Help me stop accidentally hurting my dog

boogetyboo@aussie.zone to Asklemmy@lemmy.ml – 201 points –

I wear UGG boots in winter because it's fucking cold.

I also wrap myself in a blanket on the couch, and have a lovely area rug so I don't have to walk on a cold floor. All these things are necessary to survive the winter; my house isn't well insulated.

The problem with all this, is that I build up a static charge. So when I go to pat my beautiful sweetheart of a dog, I zap him. It's audible and I'm sure, quite unpleasant. Often on the head. He obviously doesn't like that, I think he's taking it personally, and I feel awful. It completely cancels out the affection I'm trying to show him.

So the question for the Lemmy community is:

How do I discharge the static before I pat my dog? I have started shocking my partner (which he doesn't like, but accepts over the alternative), before patting my dog. But as he's out tonight, I have no human vessel to offer as tribute?

What can I touch in my house before patting my dog so that he doesn't receive a shock?

Edit: standard Australian house and furniture

Another edit: I'm all the sheets to the wind so the engineering advice is not sinking in. But I'm loving the immediate response that I'd never have gotten on Deaddit.

Again: I can't stop giggling at how helpful everyone is being and how short m, drunk and silly I am, in a house with apparently no metal

And again: I should probably take me and my baby to bed now, but a big thank you to everyone who replied. You've all been lovely. Lemmy is really a different space to ask these questions! I'll be trying out many of your suggestions over the weekend; big thanks from me and my boy x

Final: thanks to everyone who responded. I did try the kitchen tap again last night and this time it worked! Mustn't have built up enough charge when I tried the night I posted. I will still primarily zap my partner's leg as it's usually closer and doing it makes me laugh. It's important he understands where he fits in the household hierarchy as well. I also learnt that American houses are very different (screws and radiators everywhere!) so that was interesting too.

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I have no advice for you, as I live in a very humid place without very much risk of static shocks. I just want to say this question and post are hilarious.

Haha I admit to using a ragebait headline for attention

There might be a solution in their comment though, do you have a humidifier?

This is the way. My last place was so dry, I would get zapped touching the metal frame in my desk and reboot my PC. I installed a humidifier into the central heat, no more zaps!

No metal? Get some Megadeath albums to fix that.

Here in the us there are certain fabric sprays that help with static buildup, so there might be some alternative over there in Australia.

A humidifier will also work but is pricier in comparison.

Lastly you can wrap a cover cable to your anke and burry the other side in the ground šŸ˜†

Does mumbling 'the ace of spades' to myself over and over work? Because I was already doing that due to playing cards earlier

Contrary to popular belief the metal is in the mustache, not the lyrics. I think there was a mythbuster episode about it or something

An while you're at it get a band that's not shit

I've read all the responses here and am horrified that you seem to live in an ungrounded plastic bubble. Is that a Canberra thing? Or can't even find a small metal object the size of a coin to make discharging painless, how why?

If it's an old house there should be tonnes of metal things to touch.

Corners of walls, radiators or central air vents or return air vents, screws on switches or power outlets, furniture with metal bits on it, sinks taps and water fixtures with metal parts, thermostat, fireplace casing.

Literally touch everything and report back.

Not an old houuse (2015 build), not sure if we have coins but I'll check..

No vents in reach and certainly no radiators, no screws.. No metal furniture... No screws... The sink didn't work... No fireplace.

I'm not in Coober Pedy but may as well be it seems!

My partner has this problem a lot. The fridge zaps her pretty often (metal door and handle). There must be a metal surface somewhere on yours? Maybe the shelves? Or the stove / oven?

ETA: As a person who occasionally kicks my kitties when I go to the bathroom in the dark, I sympathize. It's a terrible feeling when you startle or hurt them. Luckily, they seem to know that I'm a clumsy idiot and accept my immediate apologies.

If you have a desktop computer with a metal case, touch the case.

Go to the hardware store and buy a metal pipe to use as a walking stick

Two suggestions: run a humidifier. Preferably use a steam one with distilled water. The ultrasonic cool mist ones introduce any minerals and bacteria that are in the water into the air.

The easiest suggestion is to change your blanket. I'm guessing you're wrapping yourself in a fuzzy fleece blanket. Synthetic fibers like polyester transfer way more static charge than natural fibers. Try looking for a cotton or wool throw. Or for something fuzzy, find a sheep pelt with wool on it. Even using a cotton sheet between you and your current blanket should reduce the amount of charge buildup.

A side benefit of changing blanket materials, is that any blanket that generates a lot of static charge also holds loads of dust and pet hairs. A less static generating blanket will stay cleaner longer.

The easiest way to discharge is to touch a metal faucet. If you have copper pipes, they'll be grounded, but even just the tap water is conductive enough to dissipate most of the charge.

If by any chance you have wall sockets with the ground connection exposed, you could touch that before petting the good boy/girl.

I am not well versed enough in electrical engineering to say if this is actually safe, but telling someone to stick their electrically charged fingers in a plug socket is probably the most hilarious response in this thread

Static electricity is unrelated to the danger of a socket.

Furthermore, all the exposed conductors on a socket built in the last 50+ years should be ground. Otherwise people (especially children) would kill themselves all the time. Modern plugs won't even allow you to reach the live wire without pressing against both holes at once.

However North American plugs have an enormous design flaw, where half plugged-in appliances can expose current on the exposed pins of the plug (which is why modern plugs have a partial rubber coating).

I remember getting zapped like that when I was a child, unplugging an old lamp that didn't have the coating on the plug. It was just a scare fortunately.

You don't need to be versed in electrical engineering to know the basic fact that electrical sockets are impossible to hurt yourself with just by sticking your fingers near the holes

Same thing for radiators and their supply/return lines. Those should be grounded as well. Also the sink.

Anything conductive and grounded. For example, a lamp with a steel or copper body.

Hmm all cheap lamps in this basic bitch's house

Yeah they might be cheap, but there is a grounding law here in Australia, so legally those cheap Canberra lamps are required to have a ground. Personally I would recommend your front door, but knowing Canberra your pot plant might be more accessible.

You probably need to get a humidifier. Low humidity is very common in the winter, and creates (or at least encourages) static buildup. Added bonus is that it will make your place feel warmer at the same time.

You may also want to invest in better insulation. Even if you just rent, there are a variety of cheap and temporary options that can save you a bundle on heating and cooling.

If itā€™s cold and the place isnā€™t that well insulated, adding humidity can lead to disastrous results.

The humidity will build up and cling to the windows, it can freeze breaking the seals, but it can also run off into the wall causing mold and damage to the framing and anything else.

You shouldnā€™t have the humidity above 35%rh below freezing, unless you have very specific reasons too (hard wood, piano, health) but be prepared for additional costs eventually in some form. Wheter itā€™s upgrading to allow the house to do it, fixing issues, or preventing damage.

Also, raising the humidity makes the air feel colder not warmer, so thatā€™s just plain false.

Do you have anything to support that last statement? A quick Google search returns countless hits saying that humid air feels warm. Examples:

https://teamhardingcomfort.com/2022/10/05/does-running-a-humidifier-make-your-house-feel-warmer/

https://airsmartly.com/does-a-cool-mist-humidifier-make-the-room-cold/

The only real exception I could find is swamp coolers, where it gets your skin slightly moist and evaporation cools you.

Thatā€™s the issue with quick google results, they are likely from fair weather states and refering to warmer temperatures.

https://www.montrealsciencecentre.com/blog/dry-cold-damp-cold-winter-weather-colder-when-humidity-higher

If the RH is too high your body canā€™t evaporate your perspiration which leads to it clinging to you and you feeling cold and damp instead.

Thank you for the meaningful response. While I have several issues with the information in that page (among others, 75% RH is very hard to reach in cold weather), I do see a path to how it could feel colder.

I try to keep my home around 40-45% RH in the winter, and find that it feels significantly warmer than when it's at 25%. It also greatly reduces the static shocks, as well as keeps my skin from drying and chapping.

I will concede itā€™s also not likely not an issue with everyone. I sweat at like 18c so itā€™s always going to feel colder to me since Iā€™m always ā€œdrenchedā€.

So not even Iā€™m entirely correct, but trying to explain too much loses people sometimes.

I've always felt humidity in winter/cold weather feels more cold, not warm. Am I alone in this appreciation of temperature?

I live in Scotland and yes, you don't want to be damp in cold weather. It feels miserable. You douse yourself in water to cool down on a hot day, don't you? In winter you do your best to keep snug and dry.

Re the static issue, give the dog a treat every time you shock it, train it to enjoy being shocked. šŸ‘¹

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I own the place but honestly, we've got "feature weeds" in our back yard so insulation is just another thing on the list

I'm going to agree with the other commenter. We had the same issue and started running a humidifier and it resolved the static issues. Not only is it uncomfortable for your pet, but it's also really bad for your electronics.

Watch out with the type of humidifier though. Standing water and parts that never dry (e.g. inside hoses in the humidifier) are perfect breeding grounds for bacteria. And "cool mist" type humidifiers use ultrasonic frequencies to atomize all that crap that builds up in your humidifier and spread it into nice little droplets, which are perfect for getting germs really deep into your lungs.

If you tend to get respiratory infections quite often, your humidifier might be to blame.

Mate, my lungs are mostly chalk and I have half the sinus space of most humans. Humidifiers just sound like my version of Skynet

My son has a chronic respiratory illness, and as much as I'd love to raise the humidity in my flat, doing so using a humidifier would probably send him to the hospital pretty fast.

actually, (unless you have been told not to) humidity can help.

Humidity yes, bacteria and other germs, especially germs that can live in water are a massive no-go. Germs like Pseudomonas aeruginosa would give him a permanent lung infection and many strains of it are resistant to pretty much all antibiotics.

For people with his condition, a Pseudomonas infection is usually the point where stuff like sports or even walking up stairs permanently ends.

So raising humidity isn't bad, but the means to do so are a killer, literally.

Btw, thanks for the downvote. I'm sure you know much more about the illness of my child, an illness that I haven't even named here, than I do, who has to make sure that kid survives. Seriously, that kind of behaviour triggers me so much. That happens so often, that people who haven't even heard of that illness before know everything better. It seriously makes me angry.

That kid spent ~5% of his life in hospital, getting IV antibiotics due to his condition. He takes ~30 doses of medicine a day, just to keep him alive. But people who wouldn't even know how to spell the condition think they know better.

Pro tip: If you aren't affected by the specific illness in question / aren't taking care of someone who is, keep your armchair medical knowledge to yourself.

That's using even more electricity mate and I'm producing enough of my own!

you can make a humidifier with a bowl of water with a towel in it, for faster humidification add more bowls and towels.

There are a few different types of humidifiers out there. Here are the 3 main types:

  1. Vaporizers. These literally just heat the water until it boils, and the steam evaporates into the air. They use a lot of electricity, which also creates a lot of heat (note: exactly the same amount of you have an electric resistor furnace). They can be a safety risk (because boiling water), and require frequent cleaning/descaling if you have hard water. IMHO, these also make the air feel more humid.

  2. Evaporators. These are basically just a fan over a wet towel. Very cheap, very low energy. Often less effective. As they are effectively standing water, you have to be careful to keep them clean or the nasties will grow quickly. This is also the type that "whole home" humidifiers typically are.

  3. Ultrasonic. These are very popular these days, and may randomly be sold as cool mist, warm mist (if they have a small heating element). Low energy options that vibrate the water into a fine mist, which then evaporates. But they will also vibrate everything else in your water into the air. These deposits, like calcium or limestone, can affect your breathing. They will also leave dust all over everything you own. Recommend using distilled water for these.

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I've lived in Denver for the past 15 years or so, this is a problem I relate to. If you live in a house or apartment with drywall, it turns out that the corners are made of metal under the plaster. For years I have discharged myself by bumping my forearms against the corner of a wall before flipping a light switch to avoid a painful shock on the tips of my fingers

Yeah wall corners are often metal and the paint on it seems to soften the discharge.

A stove, washing machine or other large electrical appliance with a metal case and grounding pin on the plug should work too. The chassis is connected to an earth ground.

Order a giant metal statue of your dog to put pride of place in your home as an apology to the dog

As a bonus, it will function as something you can touch to earth yourself

alternatively you could try an anti-static wrist strap but i'm not sure it'll help since you still need something to ground it against

If you get the grounding box you can have an antistatic collar for the dog and a strap for the human. Plug both in and you're both at the same potential.

Alternatively the human can touch the banana plug side of the strap, as the in-built resistor will "slowly" equalize the charges between you. I say slowly because in human terms as soon as you touch its already done.

@boogetyboo

The ugg boots may be electrically isolating as well, so a heel-strap is typically worn in ESD environments to overcome insulated soles. In combination with a grounding floor mat, this works without having to think too much about it.

Additionally, you can get a humidifier and maintain a relative humidity above 40%. Thankfully you don't need insulation to do this!

Source: nasa esd training

Hold your key's metal part and touch some other metal that is earthed to discharge yourself.

By holding the key, you provide a way bigger surface area for transferring the charge, so it won't hurt you.

How about a chain, mate? You can get one at Bunnings by the metre. You can place this somewhere convenient and touch it with the quarter as another commenter said. Not sure if carrying one in your pocket and casually dragging it on the floor would work.

Alternatively just stick a fork in a plant pot, that'll do for grounded metal I hope

A fork in a pot is definitely not a grounded earth connection. The electrical circuit needs to go back to the actual planet Earth.

A copper cold water pipe coming into the house from outside is a good choice, as are ground terminals on electrical equipment.

Buy a object like a lamp that has 3 prongs and exposed metal. Before you pet your dog touch the lamp. 3 prongs so thats it's grounded.

Also when you touch your dog for the first time touch him on his body with you whole hand at once, it'll spread the shock over a larger area and be less painful.

On the plus side, your dog must be convinced that you are a wizard. You need something to ground yourself on.

Touch a radiator. Radiators should be earthed. You can also touch the screws on light switches and sockets, or your sink or stove. Any earthed metal, metal appliances (eg kettles and toasters) should work also. They have to be plugged in, but don't need to be on.

This is it.

Also a humidifier may help. Static builds up more in dry air.

Touch it with a key or something conductive to avoid getting zapped yourself.

You're in Australia right? Can't be that cold, just tough it out.

Just kidding, personal heating is a very good solution to being cold. It's much better for the environment and your wallet than heating your house/room.

I use electric blankets though no UGGs. Except rare occasions, my cats don't get zapped. Have you tried going without and see if it makes a difference?

I cant think of a sacrificial shock absorber, but perhaps you could not shuffle your UGGs around, and not build up static? I'm assuming your rug is synthetic and possibly causing it, but I could be wrong

Microfibre blanket. I'm literally just lying on the couch then I get up to pat him on the way for another beer, and I'm suddenly Thor.

Run some grounded wire around the edges of your couch. That'll be constantly discharging you. You could also use an anti-static mat that's grounded. And that would slowly discharge you as well. If you laid an anti-static mat over the armrest of your sofa, that would ground you as well. Run some copper from the inside of your UGGs to the outside so it makes contact with the ground, you can use copper foil. You're going to be constantly generating charge in a low humidity environment, especially with the materials you've described using. You're only solution is to discharge that potential with ground

Mate, that's a truly insane solution that I don't think I can muster. But thank you for the advice.

Easiest way to address this is to wear a metal Casio watch and have it touch anything metallic attached to a wall like door latch guides or maybe even coat hangers to dissipate any static electricity. Another choice is to grab the metal part of a key and tap them as well.

A metal doorknob works for me usually.

A metal radiator might ground you.

None in the house :(

Do you have anything else that might be earthed? A metal tap will probably work, so long as it is attached to a metal pipe.

Like my kitchen tap? I think it's coated metal rather than, I dunno, an outdoor tap.. Would that still work?

Yeah, absolutely, that's what I meant. I am pretty sure that will be earthed. Go work up a charge and give it a try.

Equally, if you have a metal oven or any metal electrical equipment that is earthed that will work too.

I just tried and felt no shock... Would I feel it if it worked? I'm willing to feel the pain myself.

I would have thought so. Maybe you have non-metal pipes leading to the tap.

Can anyone else in the thread think of something?

Can you touch the wall with your full palm before touching your pup and see if that helps?

Internet says to touch the screws on a light switch panel.

They're covered by plastic as standard here

They are screws holding the plate on, usually two flathead screws above and below the switch or paddle that them connect to the junction box which is how they ground you.

Covered in plastic

Covered in plastic how? Mine all look like this https://imgur.com/a/9EBDjPS

There's these little white plastic plugs over screws, or an entire plastic panel over the top

Replacement covers are like $1.25 at the hardware store. If youā€™re renting, you can save whatā€™s there in some closet and put them back when you move out.

Damn, I was going to suggest this, I do it all the time. Perhaps shuffle around and touch everything in sight until you find something that zaps and therefore discharges you. Once you find something grounding (zappy) touch that before you touch your dog.

If you really don't have anything metal in your house (metal sinks or any appliance with an outer metal shell that should be grounded), grab an extension cord, cut it and completely remove any cable that is not the yellow and geeen one, that is the earth cable (assuming in Australia that is the correct color scheme), expose that wire and touch it to discharge. Make sure the other cables are in no way exposed. If yoy want to be extra safe, buy a plug and only connect the earth cable.

/s of course, don't do that unless you know your way around AC power

Iā€™m so nervous reading this

No point in being nervous. You can just touch the earth prong on a plugged in extension cord, the cutting part is pointless unless you plan to stick something metal down one hole.

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Simple, just touch the ground. That's what your dog conducts to. Just take the dog out the equation.

I like him in the equation though?

What ground? The floor? Carpet?? Do I have to go outside? It's raining

This sentence made me lol!

On a more serious note: when i remember to do it, i take my keys - which are always in my pocket - and touch a metal door knob with them.

Or the tap

Tap didn't work, but I have metal door handles... But my keys aren't usually in my pocket when I'm drinking on the couch watching Germany defeat USA in the basketball

Whatever the dog is standing on when it gets shocked, if u touch that u discharge directly instead of going though the dog.

I too live in a hilariously dry climate in the winter and become a human lightning rod for several months at a time. Hereā€™s what helped me: a quarter! I carry a quarter in my pocket all winter to touch to metal (I deeply hate getting shocked myself, especially the huge static charges). Youā€™ll need something made of metal that is grounded, though. We have metal shelves or the aforementioned light switch screws. You can also look for screws on your washing machine, doorknob, dishwasher, sink, etc. Anything with a little metal should work. Then - touch the quarter to it, hear (but donā€™t feel) the zap, and enjoy your dog with no fear. Hope you can find something metallic somewhere in your home!

None of my things have accessible screws!! I'm in Australia so no quarters... And I'm not sure I even have physical currency in the house (Australia is pretty cash free these days (.

Fuck, I am just loving these responses. Everyone is so lovely.

You could also get a DIY power cable (the type where you screw the plug to the leads yourself). There you only connect the ground contact and not the live and neutral contacts. Now strip the end of the ground wire and place it where ever you want to be able to discharge yourself.

Alternatively, you can do about the same by just connecting a wire to any unpainted part of your radiators.

Jesus fuck... That's a lot of science

No radiators

We don't do proper heating in this cuntry

What about water pipes? Got any of them somewhat near to your couch?

You could also just buy a metal-cased lamp and maybe ask at the shop whether the metal casing is grounded. Usually it is.

Noop. My house is made of fabricated nonsense and plastic

Then the only grounded location that I can think of is the ground pin of an electric outlet.

Do you have a somewhat technically minded friend? Making a cable like the one I suggested is literally as simple as screwing in a handful of screws. So if you know anyone who'd be willing to make it, it's not much effort at all.

I guess youā€™ll have to build a giant metal effigy in the center of your home at this point. Or become a wizard to better channel your new magical energies. Itā€™s really your call now.

Do you have a desktop computer? If so, and you know where the power supply is, you could touch the metal grate on that. The power supply will be earthed due to requiring a ground, and the cage itself is properly made so maintenance can be done safely by connecting an ESD wrist strap to the power supply cage.

If you don't feel or hear a shock, you have not discharged.

If you have more patience, you can wash your hands for 2 minutes and you wouldn't be statically charged. Though, that may be really cold as an after affect.

Computer is so far away and dog is so close and gorgeous

Cold water on this skin? No thanks. I'll set myself on fire instead .. At least I'll be warm for the rest of my life

You could just use the hot tap as well as the cold one.

I usually go with the light switch/outlet screw but you said those are covered. There must be grounded metal somewhere in your house. The microwave body, a pipe or faucet, you could even get one of those grounding wrist straps that plug into the ground port on your wall socket.

I could try the microwave? It's very plastic though ..

There will be metal parts on the microwave somewhere, and they will be properly grounded into the power socket. Maybe the back panel.

Haha I can't pull my microwave out of its home(?) As a regular thing

If it's attached to the wall theres probably bare metal on the bottom, and if not there's definitely some on the inside when you open the door. Just any bare metal on it.

This happened with my cat often enough that once I went to pet him and saw him wince from my hand šŸ˜¢

So after that I started doing the same things suggested here Try touching stuff around your house to see what discharges you, but also what I got in the habit of doing was tapping my cat on the back haunch before petting him. That discharged me in a much more manageable place for him and then subsequent skritches were still pleasant and appreciated.

I've tried for years to figure out how to lower the static electricity in my house, but keep coming up empty. I think it's the combination of rubber-soled slippers, carpeting and anti-static mats in the office. So at my desk, I have ran a thin sliver of tinfoil along the edge and grounded that, so when I sit it discharges through there instead of my computer.

You're lovely. What a nice modification you've made for your and your pet.

I'm just a dickhead drinking on my couch and the UGGs are only for a few months. Then it's thongs (that's flip flops for you other colony types) for the rest of the year

I always get zapped when touching anything metal during the winter, so what I do is touch the drywall first before touching something I know will trigger the charge. Seems to work for me.

Oh man, I feel this one. I moved to a colder climate with my cat in winter and every time I pet her, if I got close to her ears... zap. She was always like ?????? About it.

One day it just stopped happening one day and I'm not sure why. So I don't really have any advice.

You could try rubber soled footwear instead?

UGGs are the key to survival in a Canberra winter climate I'm afraid.

Do you have access to those super thick insulated socks? Could allow you to wear those house slippers with a rubber sole.

I live in Canada and those socks are too hot in the dead of winter for me.

I should've mentioned I'm super unco with bad knees, so the stability of the UGGs is one of the only reasons I'm upright/not dead

Ah! Darn. I'm sorry.

Hope you figure something out!

You're great. Have an excellent (insert your time of day/night)

Ah! Darn. I'm sorry.

Hope you figure something out!

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Dryer sheets and fabric softener will reduce the potential for stadic electricity in your fabrics.

That's very American advice I'm afraid. Here we just put our washing out until it catches on fire

Our air quality is so bad most Americans (even if they have the space for a clothing line) can't hang their clothes to dry. They'll come out smelling.

touch a wall with the palm of your hand for a couple of seconds.

Increasing the humidity in your house will also help limit the static buildup. Just donā€™t increase it so much you get a ton of condensation on the windows

Anti-static keychain! They're small, cheap, and buyable on Amazon. You basically just touch it and it discharges the static without hurting. Life saver for me, my hair builds up a lot of static and I used to shock myself and family all the time.

A keychain you carry in your pocket is somehow supposed to discharge your static charge? I'm sorry, but electricity does not work like that. Unless the keychain has a ground wire of course, but the things image search showed me are just as effective as touching coins in your pocket.

I don't know about keychains, but antistatic wrist straps are absolutely a thing and are very important for people who regularly work with electronic hardware. But I think you're right in that these devices use a ground wire. There's also antistatic bags, but again, it just protects what's inside, and doesn't discharge you unless it's touching something else it can discharge to, I believe. Ultimately these are tools used mostly to prevent you from building up static while you work, and not really something you could just wear around the house.

I dunno man. All I know is that this is very similar to the one I had (https://www.ebay.com/itm/404424220236) and it always worked for me. Just trying to help a person with a suggestion...

I'm no expert in the field, but my limited experience would say that the potential difference just cannot be discharged by something you hold in your hand and not connected somewhere to complete a circuit. No matter what is inside that dongle.

I have a metal coffee table that I tap every time I get up. Maybe something similar if not that, like an end table next to your couch?

I do have a little table which I think has metal legs. Forgot it was there to be fair.. Worth a try!

Your heat sources are usually grounded, either forced air or radiators, so touch the vent/radiator on the way back with that fresh beer, and that should help.

You can look for ESD heel & shoe straps. They are relatively cheap and help you discharge while walking around or buy shoes that are ESD rated in the first place.

I have a coworker who regularly wears an anti-static wrist strap that he attaches to grounding points on furniture. I'm not quite as staticy myself, so I usually just tap the screw on the light switches when I pass by during high static months. That's usually grounded.