Now he's 6.

My son turned 6 and after seeing me the night before and then going to his grans for cake, he spent his birthday being taken to THE DEEP in Hull. I rang him in the morning to ask what he'd got and then he rang me in the evening to tell me about his day. I was in the cinema with his (half) sister watching the brilliant Maleficent but he was more important. It was great that he wanted to ring. I also saw him in person for a cuddle as I dropped my step daughter off. 

I spent the remaining hour playing Watchdogs which I'm loving. 

Today after my half day at work my son and I are going to Legoland in Manchester.  

Soon be 6

The bank holiday saw my son spend longer with me here and there as we visited my brothers for his birthday tea and elsewhere his mum had me stall while she bought our sons presents for his upcoming birthday. Anyway we played a lot of Minecraft Survival Island together which we both enjoyed. The weather was poor but we still managed to go to the local park. 

Tuesday, my WATCHDOGS PS4 game arrived and I wanted nothing more than to go home. Eventually I did just that and squeezed in a couple of hours before a PPS ghost investigation had me leave the house to go to Riddlesden. I wished I didn't have to go out but the night proved me glad I had. The investigation contained an intriguing level of interaction by the end of the night and I look forward to doing the evidence review and write up. 

I'm trying to give the movies a rest for the most part this week. 

It's now Wednesday and I will be picking up my son for his birthday eve present opening at mine and then his grandma's. He is turning 6 years old and has already brought me more joy than any other human. 

I have had numerous partners across the years, mostly fleeting months only mind but even so, I've always known that I loved my TV set more than I loved the human girls. 

However, it's testament to my son that I would throw my tv out and spend my remaining years with him if such a choice had to be made. 

Naturally, such a decision will never have to be made but he'd win. 

Other people around me are having changes in their lives as the years pass and I have had a consistent three years of just plain happiness. The old me would  fucking hate the new me. 

  

X Men 'Second Class' : Return To Sender.

As planned I hot footed it home from work, threw some tea down and raced to catch the 5:30pm showing of X-Men: Days Of a Future Past at my local flea pit (which is actually very tidy). 

Even though this was early and close to the end of a normal working day, I entered the screen to find my normal seats (the front row of the main section) littered with viewers except for those spare seats which segregate friendship groups from other humans. I deliberated in going up the steps for one second before choosing to pop myself in one of the front row spares. I slotted in between both armrests which were filled with buckets of pop. The pop got moved with whispers of disapproval from either side. On my left a gargantuan male which I thought of as Harry Knowles but in fact revealed herself to be a woman later when I saw her return from the loo. On my right was a fidgety man who turned out to have some genuine mental issues as he seemed to be accompanied by a 'helper' of some sort. He was quite sweet actually because he physically showed his excitement in his manner and verbally added to the shocks on screen with gasps of surprise and howls of delight. 

The film satisfied me, especially QUICKSILVER but not Richard Nixon. 

I got home and put Labor Day on the iPad whilst playing Minecraft. 

A good evening. 

Fitness and relaxing

Three days into my food diary I've learnt there's nothing I can learn about my eating habits which will be of any benefit. I eat regularly ....er.. that's it. I think exercise and portion control are the key factors. 

NEWS FLASH: Eat less + burn more calories= get thinner. 

(I'll even give you that secret for free!) 

Tonight is when I go and see X Men Days Of Future Past and I'm very much looking forward to that. I have ten films to watch by Tuesday- totally doable for me. I'm going to be totally chilled this weekend while fitting enjoyable exercise in too. 

My boy is really excited about his birthday next week and it's infectious. Oh to be turning 6 again. Maybe if we wish hard enough we will have a body swap scenario on our hands. Oh what hilarity will ensue from that situation. 

  

Positivity blah

It's another hot day in May. Like a precursor to a summer we will likely never receive. My working day has been a pleasant affair so far. I've even read FOCUS magazine which touched on fascinating subjects such as quantum entanglement. I hated physics at school but I seem to have a real interest in atoms and stuff now in my search for the human soul. 

I started a new  Minecraft save on the PS3 but this time on Normal difficulty, now that I've had a degree of experience. It's a large but enjoyable waste of time. I'm waiting for the ps4 version to get its release date. WATCHDOGS comes out next week too which I pre ordered. 

I had an ex girlfriends best mate friend request me on Facebook yesterday which conjured up long lost memories of 19 years ago. Fuck I'm old. 

I hoped to do my canal walk twice this week but a cancelled PPS investigation took up enough of my evening to rule that out. 

My food diary made me not eat one last item yesterday so it's proved itself useful on that level. Looking at the list I didn't see much to reduce. It's not so much that I eat unhealthily it's more that I eat something or other every three hours for almost 18 hours. I'm not large by any means but I'm certainly not taut. 

The earlier start to me mornings has remained a pleasure, especially as the daylight still arrives before I wake. I'm just feeling really good about being me. 

Blah blah positivity blah. You know how I do.

 

Healthy happy bore.

I've started a food diary today. Writing down what I intake is surely going to have some effect upon me grazing constantly. My first rule of smaller portions seems like a good idea. My canal walking has shown an improvement quickly and I intend to up the number of times I do it and the distance all being well. This fits with the other weeks notion that making the tv the last priority works best. 

I'm loving this self improvement vibe. 

It's birthday season this month with my son and both my brothers plus my son is going to a double friends birthday party this weekend. 

In July I turn 40. 

You can't pause your age so try be ok with it. 

The sun is shining and I have a lust for life which I wish I could share. 

The black clouds of life move silently closer. Bad news will one day be the topic of the moment so while it's not, let's play. 

SURPRISE FATHER REUNION

The weekend had been the first hot hot hot one of the year and yesterday my son and I had driven to Yorkshire Dales Ice Cream once again to sample the icy delights as well as the playground. I was uncomfortable slightly with my long sleeves due to my skin reaction to the sun if unguarded. It was the stuff memories are made of.

My evening was spent watching the new Godzilla movie with my stepson who stayed over at mine playing Minecraft PS3 till 1am. I was up at 6am watching films but he didn't surface until 11:15am. 

After dropping my stepson home and seeing my own dear son for a minute also by chance, I had half a mind to call at my brothers whose birthday it is next week. Even as I parked on the road outside I felt reluctant to go knock since I didn't know who was already there. There was a car parked outside and I had no idea who it was. If i knocked there'd be no swift turning back. I still chose to try and he had no visitors, in fact he was home alone. 

We chatted over a cup of tea inside with the doors flung wide and another person arrived at his open back door. IT WAS OUR OWN FATHER WHO I'D NOT SEEN FOR 6 YEARS! 

But d'you know what? I wasn't remotely bothered. Even though we'd technically had a falling out...well...more of a parting ...we had been e mailing most weeks in a polite fashion, otherwise it would have been very awkward. 

I felt calm and confident inside and we could jump into actual conversation based on our e mails which was a huge leap forward. The three of us handled the moment well and at the first sign of a long silence i made my leave saying "It's been good to see you Dad" and meaning it. I surprised myself at how ok i'd been about it. I reflected that my visit may have been meant to occur by my guiding spirit whoever that may be. 

It was an historic moment and I left pleased with myself and headed straight for my great grandparents grave in Morton cemetery but was unsuccessful in locating. I wasn't fazed. 

Later on as the sun dipped in the skies, I set off for a walk on the canal to Kildwick and back to walk off the pizzas I'd eaten this weekend.  I've set myself a goal for this week onwards, that is, to eat the same things at first but to eat less in portion sizes. I'm getting the wrong kind of stocky. 

With all that's gone on this weekend I feel a clean start for the week ahead. 

I intend to embrace it. 

Tv off again!

The only way forward yesterday at work was to plod on slowly. I was printing a crappy long job but got through it ok. My evening was filled with moving a piece of furniture from mine which left a large dusty hole to vacuum. It led to a larger than expected tidy up. 

After a shower I grabbed a cup of tea and finished reviewing Tuesday nights paranormal investigation audio which I'd caught on my new Tascam recorder. I wrote the investigation write up next and rather than put the tv on I wrestled with our new CCTV 8 camera recording device hoping to fathom it out. It took an hour or so but I did manage to record some footage and then play it back successfully. 

It was 9pm before I knew it but I'd done all outstanding work which would normally fall into the 'put off' category. 

Twice this week I've not had the tv on and it felt good. 

On the flip side I'm now left with a heavy tv on weekend. 

This Friday morning sun has made things feel extra good. 

Early riser.

This is my second morning of getting up earlier before work to have breakfast at home. I'm sat with a cup of tea at home and it's a pleasant experience which gives me a run up to the day ahead. 

Daylight was still up before me and that helps make it feel later. 

I took my son to his grans last night and the time flew too fast. I'll see him again tomorrow and he's staying at mine then. It's a good arrangement seeing him every other day and many don't have it that good. This weekend my stepson is staying with me too and he's going through his awkward teenage years but so far has been fine with me. 

Everything feels ok but I seem to be thinking about the gaps in my life a little too much. What am I missing out on by A/ not drinking and B/ not having a partner? I feel a little 'too satisfied' doing my own thing but that's a stupid complaint. That's the trouble you see when you no longer have a situation to escape- you start to lose appreciation of the situation. Maybe I need someone to punch me in the face. 

Form an orderly queue please. 

My track on soundcloud

http://soundcloud.com/chriswhitehouse-1/endless-floating-head/s-wbZvl

Is anybody listening?

I plugged my Denon earphones in and put a timer on for 45 minutes. I set off walking from Silsden towards Kildwick along the banks of the Leeds Liverpool canal which has ducks and barges on. The most time I've ever managed is thirty minutes and so I've never reached my destination of The white Lion pub. But today, as I strolled with a film podcast in my ears, I realised I was in pastures new and, yes, Lo and behold, there was a village. 40 minutes was the actual time of travel by foot. I sat down in a church yard quiet for two minutes before seeing the time and having to walk back. I didn't even go inside for a wee. I got in my van and drove to cineworld to watch FRANK which was my film of the year so far followed by SABOTAGE which I was totally fine with. The afternoon was here by the time I returned home. I watched a little tv before researching a pub in Haworth where we are doing an investigation next week. 

Minecraft and music prevailed in my final hours of Sunday. I feel good about myself with a shade of self doubt. I worry about being forgotten about. A faded memory from some forgotten year. A fossil at 40. 

A square peg in a world of round holes. 

23:13pm. I guess that my weekend is over. I've set my alarm clock to the new time of 6am in the hope of maybe showering or just pottering before work. 

If I fall over in the woods with no one around to hear me, will I make a sound? 

Retro ipod

Driving along in 2014 and having my iPod classic makes me feel a rainbow of emotions. Some tracks by favourite bands of old make me feel different about them as I used to. I like some of the slower songs now and hear their meaning whereas I grow tired of some of the old favourites as if I've worn out my pleasure in them. 

I'm not forty yet but it feels like I'm stewing a bit because I'm post marriage and refusing to mingle. 

I don't have nights out like in my twenties of mix with friends. I love hanging out with my son but maybe it's the factor of people my own age which I'm starting to feel I need to think about. 

I can never totally be without issue. 

Maybe I'm just coming out of my shell in order to have someone fuck me over again.  

Sweet bitter

It was a bitter sweet evening at mine last night. The sweetness came first in the light of deciding not to put the tv on for the evening. I sat down and wrote our latest investigation write up of a private house in Utley. Then I did jobs which I always fail to do for too long. I changed my bedding for a start then started up my old laptop in the hope I could talk myself out of buying a new one. It worked well enough and I moved onto my old iPod touch which seems vintage now. It still has ios 6 on it and loads of old app thumbnails. Finally I managed to send a memory stick full of photos to Asda online printing- something I'd been meaning to do for three years. 

I felt good about myself and enjoyed reading my book for a while before 9pm came and I decided I was allowed to watch The Trip To Italy before bed. 

Just before I went to bed a conversation started with me on instant messenger which lasted for about an hour. No sooner had I finished that and a team mate messaged me also. I had some bad news for this  team mate  and I had no option other than to give it to them. 

So the evening ended with being the bearer of bad news and I lay in the dark waiting for the fallout. 

Sleep came instead. 

PPS write up 2014 Utley

PRIVATE HOUSE in Utley. (residents names changed)

We entered this home in Utley and were taken down to the basement which turned out to be a wonderfully homely kitchen area. Once we'd set up and took base line readings I started our protection. It was 8:35pm and the noise of passing trains was only accompanied by the ticking of a clock.

We heard 2 clicks from the gauss meter during protection and a couple as i explained to any entity listening, what our intentions were. 

Chris "I invite you to move the glass" Gauss click. 

"Thanks for that but can you try and raise that energy level?" The gauss climbs in response to a frequent set of clicks and continues for a minute to get gradually faster. 

"Can you make that go much higher?" It reaches its limit for now and stops. 

The glass finally sets  off as i ask for the spirit to use some of our white light. 

The letters it goes to seem to beba simple work out as they are C O Z N. 

"I haven't asked you any questions yet, please start at the centre of the board"  

"How many spirits in this building?" 2

"How many are male?" The letter O. (we wonder if that means zero.)

Certain letters seem to have us go into a text speech mentality due to how things are in modern times- Is this our invention or are there truths to a spirit working through us which gives them the same word or expression palette? 

U=YOU R=ARE Q=QUESTION ...

"Are you male?" The glass moves to C. 

Resident Daniel asks "Do you wish to speak to my sister?" 

Chris "What makes you ask that?" 

Daniel "My sister is called Carrie"

Si "Is there any relevance to you moving to the letter C?" NO

"Then can we make C your signature move so that we know it's you we are speaking to in future in case of complications later?" YES

"Are you linked to this house?" The gauss climbs at this. The glass stays still. 

"Are you linked to the people in the house now?" The gauss goes louder again. 

Si introduces all of us around the table by name. At the name of the final person, the gauss goes silent. 

"What can we call you, real name or otherwise?" A-D-A-M

All "Nice to meet you Adam" 

"Are you male?" YES

"Are you associated with this house?" YES. Gauss crackling again. 

The glass spells..B-E   C-A-R-E-F-U-L. 

Si "We are always careful" 

"Are there other spirits as well as you here?" YES

"How many including you?" 2

"Is the other one male?" NO

It turns out that the spirits don't talk to each other. 

"Do you get along?" NO

"Did you know each other in life?" YES

"Did you get along in life?" NO

Si says he may have seen a flash of light. 

"So there's a spirit lady in the house?" YES

Si lists the rooms while looking for the answer of which one she mostly resides in. When Si says "In Daniel's room?" the gauss climbs up from silence. "Carrie's room?" The gauss seems at its most. 

"Is she always in Carries room?" DON'T KNOW. 

Si "Please put the glass to the middle of the table" The glass instead, moves to the wordless corner of the board. 

"What about you which room do you normally reside in?" The answer is Kitchen. 

Daniel "You just visit here now and then don't you" YES

We ask if the spirit has a message to give or anything to tell us. 

We get a gauss result which is the highest of the evening and the glass also rotates the fastest. I'd hoped the dictaphone would've caught an EVP but there was nothing and the activity ceased. 

Kevin "How old were you?" 44. 

"What year did you pass?" 1944. 

Daniel "You didn't die here though did you?" NO

"Where did you die?" FRANCE it turns out. 

Daniel "Are you buried in France?" YES 

"Is your grave marked?" NO

"Is there a word associated with your death you can give?" Maybe the glass moved to 3 but maybe this was not meant to be part of the answer. The glass moves to B-U-L then stops. 

"Did you live here?" NO 

"Then why do you come here?" W-O-M-A-N. 

"The woman upstairs?" YES

Daniel "Did you love her?" YES

"Was she a relative?" NO

"she wasn't your mother?" NO

"Was she like a mother to you?" YES.....A-U-N-T. With the answer that she wasn't a relative, it would seem he said the spirit upstairs was 'like an aunt' to Adam. 

"Was she waiting for you to come back?" YES 1944-1945. 

1945 seems to be when the 'aunt' upstairs died herself. Adam had been missing in action. 

Adam tells us he cannot tell the 'aunt' upstairs that it's him downstairs then goes more specific saying he 'doesn't want' to tell her. 

Adam says he didn't know his own mother. The aunt was religious and this has stopped Adam from approaching the lady. 

Si has a word pop into his head and so he writes it in my notebook secretly. 

Si wrote WESLEYAN. Adam spells METHODIST. Same thing. 

Daniel "Where do you normally stand in the kitchen?" The glass moves towards the boiler corner. 

"Is it boundary you have set yourself then between your 'aunt' and you?" YES

The BE CAREFUL alluded to this sensitive issue we are told. 

 We try and convince Adam to go and see the lady and end up counting down from 10 to 0. At the board lies silent.  

It's 9:30pm and we close the board. 

C WHITEHOUSE 2014.