding to highly spoon oriented stimuli, and generally leading the spoon equivalent of the good life.4

Our data might also be contemplated through the prism of counterphenomenological resistentialism, which holds that les choses sont contre nous (things are against us).5 Resistentialism is the belief that inanimate objects have a natural antipathy towards humans, and therefore it is not people who control things but things that increasingly control people. Although it seems unreasonable to say that the teaspoons are exerting any influence over the Burnet Institute's employees (with the exception of the authors), their demonstrated ability to migrate and disappear shows that we have little or no control over them.

Future studies investigating the pattern of movement and loss of other types of cutlery or other equipment (perhaps even more expensive or important than teaspoons) could provide a broader picture of the phenomenon under study. Microchipping and satellite tracking systems would have enabled determination of the teaspoons' ultimate location (assuming they remained on planet Earth).

 

[Cosmos]

Yes those things can really be puzzling especially when we are damn sure we have put things here or there. I have found that more often then not I displaced the thing myself. There are also interesting behaviours that can arise out of such missings, like the typical phrase "who has taken my...!" even though we know full well that most often it is ourselves who have displaced things in the past. So it is an interesting practise to just say "I have most likely displaced it myself, relax!" when one is inclined to react like that. I do think though, that sometimes things really get lost without a real explanation for it, but from my personal experience, those instances are probably quite rare compared to displacing things ourselves and not remembering it.

For example I remember on several occasions, that I was so very sure I had put this or that there and didn't touch it in the meantime, or done this or that, and only days later I remembered a sequence I didn't remember before, in which I was actually putting it elsewhere myself or have done something I didn't remember before. Most often that seems to happen if we handle stuff and our mind is focused on something else at the same time. Since we handled this or that object quite often in the past, it has become sort of an automatic habit and we don't even notice that we do it anymore and thus don't remember. The mind can play big tricks on us.

On a humorous note, here are some of those "strange happings" summarized by George Carlin:

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[Keit]

On a humorous note, here are some of those "strange happings" summarized by George Carlin:

It's hilarious! And so true!

 

[Cosmos]

This one might be related too. The less stuff you have, the less you loose! As always what Carlin said was much deeper then just the "stuff":

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[Yupo]

And then there are the things that multiply. I have observed this with knitting machines. Close 2 of them up in a room, and before you know it there are 4 of them in there. I've tried it with currency too. It works!

 

[Peam]

And then there are the things that multiply. I have observed this with knitting machines. Close 2 of them up in a room, and before you know it there are 4 of them in there. I've tried it with currency too. It works!

I feel you might be joking Yupo, but I apologise if you aren't. But I don't get it, can you explain what you mean?

 

[Yupo]

I feel you might be joking Yupo, but I apologise if you aren't. But I don't get it, can you explain what you mean?

I am joking, just a little bit. I joke about these things (knitting machines) having sex and multiplying when I close the door on them. The facts are more like that they tend to attract new companions. Maybe people know I like the machines and give me one, or I find another one (you know, for spare parts), and they soon begin to pile up.
But while joking about the knitting (and other types of) machines/devices, I was inspired to try it with some money. I put some big bills in a box with some quarts crystals. It turned into a nice stack of money before very long (8 months). It happened because I put more money in the box, of course. But it really does seem like there is way more in there than I actually put in. 40% more, to be exact. Maybe I am sleep-saving. Anyway, it beats the bank.

 

[Peam]

I feel you might be joking Yupo, but I apologise if you aren't. But I don't get it, can you explain what you mean?

I am joking, just a little bit. I joke about these things (knitting machines) having sex and multiplying when I close the door on them. The facts are more like that they tend to attract new companions. Maybe people know I like the machines and give me one, or I find another one (you know, for spare parts), and they soon begin to pile up.
But while joking about the knitting (and other types of) machines/devices, I was inspired to try it with some money. I put some big bills in a box with some quarts crystals. It turned into a nice stack of money before very long (8 months). It happened because I put more money in the box, of course. But it really does seem like there is way more in there than I actually put in. 40% more, to be exact. Maybe I am sleep-saving. Anyway, it beats the bank.

Ha thanks Yupo, knitting machines having sex behind closed doors. I didn't think about that. And I thought you had a plan to multiply money out of thin air , lol. Thanks for explaining.

 

[MusicMan]

Hi all, and thanks for all the responses, I had a laugh with some of them, especially George Carlin's skits. So, anyway, to continue the saga, I found the other sock, it never made it to the wash. OK, so far, still no sign of that white bra I put in the washing machine, and my wife has accounted for both of her white bras, so what the ... did I put in the washing machine? Mystery.
Anyway, to get back to the awareness part.. later that evening we were cooking dinner, nothing special, on the cooktop. We were both standing in front of the items cooking, when suddenly the safety switch on the wall right in front of us blew out with a flash and a bang. Could have started a fire. I pulled the switch out just to make sure the wiring was OK and not going to burn the house down, and this morning I called in an electrician to repair the switch.
I'm still on my toes wondering what will happen next!

As an aside, in the morning yesterday I was fitted with brand spanking new hearing aids. I got them for free because I'm a veteran, just wondering if that has anything to do with it.

 

[Ant22]

Hi all, and thanks for all the responses, I had a laugh with some of them, especially George Carlin's skits. So, anyway, to continue the saga, I found the other sock, it never made it to the wash. OK, so far, still no sign of that white bra I put in the washing machine, and my wife has accounted for both of her white bras, so what the ... did I put in the washing machine? Mystery.

Well MusicMan, I can certainly relate to your experience with socks. I gave up trying to pair them after wash a long while ago and I just pick relatively similar shades these days. And it may actually be a universal problem

Anyway, to get back to the awareness part.. later that evening we were cooking dinner, nothing special, on the cooktop. We were both standing in front of the items cooking, when suddenly the safety switch on the wall right in front of us blew out with a flash and a bang. Could have started a fire. I pulled the switch out just to make sure the wiring was OK and not going to burn the house down, and this morning I called in an electrician to repair the switch.
I'm still on my toes wondering what will happen next!

As an aside, in the morning yesterday I was fitted with brand spanking new hearing aids. I got them for free because I'm a veteran, just wondering if that has anything to do with it.

There was an example in The Myth of Sanity about a woman who was busy in the morning rushing around and trying to do lots of things at once and then in the evening he discovered a bruise on her leg. She didn't remember where it came from. Maybe the "things going missing" mystery is in fact another form of disassociation? Or just plain daydreaming when we're not paying attention to the surroundings?

Well, I must say something as mundane as sorting out the washing doesn't exactly encourage being fully present in the moment :) Hmmm...maybe that's an opportunity to practice :D

As for the safety switch, well done for paying attention! That's a good example of actually being present!

Yes those things can really be puzzling especially when we are damn sure we have put things here or there. I have found that more often then not I displaced the thing myself. There are also interesting behaviours that can arise out of such missings, like the typical phrase "who has taken my...!" even though we know full well that most often it is ourselves who have displaced things in the past. So it is an interesting practise to just say "I have most likely displaced it myself, relax!" when one is inclined to react like that. I do think though, that sometimes things really get lost without a real explanation for it, but from my personal experience, those instances are probably quite rare compared to displacing things ourselves and not remembering it.

For example I remember on several occasions, that I was so very sure I had put this or that there and didn't touch it in the meantime, or done this or that, and only days later I remembered a sequence I didn't remember before, in which I was actually putting it elsewhere myself or have done something I didn't remember before. Most often that seems to happen if we handle stuff and our mind is focused on something else at the same time. Since we handled this or that object quite often in the past, it has become sort of an automatic habit and we don't even notice that we do it anymore and thus don't remember. The mind can play big tricks on us. (...)

Yes! That! Whenever I find myself in the "who has taken my...!" scenario it turns out to be my mind not paying attention to my every action and automatic habits.

I remember coming back from the cinema with my 5 year old niece in the back seat. She asked me what the little lever on the side of the wheel was for and I told her I was letting other drivers know which way we were going with it so they didn't hit us. Later on when we were driving through a small village with almost no traffic, she asked me why I was letting others know where we were going if there were no other cars around. I must have indicated I was turning without even thinking about it. Well, the kid clearly paid more attention to what I was doing than I did!

And yeah, the mind can definitely play tricks on us! After reading Strangers to Ourselves I'm not exactly sure I'd even trust my own brain to assess what my favourite colour is correctly. God knows what that little sponge inside my head has filtered the answer through! :P

 

[Peam]

Hi all, and thanks for all the responses, I had a laugh with some of them, especially George Carlin's skits. So, anyway, to continue the saga, I found the other sock, it never made it to the wash. OK, so far, still no sign of that white bra I put in the washing machine, and my wife has accounted for both of her white bras, so what the ... did I put in the washing machine? Mystery.

You've just reminded me that I had a similar experience with socks last week. I only wear black socks so they're all the same. I have a habit of counting stuff so I know how many pegs to put in my pocket to peg out. I counted 12 socks, pegged them on the line counting as I put them on. Only 11 socks!
I hunted high and low for that sock, looked in and spun the washing machine drum about 5 times, went outside and counted the 11 socks about 3 times. A couple of days later I happened to move the laundry basket in the upstairs bathroom, and there it was behind the basket!