There’s a phenomenon which seems to recur in various areas of life. I call it the Just One Missing pehenomenom. It goes thus.:
If you get out an old jigsaw puzzle out and do it, there will be one - just one - piece missing. The same applies to old playing cards, Scrabble letters, anything really that has a lot of bits. Always, just one missing. This doesn’t matter so much with the Scrabble letters (in this case, playing yesterday with a grandson*, it was the x, which is a nice high scoring letter) as you can still play, but with playing cards it’s infuriating. My theory is that all these pieces have joined the great missing sock party in a parallel universe somewhere...
*Grandson won. I hate being beaten at Scrabble.
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The parallel universe is down the back of the settee...
ReplyDeleteOoh, I'll go and have a look, Kate!
DeleteWhile I have never experienced the missing sock phenomenon myself, I do know the Just One Missing from various board games we used to play as children and have pulled out every now and then, only to put them back in the boxes in the attic where my parents store them when we realised the missing bits were still missing.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I have started on Ruth Robinson last weekend :-)
Meike, I'm really surprised that someone as organised as you has put away a game with a piece missing! That's the kind of thing I do.
DeleteI hope you enjoy the book :)
Have you tried " Banagrams" ? Similar but much more fun than Scrabble and you don't have to wait 3 hours while your opponent thinks up a word! Also, more than 2 can play.
ReplyDeleteFrances, we've got it, and must give it a try. Thank you!
DeleteIf you hate losing at Scrabble then you should play against me. My wife loved it. She always won. I used to detest Scrabble but I enjoy playing Words With Friends (scrabble on line) because I can take all the time I want to try and find a word (and it tells you automatically if a try is wrong).
ReplyDeleteI recently checked a Chinese Chequers board from my youth and the OMP came into play.
Then, of course, there is the Other Half Phenomenon - where is the other half of my pair of underpants?
Graham, obvious as this may seem, but how on earth do you lost half a pair of underpants?
DeleteI was just wondering the same thing, but as it's GB who asked the question.... (heh)
DeleteThe point really was supposed to be that as far as I'm aware a 'pair' of underpants is a single garment. So why is it a pair and where is the other half of the pair.
DeleteOh yes! I’ve always wondered that. And if pair of pants, why not pair of bras?
DeleteThere are two tricks to having all the pieces to any game:
ReplyDelete1. Buy the game brand new yourself. If you use a game owned by someone else, there will be pieces missing already.
2. Zip-lock plastic bags. At the end of any game using lots of "bits", put them all in a large zip-lock freezer bag, and put that bag in the box. No stray pieces!
It helps, as well, if you refrain from playing games during a dance party or an earthquake, and make sure no toddlers have access to your games cupboard.
That's the best I can offer.
You’re so sensible, Mrs. S. Why didn’t I consult you years ago?
DeleteI can smell the sarcasm from here... 8-)
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