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Minor Strangeness (IHTM)

catseye said:
Bearing in mind the time discrepancy, the 'gate' thing and the lack of any such place, I would expect this was either a 'test' announcement (to check the tannoy was working) or an announcer pissing about.
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Wouldn’t it at least say platform though?

If it was Victoria it could have got muddled with the coaches but it wasn’t.
 
Sid said:
That's rather odd, as one day last week I was supposed to be watching the TV and happened to nod-off. I suddenly heard the walls of my house give a very short (two-seconds) rumble and wondered what the heck had caused it - and caused me to snap me out of my light nap. So, I went outside (@ 9:30pm'ish) to the front of my house to have a look, and my neighbour had come out of his house for exactly the same reason - we both had no Idea what had caused the very short but distinct rumbling sound. I checked online to see if there had been any tremors noted, but there hadn't been any recorded as such. So, we're still non-the-wiser what it was!
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Found out what had caused the 'rumbling' noise yesterday when I was hanging out some clothes on the line. My neighbour came out and explained that after they went indoors (after coming outside at the same time as myself to find out what the noise was), when they went up the stairs of their house, they had found that their bookshelf had given way and had crashed to the floor with a lot of hefty books on it, and that's what had caused the walls of our houses to create the short rumbling sound!
 
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Dick Turpin said:
Strange thing happened this morning, and if wasn’t for the confused look on the faces of my fellow commuters I would put it down to my early morning sleepy imagination .

I am working in the office today rather than work from home, and arrived at London Liverpool Station at approx. 8am. The train pulled in, so I got off and started walking towards the exit, when I heard the following. Bear in mind that the message that came over the PA system sounded automated, rather than live.

The message was this : “Passengers are to be informed that the next departure from gate 24 will be the 09.15 direct service to Epping Town”

Firstly, I was in a train station not an airport so there are no gates only platforms, and the highest platform number at Liverpool St is 19.

Secondly, Epping is at the end of the central line and a tube station, not an over ground station, so there couldn’t have been an announcement at Liverpool St station over ground station, for a direct service to station located on the tube system.

Thirdly, there is no such place as Epping town. It’s just called Epping.

As stated above, I saw the confused looks on the faces of my fellow passengers, so I didn’t imagine it.
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It's always good to have a reality test at times.:)
 
Tempest63 said:
Inspector Sams is the call for security or British Transport Police at London Liverpool Street.
”Inspector Sams to platform 12”
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Exactly. If your coded messages are too long, all you are going to get is everyone looking at everyone else and saying 'hang on, is a gate 24 supposed to be 'everyone out of the building' or 'more tea to the ticket office?' And what's that nine fifteen stuff - does that mean we call the police, or what?'
 
Not sure if there’s a thread here for phantosmia or not? I think my husband is getting fed up with me asking if he can smell cigarette smoke, I have been smelling it on and off since we moved into our current home about seven years ago, and nobody ever smokes in our house. The smell always comes between 10pm and midnight, I never notice it at any other times (despite being at home during the day) and it can be several times in one week, but not every day. I know our neighbours don’t smoke but two and three doors down do, the three doors down preference being pot! I’m struggling to see how neighbours’ smoke would be getting in, especially at this time of year when we have all the windows closed and people don’t tend to be in gardens smoking. Also as strong as the 3 doors down giggly-smokes smell is outside in our garden, i never notice that inside, so I’m thinking this cigarette smell is not coming in from neighbours.

Another smell I’ve noticed a lot since moving here is burnt toast! I say a lot but it’s probably only about five or six times a year. The strange thing is when I’ve mentioned it in passing to neighbours - sometimes when the smell is actually occurring - they look at me blankly.
 
Dick Turpin said:
The message was this : “Passengers are to be informed that the next departure from gate 24 will be the 09.15 direct service to Epping Town”

Firstly, I was in a train station not an airport so there are no gates only platforms, and the highest platform number at Liverpool St is 19.
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I think it was:

Either

New recruits going through training.

They have to practice announcements in stations during training.

A nervous, or cocky, new recruit could have made this announcement.


Or

If it was a pre-recorded announcement, it was a generic test announcement to test clarity and volume.
Sent out simultaneously by a central control room to various stations across the network.
 
Mooka said:
Not sure if there’s a thread here for phantosmia or not? I think my husband is getting fed up with me asking if he can smell cigarette smoke, I have been smelling it on and off since we moved into our current home about seven years ago, and nobody ever smokes in our house.
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l mentioned in another thread some time ago that a girl in whom l was interested once smoked one cigarette in my new-build house. (Without my knowledge and against my express wishes.)

Until l moved out, if temperature/humidity/wind/whatever conditions were right, l would notice that smell intermittently.

I’d bet that some previous owners were puffers, and that - despite redecoration, new paint etc. - you’re occasionally picking up the pong of their addiction.

maximus otter
 
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Victory said:
This website lists various possible causes.

It will scare you, probably without reason.

But if you are having a health check up any tie soon, worth mentioning.

https://www.healthline.com/health/smelling-burnt-toast#:~:text=Depending on its location, a,less than a few minutes.&text=A seizure is a medical emergency.
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I've mentioned burnt toast before which can be a sign of a health problem. I regularly smell burnt toast here but that's because everyone burns their toast. It's a devil of a job to get rid of that smell and can linger for hours despite copious amounts of air freshener etc.
 
Victory said:
This website lists various possible causes.

It will scare you, probably without reason.

But if you are having a health check up any tie soon, worth mentioning.

https://www.healthline.com/health/smelling-burnt-toast#:~:text=Depending on its location, a,less than a few minutes.&text=A seizure is a medical emergency.
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Mentioning the phantom smells could be caused by a health problem got me thinking... Could it be yet another weird symptom I’ve been experiencing due to menopause. A quick look on the internet took me to many menopausal and peri-menopausal women saying the same thing, about smelling cigarette or wood smoke! My taste has been effected as I’ve gone off certain foods, I get burning mouth syndrome and more recently tinnitus, so phantom smells could just be another thing to add to the list.

maximus otter said:
l mentioned in another thread some time ago that a girl in whom l was interested once smoked one cigarette in my new-build house. (Without my knowledge and against my express wishes.)

Until l moved out, if temperature/humidity/wind/whatever conditions were right, l would notice that smell intermittently.

I’d bet that some previous owners were puffers, and that - despite redecoration, new paint etc. - you’re occasionally picking up the pong of their addiction.

maximus otter
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We live in a Victorian-built property so no doubt it’s seen a fair few smokers over the years, so you could be right. I do know the people we bought the house off were non smokers though and they lived here for a good ten or so years and we’ve been here seven years with absolutely no smoking inside.
PeteS said:
I've mentioned burnt toast before which can be a sign of a health problem. I regularly smell burnt toast here but that's because everyone burns their toast. It's a devil of a job to get rid of that smell and can linger for hours despite copious amounts of air freshener etc.
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Yes it is a very common thing!
 
Mooka said:
Mentioning the phantom smells could be caused by a health problem got me thinking... Could it be yet another weird symptom I’ve been experiencing due to menopause. A quick look on the internet took me to many menopausal and peri-menopausal women saying the same thing, about smelling cigarette or wood smoke! My taste has been effected as I’ve gone off certain foods, I get burning mouth syndrome and more recently tinnitus, so phantom smells could just be another thing to add to the list.


We live in a Victorian-built property so no doubt it’s seen a fair few smokers over the years, so you could be right. I do know the people we bought the house off were non smokers though and they lived here for a good ten or so years and we’ve been here seven years with absolutely no smoking inside.

Yes it is a very common thing!
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Menopause the gift that just keeps giving. :actw:
 
Sid said:
when they went up the stairs of their house, they had found that their bookshelf had given way and had crashed to the floor with a lot of hefty books on it, and that's what had caused the walls of our houses to create the short rumbling sound!
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Which of course raises the question of what made the book shelf give way?

You're not going to say, "the hefty books made the shelf give way," because you are too civilized to ascribe such stupidity to your neighbors, aren't you. It would be assuming that the book shelf in question was a wall mounted sort, the kind that look cool but also invite wall damaging disaster when the plaster where the screws are finally crumbles, and no sensible book lover would rely on something like that.

So, . . . what made the book shelf give way? :litg:
 
IbisNibs said:
Which of course raises the question of what made the book shelf give way?

You're not going to say, "the hefty books made the shelf give way," because you are too civilized to ascribe such stupidity to your neighbors, aren't you. It would be assuming that the book shelf in question was a wall mounted sort, the kind that look cool but also invite wall damaging disaster when the plaster where the screws are finally crumbles, and no sensible book lover would rely on something like that.

So, . . . what made the book shelf give way? :litg:
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Probably (as I don't actually know why it gave way), it was possibly screwed onto one of the internal walls that are not designed to take the weight of that kind of fixture I would imagine.
So, to answer the question; So, . . . what made the book shelf give way? "Erm. . . just a minute, erm, let me think a minute. . .
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ah yes. . . GRAVITY!"
 
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catseye said:
Check your shower isn''t leaking. If my shower curtain isn't firmly tucked in, water will run down the curtain and drip onto the floor and then run into the most odd places. I've sometimes found puddles (not attributable to the dog) in corners a long way from the actual shower because the curtain has become untucked and funnelled the water out.
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When your dog isn't looking, pinch one of their (toy) balls and make one of these. Stops shower curtain 'cling' when you're in the shower and will also make it less likely to come 'untucked' from inside the bath when you've finished (breeze from open window for eg).

(I've just realised that you may be speaking of a cubicle and not a bath).
 

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maximus otter said:
l mentioned in another thread some time ago that a girl in whom l was interested once smoked one cigarette in my new-build house. (Without my knowledge and against my express wishes.)

Until l moved out, if temperature/humidity/wind/whatever conditions were right, l would notice that smell intermittently.

I’d bet that some previous owners were puffers, and that - despite redecoration, new paint etc. - you’re occasionally picking up the pong of their addiction.

maximus otter
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I'd loved to have seen your face when you found out what she'd done.

My mate is a painter and he often has to scrape the nicotine of the walls and ceilings before he can paint over them.
 
Floyd1 said:
When your dog isn't looking, pinch one of their (toy) balls and make one of these. Stops shower curtain 'cling' when you're in the shower and will also make it less likely to come 'untucked' from inside the bath when you've finished (breeze from open window for eg).

(I've just realised that you may be speaking of a cubicle and not a bath).
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That is SUCH a good idea! I will have to make something like this (can't use my dog's balls as...err...she has very small balls, but I can use some discarded tennis ball type things). Thanks, @Floyd1 !
 
Tempest63 said:
Inspector Sams is the call for security or British Transport Police at London Liverpool Street.
”Inspector Sams to platform 12”
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Isn't it Inspector Sands, meaning "there might be a fire in this location but we're not sure enough to sound the alarm yet" (sand being what you can put a small fire out with a bucket of)? There's a list of codenames for various warnings, which has probably appeared here before now, but Sands is the most common one. You could be right, though.
 
LymeswoldSnork said:
Isn't it Inspector Sands, meaning "there might be a fire in this location but we're not sure enough to sound the alarm yet" (sand being what you can put a small fire out with a bucket of)? There's a list of codenames for various warnings, which has probably appeared here before now, but Sands is the most common one. You could be right, though.
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A good friend of mine, now retired, was a train driver for many years pulling in and out of Liverpool Street, as was my eldest son until he defected to the Elizabeth Line, and they have both told me over the years that it is Sams.
 
I'm not sure if this really fits in this thread, but it landed here just by dint of the fact that it is a bit strange, but only minorly so.

There will be others who are a similar age to me (56) who have had a lot of various driving jobs over the course of time, originally navigating 'the old fashioned way' (maps/atlas/A to Z) and have now also started using a satnav of some sort for those less familiar journeys.
And the strangeness I refer to is that moment on a 'new' journey, across country, from one familiar town to another, but not a route you have followed before, and you turn out of one road onto another, only to suddenly realise that you recognise just exactly where you are, and suddenly your 'mental map' gets an update, linking the places you've driven through together in your minds eye.

(This has happened to me a number of times this week due to moving my son from one house to another, 50+ miles apart, and trying to take varying routes to avoid traffic and/or add a bit of variety to the drive)

It's that "Oh! I know where we are now!" moment as you see that pub, or particular road junction, or other landmark, which acts as the trigger - how is it that our brains are so good at doing that????
 
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