Computer problems? Blame ghosts

I wish it was possible for me to claim I live a normal life. But the truth of the matter is, my life has been far from the common definition of "normal." Rather, it's been a life of interesting highs and lows, but also interesting aspects in and of themselves.

One particular thing that stands out about my life is that I have seen ghosts. Ever since I was a child, I have seen ghosts.

One ghost who pops up from time to time is my grandfather, my dad's father. My mom first saw him at my crib when I was a baby so long ago, after I had the car accident. She was stressing out over if I would live, if I would be all right, and my ghostly grandfather assured her that I would be okay. Here's another instance: Shortly after I had my child, I awoke one morning to see his spirit in the bedroom, hurriedly leaving because he knew I was awake now. But he turned to take one last look at me before he left, and I still remember his face to this day. I told my mom and she guessed he wanted to see his brand new great-grandchild, who'd been sleeping in a bassinet in my room.

Then Grandpa made another appearance in my home, but this time he didn't show himself visually.

One evening, I was sitting on the couch in my living room, going over old family photos. I remember lingering over the photos of my grandfather with my dad. I'd sadly look at those pictures, wishing I could see him just one last time. I was a baby when he died and even though there are pictures of him with me, I don't remember him too well. Perhaps some things are remembered, deep inside, but I can't just "pull them out" to fondly recall my short time with him.

After I placed the pictures back in the envelope they were kept in, something bizarre happened. There was an entertainment center across from me, with a TV set, VCR and cable box. Immediately, the TV came on, but it was all fuzzy. Then it turned off again, came back on showing the same picture, then it turned off. A tape left in the VCR suddenly popped out and the VCR shut off.

I was startled by this, of course. But then I smiled, knowing my grandfather had somehow let me know he was still with me.

That's what I thought because I know that when there is a presence in the room, when spirit activity is occuring, a number of things can happen to confirm they are there. Some people suddenly get a headache (yes, this is true!), some pick up on smells, some feel a coldness in the room, the hair on the back of the neck stands up and some items move. A very common telltale sign of spirit activity, though, is when the electricity starts acting up. Lights flicker (this happened in the haunted house we lived in), watches stop working and radios just come on all by themselves.

I often joke that I'm a jinx around ALL technological things, because just using the microwave gets it working weird. Or even not working right at all. Ha. But I actually suspect that something else is to blame for these techno quirks: Spirit activity.

I wish I could say I "grew out" of all that ghost-sighting stuff, but I haven't. I can't, really! I still see ghosts from time to time. Admittedly, not as often as I used to, but I do see them. I will also see strange flashes of light and feel a touch on my arm or even a "hand" going through my hair.

Recently, I have been having computer problems REALLY bad. One such problem is my computer constantly rebooting itself. Unfortunately, it happens when I'm in the middle of writing something, answering an email or ordering something online.

And I end up sitting there as the computer reboots, grumbling about it.

So many people have been telling me to get this computer looked at. My ex can't figure out why it's been like this (and he's a computer expert) and others I have talked to don't understand why the computer does these things.

Well, since there's no other logical explanation for this....then it would seem I have nothing left but the glaringly obvious one to cite as my culprit: I had a special visitor around me, one which the computer couldn't really function very well around.

Often, if I surrender myself to this, it works out in the end. I'll step away, do other things and think about what I'd been writing or what I'd been trying to do or say. And usually that gets me to realize that perhaps the computer flatlining on me like that had been a good thing after all, because what I'd been doing before it shut down wasn't really the right thing to write...or even do.

But this also happens during other times, and not just when I'm writing. It'll happen during chats with people, when I'm checking stuff out, ordering online, etc. Usually, something ELSE comes up, which I realize while the computer reboots itself. I need to be somewhere, I need to call someone, I have to do SOMETHING that needs my attention RIGHT NOW.

So maybe it's my grandpa paying a visit after all, checking up on me like he always used to.