Stuff that just disappears. You know--

[vixengrl]

I'm not talking about "spare sock" syndrome, but actually items you know you own, did not throw away, and can not ever lay your hands on.

For me, it's toenail clippers, and sometimes scissors. I have amassed a collection of both items so as to have at least one stashed where *hopefully* the gremlins don't steal them (I'm skeptical in general, but only agnostic about gremlins--too much evidence, if you ask me). Nonetheless, I'll find myself missing the "good toenail clippers" (the Revlon turquoise coloried clipper that actually came with a smaller, finger-nail-sized clipper that vanished pretty much right after I bought them). Or the "downstairs" scissors that ought to be in the laundry room will up and vanish.

Bottle-openers, that's another one. I try to have at least one on a magnet the fridge door, and then one might be next to the computer. But damned if I don't end up opening bottles with the top of the corkscrew in my kitchen drawer. Also--earring-backs. I should have a steady 1:1 earring to backing ratio for earstuds, but something always goes awry and I find I have to pillage other pairs for their backings.

Please tell me this phenomenon happens to some of you--and what other items are sneaky like that?

[NV Whino]

1. A few years back items would disappear

and then mysteriously reappear in their proper place a few weeks later. I think it was my crazy neighbor fucking with me. Or it could have been the house gremlins.

[vixengrl]

8. Or a family member who never puts things in their place.

My husband blames me for "hiding" things--which means I *did* put them in what I consider their proper place. And which he....does not. ("In it's place" meaning to him--"in his hand", I think.) He, on the other hand, has a penchant for genuinely moving things--like the cordless phone (I have to whip out my cellphone and ring my house to find it, sometimes) and the tv remote--why he would need to carry it to another room other than where the tv is....or put it one something "busy" like a bookshelf, I don't know.

[Petrushka]

19. Or the family member who always puts things in their place . . . where they belong . . .

. . . meaning: somewhere in the right house!

[NV Whino]

27. Just me and the cats so that one doesn't work

Cats? Hmmm....

[SoCalDem]

2. The Xmas stocking routine at our house was weird

There were always odd things in the stockings:

tape dispensers, staple pullers, staplers, scissors, paper clips, rubber bands, pens, hairbrushes, phone book etc.

My boys probably thought that Santa's headquarters was at Office depot.. and Santa always LABELED stuff for them:)

When they got older, Santa brought them each his OWN iron & clothesbaskets:)

[vixengrl]

5. That sounds like a very practical "santa"!

But those are always things one can use, after all. I remember I was always getting practical "un-fun" gifts for my older relatives as a kid--coupon-holders, date-books, calendars, pen-on-a-necklace sets, and decorative pill-boxes, because I knew they'd get used.

[rcrush]

3. Chaptstick, mini flash drives, eye drops, neosporin, cell phone chargers

Who are these thieving bastards!!!!

[Odin2005]

4. My copy of the eco-thriller novel "60 Days and Counting" by Kim Stanely Robinson

Had to buy a new copy because I couldn't find the damn book!!!

[Skittles]

6. I almost bought some chapstick - but then.....

I started wondering, WTF, I buy this stuff ALL THE TIME! Suspicious, I moved my couch and found:

7 chapsticks
2 fingernail clippers
3 eye cream tubes
15 ear plugs (I work nights and sleep with earplugs during the day)
24 bottle caps

all courtesy of my felonious feline Riff Raff who regularly raids my purse and scouts the bedside table :mad:

[hibbing]

9. wow

Hi,
Oh my, that is too funny, sounds like quite the jackpot. I was once packing for a trip, get to my destination, open my carry on bag and there is one of my cats toy mice!

Peace

[Skittles]

10. hey!

I was at the register at Kohls and pulled out one of his toy mice - even though it was bright purple it freaked the clerk out - yes, besides thieving from my purse, he makes deposits too :7

[hibbing]

11. yipes!

Hi,
That is awesome, sneaky little things aren't they?

Peace

[Skittles]

14. yes they are indeed

:hi:

[vixengrl]

12. My parents' dog wants "in" my purse and anyone else's in the worst way.

This is the kind of dog who "finds" socks in the laundry hamper and carries them to you as if to say "I found it--is this yours?" and occasionally carries off shoes--not to chew them. Just to prove a point about how carelessly people leave their things around. We've had to take hats and gloves away from him, too. And he loves empty bathroom tissue rolls. He'll just take the cardboard roll from the wastebin like, "This will really come in handy someday."

Animals are strange. (How does that cat figure out how to carry this stuff and where to bury it, though? We usually catch Buster because he "hides" his finds with "imaginary dirt"--he'll just paw/nose "pretend dirt" over an item right in a corner while we're pretending not to watch. Behind the couch is very stealthy of him.)

[Skittles]

15. LOL

what Riff Raff does is make a toy out of anything that is moveable - he bats it around the room and apprently if it's small enough it ends up under the couch, out of his reach

My coworker played a joke on me - put five little tiny plastic baseballs he got off of cupcakes at a potluck into my purse - Riff Raff woke me up batting those damn things all over the wooden floor of my living room :mad:

[silverweb]

13. LOL... felonious feline!

I've got 4 of them and I know exactly what you mean. They love stealing nail clippers -- all bright and shiny, completely irresistable with that nifty loop of chain for grabbing. Emery boards are the next items to go missing all the time at my house.

They scout my desk drawer and nightstand, just like yours does, to snag whatever they can make off with, but clippers and emery boards are the perennial favorites. I keep spares in my purse, but even that isn't entirely safe.

:D

[Skittles]

16. I need to just put my purse out of his reach

alas, I just never remember :(

[silverweb]

18. Good luck with that.

I hang my purse from a hook near the door. Even so, one day my 1-year-old male had managed to climb into it anyway.

It stunned me that he could actually reach it and pull himself up into it, but he looked so silly sitting there that I had to laugh.

Now I have to remember to zip the purse closed before hanging it... and hope Izzy doesn't figure out how zippers work. :eyes:

[hibbing]

7. battery charger

Hi,
How the heck did I lose a battery recharger? I always put it in the same spot, one day ready to plug it in, poof. I probably put it somewhere strange after one too many pbrs.

Peace

[texanwitch]

17. Anything that I need at the moment.

After I don't need it anymore is shows up.

I don't know why.

[vixengrl]

22. My missing things usually turn up once I've bought a

replacement. And then they seem to be mocking me, just a little.

[madeline_con]

20. Two words: Hide Them!!!

[fizzgig]

21. lighters

i'm probably going to find at least a half dozen when i move next month and two of those will be the ones i bought last week :eyes:

[cwydro]

23. Lol!

Scissors! I have the same problem and have oodles of pairs around just like you. And hammers for some reason.

Bottle openers too; I actually tied a bottle opener to the butcher block with a leather strap just to make sure it's there, lol.

Oh I think there are gremlins for sure.:rofl:

[RebelOne]

24. Reading glasses.

I had about 5 pair, but they just seemed to up and walk away. Can only find one pair.

[Pharlo]

25. Any item I am dumb enough to

"Put away in a safe spot so I'll KNOW where it is when I NEED it!" Problem is, when I need it, I can NEVER remember where I put it, only where it USED to be. I get SO annoyed at myself. Finally, I started putting notes 'where it used to be' so I'd know 'where it is now'. Works too.

The other biggie - anything the dogs decide they want to eat. And, if I notice the item is missing soon enough, I can watch and look for 'remnants' after a day or two. Otherwise, the item is lost to the 'canine intestinal' gremlin forever.

Example: I USED to keep canned goods in a bottom cupboard. No longer. One of these geniuses ate the cupboard lock, then, I do not know which of The Damn Mutts figured it out, but they realized that they could chew open the cans and eat the contents.

Usually, I lose anything made of leather. Any cosmetic brush containing real animal hair as opposed to synthetic... The oldest is 8, the youngest is 4. Any and all 'tempting' items have to be locked in a room they cannot access. And, it needs to be a SECURE lock, the 8 year old can open eye hooks. Found that out the hard way (he's a humane society rescue - and I KNOW why he got returned repeatedly).

[NV Whino]

28. Chews open cans?

Are you sure your "dogs" are not goats?

[Pharlo]

29. Nope, dogs.

68,72, and 96 pounds respectively. Not the largest dogs I've ever had though, and I've had dogs all my life. And, I considered canned goods to be about the only 'safe' thing to leave in the lower cupboards - until this incident.

Strangely enough, this occurred about a week after I had acquired Cody (the HS rescue). Trust me, when I say I KNOW why he had been returned to shelters repeatedly, I mean it. I've had him going on 3 years now. Prior to him, I kept the house 'puppy proofed'. Since he came to live here, I've had to upgrade it to 'Cody proof'.

It has been my experience (based solely on acquiring Cody) that it's easier to raise a young puppy than acclimate to an adult dog. That's been my experience.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

26. Cats are usually involved in the disappearance of small items.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

30. Around me, everything smaller than a chair keeps oscillating between existence and nonexistence.

Yeah, it drives one crazy.

[1gobluedem]

31. Tweezers

They flit all around the house and end up in the strangest places. Which is very strange since I rarely use them.

And my flat butter spreader just took wing one day and hasn't been seen since.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

32. seems like lots of threads

and posts do that around here now