The single strangest thing that has ever happened to me

Hello Everyone,

This is my first thread here. Been lurking for a long time. Today I wanted to share something with you all that happened this morning. The single strangest occurrence that has ever happened in my entire life happened to me happened today. I am seriously in such shock and dismay, that I am almost truly at a loss for words.

Let me start by giving you a background. I work for a emergency roadside assistance company, we change your flat tires, unlock cars, fill you up with gas if ya run out, install batteries etc. I have been with this company since the beginning of this year. A huge part of our business is selling and installing batteries for people at their home/business/where ever they are at. EVERY single battery call that we get, it is REQUIRED to test every single battery on every single call. If we do NOT test the battery on EVERY SINGLE CALL, its not good and we get a call from corporate basically being like "why the hell did you sell a batt but not perform a battery test?" and we get 'brownie points' knocked off of our stats. And then I get an ass chewing from my boss. Not good.

These testers will test your battery, as well as your starter and alternator. They are rather large, about a foot and a half long, about five inches wide, and about 3 or 4 inches thick. They are covered in a bright green rubber casing meant to protect the tester from rain and impacts (i.e. when your testing a battery in the rain or drop it). And they have a numeric pad (just like a cell phone pretty much) with some other buttons as well as a mini laser printer deal that prints out the test results on this fancy little piece of paper that tells you everything about your battery, alternator, and starter. THings like Cold Cranking Amps, Amps, Volts etc.

LIKE I SAID it is IMPERATIVE that we perform a test on every battery no matter what, or, like I said, it looks really bad on me. So obviously I use these testers EVERY single day many times a day. Oh the other thing about these testers is that they MUST be plugged in every single night, from Midnight to 3am. The reason for this is A) to charge the internal batteries on the tester and B) the tester wirelessly transmits all the data and information from the tests that we performed that day to our headquarters. If its not plugged in EVERY SINGLE night, and cant transmit that data then the test shows as invalid, and again, I can count on getting an ear full the next morning.

So with that being said, the most IMPORTANT detail about these testers is that they have a PLASTIC FILM that covers the buttons to protect them from rain and dirt etc very similiar to one on your cell phone, just a bit thicker and heavier...

We have 3, I repeat THREE of these testers in our company. Right now it is only myself and one other guy, (good friend actually) working this whole operation. These testers cost $1,200 brand new and if one were to be lost or misplaced i would most likely lose my job. With that being said, I am EXTREMELY careful to make sure I know where they are at all times, and again, this is something I use EVERY SINGLE DAY often MULTIPLE times a day! So I am VERY VERY FAMILIAR with what it looks like, feels like, hell everything about it. Our testers are ASSIGNED to us. Meaning I use my tester at all times and the other guy uses HIS tester at all times. They are NEVER swapped out for ANY reason! And then there is the THIRD one (i guess its broken) that is ALWAYS at our shop, plugged in to the wall. The third unused tester NEVER leaves its spot and is NEVER UNPLUGGED because for whatever stupid reason even if that tester is NOT being used to perform tests, it will show up as invalid on the computer and therefore I would be hearing about it from my boss. Which is almost always an unpleasant encounter.


MY tester is the oldest, most beat up, and shittiest of the three. Its got scuff marks all along the green rubber part from being dropped multiple times from whoever it was that used it before I got hired here. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY: THE PLASTIC COVERING THAT GOES OVER THE BUTTONS, ON MY TESTER, WAS VERY OLD AND WORN OUT AND WAS PEELING OFF IN MULTIPLE DIFFERENT PLACES. THE BUTTONS BENEATH THE COVER WERE OLD AND FADED AND WORN OUT LOOKING. It CLEARLY looked like it had been used A LOT and was unmistakable from the other TWO testers, both of which are much newer and shinier looking.

Now with all that being said, hopefully you have a fair idea of what it looked like, and a good idea of HOW INCREDIBLY FUCKING CAREFUL I am not to lose them or damage them, cause like I said my ass would most likely be FIRED!

So last night, I was bringing in all my stuff to plug in and charge, like i do EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. My cordless impact wrench battery, my jump box (to jump cars), and OF COURSE, the BATTERY TESTER. Plug everything in around 11:45PM or so, whatever I thought, didnt even think twice about it. Put on a movie and hop in bed and fall asleep around 2am or sometime around there.


NOW, what is so incredibly fucking strange, is this:


So this morning rolls around I wake up around 10am (I am on call 24/7 so any chance I get to sleep in, which is almost never, I sleep in.) I get a BATTERY call that was around 10:15. So I get up grab the SAME THREE THINGS I GRAB EVERY SINGLE MORNING, the jumpbox, my impact wrench battery, and my BATTERY TESTER and put em in the car. I drive to the call. Get out, greet the person, pop the hood...

I go to grab the battery tester from my car. It was laying face down in the back seat, so at first I didnt even notice anything strange. BUT as soon I got back to the persons vehicle, I connect the clamps to their battery, and flip over the tester right side up. My heart fucking skipped a beat.

I examined it for a few stunned seconds, looking at in COMPLETE dismay and bewilderment. The battery tester, the old piece of shit one that I use MANY times a day EVERY SINGLE DAY, since Jan 5th, now suddenly and mysteriously, appears to be BRAND FUCKING NEW!!!!! I SHIT YOU NOT!!!!!! IN PARTICULAR, the BUTTONS and the PLASTIC COVER FOR THEM, LOOK ABSOLUTELY ****BRAND NEW****!!! Like glossy and shiny, and just like it came STRAIGHT OUT OF THE BOX.

My first IMMEDIATE thought, was "Oh shit, I for some stupid ass reason grabbed the WRONG battery tester (REMEMBER that particular tester is ASSIGNED TO ME, AKA I must use THAT SINGLE tester for all of my tests or else i get in trouble!!) and therefore had a nice ass chewing to look forward to! Even though I immediately thought hmmm... I knew the other one was a lot newer but i didnt remember it being THIS new??

So I am standing there, stunned. The guy had to just be looking at me like wtf, thinking the reason im in shock is because something is so badly wrong with his car lol. So I finally snap out of it after probably 4 or 5 seconds and test the guys damn battery, jump him off, and gather all my things and head back to my car, still shocked at how my dumb ass could have accidentally grabbed the WRONG tester, because they are in two COMPLETELY SEPARATE ROOMS back at the shop. The unused one sits in a corner behind a pile of various random shit and like i said its NEVER used so I NEVER EVEN TOUCH IT. So I was driving back confused as hell as to how on earth I grabbed the wrong one and had ABSOLUTELY NO recollection of it WHAT SO EVER... And then I got to thinking, while the third UNUSED tester is alot newer than MY old crappy one, it still does not LOOK BRAND FUCKING NEW!!

My heart skips a beat again because THEN I start thinking "Oh my god did I some how lose mine? Did I for some fucked up reason leave it on a call and SOME HOW forget about it?? Well then if I did, how in the every loving shit would I have A) Not realized I didnt have it, and B) not realized that I would have HAD to grab the other one, that is ALWAYS UNUSED AND PLUGGED IN!??"

So I was really starting to freak at this point, because I didnt have a clue what on earth was going on!!! I was thinking oh god I am so gonna get fired for this, and was just about to beat the sweet jesus out of my steering wheel in frustration, when I thought again, "But that tester LOOKS BRAND NEW!?!?" So I am hauling ass back to the shop (also where I live right now cause its basically a 1 bed room apt attached, and its free rent) to see if the THIRD TESTER IS STILL THERE AND PLUGGED INTO THE WALL.

I come to a screeching halt, jump out of my car run into the shop just PRAYING that it was there for the sake of my JOB and my SANITY...

I walk into the garage part, go over to where the TESTER is ALWAYS SITTING, and lo and behold, THERE IT FUCKING SITS!! Again, I just stood there for a few seconds, incredibly shocked, relieved, and THANKING GOD that its still there and that I STILL HAVE A JOB... while at the same time thinking well, wait a minute... So the next thought is oh shit did I for some messed up reason grab the other guys tester (we were hanging out the night before) and he grab mine? Surely not, I thought!! HOW IN THE HELL WOULD I NOT REMEMBER THAT?? So I call him up. Frantically have him confirm with me he has HIS tester and that its the right one. IT IS.

ALL THREE TESTERS ARE ACCOUNTED FOR. So I go back to my car and take mine out and inspect it. AND SURE ENOUGH, it STILL appears ABSOLUTELY BRAND NEW?!?! So now im standing there in a true WTF MOMENT, shocked.

How in the hell is that possible????

I know, FOR A FACT, that the day before, AS WELL AS EVERY SINGLE OTHER DAY BEFORE IT, that MY TESTER was an old piece of junk looking thing the appeared to be FALLING APART in many regards. It was the WORST of the THREE by FAR!!! HELL I EVEN JOKED ABOUT IT A COUPLE DAYS BEFORE TO MY BUDDY ABOUT HOW ITS BS THAT HE HAS A WAY BETTER TESTER THAN ME!!!

NOT this thing laying in front of me with glossy new buttons and plastic covering that literally looks like its almost BRAND NEW. IT JUST FLAT OUT DOESNT MAKE ANY SENSE!!!

How could it be that last night, I have this old piece of junk tester, and then this morning, it appears like it was just pulled out of the box??? I am truly perplexed and really at a loss for words as far as having an explanation would go.

BEFORE anyone asks, NO there is ABSOLUTELY ZERO PERCENT CHANCE, NADA, NO POSSIBILITY what so ever, that this was a prank by my buddy. Because there is no WAY IN HELL he would go out and buy this $1200 thing and then "sneakily" replace it with mine just to get one over on me. NOT TO MENTION the fact that you cant just go out and buy these damn things no they have to be special ordered by our company! NOT TO MENTION that they must be programmed before using them which is something he literally cant do because you need a password that even I dont know, only the owner!

And ALSO there is ZERO chance that my boss (who lives 4 states away anyways!) some how ordered a new one and decided to "sneak it in just for kicks" or something like that because the shop was completely locked up with a deadbolt (there are no windows) so its NOT possible ANYONE could have gotten in while I was asleep. Not just that, but the simple fact of WHY IN THE HELL would anyone do that? Just doesnt make sense. And he is not that kind of guy, if we were getting a tester I WOULD KNOW, and that still doesnt matter because we still ONLY HAVE THREE OF THEM, NOT FOUR!

Also, this is not the only incidence of something like this happening. A few days ago, I lost a pack of cigarettes. I had just bought them and KNEW that they had been sitting on my night stand / table thing right next to where my computer is and where I was sitting, as I had just smoked a cigarette 5 minutes previous. I look on the table, theyre gone. Look under and around the table and EVERYTHING else in that part of the room. Nothing. I LOOKED EVERYWHERE for them! I KEPT looking on that table, again just staring at it perplexedly, KNOWING that they were JUST sitting there? I go out to look for them in my car. Not there. Defeated, I go buy another pack. Come back. And they are sitting right smack dab on the middle of the table in the EXACT spot I had left them, in plain sight.

So I am at a loss GLP. I really truly do not know what to think about this whole thing. I know for a FACT when I brought that thing in to charge last night, it was the same crappy one I have ALWAYS had since i started working here. And then when I went to use it this morning BAM its all of sudden brand new. Im still reeling from this, and just hoping that this makes sense to some of you guys and girls here. I WOULD LITERALLY SWEAR ON MY LIFE AND THE LIVES OF MY CLOSEST FAMILY that this is true. I know there are still some incredibly intelligent and well meaning people here that may be able to shed some light on what is going on or at least share a similiar experience. Guys and girls I really think something truly strange, and perhaps even 'special' is occuring right now and right in front of our very faces.