Em (wife) and I were on a long drive. We came to a place that (I think) was supposed to be in Tennessee. There was a point in the road where we couldn't go any farther for some reason, and we had to backtrack 100 feet or so and talk to these people that were at some sort of information desk. A blond girl instructed me to go forward again, get onto the platform, and "take it across". I said "Okay," but I'm not sure where Em had gone to at this point. She wasn't around to hear the girl say what to do, so I thought I'd go and test it out myself first.
I went over to these two steel platforms (one in front of the other) that were supposed to be big enough to hold my car, and I laid down on the first (closest) one. As I did, it slowly started to take off, floating up and forward. Even though it wasn't moving very fast, it still gave me this feeling that I was almost being repelled off the top of the platform. I had to really hold on to make sure I didn't go flying off. Even though that worried me a bit, I hung on and kind of had a good time because of getting to see all the scenery. I went quite a way over the country landscape below, and eventually I saw this long gorge ahead that stretched as far as I could see to either side of me. It was fairly narrow, but it was supposed to be very deep as well. The platform eventually came down on the other side of the gorge, and it turned so that I face to the right so that I was supposed to be able to just drive off of it and continue the drive.
I wound up taking the platform back to the main area, and I was able to find Em. I did the platform without my car again, but this time with Em. She had the same feeling as I did the first time that she was going to get thrown off the thing, and I was just telling her to hold on. We went through the same thing as I did the first time, watching the scenery below and crossing the gorge and landing, facing right. Now we just needed to bring my car, so we went back, and we got into my car, and drove down to where the platform was. For some reason, the platform either wasn't there, or I went down a bit farther, but either way I wound up turning left into a dirt/gravel parking lot.
We got out of the car there, and we were at this building that looked quite a bit like a house. We went in, and it looked more like a restaurant. There were tables and chairs and booth seats around. I think it was supposed to be like Outback Steakhouse or something. Somehow, Em was already seated when I went in. I went back to the table she was at, and I sat with her. There were lots of people around, and I got this feeling that there was something bad going on. Not terrible and scary, but just like a lot of these people were picking on the waiters or being asshat customers or something.
Eventually we were supposed to be eating with another couple or group, and we did. There was something strange or awkward about it, like I didn't want to eat or something. I don't think that was it, but I remember getting up for something and coming back a short time later. I don't think I ever actually ate.
Eventually the place cleared out a bit, and we were done, too, so we wound up leaving. I'm not sure if this was part of this dream or another, but there was something about being at a house that was supposed to belong to Em and I. I think that the people from the restaurant were there with us, but I'm not sure. I know that someone was, but I'm just not sure who it was. I don't remember what went on there, but I know it was in a subdivision, much like the newer one that was up on the hill in Mount Sidney, VA.
Friday, August 06, 2004
Tuesday, August 03, 2004
Apartamental Space
The dream started out with me getting onto a big school bus. I was traveling with a group of people in Virginia, but I don't remember where we were going to or coming from. I remember getting onto the bus. I was one of the first ones to get on the bus. I was looking for a good seat to sit in, but it seemed like there was something wrong with each of them. Either the seat was seriously mangled, or the window was broken, or something.
I eventually found a seat at the back of the bus on the "passenger side". It seemed that the bus was very long, and what would normally be the length of the bus was the amount that stuck out over the back wheels. A couple of friends were there with me, including one guy that had glasses, short scraggly hair that kind of stuck out all over the place, and was rather unshaven. It seemed to take a while for everyone (though there weren't many people) to find their seats. Finally everyone did, and we were off.
The next thing I know, Em (wife) and I were here at the Villas at Beaver Creek. (although I don't remember seeing her on the bus) It was night time or early morning, but we were supposed to be moving from one apartment to another. The one we were moving in to was the apartment next door to us. The way that the Villas was set up was a bit different, though. The sidewalk that runs past our building and up to the pool ran straight to our front door instead. And there were four apartments down on the bottom at our "breezeway" instead of the normal two. And the thing that's probably the strangest is that where our door was down on the ground level, the whole front inside of the breezeway" was glass. We could see straight into other people's apartments.
I think that once we were inside of our original apartment, there was a door inside that went over into our neighbors apartment, kind of like a hotel room suite. I think that our neighbors may have been up and about during this time, too, because it seems like we wound up running into them. Actually, it may have been the running into them that caused us to decide to switch apartments with them.
I remember being in our original kitchen, but it was set up very differently than it actually is. It seemed to be back along a back hallway, and all the counter space and appliances were on the left side, and there was just a wall on the right. We had a lot of pots and pans and strange gourds and spices all hung up around the kitchen for decoration.
Then we wound up going outside, and then back in to the new apartment. We were looking around to see how we liked it, and it was very nice. The living room was big, it had a separate dining room, and big kitchen, and then upstairs in a "loft" area there was another living room and two bedrooms. One of the bedrooms opened up into the upstairs living room. Everything was already furnished. I remember seeing a bed with a brass bed frame in the master bedroom, and then going through to the upstairs living room, there was a high-back chair (kind of like the ones that Morpheus and Neo sit in when they first meet in the Matrix) but everything was very nice and decorated to kind of like a country-store feel. There were old pictures and paintings and items up on the walls, and it all just had a very nice cozy feel to it.
Eventually I had gone back downstairs, but when I did, a strange sight greeted me. At the bottom of the stairs and going into the living room/dining room area, there was a big mass of floating gas and lights int he middle of the room. Suddenly I realized that I was actually in space. I found myself briefly walking into a theater, and sitting down somewhere near the middle. As I did, a film started up, but it wasn't quite a film, either. I knew it was going to be a view of flying through space but I had this anticipation that if I didn't hold onto my seat, I'd go flying out of it and into the movie.
On the black screen was this view of flying around past all this dust and stars, and winding up at our own solar system. The picture took me past Saturn and towards the direction of the sun. Saturn looked a bit strange, though, kind of like a digital picture that was "broken" in spots. The picture looked rough, and it had these strange faded purple pixelated blotches down around the bottom of it.
I looked around, and I was standing in the middle of the living room, and I think I briefly saw William Shattner there. I looked back to the screen, and I was in my seat again, and I saw myself fly past Jupiter. I thought, "I'll be home in no time. I'm going to call Em!" So I called her, and I told her, "Hey, guess what! I just saw OUR sun! I should be home in a while!" I was planning, actually, on sooner than that because I was in fact already in our solar system.
The next thing I know, I'm back in our apartment, but it's not an apartment anymore. It's actually a house. The star and dust formation was still in the living/dining room area (though the area now looked very different, but I can't quite describe how) and I was looking at it. Someone came up to me, and we were discussing this big blobby thing sitting there. In talking about it, I decided to reach in and touch the gaseous part of the formation. It was strange because it was solid, and it felt a lot like that green styrofoam stuff that they use for flower fake flower arrangements. (the stuff that kind of crumbles when it gets old) I looked at this thing for quite a bit, though no particular feature of it stands out to me besides the "space dust" that felt solid. I may have found myself flying around inside of this a couple of times more, but other than that, I believe that was the end of the dream.
I eventually found a seat at the back of the bus on the "passenger side". It seemed that the bus was very long, and what would normally be the length of the bus was the amount that stuck out over the back wheels. A couple of friends were there with me, including one guy that had glasses, short scraggly hair that kind of stuck out all over the place, and was rather unshaven. It seemed to take a while for everyone (though there weren't many people) to find their seats. Finally everyone did, and we were off.
The next thing I know, Em (wife) and I were here at the Villas at Beaver Creek. (although I don't remember seeing her on the bus) It was night time or early morning, but we were supposed to be moving from one apartment to another. The one we were moving in to was the apartment next door to us. The way that the Villas was set up was a bit different, though. The sidewalk that runs past our building and up to the pool ran straight to our front door instead. And there were four apartments down on the bottom at our "breezeway" instead of the normal two. And the thing that's probably the strangest is that where our door was down on the ground level, the whole front inside of the breezeway" was glass. We could see straight into other people's apartments.
I think that once we were inside of our original apartment, there was a door inside that went over into our neighbors apartment, kind of like a hotel room suite. I think that our neighbors may have been up and about during this time, too, because it seems like we wound up running into them. Actually, it may have been the running into them that caused us to decide to switch apartments with them.
I remember being in our original kitchen, but it was set up very differently than it actually is. It seemed to be back along a back hallway, and all the counter space and appliances were on the left side, and there was just a wall on the right. We had a lot of pots and pans and strange gourds and spices all hung up around the kitchen for decoration.
Then we wound up going outside, and then back in to the new apartment. We were looking around to see how we liked it, and it was very nice. The living room was big, it had a separate dining room, and big kitchen, and then upstairs in a "loft" area there was another living room and two bedrooms. One of the bedrooms opened up into the upstairs living room. Everything was already furnished. I remember seeing a bed with a brass bed frame in the master bedroom, and then going through to the upstairs living room, there was a high-back chair (kind of like the ones that Morpheus and Neo sit in when they first meet in the Matrix) but everything was very nice and decorated to kind of like a country-store feel. There were old pictures and paintings and items up on the walls, and it all just had a very nice cozy feel to it.
Eventually I had gone back downstairs, but when I did, a strange sight greeted me. At the bottom of the stairs and going into the living room/dining room area, there was a big mass of floating gas and lights int he middle of the room. Suddenly I realized that I was actually in space. I found myself briefly walking into a theater, and sitting down somewhere near the middle. As I did, a film started up, but it wasn't quite a film, either. I knew it was going to be a view of flying through space but I had this anticipation that if I didn't hold onto my seat, I'd go flying out of it and into the movie.
On the black screen was this view of flying around past all this dust and stars, and winding up at our own solar system. The picture took me past Saturn and towards the direction of the sun. Saturn looked a bit strange, though, kind of like a digital picture that was "broken" in spots. The picture looked rough, and it had these strange faded purple pixelated blotches down around the bottom of it.
I looked around, and I was standing in the middle of the living room, and I think I briefly saw William Shattner there. I looked back to the screen, and I was in my seat again, and I saw myself fly past Jupiter. I thought, "I'll be home in no time. I'm going to call Em!" So I called her, and I told her, "Hey, guess what! I just saw OUR sun! I should be home in a while!" I was planning, actually, on sooner than that because I was in fact already in our solar system.
The next thing I know, I'm back in our apartment, but it's not an apartment anymore. It's actually a house. The star and dust formation was still in the living/dining room area (though the area now looked very different, but I can't quite describe how) and I was looking at it. Someone came up to me, and we were discussing this big blobby thing sitting there. In talking about it, I decided to reach in and touch the gaseous part of the formation. It was strange because it was solid, and it felt a lot like that green styrofoam stuff that they use for flower fake flower arrangements. (the stuff that kind of crumbles when it gets old) I looked at this thing for quite a bit, though no particular feature of it stands out to me besides the "space dust" that felt solid. I may have found myself flying around inside of this a couple of times more, but other than that, I believe that was the end of the dream.
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Apartment Auditorium
I was with Cobbie from Mercedes, and we were supposed to be going to his apartment. We got there, and it was night time out, and Loy (also from work) was there and he was supposed to be moving things in to another apartment for someone else. Even though we were outside and on the ground, we could see him going up the stairs into the apartment, and he seemed like he was really close. He was as big as if we were only standing about 15 or 20 feet away from him, but he
was three stories up, and we were about 50 to 100 feet from the building. One strange thing about this was that even though it was Cobbie's apartment building, it looked like and was in the same location as MY apartment building (the Villas).
While we were out in the parking lot, I looked around, and I realized that we were surrounded by people, and there was some sort of gathering/event preparing to happen. I don't remember what it was, but most of the people there were pretty young, and I seemed to spot some familiar faces in the crowd, but they were only familiar to me in the dream, not in waking life. I talked briefly to one or two people, and I turned back around. I realized that this place was set up like an auditorium, and the building in front of us was like the stage. Loy was still maneuvering something around in the window on the third floor, and he seemed to have no idea that he was being watched by hundreds of people.
Someone in front of me and slightly to my right shouted up to Loy and teased him for putting on a good show or something, and Loy said "Huh?" and looked up. He laughed when he saw us, and he said, "Ah, get outta here!" like he does quite a bit in waking life. After that, he left the window.
was three stories up, and we were about 50 to 100 feet from the building. One strange thing about this was that even though it was Cobbie's apartment building, it looked like and was in the same location as MY apartment building (the Villas).
While we were out in the parking lot, I looked around, and I realized that we were surrounded by people, and there was some sort of gathering/event preparing to happen. I don't remember what it was, but most of the people there were pretty young, and I seemed to spot some familiar faces in the crowd, but they were only familiar to me in the dream, not in waking life. I talked briefly to one or two people, and I turned back around. I realized that this place was set up like an auditorium, and the building in front of us was like the stage. Loy was still maneuvering something around in the window on the third floor, and he seemed to have no idea that he was being watched by hundreds of people.
Someone in front of me and slightly to my right shouted up to Loy and teased him for putting on a good show or something, and Loy said "Huh?" and looked up. He laughed when he saw us, and he said, "Ah, get outta here!" like he does quite a bit in waking life. After that, he left the window.
The Fraternity
This was a bit of an odd dream because for a good bit of it, I wasn't really me. I was someone else entirely. I was some guy in a fraternity. I seemed to know the people there, but at the same time, I have no clue who they were. I had a buddy who seemed to be drunk quite a bit, and I had a girlfriend that had long dark brown hair, and wearing a long semi-tight skirt. (it was more like a dress skirt rather than a big free flowing thing) I was at college, and I was in this area that was up on a balcony.
My drunk friend had kind of long (not quite shoulder length) dirty blond hair, and he was shirtless most of the time. He kept wanting to pull some stupid stunt, and he wanted me to accompany him. I didn't think that the stunt was a good idea, but for some reason I didn't want to tell him that. At about the time that this was going on, the girlfriend showed up and was basically saying that she thought it was a really bad idea. She seemed really pissed, and I understood why. She was telling me away from the presence of the drunk guy so that he couldn't hear her.
She wound up leaving, and the guy and I went downstairs and out onto the lawn. There was a big evergreen sort of tree there, and the balcony was very big (almost the size of our current apartment at the Villas) and it was supported on big roman looking pillars what stood way above us. The balcony was roughly 50 feet up in the air.
Anyway, down on the ground, the drunk guy was still stumbling around and trying to think of a way to do whatever it was that he was trying to get us to do. I think I kind of hoped for a bit that he would just be too drunk to come up with a good plan, and that's part of the reason why I didn't say anything to him. I'm not sure if he eventually figured out a way to do whatever it was, but I remember being closer to the street, and noticing that it was a misty overcast sort of day, and I had pulled him closer and was talking to him and trying to convince him that whatever it was did not seem like a good idea to me. I don't remember if he wound up listening or not.
My drunk friend had kind of long (not quite shoulder length) dirty blond hair, and he was shirtless most of the time. He kept wanting to pull some stupid stunt, and he wanted me to accompany him. I didn't think that the stunt was a good idea, but for some reason I didn't want to tell him that. At about the time that this was going on, the girlfriend showed up and was basically saying that she thought it was a really bad idea. She seemed really pissed, and I understood why. She was telling me away from the presence of the drunk guy so that he couldn't hear her.
She wound up leaving, and the guy and I went downstairs and out onto the lawn. There was a big evergreen sort of tree there, and the balcony was very big (almost the size of our current apartment at the Villas) and it was supported on big roman looking pillars what stood way above us. The balcony was roughly 50 feet up in the air.
Anyway, down on the ground, the drunk guy was still stumbling around and trying to think of a way to do whatever it was that he was trying to get us to do. I think I kind of hoped for a bit that he would just be too drunk to come up with a good plan, and that's part of the reason why I didn't say anything to him. I'm not sure if he eventually figured out a way to do whatever it was, but I remember being closer to the street, and noticing that it was a misty overcast sort of day, and I had pulled him closer and was talking to him and trying to convince him that whatever it was did not seem like a good idea to me. I don't remember if he wound up listening or not.
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Dodging Logs
There was something initially about being in some sort of parking area/forest (which I can remember having to walk through in a different dream). For a time of it, I was actually way up in the air looking at is as if I were flying to it.
Anyway, eventually I wound up out on a beach, and I was walking along the edge of the water, with the water to my right. I came up on a group of people that I knew, which I believe included mom and Emily (wife), but definitely included Matthew (brother). There was one other person there, too, but I don't remember who it was.
The beach was fairly crowded, and it had the feeling of being at the edge of some sort of city. There may have been some shops or buildings off to my left. Anyway, I stood there talking to them for a moment, and I had noticed a ridge somewhat like a small row of mountains off to my left, opposite the water, and just behind what buildings there were. I also noticed that at various places along the water, there were smallish (compared to the giants in the forest earlier) trees actually growing out of the sand close to the water's edge.
The group was sitting on a big blanket on the beach, and Matthew was supposed to be doing his homework. As we chatted, something strange started to happen. Huge logs from the forest on the other side of the ridge started flying up over the ridge and landing on the beach. These things seemed really huge. People started yelling and screaming and running around. Each and every log was branch-less, and it was pointed at both ends, kind of like this:
Somehow I wasn't scared of them, and in fact, I had realized rather quickly that this happened (or at least should have happened) often, because it was part of some sort of work going on. It was amazing to watch these things come flying up over the ridge and come crashing and skidding onto the beach or out into the water. Then I saw one coming particularly close to us, and, at this point I had gone around to the other side of the group of people (so that facing them put the water on my left, and the trees coming from my right). I shouted a warning to Matthew to keep an eye out for it so it didn't hit him. It wound up hitting the ground about 20 feet in front of Matthew, and it skidded right beside him, kicking sand up all over the place, and went right out into the water.
Matthew jumped up and started going "ow ow ow!". At first I thought some of the tree had caught him as it went by. I realized that it could have also been some of the sand that had done something. I figured the fast flying sand had either gotten into one of his eyes, or had embedded itself into his skin because it was hit so hard when the tree landed. Either way, Matthew and the others got up, and we decided that we needed to get to a doctor or the hospital to get him looked at.
We started running along the water (with it again to our right, so in the direction that I had been walking originally) and we were dodging more and more of these logs that were flying up over the ridge and onto the beach. We were actually all running very fast. We kept going until we basically hit a wall at the edge of the beach, and it had stairs that went up to the ridge and to street-level. We ran up the stairs, and we were almost out onto the street when I woke up.
[One odd note about waking up... I was totally out of breath. I was panting just as if I had actually been running. It actually took me a few minutes to calm back down and get back to sleep.]
Anyway, eventually I wound up out on a beach, and I was walking along the edge of the water, with the water to my right. I came up on a group of people that I knew, which I believe included mom and Emily (wife), but definitely included Matthew (brother). There was one other person there, too, but I don't remember who it was.
The beach was fairly crowded, and it had the feeling of being at the edge of some sort of city. There may have been some shops or buildings off to my left. Anyway, I stood there talking to them for a moment, and I had noticed a ridge somewhat like a small row of mountains off to my left, opposite the water, and just behind what buildings there were. I also noticed that at various places along the water, there were smallish (compared to the giants in the forest earlier) trees actually growing out of the sand close to the water's edge.
The group was sitting on a big blanket on the beach, and Matthew was supposed to be doing his homework. As we chatted, something strange started to happen. Huge logs from the forest on the other side of the ridge started flying up over the ridge and landing on the beach. These things seemed really huge. People started yelling and screaming and running around. Each and every log was branch-less, and it was pointed at both ends, kind of like this:
Somehow I wasn't scared of them, and in fact, I had realized rather quickly that this happened (or at least should have happened) often, because it was part of some sort of work going on. It was amazing to watch these things come flying up over the ridge and come crashing and skidding onto the beach or out into the water. Then I saw one coming particularly close to us, and, at this point I had gone around to the other side of the group of people (so that facing them put the water on my left, and the trees coming from my right). I shouted a warning to Matthew to keep an eye out for it so it didn't hit him. It wound up hitting the ground about 20 feet in front of Matthew, and it skidded right beside him, kicking sand up all over the place, and went right out into the water.
Matthew jumped up and started going "ow ow ow!". At first I thought some of the tree had caught him as it went by. I realized that it could have also been some of the sand that had done something. I figured the fast flying sand had either gotten into one of his eyes, or had embedded itself into his skin because it was hit so hard when the tree landed. Either way, Matthew and the others got up, and we decided that we needed to get to a doctor or the hospital to get him looked at.
We started running along the water (with it again to our right, so in the direction that I had been walking originally) and we were dodging more and more of these logs that were flying up over the ridge and onto the beach. We were actually all running very fast. We kept going until we basically hit a wall at the edge of the beach, and it had stairs that went up to the ridge and to street-level. We ran up the stairs, and we were almost out onto the street when I woke up.
[One odd note about waking up... I was totally out of breath. I was panting just as if I had actually been running. It actually took me a few minutes to calm back down and get back to sleep.]
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
The Gas Station Lawyer
Em (wife) and I pulled into a gas station in my car. While I was there, I decided to put some air into the tires while I got gas. (evidently each gas pump had an air hose with it) By the time I got out to start doing the air, there was a Mexican guy who worked for the gas station, and he had already started on checking my tires and putting air in them if they needed it. I was a bit perturbed that he had just started going it without asking me, so I got the other air hose for that pump, and started doing the air myself, just as if he weren't even there.
I unscrewed the valve cover for the front driver's side tire, and put air into it. Even though I didn't check the pressure, I knew that it was okay. Then I went around to do the passenger-side front tire. After I did that one, I acted like I was trying to screw the valve cap onto Em's window to make her giggle. After she giggled, I put it on the tire where it belonged. The Mexican guy was doing the air in the back tires, so I didn't mess with them.
Then after I put the valve cover back on the driver's side tire (for some reason I hadn't replaced it when I finished it, but took it with me to do the passenger side) I got the gas nozzle, put it into my car, and then I got out my check card to put into the gas pump. For some reason there were two conflicting images on the gas pump for how to put the card in. There was a picture of a guy on there, just like there are at the Bank of America ATMs, showing which way the card needed to face. But then there was an image showing where the magnetic strip needed to go. Unfortunately, to follow the one for the strip made it so that I had to turn my card around differently from the picture of the guy on there.
I figured that the strip was what mattered, so I put it in the way that was correct for the strip. It immediately spit my card back out. "That's odd...", I thought, and I tried it again. This time it would barely even start letting my card in before spitting it back out. (kind of like when a dollar doesn't work on a vending machine, and it only goes in a half an inch before stopping and coming back out) I tried it another time or two, and then I looked at the text display. It told me that I needed to go in and talk to Kim, and only Kim, about getting my card working there again.
So I told Em what was going on, and then I went inside. The store was long and narrow, and I came in on the right hand side of the store. The cashier was up at the end of the counter to my far left. It was kind of dark in there because there was all sorts of shelving full of stuff for sale in front of the windows. I was at the end of the line. (there were about 4 people ahead of me)
Somehow, even though I was 20 feet away, I was able to see a name tag that said that Kim, the large older blond lady behind the cash register, was the manager. She had on a white sweater, and her hair was fairly short with big curls, and she had big glasses. There was a shorter and younger woman to her left who had short dark hair, and a somewhat large, but nice, nose. She looked about a year or two older than me. She asked me if she could help me out, and I told her that the gas pump told me to come see Kim and only Kim to get the pump to accept my card again. She said that she could do it, and I told her again what the gas pump said. Kim told her it would be okay for her to do it, so after the other customers were gone, Kim left, and this dark haired woman went up to the cash register.
I gave her my card,, and she told me that she needed my ID, so I gave her some other foldable card, kind of like my insurance card. She took it and started to fill out a half-sheet of thin yellow paper, kind of like the carbon-copy sheets that they give you at Fry's when you bring something in for their service department to check out. At that point, I took a seat in the bench-seat in front of the cash register. I turned to my right and slid back so that my feet were up in front of me and I was facing towards the end of the store I had just come in.
She was hard at work filling out this paper, but she was still talking every so often. She mentioned something about being a lawyer. I said something along the lines of, "Wow, being a lawyer must not be paying very well if you're working here, too.", and she nodded and said, "Yeah, that's about it." Then she was saying something about how there's so many lawyers in the area already, and that they were just all so nice. It jogged my memory of stuff from up north, and because we were in Texas, I was going to say something about some sort of stupid case I had heard about from up north in Maryland or something about people suing for stupid reasons, like because they had gotten stung by a wasp or something.
While I was thinking this, I was leaned back in the seat supported by my hands behind me, and I was pushing myself down the seat an inch or two, an the pulling my self back. I was kind of sliding back and forth, and I noticed that that time that I was wearing my work uniform for Mercedes. Anyway I think I decided otherwise on mentioning the stupid case, and just said, "yeah, it seems that the farther north you go, the worse the lawyers get," and she agreed. Finally she was done filling out the paperwork, and just as I was getting ready to head back out to the car, I woke up.
I unscrewed the valve cover for the front driver's side tire, and put air into it. Even though I didn't check the pressure, I knew that it was okay. Then I went around to do the passenger-side front tire. After I did that one, I acted like I was trying to screw the valve cap onto Em's window to make her giggle. After she giggled, I put it on the tire where it belonged. The Mexican guy was doing the air in the back tires, so I didn't mess with them.
Then after I put the valve cover back on the driver's side tire (for some reason I hadn't replaced it when I finished it, but took it with me to do the passenger side) I got the gas nozzle, put it into my car, and then I got out my check card to put into the gas pump. For some reason there were two conflicting images on the gas pump for how to put the card in. There was a picture of a guy on there, just like there are at the Bank of America ATMs, showing which way the card needed to face. But then there was an image showing where the magnetic strip needed to go. Unfortunately, to follow the one for the strip made it so that I had to turn my card around differently from the picture of the guy on there.
I figured that the strip was what mattered, so I put it in the way that was correct for the strip. It immediately spit my card back out. "That's odd...", I thought, and I tried it again. This time it would barely even start letting my card in before spitting it back out. (kind of like when a dollar doesn't work on a vending machine, and it only goes in a half an inch before stopping and coming back out) I tried it another time or two, and then I looked at the text display. It told me that I needed to go in and talk to Kim, and only Kim, about getting my card working there again.
So I told Em what was going on, and then I went inside. The store was long and narrow, and I came in on the right hand side of the store. The cashier was up at the end of the counter to my far left. It was kind of dark in there because there was all sorts of shelving full of stuff for sale in front of the windows. I was at the end of the line. (there were about 4 people ahead of me)
Somehow, even though I was 20 feet away, I was able to see a name tag that said that Kim, the large older blond lady behind the cash register, was the manager. She had on a white sweater, and her hair was fairly short with big curls, and she had big glasses. There was a shorter and younger woman to her left who had short dark hair, and a somewhat large, but nice, nose. She looked about a year or two older than me. She asked me if she could help me out, and I told her that the gas pump told me to come see Kim and only Kim to get the pump to accept my card again. She said that she could do it, and I told her again what the gas pump said. Kim told her it would be okay for her to do it, so after the other customers were gone, Kim left, and this dark haired woman went up to the cash register.
I gave her my card,, and she told me that she needed my ID, so I gave her some other foldable card, kind of like my insurance card. She took it and started to fill out a half-sheet of thin yellow paper, kind of like the carbon-copy sheets that they give you at Fry's when you bring something in for their service department to check out. At that point, I took a seat in the bench-seat in front of the cash register. I turned to my right and slid back so that my feet were up in front of me and I was facing towards the end of the store I had just come in.
She was hard at work filling out this paper, but she was still talking every so often. She mentioned something about being a lawyer. I said something along the lines of, "Wow, being a lawyer must not be paying very well if you're working here, too.", and she nodded and said, "Yeah, that's about it." Then she was saying something about how there's so many lawyers in the area already, and that they were just all so nice. It jogged my memory of stuff from up north, and because we were in Texas, I was going to say something about some sort of stupid case I had heard about from up north in Maryland or something about people suing for stupid reasons, like because they had gotten stung by a wasp or something.
While I was thinking this, I was leaned back in the seat supported by my hands behind me, and I was pushing myself down the seat an inch or two, an the pulling my self back. I was kind of sliding back and forth, and I noticed that that time that I was wearing my work uniform for Mercedes. Anyway I think I decided otherwise on mentioning the stupid case, and just said, "yeah, it seems that the farther north you go, the worse the lawyers get," and she agreed. Finally she was done filling out the paperwork, and just as I was getting ready to head back out to the car, I woke up.
Covered in Wasps
I was in Mike's (former step-father) house in Virginia, and I was in the old kitchen area. Somehow I had gotten a bunch of wasps all over me. At first I didn't seem to notice, and I was just going about whatever it was that I was doing. I was crouched down doing something, but I'm not sure what. Either while I was down there, or after I got up, I realized that I had all these wasps on me. I wasn't really scared, but I didn't want them on me, either.
As I stood up and walked around, some of them flew away. I didn't want to make any sudden movements (such as swatting at them or trying to kill any of them) because I knew that if I did, it would cause them to sting me. Someone else was there (perhaps Matthew, my brother) and I think they wanted to help me, and I wanted them to help me, but at the same time, I was afraid that if they did, it would cause the wasps to sting.
As I wandered around the area trying to think of what to do, more and more of them flew away. I remember one crawling over my right forearm before it flew away. Finally there was just one left. At this point I started getting really antsy about it being there because it was on my back, and I believe it had gotten into the back of my shirt. Whoever was there with me wanted to lift the back of my shirt and let it out, but I was afraid that they'd move too fast for it, and it would sting me. I was also starting to get afraid that my getting antsy was going to cause it to get disturbed and sting me. Finally it made it's way out of my shirt and flew away, and I felt really relieved.
As I stood up and walked around, some of them flew away. I didn't want to make any sudden movements (such as swatting at them or trying to kill any of them) because I knew that if I did, it would cause them to sting me. Someone else was there (perhaps Matthew, my brother) and I think they wanted to help me, and I wanted them to help me, but at the same time, I was afraid that if they did, it would cause the wasps to sting.
As I wandered around the area trying to think of what to do, more and more of them flew away. I remember one crawling over my right forearm before it flew away. Finally there was just one left. At this point I started getting really antsy about it being there because it was on my back, and I believe it had gotten into the back of my shirt. Whoever was there with me wanted to lift the back of my shirt and let it out, but I was afraid that they'd move too fast for it, and it would sting me. I was also starting to get afraid that my getting antsy was going to cause it to get disturbed and sting me. Finally it made it's way out of my shirt and flew away, and I felt really relieved.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)