• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Minor Strangeness (IHTM)

Yesterday I strolled into work and walked past a row of washbasins. They are the movement-activated sort and you normally have to put your hand close to the sensor to turn the water on, and they only stay on for a few seconds.

Each sensor, as I passed, lit up red (which I've never seen before) and the tap came on. As I reached the end of the row I turned back and watched in surprise as they all ran for half a minute or so, and then went off in sequence. I immediately walked back that way and they did it again. :D

So I went off to ask if we'd had the sensors adjusted or something because they were obviously too sensitive. Nobody knew what I was talking about and I couldn't get them to do it again. Everyone thinks it's just me being spooky…

And yes, it could be t'spirits telling me I need a wash. :lol:
Were you wearing a reflective jacket or tabard? Himself who has to wear one one for work says that happens to him, also with the toilets themselves. A bit awkward when trying to lower oneself to make a deposit.
So... this happened a good while ago. @Monstrosa was spot-on, in that I was indeed wearing a jacket with reflective strips.
Lessons were learned from this experience.

I have long since changed jobs. In the current lowly occupation I wear a smart issued weatherproof jacket. As usual I adapted it to suit myself in various ways because I can.*

One change was to remove the perfectly serviceable zip and replace it with a more user-friendly double-ended one. Doing this damaged a bit of the facing so I patched it with the nearest fabric to hand, which was a scrap of the reflective trim.

While it's invisible from the outside, I've discovered that the reflective square works perfectly for contact-free toilet-flushing as per @Monstrosa's description. :rollingw:

*Found a well-concealed zip in the lining. It's for opening to allow the logo to be sewn onto the outside of the finished garment.
So while I had the coat in bits I did of course add a pocket to the lining, access by the hidden zip. It houses contraband such as tissues and cough sweets.

It's so me. :wink2:
 
Two minor IHTMs just now:

a) At about 0945 I heard a loud bang or thud, seeming to come from the front door/street area. I looked out of the first-floor window: nothing. I then went downstairs and out into the street: nothing. No car for car doors to be slammed, no pedestrians. (It's a cold, wet, windy day.)

b) At 0954 (four minutes ago) I would swear undying love that I heard my wife's voice from the front hall, calling out "Hellooo!" in the precise voice that she uses when returning home after an errand.

I'm alone in our detached house on a quiet street on a nice, modern estate. No phones have rung; we don't have anything like Alexa; telly resolutely off. The memsahib is miles away in our one car.

Odd.

maximus otter
 
Correct. It contains lanolin from sheep fleece. If you apply if twice a day, it can be a miracle worker.
This is the best known brand:

View attachment 62387
I see a lot of feet working in the supermarket (it's all right, they come attached to people, they don't wander in off the street of their own accord) and I'm always surprised by the number of people who have very cracked heels. I've never ever in my life (even though in summer I am usually barefoot) suffered from cracked heels. But then, my nails are also so flimsy that they bend and snap at the slightest provocation. I NEVER have to cut my fingernails and usually have at least one that's split beyond the pain barrier, often from such innocuous things as opening a door or changing a bed.

Have we discovered a new link?
 
Two minor IHTMs just now:

a) At about 0945 I heard a loud bang or thud, seeming to come from the front door/street area. I looked out of the first-floor window: nothing. I then went downstairs and out into the street: nothing. No car for car doors to be slammed, no pedestrians. (It's a cold, wet, windy day.)

b) At 0954 (four minutes ago) I would swear undying love that I heard my wife's voice from the front hall, calling out "Hellooo!" in the precise voice that she uses when returning home after an errand.

I'm alone in our detached house on a quiet street on a nice, modern estate. No phones have rung; we don't have anything like Alexa; telly resolutely off. The memsahib is miles away in our one car.

Odd.

maximus otter
An imitating spook? :litg:
 
Two minor IHTMs just now:

a) At about 0945 I heard a loud bang or thud, seeming to come from the front door/street area. I looked out of the first-floor window: nothing. I then went downstairs and out into the street: nothing. No car for car doors to be slammed, no pedestrians. (It's a cold, wet, windy day.)
Bin lid blowing about in the wind?
b) At 0954 (four minutes ago) I would swear undying love that I heard my wife's voice from the front hall, calling out "Hellooo!" in the precise voice that she uses when returning home after an errand.

I'm alone in our detached house on a quiet street on a nice, modern estate. No phones have rung; we don't have anything like Alexa; telly resolutely off. The memsahib is miles away in our one car.

Odd.

maximus otter
It will be interesting to know if MrsO was thinking/doing anything at that exact time.
(Remember my incident);
https://forums.forteana.org/index.p...rom-everyday-people.45034/page-9#post-2185073
 
a) I’ve never heard such before; and the one bin in the area is tucked away, protected from wind on three sides.

b) I’ll ask the mem when she arrives home.

maximus otter
Not suggesting for one minute that your house is like ours, ie falls down every time there's a bit of wind, but- tv aerial/dislodged mortar from the roof/bird landing on something (pigeons here can make a hell of a racket when they come in to land).
 
Two minor IHTMs just now:

a) At about 0945 I heard a loud bang or thud, seeming to come from the front door/street area. I looked out of the first-floor window: nothing. I then went downstairs and out into the street: nothing. No car for car doors to be slammed, no pedestrians. (It's a cold, wet, windy day.)

b) At 0954 (four minutes ago) I would swear undying love that I heard my wife's voice from the front hall, calling out "Hellooo!" in the precise voice that she uses when returning home after an errand.

I'm alone in our detached house on a quiet street on a nice, modern estate. No phones have rung; we don't have anything like Alexa; telly resolutely off. The memsahib is miles away in our one car.

Odd.

maximus otter
Given the dreadful weather and the post-Christmas nature of the timing, is there any chance that it was a very large piece of cardboard, possibly a bit soggy, blowing into obstacles before being swept away again out of your sight? Or even blown under a hedge or vehicle? We've had a lot of ex-Amazon packaging put out for the binmen lately, and these have been having a high old time in the wind and wet.
 
Given the dreadful weather and the post-Christmas nature of the timing, is there any chance that it was a very large piece of cardboard, possibly a bit soggy, blowing into obstacles before being swept away again out of your sight? Or even blown under a hedge or vehicle? We've had a lot of ex-Amazon packaging put out for the binmen lately, and these have been having a high old time in the wind and wet.

This wouldn’t have caused the sound l heard; also, the wind wasn’t that bad.

maximus otter
 
As Toyah tells us, “It’sh a myshtery.”
Interestingly, the lyrics to 'It's a mystery';

Somewhere in the distance
Hidden from view
Suspended in the atmosphere
Waiting to come through
Sometimes it's so far away
Sometimes it's very near
sound being carried by the wind
Just loud enough to hear

feel its power within me
Bells ringing in my head
So often I have heard its cry
But forgotten what it said
It's a mystery, it's a mystery
I'm still searching for a clue
It's a mystery to me
shot in the dark
The big question mark in history
Is it a mystery to you?
It can treat you with a vengeance
Trip you in the dark
Sirens in the distance
Can steer you from the path
It can lift you to the heavens
Put your troubles in the past
Whisper the elixir
Then vanish in a blast
It's a mystery, it's a mystery
I'm still searching for a clue
It's a mystery to me
shot in the dark
The big question mark in history
Is it a mystery to you?
 
My heels are soft like the rest of the skin on my feet and I don't rub anything on them or soak them in anything.
I read this and thought,"next he'll be bragging about his unwrinkled skin." Then lo and behold:
My skin is smooth like a baby's bottom.

I suppose you smell just as sweet as a baby's bottom too. :p
 
Two minor IHTMs just now:

a) At about 0945 I heard a loud bang or thud, seeming to come from the front door/street area. I looked out of the first-floor window: nothing. I then went downstairs and out into the street: nothing. No car for car doors to be slammed, no pedestrians. (It's a cold, wet, windy day.)

A rogue muntjac, armed and with thoughts of payback?
 
I was convinced - convinced, I tell you - that the flagship Betty's Tea Room in York was closing down. I'm sure I remember reading how sad it was going to be, how the tea room was designed around the Queen Mary, how it had been open since 1930-something and all that. And I LOVE Betty's tea room, so I was really sad, there's enough stuff closing in York centre and it can be a sad and somewhat neglected place, so I thought this was all awful.

Then I tried to book an afternoon tea for a friend and me. Betty's in York was bookable online, then it wasn't, then it turned out they are closed until February. Which I thought was odd, and then further investigation showed me that the Betty's on Stonegate has closed down, but the Big Betty's in the centre is temporarily closed for some tweaking but was never intended to close permanently.

So where did I read all the wailings and outpourings of grief about it shutting? Because I definitely remember hearing about it.
 

Attachments

  • Pure perfume.jpeg
    Pure perfume.jpeg
    138 KB · Views: 13
I had a very unusual morning about two months ago.*

I was leaving my flat (in a block of flats) at about ten o' clock on my way to work. As I approached the communal exit I saw a bat fluttering there ahead of me. I instinctively cringed and ducked as it seemed to fly towards me - but it flew on ahead, up the stairs to where, presumably it lived.

No sooner had I recovered from that and was walking along the street when I heard a siren being sounded - a real Second World War style siren! I looked around exopecting to see people running and panicking - but the few people who were about seemed unconcerned. Then the siren stopped just as soon as it had started.

I carried on walking and, just as I was getting near to my workplace I heard behind me a `SCRRRREEEEEEAAAEAEAEAE...` sound. I knew that sound from somewhere - it was the sound of falling timber! I leapt forward - just in time to escape being hit by the large limb of a nearby tree that become unstuck. This hit an adjacent hot dog vendor and then lay at an angle. (We had being having alternating frosty and warmish weather - so my theory is that this had caused the trees sap to expand and hence crack the surrounding bark...or something like that).

So to recap: in the space of about 45 minutes I:

* Was MENACED by a MARAUDING bat!
* Was SPOOKED by a mystery siren
* Narrowly escaped CONCUSSION from a falling tree branch!

Beat that!

* The location was Almaty, Kazakhstan. The siren can be explained by the fact that this is an earthquke zone and, once in a while, they check the sirens for this eventuality (but this is very rare!). Bats are no more common here than anywhere else - and falling tree branchesd are nolt a known issue here either.
 
Last edited:
Had a spray of this recently. Put me in mind of Tony Robinson.
I thought you meant you'd had a spray of what Trev666 said he smelled of. Or does Fredrico Mahora 440 smell like that too?

Sorry, let's get back to the thread.
 
I thought you meant you'd had a spray of what Trev666 said he smelled of. Or does Fredrico Mahora 440 smell like that too?

Sorry, let's get back to the thread.
The name of the perfume, Pure, amused me because I learned from Tony Robinson* that 'pure' meant dog faeces collected from city street for sale to tanners.

*Not him personally, his Worst Jobs in History TV series and lavishly-illustrated accompanying book.
 
Interestingly, the lyrics to 'It's a mystery';

Somewhere in the distance
Hidden from view
Suspended in the atmosphere
Waiting to come through
Sometimes it's so far away
Sometimes it's very near
sound being carried by the wind
Just loud enough to hear

feel its power within me
Bells ringing in my head
So often I have heard its cry
But forgotten what it said
It's a mystery, it's a mystery
I'm still searching for a clue
It's a mystery to me
shot in the dark
The big question mark in history
Is it a mystery to you?
It can treat you with a vengeance
Trip you in the dark
Sirens in the distance
Can steer you from the path
It can lift you to the heavens
Put your troubles in the past
Whisper the elixir
Then vanish in a blast
It's a mystery, it's a mystery
I'm still searching for a clue
It's a mystery to me
shot in the dark
The big question mark in history
Is it a mystery to you?
There’s no mystery about this one…..

 
The name of the perfume, Pure, amused me because I learned from Tony Robinson* that 'pure' meant dog faeces collected from city street for sale to tanners.

*Not him personally, his Worst Jobs in History TV series and lavishly-illustrated accompanying book.
I am deeply in love with Tony Robinson and would happily walk around sniffing him all day.*

*Injunctions allowing, obviously.
 
I am deeply in love with Tony Robinson and would happily walk around sniffing him all day.*

*Injunctions allowing, obviously.
One of television's greatest sequences was Tony treading clothing in a tub of urine, barefoot, trying to recite his script over his own constant retching. :chuckle:
 
Tony Robinson asked me for directions at a conference once. But I can't say any more due to politics and that.
My Mum and Dad bumped into him when they were out walking up a hill (maybe Silbury Hill - I can't remember what they said).
 
Back
Top