Where is it?

In message , jgharston writes

Where you put it:-)

The trick for me is to work out where I last had something and then try to recall what I was thinking at the time.

Why are you expecting to find it in the workshop when you have clearly decided it will not be required for reference but is a safe place to store important documents.

Ctrl L for most of uk.d-i-y for the last few days:-)

regards

Too late now, but I remember something I read years ago (in a Dick Francis book, I think).

"Put things where you expect to find them". If you actually go through that exercise before putting something away, you can sometimes realise you're putting them in the wrong place!

Well, it works for me...

It is odd how you establish where things are to be kept, and then never subsequently re-assess. About 15 years after I moved into this house, it dawned upon me that stuff in the kitchen cupboards was still basically where I had quickly dumped it upon unpacking, and was in no way arranged for easiest access to the most used items.

BTW where do you expect to find the radiator key?

Chris

On the little shelf on the corner of the kitchen unit!

When we moved in (15 years ago) we had a plethora of 'keys' which opened windows, etc. We stuck them all there as it was central in the house, away from outside doors, etc. Radiator key followed, as did the cruciform- shaped thing for opening meter boxes etc.

The only 'key' that isn't on there is the 3 foot long thing for the water stopcock!

My experienec in industry is that 'a place or everything and everything in its place' is far more relevant than trying to establish the 'right' place for everything. Until I got married, I simply used the system in my parents kitchen. My wife of course changed all that to reflect her parents kitchen, which is mostly 'a place for nothing, just leave it lying aruond where you last used it and if you cant find it, buy another'

I think its actually in the bedside chest of drawers, along with various other detritus.

I grew up with a particular arrangement of cupboards in my parents' kitchen. A few years after I moved out, they changed the arrangement and for the next year and a half or so, whenever I was round there and wanted a drink, I went to the wrong cupboard for a glass. After a couple of years they swapped back to the original order and almost 15 years later, I still go to the *WRONG* cupboard! Weird. Maybe their original/present arrangement isn't as good as the other one :)

SteveW

We actually have a large pot which we call "a safe place." Odds and ends that we need to keep and don't have a place for go there, so that whenever one of us is asking "have you seen the ...." the answer is frequently "It's in a safe place."

SteveW

Oh, forgot to say. Yes, the radiator key is "in a safe place." Although all of ours can be bled using a screwdriver as they have a slot accross the screw.

SteveW

Or a butter knife:-)

I subscribe to the 'heap'filing system and some years ago at technician who worked for me, being fed up with the piles of paperwork on my desk gave me a poster which said

Those who heep an orderly desk never know the thrill of finding something the thought irretrevably lost

Malcolm

I would *expect* to find it hanging on a string underneath the boiler, but mine's actually in the desk in an envelope with postage stamps and fuses.

Owain

'treeware stack implementation'

Indeed, the joy of finding a five-and-a-half-month-old cheque to be deposited is almost immeasurable.

Owain

the last week looking for my

Can't find something ?

Ask your wife.

I've lost track of the number of times I hunted high and low for something only to have my wife point it out beside me.

Things disappear into a parallel universe whence they can only be retrieved by the female of the species

Paul Mc Cann

B-)

That's the scheme I sort of work to, things should be put back where they belong after use.

That is how the females in this house seem to work. Piles of stuff just left lying about, anything from old packaging that should have gone in the bin or recycling, to half finished projects or just stuff not cleared away after a project has been finished. Drives me mad but I'll be blowed if I'm going to clear up after 'em, that is a very bad road to go down.

Expect? I know.

But which one the nice turned brass one, the diecast one or the fancy one that looks like a clock key? They are in a small clear plastic box in the front left corner of a green crate marked "Plumbing Tools" in the rack of crates in the boiler room.

Yep! They are all there. B-)

In the man draw, obviously :-)

before this answer appeared ;-)

Chris