Another Static Electricity Question...

[motrucker]

To not ground yourself is just asking for a problem! Ground yourself to the best ground available, usually your properly grounded outlet - with a good quality wrist strap.
You would be amazed at how much voltage a static charge can have. The other values are usually very low, but this is enough to fry many chip types instantly.
I am always amazed at people who love to play with fire...

PS - 50,000 volts is possible! - 25,000 is fairly common. Think your chips can take that?

[motrucker]

One small point, if you're going to ground yourself to a low-impedance source, like mains earth or a metal case, then do it through a high-value resistor, so that if you do accidentally touch a high-voltage circuit you don't end up fried.

Even better, use one of these:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antistatic_wrist_strap

Never seen a commercial wrist strap that didn't incorporate a resistor in it.  Not really for your worry though...