OK, now that's weird

[runzwithsizorz]

Heard a loud pop out back, and when I went out I saw the glass of our patio table had shattered in thousands of pieces. Making it even more weird was a long narrow blade screwdriver I had left on the table which I use for weeding the flower pots on the composite deck was stuck in the deck. Dropping that screwdriver several times from a height more than twice that of the table I could not get it to stick. Going to look very carefully when I clean up the glass for a bullet. I am somewhat rural, so gunfire is common. Anyone else want to take a guess as to what happened? Temps were upper forties.

 

[renz20003]

I've seen it happen in very hot rooms never outside with the temps you have stated.

Now are the edges of the glass exposed on that table? If so the screw driver could have rolled to the edge and hit it just right. The edges of tempered glass are its weak point.

 

[Rumpltzer]

Oh, this is just the beginning! Soon the furniture will start moving around, cupboard doors will open by themselves... it'll culminate in gruesome murder of entire family!

Put up indoor surveillance cameras so we can watch!

 

[Ichinisan]

Meteor?

 

[sandorski]

Oh, this is just the beginning! Soon the furniture will start moving around, cupboard doors will open by themselves... it'll culminate in gruesome murder of entire family!

Put up indoor surveillance cameras so we can watch!

The premise of a Stephen King or Shyamalan movie.

 

[Rumpltzer]

The premise of a Stephen King or Shyamalan movie.

Thanks Captain!

What makes the OP's situation unique is he'll put cameras up inside the house, so we can watch the progression of the horror! And then we'll make copies of the events, and we'll put a copy of that video into an old cabin. And then when someone watches it, they'll die within seven days!!!

It's going to be completely unique... and awesome!

 

[John Connor]

 

[RLGL]

Ask the peops at Hogwarts

 

[Unico]

I'd check for a BIOS update for that screwdriver. Hopefully it was made by a Chinese manufacturer, most from that vintage are still in business. Condolences if it happens to be a Craftsman – guess you’ll just have to replace it.

 

[IronWing]

The intruder tried to use your screwdriver to break into the house. When the glass shattered, he slammed the screwdriver into the deck and ran off. Had he gotten the door open w/o breaking the glass, that deck would have been your skull.

 

[fralexandr]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_glass_breakage

tempered glass likely makes a loud popping sound when it explodes, as per this thread on randomly exploding car windows.
http://adventureautoglass.com/auto-glass-exploding-real-story/

 

[boomerang]

BIL had his car parked in our driveway one extremely cold winter day. It was -20 that day which is extremely rare and as about as cold as it ever gets here. We're leaving in two cars and while having a brief conversation next to his, the drivers side window on his car exploded in a shower of glass. That day, while extremely cold was also sunny with no clouds whatsoever. The sun, hitting the mirror on the drivers side was being reflected onto that window. We figured a localized heating of a portion of the very cold glass caused it to shatter. That's the only answer we could come up with for what happened.

 

[Gryz]

Baby Jesus is displeased with something you did. Think hard.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Tempered glass actually has a grain to it, you can't really tell as you can't see it, but this is specified after it comes out of the foundry usually by a small sticker with an arrow they place on it. They have to track it while it's cooling off so it's sometimes slightly off but usually close enough. Has to do with which section cooled off before the rest. You want to ensure that the grain is never inline with the Earth's rotation, ex: east to west. It causes some micro stresses from cosmic vibrations which eventually cause it to pop, and I just made all of this up.

 

[Paratus]

The premise of a Stephen King or Shyamalan movie.

Or Disney

 

[Kaido]

Was there snow, water, or ice on it? Maybe as the temperature changed, it caused a crack & shattered the whole thing.

Or, you know, ghosts.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Small deformations from heat stress can cause dramatic shattering when temps change as well. Had a pyrex dish that sat too close to a broiler and got slightly melted on one corner shatter after cooling for about 12 hours. If it came from the factory slightly misshapen it could have fractured due to temp shifts. If that screwdriver had a metallic handle that could have contributed as well.

 

[MrDudeMan]

Tempered glass actually has a grain to it, you can't really tell as you can't see it, but this is specified after it comes out of the foundry usually by a small sticker with an arrow they place on it. They have to track it while it's cooling off so it's sometimes slightly off but usually close enough. Has to do with which section cooled off before the rest. You want to ensure that the grain is never inline with the Earth's rotation, ex: east to west. It causes some micro stresses from cosmic vibrations which eventually cause it to pop, and I just made all of this up.

LOL @ the end

 

[runzwithsizorz]

I think the thinness of the glass, it's age, maybe some hard knocks, and the weight of the three flower pots all contributed, -- heat, *I believe*, was not a factor. I just found it odd the a dull screwdriver could stick so firmly in a composite deck falling such a short distance. You can see it just to the left of the umbrella pole. As you can see, it was time for a new table anyway.

 

[Zanovar]

Screwdriver? ah nvm i see it.

 

[runzwithsizorz]

Better view of old dull screwdriver. Perhaps the exploding glass drove it?

 

[snarfbot]

the screwdriver is pretty odd yea, how much force would it take to implant it elsewhere? and what manner of breakage would result in the glass imparting that force to an object resting on its surface. very very strange.

you should probably move, srs.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Was it windy? Wind could have blown that umbrella pole around enough to put enough pressure on the glass to shatter it.

 

[IronWing]

I swear the OP said patio door, not patio table. Now I have formulate a new answer.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Better view of old dull screwdriver. Perhaps the exploding glass drove it?

Dunno man, that still kinda looks like someone's sending you a message. Not quite a samurai, but more like a local contractor.

Pretty much the same thing. You might wanna move.