GremlinsITP

[golentan]

For those who don't know, Gremlin Syndrome (when not in a game of Exalted) is the tendency of stuff to stop working in the presence of certain people. It is this trope, (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WalkingTechBane) specifically the "real life" version.

Anyway, my gremlin field seems to have grown stronger lately, knocking out my computer, 2 streetlights, my sister's videogame (twice), and setting off a car alarm in the past week, so I figured I'd open a thread for commiserations and cheap sympathy points, assuming I don't kill my computer again trying to post this.

[InaVegt]

Is there something for Reverse Gremlin Syndrome?

To be exact, I seem to able to fix broken machinery and electronics just by looking at it.

[Moonshadow]

Does this mean we can't get you wet, because you'll multiply? What if we feed you after midnight? :smallwink:

[Lioness]

Does this mean we can't get you wet, because you'll multiply?

...

Yes, that is a common side effect. :smalltongue:

/hides

[golentan]

Is there something for Reverse Gremlin Syndrome?

To be exact, I seem to able to fix broken machinery and electronics just by looking at it.

I have no idea... I just know tech behaves oddly around me. Phones charge in my pocket on occasion, for instance. It's just that "Odd" often translates to "Catastrophic failure."

Naoto: If you're asking me to multiply while showering, I'm flattered but I'd have to get to know you first. Otherwise, no.

[Haruki-kun]

I think I might have it.

My computers never work, even though I take really good care of them.

[Kobold-Bard]

On full charge I drained my gf's new Nintendo DS in about an hour whereas she happily played on it for nearly a full day none stop. Tends to happen with phones too, does that count?

I had a friend in school who could seemingly charge mobile phones by touching the charger plug point on them. We thought he was an alien (we were 12 at the time).

[Project_Mayhem]

...

Yes, that is a common side effect. :smalltongue:

/hides

Win.567890

[Cespenar]

Is there something for Reverse Gremlin Syndrome?

To be exact, I seem to able to fix broken machinery and electronics just by looking at it.

You probably work in tech service. Because two-thirds of every computer related problems (making up statistics FTW) are usually fixed by the mere arrival of the service guy.

And the other third are fixed by rebooting the machine. :smalltongue:

[MoelVermillion]

I am the death of light bulbs and iPods, every time a light bulb blows in my house (which is often) I will always be the one who flicked the switch and I have gone through more iPods then anyone else I know, every time one of my friends iPods gets ruined by something I was around their house at the time.

That being said I am some kind of reverse Gremlin for phones, my Nokia 1100 still works perfectly after 6 eventful years where as most of my friends buy a new phone every 3 months.

[RandomNPC]

One of those things people witness often enough to take as fact but hasn't been studied yet:
People feeling a strong emotion have a larger Gremlin field. Teens tend to have them larger than others.


when humming the tetris music I tend to be able to supress the gremlin field, but my phones on me all day, my wife has the same exact phone, we got them at the same time so they've got simmilar use and whatnot, and mine dies twice as fast.

Edit: I tend to hum the tetris music when trying to fix things.

[golentan]

One of those things people witness often enough to take as fact but hasn't been studied yet:
People feeling a strong emotion have a larger Gremlin field. Teens tend to have them larger than others.


when humming the tetris music I tend to be able to supress the gremlin field, but my phones on me all day, my wife has the same exact phone, we got them at the same time so they've got simmilar use and whatnot, and mine dies twice as fast.

Edit: I tend to hum the tetris music when trying to fix things.

Seriously? I hadn't heard that, it sounds like something to look into.

I meditate daily to calm myself to a point where I can deal with the world, now it's tempting to stop that a couple days (Go off my Meds joke here?) and see what happens.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

I used to think I had it, but then though about the rest of my life. Apply the phenomena to 'everything' and you'll have me.

I don't have gremlins, I have Murphy :roy:

I did however stat out gremlins :smallbiggrin:

[Cealocanth]

I don't have gremlin syndrome, although I do know someone who has a really bad case of it.

My personal experience is that the higher dependancy on electronics a person has, the more gremlin-like effects they encounter, and vice versa. This might be because they simply encounter more channces to gremlin out something, and thus experience more of them.

[MoleMage]

I don't know about that, I've got a pretty high dependency on electronics. Well, I can function without them, but I use them so often that a lot of people would probably be surprised to know that I'm just as happy camping in the mountains with nothing more electric than a flashlight (and the starter of the vehicle I used to get there).

Yet, I almost never have problems with my electronics. At least not often enough to consider it unusual. My Sega genesis from 17 years ago still functions fine. My phone runs for a day or two on a charge. My computer went bogus this spring, but it was just a battery issue which is normal enough. Replaced the battery it's good too.

[Snares]

Well, given that my laptop has gone through 4 motherboards, 3 internal fans, 3 CPUs, 2 hard drives, 2 keyboards, 2 webcams, and now the battery is broken, it's a distinct possibility. Although it's probably just the fact that my laptop is spectacularly unreliable...

Things never break when I expect them to though. My phone and MP3 player have both survived fair batterings and still work fine.

[MoleMage]

I had a GBA game in one of my pockets when I did laundry once. It went through washer and dryer cycles; still ran (and had the data on it) when it came out the other end.

Nintendo makes their stuff pretty tough.

[Gamerlord]

My gremlin heritage flared up a few months ago for a short period. In that period I lost 2 computers, a DVD player, and my toaster.

EDIT: And a keyboard.
EDIT 2: And a computer mouse.

[onthetown]

My mother has it for plants. (Black thumb?) I'm terrified to leave the house for two days in fear that I'll come back to all of my flowers being dead. It's happened and neither of us have any idea why. I just water the damn things, so does she; she just doesn't seem to be inclined toward plantlife.

I have a reverse of it for old Nintendo systems. Give me a cartridge or a system that supposedly doesn't work and I can get it going in about three seconds.

Edit: Oh, and cooking for the actual gremlin syndrome. My stove has a tendency to burst into flame when I cook, I've destroyed a few microwaves, and once managed to screw up pre-cooked, canned soup. I'm restricted to bagels in the toaster now.

[Partof1]

Well, one time, I threw like a nerf or something football at my brother. We were inside, he was lying on the couch, it bounced off the back of his head, and as it hit, the tv turned off then on, the computer restarted, and a battery powered pinball game in a nearby closet started playing the game music, despite having not been used in years.

It was rather scary.

[Cealocanth]

Well, one time, I threw like a nerf or something football at my brother. We were inside, he was lying on the couch, it bounced off the back of his head, and as it hit, the tv turned off then on, the computer restarted, and a battery powered pinball game in a nearby closet started playing the game music, despite having not been used in years.

It was rather scary.

That sounds like a poltergeist to me. Gremlins aren't that organized... are they?

[RandomNPC]

That sounds like a poltergeist to me. Gremlins aren't that organized... are they?

Union Gremlins are organized....

[Krade]

Union Gremlins are organized....

/thread ttttttttt

[KenderWizard]

I don't break things, I just cause them to work below optimal potential. My old laptop just flat refused to connect to the internet for no reason. My iPhone has quite a few issues, as did my last Mp3 player. Hopefully it's worn off, as more recent pieces of technology don't seem so affected. Then again, I did become 20 this year, so maybe the teenage effect is no longer at play!

[The Succubus]

Reverse Gremlin Syndrome here - I seem to have an almost supernatural ability to get computers that are dead working again.

That's a yes on the multiplying while showering and although I'm not overly keen on feeding after midnight, cups of tea are always welcome. :smallbiggrin: We need a better name for it than Reverse Gremlin though.....

[golentan]

Update: I broke two rollercoasters and a log ride waiting in line for them at an amusement park. I assume it was me, because they all broke when and only when I got within 50 feet or so of their mechanisms, and were functioning again an hour after I left the line.

[Delwugor]

That demon Murphy knows me by first name. And when he decides to annoy me it is usually with 5 or 6 things in one day. :smallannoyed:

[742]

i used to have this a lot when i was 5-10ish. really bad. streetlights still sometimes dim when i walk past.

i have lots of stove fires too but i suspect thats more a function of my cooking style and/or general aura of evilness.

oh, and black thumbs count here? cut plants die, they die badly in my presence: two flowers, in the same conditions* except for their proximity to me. one on the counter right next to my desk, wilting to the point of not looking good anymore within 2 days, the ones on the other side of the room? nearly a week. live plants however have the opposite effect; theres not as much flowering but a rose bush with a tunnel under it that provides a decent amount of shade grew in two years with no human interference, and im looking at a butterfly bush thats taller than my house. the same thing happens to spiders too, which is really annoying; for some reason most people are afraid of 2 inch (7 CM) spiders running around free.

*both in the exact same sort of container, water from the same source, same quantities, same light, same temperature, both began blooming about the same time from the same plant and were cut at the same time, about the same length ect.

[KenderWizard]

I had a weird gremlin day the other day, when whenever I started talking to someone, their computer would stop working. This included a member of the geology department in my college, and a shopkeeper of a gaming store. IT was pretty weird. I don't know if they started working again after I'd left or not...

[max-is-working]

My gremlins don't want me to work. They want me to stay home or slack off. :-)

Websites related to my work don't load well. But I can still go to these forums.

Usually, my cellphone doesn't work well at work, but it works well at home. However, when I'm at home and somebody at work tries to call me, then my phone doesn't work. The call just doesn't go through.

[Lioness]

I have a gremlin that usually lets me get a fantastic car park. Mum had it, and then when I got her car, it split in two and lives with both of us. I can count on one hand the number of times in the past two weeks that I've gotten a park more than 15 metres away from the shopping centre entrance.