My husband and I rented an old house on the river on Lady's Island, SC, one year while we were waiting for our house to be built. The house was in a well established subdivision of homes built in the 80's, yet this house was over 100 years old, and stood out because of it's older, Victorian farmhouse style architecture. It had three levels, that included a walkout basement, which is very rare in a coastal area where the properties are so close to sea level. The story behind the house was that it had originally been owned by a woman, who after a huge dispute with her neighbors in downtown Beaufort, had the house moved by barge across the river to Lady's Island onto property she had inherited from her father. There was no bridge to the island in those days, and she used to row herself across the river into town for provisions each week. The first paranormal experience happened to DH, who was out in the yard mowing one afternoon. Our kids were at school and I was at work, and the entire neighborhood was quiet when he suddenly heard this strange, lilting music coming from the house. He went inside, expecting to find a radio on, or that one of the kids had come home from school without his knowledge and turned on a tape player. As he climbed the stairs from the basement to the living floor, the music stopped and he never could find the source of where it came from. The house was empty, and the kids didn't get off the bus until hours later. He told all of us about it, but none of us had a clue as to what it could have been. A month or so later, my daughter took her 8-track tape player to her girl friends house for a weekend sleepover. The girls turned on the tape player and heard this strange lilting music, something like they had never heard before, coming from the tape player. My daughter remembered what DH had told her about the music he heard, and called us immediately and played the tape over the phone for him to hear. It was the same music he'd heard that day previously in the yard, and was a tune none of us recognized. He told DD to bring the tape home with her the following day so we could all listen to it and try to figure out the mystery, and she agreed to do so. When she returned the next day and we sat down to listen to it, the tape was blank - and she swore that she hadn't erased it, she was as disappointed as we were that it was empty. The next occurrence in that house was also with DH. We had a group of friends over to the house one night for a cook-out, and the upstairs bathroom was occupied when DH needed to use it. He went downstairs into the basement where there was a tiny half bath installed. As he stood in front of the toilet peeing, he felt a tap-tap on his shoulder, as though someone was trying to get his attention. He said, "just a sec and I'll be finished", and turned his head, expecting to see someone waiting to use the room, yet no one was there. He immediately turned around and walked through all the basement rooms, and there was no one around, anywhere. We later heard from our neighbors that the house was haunted and previous renters had also witnessed strange occurrences while living there. One woman had been setting up the dining table for a birthday party for her daughter, when one of the balloons she'd blown up and attached a string to suddenly began moving about the room on it's own accord, as though it were held by someone walking around the room. It was an airless day and all the windows were closed, and she claims the string wasn't vertical, but angled as though someone was running with it. As she stood there, three other balloons were invisibly grabbed up and then they all went floating, as though they were being held by someone, up the stairs to the bedroom level. That family apparently had so many other bizarre happenings in that house that they got spooked and moved out. That's why it was available for us when we needed a quick short term rental. We never felt threatened or in fear about our "ghost", just figured it was the old woman's energy still there for some reason, and we always wished we could have found out more, but we moved out soon afterward to get into our new home.

Birthing photos are now a big thing on Facebook. I'm talking babies covered in yuck. Some even show crowning shots, with the mother's anatomy up close and personal. These aren't a few extreme cases either; it's a trend. And the photos are widely shared, not private. They get lots of Likes. What's especially disturbing--besides the obvious--is the way these posters don't recognize any right to react to their photos with anything except admiration. No one ever dares to object, because they know what would happen. "Don't be a hater. What's wrong with you? No one is offended by this!" So the poster thinks everybody approves. And the trend spreads. This is a classic characteristic of narcissists: the inability to recognize that other people and their viewpoints even exist as part of objective, independent reality. But we do exist. And we judge. Good luck getting a job from me in the future after I've seen your business in all its glory.

kaismom, I almost don't want to answer that question because I feel like we sound like such idiots, but I will. First of all, I am a little shy. We were new to the area and I saw his van working on a neighbors house. All the homes in our neighborhood are down sweeping driveways. I plucked up the courage to go down one when we bought the house and knock on the door to ask about the house and neighborhood, but failed to do it on this occassion. I figured if they were working on a million dollar home they must be decent. I googled and found no negative reviews... in fact no reviews at all. Of course his next customers won't find any reviews either. I checked his license and insurance, but failed to realize just how easy it is in PA to get the license. Basically I could get one tomorrow if I wanted to. Then once we hired him our mistakes continued. I KNEW that he hadn't vented the hood, but whenever I asked about it I was brushed off and told it would happen later. I KNEW that was wrong, but I didn't want to be an ahole and question every single thing he did (I had kicked up a fuss about greenboard in the shower). I did ask many times, but I should have stopped him and made him do it the right way. Of course I tried to do that with various other things with no success at all, so I would have got nowhere, but I should have tried harder. Also one thing I have learned, is that anyone who repeatedly says "I'm a good guy" generally isn't. Genuinely good guys don't need to go on and on about it. Next GC who tells me to trust them because they're a 'good guy' I'm running in the opposite direction as fast as I can! Also never believe someone who repeatedly tells you that all his other clients let him A: use their credit cards for materials, B: make all the design decisions and C: never question any of the process. So yeah, we're trusting idiots. The end. : (

You know, we are all the products of everything that has gone on before us. We are all accidents of the momentary interminglings of all of our ancestors over thousands of years. We cannot change the past. Things are what they are. Or, were. Mysteries, even unpunished murders from a century ago, are over and done for. And, believe it or not, I really am interested in the past! I love history, family history and lore. But, we need to remember that we are looking at the past through our 21st Century eyes, with our 21st century values and capabilities. Things have changed. As I said earlier, I am sure we ALL have odd, questionable things in our heritage. In about 1902 it was assumed that my great-aunt spent 17 years in prison. She returned to her family and never said a word about it. No one will ever know why she was gone, but there was plenty of speculation in the family, from being a madam to possibly murdering one of her clients. Does it matter? Not to me. It is a great story, though. My husband's grandfather had two families, one on each end of the railroad line he worked on. He didn't die of TB, either, like the family lore has it. But they don't know how he really died, and, to their knowledge, no one from either family has ever met. My great-grandmother did not know that her mother died in another state until several years later, either. She hadn't run away or anything. She was simply out-of-touch for a few years. It is just the way it was back then. And, they didn't always know cause of death. People simply died and were buried. A lot of personal fortunes - personal, financial, historical, political - have gone astray through history. Even things thought to be well-documented, like historic battles, JFK's assassination - for goodness' sake, even the moon landing is disputed! It is all wonderfully interesting, and part of our lives. Five thousand dollars is a lot to spend on curiosity, though, to my way of thinking. But, if you have the money, spend it on whatever you like. Fundraising? Well, um.....