As Louis Rossmann says, listen for it as it falls. Don't look for it. You'll always hear where it lands.
I saw somewhere a great name for those tiny screws and springs: pingfucks. Named after the sound they make immediately followed by the sound you make
Now try it with a dropped 0201 resistor. Might as well be a speck of dust.
I was able to solder the 0201 LED on this (confirmed connectivity with a multimeter), but I had a little too much pressure on the tweezers with the resistor, and it flicked away into the void.
What's up with this title?? Dropping something small and not finding it again is probably as close to a universal experience as possible
Only few will understand what's up with this title...
skill issue
Depends on the size of the screw.
My bet is Tunnel Effect from Quantum Mechanics since it also shares the properties of the likelihood of it happenning being inverselly correlated with size and just making things cross some kind of high energy barrier without the need for the energy to actually go into it.
Never seen again... Until you step on it barefoot.
I had never seen a comment that is as painful as your comment😢.
spoiler
magnets can save you
then its like 'eh....3 screws is good enough'
"It's OK, they always add extra screws"
Pro tip: When you drop a small thing quickly look down. Takes practice because you have to do it so fast, has to be a reflex.
You'll often catch it on the bounce, and in any case, your ears are also pointed the right way.
I use a yoga mat as silly as it sounds. I place it under my feet. When things drop on the yoga mat, which is neon green colored, three things:
- Yoga mats have no bounce in them.
- Tiny ridges on it prevent screws from rolling around into oblivion.
- High contrast with the screw - I instantly see the screw.
Quickly look down, but don't look around, keep your vision still. Then the bouncing crew's movement will be easier to catch and you'll at least be able to get a sense of direction. It's been working really well for me and makes me feel like a super hero when I can find the dropped screw
Alternate option, get on the floor and look across where it probably is.
That’s how I usually find it.
Apparently if you are smart or clean regularly, you can just like… go buy some pantyhose for a dollar, and put a leg over the vacuum tube and just suck all the shit into it, typically including any screws. If you don’t clean regularly, you’ll be disgusted, but you’ll probably find the dumb screw.
As a bonus if you really wanna be lazy, you can put the hoes in the tube somewhere upstream of the main intake, so you can vacuum as normal and still catch the thing you lost.
As an ex computer tech, this is the way.
Have carpet, can't confirm.
This is why I always kept my cat around when I was working on stuff. He'd track the dropped screws for me. Of course he'd also occasionally jump onto the table and fuck up whatever I was working on but there's pros and cons to anything.
lay a flashlight on the ground aimed to where the thing fell, look for a shadow
“Holy shit I really need to vacuum this room.”
Newton's fourth law of motion states: "A small screw in an observed state will never dissappear." So, just keep your eye on it when you drop it and you'll be fine.
I got one of those powerful rare earth magnets, so my lost screw percentage is way down, from 99% lost to only about 95% lost now!
I have two, one on a telescoping stick and one on a chain
They are never on me when I need them
And once you get up to fetch it, the screw makes a run for it.
I got a magnetic dish which has been a game changer for fallen and potentially lost bits and pieces.
skill issue
I made the mistake of having those color chips on my epoxy garage floor. Looks nice. Can't see anything. Perfect camouflage for small dropped parts.
i don't even bother looking for those anymore. If i drop something tiny i just assume it slipped through the cracks in reality and will re-emerge at a random point in time, past or future
Drop another in the same spot and watch where it goes.
Great, now I've lost two screws. Any more ideas?
Our feet evolved to provide the perfect angle for dropped objects to bounce in a quasi 90° angle and go hide themselves under whatever table/desk we were working in front of.
*until it returns at ð exact moment your shoe is about to land on ð spot it vanished from specifically to attempt to assassinate you þrough ð soul of your foot.
I recently dropped a bearing and it rolled under my oven. Yeah that thing is fuckin gone.
Me and my friends call it the dice dimension.
I wonder if that's also where my socks end up, or if that's a parallel dimension.
one of my buddies dropped his sauren vape (is that how its spelled?) and it quite literally got grabbed by the nicotine elves and was never seen again. even after moving therefore nothing that could be blocking its sight he still didnt find it
sauren vape (is that how its spelled?)
Sauron, the Dark Lord?
The Saruman Vape
I dropped a fry 2 months ago and I still can't find the damn thing. People joke about alternate dimensions but I'm starting to think it's real.
My cat keeps playing with a cable tie. I see him playing with it, then 30 seconds later it's gone and I don't see it again for about 3 weeks and then suddenly he's playing with it again.
He appears to be able to extract things from the alternate dimension.
Dropped a fry, as in the potato based food?
That's the one
I dropped the SCREW in the TUNA
I always wondered how they optimized the simulation. Turns out, it was screws all along.
I think it teleports under the tire.
