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Minor Strangeness (IHTM)

You very rarely hear the expression föhn wind or föhn effect, this morning on Radio 4 it was mentioned in the weather as to why Kinlochewe in Scotland was the warmest place yesterday, and then again in relation to Christchurch in New Zealand, which is about as far away from Scotland, as it's possible to get without leaving the planet, as a explanation of the gale force winds and storms that were about to hit the city, just to make things really miserable after the earthquake.
 
Not sure if this should be here or in Coincidence. A few years ago I would sometimes read the cards for my friends if they asked me but haven't done them for ages. Anyway my friend whose daughter has had some problems has been bugging me to read them for her daughter but I didn't even know where I had put them.
Anyway I found them and put them out, then went and explained to my friend that I was way out of practice as what had come up was very unlikely. She asked me what I had seen and I said that it said her daughter was going to get some money and we both had a laugh about that then the phone rang. It was her daughter saying the ATO had rung to say they had underpaid her and put $2,500 into her account. Have to wait and see if the other things come about.
 
Two things connected with Falmouth's Swanpool. Both perfectly normal, but not common. And although I've lived in the area for twenty years, I'd never seen either until this year.

Sometimes you'll see an angler on the bank, but I've never seen them catch anything. In fact I'd never seen any ripples or swirls of water to indicate there are any fish in the pool. But a couple of months ago, at the edge of the pool, right by the footpath, I saw about a dozen darkish coloured fish, maybe up to a foot long, swirling about together. I reckon they were hoovering up left-over bread after people had been feeding the ducks there.

Now sometimes there's a cormorant sitting on a raft and drying his wings, which is a clue there are fish about, but I've never seen seen him swimming or diving in the pool, so I'd assumed he'd come from the nearby sea. Maybe not!

And today, as I walked towards the south end of the pool, where the water overflows into the tunnel that runs under the road into the sea, I could hear quite a loud sound of flowing water. I assumed there'd been more rain last night than I'd thought, but when I came in sight of the outlet I was amazed to see that the water was pouring strongly into the pool! There was a rising spring tide pushing the sea up the drainage tunnel.

Now I had read about this happening, and it must happen several times a year, but today was the first time I'd witnessed it. As the sun was out, I grabbed a few piccies - which was nice!
 
Wonderful thread! :)

Reading this made me remember a piece of minor strangeness that I haven't thought about in many years. When I was a child, of 5 or 6 years old, I was playing on the floor with my dolls, and I think my mother and father were in a different part of the house, because I remember being alone in the room, and it was very quiet. Suddenly, a small stone dropped right there in front of me. Not as it was thrown, but as it dropped, because I remember it bounced a bit straight up instead of out. I picked it up, and until today I remember so clearly how it looked: it was a dark triangle with smooth edges and thin yellow lines all over like veins. It think it maybe was the size of a postal stamp. I was not near anything like a table that the stone could fall from. I studied it for a bit, feeling very curious about it, and then I put it down on the floor and continued to play. When I tried to find it after I stopped playing, it was gone. I remember that I looked all around the room but couldn't find it, and that I was somehow upset about that because I thought it was a cool stone and wanted to keep it. At that time, I didn't think too much about a stone that appeared mysteriously like that, so I asked my parents if they saw such a stone, and I was told that I imagined it. But I'm sure it was there, and I'm sure it disappeared too.

What I really want to post though is this one. Another minor strangeness that happened just recently, and it's still a bit of a mystery. My husband and I went to visit my parents and celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary, and while we were there for 3 weeks, we helped their neighbor to put new shelves on his kitchen and some other small things. He's an old man who lives alone, and my parents often help him with household things as that. Well, every time we were in the house, I noticed that there was a door at the top of the stairs, and the man never went up there or opened the door. I didn't think too much of that, since it saves heating costs, and due to his age, he probably has trouble with stairs. But when I said something about this to my mother, I was told that the reason there's a door is because the man believes the first floor is haunted! The man told my parents this soon after they moved in next door, and that there's a strange story about that house. Of course I was right away very interested, and asked my mother a lot of questions, but she said she didn't know what the strange story was or why the old man believed it. It all felt like an old-fashioned ghost story, really, but of course I didn't want to ask the man about it either because it's not really any of my business. Even so, I'm burning up with curiosity about it. The house didn't feel strange or anything like that. It is an old house, that's true, but it's in good repair and very modern inside, nothing creepy. Only that door and the hint that there's a story. I wonder if I'll ever know what it is.
 
My previous post was reply number 666 :D
 
We have threads on that very number. :D
 
This is something that happened to me when I was very young, possibly five or six, and it's puzzled me to this day.

At the time (probably about 1980) my family lived in a very old detached cottage on the edge of Budleigh Salterton in Devon. Lots of very odd things happened to various members of the family, but one that I remember vividly happened one morning not long after I'd woken up.

I recall waking and, as was usual at the time, lay in bed waiting for my parents to get up. This particular morning as I lay there with my head to one side resting on the pillow I heard, very clearly, a rythmic drumming noise (going "rat-tat-a-tat") and the sound of marching. Shocked, I sat bolt upright and immediately the noise stopped. I put my ear to the pillow again and once again the drumming and marching could be heard, and this time I could pick out faint voices barking out what sounded like military instructions. I experimented two or three times listening at different parts of the bed but the only time I could hear the noise was when I listened against the pillow.

There's no way it could have been the sound from a telly downstairs because I was the only one awake, and I'm sure I wasn't dreaming because of the way I remember moving around the bed trying to find the source of the "marching band".

So - not the most earth shattering experience, I certainly don't think Mulder and Scully will be opening an X file on it any time soon, but in its own right an occurance of "minor Forteana"!
 
In March, 2009, I was returning from a several month long driving trip to Mexico. While in the Baja, I had purchased a gas (petrol) tank for my old SUV (back in the US) because they were common there, in great condition and cheap. My wife didn't like the idea because she was sure the interior of our new SUV would smell of gasoline on our long trip home. For that reason I washed the tank out and let it dry in the sun for several days and then triple-bagged it. I was successful and she never noticed a smell and she is very sensitive to the odor of gasoline.

When we reached the US border at Matamoros and waited in line, I was worried that if I mentioned buying the tank the customs inspectors would want to see it. It was not a problem to import it and the value was low enough that no duty would be due, but I was concerned that if I unpacked it I would not be able to repack it without some of the smell getting on the outer plastic. Then I would have to listen to my wife complain for the next week as we made our way across the US. As I waited in line I kept thinking about the gas tank.

When we reached the guard house, the US border guard asked us the usual questions (names, nationalities, destination, etc.) and then asked one other question, one I had never heard in years of crossing the border. He said: "Do you have any gas in the vehicle?" I froze as it was as if he had read my mind. I didn't know what he meant since it was a gasoline fueled vehicle so if he meant gasoline by gas then I should say yes but if he meant compressed gas like propane then I did not have any. I hoped he meant compressed gas and said no. He looked at us for a long moment they waived us through. What was odd was that the only time having compressed gas would be a problem was if you were entering a tunnel where they are sometime banned but there were no tunnels for 100's of miles so there was no reason for the question.

My theories about why he asked about the very thing I was thinking about are (in order of decreasing probability):
1. A crazy co-incidence.
2. US is using some sort of mind reading device.
3. Guard was psychic.
4. US uses microphones to listen to conversations of those waiting in line. This would be my number one choice except that I am sure I didn't mention the gas tank to my wife and she also does not recall me doing mentioning it.

Silly little incident but it freaked me out.
 
You sure you didn't mis-hear him? He might've asked if you had any grass in the vehicle!?
 
Thanks, that's an excellent suggestion. I don't think it was a case of mis-hearing because he was only a couple of feet away, my hearing is pretty good, and my wife heard the same thing (although her hearing is not so good). In any event, I'll revise my list and put mis-hearing "grass" at number 2.
 
Odd voice in house

I moved house a week ago with my partner to a 1930s end terrace semi in a very quiet residential area. Late this morning, I was pottering about while my partner was still in bed with a bit of a hangover. He often makes a "poor me" moan if he'd like me to fetch him painkillers, toast, water etc, and it's become a bit of a running joke.

This morning I heard his usual hungover moan, or I thought I did. When I went through to see what he wanted, he asked whether it was me that had moaned! I thought he was messing around, but he seemed genuinely spooked by it.

So either he was half asleep and didn't realise it was him (although the look on his face said otherwise!), or we have a ghost with a good sense of humour!
 
Can you hear the neighbour through the walls?
Sometimes the acoustics and thin walls can often play tricks...

When I lived in a Victorian terrace a few years ago, I could hear all kinds of things very clearly from next door. In this current house, I can hear the old boy next door talking, clearing his throat, drumming his fingers on the table, etc.

I look forward to a day in the future when I will have a detached house (if that ever happens, ho hum).
 
A few months ago, we went to the Lake District. The whole break seemed a little jinxed as things kept going wrong [like our car breaking down on one of England's steepest passes, with no way for people to pass or to turn around...and other things but it was still lovely].
Anyway, the last night there, we came from the pub around the corner and I couldn't find the key to the B&B. It was one of those that are attached to a massive piece of plastic with a number on, very hard to lose or overlook. I rummaged through my bag, getting frantic and had to get the landlady out of the shower just to get in.
Once in the room, I went a bit mental and kept looking everywhere and I mean absolutely everywhere several times over. The place I looked the most was my bag. It had three places where the key could have been and I took absolutely everything out and went through the inside pocket at least four times, really feeling around, looking etc. Nada. Key definitively lost, no doubt. We had to pay for it at the end, which wasn't good.

Fast forward several months, the other day. I get said bag out [yes I have several ;)] and even without looking much, I put my hand in it and there is the freaking KEY!
Just like that, easily to find for anyone. WTF?

Now normally I could come up with so many explanations but you should have seen me going through the bag so thoroughly, feeling even along the seams, there was no way on earth that this big key was in there. Yet it somehow was. BTW the big plastic thingy was about 15-20cm long, tapered being about 4cm across at the widest point and about 1/2cm thick. Try and lose THAT in a small bag!!!
Minor incident, but strange enough for me to mention it here because it took me by surprise.
 
!

It's a really solidly built house - we can sometimes hear the neighbour's tv very quietly through the shared wall if we're in our living room, but I was out in the hall at the time and our neighbour had gone out earlier. I know what you mean though, we did stay in a flat and we could hear all sorts of weird and wonderful noises from all through the block. Unfortunately our downstairs neighbour's living room noise (really loud crap indie music usually) seemed to carry through to our bedroom at the opposite side of the flat!
 
I've mentioned on this MB recently how my computer has been disconnecting from the internet at around 6pm most nights. It's no problem - I can normally reconnect immediately.

It hasn't happened for the last two or three nights however, and I began to think it was one of those little faults that sort themselves out with time.

Until tonight - I was listening to music on Spotify, when suddenly the music stopped. It was just after 5pm.

But the clocks went back last night - which means the disconnection was still at 6pm GMT!

Now my computer clock automatically resets when the clocks change, courtesy of Windows XP, which means this glitch is not timing itself by the internal clock but by something that follows GMT!

I'd love to know the explanation for this, and I'm interested to see what will happen tomorrow... :?
 
My folks phone used to give one ring at 9pm or 10pm depending if they were on GMT or not.

Never found out what that was, although we guessed it was something switching over at the exchange.

Might be the same kind of thing.
 
liveinabin1 said:
My folks phone used to give one ring at 9pm or 10pm depending if they were on GMT or not.

Never found out what that was, although we guessed it was something switching over at the exchange.

Might be the same kind of thing.
Click to expand...
I wondered about that myself, and I checked with a close neighbour (who's also on the same exchange), but he's not had the problem...
 
Central heating timer causing a brownout in the power to the modem?
 
Mythopoeika said:
Central heating timer causing a brownout in the power to the modem?
Click to expand...
I'm not even sure where the central heating is in this building(!), but as it doesn't affect my neighbour I guess that isn't it.
 
Dingo667 said:
Fast forward several months, the other day. I get said bag out [yes I have several ;)] and even without looking much, I put my hand in it and there is the freaking KEY!
Just like that, easily to find for anyone. WTF?
Click to expand...

That is odd. Thanks for sharing that.
 
My sleeping pattern is all over the place at the moment, and the other day I was having real trouble getting off to sleep.
Finally I started drifting, only to be woken up with a start by what seemed to be a male voice loudly and urgently calling my name. My other half was working a late night shift, so it couldn't have been him.
pretty sure it was just an odd effect caused by hypnagogia, but at the time it was quite unnerving.

I also keep getting this really strange thing happen just as I start to drift off to sleep. It usually happens when I have had a couple of particularly bad nights of restlessness. As I start to drift I begin to see snapshots of different faces, almost like I am viewing a slide show of photographs. I don't recognise these people. It is as if my brain is making up really good photo-fit images, and setting them up like ordinary snap shots that you would find in any family album. It is all quite vivid, and even though it is in the moments before I drift into sleep I am aware enough to take notice of it happening, and find it quite interesting (although a couple of times I have concentrated too hard and roused myself awake, and the snapshots have stopped)
I have even tried to 'force' it to happen in the past, with no luck. I can imaging the snapshots, but not really see them as I do when in the half asleep state.

Sorry if I am rambling. It is really hard to explain this and make it sound sane :lol: My brain is a funny old thing
 
I read somewhere (but I can't remember where) that vivid faces are the most common form of hypnogogic vision.
I get them too and find them inexplicacbly frightening, even though the actual pictures aren't in the least bit threatening.
One of my sisters refuses to even be in the same room with people discussing anything about hypnogogia!
 
chez1807 said:
Finally I started drifting, only to be woken up with a start by what seemed to be a male voice loudly and urgently calling my name.
Click to expand...
Did you recognise the voice at the time? This happened to be but it was in the morning when I was only half awake - I "heard" my mother's voice as she used to sound when answering the telephone, and it startled me awake (my mum had been dead for a couple of years at that point). I was absolutely convinced I had heard it - it was so real.

Something that has started happening to me recently is when I've drifted off to sleep and then awoken shortly afterwards. If I open my eyes and look up at the ceiling (which I can't see all that well because a) it's dark and b) I'm not wearing my glasses, without which I can't see anything!) and I'm convinced that I can see an enormous kind of "insectoid" form crawling across it! It makes me very scared for a few seconds because I'm absolutely convinced it's real, and then after a while I realise it's not and I look closer and there's nothing there of course. :shock:
 
Nope I didn't recognise the voice at all, but it really barked my name and made me jump out of my half asleep state.

That is really interesting about the faces as you drift off thing being quite common. I asked my hubby if he has ever experienced anything like it in the past, but he just rolled his eyes and gave me the special 'I'm living with a mad woman' look he reserves just for me :lol:
 
I know that look so well, from my first marriage. The ex, who considered himself a hardheaded, rational scientist, was constantly haunted, mindread, jumped on by ghostly cats and ectoplasmed over for years and years. Drove him mad, it did. :lol:
 
chez1807 said:
I asked my hubby if he has ever experienced anything like it in the past, but he just rolled his eyes and gave me the special 'I'm living with a mad woman' look he reserves just for me :lol:
Click to expand...

My wife and I have exactly this situation. She's constantly rolling her eyes as I suggest odd alternative theories for why the remote keeps disappearing.

Interestingly enough this has come to a head in the last few weeks. We put our house up for sale (we always seem to be doing what every else thinks is madness) and the moment the for sale sign went up a few odd things happened around the house. Firstly I got hit on the head by a giant rucksack as I stuck my head up into the loft and then the dog started to get jittery/nervous during the night.

I mention all this to the wife and what does she do ---> :roll:
 
escargot1 said:
ectoplasmed over for years and years. Drove him mad, it did. :lol:
Click to expand...

There are I understand for the discerning gentlemen, websites (mostly in Japanese) for that sort of thing. ;)
 
rynner2 said:
I'd love to know the explanation for this, and I'm interested to see what will happen tomorrow... :?
Click to expand...

Despite denials to the contary, a great many ISPs traffic shape during peak periods, particularly in highly contended areas.

I observed a regular and punctual drop off of download speed at 6pm and I was on at the time the most expensive download plan, not just a small drop off but the difference between 70-80mbps to 0.8 to 1mbps. This then ramped back up at 23:30ish.

Having said all that, the infrastructure down in the Southwest where you live is probably so antiquated, 6pm is when the day guy who keeps the big fat cable that crosses the Taymar attached to the cable that supplies Cornwall clocks off and hands over the cables to the night guy. The outage is when the grip is momentarily not so tight and a few 1s and 0s drop out the loose ends of the cables.
 
Heckler20 said:
Having said all that, the infrastructure down in the Southwest where you live is probably so antiquated, 6pm is when the day guy who keeps the big fat cable that crosses the Taymar attached to the cable that supplies Cornwall clocks off and hands over the cables to the night guy. The outage is when the grip is momentarily not so tight and a few 1s and 0s drop out the loose ends of the cables.
Click to expand...

:lol:
That wouldn't surprise me one litle bit!
 
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