LOL nice response Save

I'm well and trully slapped down hehe
Now - I don't actually hold the bottom of CD's - I always stick my fingre through the hole in the middle (seems easier somehow) and I know that "it makes sense" to use a grounding cable but touching the metal casing before you do any work will discharge you anyway. I guess I am a little bit of a risk taker but seriously, i've done it with care. I've build PC's since 386 sx's were around; I'm a certified Compaq Engineer (not that that counts for anything these days of course), I'm also Cisco and Microsoft certified to the hilt so have been around the IT block and now I just manage folk like I used to be but I can honestly say I've never had any issues. Luck maybe.
I do also get what you're saying about the quality of the cd's after they start to get scratches (which is why I only use copies of my CD's for the car for instance). I have reference audio equipment and it's very unforgiving to cd's and dvd's that are scratched.