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Minor Strangeness (IHTM)

Oh so the 107 degrees is bearable?
Our humidity is sometimes 100%, dreadful.
"It is a dry heat." although true does not reflect the unpleasantness of really hot temperatures. Anything over 105 or so, in the sun, is unpleasant. Over 115, it makes me mentally fuzzy pretty quickly.

But the BEACH!!! how wonderful.
 
I stand corrected EG. I was thinking of another city, another siege, and Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony.

Ano Domini mate.
Der der du dum dum, der der du dum dum ...

I have a very minor (but it pleased me) strangeness connected to that. In the early 70's on one of those mixed weather days, I was listening to the vinyl LP of that, which I'd purchased in Lenningrad (as it then was) a few months previously. The weather followed the music exactly, it was like a special show just for me! :)

You know those firework displays that are supposed to be synchronised to music? Well the ones I've observed have been rubbish compared to that!
 
I looked out the window of my kitchen, to the side, and I could see something wedged into the gap betwixt the top of my side gate (6ft high) and the adjacent post, just where the bolt locates.
So I went out for a closer inspection and found that it was a biscuit, a 'hob-nob', which had been carefully rested on the bolt itself, seemingly so that when I opened the gate it would drop to the ground.
I thought this seemed really rather strange, and it put me in mind of all those stories you hear about things like 'empty bottle placed on car wheel' and 'sellotape on door', and other things done by crooks and thieves to 'mark' a property.

So I went to the online reporting tool for the local rozzers and had a nice little chat with an operator who took all the details and logged it as 'suspicious activity'.

A little later I bumped into the neighbour across the road from me, 'Paul', and I told him about it, warning him to check around his property for similar.

Paul laughed.

"Crow" he said.

He had chucked out a packet of stale 'hob-nobs' for the birds earlier, and then watched as a crow proceeded to remove the biscuits one-by-one, flying off with them one at a time and hiding them around the houses in various places, up in gutters, behind bins, in bushes etc etc.
And he watched as it flew over to my fence and deftly placed one in the gap by my gate.

I have stopped myself from getting back on the online thingy and telling the operator to delete the report.
For one thing, I think maybe an increased police presence in the area as a result of it might actually be a good thing, but mainly I don't want to look like a total muppet.
 
I looked out the window of my kitchen, to the side, and I could see something wedged into the gap betwixt the top of my side gate (6ft high) and the adjacent post, just where the bolt locates.
So I went out for a closer inspection and found that it was a biscuit, a 'hob-nob', which had been carefully rested on the bolt itself, seemingly so that when I opened the gate it would drop to the ground.
I thought this seemed really rather strange, and it put me in mind of all those stories you hear about things like 'empty bottle placed on car wheel' and 'sellotape on door', and other things done by crooks and thieves to 'mark' a property.

So I went to the online reporting tool for the local rozzers and had a nice little chat with an operator who took all the details and logged it as 'suspicious activity'.

A little later I bumped into the neighbour across the road from me, 'Paul', and I told him about it, warning him to check around his property for similar.

Paul laughed.

"Crow" he said.

He had chucked out a packet of stale 'hob-nobs' for the birds earlier, and then watched as a crow proceeded to remove the biscuits one-by-one, flying off with them one at a time and hiding them around the houses in various places, up in gutters, behind bins, in bushes etc etc.
And he watched as it flew over to my fence and deftly placed one in the gap by my gate.

I have stopped myself from getting back on the online thingy and telling the operator to delete the report.
For one thing, I think maybe an increased police presence in the area as a result of it might actually be a good thing, but mainly I don't want to look like a total muppet.
Smart birds, they are.
 
I looked out the window of my kitchen, to the side, and I could see something wedged into the gap betwixt the top of my side gate (6ft high) and the adjacent post, just where the bolt locates.
So I went out for a closer inspection and found that it was a biscuit, a 'hob-nob', which had been carefully rested on the bolt itself, seemingly so that when I opened the gate it would drop to the ground.
I thought this seemed really rather strange, and it put me in mind of all those stories you hear about things like 'empty bottle placed on car wheel' and 'sellotape on door', and other things done by crooks and thieves to 'mark' a property.

So I went to the online reporting tool for the local rozzers and had a nice little chat with an operator who took all the details and logged it as 'suspicious activity'.

A little later I bumped into the neighbour across the road from me, 'Paul', and I told him about it, warning him to check around his property for similar.

Paul laughed.

"Crow" he said.

He had chucked out a packet of stale 'hob-nobs' for the birds earlier, and then watched as a crow proceeded to remove the biscuits one-by-one, flying off with them one at a time and hiding them around the houses in various places, up in gutters, behind bins, in bushes etc etc.
And he watched as it flew over to my fence and deftly placed one in the gap by my gate.

I have stopped myself from getting back on the online thingy and telling the operator to delete the report.
For one thing, I think maybe an increased police presence in the area as a result of it might actually be a good thing, but mainly I don't want to look like a total muppet.
These 'criminals using things to mark a site for subsequent thieving' are almost always Urban Tales. Most criminals are opportunistic and are hardly going to go to the bother of 'marking' a house when a) they could just break in there and then, b) they have no way of knowing whether coming back is going to mean being confronted by a bloody enormous bloke with a man eating dog, who just happened not to be in when they 'marked' the property c) any half way intelligent householder (if this WERE a true thing) would just move the mark to next door or across the road, meaning that returning criminal is going to break into a house where there is nothing worth stealing AND a bloody enormous bloke with a man-eating dog.

Besides, a HobNob (being an ace dunking biscuit) would dissolve in the rain. So not great as a 'marking' tool. Or it would be eaten by the man-eating dog, seeking a variety of diet.
 
These 'criminals using things to mark a site for subsequent thieving' are almost always Urban Tales. Most criminals are opportunistic and are hardly going to go to the bother of 'marking' a house when a) they could just break in there and then, b) they have no way of knowing whether coming back is going to mean being confronted by a bloody enormous bloke with a man eating dog, who just happened not to be in when they 'marked' the property c) any half way intelligent householder (if this WERE a true thing) would just move the mark to next door or across the road, meaning that returning criminal is going to break into a house where there is nothing worth stealing AND a bloody enormous bloke with a man-eating dog.

Besides, a HobNob (being an ace dunking biscuit) would dissolve in the rain. So not great as a 'marking' tool. Or it would be eaten by the man-eating dog, seeking a variety of diet.
Yup. Can't disagree with any of that.

Also, using a biscuit as a marker in an area populated by extremely thievish squirrels would be ridiculous.
It does show how easy it is to become slightly 'paranoid' though, what with all these tales of dog-thieves/burglars 'marking' properties.
I catch anybody chalking on my house, they're licking it off, then they're getting knocked out.
 
I rang my youngest tonight as they have had the flu. She said it's weird lately as every time I ring her her husband's Mum rings him.
Then I rang my oldest to wish her husband Happy Birthday and as she didn't answer waited for her to ring back.
She said when I rang her husband's Mum had just rung.
 
It's odd though, you might not realize how you are being watched -
Several years back we were living in a cottage which was behind a large 3 story home, so it was not really noticeable from the street. One warm night we left the windows up downstairs (the screens were down), and went upstairs, that's where the bedroom was.
About 1:30 a.m. I woke up (I'm a very light sleeper) to the noise of someone downstairs. I thought it was my husband in the bathroom which was on the first floor, but he was in bed. I yelled that I was 'calling the police' and we heard a crash as this person ran out the door.
They caught a thief who had just finished robbing 2 other houses, he had entered their basement windows and took cash and credit cards, he didn't get anything at our house, but he did get 9 years in prison.
 
It's odd though, you might not realize how you are being watched -
Several years back we were living in a cottage which was behind a large 3 story home, so it was not really noticeable from the street. One warm night we left the windows up downstairs (the screens were down), and went upstairs, that's where the bedroom was.
About 1:30 a.m. I woke up (I'm a very light sleeper) to the noise of someone downstairs. I thought it was my husband in the bathroom which was on the first floor, but he was in bed. I yelled that I was 'calling the police' and we heard a crash as this person ran out the door.
They caught a thief who had just finished robbing 2 other houses, he had entered their basement windows and took cash and credit cards, he didn't get anything at our house, but he did get 9 years in prison.
Hopefully, the boys in C- block 'looked after him'.
 
Here is a picture of the war memorial in the town centre of Welwyn Garden City.
(read my comment beneath picture)
1653325795201.png

So yeah, I always thought this was strange.
"Why" I hear you ask.
<Why, Trev?>
Well, building work in WGC didn't begin until 1920, after Sir Ebenezer Howard had arranged, in 1919, to purchase land to begin his 2nd 'garden city' (after Letchworth). Before that it was all fields around here, except for the main train line north, with the WGC train station not opening until September of 1920.
So these chaps that are remembered on this memorial come from a town that didn't exist during that period.
There are villages in the nearby areas that pre-date WGC, but they are still there and each has it's own memorial.
I have had a look at maps of the time and there are a handful of properties dotted about, but they are remote workers cottages and a couple of pubs on main roads etc, and they would have been included in one of the already established areas such as Digswell, Welwyn (village, to the north-west), Hatfield, etc.
 
Here is a picture of the war memorial in the town centre of Welwyn Garden City.
(read my comment beneath picture)
View attachment 55563
So yeah, I always thought this was strange.
"Why" I hear you ask.
<Why, Trev?>
Well, building work in WGC didn't begin until 1920, after Sir Ebenezer Howard had arranged, in 1919, to purchase land to begin his 2nd 'garden city' (after Letchworth). Before that it was all fields around here, except for the main train line north, with the WGC train station not opening until September of 1920.
So these chaps that are remembered on this memorial come from a town that didn't exist during that period.
There are villages in the nearby areas that pre-date WGC, but they are still there and each has it's own memorial.
I have had a look at maps of the time and there are a handful of properties dotted about, but they are remote workers cottages and a couple of pubs on main roads etc, and they would have been included in one of the already established areas such as Digswell, Welwyn (village, to the north-west), Hatfield, etc.
You look at that and fervently hope that the three Coopers were not brothers...
 
Here is a picture of the war memorial in the town centre of Welwyn Garden City.
(read my comment beneath picture)
View attachment 55563
So yeah, I always thought this was strange.
"Why" I hear you ask.
<Why, Trev?>
Well, building work in WGC didn't begin until 1920, after Sir Ebenezer Howard had arranged, in 1919, to purchase land to begin his 2nd 'garden city' (after Letchworth). Before that it was all fields around here, except for the main train line north, with the WGC train station not opening until September of 1920.
So these chaps that are remembered on this memorial come from a town that didn't exist during that period.
There are villages in the nearby areas that pre-date WGC, but they are still there and each has it's own memorial.
I have had a look at maps of the time and there are a handful of properties dotted about, but they are remote workers cottages and a couple of pubs on main roads etc, and they would have been included in one of the already established areas such as Digswell, Welwyn (village, to the north-west), Hatfield, etc.
A couple of thoughts; I think rural communities were, relatively, quite large before WW!? And, if one was inclined, you might be able to look up the names through the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which might pinpoint their birthplaces more accurately.
 
A bit of a late response, I'm afraid, but....

I can’t recognise people if I see them out of context, though
I thought I was the only one! I think it's a form of face-blindness, but I'm not honestly sure.
 
A bit of a late response, I'm afraid, but....


I thought I was the only one! I think it's a form of face-blindness, but I'm not honestly sure.
I have developed this only since a couple of extended lengths of surgery, and it is annoying to say the least. I have this vague idea that I should know this person, but I'll be buggered if I can thing of who they are , from where and when, or their name - even though I see them every time I go to the doctors surgery, or the high street, or buy petrol...
 
I'll be buggered if I can thing of who they are , from where and when, or their name
True story....

There's a guy at my makerspace. We've worked there together. His name is Rob. Turns out, he's also a bus driver. He took my usual route to fill in for someone, and when he addressed me by name, I had no clue. I stared at him blankly until he said, "Rob. FROM THE MAKERSPACE." And then it clicked.

I'm still embarrassed to this day.
 
caught my imagination as symbolic of his spirit flying off like Mary Poppins on her brolly. I subsequently mocked up a photoshop cartoon of him, beard and all, as Mary Poppins flying off holding balloons.
Haven't been here for weeks, and this was the first post I saw, from Gattino's The Five Year Sign thread.

Then I jumped to the Minor Strangeness thread and saw this:
I imagine it is a bit like the chimney scene in Mary Poppins only a lot louder.

Just looking at the Forteana Forums is a Fortean experience.
 
A bit of a late response, I'm afraid, but....


I thought I was the only one! I think it's a form of face-blindness, but I'm not honestly sure.
It depends. I get half-recognised out on the street by a lot of people, who say 'hello' in a friendly fashion and then gawp a bit and say 'where do I know you from?'

It's because I work in uniform. They don't recognise me when I'm wearing 'street clothes'. I don't think it's face blindness, so much as out of context viewing.
 
A couple of thoughts; I think rural communities were, relatively, quite large before WW!? And, if one was inclined, you might be able to look up the names through the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which might pinpoint their birthplaces more accurately.
Which is my point exactly, really.
WGC as a thing did not exist until 1920, therefore there is no point in having a WGC memorial for WW1 - anybody coming from within the area that later became WGC would (should) only appear on the memorial in the area that they came from.
In the part of WGC I live in (Hollybush and Hatfield Hyde, which had it's own farm, hamlet, coaching stop etc) there is a memorial for here, which is correct for the period. Just a hundred yards away from it is our own Commonwealth War Graves area at the local church and cemetery.
1653388118100.png
 
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