It was lost, but now is found.

[rfrazier]

In another thread, there is a discussion of a lost plane. Although not nearly as important, here is a report of a once lost, but found watch part. This happened the weekend before last.

The part is the safety roller of a two piece roller for a watch balance. That it is a component of a balance tells you it is small. I don't have a spare.[*] I don't have it with me, but I think it is about 1.5mm in diameter, and 0.2 mm thick. It is circular, and shiny (a saving grace). It was lost because I wasn't careful enough. I had out both pieces of the roller, which were sitting on my bench on the work mat. I was putting on the main roller. When I went to put on the safety roller, I didn't immediately see it. I looked all over the mat. Then the bench top. Not there. It occurred to me that my arm touched it and it stuck to my arm. I checked my arm. Not there. So, I sat down and thought about my search plan, i.e., how I would search and where I might expect it to be.

1. At my feet (where most things go).
2. Still on my skin.
3. In my clothes.
4. Bounce from my feet. (Likely drift.)
5. Expand search area.
6. ??

1. It wasn't at my feet. (A flashlight to get the reflection is a good start.)
2. It wasn't on either arm, in the crevices of my fingers, etc.
3. I stripped off and checked my skin, then every inch of my clothes. (My wife came in, and there I was, no clothes, magnifying visor, and flashlight. She looked, quietly closed the door and went downstairs. I could hear the laughter drift up the stairs.)
4. On my arms and knees checking the likely bounce areas, working an expanding box shaped search pattern. Nothing. Recheck clothes. Nothing.
5. Expand the box search area.
6 Start dismantling work area, starting from the outside, working in. Each item is taken out, examined, and put in an already cleaned area. 5 hours from the start, I found it, back behind something in a place it had no business to go. I suspect that it had stuck to my arm, a movement of my arm had made it fly, then it had taken a very strange bounce.

All the time, I knew that it was within 5 feet of me.

[*] Well, I do have a spare now.

Best wishes,
Bob

[Snipe]

Bob,

I'm glad you found it eventually.

Are we therefore to assume that the reason the plane has not been found is because the rescuers are clothed?

Chris

[Daddelvirks]

Bob,

I can fully understand why you want to share this with us.

Frustrating to say the least.

Daddel.

[Thewatchbloke]

I've been there Bob, congratulations in finding it. In my case I never found the component. The gap between the workshop floor and the skirting board was the likely culprit.

[rfrazier]

I've been there Bob, congratulations in finding it. In my case I never found the component. The gap between the workshop floor and the skirting board was the likely culprit.

I have cut sections of a thin dust sheet, about 100mm high and 1000mm long, and taped overlapping lengths to the skirting board. The sections drop to the floor and curve out from the wall for about 40mm.

Best wishes,
Bob

[Kakadu]

I use a good big magnet......never failed yet.......

[rfrazier]

I use a good big magnet......never failed yet.......

I have a workshop magnet. However, the piece has to be somewhere you can get the magnet into.

Best wishes,
Bob

[Thewatchbloke]

And the component has to be magnetic of course. I think I'm going to have to do something similar to you with my skirting boards Bob!

[ralphy]

... I stripped off and checked my skin, then every inch of my clothes. (My wife came in, and there I was, no clothes, magnifying visor, and flashlight. She looked, quietly closed the door and went downstairs. I could hear the laughter drift up the stairs.)...

A mental picture of this has raised a smile here, Bob. ;-)

R

[walkerwek1958]

I`ve been there, it's horrible. A tiny part or screw simply vanishes into thin air and it can take hours to find.........if it ever turns up.

I`m hugely impressed with Bob's systematic search strategy; I do something similar but nowhere near as regimented.

As for the stripping off procedure, yes, I`ve done that a few times. Hair and eyebrows also get checked. I`ll admit, I`ve even checked my nether regions where the sun don`t shine, on the basis that the part may have entered my clothing. Needless to say, nothing has ever been found in these obscure crannies....but a thorough search has to be exactly what it says and you have to eliminate everything.

Small springs are the worst; I resort to dismantling some watches inside a plastic bag. Incabloc end jewels are another bad one.

If it's a screw or small part that's available cheaply from Cousins I`ve taken the easy option and ordered a replacement at my own expense.

The most frustrating thing is knowing that whatever's made a bid for freedom is still in the room with you.....but you can`t bloody find it.

Paul

[Papa Hotel]

I'm not sure I understand what's going on here. Can someone correct me if necessary?

Person A posts an anecdote with a titillating little detail, posted for the comic value.
Person B finds it funny.
Person A gets offended.

Jesus chaps, lighten up.

[SimonK]

..."Not quite quite" is an old fashioned English way of saying the equivalent of "it isn't appropriate" without being so direct...

Well I am an old fashioned Englishman and I have never heard this expression; also typing these three words into Google throws up zero hits. Whoever told you this was an old fashioned English expression was, perhaps, pulling your plonker (an old fashioned English way of saying to play a practical joke on someone).

Back on topic, maybe finding that which was lost was simply down to amazing grace?

[rfrazier]

Well I am an old fashioned Englishman and I have never heard this expression; also typing these three words into Google throws up zero hits. Whoever told you this was an old fashioned English expression was, perhaps, pulling your plonker (an old fashioned English way of saying to play a practical joke on someone).

Back on topic, maybe finding that which was lost was simply down to amazing grace?

Here's a link to a passage in a book in which it occurs. :)

Passage in book

Best wishes,
Bob

PS You might get better results if you Google "not quite quite" with the quotation marks.
RLF

[neebsta]

I usually find small items like that when they ricochet up the vacuum cleaner into the bag.

[SimonK]

Nope, still not convinced. Placing quotation marks around the three words in question simply shows examples where the word 'quite' has been doubled up for emphasis - "not quite, quite there...', '... I am quite, quite sure'.

And as for Anthony Blunt - the fellow was a bounder, you couldn't trust him when he was whistling (another expression for your répetoire).

[ralphy]

Whilst not having heard the phrase before, I nevertheless ‘got’ the meaning.

R

[rfrazier]

Below is another passage from a book. The book is a Peter Wimsey story, Clouds of Witnesses, by Dorothy L. Sayers. I suspect that this is where I originally got it, as I've read them all a number of times.

Passage from book

Best wishes,
Bob

PS Maybe I've mentioned a word (rather than phrase) that I've decide to adopt and promote. It is "prepone", which is to move a meeting forward from the scheduled timed, as to postpone a meeting is to move it back in time. This is a word used in business circles in India, from what I understand. It fills a descriptive gap for me.
RLF

[Junior]

PS Maybe I've mentioned a word (rather than phrase) that I've decide to adopt and promote. It is "prepone", which is to move a meeting forward from the scheduled timed, as to postpone a meeting is to move it back in time. This is a word used in business circles in India, from what I understand.

Ah yes, "prepone" - a well loved word! I receive emails occasionally which advise me that someone has decided to prepone an event, and then tantalise by requesting all recipients to 'Please do the needful'.

[Mr.D]

PS Maybe I've mentioned a word (rather than phrase) that I've decide to adopt and promote. It is "prepone", which is to move a meeting forward from the scheduled timed, as to postpone a meeting is to move it back in time. This is a word used in business circles in India, from what I understand.

Ah yes, "prepone" - a well loved word! I receive emails occasionally which advise me that someone has decided to prepone an event, and then tantalise by requesting all recipients to 'Please do the needful'.

I concur with this but don't understand why people can't just say "brought forward" , "prepone" seems meaningless and nonsensical to me.

Also "do the needful" is a common cop out from Indian management types meaning' " I cannot advise you as to how to proceed sufficiently but rather than take responsibility myself I'm passing the buck to you."

Similarly my least liked phrase oft uttered by Indian management types is "Let's see" . How about we plan appropriately beforehand and ensure everything reasonable is in place to maximise a successful result instead of "Let's see".

Speaking as one who regularly bangs his fist on the boardroom table with 40 plus Indian colleagues screaming dissent at me . So far I've been right and stuck to my guns whether they like it or not.

Nowadays they don't don't try to get round me. Left too many bodies behind me who's last words were "Let's See" or protested they were only "doing the needful" right to their sticky end.

[rfrazier]

I concur with this but don't understand why people can't just say "brought forward" , "prepone" seems meaningless and nonsensical to me.

....

For me, it is simply a matter of convenience, which is a good reason to have a word. My appointment times (tutorials) get changed quite frequently. I like to keep a record of the original appointment and the fact that an appointment is a rescheduled one (but don't care which direction). Most of the time they are postponed, but reasonably often they are preponed. So, in the description of the original appointment I add "(PPD)", and in the description of the new appointment I put "(From PPD)". Easy to add; easy to read. A clear winner. :)

I more or less came up with "preponed" independently, but don't like to go too far outside standard use for fear of being thought mad. :) So, I was happy to find that it was used elsewhere.

Best wishes,
Bob