Random Noise

My mother developed brittle veins in her senior years and I told her to always inform the hospital staff of that before they did any blood work or IVs. It's one thing to start an IV on healthy veins, but it's an entirely different matter if the integrity of the vein can be destroyed in the process. It's not merely the pain and bruising that can come of it, but you also have the risk of a blood clot forming, breaking loose, and traveling to a critical part of the body.

I have huge veins and during my paramedic years student nurses would look at my arms and be on the verge of drooling. I used to let them practice on me until one stuck me directly through the vein and into the muscle below which was really painful and the bruise lasted for quite some time. Quite seriously, you should alert them before the first attempt that you happen to be difficult to start a needle on. I know there are some who will keep trying until they either get the needle in or have your arm ripped to shreds, but at least from my experience, they'll simply call for someone with a delicate touch to spare you the torture.

Years ago when I worked at Radio Shack, there was a customer who came in every weekend looking at computers. I don't even have a clue how many hours I spent with him discussing his requirements, what kind of software he would need, disk storage, and all that. This went on for 2, maybe 3 months. One day this same customer came wandering in the store and I'm thinking "here we go again ...", except he came over and said he had been out of town visiting relatives and got a package deal at one of the shops there. I just stood there smiling and said "oh. that's nice", while I was contemplating taking up voodoo so I could beat his effigy with bricks or any other solid objects. A week or so later he phoned the store because he couldn't get his printer working properly and was wondering what he should do. I kindly told him we only provided tech support for what we sold at the store and hung up. Now that I've ranted ... my search for TiVo's produced all kinds of results, so there's no reason why your potential buyer wouldn't already be armed with all the necessary information needed to purchase yours. All he'd really need from you is the specific model? what condition is it in? and what comes with it?

I just typed TiVo in Google and found all the technical specifications one would need for the various models. If it was me, I'd hang onto the TiVo and look for another buyer.

It would be rather devious but really cool if you could convince a fire marshal to mount a smoke detector just outside your neighbors door for safety concerns.

There's a haunted hotel I remember reading about sometime in the 80's or 90's, that I think is in California. Maybe someone knows the place and can refresh my memory on it. I can't remember if it was a murder or suicide, but at night the apparition of a young woman could be seen walking the hallway of the second floor and disappearing into one of the rooms. The hotel was originally two storey with high ceilings but later remodeled so that the second storey was lowered and a third storey was added in the space above. The result of the third storey being squeezed in was that on one floor you could see the top half of the woman with the bottom half hidden by the floor, while on the floor below, you could see the bottom half of the woman with the top half hidden by the ceiling. That's always been stuck in my mind but I can't recall the hotel or any back story about the woman.

I don't think I've ever encountered "asparagus-pee smell." Is that worse than the neighborhood stray that snuck in through my cat's door and sprayed in the kitchen?

That is totally me! I carry a notebook in my pocket because I'm always inventing or designing new things in my head. Friends and family give me all their old electronic gadgets so I can rip them apart and build new things out of them. I have a bit of an unfortunate reputation for being a "stuck-up snob" at times. People see me walking downtown and wave as they drive by while I seemingly ignore them and keep walking. Truth of the matter is my mind is problem solving and I don't even realize they're there

During my years as a paramedic, I always laughed at the people who thought popping a breath mint would cover up the fact they had been drinking or smoking marijuana, hash, or any combination of drugs. Alcohol is lighter than water and you end up sweating a good percentage of it out of your pores. I recall the smell was so strong on one patient that my partner on that shift stood over the emergency room sink gagging. I sent him outside for a while to get some fresh air. Marijuana and/or hashish have an oily smoke that sticks and lingers. As to why the difference in marijuana smell ... I think it may be due to how it's grown. With all the raids that have taken place on crops hidden in forests, growers now take to abandoned warehouses, greenhouses, and other buildings to grow their crops indoors. These places consume vast amounts of electricity for greenhouse lamps, so every now and then the fire departments get called out when the whole works catches fire. Inside the buildings, crops are grown in a nutrient rich hydroponic bath, so it wouldn't surprise me if the taste and smell was different from the older crops grown in fields.

When I bought my first smart phone the retailer told me there was a $20 set up fee. My formal education was in computer programming and I have a ham radio license so I should be tech savvy enough to set up a phone myself, so I opted to pass on the in store setup. After I got home I went to the web site for the local carrier, made an account, and began the setup process. When I got to the part about my address, it said the road I live on doesn't exist. I tried various arrangements of the road name since it's 4 words but no luck with that, so I grabbed the phone and drove back to the retailer. After explaining to them about the problem with the address, they went to their computer and logged on to the carrier's web site. Well, guess what? The retailers have a special web page for setting up accounts. I casually made a comment that it would make a great news story how the customer web page was set up to fail in order to collect activation fees, which I think made them somewhat nervous. They completed the set up, the phone was activated, and they didn't charge me.

I went to stock up on cat food this evening. The cashier tonite was a teenage male who I fortunately don't need to deal with all that often. After unloading the shopping basket on the conveyor, the transaction goes like this: "That it?" "Yeah, that's it" "You want a bag?" "Yeah, my pockets are too small to carry all that" "Uh ..." (grabs a bag and tosses it in my direction) "That'll be (reads cost off the register)" I hand him the money and take the change. (grabs receipt from register) "Here ya go"

Other than some general knowledge, aura's are beyond my level of experience and I unfortunately don't know anyone who is knowledgeable in that area, however I did a quick search and came up with this

Those who are more well versed in the subject will tell you that a purple aura is a sign of healing, so I'd consider that to be a positive thing in your life.

The area where I'm currently living was historically a trading place for at least 5 native groups (or nations). The local population is about 50% native, mostly of the Dakelh (people who travel on water) group and are very spiritual. There's a native owned gas-bar and convenience store which is about a 7 minute walk from home, so when my cat wakes me up early demanding it's her turn to have the bed, I'll occasionally walk down there for a morning coffee. The native lady who works the morning shift is very spiritual. She's experienced shadow people and other apparitions her whole life and believed it was normal until she got older and realized most people don't have such experiences. What's particularly interesting about her, is that she can see the life force around people. On occasion she'll point out someone and say, "that person's going to die soon," because their life force was going dark or fading. We had a long discussion one morning over the fact that she won't tell the people they're going to die. In my mind, these people might have a medical condition that could be treated, or at the very least, allow them to make final preparations, settle unresolved family problems, make peace with the world so to speak. To her, it's strictly forbidden because it would violate the earth mother's order of things. She unfortunately moved away recently to be with her eldest daughter. A few times prior, she talked about some groups that practiced "bad medicine," and I was always intrigued to learn more about that.

The Ouija board itself is nothing more than cardboard and plastic, but actually using it is a whole different thing. The movie "The Exorcist," though altered considerably for the movie, was based on an actual account that began with a Ouija board. Fr. Malachi Martin was one of the exorcists involved and described the incident in considerable detail with Art Bell on "Coast to Coast AM" in the 90's. I think any self respecting person would stay as far away from those boards as possible because what answers might not be Casper the friendly ghost. A woman I talked with over a period of time related that when she was young she had little furry animals that came to visit and play with her. The family thought it was cute that she had these imaginary friends to play with, but to her, they were very real. As she grew older, these cutesy little animals finally asked her if she wanted to know what they really looked like. She answered in the affirmative, at which point she explains they morphed into grotesque creatures that screeched "now we're going to kill you!" She then ran screaming to her mother as they chased after her but eventually disappeared and never returned.

Animals are very perceptive to this kind of thing. Often ghost investigators will watch the pets as an alert that something is about to happen. An old superstition was that if you crouched behind an animal and looked between their ears you could see the same apparition that the animal sees. It would be interesting if you could manage to photograph "The Captain" or had an artist who could see him to make a sketch. It may be a long shot, but perhaps someone from an historical society could identify him and give you a back story.

I'm in full agreement. Incidentally, @Mindthinkr, you just opened the door mentioning an incident at the age of 9. Girls prior to or entering puberty are well known to have paranormal experiences which sometimes remain throughout their lives. There are several theories about why this happens but no satisfactory explanation. My next question, if you don't mind, is whether you have seen shadow people? That's a shadowy figure you can't see looking directly at it but is in your peripheral vision. Typically you'll spot something out of the corner of your eye, but when you turn your head there's nothing there.

@Mindthinkr, the investigator in me totally believes your account. I've interviewed enough people over the years who have had similar situations, although the unusual appearance after a hurricane is a new one on me. Incidentally, the frilled shirt (actually a neck piece) is called a "cravat" and commonly worn by men during the 18th century, and definitely worn by men of status during colonial times. Although Hollywood likes to romanticize the pirate character, I'm not so sure they actually wore impractical clothing like that which would interfere in their looting and raiding activities. I could be wrong in that respect.

For curiosity, do you have an old family antique such as a chest, or perhaps a rocking chair that has been passed down over the years? Sometimes there are various pieces of furniture that end up in the attic or stored in the basement that tend to be forgotten about until it's rediscovered by the children or grand children who may not necessarily know the history of the object. Same with buying something at an antique store, or more commonly, at a pawn shop or second hand store. If it belonged to a now-deceased person, there are occasions that a spirit may attach or be associated with that object and if you take that object with you to a new home, the spirit comes along with it. A spirit can attach to a living person although it happens less frequently than to a place or thing. Serious ghost investigators will tell whatever spirits there may be that they have to stay where they are. Occasionally ghosts like to hitch hike with their new investigator friends.

I lived like that for most of my life until I asked myself why I enjoyed being a corporate slave. By corporate, I mean not only the one I was slaving for to get a pay cheque, but also the money sucking ones such as electricity, cable/satellite tv, telephone, and on and on. Three years ago I had enough of that. Built a Tiny House (on wheels, no loft) and settled in with the cat. I understand it's not for everyone, but for me it was a new found sense of freedom. Two years ago I eliminated all my monthly bills. My phone is prepaid for the year. Vehicle insurance I let expire, because I'm only a short walking distance from any stores I need to go to. Solar power takes care of my electrical needs. I work from home so I decide when to start or when to "call it a day." I've also settled (at present) in a very relaxing location.

If they have Chucky, run. Seriously, run.

@TattleTeeny. Happy to learn it all worked out for you. Hopefully you'll find the new job more pleasurable. For me personally, I've always found job changes whether intentional or forced to end up being much more satisfying and wishing I had changed jobs earlier rather than hanging on to the one I had.

Actually, count your blessings you were still at home. Once, when I was headed on vacation, my vehicle developed problems after driving a couple hundred miles. As per the tourists law of averages, I probably found the most expensive place to have repairs done in the area. It ended up killing a huge chunk of my vacation money so after the repairs were complete I just turned around and spent my vacation at home.

I'd like to see a John Cleese mode (for us Monty Python/Fawlty Towers fans). "That was your turn you stupid twit! They have left hand turns where you come from don't they?"

Tuned in late ... but good luck!