Hey! If you want me to call it scientifical, post a link to the study! (You're not going to believe this. I've typed "scientifical" so often, my iPad pops it up like a real word. )
Yeah, that makes sense. Probably a tear in the space/time continuum.
It's cohesive with the "theory" I was sharing with one of my kids earlier today for the reason to always work on electronic hardware like computers on a padded surface such as a piece of carpet or even a terrycloth towel. My "theory" is that when you drop small screws onto such padding that they stop and become easy to find. But if they fall on a hard, flat surface they bounce of the workspace and fall through one of those little tears. The net result is that you can never find that screw again because it's not there anymore. You end up on one screw short when re-assembling the device. Of course when it comes out the other side of that tear it lands in someone else's workspace and that person ends up with an extra screw, the origin of which, and ultimately where it's supposed to go upon re-assembly, is a total mystery so that person ends up with an extra screw.
Hey, that could be what's happening to all those missing and extra screws. Could also be what's happening to all those socks too.
This post was edited by Salt and Red Pepper at January 24, 2017 8:17 PM MST
It's the name we used for where all the screws we dropped that disappeared in perfectly empty, newly constructed basements when we installed HVAC ended up. It dovetails harmoniously with Salt's theory above. :)