Work, Enemy, Escape

I was walking around my office building despite the fact that it was the weekend. I don’t know why I was there, but I decided to walk up to the office’s floor through the staircase. I was walking around the floor when I saw a woman walk from the direction of the office to the stairwell. We passed each other and I had to turn around for a double take because although she had the body of a woman, her head was completely wrong: instead of a head, there was a camera like you would see on the side of a house. I stared rudely, trying to wrap my brain around what I was seeing. Then there was another one getting on the elevator. I stared at that one too, and it noticed me, staring back at me. Something weird was afoot and I noticed voices coming from inside of the office. I walked in through the back door, noting the large ceiling mounted camera pointed at the door. It was kind of dark in there (per usual for a dream) and I walked through the hallway towards the source of the voices. I came up to the front where one hygienist and the assistant where standing there watching what was going on in the waiting room. I tried to say hi, but their faces and the energy of the place put me on red alert. I think I came at a bad time. Out in the waiting room both of my doctors were talking to a man. I could tell there were other beings or people there, too, I just couldn’t see them. In that moment, I understood that my office was being coerced into something by that man. Something big. The cameras and the robot people were definitely his doing. That’s why on a weekend, the place would be open. I was sure they had noted that I was there. Movement was occurring, and so I decided to pretend I didn’t understand the gravity of the situation and went to use the bathroom. Back down the hall, I went and closed the door (the bathroom was located mid-hallway) quietly. Locked it and decided to not turn on the light. I was trying to come up with an excuse as I used the toilet (because I really did have to) about why I didn’t turn on the light, when I heard footsteps. Immediately, I popped up. I got pee on my leg, but it didn’t matter. There was a curtained shower being a full bathroom, but I dared not move into it lest someone come in and find me there. For some reason I could see through the walls and saw that my office members were being led down the hallway in a line. They all walked by the bathroom door without a single thought about it being closed. Just as the line cleared the henchman tailing the group decided to open the door. Seeing this, I immediately grabbed the curtain and pulled it in front of me. There was no time to jump into the shower. Thank goodness it was the fabric kind that didn’t make noise. He swept his flashlight swiftly around, obviously not expecting to find anyone in there. I heard him mumble something about wearing sunglasses, but I was so busy holding my breath and being super surprised about not getting caught. He closed the door behind him, and I could breathe again. That’s when I could process that he was wearing sunglasses while searching in the dark bathroom which is likely why he didn’t see my feet or realize I was the big bump behind the curtain. I also processed that my coworkers had been asking about me as they walked by and said something along the line of the fact that they weren’t surprised I’d hightailed it quietly without anyone realizing.

I had to do something. I stepped out into the hallway after some surveillance through the walls (somehow), and immediately took out some guards. I was able to take 2 others with me and we ran hard down the stairway. I knew the front would be well guarded, so I ran all the way down to the basement, through the creepiness there. Having already played that level twice, I knew where to go and what to do… except this time, I had other people with me, and the place was swarming with baddies. There was no way out without a firefight. The time for covert operations was over. I pulled out my weapon and started to fight the enemy approaching me. Somehow we were able to beat off most of them. In the process, we rescued someone wearing red and fled through the corridors. Reaching the storage room, I ran for the passage only to find that it had been sealed up. Oh no. These people were relying on me to escape and the only way out was no longer there. I desperately banged on the wall, knowing full well that they had reinforced the other side. In my mind I knew that even if we were to bust our way through, they’d likely be waiting on the other side especially when they could hear what was going on. My entourage was now panicking, and I couldn’t even hear myself think. I started looking at the giant box that was there, but I knew they were coming down the hallway towards us. I was trying to calm myself, to think about the mental map I had of the place, when–

–I woke up. GUH. I wanted to know what was going to happen, though maybe I woke up because I had messed up.

Wife, Arcade, Work, Computer

A few nights’ worth

The world was a bit destitute, like post-calamity. I was a wandering merchant or something similar. People treated me with respect and only a little caution. I came upon a town that looked something like out of a Western. One house in particular caught my eye and I came to visit them. They felt very honored to have me there, a young wife and a husband. Their trade seemed to be that of a cobbler or tailor. My view bounced from 3rd person to 1st a few times. I’d just come back from speaking with the young man. We’d been outside maybe 15-20 minutes. When we entered a few customers had just left. I noticed right away that the wife seemed nervous and wouldn’t look either of us in the eye. Immediately, I understood what had happened, though the husband did not. As a little test, I came up to her with her husband at her side and gave her a big big side hug. If my station had not been so important, he would have thrown me out right away, but he wasn’t concerned about me, more about why she was upset. While I rubbed her back, her nervousness turned into shame and tears formed in her eyes. My suspicions confirmed, I began to look around their house. It was a very humble place with only a single bed to share stuffed into the back behind the shop. Even their waste situation was meager. She was so desperate to produce a child that she’d turned to any stranger willing to help. It seemed her husband was infertile. That’s what happened in the little time that the husband and I were talking to each other. There was not much I could do, so I left.

Then I was in an arcade — something so rare in this day and age. It was a small place, rather dusty and not well known. The machines were ancient and only in fair condition, but it still made me excited to play. I tried a few machines while the attendant/owner looked on hopefully. My presence drew in a few kids and teenagers. While I was there, they took delivery of 2 new machines in similar condition as the others, but working! I left, but was definitely coming back

Something about Christmas lights.

Then I was at work. It was getting close to closing, but I had a 2 more patients to go. Why work never has lights on in my dreams I have no idea. I’d finished my patient, seen a child and was cleaning up to go home when my boss showed me a patient on the screen and told me to tell him if I see any caries. Confused because Idiot Hygienist had already seen him the other day, I went to the back where my other boss started talking to me in the sterilization area. She had a funny look on her face while I asked her about the patient that had just been seen. While I talked, it dawned on me that she wanted me to do another cleaning. I glanced over to the restorative op to see the family sitting there again. Considering I technically still had an hour left in the work day, I told her I guess I could do it so they didn’t have to come back again, and she was extremely happy. Ugh. I started setting stuff back up while people I don’t recognize ran around laughing in the halls. When I got back to my op, the entire family was there to say hi. My patient was already out of his wheelchair and into my chair, ready to go. The others were speaking to each other and I was prepared not to understand, but half of their words were understandable! What? Then they asked me about my familial origins and they seemed to be able to speak some! Oh boy. I don’t advertise that, ever. My doc must have said something…

Then I was in a car with some people. I didn’t want to be there at all and didn’t really fit in. I’d already witnessed their group installing CPUs to a building. I think I was their prisoner because during the crew’s installation, I was lifted up multiple times by my neck into the air as I tried to oppose the installations. They had a female sitting next to me in the back. On the other side of me was the last computer module that the master, himself was going to install. As the driver drove, the machine started making noises. I was thinking about whether I should tell them, when images started projecting onto the master’s back (in the front passenger seat). I watched, confused until I saw the enemy’s icon show up. I whacked the images in alarm. They asked what I was doing. I explained that I think the enemy (the enemy of my captors) was hacking into their systems and bragging about it with the projections. As much as I was a prisoner, the enemy might blow the machine up next to me and that made my captors my colleagues in that moment in time. The driver started driving even faster, but we all knew he wouldn’t make it in time. Fear gripped us all, unable to do anything at all as we raced through the city streets to try and make it in time.

Work

Ugh. What a terrible dream to have: work, after working all day long.

Something about family and my grandma’s house. My grandpa had just died and I was to not only move in but take over the basement which was incredibly dark with the dark wood walls and very narrow hallways. You have no clue how large the basement was because of the parallel narrow halls. There were pictures hanging on all the walls everywhere, and my first order of business was to take them all down and replace them with mine. Everyone seemed upset at my eagerness to remove any trace of my grandpa but were totally fine with me actually doing it. I walked through the halls taking stock of things and feeling extremely overwhelmed at the scope of what I was trying to do.

I was working, and as usual it was dark inside with only natural lighting from the windows. I was preparing to get my next patient which was not a patient I normally saw. Not only that, but I’d be seeing her mom, too. My coworker’s note stated that despite her being a child, she was hard which made me worried. I saw that they had arrived and checked the chart once more. That was no child, she was about 50 years old! Wanting to get started, I called her back and, of course, her whole family came back with her. I walked them to my operatory and suddenly she was in a wheelchair. Oh. I asked her if she could get out enough to get on the chair, and she went and got onto a massage table instead. I was speechless, but she then moved herself over to the actual operatory chair to my relief. The process had taken longer than I’d like, so I was preparing to get started when more of her family showed up and were insistent on being there. I was stressed and was about to get started when my boss shows up and wanted to do the exam right away. I’m not opposed to that, but then she complained that I’d not taken any x-rays and she wanted them. Ugh. I got up to go get the sensor when I realized that my workplace was not familiar at all to me, as it was MUCH larger than any office would be – like a dental school.

I couldn’t find the x-ray stuff, so I went in search of G. I went into the “break room” which was 10 times the size it was, FULL of chairs and the works. I found her there and asked her to help me with the x-ray stuff because I had no idea what I was doing on that side of the building. If I was on the other side, it’d be easy. I was freaking out because all the searching had taken up so much time AND I could not for the life of me remember how to take them with the new operatory unit. G directed me to find a particular box while she fetched the sensor. I looked in the tech station and saw a lot of boxes. No one could help me and eventually G came to look for me. She picked a box up that looked quite a bit like a kid’s toy house and told me to follow her. I trudged, embarrassedly back with her and she stopped to me hook things. Up. I didn’t know how to do that either! And no in front of my own patients! G sighed and started hooking things up for me. I checked the time. I’d wasted 30 minutes of the appointment already. She was called away and I was left struggling with the strange x-ray system by myself. Someone took pity on me and helped me move the sensor, and the x-ray unit around while explaining things like I was a newbie (which I was, clearly). He said that normally they’d print them out at the printer station, but because I was so behind, they’d just save it digitally to show on the screen. In order to distinguish the different images, I had to press a letter (only 2 available) to mark the images. I finally got 4 images I needed, but then I needed to get that displayed somehow on the operatory screen. I had to ask someone else for that, and they walked me all the way over to the printing station. I had given up being able to clean my patient at all by that point. In fact, they could have just left, and I’d be totally okay with that. The little box had to be hooked up to the larger machine, and then I had to press several buttons to work the thing. Not only would it direct the images to the patient’s chart, but this person had me print them out, too. I was so happy to see things working and grabbed the printed images before wending my way back through the bustling dental students to my patient. I think I had about 10 minutes left in the appointment and was busting my brain as to how I’d be able to manage that when–

–I woke up feeling completely and utterly unrested.

Work, Cooking, Coworker

I was at work and for once it wasn’t dark. I was working on a patient I thought I’d just seen just a few days prior. He seemed much more like a normal person (the patient lives in a group home) and sat well throughout the appointment. I was able to complete the appointment and the exam was completely normal, too. My boss was pleased. I cleaned up my op and brought everything back to the sterilization room. The office was super busy and as usual filled with people I don’t recognize. My old coworker was there and some young girl I didn’t recognize was there, too. Q took my tray and set it aside while setting up a new tray for me. In the meantime, I went back to grab the flower comforter that looked suspiciously like my dog’s blanket to set it in the back with the other pile of dirty things. It smelled weird back there but I didn’t want to say anything just assuming that it was the pile of laundry.

I took my stuff back to my op only to find that my work had changed to cooking. And I was behind! I started up the induction plate and set some water up, before scrambling to construct something from the ingredients I had available to me. I kept glancing at the other workstations to see everyone else working seemingly calmly and confidently and wondering how I even got into this to begin with. The judges took my meal away after the timer went off and I was directed to clean up and work on the next assignment. I rushed my things to the back, filled with stress and worry. As I walked down the hall, I realized that things were a bit drafty because I was totally topless. A part of me was extremely self-conscious until I realized I’d been like the whole time and no one else seemed to care in the least. At least it helped with the heat! I made it back to the sterilization area. Q took my things again and once more set up a tray for my next task. She was also topless, and I was busy trying not to notice and thinking about that little kid that was walking around. In the corner of my eye I saw my boss holding the comforter I’d thrown back there. She had cleaned up the rest of it and went out the door, I assume to go to the laundry room. I took something from the cabinet and took my tray. I expressed my worry for the next examination, so Q gave me a carafe with cream in it and also some other ingredient. I hurried back to my workstation to find that yet again I was late!! The other contestants were well into their food making and I only had half the time left! I did my best trying to make a dessert out of gelatin. It looked like a clear pancake stack slightly charred on top surrounded by foam and topped with syrup, cream, and some fruit/mint. It looked good. It was at that moment I decided I was hungry, so I went ahead and ate some. A monitor was walking around. They stared at me eating, shrugged, and walked away. I guess it was allowed after all. And also, it tasted really badly. Extra sweet, no flavor, too much vanilla. Given that it’d taken very little time to whip up, I decided to make another attempt at it except this time I’d give it a fruity flavor and use soda to give it bubbles.

That’s when things got weird. There was something about a Japanese app that needed to be used to get special ingredients. I couldn’t read any of it, though the pictures were cute. Then it hit me that if we could use an app, then I could use the internet to try and look up and idea about my dish. I kept trying and trying, but the search engine just wouldn’t work! I was forced to use the app after all. Somehow, I managed to get some rice and something else from poking things on the app.

Then it swapped to me driving around sundown. On that part of the map, I needed to find a certain item. What I found instead were the unhappy spirits of a male and a female. I picked up the item on the ground. A big, creepy old man directed me a few yards over where I saw the glowing bodies of a male and female except, they had been somehow impaled to the hill there. The old man startled to laugh menacingly, and I realized he’d killed them. They must have trespassed there, and he’d run them with his car up against the hill and they died. While he laughed, I snuck away. Then there was something about a locker with tactical gear, a bunch of people, and then me driving over to a parking lot near a church except I wasn’t very good at parking and was worried that I’d get towed.

Jet Li, 90s, Patient

2 nights

Some stuff that I now forget

I was/watching Jet Li. He was very young and I assume acting in a movie? Anyways, he was a young man in his 20s trying to live his young life. It was a tight city in China and after doing a job, was guided towards a particular woman where he would be able to sleep, eat, and recover his wounds. When he wound up at her house, she immediately knew who he was. Her house wasn’t an eatery nor an inn like Jet Li thought… It was simply her house. She fed him at their small, humble table, and gave him a bundle of bedclothes. He followed her over to a double-sized bed that was clearly being used by her and her family. He felt weird, but she directed him to use it, helping him change the bedclothing. He shrugged and utilized it because he was very tired. Some time later, it was night. I was now seeing through the eyes of an unknown person who somehow knew where to find Jet Li. There was a Chinese window directly behind the bed where he slept, and it was slightly ajar. The person reached in and started taking his belongings from right beside him while he snored gently, deep in sleep. I, still seeing from the eyes of the robber, was indignant and alarmed that someone would do this to Jet Li, but I needn’t have worried. When the robber reached in a third time to take the last item, they were met with Jet Li’s open, scowling eyes. It probably turned into a fighting scene, but I didn’t get to watch that part.

It was the 90s! I was outside/ watching a scene outside. The sky was yellowish the way the 90s were in the summer for some reason (maybe tv? or maybe just the sun beat differently where I lived?). Something about Spongebob and Squidward with butt-head (literally), then there was some gag about the “world” being manipulated by the “bad guy” character pulling up and down the layers of the ground. There was a big group of kids who might have been characters from old 90s TV shows/movies. They were of the knowledge that this was no longer the 90s, and were recreating and trying out things that we used to do and use and eat back then. Wearing clothes from that era, and such. Eventually, they decided that wearing clothes from back then was not feasible given how small such articles are now that everyone is so much older. I, too, started going through a dresser drawer full of old shirts of mine. Some of them would not fit even my hand through the sleeve it was so small. I found a shirt that was size 12 kids. I tried to put it on, but then got it stuck and had a terrible time getting it off. I decided to leave the 90s in the 90s because we were all way too old now.

Then I was in my room and the people from work were wandering in an out… working?? In my house. They were making a huge racket while I lay half on my bed and half on Cora’s bed. At one point, my boss had a question about something and came down to sit next to me on the bed while I answered and I didn’t even bother to move, still lying on both the bed and Cora’s bed. She got up again, then J mentioned that someone had died on Saturday. I immediately perked up and asked who it was. She said the name SP, and I wailed in anguish. Not him! Of all the people! His wife seemed to be in a worse position than he, why did he have to go first! I went online to confirm and see if there was an obituary, and all I could find was a weird blurb from someone in a blog or a forum claiming that some other people and SP had died from toxicity from some mediation or other chemical. Oh. It was one of those hogwash people sites. I was still super upset about it and no one could console me.

Work, Search

I was driving to work. I get to the parking lot which is around a large, bricked building that looks a lot like an old school church. My normal spot is taken by school buses, so I begrudgingly park in a different spot. I’m early, so I decide to lay back in my car and take a rest/nap before going in at 9am. I’m not sure if I sleep or not, but all of the sudden my boss pulls up. Normally I don’t care and just keep going until it’s time to go in, but I start coughing and moaning about how sleepy I am and she comes over to sit with me in my suddenly convertible car. The seat is something incredibly comfortable like a plush bed with blankets, so she’s effectively sitting at the end of my bed talking to me. She asks how I’m feeling, and I am bitter about my lungs’ condition. I complain about being delinquent on my inhaler and can’t breathe well. She asks why I’m delinquent and I rant about not wanting to use it anymore. It makes me feel funny, and I just hate that I have to use it. I wasn’t always like that. Until 4 years ago, I was free as a bird, doing things and going where I’d like without worry about something as simple as breathing. She and I talk for a bit. She shows me some lump/bump she has on her armpit area. I sit up abruptly to see as she clearly wants me to, but I see nothing. Then she pokes my face and says that everyone has bumps on their face. I still don’t know what she’s talking about, but we continue yammering about stuff. I suddenly check my watch and find that though my watch is dead and showing 12:20pm, my phone says it’s 9:30am which is not better! I’m LATE! Talking to my boss! I scramble out and make my way up the stairs.

I think I meet one of my patients outside the office

The office is pretty high up and I’m anxious because I’m late as heck. However, the office is not busy or in a state of panic at all. I walk in and it turns out that not only is my first patient not even there, but looking at the entire schedule, I only have 2 patients all day long! The rest of the office’s schedule is better than mine, but not by much. I go up to my other boss and ask what happened. He shook his head and said that all of the messages said that parents couldn’t get their kids out of school to come. He rolls his eyes, and it turns out the rest of the week is like that, too! I’m trying to decide what holiday it is that’s coming up that would cause that. That’s when I notice that the front desk as two females I don’t recognize at all. One of them, the main one is brand new that day, but she is extremely confident and skilled. She’s also really personable. I walk up to my coworker and ask if she knows what happened to the other two. She just shrugged and rolls her eyes. She’s more annoyed about her patient who is demanding special treatment. She explains that she already drove him to his destination after the last appointment and doesn’t want to get into habit of doing special favors like that.

My next patient walks in the door, and I go into my operatory to get started. She’s a really tall, skinny woman with graying hair. She’s acting kind of odd already, and she just seems a little kooky. It’s fine, though, because I have many patients like that. She’s nice enough. I get her to lay on my chair which is all the way to the ground for some reason. Like almost flat on the floor. My chair is also basically on the floor, meaning that she basically has to rest her head on my legs for me to work. I scoot myself in so that her head is cradled on my thighs, and look in to work. All of the sudden, the entire environment changes. It’s brighter, the office is different, and it’s bright and beautiful outside. The view is of the ocean and the office is simply relaxed and nice, filled with couches and other comfortable things. My patient opens her mouth and I notice all the worn, smaller teeth in there. Her jaw is super narrow and super long, and I start praising her for opening her mouth. Her tongue moves around, but I can deal with that because she’s so cute! Her fur coat is black and white, but the fur has gotten rather gray with age. Her teeth, white worn is in great condition. I keep praising the cute and well-mannered greyhound while giving her belly rubs and pets. She’s super happy and wiggling but staying open for me to see in her mouth. I do my job and start to wonder what the story is! I look over to see a Golden Retriever in another “operatory” which is a couch. As it turns out, a man married 3 dogs. There’s a whole book about it, too.

Then a long dream about a scavenger hunt in a department store which is mixed in with Mario Kart.

Work, Warm, Video

I was at work. My patient had a friend with her and seemed to be a tough nut to crack. I kept trying to make conversation with her, but she was awkwardly quiet and her face gave nothing away. Finally, I just gave up and finished my work. Before I went to go get my doctor for an exam, I told her that I was jealous of her hair which was cut really short because mine was too long and I needed a haircut. I knew that she couldn’t see my hair under my head covering, but you can see enough to know that I don’t have long hair. I was standing up to leave when I saw her not only smile but her cheeks tinged rosy. As I was back there waiting for him and watching the hectic hullabaloo, he came up and asked me if I was feeling warm because he was. I was like, uh oh! Did he have a fever? Then he left to go do the exam and I was left there thinking about how the office might have to shut down if he couldn’t work. Also, if he was feeling that way were others feeling the same?

I went back to join him in my op. He was checking her. As soon as he turned to talk to me, though, somehow the patient suddenly had her friend in the chair and was working on her! We both looked at each other. My boss shrugged and left. I was left wondering what to do. I approached them, trying to make light of the situation. This time both were quite talkative. My original patient got up for me to sit down and do my job as I guess the friend was my next patient?

We were talking jovially together and there was a TV going on in the background. I could hear/see a commercial in particular that featured an old, catchy song. I laughed and told them that I love that music video and was surprised that they were showing it on TV! The two of them giggled and in unison said, “Nickelodeon.” Then the visuals from the music video popped up like I was watching them on a mobile device. I kept playing it back and forth and then it was like I was watching the video in a little paperback book that played videos. You turned the page when the next segment of the video started. I began to doodle absently on it, lines around the video itself while listening to the others talk. My fine tipped sharpie kept trailing off and I had to keep redoing the line. It didn’t matter whether it was straight or not, but it mattered to me. Overall, I was just happy, and warm in the spring brightness.

Bathroom, Work, Stairs

I was driving and my mom was with me. It was rainy outside, and we drove down several roads to a small town. We decided to stop at a convenience store/gas station though I didn’t need any gas. There were a bunch of people there we knew, so we stood around a bit. I watched the people, thinking about how I both needed to go to the bathroom and was hungry. There was this unfamiliar guy who was taking orders for the people there. My mom started walking across the street, so I ran after her. She wanted to see what was on the other side and it wasn’t a big deal with me because I wanted to stretch my legs, too. I did make her wait for the crosswalk light despite the other people down the way jaywalking. The motel across the street was not only empty but possibly abandoned. Done with that, we came back over on a crosswalk that had 224 seconds of time!! For some reason we made it just in time for the countdown. By that time, my sister was carefully looking over the food order. The guy then jaywalked across the street to the Little Cesar’s. I really needed to go to the bathroom at that point, AND there was this drunk/high lady who was teeter tottering along with him, so I ran after her, wrapped an arm around her waist and guided her in safety to the Little Cesars. The restaurant was like none I’d ever seen. We waded through the massive crowd of what appeared to be junkies and other low-lifes. Neither of the people I was with seemed bothered at all by them. I was extremely aware of my different race, but the junkies didn’t care about that. Inside the place was not a pizza place, but a department store! Jewelry counter, nice clothing, hardware… there were 2 floors. The only crowded place was the front with all the junkies. The lady disappeared somewhere and the pizza ordering guy quickly headed off to the back of the store. I walked all around looking for the bathroom. The first one I found saw one lady bawling on the phone while wiping down the floor and the door exclaiming that she hadn’t meant for it to happen at all! I didn’t want to use that one, so I kept going and eventually found the lady I’d been with. She seemed happier because she had just finished using the bathroom herself. I asked her where it was and she showed me a shell looking device, I tried to get in but couldn’t and she cackled and pushed me saying that only the chosen ones could.

I woke up for real to use the bathroom, then back to sleep.

Then I was at work. As usual, it was dark, and crazy with the schedule. The version of me doing work was doodling on and making lists for patients. Then I left because I didn’t want to be there anymore. I stopped to talk to my coworker on the way out (in a different office), and then proceeded to use the elevator. The way it was acting looked like it was going to break, but I used it anyways. There was a sign at the bottom of the door saying that it was programmed to bypass the first floor because it was going to malfunction, so it would let out on the basement level which still had outdoor access. That was annoying, but I remembered that I had already done this before in a previous dream where I’d managed to acquire or make a map of the convoluted maze. As I exited into the basement, a pretty-looking lady was frustrated and scared. Immediately, I recognized that she was lost, so I had her come with me as I searched for the exit. Although I pretty much remembered the map from the last time, I tried to pull it up on my phone anyways just in case and to inspire confidence in the frazzled lady. We went around turns and bends not following any of the other lost people until I saw that familiar part. Took a right which led us down a long hallway, another sharp turn and BAM. Outside was the grocery store which meant that we just had to go around the outside of the building to the parking lot. She had pulled up her car locator on her phone and was so relieved that we were close. We broke off from each other and I headed towards my car.

All of the sudden, I realized that I needed to get back to work, so I entered a door near my car, knowing that there was a staircase nearby. Inside, however, things were not as I remembered. There was a long line of people standing. I asked if they were waiting for the bathroom, and they were, so I cut through them to where the stairs used to be. Someone else wanted to use the stairs, too, but I couldn’t figure out where it was. I was just about to travel a good distance down the hall to use the other stairs, when someone gave me a spatula with something on top of it. They smiled at me with what initially seemed innocent. It changed and I got a bad feeling, but it was too late. The “stairs” required floating and traveling through the walls and building like a ghost. There was no time to think about anything, but I knew I was super scared. You can’t be scared when you’re dealing with spirits. I could not help it. A spirit met me inside of the wall and I could see “stairs” all around me leading here, there, nowhere, and upways, sideways, diagonal-ways. It seemed to be a rather bothersome, irritable spirit. I tried my best to at least exude calm even though I felt nothing close to that. It kept saying things to me that I didn’t understand, then get angry at me. It forced me to “fly” through a videogame-like flying obstacle course still holding the spatula thing. I knew if I lost that or let go, that I’d be stuck in the place forever. It tried multiple times to trick me into giving the thing up or letting go or whatever other ploy it had. I came close a few times. However, I made it and it was so angry I thought I’d be sent to a different dimension and imprisoned there.

Nope. I made it to my workplace. I hurried into my operatory where my patient was still waiting (apparently time moved differently in that realm). The list I’d started before I’d left was still there, so I finished it up, adding stickers and other things to it. The patient was really happy.

Work, Patient, Search

I was at work and there were a lot of people working there, almost like a clinic or school. I was in my corner room, though it was longer than usual with serious cabinetry and counterspace. It was busy and noisy in there. I was 15 minutes late for my patient who was a very kind, happy old man in his mid 90s. I greeted him and asked if anything brought him in. He told me that he had a pain in his upper left molar. Glancing at his radiographic record, I saw that he’d recently had bitewings taken, but that he’d definitely need a new image taken that showed the root because I suspected infection. I informed him of this and that he might have to pay out of pocket, but he firmly agreed that it was necessary. I go ahead and take the image and send it off to the processing area. Then it was a waiting game. I talked with him and with my colleagues. Then I wandered over to the doctors’ side of the clinic to see if I could find out why there was so much dust and debris everywhere. Turns out that the doctors’ were renovating the whole office in sections and had just finished the other side: new cherry hardwood floors and brand new units. I looked at them as I washed my hands over there (because you weren’t allowed to at my sink for some reason) and my stomach sunk because the units were big, bulky, and looked awkward to work around. Ugh. I went back to my operatory and relayed the news to a colleague (looked like a classmate from school) and we both agreed that it was a bad idea. Oh well.

I started getting annoyed because the x-rays were taking an inordinate amount of time to get back to me. There was worry that I’d run my appointment over and while my patient was very nice, you can only push people so far. I checked my watch to find that I was already several minutes into my NEXT appointment. I complained to a supervisor, that other people were getting their x-rays, but I wasn’t and my patient was old. She was annoyed, too, and went to find out what was going on. That didn’t seem to help my situation at all, and my patient left after I promised to let him know about the results. I was mad. The office seemed to work out my next patients, because I didn’t have any others. Instead, I complained and ranted a lot until the office closed down and most people left. A frazzled looking guy placed a stack of x-rays on a middle table and I rushed over to find mine. First of all, I couldn’t believe it was traditional film, but second, mine wasn’t there. Livid now. I started asking all of my remaining colleagues if they’d had the same issue or seen mine. Only a handful had a problem, but no one was overly concerned because it was just routine images. Mine was a real problem that needed attention! That’s when I found on a random shelf, a massive stack of more x-rays!! I grabbed as many as I could, but couldn’t fit all of them in my hands and dumped them on the center table. Someone else helped with the rest of the stack and we eagerly went through them. Still nothing. WTH.

I went back to the table distraught and upset, and another supervisor was there. As I watched the rest of my colleagues leave for the day, I asked her if I could have permission to search the other wings of the clinic. I was feeling like someone was out to get me! She smiled and gave permission, telling me that she’d stayed behind specifically to help me. I felt better and made my way over to another section of the clinic. It was dark because everyone was gone, so I went down the long hallway groping around for light switches. When I got to the main room, I kept trying different switches and knobs, but nothing was working. With a massive sigh, I finally pulled out my phone and its flashlight function to see the switches. Once on, I started searching through the first section of the room which appeared to be a library. For a place that was literally just all dark, there was suddenly people there. I asked my friend/ex-coworker if she’d seen any wayward x-rays lying around. She said no, but I was welcome to search. I found a small memory card with a book title. Making my way through the rest of the room, I saw that 2 other people where there. They were workers, one an instructor/overseer and one a student assistant. I didn’t like the assistant at all, but I knew I needed to ask her. If anyone was out to get me, it’d be her. I asked the instructor first with no luck, so I wandered about procrastinating. Eventually, I took a big breath and approached the assistant who had a huge smirk on her face already. I tamped down my annoyance and asked her if she’d seen the x-ray I was looking for. She nodded her head knowingly, going through a stack of x-rays to select the right one. That’s when I remembered my own bargaining chip. She was about to give me some sort of ultimatum when I whipped out the chip of the book I’d found. Her mouth dropped and with a scowl swapped with me. Yess.

Before heading back to my side of the clinic, I stopped by to tell my friend, but she wasn’t there. Shawn and Gus from Psych was there, though. I jokingly asked if they had any other contraband hidden there, and Shawn showed me how the books stacked on the desk held a secret. The bottommost book was fake and would open a secret compartment containing what? Colored pencils. Seeing my expression, he explained that they had to hide the colored pencils because if some of the other guys knew they used pastel pencils to color things with, they’d never hear the end of it. I wanted to say many things, but didn’t because–

–I woke up.

Violence, Robbers, Family, Work

I was driving along a road I always travel (though unfamiliar in real life). My brother was in the passenger seat. We stopped for a light on a 3-lane road (3 one way, 6 total separated by a median) when all of the sudden, several young men ran out from the grass strip on the side of the road and started doing something with my plates in the back. The light turned green, and I started back up only to slam on the brakes in the middle of the road because I only just then registered that they had been doing something bad. All the cars went around me, and I backed it up to the men and got out of my car threateningly. They all took off on foot. We went home and I was really upset that they were stealing my registration stickers from my license plate. Not only did it mean that I would be driving around illegally, but they would be jacking my information? Or pretending to be me? I fumed for a while and poked around online. Other people were on forums complaining about the same thing. I decided to call the cops and drive out that way again. I submitted a report and then came out the front of the house to get my car to go except that it wasn’t there. That’s when I remembered seeing that it had been towed?! Except no one else’s cars were there either and lots of construction to fix the terrible paving job was being done. I guess they towed everyone’s cars so they could do that!!? To quote Luna: BOGUS!!

Somehow, I ended up back at my target location anyways. I immediately got out of the car to go investigate where the hoodlums had been lying in wait. There was a folding table there with all their equipment neatly laid out. Lo and behold, in plain sight were several different registration stickers! I couldn’t remember which was mine, but I stood around to await the cops in case they decided to come back and run away with the evidence.

Perhaps earlier in the dream saw me at my grandma’s house with my sister. I was sitting at the table doing something, maybe eating, but preoccupied on my phone. I happened to look up because I heard voices and saw that over near the TV a new voice had joined the old people. It was my uncle. When had he come in? He was sitting with the older folk, and I decided not to go say hi.

Before that was an action-packed sequence which I don’t remember in full detail but was video game-like. I was in an enclosed area and needed to defend it. With me was a man… maybe Jackie Chan or Jet Li. He asked me if I needed some guns and I said yes, the only problem was I couldn’t find any. He opened up a hidden compartment and there were my guns! I was ecstatic, but it was time to defend! I picked up both the heavier pistol and my Glock just as the enemies shambled into view. Even shambling, they were faster than I’d like. We started shooting and I was dismayed to see that each zombie needed multiple clear shots to the head in order to take them down. On top of it, they were citizens… families… children… and not obviously zombies apart from their weird walking. I mercilessly shot at them, though, no matter what and soon the wave was decimated. Gah! We had been so busy shooting the one side, we hadn’t seen the other side! 3 children had somehow infiltrated us from behind and were standing right by my side. I knew they were dangerous, but they were just standing there. I hesitated because they weren’t attacking, just staring at me with empty, soulless eyes, swaying back and forth. My partner attacked, and I begrudgingly followed suit, pulling out my knife and slitting the throat of the young girl, maybe 10 or 11 years old. Both girls with slit throats just stood there staring at the wall and I was thinking maybe I hadn’t slit hard enough (and feeling a bit queasy about it all) when the gaping neck wounds abruptly spurt blood forward. I jumped out of the way as their heads fell backwards and the bodies crumpled to the ground. Definitely infected… the initial slit of a throat should have immediately drawn blood. Their blood acted like it was thick and slow. While vindicated, my actions still made me feel not good.

Then there was a work dream that I wasn’t performing that well in. There was a strong displeasure from my boss regarding my skills. Some stuff in the operatory, some computer stuff, and then I was supposed to be playing kickball inside the office on a team. I didn’t know anything about it and hadn’t played organized sports since grade school. They placed me in the outfield, but the giant inflatable balls they used kept getting kicked at me. I used my arms like volleyball which was a big no-no because it was a foot only game. Everyone kept groaning in irritation every time I did something wrong which was basically every time. I got upset saying I didn’t want to do this anyways and I didn’t even know the rules! I yelled at them to stop aiming the ball at me if they wanted a smooth game!!

Work, Gable/Liana

2 nights’ worth

I was strolling along a trail in a beautiful, rolling landscape of fields and copses of trees. It seemed to be around autumn time so the world was tinged in yellowish. On my left walked Gable, on my right, Liana. It was peaceful and beautiful. Suddenly, I looked and noticed that Gable’s collar and leash were just around his front left leg! I was freaking out that I’d lose him, so I stopped and grabbed him lest he run away from me and secured it to his neck. Then I looked to my right and in further horror saw that instead of a leash for Liana, I was holding some ribbon like something in a waistband: a drawstring. It came out in my hand and my mind reeled with fear that I’d lose her, too. However, they both kept walking beside me.

Then some stuff about an orphanage where they were trying to convince me to stay and help them out.

I dreamed about a lot of things last night, but only remember the terrible work dream.

I was at work. It was busy! The usual crew was there and we were pushing through until rather late. It was the end of the day, and I was panicking because my doctor hadn’t even checked my patient yet. Front desk told me that my patient had checked in early and said that he needed to be seen ASAP and leaving ASAP. I had no other room to go to because we had a temp that day in the corner. I told my doctor that I needed her to finish my exam yesterday and explained the situation. She told me to ask someone else to take the patient. I tried my colleagues and one stated they’d already moved people around. Thank goodness. The guy comes in and gets called back (I’m still waiting for my room to be finished) and I recognize him from another dream as being a weirdo. He was in his late 20s early 30s, chunky, long stringy hair and always wearing headphones. I had dodged a bullet it seemed. Time moved on and stuff happened. There was a little Latino boy working in the office, too. He didn’t speak much English but was eager to help. I’m not very good with kids, and definitely don’t speak Spanish. My coworker was coaxing him to do the right thing with praise. I watched a beetle walk by on the desk with a corn kernel and laughed. Then I gossiped that the temp didn’t want to see any patients at all and hadn’t been. My colleague that had taken the other guy walked by and I asked if she was done already. She said, no, because he decided he didn’t want a cleaning. But he might be back later. OKAAY.

We finished our patients and then were talking. The little boy was extremely excited because he could get to work cleaning the rooms. My coworker kept commenting that he was so excited that she was no longer in there because he’d been just dying to clean the windows and floor. He did a great job, too, unlike a certain temp.

Driving

I had a restless night, so there were many weird dreams, but I only remember a small bit.

I was in the house the grew up in. There was something about the attic and wandering around the wooded neighborhood.

I was at work or somewhere and it was lunchtime. 1pm. I went to go check what I’d brought for lunch and it turns out I’d brought a bunch of fruit, meaning I can’t actually eat it at work. There was one lady unfamiliar to me who came from Europe and was talking to my coworker. I sat on the sofa there, ready to get on my phone, when she turned to me and asked if I’d ever been to Ukrops. I said yes, but in my head registered that Ukrops has been out of the game for many years now. She asked me if I’d ever been a Ukrops with a “market” meaning an outdoor eating place, and if I have, then was it always super crowded. The way she said it implied that they were ubiquitous where she came from. I said no initially, wracking my brain, but then a sudden memory hit me of a really nice, large Ukrops with an outdoor seating area smack in the middle of the store. And it had been crazy crowded. I changed my answer to yes and she nodded knowingly.

Then someone asked me about a friend of theirs who had a dilemma. They loved and worked in one town but their friend lived in another town 1 hour away. Friend A was adamant about every day getting to Friend B’s house by 8pm after work. The person wanted to know if I had a better solution. My solution was to either move there, get a new job, or just wait for the weekend. I looked it up on Google Maps and it was based in mid-west Virginia. According to the road system, it shouldn’t have been that far away given the hop onto a big freeway. Cut scene to being in a small sedan at night. For whatever reason, I was driving out to pick her up?? Some time passes and not only does Friend A get in the passenger seat, but Friend B gets into the driver’s seat. I’m planted firmly behind the driver’s seat, while for some reason my mom jams herself into the front passenger seat with Friend A. At first I don’t really register anything weird because I’m wondering on Friend A and B’s friend status… Friend B mentioned that she has kids but they’re awfully and strangely close for just friends… After a bit, I notice the thing with the seats, and comment. Nothing comes out of it. Then all of the sudden Friend A started flipping out in the passenger’s seat saying she can’t breathe. Friend B freaks out too, not sure where or go or what to do. I assess the situation and realize she’s having an asthma attack. With nothing around to help, she really just needs to relax and let it play through. She’s not turning blue or anything. I count down 3, 2, 1 in my head and boom, my mom grabs her face cartoon-style, and tells her forcefully to calm down and stop it. To breathe. Breaths in and out. Both friends are so surprised everything gets calm immediately and the attack passes after a few minutes.

Morning is coming as we continue along the windy, mountainous road. Just as I’m wondering what will happen once we arrive at our destination in regards to Friend B, suddenly there’s a boar on the path! My brother, who is now driving, veers around it down the slope. I am scared, but we end up back on the road somehow. Then another boar in the road! This time, he slows the car down and manages to squeeze around it without incident. I just want off the ride at this point, but we’re still at least 1 hour away from the closest city.

Lasagna, Cleanup, Work, Beach Rental

It was dark at night. Some stuff happened, then I was left outside while everyone else went home for the evening. My parents (the parents from The Loud House) needed some dinner, so I wanted to help. I went over to a stone slab relief and withdrew from it a portion of lasagna and a bowl of frozen broccoli. I walked over to the cobblestone street which was also the main road through town…an old, stone town with medieval store fronts and all. There was even a castle in the background lit up by the moon. It was empty, since it was nighttime. I walked over to the eatery which is where my “dad” worked and popped them into the microwave. I could hear both of their voices coming my way when I took the dishes out. Not only were they nowhere near done yet (the insides were very frozen and very cold still), but the plain broccoli dish smelled funny like it had gone bad, perhaps. I went to nearest trash can and dumped that portion. I realized, then, that the lasagna’s filling was broccoli and chedder, so another broccoli dish would have been redundant, anyways.

Then I was inside of a house. It had a lot of stuff everywhere and a bunch of people. It looked like we were all going through the stuff to get rid of them… the items were all super old things from way back when I was young or even older than that. It was fun to try all the things, and then my (real) parents were upstairs rooting through even more stuff. I was given a toy, but very nice drum from there, except it came with only 1 plastic drumstick. I started playing on it anyways. Then my mom gave me her old professional recorder and I was so surprised that she even had that. It was very nice quality, and I made some music instead of cleaning things up.

Then I was at work. As usual, it was dim. Patients kind of came and went, but I don’t remember doing any actual work. I was talking with my coworkers. At one point in the front I berated one of them for eating my gummy vitamins as if they were candy! Then my other coworker had to leave. Then my dentist came to talk to me. I eventually walked back into the back, and the assistant asked me what college I went to. I explained it to her and she said, “It goes so fast, doesn’t it?” I was taken back to college and nostalgically answered, yes. I could tell my boss was sitting right outside the door listening. It definitely goes fast. Too fast.

Then I drove my mom out to see a beach/cabin on the beach. We walked through the lower level of the small place, and I showed her the 2 rooms we could have rented. Each was being used by a different family that we could clearly see through the door’s window, but they couldn’t see us peering in. Rooms 101 and 102. Then we left.

Walking, work, bakery, driving, cleanup

Some video game/hero stuff involving dark, apocalyptic skies, jumping up and down tall buildings. Quests, buildings, sim-type acquisitions of factories with the little money I had only to bleed money thereafter trying to improve it, replaying levels, pickpocketing, etc.

I was walking through the neighborhood I grew up in. As I got past the long stretch of road and towards the houses and streets, I saw a commotion involving some men. Curiosity threatened to drive me off-track, but I persisted and ended up at an unfamiliar house. It was hot, oppressive, and I was tired.

Inside the home was my boss. I guess it was time to work, but instead of doing any real work, I kind of just walked around the house looking at things. I ended up in an office on the upper floor where a patient? was sitting in an office chair. My boss said something to me, but I wandered around some more and then left.

Some stuff about houses and possibly spiders.

Then I drove to a bakery because I needed to make a pickup as instructed. It was a nice place, busy. Three workers were doing worker stuff, and one guy asked what I needed. I told him I was there for a pickup. It must have been the only pickup because he didn’t even ask my name. After looking at all the wonderful treats, I stood in line to wait for my turn to pay. A line soon formed behind me. Eventually, one of the workers called me up. I explained that I was trying to pay for a pickup and had chosen a small cake slice for myself despite being tempted by everything. She spoke jovially to me, and the guy came over with my pickup. He had a funny face and I suddenly realized that maybe I was supposed to wait for him to check me out? Ooops. Either way, I was talking with the clerk helping me out. We really got to talking and I found out that she was, too, a person who did some blogging online…except now it was about 15 years ago, and the internet wasn’t anywhere like it is now. I was shyly telling her about my content, and she was super interested in it. I wanted to say I was interested in hers, too, but she seemed so much more mature and cooler than me that I was afraid she thought me some upstart kid.

At this point I kept waking up because of possible muscle cramps, it was stuffy and hot, and Cora was really acting up probably because she was, too.

Then I was driving. I was sitting in traffic, so close to home. I could see from my vantage point that a lady was backing her van up. Even though we were all in cars, we could easily all communicate with each other. I asked what was going on, and the lady yelled that we all needed to back up!! Now! Obediently, everyone did, and she explained that there was a large accident ahead. As I was busy backing up, I heard someone say, “Oh! Wow that tractor trailer was really smashed up!” Yeah, it seemed traffic would be snarled for a while yet. Since I was in the far lane, I let everyone else go around me. It was only me and 2 other people left. At this point we were “driving,” which was really no cars. Something was hurtling down the road our way very quickly, so I shoved the younger lady next to me over into one of the turn lanes. She fell over and was a bit annoyed, but I did manage to get her out of the way of whatever had been charging our way. Then the turn light changed. I’d been picking at my finger thinking about how tired I was and wanted to go home and go to sleep. I was slow to start, setting off the ire of people behind me. Then I smashed it, annoyed with myself for not paying attention. As I raced along, some other car cut me off making me madder. So, I tailgated like I never tailgated before, and then swerved around, and smashed the pedal to go around them. I was going SUPER fast. So fast, in fact, that I missed my turn altogether and was lost. Huh. Where was I? I made some impossible jumps and leaps into water and off leafy ravines. Made it back to the road, got my nav system working.

When I got to my destination, I was late! I was supposed to either be or team up with Lincoln from the Loud House to help his friends clean up the school facilities. I was trying to empty the bathroom trashcans, but it was really gross and I didn’t have gloves. I tried anyways and things got everywhere. Who puts a load of popcorn in the trashcan that sits inside the toilet tank???

Work, Guy

I was at this great big house–a mansion, really–and this man who was clearly the bad guy was doing bad guy things. In the lull between gaming events (sports, I think), he set up a device that was going to do something awful! I managed to distract him. When he ran off to investigate, I quickly grabbed the tray of white things that was the root of his evil plan and ran outside with it. Unfamiliar with the area, I looked around frantically for a place to hide the things. There was a drainage culvert and grate, so I dumped them all in there. I heard him behind me with a henchman and ran for it. Hiding behind a large bush (it was early evening, so I wasn’t afraid of being seen) I saw to my dismay that they easily picked up the grate and gathered the small weapons. Everything reset and I tried again. This time I ran farther, but that meant that they saw me running with the weapons before I could dump them, so I threw them somewhere harder and ran even further away, using the darkness to my advantage. It was thrilling to be so close to capture! As I hid inside of a big fir tree to watch, I saw that I had crossed a public path. No longer was I on the property. Lots of dogs and people were walking the trail…included Cora! A part of me feared the dogs would give away my position (especially Cora!), so I made my way to a different hiding spot a distance away. It was so far that I was near some cliffs! There, I encountered an optional boss fairy, so I called upon my 3-monster team to take on this threat. We ended up having to attempt the fight 2 times before I was successful.

Before that I was driving around to get to a house. I took a highway in my BEV and was watching from a top-down view and then a map view and then a first-person view. All kinds of views of myself driving this route. The reason it was so significant was that I never drive highway, but every major road was turned into a highway, so I had to. I’d amazed myself by understanding the route despite the massive changes they’d made to the system. Feeling super proud of myself, I made it to the house which was more of a dental office than my house. My sister and mom were there.

Then we were driving with them in the car with me. I had pulled up to a parking spot and was annoyed by the older lady on the other side. I went out to charge my car at the charger but had to wait for her because she’d used the wrong charger. Instead of using the one on her side, she used the one that belonged to my parking spot. Just as I was staring about to complain, she put it back and so I took it and started charging my car.

Then I was at work. It was still morning, and I was listening to the 2 practitioners in the 2 rooms by me. One was my usual coworker, the other was a new person. I was chilling on my stool, leaning up lazily against the counter and playing on my phone. I was so totally engrossed in what I was doing when all of the sudden, my boss ran into the room and asked me what was going on. I was disoriented because I was so into my phone, when panic struck me, because there was no patient in the chair! I’d only assumed that I was waiting for an exam when I hadn’t even seen a patient, yet! What time was it? 8:40am!? I was 40 minutes into an appointment I hadn’t even called the patient back, for!? Trying to deal with crisis, I calmly answered my doctor’s question about a patient. She advised me to write something in the notes. While she was saying that, to my dismay, I heard the front desk tell a patient that someone would come out to get them soon and that she was sorry we were delayed. I then quickly set up my room (of course it wasn’t even set up yet) and went through his chart which had the word “snob” and “30” written in by someone. Clearly someone the front desk had a run-in with before. I quickly deleted those words and called back my patient who turned out to be a high maintenance guy that only wanted to see me. Typically, patients like that are extremely obnoxious to deal with…and I was 40 minutes late pulling him back with no good excuse. I sat him in the chair, and he immediately complained about how dark it was. Confused, I turned towards the window to find the shades fully down. He was right it was extremely dark in the room. I’m pretty sure it was just sunny and super bright…but whatever. Even as I raised the blinds, the outside weather was very dark, heavy clouds having rolled in within the time it took me to call him to the operatory. The next few minutes were the most clumsy and awkward minutes I’ve had as a practitioner since I was in school. Nothing was set up properly, my pack was missing key instruments, I hadn’t washed my hands, the computer screen wasn’t showing the proper chart, I wasn’t wearing a mask or gloves, and I kept digging into a duffle bag for the other instruments I needed. He didn’t seem bothered by any of this thank GOD, but then I wasn’t paying attention and managed to swipe my instruments on the inside of his lips by accident. To try and cover it up, I grabbed his lip with my fingers and palpated a large mass of some sort while noting the laceration I’d created next t to it. He truly did have an abnormality there! I asked if he’d had that a while (to distract him. It worked). He garbled yes, it had been there a while.

It was going so poorly that I woke up.

Blind Patient

I tried to make it a point to remember my dreams in order to record them, but alas…

At work, it was busy. The office was nowhere familiar to me, but at least it wasn’t dim like usual. The schedule was really hopping, and I was looking through it before getting patients back. I had a new patient on the schedule with the last name Grigg. It sounded familiar to me, and then when she showed up she looked familiar, too. There were other patients, too, but she really jumped out to me. I asked my coworker to look her up in the computer for me, and sure enough she was in the system already. She’s seen the dentist for many years with no cleaning on record. The first name was different, though. I went out to get her, determined to figure out if it was the same person or not. I called her back and she went in, but then I noticed that a man was wandering around in the hallway. I walked up to him, and he immediately grabbed my hand. For a split second I was afraid, but soon realized that he was blind. Ah. I asked if he was looking for the restroom, and he said yes. Very nice man, older, very tall. His hands were rough in my own. I gently led him down the hallway and through a smaller hallway. The bathroom was in a weird place in the office. Down the hall, I had to take a right turn and then we were facing the toilet which was enclosed only by a curtain. I pulled it aside for him and explained that he needed to step over the large room transition on the floor. Right outside the toilet and down a bit in the dark was the pooping toilet, so I laughingly explained this to him. He seemed very capable and maneuvered himself into the space. I guessed that I needed to stand around and wait as he wouldn’t be able to make his way back by himself. The thought crossed my mind that it would be gross if he wasn’t someone who was good about washing his hands.

There was some stuff with spiders maybe? Some fun dreams that is a shame I can’t remember them now.

Spiderweb, Work

I was walking up the stairs in the house I grew up in. There was a sense of danger there and an awareness that it had been many, many years since I’d been there. My brother was up there already. I walked up and immediately began flailing and wiping violently at my face and neck. Spiderwebs! I initially assumed that it was simply that the house was old and in disrepair, but I got to the junction between the bedrooms and turned around to see the largest, thickest spiderweb spanning the entire hallway. While no spiders were in sight, the thought of the spider that made it was stomach churning. My brother and I were separated by this web, and I immediately grabbed a stick-like item to destroy it. There was an urgency to the destruction. I needed it out of the way so that I could escape!

A bunch of other stuff.

Then I was at work. The office was dim as usual, and I was preparing to go home, wrapping up the patients. There was a temp there and a patient that was kind of exuberant and didn’t want to leave just yet. Since I didn’t have a patient, I decided to take a walk outside. That ended up with me driving my car/walking. Somehow, I ended up with a traffic cone type of thing that’s semipermanent. It connected into the ground, but could be removed, too, if need be. I’d managed to drive over it by going the wrong direction and only realized that I was holding it as I walked back into work. Quietly, I set it in the corner of my doctor’s room and giggled. Puttered around a little, talked to some people, and then I could go home! I gathered up all my things, took off the red, fuzzy slippers I was wearing, swapped them for my other shoes, and left. Walking outside, the guilt of the traffic cone-thing was eating at me a bit. When I looked over at the set of cones, though, I saw that they were all missing. What? It hadn’t been that long! More nervous now, I hurried to my car to get the heck out of there.

Something about it being nighttime, and I was being driven to a store or someplace. We parked and I got out, almost smashing the door into the Wrangler next to me but was able to stop it in time with my hand as a barrier. Then we walked towards the building which was a good distance away from the packed parking lot. It was kind of ominous and I was pumping myself up as we approached the building. All you could see walking up was that the sky was a green, purple, blue, and whitish swirl of color. No ominous at all…

Then I promptly woke up 15 minutes late.

Gable, Liana, Co-worker, Grocery Shopping

I was in this dark house/place/room which was supposed to be work? I think? It was very very dark in there. I was working with a temp, a female named Gal Sole-something. She was very handsy with me and I was feeling pretty uncomfortable being groped like that. Stuff happened and then I was working with an old co-worker L. Despite our own history with her being handsy and weird with personal space, I was relieved to have her there. It had been years, after all, and she seemed much more mature. We had a little break and were sitting around a table. I told her about Gal and how the 2 of them looked so much alike! Then I leaned in and was telling her about how handsy she was with me. L was shocked. I decided to demonstrate what I meant, so I moved my chair next to hers and somewhat playfully placed my hands in places that Gal had done to me. L was still shocked out of her mind that someone would go that far and got up. I followed her just as Gal had done and continued basically groping, hugging, etc. L was really getting uncomfortable with me, and so I quit pushing the boundaries. Then Gal came in and they were both sitting next to each other in front of me and I marveled at how similar they looked! It was insane how much they looked alike. Not identical, but very similar. Even the tooth structure was similar to each other!

Then I was inside of a house. It was full of people and not familiar to me yet was supposed to have been. I had 2 dogs and fed them because it was dinner time. All of the sudden I realized that I hadn’t fed Liana and Gable at all who were also there. Riddled with guilt, I ran over to the cabinet, having remembered that I had the food they used to like to eat in there…except that with it having been many years ago, the food was definitely no good. Every bag was expired, broken, or otherwise moldy or hard as a rock. I decided that they would probably do fine with the food I fed my current dogs, so I quickly found some bowls to give them some. The two of them were really excited and hungry. Unfortunately, there was no more dog food! What in the world! With a sinking heart, I poured them the rest of the food and gave them the bowls. Liana especially looked into it excitedly, only to stop and then look up at me like, really? I felt absolutely horrible but at least they had something.

I wanted to go out and buy more food. Out in the garage, I opened up the door and saw that there was a lot of work going on. It looked like someone was moving out of the neighborhood. Big trucks and big items were being hauled. As I fiddled with something in the garage, I looked up to see that Liana had gotten ahold of a…tuba? Or some sort of musical instrument! She had the mouthpiece in her mouth and was waving it around. I laughed at it and tried to get a picture, but as soon as she saw the phone, she dropped it. Seeing the trucks coming by, I called to her to get her out of the road, but no matter how many time I called her, she wouldn’t come to me.

It was dark when I was finally able to go to the grocery store to get dog food. I walked through the crowded yet large house telling everyone that I was going. No one else wanted to go, which was fine, though they yelled out things they wanted me to get. I went to put on my jeans. The massive bathroom was a communal bathroom and while most of the people there were females, I still didn’t want to just slip my pants off in the middle of nowhere. I looked around for a closet or a room with a door. In the meantime, a female in her 20s just straight up unclothed and clothed herself unabashedly. Even faced with that, I wanted to preserve propriety and headed into the toilet room with a door.

Work

I was at work looking at the schedule. There was a patient scheduled for 3 separate slots back-to-back. As I was looking, my doctor came up and complained that it would be a terrible day because each of the patient’s appointments would be on a different locale in the map of the area. We both looked at the map. Her first appointment was on the peak of one mountain, then moved down to a lower elevation, and then down the path to an old temple for the last appointment. It wasn’t my column, so while it sucked, it wasn’t my problem. I kept looking through the schedule with dread because some interesting patients were coming up.

Things rolled along. I was seeing a patient on the back porch of my housing unit. Dawn was approaching and I needed an exam. My next patient’s appointment destination required me to be kitted out in climbing/rugged gear, so as my doctor was doing the exam (slowly), I busied myself taking a shower, packing up, and ready to bolt as soon as possible. Of course, she called me back to ask some question that wasn’t important. The sun was starting to rise and I was getting very antsy.

Then I was sitting with my coworkers looking through the schedule with them. Some openings had been filled quickly, and so we were trying to figure out who they were. The schedule didn’t have their files so much as recordings of them from the internet, I assume they had posted. One of the adults had a video of them in their clearly backwater, rural property where lots of men were standing around all shirtless and joking with each other. I mentioned that they seemed to redneck and that they need to put some shirts on, geez. From the other videos I was starting to feel that ball of dread tighten even further. There were images of the adults and kids standing around some beds with a brickwork background. I mentioned that they looked like porno shots. Seriously. Like the images looked like they were in a basement, with the tiny beds more like cots than beds. My coworkers were getting interested, but then they decided that the pictures were just of the adults putting together a bunk bed for the kids, though the beds were very small. My coworkers started talking about something else altogether, so I was the only one watching the screen. There were 2 kids coming in, too, a girl around the age of 16 or 17, and a boy who I can’t remember was a little younger or older. As I looked at the girl’s file videos since she was going to be my patient, I was aghast at what was being played. It was a montage of the girl where all you could see was her from the armpits up, topless, her dark, curly hair splayed out on a bed, with different adult hands and arms around her neck, holding her down, etc. Her face wasn’t particularly scared, but they weren’t terribly happy either…just as a face of someone who had been through whatever it was before, and often. And these videos/images were just pulled up by the AI because they were posted by the family on the internet. I tried to call my coworker’s attention back and they did. We were all silent and looked at each other. That’s when I realized who the family was. The Campbells. They also had very young quintuplets. My brain immediately put it all together and then I really didn’t want to go and see my patient. Faced with that information, now it was my duty since she was still a minor to report any child abuse that I suspect. Also, there was no way I could talk to the adults without the pure disdain and loathing within me seeping out.

Dog, Vet

Some stuff. Then I was super hot and couldn’t sleep well.

I took Cora to the bet because she didn’t seem to be feeling very well. Lethargic, coughy, just not well. It was the weekend or a day I was off of work and eager to get going with the free time. Well, I took her over quickly, early in the morning. The vet office was inside the covered patio of a house. The vet looked a lot like Dr. Oakley from the TV show, but I knew she wasn’t Dr. Oakley. With her were 2 assistants/techs. The doctor took Cora to the back portion. As I stood around waiting, I took in the place which really did look like someone’s covered patio with the gardening tools, bags of soil, and various other patio-related things. The doctor came back and told me it would be a bit while they watched her. I asked if I could help with anything since I had nothing better to do (or place to sit). They happily accepted, so I got to work helping out. The other two assistants never really spoke much to me or spoke at all, really. I figured that they just found the situation really awkward. I, myself, was ecstatic because I’d always wanted to work in a veterinary office! They got me polishing with a rubber cup some dogs. I guess that’s the version of bathing them. Well, it was right up my alley, so I carefully polished/cleaned the dogs. One was a small white terrier and the soap I was polishing on was brown like poop. I laughed to myself as I cleaned, then when I went to rinse it off, it ran away! While the dog ran around, I took the opportunity to connect the hose with a nozzle to faster and better rinse the dogs. Since the hose was already on, I used one hand to kink it first, but I have small hands. I asked one of the assistants to help me screw the nozzle on. She came over but was extremely nervous to be in that close proximity to me and for the life of her could not screw it on. Eventually, I did it myself. That’s when I saw Cora running around, too. She peed on the floor and then ran off. I saw that there were some poops, too. No matter, I had the nozzled hose now, so I turned it to Jet and sprayed the poop towards the outside area. Then it was hosing off the pee which was already drying.

By the time I was done, I noticed that it was 1pm. Not only that, but I was tired. The vet no longer looked like Dr. Oakley, but some other lady. She gathered the 3 of us up and started giving us a gameplan for the rest of the day. While I had enjoyed my time there, I was not a worker and did not want to be spoken to like the way she was. I decided to humor her for a little while I figured out how to leave and go home. We tromped through the house to get something from inside of it to carry out. When we came out, I decided to just tell her that I was going home. When I did, she looked at me with pure disappointment, saying that when she’d laid eyes on me that morning, she knew that I would be the perfect match for the practice. However, if I wanted to leave, she had no way of stopping me. She then explained that there were two teams in the vet office and that the other team (the outdoor team making house calls I guess) had the vast majority of the help while she only had 2 assistants. I smiled and went to the back to get Cora who was napping. Then I left. I could feel the daggers in my back as I exited. It was dusk outside already! The outdoor team was having a great time with the grill, playing basketball, listening to music, and talking loudly. I walked through them and went home.

Later, I was at some place and the vet was there, complaining about me leaving the other day. I was whispering to anyone who would listen about how I wasn’t even paid yet was expected to do so much work.

Grandma, Work

I was at my grandma’s house. It was afternoon. We were about to leave, but she had made us some pho. I was excited to eat it, but I knew that whenever I eat food, I have to use the bathroom soon thereafter. And because we had to drive a good distance home after that (despite being the age I am now), we had to wait a few minutes after until we left. My grandma and the relatives that were there had absolutely zero problems with that. I timed it for about 30 minutes, but then the house became a wholesale club. I was wandering around it with my family and some friends? Relatives? We walked by the photography center. The workers were all joking around, but my mom and someone else wanted pictures. I stood around for a little bit, enough to hear that the photographer wasn’t super keen on doing their job. My mom managed to convince them, and so they went to get pictures. I wandered around some more and ended up at the vitamins section. They had gummy and candy-like Flintstone vitamins! I tried to show them to my brother, but he didn’t care and went off with other people. I went over to the holiday aisle.

Then I was at work. The day was coming to an end. I was one of the last people still cleaning up. It was bright out, but time to go home. There were so many people at work! 2 “temps” although they more felt like volunteer/intern assistants because they weren’t doing anything. The only one helping with sterilization was the actual volunteer. As I rushed to clean up my operatory, I heard one of the “temps” remark that if the volunteer wasn’t there, that we’d be up a creek without a paddle. I laughed good naturedly and told her that while, yeah, she helped us out a lot, we probably would have been fine if we’d had to step up to the plate. There was some discussion. My friend/coworker was still there, too, about to leave. I hung around a bit, but then gathered my things, said goodbye to people, and left. In the hallway, there were lots of younger people. As I waited for the elevator, I told them about Mr. Garrett, my old gym teacher from HS. Then I went out into the now-cloudy, windy weather to go home.

Townhouse, family, shopping, haircut, trash, work, balloon, patient

I was sneaking? around at nighttime. There was a car I was talking to and lots of people around. Workers, I believe around a street of townhouse units. I was supposed to be either hiding from or gathering intel or something like that. No one was supposed to see me.

Then night ended and it was morning. I walked towards my townhouse (not familiar) and saw to my utter surprise that the worker crew that had been there changed EVERYTHING. Instead of the normal pathway from the street to the houses, my next-door neighbor had somehow and for some reason paid for the crew to pave one “sidewalk” smack in front of everyone’s houses leading to the street in a perpendicular fashion instead of the original pathway through the properties we owned (the townhouses had front yards not backyards). I was too surprised to be mad, just a bit irritated. The pervading thought was how the HOA was going to take all of this. There was no way they’d stand for it. As I inspected everything, I realized that the pavers making up the path were those from everyone’s houses. They hadn’t gone out and bought new ones, they just used the ones from people’s properties. Not only that, but the more I looked, the more annoyed I got: My house which sat on the highest elevation had been dug out to make the path and now the path/stairs to the physical house itself was super-duper steep. WTF. Furthermore, since they cut through all the yards, they’d moved all the trees I’d planted into the newly proportioned property lines. They had replanted 3 of my trees, but other people received the other trees I’d just planted.

I didn’t really have time to deal with things because not only was it still early in the morning, but my relatives were there, too. The townhome units suddenly became a series connected homes/apartments/rooms and we were at the shore. There were wrap-around balconies/porches that while at first didn’t connect all together, suddenly did. I crawled around with the excitement of a young person all around the place. In each room were my relatives. My cousins were small again and everyone was in great humor and spirits. It was so fun and nice.

Then I was in a grocery store, shopping with my mom. It was dark and crowded and small. As I wandered around looking for items to get, a man asked me where to find a certain cereal. I directed him back a few aisles because the later aisles we were in had been super combed through. My mom and I reunited and were concerned because there just weren’t a lot of things to buy. As my mom looked around, I watched the cashiers checking people out.

That’s when I walked down an aisle and realized I was at a convention for healthcare providers. It was bright and crowded now. I went into one of the showrooms along with some others of different healthcare fields. We were all nurses of some sort. That particular room had sphygmomanometers–new types. It was all there for us to try, so another guy and I were busy trying them all out. I got an urgent message that I was needed, so I rushed away.

Some stuff happened

Then I was wandering around the shopping area near where I live. Walking, driving, roller blading…I was doing it all as I traversed the area. There was some commotion near the entrance, so I made my way there. As I made my way through the sidewalk system, I heard an alarm, and a bald man stalking towards the entrance of a building saying, ” I will NOT be responsible for taking care of the alarm again!! If they disrupt my proceedings (court, I assume), then they will hear from me! I might have to call S to deal with it (my coworker)!” And then he disappeared into his courtroom. I went over to see what was going on with the next door building and the alarm. There was a group of us, actually. At first, I thought it was supposed to be a martial arts dojo that had just opened. The group actually consisted of people who wanted a haircut. We all went in and saw, to our surprise, that there were unwanted people eating food at the tables inside. They clearly weren’t supposed to be there. Perhaps they were homeless? It was tense! I didn’t know what was going to happen, as it felt like sitting on the cusp of getting violent. The men went to confront the people to get them out. I could tell they needed some help, so I stood up from what I was sitting on and walked over to support the effort. For some reason I was much taller and brawnier than anyone there. As soon as I showed myself, I could feel the energy in the room shift. The interlopers begrudgingly left.

Done with that, we had to then clean up the place. I went to the back to investigate the trash situation and found that the building had never ordered any trash receptacles! Some people had already tried to throw stuff in other people’s trashcans, only to draw ire from those establishments. I decided that the people would just have to take the trash and recycles home to our own homes and dispose of them there.

Then I was outside, and it was dark. I was at work, but work was outside? I made my way down the scenic path to get my next patient and looked up in the sky to see the clothes that an old patient who had passed away fly up. I was getting emotional when I looked down to see the man’s wife! She looked up, too, and was starting to cry. I gave her some comforting words and set off some fireworks in his honor.

House, Work, Roof, Mom, Waterslide, nephew, table

I was in the house I grew up in, except it was work. I needed to go upstairs to get something from the autoclave, except the upstairs and downstairs were reversed for some reason. I went up to the kitchen where the other dentist’s practice was and walked around the kitchen table to the autoclave. He was there and seeing a female patient, but they seemed to be just talking. I was trying to mind my own business, but she was shooting me suspicious looks. I located the two instrument packs I wanted and as I was taking them, the dentist asked me if I wanted him to put them somewhere special next time. I informed him that, no, just leave them there and I’d come get it when necessary.

Then I owned the house, myself. It had been in someone else’s possession for a while before, but since it was now mine, some basic stuff needed to be done. The first was to clean the roof of the moss that’d been growing up there. The workers were there to do that, but then my mom insisted on climbing up there to do it herself. I kept complaining and trying to convince her to let the workers do what they needed to do. She kept being a nuisance until she simply was unable to continue up the ladders. The workers had made it to the top of the house where the old chicken weathervane had been replaced by a fish one.

Then I was at a waterslide which was situated in a shopping center or a mall. The line wasn’t too long, so I decided that I wanted to ride it. No one was wearing any swimming things, everyone dressed in their winter coats and pants. There were 4 lines total, but I took the farthest right one because it had almost no one in the line. I kept waiting for people to cut from the next line over, but they didn’t…they were just stuck in their non-moving line. When I got to the front it turns out that it was just that the guy at the lead was frozen. I tried to help, and it seemed to work, so the line got moving again. I jumped on my inflatable and directed it down the stairs? What kind of waterslide are stairs? Bump, bump bump, down I went slowly and landed in the lazy river. I wasn’t wet at all and seemed to be having a great time. When I looked back, it was actually a slide and not stairs. What? Oh well. I stood up where I was and was waiting for my mom to go down. She was on the far slide, and I whipped out my phone camera to get a video. There were so many people in the way, but the camera could see through people to the intended target. She actually had a slide!

I made my way over to her and we got out of the water. Walking up the dry stairs, my sister happened to be there, too. My nephew was telling me that his throat was scratchy. Then it hurt. Then that he had throat cancer. I laughed it off, but then didn’t know if he was being serious.

We ended up in a banquet of some sort. I took my seat at the end of a table. The rest of the people hadn’t shown up yet. We were looking right up at the side of the dais where whatever the banquet was celebrating would be placed. I got bored and was looking at my phone. The place was really crowded.

Work, Boba, Trekking, Anger

I was at work except that it was bright, for once, and it didn’t much look like work because the place had been turned into tea shop. At first it was in the physical space of work, but then it moved to being part of a mall. I was sitting at the bar while watching everyone else go through first. My sister and her husband went through amongst other people. When it was my turn, I walked up to the counter and asked my boss who was behind the counter how it worked. He went through the spiel for new customers and gave me a rewards card for the store. I ended up choosing some food items. I walked away towards the heart of the mall with my food and enjoying it when I realized that I had forgotten to order some bubble tea! I went back and waited in line to ask about the bubble tea. While waiting, I took a good look at all the different flavors available and was happy to learn that you could customize any flavor you’d like. The plan was the choose two and bring home one for my brother to try. I could do half sherbet and half lemonade, etc. All of the flavors had fun names like Hurricane, or Huff, or Fluff. In the end I decided to just order one drink because they were kind of expensive, and I wanted to buy some of their dessert snacks. One of the shelves was going to be 30% off, too, as they would be expiring in the near future. I had my eye on the snack-sized mint brownies, and basically anything mint.

Then I was with an old friend of mine and other people. We were all walking in a line. We made it to the side of a very busy road, and I watched as a small dog that dodged my attempt to snatch it up ran across the road. I grabbed my friend’s arm and hid my eyes against her shoulder, not wanting to see it get squished. Miraculously, it made it across to the grassy side, but then there were about 10 kittens, cats, and cute things running around over there. No one else seemed to care about it and the motorists never even slowed down. We continued our walk up the unprotected side of the road. I looked back to see that, of course, most of the animals had become roadkill. Motorists still showed zero sign of slowing down. I heard someone’s radio crackle and request made for highway cleanup because it had the potential of becoming really gross really fast. When I turned back around, I saw that my friend had just crossed the road with the rest of the group. I was the last one. I called out, asking what in the world we were doing, and a voice exasperatedly informed me that we were on a hike and needed to follow the group. Shrugging, I hopped across the road using the fish-shaped wooden piece inlaid into the road. Upon reaching the wooded side, I saw that it was less a path, and more an obstacle course. What in the world!? Very much being left behind, I tried really hard to go fast, but I found myself unable to breathe properly as I attempted to squeeze myself through the very narrow openings. I was getting exhausted, my body hurt, and I couldn’t understand how everyone else had passed through so easily. Was I that large?

Eventually I came out in a very rural area, a clearing in the woods with farmland/grassland butting up next to it. The rest of the group was long gone and I was with someone, though I’m not sure who. The place seemed familiar with the neatly organized trailer homes set up in what appeared to be a small colony. Except no one was around. The person I was with plucked something out of the ground which turned out to be a vegetable. Then it hit me: this was the town I created in a video game years ago. I walked up the dirt road a bit, away from the garden plot and saw that the ground was highlighted as if someone had selected the area for building. I guess I’d been distracted and hadn’t yet built anything there. Some stuff happened. I couldn’t figure out what to do next and then my grandma decided to build a building on the highlighted plot despite my protests. As it turns out, she was right–that was what needed to happen next. The building was automatically filled with cat furniture and unlocked the next missions. I needed to place a Meowth from my team in there in order to upgrade and protect the building. That meant that I had to pull my Meowth from managing my money to doing that. It was okay, I had others that could fill in the financial stuff.

Then I was back at work, and it was work itself. I was really happy because you could see the beach outside the windows. There was a family with a mom and some of her daughters (in their late teens and early 20s). I walked up to my boss who was talking to the mom and said something jovially to her. The mom got super angry and immediately demanded that they leave and that had no right to talk to her the way that I did. I was shocked still, unable to comprehend what had just happened. I apologized to her twice because clearly, she had misheard what I’d tried to say, but she would have none of it. She was making a massive scene and I was getting furious, myself, because I felt she just wanted any excuse to be nasty to me. We’d been seeing this family ever since the kids were little. She had been one of those moms that treat everyone not the doctor like scum of the earth. After trying to calm down and deciding what to do, I marched over to where she was in an operatory. One of her kids was getting an exam and another was standing there, waiting. I came in and laid into her about not even bothering to give me any mind simply because she had misheard my words and despite me apologizing. She was seething with rage for being shown up and uncovered in front of her own kids. I looked over to the standing daughter and saw both humiliation and defeat from this type of thing being a common occurrence with her mom. Then I understood. I’d always liked her kids and knew that no matter what I said, it would never change anything with the mom. It just felt good to level with her.

Then I woke up 15 minutes late.

Work

3 sleeps…although I’m suddenly having mental block despite them being perfectly clear just a few minutes ago

Other day nap: Dealing with work, coworker ST, her teenage son and weightlifting. I was supposed to be at work, but things turned into a gym, then I was bench pressing a weight bar with very small weights on it. Other stuff happened that I don’t remember now. Something about a hallway and talking to ST and her son.

Night before: I was at work and was seeing patients. Per usual everything was really dark (I don’t know why my dreams rarely have lights on at work) with only the light of day through the windows lighting things. I was yakking and bumming around when suddenly I realized that my patient had been there waiting and I was late. I went out and called for “Scott Peng.” The dark waiting room was full of people and despite sharing the same last name as one of my long-time patients, the younger guy came in with his dad who I definitely did not recognize at all. The patient was a new patient and a I went through the normal stuff except there was a developing problem: my patient was very nervous. He was refusing to get on with the appointment unless he had the medication “dimethylene something.” I was trying to explain him that we don’t have an inhouse pharmacy and don’t dispense medications, but he wasn’t having it. The scene was drawing the attention of the nearby operatories, and so I decided to get up and find my doctor. Some stuff happened and then suddenly, I saw one of the doctors working on him? Not my problem anymore, so I wandered around and was watching other people since my time was free then.

Last night: Man. I can’t believe I can’t remember because it was rather interesting. Only bits and pieces of it are coming back, nothing solid. It’s just sitting on the tip of my memory! Something like a boss fight? An orphanage? Bah.

Muscles, Hallmark, Work

There was a short bit where I was looking at myself in the mirror. My body was pretty large and when I flexed my biceps, they were larger than my head! I’m not sure if I was proud or horrified.

Some stuff

Then I was shopping and ended up in a Hallmark store. Initially, I was interested because the owner had a Great Dane in there. He was young with interesting markings, laying in his…container? The owner said that he wasn’t allowed out because it was not yet time. The store had just opened. I started browsing after that and was sad to see that there weren’t many things there at all! Almost as if the place was either about to be closed down or renovated. Another customer had arrived and after looking around praised the owner for going against corporate’s will by not stocking what they demanded she stock. Even though the customer was confident in that, the way the owner was reacting proved the real reason for the sparse and strangely stocked store was definitely not what the person thought. The owner seemed nervous. By then lots of people had arrived and browsing. I was definitely amazed to see products not befitting a Hallmark store like leather armor, helmets, and other such things. There was a person hiding some Halloween cookies.

A sudden commotion caught my attention. A small group had gathered around the owner. Some were sympathetic while others were worried. The owner was fearful but steeling herself for something important. Together, they left out a back door after a messenger came to say that it was time. The customers were all still happily browsing. I decided to follow. By the time I made it way down to where the group was, things had already occurred. The place was under a cover, but it was outdoors…though the sky was a terrifying swirl of evil-looking colors: green, orange, gray, white, black. I looked down to see a disgustingly colored bundle on the ground. Right away I knew that to be the owner of the store. She was encased in a mucous-flesh-looking shroud with metal studded around her neck area. It was over for her. Her entourage were being addressed by the council before them. One person fearfully approached their podium, reached the empty seat, and hit the button there. Everything started glowing. They were inducted into the council. I returned up to the store where some remaining workers were putting out cookies and other treats. Apparently, they had already heard the news and were setting up to celebrate the new owner.

Then I was at work. The schedule had fallen way apart, but I didn’t really care that much because I was super-duper sleepy. My boss was mad but pushed us all to the back. There, my coworker ST was already there. I kept drifting in and out of conscious thought, being so tired. She lamented that the boss had called us all in at 2am because the office needed to be cleaned out. Everyone else got to work sorting through all the junk in the cabinets. I only did so slowly and eventually just sat back and watched everyone else go to town since they had a plan. There’s no reason to get involved only to have the others complain about your ideas. Eventually someone called me out on my laziness, and I sort of pitched in again, but once again, was too tired to argue with what was happening. Bored, I went to check out the schedule and was annoyed to see that somehow they’d managed to fill it up with lots of people. Laughing inwardly, I saw that the 2 patients that I’d pulled over to my schedule were still there…patients I knew had already cancelled. Returning to the cleanup effort, I found that they’d done it: Things were looking organized. I started throwing stuffed animals in a game from one side to the other before heading towards my op to get to work.

Then something about driving to an amusement park which happened to be Disney. Some dumb people didn’t read the instructions and didn’t know where to go despite there only being one path to the place. I walked through the lobby to the machine, scanned my pre-paid ticket, and then swiped the credit card I’d be using as payment in the park. It spit out a wristband and then I waited with the rest of the people to be let into the park.

Ugh. I hate work dreams when I had to go to work when I wake up.

Dorm, driving, babies, hospital, grown up reunion, work, trans

2 days worth

I was in a dorm. With me were two other people, a male and a female. They were trying to help me find a room. We bypassed the 1st floor which was full and went to the 2nd floor where there were 2 available rooms. The male showed me his room which was crammmmmed full of stuff, like, nerdy stuff. His roommate wasn’t there at that point. Then it was the female’s turn. Her room was distinctly girl, but less cluttered. She never had a roommate, so she was using the extra bed as storage. We traversed the halls looking for the vacant rooms. One was not really vacant, and the other…I just didn’t want, so we went up to the 3rd floor. That floor was the high end floor…with the smart peoples and…richer ones? More elite, anyways. Interestingly, because it was the elite floor, the stairs led to a very large common area lined with musical instruments, a bar, and other amenities. It was super nice. I never did look at the rooms themselves (there were at least 15 available, meaning I’d get my own room), and so we left because the two I was with were feeling a little uncomfortable.

Then some stuff about a bad guy

It was nighttime and I was driving a car I don’t recognize. I suddenly slammed on the brakes because I saw movement on the pavement in front of me. It looked like some animals running across the street! Other cars didn’t see them and I watched in helpless horror as they ran to and fro trying to escape. Some other cars were stopped but others just raced at high rates of speeds. I kept screaming. Eventually, I got myself together enough to put on the hazards and hop out. They weren’t animals at all, but human infants! Quickly, I snatched them up, 4 in total plus the toys they were clutching, replaying the horrifying fear I felt but shocked and amazed that no harm befell them. There had been a clear silhouette of an animal that they were following, and I found to my dismay, the bloody remains of a dead squirrel on the other side of the median. I firmly believed that the squirrel had been trying to lead the babies out of harm’s way and died in the process. As I scooped up all the infants, I gave the sign of the cross to the squirrel for its saintly sacrifice. Then I turned around to my car and handed my brother who was sitting in the backseat the kids.

Later, I was at the hospital and walked up to ask them about the kids. Stuff happened and then I was at a party of sorts where the big surprise was that the babies, all grown up now, were going to make an appearance. I was just so so happy to see that they had grown up to be such healthy, happy young adults.

Then I was at work. We were all talking about Christmas stuff and digging through treats while dealing with patients. There was one patient that we were gossiping about. I just so happened to be working with them. Afterwards, my coworker Q was in a room waiting for an exam or something, so I ran eagerly up to her to let her know that our suspicions were correct and that the patient we had been gossiping about was, without a doubt in my mind, a trans man. My conviction? Solely based on the fact that he smelled good and that natural males usually have a male scent about them. Apparently the trans patient smelled a bit sweet. Then more eating of Christmas desserts.

Volunteer Work, Bathroom

I was volunteering my time at a free clinic. I hadn’t worked at one in years and was a little bit nervous going because it had been so long. At the same time, I was curious because it had been so long and I was much more experienced than when I first did it. My patient was someone familiar…he looked a lot like one of the patients in my office. It was not my business, so I went ahead with my work. Cut to some really detailed footage to my using the ultrasonic around some 3rds subg and blasting crud out.

All of the sudden there was a commotion and my coworkers and bosses arrived. I was confused as to why they were even there, but everyone was happy and jovial. They and the staff there happily engaged in conversation while I hung around feeling like the odd one out. My bosses decided they wanted to use the restroom. A little while after they left, I needed to use it, too. Down the hall I went and found that the bathroom was actually just a bunch of really long stalls set in an area off the clinic. Male, female…it didn’t matter. I chose one and went to use it, though not much came out. It was for the best, though, because the place didn’t seem super clean and there was something happening outside the stalls. I quickly exited to find a man standing there in motorcycle rider clothing i guess waiting for a stall.

Then some stuff about driving cars in the dark and rain in unfamiliar territory.

Driving, Work

There was some stuff about driving around town, but town was a series of windy roads that were actually vertical? It was extremely confusing, and I kept getting lost in the twists and turns only to end up opposite of where I was trying to go. Eventually, I got to my destination which started out in a small town/city where it was Christmas. I was walking by some houses and through the windows could see what everyone was doing. One house in particular had about 20 people sitting around in Santa hats singing carols together. Other homes were simpler.

Then I was in a camp? Like a summer camp kind of place where I was at odds with the director of the program. I was hanging out in the office doorway probably in trouble again and plotting my escape from the place. I did manage to leave and turned around to see that I had somehow become the director, myself. There was a large event, and I was needed to run it. Like right then and there. Completely unprepared and overwhelmed, I tried my best despite the rain.

Then I was at work. At first it was just me wandering around the unfamiliar office. The place was a square, with the operatories ringing the middle where the waiting room/labs sat. It all seemed really cozy and spacious. My boss and I were worried about our next patients. He was seeing one of the two partners, but his was a patient I had seen the time before and, man, she had been a doozy. Unfortunately for me, I was tasked with seeing her partner who seemed to be a…challenge to say the least. Time came and I brought my patient back. She was extremely nervous. I talked to her like any new patient, getting her history, going over medical stuff, sizing her up, etc. I was getting agitated because she seemed excessively fearful and obnoxious. I stepped away for a bit to get some air and clear my head before coming back. I ended up walking by my boss who was seeing the other patient. She waved happily at me, and I caught a little bit of what they were talking about. I mentioned to my doc that if he wanted to know more about Ursala that he should just check my notes from before because I had it all written down and through there. He gave me a weird look and waved me off, which left me needing to head back to my patient. At that point I only had about 35 minutes left to do anything. I returned to her and let her know that we’d go ahead and get started. I turned to put on my gloves and by the time I turned back around, I saw, to my horror, that there was line of yellow liquid trailing from where she’d been standing at the window onto the couch where she perched like a bird. She shrieked that the liquid had been there already, but I knew better and could actually see from how she was squatting that the underside of her pants were wet. No doubt she was still peeing. I picked up a bath towel, folded it, and gently asked her to sit on it while I did the examination. She screamed that I was being incredibly demeaning to her, so, no, she wouldn’t sit down. Instead, she got up and started trying to sit on any place but where she’d soiled. I told her I needed her to get back on the couch because that was the only chair in the room where she could recline so that I could work properly. While rambling, she walked out of the room and eventually made her way to my original operatory which I had been saving for the next patient because I knew I’d be going over the time with her. OKAY then, I guess the operatory chairs are a ton easier to clean off. She plopped herself down on it eventhough it was set really high up, so I just went with it. I adjusted the seat, went to get my mask, my clinic jacket, and by the time I returned, another clinician was there seeing her. I think it might have been another doctor–a tall female with straight brown hair I didn’t recognize, but the office was large enough for several doctors. The annoying lady was quiet and acquiescing, so I didn’t sweat it and turned away to go do something else. Let someone else break their hands. That’s the type of patient I don’t want liking me, anyways.

Driving, Waiting, Work, Yammer, Bosses, Stairs, 90s, Slow

I was driving on the highway and then got off to my destination. It was a parking lot, and the cars were supposed to line up. I’d been there before, because it was the visitor center rest stop on the way to the beach. I went to go line up, but there were some construction workers standing around and I’d gone in the wrong entrance anyways. Since I was early, the parking lot was empty, so I went and did some elaborate methods to turn myself around in order to park my car in the line area. It was nonsensical and unnecessary, and, lo, when I finally made it to the line area, there were already 4 other cars there because I was taking so long.

Inside, I sat on a chair in a small antechamber with about 5 other people. The group before us had gone in already. I recognized the people around me despite never meeting in person before. There was a pleasant familiarity in the room, although no one was talking, because I recognized these people as the same people that are always driving when I go to the beach. Even though I was very late this year, there they were! Not everyone, but some of them. As we waited, we could hear the brat before us screaming and yelling inside of the room. We were all on our phones.

Then I was working. It was super bright (for once) and time for me to go home. I had just finished seeing a patient and was in the middle of cleaning up the room. While doing that, my boss had come ask me about my trip and I yammered on and on and on and on about how cool it was that even though I went so late in the year that the same people were taking the same trip! Then I started calling out some names of (actual) patients and my boss was surprised. Then my other boss came up and the two of them started making out right in front of me. I realized, then, how young they both looked. He looked the same, but younger, and she looked young, long hair in pigtails, braces, a devious energy. It was like, full-on making out, tongue action and all, and there was me with front seat view. It was like, inches in front of me while I’m still yammering. I exclaimed at them, “Good gracious, you two! Get a room!” They laughed, continued, and I wandered off to put my tray away. The plan was the leave for home, when I realized that I never cleaned up my main operatory. I fought through the other hygienists who were standing around waiting for the next shift to start. Finished, I left down the stairs.

And ended up in a convention center type of place. The events were closing, so I went to leave like the rest of the people there. Apparently, I’d had a good time, though. As I walked in the crowd, the going-down stairs were so crowded, so I went upstairs instead. That was crowded, too, with slow people, so I followed behind this super obese guy wearing a red shirt. Interestingly, he was moving quite fast for someone so large, but still not fast enough for me. As I walked behind him, I found that he was this weird quirk about taking extra little steps on each stair–almost like he was a chihuahua or something. It was bizarre. I didn’t know if he was trying to be cute or if that’s just how he was. Either way, I was really annoyed at all the slow stairs people.

Finally, I was able to go around him, and I ended up walking by a small group of people centered around a minor stage. I continued on down a much less crowded hall (most people were gone by this point),and recognized several people from my elementary school years. That’s when I realized what I was wearing: some basketball shorts that were super popular in the 90s. As it turned out, I was at a 90s convention! A few people were hanging around talking, so I exclaimed at everyone in the area to look at my clothes! The popular basketball shorts, with a grey tank, and basketball high tops. Then I yelled that back then everyone pulled their socks way up (maybe it was just me back then…), and proceeded to pull my socks as high as I could get them. Instead of being impressed, the people around me gave either weird or pitying looks and went back to whatever they were doing. Happily, I descended some now-empty stairs, and went for the one staircase that would get me out of there.

Much to my chagrin, it was full of people–people carrying large, bulky items. Even slower than before.