Strange "Tally Mark" Phenomena

When I woke up today, there was a mark on my arm; a single line that was not there when I had gone to bed. I sometimes write at night before falling asleep and it's not unusual to pass out with the pen open. However, the pen was laying capped on the bedside table. Something was nagging at my brain but the more I tried to figure out what it was, the more it just faded away like a dream. Something compelled me, though, to take a picture.

When I got out of the shower, not only was the first mark not washed away, but there was a second perpendicular line, a hash mark if you will. The pen from my bedside was also laying on the counter. I had an odd notion in my mind that I was just still sleepy and it was not a big deal. I am normally a curious sort, so I am not sure why I would just blow off strangely appearing lines. I took another picture before getting dressed and ready for work. I did, however put the pen in my shirt pocket.

Before leaving home, I went to grab a quick breakfast drink from the fridge and when I opened the door, I saw three strange marks on my arm. Something in my brain was urging me to get to the office but before shutting the fridge door I snapped a picture. It felt like déjà vu so I checked the gallery and I had two other pictures. I determined that I would think about it later because I really needed to get going.

On the drive to the office, I distinctly remember having one of those moments where suddenly you are several miles down the road and you do not remember turns or traffic signals or landmarks up to that point. Wow, I must really have been daydreaming. I glanced down to make sure I was not speeding and there were four marks on my arm. With a prickly sensation at the base of my neck and goosebumps rising on my arms, I quickly glanced around the car. Same air freshener. Same dusty everything. My computer bag, however was on the back seat instead of tucked neatly behind me on the floor like I always put it every trip. I got involved in the news on the radio and continued on to work.

Later, surfing Google Plus at my desk between tasks, I started seeing pictures of hash marks on other people posted to their profiles. I think it was +Jo Lane where I first saw it, and then +David Mills. There were even more as I dug deeper. I looked down at my own arm. There were five marks. I checked my phone and there were pictures of one, two, three, and four marks. I took a picture of the four lines with the cross hatch connecting them. What the heck? The confusion did not last long as I remembered how many tasks I needed to attend to, so I went about my routine.

As happens often at work, the day gets chopped up into a lot of pieces and I can not always account for where I spent most of my time. When it does not add up, I blame talking to colleagues or, of course the time suck that is Google Plus when you are not careful. I pulled my phone from my pocket to check the time and a pen fell out. When I picked it up, I saw hash marks on my arm. There were eight.

I sat down to write this post… but for the life of me, as I type, I do not remember why.

#impossibleastronautday #thesilence #doctorwho #whovian #whovians #silencewillfall  

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