EVP ONLINE!!!!

I have my fancy new computer, which is pretty nifty.  Which means I've managed to cut the EVP down to a manageable size.

For those of you who don't know, EVP stands for Electronic Voice Phenomenon.  The idea is that in a haunted place you have a recorder recording and you ask questions of the spirits.   "Is there anybody there?", "Can you tell me your name?"  but you don't hear the reply when you are there, but the electronic recorder will pick it up.

We went to a graveyard a few weeks back and I was recording the whole time.   This recording was part when we weren't asking questions.  You can hear Phil reading the names off gravestones and then you hear what sounds like a higher pitched voice.

Listen first and then scroll down to see what we made of it.

EVP MP3 format.


You hear Phil say "Winnifreda Bird 1912 to 1922"  then you'll hear a high "Whooo!"  like an owl.   And it could have been an owl I guess, but we didn't hear it at the time.  Then a few more chirping crickets then a repeated sound.  
Then you'll hear "over there"  and then a few seconds later "please"   none of this was heard when we where there.
A few seconds after this you can hear them say something else, but I was moving so it's hard to make out.

Let me know what you make out.

8:42 PM - 3 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Enough screwing around

With Gale cheering along,  I finally ordered a new computer.  I suspect she just doesn't want my club ands bashing her laptops keyboard anymore.

It's a Compaq Presario but I got a good deal from Newegg.  Intel Dual Core and 2gb ram with a 250GB HDD for less than $400! 

I'm happy.  Just got to work out how to get stuff of my old hard drive.  Hopefully the new computer can accept old IDE drives and not just SATA.

1:56 PM - 0 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Police

I didn't mention the police.

When we were ghosthunting, the others went back to the car and  a police car drove past them and asked if they were OK.   They replied yes and that we were ghosthunting.
"Ghost Hunting?!" said the cop and then said that he would tell all the other cops that we were ghost hunting, without guns.

Then on the way home we stopped so that Gale and Phil could take photos of a sunflower field.  There was even a sign that said you're welcome to take photos.  Up draws a police car and sounds the siren and makes us move on.

2 run ins, no ticket.  A good weekend.

1:52 AM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Ghost Hunting.

My Kin wanted to go ghost hunting, so we decided to check out a few cemeteries in Michigan. I didn't hold out much hope, since graveyards normally have people who are at rest. And this seemed true the first night when we caught nothing. It was calm, peaceful, comfortable even.

The second night though was different. We went to an older graveyard and from the moment we entered both Phil and myself felt uneasy. There was something different. We did some EVP and wandered around. I was alone in one corner at one point and heard footsteps int he dry grass as clear as anything. To the point that I thought one of the others was coming to join me. I also heard a low growl. I asked if they could make the sound again but heard nothing else.

When we returned to the car Phil told me he had heard footsteps too and he was quite far away from anyone. Plus my niece and step son also had hear footsteps where they were. So we had all heard something.

We stopped at another graveyard and Phil and I walked around. Phil had the EMF detector and was picking up a constant signal. At one point it went to a 3 and even in my sister-in-law's house it only managed to get up to .5

All pretty cool. I had a digital recorder running the whole time and my Brother-in-law listened this morning and heard the growl very clearly. So I'm going to play that myself and see what else I pick up.

A great weekend all in all. Great food. We had sausages and sweet corn. And I made caramelised onions which went down well.

I'll let you know about the EVP.

10:14 PM - 3 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

The universe and stuff

Coincidence is a funny old thing.

Last week we were watching a programme about really tall people and Phil mentioned that the tallest women in the world lives in Indiana.  I'd never heard of her and thought it was pretty cool, but thought nothing more of it.
The next day she died!    What are the chances of that?
The following day i was pricing nostalgia books and pulled out a signed copy of her book!!!   What are the chances of that!!! 

Gale and Phil are putting some cosmic significance on it and want me to buy the book.   I just shrug these things off.  The universe is a weird place and stuff like this probably happens all the time, we just don't notice it.

Another coincidence I've noticed is that when I have a bonus coming, something happens to eat it up.    This time it's a biggy.  My computer died yesterday.   I thought it was the graphics card, but I had it tested and it works fine.  The monitor works fine when plugged into Gale's laptop (which I'm using now).  I get BIOS beeps, so know the MB is working, but it doesn't do anything else.   I suspect the processor is fried or the MB is failing.  Gonna have to buy a new one I guess.    I've seen a Presario Dual-Core with 2GB ram and 350GB hard drive for just under 400 which is a deal.    Just need to wait for my bonus.

I feel somewhat strange.  Like I've lost a pet or an arm or something.   Weird feeling.   I've not been without a computer for over 20 years.   I'm just thankful that Gale lets me use her laptop.   But hey, it could have been worse.  My hard drive could have failed.   That would be devastating.

1:29 PM - 3 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Dark Knight

We saw the new Batman film yesterday.   We went at 10am since we figured it would avoid all the teenagers and it did.  There were maybe 20 people in the theatre and this was the BIG screen too.   

I saw all the hype about the movie and I went in expecting something spectacular.   And it was a great film.  But I think it did suffer from being over hyped.   Heath Ledger was really really good. Oscar worthy?  Probably not and it would have even been mentioned if he hadn't died.  but certainly a great performance.  He brought a madness to it that Nicholson failed.   The Joker doesn't do what he does for the money, he does it because he wants to.

Now some spoilers, so if you've seen the movie, highlight the black area below.

If you haven't then go see it.

***SPOILERS BELOW CTRL-A TO READ***

It was dark.  What I really like about the movie was that Batman lost and the Joker won.   OK, he didn't manage to blow up the ferries, but he did kill the girl, corrupt the D.A. and destroy Batman's reputation (not to mention the batmobile).   At the end, Batman had lost everything and now (in the next movie) has to rebuild the people's trust.

Great effects and mostly old fashioned real world one.   The CG, what there was, was sublte.  The part where Batman gets airlifted from a Hong Kong building wasn't done on green screen, they actually lifted the stuntmen via a cable (from a helicopter mind you and not a Cargo plane).  

OK, I gotta go to work.  I'll edit this if I think of something else.

6:24 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Pig in Mud - Cute

My mum sent me this story from the newspaper...

"You can't get much happier than a pig in muck, or so we are told.

But when this little piggy arrived in the farmyard she showed a marked reluctance to get her trotters dirty.

While her six brothers and sisters messed around in the mire, she stayed on the edge shaking. It is thought she might have mysophobia - a fear of dirt.

Owners Debbie and Andrew Keeble were at a loss, until they remembered the four miniature wellies used as pen and pencil holders in their office. They slipped them on the piglet's feet - and into the mud she happily ploughed.

Now she runs over to Mr Keeble so he can put them on for her in the morning."

8:13 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

We have hot water
Current mood: happy

Gale called a few plumbers and one came out to give us a quote to install the heater.  More than $500!  So we called Home Depot, where we got it from and the chap came out.   He looked kinda like the Jamie from Mythbusters, just a little more tanned.  I showed him the old heater and the new one and before I could say anything he was ripping the electrical cables out of the old one.  I left him to it and within about 30 minutes he had installed the new one, on his own! And this is a 200lb heater.   It took all my strength to get it off the truck    He did set off our firealarms once with his blow torch, but at least we know they work now.  And the cost was much less than half what the other guys quoted.
Now we have nice hot water and I can take my first shower in two days.
AND we stopped off at Handels in Fishers for Ice Cream on the way home from dropping off the truck.   I had black cherry and banana.  All in all a good day.

8:44 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Hot Water Heater 1 - Phil 0

Defeated at the first hurdle.  Who ever installed the heater originally seems to have soldered the pipes to the bolts. Which makes it a little harder to undo them.   If something unscrews or unbolts then I'm happy.  Once I need to start thinking about cutting and welding I get a little scared.

So we have a plumber coming.   The good news (happy face) is that we got a coupon giving us a free service call and a discount on the work.   Plus we already have the new heater.

I feel a little dejected.   But hey, I'll show him who the real man is.   Maybe he'll have some books that need appraising.

6:20 AM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Damn that Murphy.

You know how it is, things are going great.  I managed to build up about a months wages in my checking account just set aside for a rainy day.

Today was a rainy day.   I stumbled out of bed and walked  past our wash room and through the daze could feel my feet were wet.   I went into the wash room and hunted for the source, which was tricky due to the amount of water.  But it turned out our hot water heater finally gave up the ghost and decided to leak.   It's leaked into the hallway and pretty much soaked the carpet all the way up the hallway.   The tank was empty and it's a 40 gallon tank, so imagine 40 gallons of water on your floor.

The good news is that hot water heaters aren't as expensive as I feared and I googled "replacing a hot water heater" and some sites say it's probably one of the easiest home repair projects.   One page only had three steps, although it was quite vague.  "Remove old heater", "Insert new heater" and "turn on".   Another had 16 pages and was talking about blow torches!  I'm assuming the truth is nearer to the former.    

Cheerleader Gale was saying things like "But you replaced the kitchen sink and the garbage disposal by yourself."
Which makes me wonder, just how hard can it be?  It's really just a big kettle.

AND the other good news is that we went out and bought a mop and a new wet/dry vac.    See, I can be positive.

AND the other other good news is that we have no hot water until I put the new heater in!   Woohoo!!!   OK, I'm pushing the being positive now.

I'll keep you informed.

2:13 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment