This could be a very expensive bulb change.

[#1]

We have one of those adjustable position halogen standard lamps, whose bulb needed changing. To get at the bulb it is necessary to remove the protective shield, loosening three clips very gingerly as too much means the clip disintegrates. 

OK, so I had slackened the clips, and was removing the shield. It dropped from my grip and fell. I heard a "tink" like it had hit something solid. Now in our 15' x12' lounge there's no sign of the shield at all.

Why on earth do things like that  happen?!

It must be funny; two 80 y.o. on their knees kowtowing to peer under furniture.

[#2]

Depending on what it is made from.... clean out your hoover... and give the area a good going over,... may be some suction will find  what you cannot see..

Alternatively.... move the furniture, and use a dustpan and brush and cover the area with an organised sweep (i.e. similar to mowing the lawn in stripes ! )..

[#3]

From years of taking things apart from televisions to video recorders (remember them) it's amazing how easy it was to lose a screw or whatever, so much so that I learned very quickly to watch if I could where it was going to land as I dropped it and it was amazing how often if would bounce in an unexpected direction and roll underneath the workbench as if it had a mind of it's own. I'm sure there must be the recently discussed Murphy's Law for it! 

Good luck finding it and oh, had to change a stop light bulb on the car the other week only to find the assembly was held in by a couple of star shaped screws which meant I had to go out and buy a special screwdriver bit! What's all that about, and whatever happened to using good old phillips? 

[#4]

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Minivanman wrote:

What's all that about, and whatever happened to using good old phillips? 

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Torque can be more accurately applied to Torx (aka star-shaped) screw heads, unlike philips ones that can have the driver slip out and cause injury...

[#5]

Leave a piece of toast covered with honey overnight for your resident house elf. You'll find the missing part on your table in the morning. Failing that check your trouser turnups.

[#6]

[#7]

A while ago I had need to change a headlight bulb which was held in place by a steel wire spring clip.

The clip had two lugs which I gripped between finger and thumb.

I then squeezed the clip together and withdrew it from the housing.

Once free, one of the lugs decided to slip from my thumb and the whole clip took off at speed in an unknown direction.

I searched under the bonnet, around the footpath, the road and the lawn with no success.

I think it cost me around £7.50 at a local dealers to replace (they were sold as a pair).

I notice with my current car there is a similar clip arrangement but these are captive.

[#8]

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AlaricAdair wrote:

Leave a piece of toast covered with honey overnight for your resident house elf. You'll find the missing part on your table in the morning. Failing that check your trouser turnups.

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@AlaricAdair Turnups. There are no turnups growing in my trousers. I missed the season's sowing.

[#9]

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Strat wrote:

A while ago I had need to change a headlight bulb which was held in place by a steel wire spring clip.

The clip had two lugs which I gripped between finger and thumb.

I then squeezed the clip together and withdrew it from the housing.

Once free, one of the lugs decided to slip from my thumb and the whole clip took off at speed in an unknown direction.

I searched under the bonnet, around the footpath, the road and the lawn with no success.

I think it cost me around £7.50 at a local dealers to replace (they were sold as a pair).

I notice with my current car there is a similar clip arrangement but these are captive.

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At one time car bulbs were a doddle to replace, not now, they seem designed to cause you as much hassle as possible to change.

[#10]

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Luzern wrote:

There are no turnups :

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I dropped things that have ended up in my pockets. A favourite alternative is if something drops down the front of your jumper. Luckily the last time that happened I saw the item drop out of the jumper bottom otherwise it could have ended up anywhere.

[#11]

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Luzern wrote:

OK, so I had slackened the clips, and was removing the shield. It dropped from my grip and fell. I heard a "tink" like it had hit something solid. Now in our 15' x12' lounge there's no sign of the shield at all.

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Yesterday I knocked my glasses while wearing them and heard the click as the right lens fell onto the tiled kitchen floor. With one blurry eye and one good one I got on my hands and knees to search for it but it was nowhere to be seen. I pulled out clothes from a wash basket and searched over the other side of our quite large kitchen to no avail.

After about 20 minutes I decided to sit down and think it through. Would you believe that the offending lens had bounced onto the table and was hiding underneath a piece of aluminium foil. If I hadn't sat down there was no way to see it. Makes me wonder why I decided at that point to sit and in that specific chair

[#12]

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Strat wrote:

A while ago I had need to change a headlight bulb which was held in place by a steel wire spring clip.

The clip had two lugs which I gripped between finger and thumb.

I then squeezed the clip together and withdrew it from the housing.

Once free, one of the lugs decided to slip from my thumb and the whole clip took off at speed in an unknown direction.

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Tie a bit of cotton around one of the lugs before you remove the clip and wrap the other end around your finger. Do the same when you put it back - they slip and disappear in to the most inaccessible place when you try to put them back.

[#13]

Many times I've successfully found items dropped onto a smooth floor or very short-piled carpet by placing the side of my head/face on the floor so that my eye is looking along the surface - sometimes using a torch to shine 'along' the floor helps.

Other times if I've another of the missing item I'll drop that to see how it bounces - and no, I haven't yet lost the second item!

[#14]

[#15]

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RobPN wrote:

Other times if I've another of the missing item I'll drop that to see how it bounces - and no, I haven't yet lost the second item!

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You wouldn`t be related to Barnes Wallace, would you ?