Golly gee, I'm a lucky guy!

[Purrybonker]

I keep doing this - and it seems to be getting worse the older I get. I forget where I put stuff...

We're in a "chinook" here in Calgary. That's a winter condition where the temp jumps up a bunch of degrees for no apparent reason - melting all the snow. One of the local Indian bands has a legend about the first settlers here and how they had skis on the front of their wagons and wheels on the rear. With that set-up the teamsters could still run their rigs during a chinook. The front of the wagon would be in the snow (chinook not there yet) and the rear of the wagon on dry ground (40 degrees warmer in the chinook).

As I get older, I sometimes forget what I'm talking about too...

So in this warm weather, I'm playing around with the carrera and I:

* Notice that cell phone in Porsche is dead, remove it from car, set it on roof for later transport into house for charging.

* Decide it's necessary to start Porsche (gotta hear that new Dansk again).

* Move Porsche into driveway. Moving Porsche means moving cell phone to roof of Focus for safe-keeping. Moving Porsche with cell phone on roof would be irresponsible.

* Circling Porsche in admiring manner, I observe that passenger side fog light is dead. Disassemble fog light, remove defective bulb.

* Jump in Focus to whip over to parts store for new bulb.

* Spend the next three days wondering about the location of cell phone. Focus gets driven countless miles, over freeways and city streets, even down a country gravel road.

* Finally make determined effort to find cell phone. Stand in garage trying to retrace last actions with cell phone. Clarity strikes.

* Look at roof of Focus. Cell phone sitting there - wedged under roof rack cross member.

* Pick up cell phone and immediately attempt to phone wife to report it's salvation.

* Curse dead battery in cell phone.

...man you just can't please some people. But, I gotta get a grip on this terrible habit of putting stuff in stupid places for temporary storage. Anyone know a cure for this?

[djmcmath]

The only thing I can think of is to curb the habit immediately. Rather than putting the cell phone, coffee cup, etc. on the roof of the car and trying to remember that you put it there, don't ever put anything in a temporary storage location.

I'm seriously trying to think of a good answer for this -- you see, I'm only 26, and I've already started doing this. I can only imagine how bad it will be when I get a little older, if I don't do something about it. Gosh, I can hardly wait to get old...


Dan

[trj911]

Been there done that. One time I left my wallet on the roof of the car. When I came to the first stoplight and stopped, it fell off the roof and in the driver's window and landed on my leg. It seems impossible but it really did!
I have a very good memory, it just doesn't last very long!

[Moneyguy1]

Purry..

AS I have gotten older, realizing that I can forget things, I took a trip down to the local "Big Lots" store (they sell odd stuff; overstocks, etc) and bought myself a bunch of cheap plastic storage boxes. Whenever I start a job, no matter how trivial, I grab and empty box and put whatever I need in the way of tools, parts, etc in the box. As the job progresses, parts I remove are put in the box as well. Nothing is just put on top of something else. When I get done, I know if I have any parts "left over". I also have a very small workshop (8 x 14, but I do have a large brick patio for the big stuff), and everything is either in labelled drawers or on peghooks where I can see at a glance if something is missing (empty tool holder). It is an inexpensive system, takes some time, but has gotten to be a "way of life" that makes things a lot easier.

[TSNAPCRACKLEPOP]

no parts left over?????????? bummer, must be a lot of overweight projects

[Purrybonker]

That's brilliant Moneyguy, I'm a sloppy worker on top of being forgetful. I've got parts and tools everywhere - never clean-up or organize until the job is done. That's why I need duplicates of tools - can't find the 9mm socket in the middle of a job? No problem, grab another one.

Your solution addresses both weaknesses. I'm sold.

[Moneyguy1]

Like I said, it works for me. I got tired of buying duplicates of everything!!

[CamB]

Lucky escape!

As an aside, I stayed for 3 months in Banff once. I remember a chinook. The temperature jumped up to an outrageously warm coupla degrees above freezing, and the local snowboarders started wearing shorts. There was a "warm" southerly wind too.

My antipodean arse still thought it was pretty damn cold.