Market for a new Ashtray....(WTH?)

[ssjones]

I've had this ashtray for three years, picked it up at a yardsale for $1 and added a cork knocker. During the summer, it sits out on my covered patio. In the winter, my smoking station moves into my garage/workshop. It's insulated, and while not heated, temps inside rarely drop below 50 degrees. Last night I went out with pipe, paper and a cup of coffee as is my usual evening practice. I lit the match and bowl and reached over to drop the match into the ash tray and saw this.

WTH (what the heck..), that glass is darn near 1/2" thick. It was cracked and broken in half a dozen spots. I wonder what caused this? I did use this as example for explaining to the wife as to why I can't keep my pipes in the garage!

 

[spartan]

Once there are cracks in glass it is unpredictable.
Anything can set it off to crack cleanly, or explode into a million pieces.
Never keep anything with cracks if you can help it.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Solar flares!

 

[petes03]

Ouch, that sucks! I just bought a new Mac Baren ashtray a couple months ago, I also keep it in my garage. I hope that doesn't happen to me.

Sorry about your ashtray, but hey, at least you're only out $1.

 

[taerin]

Glass can have imperfections which can cause this to happen with repeated stress... I've seen bolts sheer off of mountain bikes just from vibrations over years and years, I'm sure the same thing happens to glass when it goes through temperature extremes over and over. I've had a couple glass items break the same way, some do, some don't; only one way to find out!

 

[zack24]

Looks like a revolt by the matchsticks...They got tired of seeing their red headed brothers torched and dying a slow gruesome death...

 

[tuold]

Is that a piece of meteorite I see among the ashes?

 

[peckinpahhombre]

I have deduced that your wife accidentally knocked over the ashtray and broke it and is too afraid to come clean.

 

[ssjones]

Trust me, my wife kept a lot of distance between her clean-self and that rarely emptied ashtray! The weird thing was that there was no visible cracks a week prior nor was it that cold this week (in the 50's in the garage/workshop)

The thing in the center is a cork knocker.

Weird.

 

[tbradsim1]

Do this Al it has been with me a long time, large tin, wine cork, couple drops super glue, gurrontied to stand the cold but won't win The Good Housekeeping Award. LOL

 

[ssjones]

I love it Brad. Your cork has a somewhat "Clintoneque" look to it, or so I've been led to believe.

Is that your pipe knocker, or are you just glad to see me?

(I got'a million of them...)

 

[plateauguy]

Old glass gets brittle and will break easily. Looks like your ashtray hit old age and cold. Good excuse to go shopping.

 

[zekest]

I use an empty tin of of CAO Cherrybomb as an ash tray just to remind myself how badly that stuff sucked.

 

[nsfisher]

Jumbo Butt Bucket, from the Dollar Store. Hard plastic, ashes fall tru the centre hole, never to be seen again. Due to the plastic, no cork knocker needed.

 

[oldmannk]

I have one you might be interested in. How about a trade? PM me if interested

 

[ssjones]

I appreciate the offer oldmank, but I rectified the solution today. I don't like investing more than $1 on an ashtray , so I found this today at a junk shop in upstate NY. I'll glue that knocker in the center, than I'll be once again dumping my ash like a gentleman.

 

[oldmannk]

Nice

 

[ssjones]

I'm trying to keep the $1 theme going...

 

[pipeinhand]

Al, what you have there is garage gnomes. Little bastards come in, root around the space looking for bolts they can steal from projects that you are working on. They always only take one and it is the last bolt needed to finish whatever you are doing. Looks like they knocked it as they are quite clumsy. Sorry mate, I hate what they do but it is life in a garage.

 

[ssjones]

You are absolutely right pipeinhand. To add insult to injury, they left my work bench a mess as well!