Big Brother 30 Years Late

Big Brother 30 Years Late

Do you remember how scary the book and movie 1984 were.  I for one refused to believe that our society, government, and lives would ever reach that level of control.  After all those were the kinds of things that happened somewhere else in the world like Germany, and Russia but not in my country, the good old US of A.

Then 1984 came and went, we are all waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it didn’t drop.  Whew!  That was close; something predicted with so much authority, didn’t happen.  Must have been like the movie War of the Worlds, just good fiction.  Here we are now thirty years later, and guess what the story teller was off by a few years.

I hope you have been paying attention to what the NSA has been up to so I won’t have write a ten post series to explain all the intricacies of spying on other world government leader by the US Government.  How about the fact that your privacy is no longer private.  All cell phone calls are now listened too.  Our emails are scrutinized, even our automobile license plates can and are being tracked with the capability to determine where in the country you are at all times.

Do you know that most city’s law enforcement agencies have the capability to drive around with a unit inside the patrol car that scans license plates on the streets, and roads to determine the ownership of the vehicle, and whether you have any outstanding warrants, or owe parking citations?

Whatever happened to the government of the people by the people, for the people?  We are being handed a bill of goods, and not only do we not have a choice, we can’t even supervise the public servants that are controlling our lives.  When did we become so slack that all of a sudden the patients are running the institution?  As I have always said, the bill of goods is always sold as being for our own good, or protection.  If we are being protected to the point of being controlled, is it worth it?  Here is another point to show you that we haven’t seen the worst of it.  Remember it’s always sold as for the purpose of serving us better:

·       Jason McInerney and his wife, Melissa, recently tapped their lunch orders onto a touchscreen at the entrance to the Be Our Guest restaurant at Florida's Walt Disney World Resort and were told to take any open seat. Moments later a food server appeared at their table with their croque-monsieur and carved turkey sandwiches.

·       Asks McInerney, a once-a-year visitor to Disney theme parks: "How did they know where we were sitting?"

·       The answer was on the electronic bands the couple wore on their wrists. That's the magic of the MyMagic+, Walt Disney's (DIS -0.50%) $1 billion experiment in crowd control, data collection, and wearable technology that could change the way people play -- and spend -- at the "Most Magical Place on Earth." ~ By Christopher Palmeri, Bloomberg BusinessWeek

 

Remember always, all this extra effort is so they can anticipate your every need!  Never mind that they can’t keep NSA away from the data, and they will now know even more about us, and how we spend your recreational time.  Oh! I almost forgot when they get hacked by some low life living in his mother’s basement in Slobovia, they will access all your information.  I sure do hope; the best is yet to come….

The Road Most Traveled

Weekend Get Away

In the first couple of years of our marriage, my wife and I enjoyed going to Reno Nevada a couple of times a year.  It wasn’t for the gambling because we have never been into the game of chance, but more for the live entertainment and some nickel and penny slots.  We enjoyed the road trip and we always spent one night halfway through the trip to relax and simply chill.  Chill is not a word I normally use but it describes perfectly the reason for the pit stop.

We had so much time together to talk and listen to our favorite music along the way.  As an example of our memories in 1978 during one of our fun trips to Reno we started listening to a very new and fun song “Copacabana.”  It was festive and not the kind of song that you would grow tired of from repetition.  We decided to scan other radio stations and found that almost every station on the air was playing the song over and over by request.  Unlike much later popular songs like Macarena which you can grow tired of fairly quick, Copacabana was not in that category.

Most usually our trips were planned for spring and fall to avoid the cold and snow as well as the summer heat.  Our typical trip from the Pacific Northwest was to travel south to Sacramento on I-5 and then east to Reno on Interstate 80.  I realize it was a little longer way around but the area and freeway was a treat to experience.  We always made it a habit to stay at a Holiday Inn in Sacramento.  We were young enough that the long drive didn’t take a toll on our lean and mean bodies (no joke we were in great shape).  Today we prefer to fly everywhere we travel, and rent a car once at our destination.

Well the title of “The Road Most Traveled,” is about the one time late in the fall that we decided to be adventurous.  As we were driving South on I-5 in Northern California we saw small sign that read Reno x number of miles this way.  My thought was that the weather was a perfect fall day about 80 degrees, the highway if you could call it that was a two lane road, and it seems that it would save us at least a half day by taking the shortcut.  Once again, my thought process was that by saving a half day of travel we could drive direct and skip the hotel stay in Sacramento.

We are very fortunate that our experience was as minimal as it turned out to be.  I was almost immediately surprised so see how quickly the road started climbing ever higher in mountainous altitude.  Next thing you know the skies darkened and temperature began to drop.  Within a couple of hours the temperature dropped to the 30s, and then it began to snow.  I had a gut feeling that if we just kept pushing forward we would leave the cold weather and snow behind us.  Before too long I could no longer see the roadway except for the plastic or fiberglass markers on the shoulders of the road that indicated where the roadway was.  We had not passed a car in either direction for over two hours and I began to worry.

Before long I noticed steam coming out from under the hood, so I stopped on my tracks, since there was no traffic, and I was afraid to pull off the road.  As I tried to check under the hood, I discovered that I couldn’t even open my door because of about two and a half feet of snow.  I backed up the car so I could have some space in front of the car.  The problem turned out to be simple, without knowing it I was using my car like a snow plow because the snow was up to my headlights.  The snow compacted into the engine compartment keeping my cooling fan from working.  I used a tire iron to remove the ice around the fan, and let the engine cool for about an hour, before restarting the engine for badly needed heat.  For safety I kept clearing my taillights, exhaust area and headlights so we could be seen. 

Within about two hours a County snowplow came along and he stopped to see if our car was in working order, and he instructed me to follow close behind him.  The bottom line is that we survived, unscathed mostly because of our innocence and faith that all would work out, we didn’t panic, and enjoyed our mini vacation.  I hate to think of how many things could have gone wrong.  Lesson learned, and from that experience forward we’ve always stayed on “The Road Most Traveled.”  The best is yet to come…..

Life’s Mission

Life’s Mission

 

Participation in this wonderful journey (life) is what it’s all about.  How do you know when your mission on earth is done and over?  You will never know, because as far as I am concerned, your mission is not over even when you die.  Until the day of your last breath and departure, you will contribute and then your legacy continues beyond.

• So what does a legacy include? As you would imagine, financial assets are certainly one part of a person’s legacy. In fact over the next few decades over $25 trillion, yes I said trillion, will pass from one generation to another making this period the largest intergenerational wealth transfer in the history of the world.
• The Allianz study actually revealed four pillars of legacy among its 2,627 people that they surveyed: values and life lessons, personal possessions of emotional value, wishes and directions to be fulfilled, and financial assets. Believe it or not, financial assets are not the most important of the four pillars. Non-financial items such as ethics, morality, faith, and religion, are ten times more important than financial matters to the elder parents and adult children.
• This study confirms that the value of your wisdom and personal experience, despite what you may perceive, is more valuable to your descendants than what you would ever have imagined. As a father, son, and grandson, I completely agree with this study and value anything non-financial from my ancestors and descendants as the most precious gifts ever given. Published: 02/01/2012  by Lee Thorsen

 

I would recommend to anyone reading this post to start a journal if you don’t already have one.  If you don’t presently have a journal, much of what you will leave as part of your legacy is still in your mind, and we all retain that information at different levels of quality, in other words depending on our family health history, our memories could begin to fade with age.  I am presently writing a book on my family history, and what little I have shared usually brings surprising reactions from my children, like I don’t know as much about you as I thought I did.

If we set our minds to it, every year, or minimally every decade could be a chapter in the book of our lives.  We usually underestimate the life we’ve lived, and can’t imagine anyone wanting to know what our life was like.  Certain periods of time might have been painfully slow and unchanging such as the pioneer days.  The period of our life on the other hand has been fast paced, especially when you see it in retrospect.

If you think for a moment about what some of us have gone through: from no television to smart television; from no widespread phone service to cellular telephones and Smart Phones; from being contained to Earth to landing on the Moon, and exploring Mars.  The amazing thing is that we lived the above mentioned events as they developed.  We can share first-hand information with our children and grandchildren that they may or may not take the time to research.

We still have time (and the mental capability) to explain to our children how their parents first met, courted and fell in love.  What our early family life was like, whether we cruised or struggled for the first few year.  How their arrival into the family completed our very existence.  Sometimes when we want to give our family a special gift but can’t afford it (financially), well, here is the answer right in front of you.  Make the gift that you can’t put a price on, and no one else can possibly give them.  Give them the gift of your legacy.  The best is yet to come….

Honor Amongst Thieves

Honor Amongst Thieves

 

Buyer Beware (read customer)!  This time of year is the appropriate time to remember that Customer Service is not always about the customer.  Big corporations are looking out for their CEO, and Stockholders.  The days when you could walk away after making a deal and closing it with a smile and a handshake are so far removed, that most people are not even aware that it ever existed.  I expect to always be on guard whenever I am told verbally that something will be provided.  Now a days, however, almost every written guarantee is made with one of many possible disclaimers:  Subject to Change without Notice, Until Further Notice, and May be terminated without advance notice, etc., etc.

 

Once upon a time before corporate greed totally took over, a guarantee for life on a product or service, meant for the duration of the customer’s life.  Today a guarantee for life is more likely to mean the life of the product or the life of the company you contract with for the service.  Another commonly used scam is:  your interest rate can be extremely increased, if you miss a payment or your payment arrives late due to mail delivery service, to any one of your creditors.  In other words you could have a perfect payment record with a credit card company, but if you are late with a different credit card company (without any association between accounts) they will increase the interest rate you are charged across the board.

 

I remember when I was a young man, just getting started in the real world, a popular joke around the banking industry was that the banks were eager to lend you money, as long as you didn’t need it.  In today’s banking world they love lending young people money especially if you can’t afford the payments, because at the minimum payment rate, the loan will never be paid.

With the exception of the home mortgage, I could do well without the credit cards, unfortunately the banking industry crooks have arranged it so that you can’t get along in the world without a credit rating.  If you don’t have a good or great credit rating you may not be able to buy or rent a home, get a job, or buy auto insurance (at least not at a good price).

 

I was brought up trained to respect, and pursue stability (continuity).  Doing the correct thing according to my upbringing, damaged my credit rating.  How can stability and dependability cause damage to your credit rating?  Well, as soon as “online banking” was offered by my credit union, I embraced it.  Because I am dependable, I assumed that the credit card companies were dependable too (honorable).  I set up my payments to be paid automatically four days before they were due.  In the case of accounts that I wasn’t using I assumed once again that at the rate I was paying (larger than minimum payments), by a certain date my balance would be paid off. 

 

 

I applied for a credit purchase and was accepted but told that my credit was less than great.  I decided to check and found that I was making late payments to credit cards.  When I checked further, I found that the credit card companies had changed their statement closing dates (and regularly do), and because I wasn’t checking my accounts regularly, my payments were going in late and the late charges were eating up my payments. If only someone would regulate the financial institutions that we are forced to deal with as a way of life.  Oh well, wishful thinking!  Stay on guard of your finances, no one watches your financial back like you can.  The best is yet to come….

Anti-Social or Smart

Anti-Social or Smart

There is a saying; that “opposites attract”, I don’t think that it applies 100% of the time. In this instance I am making reference to an activity that is very common this time of year.  Famously known as “Black Friday.”  Even that special designated name is falling apart this year.  Many corporations have gone beyond greedy, and decided to start Black Friday one week early.  Some of those very same corporations have decided to open on Thanksgiving Day.

There was a time when you had to make sure you shopped for groceries or anything else including pharmaceuticals by 10 pm on Saturday because every store closed on Saturday night and didn’t open again until Monday morning.  In the case of Washington State much of that was attributed to the Blue Laws that were still in the books and among other things prohibited was the sale of alcohol and other (considered sinful) products.  It was during those times that convenience stores came into being (Seven Eleven and others like it).  I recall that if you needed milk for the baby your only choice was to go to the Seven Eleven, and pay twice or more the going normal price.

There seems to be a segment of the population that lives for the thrill of spending up to a week in line to buy a product at 70 or 80% discount.  I can’t imagine camping in a pup tent for a week without toiletries, or a bath.  In my particular instance my thought is that I can earn enough money in a week to buy up to ten of the items these people are purchasing at full price.  With the great shopping skills you need to have some common sense (which you can’t by), and place a real value on your time, and life style.

In comparing the skill set of this people and my own is where I argue that in this instance opposites don’t attract.  I can’t imaging standing or sitting on a line for a week where people must start smelling ripe after a couple of days.  Unless I am waiting for something vital like a donated body organ, I can’t think of anything that I can’t wait to acquire until after the demand for the item diminishes.

I’ve never attended store sales on a Black Friday, and I can’t imagine starting any time soon.  Many of the people shown on the news around Black Friday sales appear to be overly aggressive, and almost selfish, not to mention disrespectful toward others.  For those of you looking forward to it, I hope you get what you are looking for and do it safely.

If you think that I am misguided, rather than smart, I’m ok with it.  As they say different strokes for different folks.  Besides all I get at Christmas comes from Santa Claus anyway.  The best is yet to come……

Halloween Stories 14

An Alberta Ghost Story 

Retold by S.E. Schlosser

There was an abandoned house sitting in the middle of a fancy neighborhood in Calgary that nobody would go near. And I mean nobody!  Now, my pal Albert was the agent in charge of selling that haunted house and he tried everything in his power to close a deal.  But folks were too plumb scared to make an offer, even at rock-bottom prices.  Finally, Albert lit on the notion of selling the house sight unseen to a rich city slicker from the States. Worked like a charm, too, until the day the city slicker decided he wanted to visit the property after all.

 

Albert was all set to take the fellow there at high noon, but the city slicker’s train was delayed, so it wasn’t until after dinner that the two men set off for the haunted house. It was a dark and rainy night, but early enough in the evening that the ghost might still be resting. At least, Albert hoped this was the case. 

 

Albert unlocked the front door, and it opened with an ominous creak. Albert swallowed nervously, but the city slicker just chuckled and said something about atmosphere. Albert relaxed a bit, and wondered if he shouldn’t have raised the price a bit. The two men entered a tall foyer absolutely festooned with dusty cobwebs. 

 

“Creepy!” the city slicker said enthusiastically. He bounded energetically into the center of the foyer, “Come to me, foul spirits!” he intoned loudly.  

 

Immediately, the whole house rang with a sinister, unearthly chuckle.  Then an unearthly voice boomed: “I’m coming down now!” The city slicker jumped and then turned to Albert with a happy grin. “Great special effects! How’d you do that?” 

 

“I didn’t,” Albert said, his teeth chattering. He backed up until he hit the front door and stood there with his hand on the knob.  

 

“I’m coming down now!” the voice boomed again, and the city slicker’s grin slipped a bit. He looked at Albert’s frightened posture and then followed the agent’s gaze toward the stairs.  

A bright light exploded into being at the top of the steps and quickly resolved into a sinister green head with flaming eyes, writhing hair, and fangs instead of teeth. The head opened its mouth and screamed; a terrible, high-pitched sound that scraped across the nerves.  

As the head began rolling down the stairs toward the two men, Albert’s nerve broke, and a moment later he was halfway down the road, his own scream rivaling that of the specter in the house behind him.  

 

It wasn’t until he was almost home that he realized that he had company. The city slicker was running along beside him.  

“Mister, I don’t think I want that house after all,” he panted.

“Why not?” asked a hauntingly familiar voice. Albert and the city slicker looked over and saw the green head with flaming red eyes keeping pace with them as they raced down the street.  

The city slicker gave a screech that would have shamed a banshee and disappeared into the distance so fast there was no keeping up with him.

“Must have been the asking price,” the floating head said conversationally to Albert. The real estate agent shrieked even louder than the city slicker and ran away so fast that his shoes made sparks against the pavement.

 

The next day, Albert quit his job and moved to Vancouver, where he spent the rest of his life working on a fishing boat.   And the haunted house fell into ruin and was eventually torn down. 

Happy Halloween!  The best is yet to come….

Halloween Story 12

Ghost Story                                                                                                                                                 by Princess Peng

There’s an old schoolhouse just outside of Calgary in Chestermere; several years ago there was a fire that forced its closure. In recent years it has been a hotbed teenage/paranormal activity. I’d heard rumors that the place was very haunted and kept an ear open for stories of the place.

I was told that after the fire the wrecking crews couldn’t demolish the building, on the first attempt the wrecking crew all became mysteriously ill and were eventually unable to stand. Another crew came by to do the job a little later, no one felt sick but apparently just as they were swinging the wrecking ball toward the building it stopped suddenly and the ball snapped off the chain. These are the stories I was told as to why the school was never torn down.

Back in the beginning of March some friends and I decided to make our own spoof of MTV’s Fear complete with video cameras, ludicrous dares and a sack of weed to be shared amongst the survivors. This wasn’t the first time I’d done something like this. The contestants were all teenagers, most of them local gang members who claimed to be totally fearless.

As we approached the site we realized we’d have to cut across the neighboring property to gain access to the school, this was a royal pain in the ass as we were carrying several bags including audio/video equipment and two tricycles (to be used in the Shining-style tricycle race). The neighbor was a scruffy looking old man, we know this because he chased us down armed with a shotgun as we tried to trespass onto the property. We lost our first two contestants even before getting to the site. We jumped the fence and hid out of sight until the old man went away and then walked around the outside of the building until we found a window to enter through.

The school itself was seriously creepy, it had been vandalized by plenty of people before we got there. the first thing that happened even before scoping out the place was a lone door open on its own and then slammed shut, there was no wind or anything blowing through the place. We split into two teams, each had a camcorder, an audio recorder, a flashlight and a two way walkie talkie. The point of this was to do a search for spooky locations for the other contestants to do their dares. Within two minutes another contestant quit saying that this was wrong and he had a feeling we weren’t meant to be here.

Some of us looked through a few of the abandoned classrooms when we got a call on one of our cellphones, it was the other team saying their equipment wasn’t working and they were stuck at the entrance to what they thought was a gymnasium. Their flashlight was just flickering and they said this area was really cold. I laughed, fired up the video camera and brought the remaining three members of my team with me to see this place. As we approached the area the light of my flashlight began to flicker as well, I didn’t think too much of it since I bought the flashlight from a dollar store. Just then one of the other team members ran past me screaming, “We have to get out of here!” My team all looked puzzled and I yelled back to him that he was a wimp. As I neared the other team I noticed they were all bunched together and grabbing hold of one another. I started laughing and then one of the guys said that there was someone in the room ahead of them. Just then it became really hot, all of us were unzipping our coats and trying to get our flashlights to work. My flashlight came on again, I open the door, peered in with the camcorder and asked, “Is anyone in here?” The ground was covered in a layer of fresh, undisturbed powder snow, and no one was inside. It suddenly became really cold again and I suggested this be one of the sites of the dares.

The walkie talkie suddenly switched back on and it was the guy who had run past us saying he was really scared, couldn’t find the exit and needed one of us to escort him out. The guy next to me tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to the ground in front of us. Before us in the previously undisturbed snow was a set of footprints that seemed to originate in the center of the room and stop just in front of us. These footprints were definitely not there a moment earlier, they were prints of bare feet and no bigger than a small child’s. Personally, I thought this was a good sign, nobody else did though. Upon this discovery the remaining team members ran for the front door as fast as their feet would carry them. I stayed just long enough to take a photograph and then followed suit.

P.S.: If anyone decides to visit this site please be on the lookout for the sack of weed I lost while making my getaway.  The best is yet to come…..

Halloween Stories 11

The Haunting of Kanaka Pete the Axe Murderer     

by L. Marie

I was recently browsing the internet and came across the story of Kanaka Pete at www.kanakapete.com this brought back a personal experience I had with Kanaka Pete. I would like to share it with you.

In the fall of 2007 I was attending University in Nanaimo BC, Canada. A few weeks before Halloween my boyfriend and I took the guided, haunted tour of Nanaimo. During the tour we heard the story of Kanaka Pete.

Kanaka Pete was a big Hawaiian that lived in Nanaimo with his native wife and their infant daughter. In 1867, after a night of drinking, Kanaka Pete returned home to find his wife’s parents in his home and his wife told him she was leaving him. Pete left and got totally intoxicated. He returned around midnight to find his Father-in-law in the act of adultery (incest) with Pete’s wife, while the Mother-in-law watched and the baby lay beside them. In a drunken fit of rage Pete grabbed an axe and did not stop swinging until his wife, her parents and his daughter were all chopped into pieces.

He fled to Newcastle Island where he was hunted down and captured. After a rushed trial he was hung. He vowed he would return and have vengeance. This scared the locals to the point that neither the Europeans nor Natives wanted him buried on their land. He was taken to Newcastle Island, a former smallpox colony that was uninhabited and they buried him in a makeshift, unmarked grave.

Our tour guide told us that his evil spirit still lurks the far side of Newcastle Island looking for revenge and to never be on the far side of Newcastle Island after dark.

This was the most interesting of all the ghost stories we heard that night. My boyfriend and I thought it would be real exciting to go camping on Newcastle Island the following Saturday, especially because it was close to Halloween with the thrill of maybe finding out more about Kanaka Pete.

When we got to the Island we saw signs saying no camping beyond this point. We spoke with one old timer there and were told that for our safety it was dangerous to camp past the signs. He told us spirits that have unfinished business still roam near their graves and that Kanaka Pete is confined to a certain area of the Island.

We set up our camp on the safe side. While we were camping we saw some people in kayaks heading towards the far side of the Island. We never saw them return.

Before dark we took a little hike part way on the far side of the Island. We came across the body of a dead rabbit with its head chopped off. It looked as though it had just happened. That was really freaky as we did not see anyone around there. We headed straight back to camp.

When we took the little ferry over to Newcastle it was a calm sunny day during the night it got cloudy and the winds came up making it even spookier. The winds became very high and the night air became chilling cold.

During the night we started to hear some of the scariest noises. Shortly after we went into our tent for the night we thought we heard a scream coming from the far side of the Island. This really spooked us. Not too long after that we heard more terrifying screaming followed by the sound of chopping. This happened many times throughout the night. It was the most terrifying thing we had ever heard. We wanted to leave the Island but the little ferry would not be back until morning. We were chilled to the bone with fright. Shortly after midnight we heard what sounded like a fierce demonic roar and more screaming followed by violent chopping then the most eerie laughter. Needless to say we spent the entire night huddled together scared to death. We tried calling on our cell phones but we had no reception all through the night, we had reception earlier in the day and the next morning.

Before that night I did not believe in ghosts and thought ghost stories were fun and amusing but after my experience that has now changed.

That was the most frightening and horrific night of my life. I believe there is something very evil on the far side of that Island, we could feel it and we did hear it! I will never forget that cold October night on Newcastle Island and I believe to this day the ghost of the evil axe murder Kanaka Pete was nearby. If we would have ignored the warning signs and camped on the far side of the Island that night I feel we would never have returned. That is one more reason why I don’t like camping.  The best is yet to come….

Lurking Evil 2

Lurking Evil 2

 

This post is an update to: “Lurking Evil”, posted October 22, 2013, http://www.being50.com/2013/10/lurking-evil.html

It would break my heart to run into her room, and see the tears streaming down her face, while screaming at the top of her little lungs and trembling.  I swear if I had known than what was scaring her, I would have asked that evil to take me on instead. 

Even after determining that there was a pattern of waking up at midnight I didn’t connect the dots.  When you are raised into a good church going god fearing young adult you don’t have a sinister mind that immediately jumps to conclusions or goes to the dark side as a first option.  My first thought was that she was ill perhaps a stomach ache or an ear ache.  About a week after the problem began I decided to sit in a rocking chair in her room next to the crib, and see what was waking her up.

At around 11:50 she started to act restless coming out of a deep sleep.  At first I thought she was going to sleep through the midnight hour, but she didn’t.  By 12 midnight sharp she was wide awake and screaming sitting up in the middle of her crib.  She hurriedly stood up using the crib adjustable (up/down) side to help herself stand up.  The minute she saw me in the room, she stretched her little arms towards me as in asking to be lifted out of her crib.  I took her to the master bedroom and put her back to sleep.  As usual she slept until morning once she went back to sleep.  This event took place on a Friday night.  The very next morning I called my mother to discuss that the baby was going through this problem of not being able to sleep through the night.

In my culture (I am of Mexican descent) we believe in “Curanderos,” especially the older generation (like my parents and grandparents).  My mother believed (past down from my grandmother) in treating people for “Espanto.”  As an example Espanto doesn’t have to be supernatural, it can be as basic as falling or almost falling into a river, or falling off of a roof.  It’s the act of something unnatural such as falling or almost getting hit by a car.  I’m sure the root of this belief also deals with supernatural occurrences.  My mother requested that I bring the baby over to her house (about 50 miles away) or she would come and visit (the sooner the better).  I decided to make the drive.

My mother saw things that I had not been seeing.  She told me that the baby had circles under her eyes most likely from lack of sleep.  Definitely a sign that something was wrong.  She recommended that I take her to a Catholic Priest to give her a blessing, and to have the house blessed as well.

When I talked to the priest and told him the whole almost two week story, he told me that he wouldn’t be able to travel to my town to bless the house (50 miles away), but he did offer a blessing to the baby, and gave me the name of a traveling priest that went to various church parishes, as assigned by the church.  He asked that I tell him everything and that I mention that he came recommended from the one church in Salinas.

That same day I went in search of the priest.  He wasn’t easy to locate especially on the weekend because he moved around the area to various churches (but he always returned to a base where he lived).  After returning to his residence for the third time, I was able to make contact with him.  He asked me if I was aware of the houses’ history, and I told him that I wasn’t.  He explained that sometimes the history of a house can cause evil spirits to linger after someone is killed, tortured, abused or drugs are used, even perform devil worship.

He mentioned that he was leaving the area early the next morning and wouldn’t be able to visit my home any earlier then the following weekend.  However, he didn’t think it was wise to continue to live in that house without intervention.  He told me what I needed to do to protect the house and the family from evil manifestations or influences.  At the risk of sounding overwhelmed by my desire to protect my baby and home, I will only divulge in general terms what I was asked to do.

I started out by buying an adequate supply of Mustard seed.  I stood at my main entrance to the house facing out. I applied the seed around the perimeter of the house going to the left and completely going around the house arriving at the front door from the right side.  The whole time repeating the same two prayers I was given nonstop.  Finally I placed a sewing needle in the baby’s room exterior window, leaving it there permanently.  That night and thereafter the baby slept uninterrupted through the night.  Since that time way back then, I always perform that ritual for any new house that we move to.  My baby (many years later) and I recently returned from a one week vacation in Southern California.  The best is yet to come….

Lurking Evil

Lurking Evil

 

When my first born daughter was around 4 months old, she was healthy, had a great appetite, and very bright.  Of course you expect that to be said by every parent with at least their first child.  In all honesty I’ve always been amazed by the intellect that my children are born with.  This girl was beautiful, and was crawling, and standing up in her crib.  She would take every one of her toys and not just play with it, but in fact would analyze every toy as if trying to figure out how it worked.

This baby was my pride and joy, and I would do whatever was necessary to make sure that she was well provided for.  Her meals were always timely, her medical care was also extremely important to me, I believe that even she would admit, that she was daddy’s little girl.

Unfortunately because of my youth I was unable to provide her with the one thing that I consider essential for safety and to keep her safe from unwanted influences not of this world.  The essential necessity in my way of thinking, is a brand new home that would be her shelter without any previous history or influences. 

Life for us was very stable around that time and I had just worked my way into a big job related promotion, opening a new industrial plant in Santa Cruz California.  You could say that I was the company’s “Golden Haired Boy,” that is to say, that everything I did was perfect.  I could do no wrong in the eyes of the company (I was the go-to-guy).  For my young age I had just taken my first (as manager) location from 68^th place ranking, out of 80 location to 3^rd place in productivity performance.  I had also brought it to 2^nd place from 74^th place in Budget (expenditures).  All of that was accomplished within 15 months of my joining the company and taking over the production management.

While everything seems to be going in the right direction, my promotion to a new location in a resort type town and in my eyes “paradise,” comes with side effects.  I never complained then and I am not complaining now.  Believe me, my promotion/assignment made me the envy of close to 300 managers that included Plant Managers, Production Managers, Sales Managers, and even a couple of Vice Presidents from Home Office.  The only other coveted assignment was Las Vegas.  However, as the saying goes be careful what you wish for.

My problem was that while I had a great job, and salary to go with it, I was young, and never knew when I could be transferred, so for that reason, I didn’t buy a new home, that plus cost prohibitive housing costs at the time for the area.  So I rented a very nice 2 bedroom in an above average neighborhood.  Almost immediately the problem manifested itself.

From the first day we moved in my little princess would start crying at exactly 12 midnight.  The first few days I wasn’t concerned because I didn’t see the pattern.  As, I am sure many of us are in the habit of looking at the bedside clock when awakened in the night, I started to notice she would always start screaming at exactly midnight.  It would break my heart to run into her room, and see the tears streaming down her face, while screaming at the top of her little lungs and trembling.  I swear if I had known than what was scaring her, I would have asked that evil to take me on instead.  I will need to follow up this post with “Lurking Evil 2.” The best is yet to come….

Halloween Stories 10

 

                                                            PhantomVehicle                                                                                                                                    Author Unknown

In August of 2006, I saw a “phantom” car/vehicle on Angeles Crest Highway 2 in Tujunga, California. It was late evening, about 10:00 pm. My friend who lives in the canyon parked my Jeep on the side of the two-lane highway so he could get some belongings from his home. I waited in the car for maybe 15 minutes at most. I was sitting facing oncoming cars, and only as they turned a very sharp bend in the road in front of me did I just begin to see their headlights coming down and around. This highway is narrow with no street lamps many curves and absolutely zero visibility after dark…

On my side I saw headlights eventually approaching from behind and then disappear pretty quickly up the pitch dark road. Sitting in the front passenger seat of my Jeep I could not even see the hood of my car nor outside my windows… I only noticed my friend as he was standing right outside the car door. So, I see a few cars pass by, with headlights and taillights, and then around the sharp turn facing me comes a car with no headlights. My first thought was how in the world this person is driving without headlights, what reason at all to even attempt it. I knew it to be impossible, but I was just transfixed on this car watching it drive past me. Looking for any light or a driver hunched over the steering wheel to view the lines in the road possibly?!

It passed by me very slowly quietly no driver nor passengers and no lights. I sat there baffled, the car passes right alongside of me, so I try to see the driver (maybe their head is glued to the windshield to see, but still impossible!) and I do not see anybody. My eyes followed the car as it passed me by to see if it had taillights that perhaps the driver was breaking frequently in order to drive this way, but I saw no taillights either. The car was moving very slowly which I first thought was what the driver had to do in order to even attempt what I saw. It looked like an old Buick (sedan?) two-door, steel grey color (sorry, don’t know much about types of cars).

My friend came back to the Jeep just as the car passed, so I asked him if he saw it walking back up the road, and he said no. I quickly told him I was going to drive back out to see if I could catch up to it since it was moving so slow, but I never did. There are no exits or turn-offs for at least a few miles further out of the canyon… it disappeared.

If you are of the type that has an inquisitive mind, you will not settle for an occurrence that doesn’t make sense or leaves you hanging.  I am of that type of mind set, I also have the kind of personality that knows when things are best left alone.  With regard to supernatural or paranormal, some questions are best left unanswered.  The best is yet to come….

 

 

 

 

 

 

Halloween Stories 9

Country Hospitality

This took place in 2007 when I was traveling to Ohio for my Uncles funeral. It was a very dark and lonely stretch of country road. Thanks to a country bumpkin at my last fuel stop, giving me bogus directions which were supposed to be a short cut. I had been driving for three hours without seeing another living soul. My only companion was the harvest moon over head in the night sky. The radio was nothing but static. My eyes searched the darkness ahead for any sign of life.

Just when I was running out of hope and fuel, up ahead I saw a light shining out of the darkness. My car sputtered out of gas as I coasted into the parking lot of an old mom and pop style truck stop. I had to push my car the last twenty feet to the pumps. As I put the car in park an elderly gent came running out and started to pump fuel into my gas tank. He said hi names Bob while I fill her up why don’t you go on in the wife has vittles ready. I thought it was strange that out here in the middle of nowhere at three in the morning anyone would have food ready in case a traveler happened by. But I was hungry and went on in to the restaurant, there a kindly old woman was setting food on the table, a feast fit for a king. As I ate she kept my coffee cup filled with piping hot coffee, and kept the food coming, until I couldn’t eat another bite.

I thought the bill would be unbelievably high, but she only charged me five dollars. I thought for these prices I would make a point to stop back in here on my return trip.

As I paid Bob for the fuel I asked him for directions back to the highway. He told me best way to go, then said son you look to tired to travel why don’t you catch a nap in the parking lot. It’s pretty quiet and no one will bother you.

I thought why not, so I nodded off in my car, only planning on a quick cat nap.

I guess I was more tired than I thought. It was well into morning when I was awakened by a tapping on my window. It was a police officer, he wanted to know if I was alright. I told him that I was fine and about to resume my trip.

When he asked me why I was parked at a burned out deserted truck stop. That’s when I took a look around, and got the shock of my life. The place was a burned out shell that looked like no one had been there in twenty odd years.

I told the officer all about my previous night’s experience, the whole time he just smiled and nodded.

When I finished relaying my tale, he said Bob and Sarah owned this place until about twenty five years back when they both passed away in the freak electrical fire that took this place. And from time to time we hear from lost and stranded travelers about them returning to give aid and comfort in times of great need. So just write it off to our local guardian angels Bob and Sarah.

As I pulled back on the road I felt a warmth knowing that Bob and Sarah were looking down on me from up in heaven. Thanks again Bob and Sarah, and keep up the good work.

This story was submitted to Archive X on December 21 2011, name not available.  The best is yet to come….

Halloween Stories 8

HOTEL GHOST

Ghost Writer

 

We were set for a lazy day at Galveston beach. My husband and I plopped down on some lounge chairs under a huge umbrella and planted our bare feet in the sand.  It wasn't long before a man wearing a t-shirt with the words BEACH BUM written on it came to charge for the rental.  He overheard us talking about the GHOST TOURS OF GALVESTON ISLAND.  

 

"Did you go on the ghost tour? He asked.  "I've never been. How was it?" We explained to him that we had gone on the tour the night before and had experienced some strange things. "I just hope my camera captured something," I said.  I praised our tour guide "Grace" who was entertaining and took us to the sight of some real ghost stories.  He was curious and I elaborated, "The tour starts at the Moody Railroad Station and includes various historic buildings on THE STRAND. The ghost tour culminates at the Tremont Hotel."  The young man suddenly turned ashen. 

 

"Did you say the Tremont hotel?  I use to work there. We had a lot of paranormal activity at the hotel.  I can tell you from personal experience, it's definitely haunted!   In the lobby there are three pictures hanging on the wall.   Every day we had to straighten them.  You would set them right side up, go about your business and in minutes they would go back to being tilted.  I mean if it was one picture, you could logically dismiss it.  But all three?   Not a day would pass by that you wouldn't have to straighten them up and then they would go back to being tilted on their right side.  It was creepy."

 

He asked us if we remembered seeing the enormous palm tree in the middle of the lobby. ”Yes, it's huge and impressive.......almost touches the ceiling." Then he described several occasions in which certain guests got unexpectedly brushed by a falling palm leaf.  ”It happened several times. No one is ever hurt.  But a palm leaf falling from a high altitude would always startle the chosen guest.  Management would do their best to appease them.  I tell you, it was as if a ghost was taunting us at the hotel!"  

 

Then I relayed our experience the night of the ghost tour.  Grace, our tour guide had just told a ghost tale about "the salesman" from the late 1800's who is said to haunt the Tremont as well as the building next door where he is believed to have been murdered. She explained that the elevator on the right-hand side seemed to have a mind of its own.  Many guests have reported ghostly activity.  She did not press the elevator button but instead waited until it opened of its own accord.  As soon as the elevator doors opened and remained opened for several seconds, everyone quickly started flashing their cameras in hopes of capturing something paranormal.  I was at the back and just as I made my way toward the front, the elevator started to close.  

 

"Oh no" I said aloud in disappointment. I knew I had gotten there too late to take a photograph.  Just then, the elevator with its doors halfway closed, unexpectedly stopped and reopened.  

 

No one had pressed the elevator button, at least no one we could see. Everyone at the tour gasped.  I flashed my camera.  I had one picture left.   Later when I developed my film, to my surprise a strange tormented face appeared in the lower right hand corner of the elevator. This was not a reflection and the elevator was empty when I took the photograph!

 

In my way of being I will never, run into an apparition (ghost – spirit) on purpose.  I once went to the Winchester House (San Jose, California) and paid for the tour.  It was somber, and spooky, but I was young (in my early 20’s), I suppose that I can claim that my brain wasn’t fully developed.  I can attest that I haven’t purposely gone in search of since that time nor do I have it in my plans.  The best is yet to come….