# Household mysteries. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 5, 2008, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/household-mysteries/466504 "2008-10-05T00:54:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Emergency911](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/43a26b/32.png) [@Emergency911](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emergency911)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/household-mysteries/466504/21 "2008-10-05T17:44:35Z")
I have two Labs. They LOVE to take things and move them around. They especially love to take things from the inside of the house and sneak them outside, then try to replace said item with something outside. Every time I find a stick inside the house, I go to the yard and look for the exchanged item. My wife’s small nick knacks are some of their favorite things to do this, but socks, spoons, anything they can get their mouths around can be found out in the yard when a stick is in the house. ---
**Author:** ![Rascal\_s\_Mom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a698b9/32.png) [@Rascal\_s\_Mom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rascal_s_Mom)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/household-mysteries/466504/22 "2008-10-05T18:12:24Z")
> [@Emergency911](#): > > I have two Labs. They LOVE to take things and move them around. They especially love to take things from the inside of the house and sneak them outside, then try to replace said item with something outside. > > Every time I find a stick inside the house, I go to the yard and look for the exchanged item. My wife’s small nick knacks are some of their favorite things to do this, but socks, spoons, anything they can get their mouths around can be found out in the yard when a stick is in the house. That is too cute! ---
**Author:** ![Q.N.Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/3da27b/32.png) [@Q.N.Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.N.Jones)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/household-mysteries/466504/23 "2008-10-05T19:32:59Z")
My current household mystery: First, the backstory. My cats are not allowed in the bedroom at night. I need a good night’s sleep. My cat Rex really, really, REALLY likes to be able to sleep with me. And stomp all over me at hourly intervals. Last year at Thanksgiving, my jerk father (who begged to be allowed to catsit) let Rex (indoor only all his life) escape into the wilderness. After eight days with no food, I was able to trap Rex (starving, terrified) and bring him home. I let him sleep with me for awhile after that event, until he started acting more normal again. Well, since then, Rex has not taken his banishment lightly. His goal has been to get into the bedroom at all costs. He learned how to open the bedroom door, which is a pocket door. I propped some heavy stuff against the door. He got strong enough to open it anyway. I stuffed a book under the door. He defeated that book, so I got a thicker one. That seemed to stymie him for awhile. Then he realized that he could simply hide in my room before I went to bed. He has a couple of hiding places in the room that I can’t reach. My bedtime is between midnight and 2 am. At first, he started lying in wait around 10 pm. So I started closing the door around 8. It finally got to the point where Rex would make a mad dash for my bedroom when I came home from work at 6 pm. This backfired on him because he found he couldn’t wait that long, and he would come out looking for me around 10. I tried to trick him by calling to him when he was hiding out. (He comes to his name.) Just once, I was able to lure him out with the promise of cuddles and toys. Now he knows better. The mystery: On Thursday night when I went to bed, I leaned out the door and saw Rex in the living room, playing. I closed the door, jammed the book under the track, and hopped into bed. About twenty minutes later, Rex hopped up on the bed and started to purr. I turned on the light, expecting to see he’d opened the door. I figured maybe he’d gotten strong enough to defeat the “lock.” But the door was closed and the book was in place. I have no idea how he got in. But he was very pleased with himself. I’m unnerved. A kitty with magical powers? ---
**Author:** ![hellpaso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecae2f/32.png) [@hellpaso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hellpaso)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/household-mysteries/466504/24 "2008-10-05T19:38:49Z")
another one of those ninja cats! ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/household-mysteries/466504/25 "2008-10-05T19:48:14Z")
> [@Q.N.Jones](#): > > My current household mystery: > > First, the backstory. My cats are not allowed in the bedroom at night. I need a good night’s sleep. My cat Rex really, really, REALLY likes to be able to sleep with me. And stomp all over me at hourly intervals. > > Last year at Thanksgiving, my jerk father (who begged to be allowed to catsit) let Rex (indoor only all his life) escape into the wilderness. After eight days with no food, I was able to trap Rex (starving, terrified) and bring him home. I let him sleep with me for awhile after that event, until he started acting more normal again. > > Well, since then, Rex has not taken his banishment lightly. His goal has been to get into the bedroom at all costs. He learned how to open the bedroom door, which is a pocket door. I propped some heavy stuff against the door. He got strong enough to open it anyway. I stuffed a book under the door. He defeated that book, so I got a thicker one. That seemed to stymie him for awhile. > > Then he realized that he could simply hide in my room before I went to bed. He has a couple of hiding places in the room that I can’t reach. My bedtime is between midnight and 2 am. At first, he started lying in wait around 10 pm. So I started closing the door around 8. It finally got to the point where Rex would make a mad dash for my bedroom when I came home from work at 6 pm. This backfired on him because he found he couldn’t wait that long, and he would come out looking for me around 10. > > I tried to trick him by calling to him when he was hiding out. (He comes to his name.) Just once, I was able to lure him out with the promise of cuddles and toys. Now he knows better. > > The mystery: > > On Thursday night when I went to bed, I leaned out the door and saw Rex in the living room, playing. I closed the door, jammed the book under the track, and hopped into bed. About twenty minutes later, Rex hopped up on the bed and started to purr. I turned on the light, expecting to see he’d opened the door. I figured maybe he’d gotten strong enough to defeat the “lock.” But the door was closed and the book was in place. I have no idea how he got in. But he was very pleased with himself. > > I’m unnerved. A kitty with magical powers? What a great story. Pic? Oh, and pooor Rex, let him sleep with you! ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/household-mysteries/466504/26 "2008-10-05T19:59:43Z")
That is too funny- yes, let Rex sleep with you, the poor thing! A couple of months ago I bought an umbrella and a can of hairspray. I remember seeing them in a bag in my bedroom right after I bought them but haven’t been able to find them. Where did they go??? ---
**Author:** ![XaMcQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/f9ae1b/32.png) [@XaMcQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XaMcQ)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/household-mysteries/466504/27 "2008-10-05T20:16:04Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > Miss Manners always said that missing silverware was due to folks accidentally throwing it out. I’ve caught myself a time or two, scraping a plate or something and a piece of silverware falls into the trash. I thought of this, especially as we’ve been eating a lot of take out lately. It just seems strange that it should happen to so many of them. ---
**Author:** ![Q.N.Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/3da27b/32.png) [@Q.N.Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.N.Jones)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/household-mysteries/466504/28 "2008-10-05T20:32:19Z")
> [@FloatyGimpy](#): > > What a great story. Pic? > > Oh, and pooor Rex, let him sleep with you! Hoo boy. I should’ve known that’s how people would react. (Especially once you see him. He’s cute as the dickens.) Actually, Rex is not the real problem. He’s not too bothersome. It’s his sister C.C., aka The Black Devil. She howls and squalls and tries to wake me up repeatedly all night long. And I can’t lock her out without locking Rex in. Which he won’t tolerate. Pics [here.](http://www2.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=216338236/PictureID=4649537487/a=117910774_117910774/t_=117910774) Rex is the gray tabby. Note that in the first picture, Rex is lying on the floor with his favorite toy and a picture frame he stole off of an end table. When things go missing in my house, 90% of the time, it’s due to Rex. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/household-mysteries/466504/29 "2008-10-05T22:06:03Z")
> [@Q.N.Jones](#): > > Hoo boy. I should’ve known that’s how people would react. (Especially once you see him. He’s cute as the dickens.) > > Actually, Rex is not the real problem. He’s not too bothersome. It’s his sister C.C., aka The Black Devil. She howls and squalls and tries to wake me up repeatedly all night long. And I can’t lock her out without locking Rex in. Which he won’t tolerate. > > Pics [here.](http://www2.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=216338236/PictureID=4649537487/a=117910774_117910774/t_=117910774) Rex is the gray tabby. Note that in the first picture, Rex is lying on the floor with his favorite toy and a picture frame he stole off of an end table. When things go missing in my house, 90% of the time, it’s due to Rex. Well, you’re a stronger person than I. I’d never be able to look at that face and say “no”. Mind you, I don’t have a C.C. jumping all over me all night long. I suppose they tend to lose their cuteness at 3 am? ---
**Author:** ![Q.N.Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/3da27b/32.png) [@Q.N.Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.N.Jones)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/household-mysteries/466504/30 "2008-10-05T23:35:16Z")
> [@hellpaso](#): > > another one of those ninja cats! I asked Rex and he copped to being a ninja. Mystery solved. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/household-mysteries/466504/31 "2008-10-05T23:43:57Z")
Are you sure his name is Rex and not [Pixel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cat_Who_Walks_Through_Walls)? ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/household-mysteries/466504/32 "2008-10-05T23:49:00Z")
I blame all missing items on the cat. I’m sure that when I’m asleep at night he goes to his secret collection of household objects and rubs his little paws together, cackling madly. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/household-mysteries/466504/33 "2008-10-05T23:54:24Z")
> [@Pyper](#): > > I blame all missing items on the cat. I’m sure that when I’m asleep at night he goes to his secret collection of household objects and rubs his little paws together, cackling madly. Remember the Steve Martin bit about his cat embezzling from him? [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/IVN855yazyY/hqdefault.jpg "cat handcuffs") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVN855yazyY) ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/household-mysteries/466504/34 "2008-10-06T03:03:17Z")
My latest household mystery wasn’t a disappearance. I’ve lived here for five and a half years. Just over a year ago, I found an earring in my room, in front of my dresser. Now, it wasn’t one of mine and there’ve been no other women in my bedroom (I’m sure I’d remember changing sexual orientation and having a one night stand - it’s not the sort of thing I forget,) so I figured it must have dropped out of the dresser. It couldn’t have been sitting there on the carpet for four years - even _I_ vacuum more often than _that_. I had a good search round the edges of the carpet and behind the dresser, even pulling out the drawers, but I couldn’t find the matching earring. I rang my aunt (who’d given me the dresser years ago) and she denied ever owning an earring of that description. So I rang the previous tennant (an old friend) and she said it couldn’t be hers because she doesn’t have pierced ears. I asked if she’d changed her sexual orientation and had a one night stand and she hung up on me. So a little mystery. I left the earring on my dresser, more out of laziness than wonder. Every so often I’d knock it off the dresser and find it on the floor again. A couple of months ago my mum was feeling a little blue, nothing major - just winter and such, but I wanted to cheer her up. I wondered if I had a scarf in her colours hiding in my wardrobe (I tend to collect pretty things with no intention of using them, living up to my username). No such luck, but there on my dresser was the earring - and it’s partner. My mum loves her new set of earrings. ---
**Author:** ![Caractacus\_Pott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Caractacus\_Pott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caractacus_Pott)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/household-mysteries/466504/35 "2008-10-06T05:14:49Z")
[Hex key sets](http://www.vici.com/tools/hexkey.php). At first I’d spend money on them, usually Craftsman. Somehow they escaped the toolbox. Every time. I blamed the first 10 sets’ disappearances on roommates. The next 10 or 15 sets I couldn’t explain, as I lived like a hermit and never lent out tools. Moving to new apartments never revealed their hiding places. About 15 sets ago I stopped even looking for them. I just go out and buy a set when I need it. If I’m lucky I get one and only one use out of it before the hex key weevils find it. ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/household-mysteries/466504/36 "2008-10-06T05:26:00Z")
I could have sworn I bought two packages of Oreos, but I can only find one. And it’s half gone, now. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![trapezoidal\_jellyfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6f9a4e/32.png) [@trapezoidal\_jellyfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trapezoidal_jellyfish)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/household-mysteries/466504/37 "2008-10-06T05:38:23Z")
When I was in elementary school, I had a nice pair of gold earrings, which of course got lost sometime around 7th grade. fastforward a couple years, and I’m in high school, cleaning out my locker at the end of the year. I’m just about done, when I see something sparkling down in the corner of the locker. sure enough, one of my pretty gold earrings had found its way in. now, I had lost the earrings at least a full year before starting high school, and my high school was not only in a different building than my elementary school, it was in a whole other county, a good 40 miles away. I still haven’t figured it out. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/household-mysteries/466504/38 "2008-10-06T06:02:17Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > I also have a solution for the missing earrings: after you set them down, one of them caught on your sleeve and rode there for a while, then dropped off somewhere else in your house. I found a thoroughly mashed earring in the bathroom one time. Everyone in the house must’ve stomped it for the several days it was missing. I hope that’s it…they were my favorite pair! Who knows, one day the missing earring will just turn up somewhere, out of the blue. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/household-mysteries/466504/39 "2008-10-06T06:16:41Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I hope that’s it…they were my favorite pair! Who knows, one day the missing earring will just turn up somewhere, out of the blue. Possibly at my place! What’s it look like? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/household-mysteries/466504/40 "2008-10-06T06:19:03Z")
Stuff missing is no mystery. Stuff appearing is. Somehow, I have far more of those “soup spoons” than I started with. You know, the ones just a little bit larger than normal, but too small to scoop with? Where do they come from? I admit, I steal a good steak-knive from Outback or wherever now and then, but never spoons. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/household-mysteries/466504.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/household-mysteries/466504.md?page=3)