Do you have remote entry? Or a maybe remote entry installed without knowing it. My brothers subi would do that until you locked and unlocked the doors after disconnecting the battery. I'm not sure if the 95-97 models do this for a contour.
Other thoughts are check the fuse. Could be half melted or just goofy.
I know low volts from batteries make cars act awkard. Check the voltage on the battery.
There is a blinker capacitor(maybe not the word for it) that cause the blinkers to "blink". Yours might be bad. I'm sure someone else can chime in and help you further then that.
I wouldn't go replacing the blinker switch until you're sure its not another issue first.
