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Minor Strangeness (IHTM)

INT21 said:
Sat here doodling but aware of a slightly strange odor in the background.

It was familiar, but I couldn't place it. And it was very faint.

It just came to me.

It is the smell of brake fluid. Dot 4.

But there is no brake fluid in the house.

And the smell immediately makes me think of the strange 'grippiness' that Dot 4 has if you rub a drop of it between your finger and thumb.

Very odd.

INT21
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Not trodden in some at a garage or petrol station INT? Brake fluid does have an odour of it's own doesn't it?
Getting on a bit now, certain smells have a very evocative effect on me. Two stroke oil/petrol reminds me of my scooter days in the early 70's. Pipe and cigar smoke recalls my Dad very strongly and the first scent of summer brings to mind breaking up at school for the summer holidays. The smell of freshly painted walls reminds me of going back to school after the summer holidays. There are many others.
 
...Not trodden in some at a garage or petrol station INT?..

Possibly. Scents are indeed very evocative.

St Bruno tobacco reminds me of my father.

INT21
 
I read somewhere it's because the 'smell' analysing part of your brain is very close to the 'memory' part. But it's always made me wonder - why that memory with that smell? The smell of crushed or cut grass throws me back to attending the local county show (where we used to go with school on the final day of every year). But why? I've smelled cut grass a million times and often in far more emotional situations - yet that's the one that sticks.
 
catseye said:
I read somewhere it's because the 'smell' analysing part of your brain is very close to the 'memory' part. But it's always made me wonder - why that memory with that smell? The smell of crushed or cut grass throws me back to attending the local county show (where we used to go with school on the final day of every year). But why? I've smelled cut grass a million times and often in far more emotional situations - yet that's the one that sticks.
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It's emotional, at least for me. Cut grass used to remind me of when my Dad mowed the lawn and of happily sitting on the school field chatting with mates in my teens.

Now though it recalls a traumatic bereavement when (I suppose as I was too used to notice consciously) the cemetery grass was being clipped.
 
escargot said:
It's emotional, at least for me. Cut grass used to remind me of when my Dad mowed the lawn and of happily sitting on the school field chatting with mates in my teens.

Now though it recalls a traumatic bereavement when (I suppose as I was too used to notice consciously) the cemetery grass was being clipped.
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It is emotional I agree. I remember a weekend in the 80's going to a tram museum. It was what is now called a retro event. It was a hot sunny day. I was with the then Ms Petes and baby. There were trams running and Victorian merry go rounds which had steam powered organ music playing, working traction engines and brass bands and Victorian market stalls. Sensory overload really. Now whenever I see or hear any of those things I am reminded of that day. Strange really because it was only one day and one event of the many that we went to over the years.
 
But this is what puzzles me. Why that association? The smell of pipe tobacco doesn't remind me of my much-loved grandfather, with whom I spent time, entranced by his pipe-smoking. It reminds me of ONE TIME I went into a shop in Bruge to buy chocolate and a man was smoking a pipe in there. I can still see the shop, the square, the image of the man leading the way into the shop...every time I smell a pipe being smoked.

But this took place on a random family holiday, which was pleasant but not particularly notable in any other way. My grandfather goes unremembered (well, no, he doesn't, but you know what I mean) whilst a random man, shop and day are carved into my memory. Any theories as to why?
 
catseye said:
But this is what puzzles me. Why that association? The smell of pipe tobacco doesn't remind me of my much-loved grandfather, with whom I spent time, entranced by his pipe-smoking. It reminds me of ONE TIME I went into a shop in Bruge to buy chocolate and a man was smoking a pipe in there. I can still see the shop, the square, the image of the man leading the way into the shop...every time I smell a pipe being smoked.

But this took place on a random family holiday, which was pleasant but not particularly notable in any other way. My grandfather goes unremembered (well, no, he doesn't, but you know what I mean) whilst a random man, shop and day are carved into my memory. Any theories as to why?
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Perhaps because it was unusual? Like, the smell seemed familiar but then the old brain reminded you where you really were, and that's the impression that stuck? I dunno.
 
catseye said:
But this is what puzzles me. Why that association? The smell of pipe tobacco doesn't remind me of my much-loved grandfather, with whom I spent time, entranced by his pipe-smoking. It reminds me of ONE TIME I went into a shop in Bruge to buy chocolate and a man was smoking a pipe in there. I can still see the shop, the square, the image of the man leading the way into the shop...every time I smell a pipe being smoked.

But this took place on a random family holiday, which was pleasant but not particularly notable in any other way. My grandfather goes unremembered (well, no, he doesn't, but you know what I mean) whilst a random man, shop and day are carved into my memory. Any theories as to why?
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Two things come to mind - one concerning the aroma per se, and the other concerning how it plays upon memory.

RE: The aroma angle ...

There's a great variety in pipe tobacco mixtures, resulting in a corresponding variety in aromas. There is no single or most general 'pipe tobacco smell' as far as your nose is concerned. It could be that the pipe mixture to which you were most repeatedly exposed - the one your grandfather smoked - will trigger a memory of him if and only if you encounter that very same aroma.

RE: The memory angle ...

Smoking a pipe, as well as the aroma, undoubtedly comprise only a small portion of the memories from your grandfather. Phrased another way ... The smell of pipe tobacco isn't a unique cue to the memory of your grandfather. For whatever reason, the smell of pipe tobacco *is* a relatively unique cue to the memory of that shop in Bruge.

Why is the Bruge shop memory so prominently accessible for so transient an experience?

Simple - chocolate was involved! :hunger:

:evillaugh:
 
catseye said:
But this is what puzzles me. Why that association? The smell of pipe tobacco doesn't remind me of my much-loved grandfather, with whom I spent time, entranced by his pipe-smoking. It reminds me of ONE TIME I went into a shop in Bruge to buy chocolate and a man was smoking a pipe in there. I can still see the shop, the square, the image of the man leading the way into the shop...every time I smell a pipe being smoked.

But this took place on a random family holiday, which was pleasant but not particularly notable in any other way. My grandfather goes unremembered (well, no, he doesn't, but you know what I mean) whilst a random man, shop and day are carved into my memory. Any theories as to why?
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Yes it puzzles me too. I can only put it down to mood and experiences on the day, and the place in your life at the time which imprinted the image and senses on your brain. I mentioned in another thread of a detailed image I have in my mind of a lane leading to a cottage . I can "smell" the atmosphere at the time I saw it, but I have absolutely no idea where it was.
 
Cochise said:
Was dozing in bed last night, the dog curled up next to me. Was having a dream in which someone bumped in to me and then trod on the dog. Was woken up by the real dog growling as he does when he is trodden on.
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I bet it was the other way round; the dog growled for some reason and your sleeping brain heard it and made up the dream.
 
GNC said:
Saw something in the sky the other day, looked like an object supported by two balloons (small ones), but the whole lot would spin in the sky so it looked as if the balloons were being supported by the object. It was kind of rectangular, but rounded at the corners, bit triangular I suppose if you chopped the top off a triangle.

Any ideas what that might have been? Has been quite windy up here, too.
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Hmm... odd. So... an object being supported by two balloons, then the balloons being supported by the object; does this mean it would flip so it was upside-down? (Sorry, I'm trying to picture what you're describing).

Did it seem to float on the wind, or have a mind/propulsion of its own?

And roughly how big and how far off the ground?

No answers, only more questions ;)
 
Schrodinger's Zebra said:
Hmm... odd. So... an object being supported by two balloons, then the balloons being supported by the object; does this mean it would flip so it was upside-down? (Sorry, I'm trying to picture what you're describing).

Did it seem to float on the wind, or have a mind/propulsion of its own?

And roughly how big and how far off the ground?

No answers, only more questions ;)
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It was being carried by the wind, and was flipping I suppose, but it would pause with the object at the top, then flip and the balloons would be on top. The balloons were party balloon-sized, and the object was twice their size, about half a mile off the ground, pretty far away from me and getting further away as I watched. Maybe it was an advertising thing? I could tell you more if it had been closer.
 
A slightly weird thing just happened...

Mid-day, I was just sitting on the couch, and suddenly the kitchen smoke alarm goes off briefly, like, 1 second. The red light is flashing, so I figure the back up battery is going dead, and change it. The battery is a square 9 v.

I should also mention that both this smoke alarm, and the one outside my bedroom, run on a small three prong plug that is 120 v, and runs on house current. The battery is just back up for power outages, and is accessed from a pop out hatch on the front. The main body of both alarms are twisted into a bezel that is screwed to the ceiling. You twist the body to access the wires. The alarms are also linked, so if one goes off, they both do.

Well about three hours later, the alarms starts beeping, startling me again, and I checked the battery was good before I replaced it, and the reset button isn't working, so I unscrew it to just take it out, so it will stop beeping loudly in my ear, and the wires on the back were completely detached!?

How is it they became detached? There is lots of slack in them, and they had to have been plugged in for the approx 2 years since I replaced the smoke alarms. Plus, if both aren't hooked up to the power supply, the other one beeps annoyingly to tell you somethings wrong with the other one. (Super annoying flaw in the system, because if one malfunctions, you have to unplug the other one to get any peace while you sort out the other one, which leaves you with no working smoke alarms!)

Another weird little thing I noticed today, a ladder I keep up against a sailboat I'm rebuilding in my backyard is usually set up like a step ladder. In fact, I just went up it a couple of days ago, to see how much rain had gotten in the boat, and today I noticed it was folded, but leaning up against the boat. It would take a bunch of effort to get the ladder out of where it was, even to fold it and lean it against the boat.

I don't know why, but these two things together have totally creeped me out! Especially the smoke alarm.
 
Gizmos Mama said:
A slightly weird thing just happened...

Mid-day, I was just sitting on the couch, and suddenly the kitchen smoke alarm goes off briefly, like, 1 second. The red light is flashing, so I figure the back up battery is going dead, and change it. The battery is a square 9 v.

I should also mention that both this smoke alarm, and the one outside my bedroom, run on a small three prong plug that is 120 v, and runs on house current. The battery is just back up for power outages, and is accessed from a pop out hatch on the front. The main body of both alarms are twisted into a bezel that is screwed to the ceiling. You twist the body to access the wires. The alarms are also linked, so if one goes off, they both do.

Well about three hours later, the alarms starts beeping, startling me again, and I checked the battery was good before I replaced it, and the reset button isn't working, so I unscrew it to just take it out, so it will stop beeping loudly in my ear, and the wires on the back were completely detached!?

How is it they became detached? There is lots of slack in them, and they had to have been plugged in for the approx 2 years since I replaced the smoke alarms. Plus, if both aren't hooked up to the power supply, the other one beeps annoyingly to tell you somethings wrong with the other one. (Super annoying flaw in the system, because if one malfunctions, you have to unplug the other one to get any peace while you sort out the other one, which leaves you with no working smoke alarms!)

Another weird little thing I noticed today, a ladder I keep up against a sailboat I'm rebuilding in my backyard is usually set up like a step ladder. In fact, I just went up it a couple of days ago, to see how much rain had gotten in the boat, and today I noticed it was folded, but leaning up against the boat. It would take a bunch of effort to get the ladder out of where it was, even to fold it and lean it against the boat.

I don't know why, but these two things together have totally creeped me out! Especially the smoke alarm.
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Bring the ladder indoors and keep it locked up.
 
GNC said:
It was being carried by the wind, and was flipping I suppose, but it would pause with the object at the top, then flip and the balloons would be on top. The balloons were party balloon-sized, and the object was twice their size, about half a mile off the ground, pretty far away from me and getting further away as I watched. Maybe it was an advertising thing? I could tell you more if it had been closer.
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That... does sound strange. The pausing of the movement, especially. You could be right about it being some sort of advertising (although how effective it was is another thing :) ) but... I'm not sure.

I will chalk this under most odd. :nods:
 
Gizmos Mama said:
A slightly weird thing just happened...

Mid-day, I was just sitting on the couch, and suddenly the kitchen smoke alarm goes off briefly, like, 1 second. The red light is flashing, so I figure the back up battery is going dead, and change it. The battery is a square 9 v.

I should also mention that both this smoke alarm, and the one outside my bedroom, run on a small three prong plug that is 120 v, and runs on house current. The battery is just back up for power outages, and is accessed from a pop out hatch on the front. The main body of both alarms are twisted into a bezel that is screwed to the ceiling. You twist the body to access the wires. The alarms are also linked, so if one goes off, they both do.

Well about three hours later, the alarms starts beeping, startling me again, and I checked the battery was good before I replaced it, and the reset button isn't working, so I unscrew it to just take it out, so it will stop beeping loudly in my ear, and the wires on the back were completely detached!?

How is it they became detached? There is lots of slack in them, and they had to have been plugged in for the approx 2 years since I replaced the smoke alarms. Plus, if both aren't hooked up to the power supply, the other one beeps annoyingly to tell you somethings wrong with the other one. (Super annoying flaw in the system, because if one malfunctions, you have to unplug the other one to get any peace while you sort out the other one, which leaves you with no working smoke alarms!)

Another weird little thing I noticed today, a ladder I keep up against a sailboat I'm rebuilding in my backyard is usually set up like a step ladder. In fact, I just went up it a couple of days ago, to see how much rain had gotten in the boat, and today I noticed it was folded, but leaning up against the boat. It would take a bunch of effort to get the ladder out of where it was, even to fold it and lean it against the boat.

I don't know why, but these two things together have totally creeped me out! Especially the smoke alarm.
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First of all - seconded (or thirded) about what others have said re: your ladder. I've seen public information films about thieves being about, and leaving a ladder outside is a no-no.

Now, onto your smoke alarm. Crucial question: when you say the wires were detached, did they look like they would look if they'd been unscrewed and removed (i.e. with the coloured sheaths in-place and just a bit of the copper peeking out at the end) or were they cut/chewed through?

I'm wondering if a small rodent is a possibility, although that would likely have led to some sort of short in your wiring - I take it no MCBs tripped in your fuse box recently?

Also curious as to why the detachment of this smoke alarm didn't set the other one off... have you checked that the other one is actually working? Has it also been detached perhaps?

Knowing when they were last working may help you narrow down what could have happened - when was the last time you burnt some toast etc?

It's also quite strange how the battery started beeping even though you'd replaced it... almost like it was trying to tell you something... :D
 
Schrodinger's Zebra said:
Now, onto your smoke alarm. Crucial question: when you say the wires were detached, did they look like they would look if they'd been unscrewed and removed
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The small three prong plug had been completely unplugged from the back of the alarm. No chewing or broken wires, and the other connections are secure.

Also, I was home, and inside most of the day, so if someone was in the attic, messing with wires, I would hear it.
 
Gizmos Mama said:
The small three prong plug had been completely unplugged from the back of the alarm. No chewing or broken wires, and the other connections are secure.

Also, I was home, and inside most of the day, so if someone was in the attic, messing with wires, I would hear it.
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Even stranger then.

Have you been able to see if the other alarm is still wired up correctly?
 
Coal said:
Is there any way thermal expansion of say, wooden infrastructure, could have pulled the wires?
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There is about 4-6" of slack in the wire, so I don't think so?
To put it another way, I can hang the alarm off the end of the wire, once the plug is secure.

Schrodinger's Zebra said:
Have you been able to see if the other alarm is still wired up correctly?
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Yep, it's fine.
So weird!

I should also add that I live in a single house, no attached dwellings, and the only way into the completely unfinished attic is through a trap door that is inside the house above the bottom of the basement stairs (about 20' above the landing, no pull down stairs, no ladder).
 
had a minor strangeness moment last weekend.
i live very near to the Leeds Liverpool canal (Wigan flight) and whilst out walking the dog, we were passing one of the lock basins - which was almost empty due to some work being done. looking into the mud in the empty basin, there was a face glaring back - an evil looking face covered in silt etc!
So as you do, i asked my daughter to go and get it as it looked from the colour that it was made from cast iron or something similar?
Having jumped into the basin and slipping about in the mud, she retrieved said face to find it was nothing more than a plastic clown mask! Lol
She was a bit annoyed at me because not only was she now covered in mud but as i said "oh i dont want it then" she then realised she had to walk the length of the basin as she couldnt get out! it was just too high (it got lower nearer to the lock where she eventually climbed out)
Not really fortean but you dont get an evil face watching you from the bottom of the canal everyday
 
plastic wiganer said:
had a minor strangeness moment last weekend.
i live very near to the Leeds Liverpool canal (Wigan flight) and whilst out walking the dog, we were passing one of the lock basins - which was almost empty due to some work being done. looking into the mud in the empty basin, there was a face glaring back - an evil looking face covered in silt etc!
So as you do, i asked my daughter to go and get it as it looked from the colour that it was made from cast iron or something similar?
Having jumped into the basin and slipping about in the mud, she retrieved said face to find it was nothing more than a plastic clown mask! Lol
She was a bit annoyed at me because not only was she now covered in mud but as i said "oh i dont want it then" she then realised she had to walk the length of the basin as she couldnt get out! it was just too high (it got lower nearer to the lock where she eventually climbed out)
Not really fortean but you dont get an evil face watching you from the bottom of the canal everyday
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A nice photo of it in situ would have done! :wink2:
 
Gizmos Mama said:
I should also add that I live in a single house, no attached dwellings, and the only way into the completely unfinished attic is through a trap door that is inside the house above the bottom of the basement stairs (about 20' above the landing, no pull down stairs, no ladder).
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Is it just me who is struck by the last two words, above, given the other minor strangeness you mentioned? Not that I wish to freak you out further, you understand.
 
Krepostnoi said:
Is it just me who is struck by the last two words, above, given the other minor strangeness you mentioned? Not that I wish to freak you out further, you understand.
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Yes, I know I mentioned some weirdness with a ladder in my yard, but it would be high strangeness if (I was home at the time), someone managed to bring in the bulky ladder, set it up and get into my attic. Plus, even with that particular ladder, it would be a stretch to reach the trap door.

How did they get the ladder back outside? You can't get outside from the attic, you have to come back down the trapdoor.

Also, why did they unplug my smoke alarm? (No, there are no cameras hidden in the alarm, I looked.)
 
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