EclecticDreamsVol2-20180915

Eclectic
Dreams

Vol. 2

AWL

Eclectic Dreams Vol. 2

Copyright AWL 2018
All rights reserved.

September 15, 2018 Printing
Cover: Copyright AWL

EclecticDreamsVol2-2018-09-15.docx
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Eclectic Dreams Vol. 2

Introduction

Since I was a small boy dreams have fascinated me, probably because
I could remember them so vividly. Throughout the years, I have
experienced thousands of memorable dreams. Unfortunately, it was
only in the last few years that I decided to attempt to jot down the
gist of the dreams. I say "the gist" since dreams are often quite long
and involved events and one only remembers a portion.

I have been struck by five attributes of dreams: 1) most are eclectic
with no apparent pattern to them; 2) some have themes that reoccur;
3) a person can “remember” things in a dream that happened in a
previous dream; 4) fearful things can happen in dreams that do not
normally happen in a waking state – examples: paralysis, eyes locked
shut or inability to speak; and 5) dreams can be controlled to create
rather unique experiences or to confront fearful or dangerous
situations in a "safe" environment.

I began this project early in 2009 and recorded only the most
memorable dreams. There were many more that I simply delayed in
jotting down and they evaporated. Others, I judged too mundane to
bother recording. A search of my computer files surfaced some
dreams that were so unique that they had been recorded years before
but subsequently forgotten. I have included them as well.

In all cases, I have tried to record the dream as accurately as possible,
given the ephemeral quality of dreams, and I have noted the date of
the dream in order that the progression of themes can be observed.
Dreams with the same date all occurred on the same night.

“Eclectic Dreams” recorded dreams before September 16, 2016,
while this volume, “Eclectic Dreams Vol. 2”, covers dreams that
occurred after that date.

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Quality College - 2016-09-17

It had come to my attention that a prestigious Quality Colleges
consortium had announced that our college was by far the best in the
state and that a delegation would soon visit the college to present the
award. I was extremely proud of this selection and hastened out to
the college to prepare for the arrival of the group.

I commandeered a power washer and began to spray-wash the
Automotive Building. It finally percolated into my conscious mind
that I should alert the president of the college but I could not
remember his name. I asked several of the instructors but they did
not know his name either. In any case, I walked over to the
Administration Building to look for the president. I found him in a
conference with his deans. I thought about waiting until they had
disbanded their meeting but was afraid the Quality group would
arrive before they broke up. I knocked on the conference room door
and interrupted the meeting long enough to share the information. It
did not seem to make much of an impression on the assembled
group.

As I left the building I saw the Quality group approaching. They split
into several smaller groups and began touring the college, each small
group in a different direction. I seized the opportunity to guide two
ladies in the group around the campus, extolling the college's
accomplishments as I went. The college campus occupied most of a
city block and we had walked the east side and the south side when I
suggested we amble on to the north side of the campus. When we
reached that side of the campus I realized that the buildings there
were business buildings and not college ones. As the two ladies
walked up the broad steps to the front door I persuaded them to
move to the side of the building. Unfortunately, what appeared to be
a Carthage stone walk was, instead, a ledge and one of the ladies fell
right off at the height of about ten feet. I called out to her too late
and she tumbled off the ledge, did a complete summersault and
landed on her feet. I was amazed!

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Embarrassed - 2016-09-19

I was a member of a team that had been selected to attend a
conference in a nearby city. We elected to drive to the other city in
two different cars, the men in one, the women in a second. I had
driven my brand new, forest green Buick. When we arrived at the
hotel I elected to make use of the off-site parking.

We checked in at the registration desk and were assigned the room all
three of us were sharing. It turned out to be just down the hall from
the registration desk. Since there was a little time before the evening
kick-off banquet we decided to shower and change into fresh clothes.
The room was outfitted with two bathrooms so I let the other two
men go ahead. In the meantime, I decided to move the car where it
would be much closer to our room.

I found the off-site parking and found that my car had been parked
outside in a rather muddy field. I complained to the attendant and he
responded that they did not want the car scratched so they had
parked it as far away as they could from other cars. He charged me
am an exorbitant amount for the little time the car had been in the
parking lot but I decided not to argue with him and just have him
charge it to my room. I figured I could argue my case much better
with the manager later when I settled our bill for the room.

On the way back to the room I ran into one of the college business
professors. He expressed his delight in seeing that I was attending the
conference.

When I returned to the room the other two had finished their
showers and were getting into their fresh clothes. It was then that I
discovered that in my haste to pack up for the trip I had neglected to
pack a second shirt, fresh underwear or even a ditty bag with my
toiletries. There was no point in taking a shower if I had to put on the
same clothes as I had on so I decided just to splash some water on
my face and shave.

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In the bathroom, I found some talcum powder which I applied to my
face to make it easier to use my electric shaver. However, all I
managed to do was to get it all over my one clean suit. As I was using
the bathroom the second door on the opposite wall opened and some
strangers tried to enter. Evidently, this bathroom was shared with
another room. I locked the door from my side and proceeded with
my preparations.

While I was trying to shave, my two roommates, now ready to dress,
opened what they thought was the closet door and walked in only to
discover that they had inadvertently blundered out into the hallway
near the registration desk. They found a double door that effectively
closed off the hallway and made it a part of our suite and slammed it
shut.

Sitting in that part of the hallway, however, were the three female
team members who had been waiting for us. They proceeded to
quickly dress under the interested eyes of the other team members. I
don't think any of us were ever so embarrassed!

Inundated - 2016-09-22

I had just returned from a business trip outside of town and needed a
good rest. I awoke to find a couple of women hanging up their
clothes in my closet. I turned over and tried to go back to sleep.
Then, another group of women came in and placed their clothes in
my room. I got up and tried to hustle them out of my room but they
only laughed at me. By then, another group of women had come and
they were stacking their folded up clothes in the corners of my room.
Now, I really became angry and yelled at them to get out. When that
did no good I looked for my wife to find out what was going on. She
said that they were in town for a convention and needed a place to
stay for a few days.

By the time I got back to my room, it was full of women stacking
their clothes wherever there happened to be a little floor space. It was
then that I noticed that there was a round hole in the floor about the

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size of a basketball. One of the women laughed and said her son had
bounced a basketball a bit too hard. The hole began to get larger and
larger and soon measured about three feet to a side. At that time, I
gave up and showed the next group of women to a nearby room and
told them they could put their clothes there.

Fabrication Shop - 2016-09-24

I had just been hired at a fabricator shop that made several products.
The boss showed me what my job would be. I was to take a rough,
vase-sized foam rubber object and buff it with an electric sander until
it was nice and smooth. He even showed me where to work.

The second day of work I showed up a bit early but could not find
my workstation, electric sander or materials. There were workers
everywhere fabricating this and that. I finally found my sander but
there were no materials so I went looking for them. I discovered that
this fabrication shop was huge and had people everywhere working
hard at their particular job. My boss saw me and asked why I was not
working. When he heard my excuse he directed me to where the
rough product was and told me to just work out in the yard since
there was no room in the shop.

Film Class - 2016-09-25

I had just finished teaching a class at the local college and was ready
to go home. However, I had a nagging suspicion that I should be
teaching another class at this very time. I had been out of town for a
couple of weeks and just could not be sure but I walked over to
where I thought that the class would be meeting if I did, indeed, need
to meet with a class.

When I reached the classroom the room was full and some students
were seated in a courtyard just outside the classroom. A substitute
teacher was there, she looked at me and snorted, "About time you
showed up!" and stormed off. I noticed that another teacher was
seated in the classroom, ostensibly reading a newspaper.

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Of course, I was not ready to teach a class on Movie films since I was
not a Humanities professor but I had been assigned the class so I
thought I should blunder on. Not having had the time to prepare for
the class I simply asked the students to briefly summarize the most
recent film they had watched and analyze its underlying message.

Each of the students stood in turn and made short presentations
which were well received by the others. I was pleased by their
performances and commended them. Before I dismissed the class I
assigned them a project. They were to select their favorite movie and
analyze its production values.

When the students had all departed I ambled over to the Humanities
Division offices to see if I could find a syllabus for this course or, at
least, a textbook for the course so I could read up on what I was
supposed to be teaching them.

So Sleepy - 2016-10-06

I had been out on the town on the previous night and woke up at my
father-in-law's grand old house on one of the main streets of the
town. I got dressed and went downstairs to see who was up and
about. My precocious three-year-old niece was already up and so were
dozens of other people that I had never seen before but whom I took
to be related to us in some manner since they acted as if they
belonged there.

It crossed my mind that it would be a great morning to go out for
breakfast so I looked for my wife to invite her out but could not see
her. Therefore, I sat on the huge sofa in the living room where I
could see her when she came down the stairs.

I was having difficulty keeping my eyes open so I asked the man
sitting next to me on the sofa what time it was. He told me that it was
just past six in the morning. I thought to myself that the early hour
explained why I was so sleepy. I figured that as soon as my wife came

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down we could go for breakfast and she could drive since my eyes
didn't seem to want to stay open.

Stairway - 2016-10-07

My wife and I went into the city to discuss matters with our insurance
agent. We took the elevator up to the third or fourth floor of a tall
building. Once in the office, I soon became extremely bored with the
minutia of the insurance policy and left my wife to continue to deal
with the insurance company since she had a strong background in
insurance.

I went out into the hallway and decided I would go down to the
ground floor and go outside of the building and wait there for my
wife. After waiting for quite a while I became concerned that she was
not showing up and decided to go back upstairs. I saw a curved,
marble stairway and began the climb to the third floor. However,
after making the first turn I noticed that the banister for the next
section was gone. There would be nothing between you and the
marble floor below should you stumble. I could not do it. I went to
look for an elevator.

Basketball Flunky - 2016-10-10

My father had spoken to the basketball coach and the coach had
agreed to allow me to practice with his high school team but under no
circumstances was I to play any games and I would not be issued a
game uniform.

On the first day of practice, I went to the high school where each
player would be issued a backpack containing his game uniform and a
basketball and then would board a school bus for the ride to the
fieldhouse. I did not know whether I should grab a backpack or not. I
knew I was not to receive a uniform yet I needed a basketball. Finally,
I grabbed a backpack and got on the bus.

When we arrived at the fieldhouse we were to get off the bus one by
one then be passed the ball so that we could take a shot from the

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corner baseline while someone guarded you. Each of the players, in
turn, stepped out, was passed the ball and proceeded to sink their
shot. When it was my turn I could not get my shot off because I
could not shake off the person guarding me. I finally managed a weak
shot that fell to the court halfway to the basket. I was mortified!

We then repeated the exercise. This time, I decided to use my
levitating powers to jump up and levitate until the person guarding
me fell back to the court and then I would release the ball. My plan
worked but my shot did not make it to the basket; I was too weak.

The third time we performed the exercise I was ready. I drove for the
basket and then levitated myself slowly right to the basket where I
stuffed the ball into the basket!

Boy Blue - 2016-10-11

I went over to a friend's house to help him with some work in his
kitchen. When I was done I decided to paint the walls of the kitchen
light blue. When that was done I still had a little paint left so I painted
myself totally in blue.

Later, I went over to the fraternity house and was struck by the
clothes that my fraternity members were all wearing. Everyone was
wearing nice clothes, slacks, sports coats or sweaters. Not only that
but each member had a separate room for himself, not the dorms we
had previously enjoyed.

Badminton - 2016-10-13

I found myself in a game of doubles badminton playing with a friend
and against a female duo that was regularly beating us at a game that
we were acknowledged experts. We tried everything and they kept
beating us at our game. We took a short time out and revised our
strategy and then went back to the game. This time, we managed to
just barely beat them.

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The female duo then suggested a slightly more exciting game. They
replaced the shuttle with a larger one and greatly expanded the
boundaries of the playing court. We agreed and began to play the
revised game. The new shuttle traveled much higher and much faster
and we had much more room to cover. We were soundly trounced!

As we left the court after the resounding loss I saw a white chicken so
I grabbed it and took it with me. When I got home I regretted my
rash decision to grab the chicken as it might be construed as stealing
somebody’s property. As my badminton partner was going back to
the area of the badminton court I asked him to return the chicken.

Cater to Sheep! - 2016-10-15

It was in the mid-19th century and I found myself in the desert
southwest walking across a parched landscape when a dust storm
blew up. I had to get into some type of building to weather to storm.
Fortunately, ahead of me, I could see the dim outlines of a structure. I
staggered over to it and stumbled through the door. Inside was a large
room, going up at least two stories high, all made out of quarried
stone. Off to one side, I could hear some noises. I approached the
side room and a grimy, old man emerged cleaning some silverware. I
asked him what this place was and to whom did it belong. He merely
grunted and gestured to the far wall behind me. Slowly, I turned
around and found myself facing a giant of a man, dressed in furs. His
face was almost obscured by his wild, bushy hair and his full beard.
All you could really see of him was his piercing eyes.

I asked him if I could stay on to ride out the storm. He merely
grunted and pointed towards the old man. I took that to mean he had
said yes and that the other man would see to my needs. I did stay on
beyond the storm, mainly because I had nowhere else to go and here
I could eat, sleep and make myself useful. I learned that the owner
needed help maintaining the building and I could provide that help.

One evening I had finished some chores outside and was on my way
to the building when I saw a person creeping up from the barn area. I

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stood stock still and just watched as the person slowly, carefully,
silently crept nearer and nearer to the building window. From the dim
light cast by the window, I could see that the person was carrying a
rifle. I slowly drew my own revolver and slid forward to intercept the
person.

Suddenly, the front door was thrown open and the man in the fur
clothes appeared. The person with the rifle raised his weapon and
aimed it at him while calling out his name. What happened next
occurred in only an instant. The man in fur dived to the side just as
the intruder fired. I fired two shots and the man went down. The
intruder was dead and the man in fur had not been hit. I was asked to
bury the man, which I did. I never found out who he was and why he
was intent on shooting the owner of this establishment.

My actions in saving his life established my place in the small universe
owned by the man in fur. I was now welcome in the home and privy
to the owner's plans. He unfurled a map on the kitchen table and
showed me a map of the southwest. He pointed out that his ranch's
location was on the natural path for cattle drives coming up from
Texas. He intended to build a town that would cater to all the needs
of these sheep drovers. I pointed out that other towns along the route
would be doing the same and there would be a lot of competition.
His eyes lit up and he said, "That is true. But, I am going to specialize
in catering to the sheep drives!"

And so it came about. The town he built catered to sheep drives. The
owner donned gentleman’s clothes, cut his hair and shaved his beard
and married one of the young ladies that came through his town.
Inside his large room, he set up a small theater and when sheep drives
came through he would stage elaborate performances for his audience
of sheep drovers.

Not Hamilton Again! - 2016-10-18

I found myself back in the northern plains with a group of friends in
that town that in previous dreams I had identified as "Hamilton". I

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assumed that we were with the army reserves and were training there
for we returned home after a few days.

The following weekend reserve we were again on the bus to
"Hamilton". When we reached there our group dashed out of the bus
and ran for a shortcut to the restaurant we were all going to eat. I
suppose we wanted to beat the crowd. For some reason, I lagged
behind the others but when I finally reached the restaurant I could
see that they had grabbed a good booth for us. From the booth, we
could see out the large picture windows and see the restaurant we had
frequented the last time we were in the town.

Dairy Queen - 2016-10-21

It had been raining a lot that day but by the time the conference was
over the rain had stopped. I was leaving to go back to town and a
friend asked if he could ride with me since he was hankering for a
Dairy Queen drink. We set off into town in the brand new, black
convertible that I had just purchased.

We had not gone very far when we noticed that the road was covered
with water, maybe an inch or two deep. I hesitated for I did not want
to get my new car wet and dirty but I finally plunged on. When we
arrived at the next small bridge we noticed that the normally small
stream was a raging torrent that was just now starting to flow over the
roadway. Carefully, we forded the bridge and moved on.

Somewhere in the next few miles, we found ourselves on a bicycle
rather than in a car. But, while it was just water on the road, I could
not manage to make headway. The raging waters were now a veritable
flood obscuring the roadway. I found, though, that if I simply
followed the trolley tracks I was sure to remain on the roadway.
However, I had to be mindful of moving to the side if we saw a
trolley approaching.

We reached the last hill before reaching the town limits but here the
roadway was covered with mud and debris and I found it very hard to

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pedal my way through it. Fortunately, some joggers stopped and
helped me up the hill by pushing us on the bike.

Advanced Systems - 2016-10-23

I was sharing a motel room at a conference for computer science
instructors with the lead computer instructor at our college. We were
preparing to leave the conference a day early for we had already
extracted what we wanted from the conference. I happened to
mention to my roommate that I would not be teaching this semester.
He inquired why I was not. I said that I had reached the mandatory
retirement age of 70 and thus could not teach anymore. I told him I
had taught three courses the previous semester and had enjoyed
teaching the new Advanced Systems course since it had so many truly
superior students. (All the mediocre students would have dropped out
of the program by the time they reached this course.) He responded
by saying that I should just simply enter my name as the instructor
and proceed to teach the course anyway since he doubted that anyone
in the hierarchy ever checked the age of instructors.

Fishing - 2016-10-24

We were at a seaside village where the houses almost came up to the
sea and some docks jutted out into the sea for a few yards in front of
each. I decided that I would try my hand at fishing and rigged up a
casting rod with some bait and tossed it out a few yards offshore.
Before long a good-sized fish had taken my bait and I reeled it in. I
was so elated I ran up to our rented house and proudly showed it to
my wife who said she would clean it and serve it for dinner.

I returned to my spot on the seashore only to find dozens of people
had heard of my catch and had cast out their lines in the same area in
hopes of duplicating my feat. I threw my baited hook out just a few
feet so as to not tangle my line with the dozens of other lines already
in the water.

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I was absentmindedly looking at the beautiful clouds when I noticed
my line moving to and fro. I reeled it in and found I had hooked a
three-inch fish. It was not large enough to eat so I just let him swim
around still hooked to my line and just a few feet from shore. When,
suddenly, a huge six-foot-long fish swallowed my little fish and the
hook along with it. I immediately pulled it to shore where the fish
thrashed about quite vehemently. It was all I could do to keep the line
taut so the large fish would not slide back into the sea. I tried
punching it in the head with my fist but that only served to make the
large fish more furious. I wished I had a knife or a truncheon so I
could dispatch it.

A neighbor realized my predicament and came to my aid beating the
fish over the head with her broom. When that did not quiet the fish
she left and returned with a cow. The cow proceeded to swallow the
large fish tail, end first, leaving just the head protruding out from its
mouth. Now freed from having to hang on to the taut line, I dropped
the fishing rod and grabbed a two-by-four piece of lumber and began
striking the fish head. It was not easily done since the fish continued
to squirt large volumes of water at me.

Gradually, I subdued the fish and the neighbor lady took the cow
away to her house where she was going to extricate the fish from its
mouth, esophagus, and stomach. Not long after, the stripped carcass
of the cow was hurled from her front porch and into the water in
front of us. Water splashed everywhere when the cow carcass hit the
water and fish were hurled high up into the air all around us. It was
quite a sight!

Boss and Accounting - 2016-10-26

My boss had come out to the campus and was visiting with me in a
most friendly manner, something I was not used to. After he left I
sought out my classroom, found the students still waiting for me, and
proceeded to teach the day's class. Unfortunately, I had not had a
chance to prepare a lesson plan so I decided to try out a tactic which I

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had long thought would introduce students to Accounting from a
different perspective. I asked them to assume that we were going to
start a business and began asking them questions as to what we would
need to know. In this manner, I led them into Balance Sheets and
Income Statements and then into how we could amass that
information.

Hoedown - 2016-10-27

I was not involved in this dream but I only "saw" it as if watching a
movie. The main protagonists were a large, muscular, Li'l Abner type
of man and an eighteen-year-old lass that lived with her destitute
family in a nearby cabin. The young man had heard that there was to
be a hoedown in the nearby village and he was eager to go and dance
up a storm. He had told the young lass and she made plans to attend
with him.

The young man's father wanted to attend but he did not have a clean
shirt to wear. The young man told him he would drive into town and
buy him a new shirt. They had the good sense to look at the old shirt
and ascertain the size of the shirt before heading into the village. The
young lass saw them headed out and thought that they were leaving
for the hoedown without her so she rushed after them even though
she had no shoes on.

When the group reached the railroad crossing they found a train
blocking the road so the young man swerved and crashed through the
rail fence of his neighbor, ending up in his barnyard. Being in a hurry,
he yelled to the neighbor that he would be back the next day to repair
the fence and got his truck back on the road to the village.

DJ - 2016-10-29

I had been recently fired from my important job and was seeking
employment anywhere I could find it. I was having great difficulty
finding any jobs when I heard a radio station needed another DJ. I
applied and got the job, conditionally. That is, they took me on and

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would evaluate my skills as a DJ before they committed to a long-
term contract.

For the first six weeks, all I did at the radio station was gopher-type
jobs but I got to observe the DJs. I learned what they did by simply
watching them do their jobs. One day my boss told me that the next
day I would start my trial as a DJ. One of the DJs had departed the
radio station and they needed me to fill in his time slot.

Forgot My Classes - 2016-10-31

I arrived at the campus one morning and parked my car near the
administration building. I walked into the building and was told that
the scheduled meeting was already underway in the conference room.
When I got there the representatives from the automobile company
were going over the budget for the coming year with a couple of our
automotive instructors. I finished the discussion, thanked them for
the equipment donations and brought the meeting to a close.

I suddenly realized that I was supposed to be teaching a course during
that hour. I headed out to the classroom building only to realize that
by the time I would get to it the class would be over and, in fact, the
next class, which I also was supposed to teach, would have already
begun and the students, finding that I was not there again, would
have dispersed.

I was having quite a time breathing so I headed for home passing
through the automotive building on my way. I spoke to some of the
teachers there in passing and headed for my car. I remembered that I
had forgotten these same two classes last week also. I felt very badly
about letting my students down.

Top Hat and Tails - 2016-12-18

I needed to make a presentation at an exclusive club but had no
transportation so I bought my friend's used car. He and his parents
were in it at the time so they went along with me. The club was at the
summit of a hill and the snow was making the approach a bit dicey. I

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had not taken the time to familiarize myself with the automatic gears
and dared not take my eyes off the road to see what gears there were
to shift down to for greater traction.

Fearing trouble, I dropped off my friend and his parents at the base
of the hill and I pushed on by myself towards the summit. Evidently,
I had the car in the highest gear and it was having trouble maintaining
enough power to propel me forwards. I finally made it close to the
summit and began looking for a place to park the car. I wanted to
park right next to the building since I did not have a coat and I
needed to change into my top hat and tails to deliver my presentation.

At this point, I realized that I was now on a motorcycle, not a car.
Well, it was really a bicycle with a motor on it. I arrived at the building
and leaned the bicycle up against the side of the building when a
guard accosted me and told me that I could not leave the bike there. I
argued with the guard that I was a very important person but he
would not believe me. I offered him money but that seemed to
infuriate him. I told him that I was the main presenter and I needed
to enter the building right then to make a presentation to the guest of
honor. The time had flown and at this point, I could only hope to get
in never mind the changing into top hat and tails. But, it was to no
avail!

Nude Swimming – 2016-12-19

My sister and I were applying for teaching jobs at a nearby school
district and we had it in our mind to demand that they permit nude
swimming in their school pool. We were getting ready to go for our
job interviews and we were trying various swimsuits on that left
nothing to the imagination. However, at the last minute, I got cold
feet and refused to go to the interview without clothes on.

Just as we were about to leave, we heard the doorbell and my sister
allowed a person into the house. I was in my room getting dressed
but I could hear the person talking in the living room. It was obvious
that he was a salesman but I could not quite make out what he was

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selling. When I heard my sister about to sign a contract to purchase
whatever it was I came out of my room and took a look at what he
was selling. His product was a series of self-help books that promised
to build up your self-esteem. I unceremoniously told the salesman
that we did not need his product and sent him on his way.

Stolen Trolley - 2016-12-19

I had just purchased a brand-new trolley and I was ecstatic. All my life
I had admired the picturesque trolleys and their polished wood seats
and brilliant brass fittings. I mentally pictured myself driving around
town proudly showing off our town's historical attractions.

I parked right in front of my favorite bar and went in for a
celebratory drink. One led to another, then another. When I finally
returned to my trolley I could not find it! It was not where I had
parked it. I was not only flabbergasted but incensed that someone
would steal my beloved trolley!

I dashed through the streets trying to find my trolley. I looked
everywhere to no avail. I returned to the bar area and noticed that just
around the corner there was a trolley barn. I went into the
establishment but did not see anything that resembled my trolley. The
ones here were all well-used commercial trolleys. Nevertheless, I
confronted the owner and accused him of stealing my trolley. He
would not admit it but eventually told me he would look around and
see what he could turn up. He asked me to come back in a week.

When I returned, the owner of the trolley barn told me that after
scouring the city he had located my trolley and he had it in the barn at
the rear of the building. It did, indeed, look like my trolley but the
interior had been changed into a display for turf, plants, and flowers. I
became very irate for I suspected that he had been the one to steal my
trolley in the first place. I produced a shotgun and threatened to use it
unless he admitted what he had done.

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History of Hamilton - 2017-01-07

I found myself explaining the history of the town of Hamilton that
has been in my dreams so often. A trapper found himself in the area
and set up a cabin. It was on the trail of various other trappers and
they often stopped by. He fed them and allowed them to sleep in the
cabin. He expanded the cabin and began charging for the food and
lodging. Over the years others with different skills stopped at his
cabin and, finding the area to their liking, erected their own cabins
and began offering their skills to others. Little by little other skilled
people came, erected their cabins and began plying their trade as well.
Over the years the area developed into a town of entrepreneurs, each
plying their own trade in the service of others. Eventually, a school
was set up and later a private college erected a building and began
educating young adults.

Curved Tub - 2017-01-13

My wife had come to pick me up at the army fort since I had a 48-
hour pass and we had driven straight to her hometown to be with her
parents for a few hours before returning back to the fort for the
second week of my Army Reserves two-week deployment. It took us
longer than we thought to make the drive so it was late in the evening
when we arrived at the large, older house on Elm Street where her
parents lived. I pulled into the driveway to the side of the house and
we stumbled out of the car and into the corner room on the second
floor and fell asleep right away.

When we awoke in the morning I pulled on some sweat clothes and
took a look out the window. I realized that I had driven into the
wrong driveway, the one to the south of the house instead of the one
to the north. I hustled down to the car only to find it blocked in by a
pickup which I assumed belonged to the people on the south side of
the house whose driveway this was. I jumped into the car and
carefully drove it across the grass and between all sorts of children's

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toys and was able to position it in the correct driveway. I pulled out a
couple of suitcases and headed for the upstairs bedroom to clean up
and dress.

I went to the side door that took you right to the kitchen and,
glancing in, I saw my wife's mom already preparing breakfast and
talking to two young women dressed to the nines. I went on up to the
bedroom, tossed my sweats aside, and prepared to shave and shower.
While I was searching my suitcase for the electric shaver one of the
young women came into our room. Luckily, the bed came to my waist
and my total nakedness was not visible to her (at least I thought not).
I proceeded to talk to her quite calmly.

The two bedrooms on this side of the second story were linked by a
common bathroom so I made my way to what I thought was the
bathroom and found only another bedroom. Thinking I had not
remembered correctly, I went on to the next room. It also was
another bedroom but it was occupied by the other young woman. She
looked me up and down and said nothing. I scrambled back the way I
had come and noticed that the room I thought was a bedroom was
indeed the bathroom but a bed had been placed in it and the bathtub
hidden behind a curtain. I looked at the bathtub and saw that it had
three or four inches of water already in it. I hesitated and heard a
man's voice behind me. A young man was reclining on the bed
reading a magazine and he commented, "You know, many people can
go more than one day without taking a bath!" I took that to be an
indirect invitation to NOT shower.

I pulled the wooden john-boat-shaped tub into the middle of the
room and filled it up with clean water. The problem was that when I
tried to get into it the slightly curved tub would tip and all the water
would slosh to one end. I called for my wife to come help me and she
held down one side of the tub while I got into it and splashed some
water on myself. When I was done, I again called for my wife to come
help me. This time she was not able to come. I looked out into the
hallway and noticed that she was on the phone. I overheard her

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asking for reservations for a flight to Chicago. When she finally came
into the bathroom to help me out of the tub without sloshing all the
water on the floor, I asked her who she was going to see in Chicago.
By the look on her face, I could tell that I was not supposed to have
overheard that phone conversation!

Passing Game - 2017-03-24

I had gone to town with my older sister and while she did some
shopping I visited the high school. There, in the gym, I found my old
football coach working with some teams of high school kids on a new
game he had invented which was played inside a basketball gym.
There were nine students per team and they played with a ball that
was larger than a soccer ball and smaller than a regulation basketball.
There was no dribbling allowed but the team on offense could pass
the ball while the other team tried to intercept the passes and go on
offense themselves. If a team managed to get the ball to someone on
the third tier of their offense that person could cross the goal line and
score. It was a great game since it helped the students develop their
passing skills as well as their defensive skills.

Candidate - 2017-03-25

I was still at work but my retirement had been announced and there
was an active recruitment process underway for my replacement. A
candidate presented himself one day and I proceeded to show him
around the buildings. Since I did not know he was coming I had not
prepared properly. There were no refreshments and I had not notified
the departments that a candidate was coming through. We began our
tour and he set off on a very brisk walk that made it difficult for me
to keep up and, of course, I could not describe what he was seeing
and who he was meeting since I was all out of breath.

As we headed up the hill we could see storm clouds building in the
distance and I tried to let him know that we could easily see if a
tornado was coming from that high vantage point. At that moment,
we saw a tornado form and begin its rotation. It headed straight for

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us. I yelled for him to hit the ground and threw myself on him to
protect him from flying debris. The tornado was a small one and it
soon had passed right over us and headed for the rest of the campus.
I thought to myself that I should call someone and sound the alarm
but for the life of me, I could not think of a phone number that I
could call.

Stripped Clean - 2017-04-15

I had traveled to the Caribbean island where my father lived after
retiring from his duties at a private college. In honor of the many
years of service, he was allowed to continue living in the college
house in which we children had been brought up. I rented a car at the
airport and drove non-stop to the small town in the hills where the
college was located. My father was not home but I proceeded to make
myself at home with my small puppy. I wandered throughout the
home reliving the many memories that were created in its rooms and
environs. When I returned to the main floor from the upstairs I
discovered that my puppy had made mincemeat of the upholstered
chairs and sofa pillows and anything that he could sink his teeth into.

I threw open the two sets of French doors to the living room and
those in the dining room preparatory to using my leaf blower to blow
all the stuffing and mess that the puppy had made to the outside of
the house. I had gone to the basement- level storage room to find the
leaf blower when I heard voices above me in the house. There were at
least five or six men busily carrying everything out of the house and
into their large truck. I realized that they were stealing everything in
the house.

I grabbed the puppy and dove off the cliff on the east side of the
house where I hid behind some trees and bushes to observe what was
going on. One of the men came out to our side of the house and
stood on the sidewalk looking for us but finally decided that we had
gotten away and he went back into the house to help his cohorts
plunder the house.

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From my spot on the side of the hillside, I could see my father down
in the valley below sitting at a picnic table and looking towards the
house. I waved at him indicating that he should not come any closer.
I do not know if he saw me or not but he did stay where he was. I
called my sister on my cell phone and told her what was happening
and she drove to a spot below the house and joined me in my hiding
spot.

When the men finally finished stripping the house clean they locked
up the truck doors and started down the hill. My sister and I went up
to the house and saw total devastation. Everything, beds, chairs,
tables, chairs, light fixtures toilets and sinks had been stripped and
taken away. They even took my rental car! The only thing left was a
stack of large posters of early college and town scenes. I realized then
that they had taken everything but had inadvertently left the prized
possessions for the posters and photos would be worth a fortune to
collectors.

My father arrived with the police and we learned that their heavy
truck collapsed the narrow hillside road and the robbers had all been
apprehended as they crawled out of the wreckage.

Dance Class – 2017-06-09

My sister and I were getting ready to go into town from the farm to
participate in our high school Dance Class when we received a call
from my uncle’s nearby farm that a young man there needed a ride
into town. We got into our 1973 White Dodge Dart with Aqua
simulated leather interiors and picked him up. The stranger got into
the back seat and when my sister pushed her passenger seat back he
complained he was being scrunched-up so I had him stretch his legs
forward between the two bucket seats.

When we arrived at school he said he would just wait in the car until
we had finished. As we got out he climbed into the front driver’s seat
and drove the Dart to a better parking spot but overshot the spot and
blundered on through the grass to another parking lot. We went to

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the school all dressed up for dance class in a tuxedo and a ball-gown
and I had to remind myself that after Dance Class I had an English
Class test I needed to take. I chanced a glance through the windows
and saw my Dart being driven off the school grounds and into town.
I began to wonder why I had trusted this complete with my Dart.

Oklahoma State - 2017-06-10

I was on a team that had been sent in to evaluate a university,
Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma. I was surprised
that one of the members of the team was a girl that I had known
when I was in senior high (as an acquaintance) and had not seen since
then. After being introduced to the college's hierarchy we took a
break and she set off for the town at a fast walking clip. I tried to
keep pace with her telling her that I had known this university when it
was in its infancy and it did not appear that they had grown. It was
then that I saw in the distance a very large campus. Evidently, they
had built their new buildings at a distance from the administrative
offices.

Capital on Bike - 2017-06-12

A team of the senior executives of the company was going to the
capital city to lobby the legislators. The head honcho stated, "We will
take two vehicles and you (meaning me) will follow on your bike." It
did not faze me at all since I had made this trip on my bike many
times. The others took off with me trailing along on my bicycle. They
soon lost me and I had to figure out the best route to take to avoid
any hills or ridges. I drove on four-lane freeways, two-lane roads,
farm-to-market blacktop roads, gravel roads and even dirt roads.
Often, I had to stop and ask at intersections which route would take
me to the capital. At one point, I had to travel down a dirt road that
bisected a farm. I stopped and asked the woman in charge of the farm
for permission for trespassing. At one point, I even rode through a
restaurant and, later, an office. One gravel road even had train tracks
on it and I had to keep looking over my shoulder to get out of the

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way of any trains that might catch up with me. I did not at all feel
tired but I certainly was afraid I would not make it to the meeting on
time. I considered flagging the train down and hopping on to make
up for lost time. But the one train that I saw turned off into a siding
before reaching me.

New Minister – 2017-06-13

We were at our church and the current minister left the sanctuary and
stated he was retiring. In walked our new minister. It turned out he
was a minister that we had in the past that we liked very much. He
gave a short sermon and closed the ceremony. I remained behind to
pick up any trash and to tidy up the hymn books and bibles at the
pews.

Bread – 2017-06-14

The entire population had been herded into trucks and had been
transported far away from home. We finally arrived at a city and
drove past dozens and dozens of city blocks of identical new ten-
story apartment buildings. We finally stopped in front of one of them
and dismounted. We were allowed to go into one of the buildings that
was just then being fitted with a toilet stool in one corner of the large
room. After washing up we put on what uniforms we had with us
then gathered into small groups and introduced ourselves. I tried to
say that I had served two years on active duty and then many years in
the reserves but my speech was marred by air escaping from my
mouth.

Later, we were led to a cafeteria where we went through a food line
and took whatever we could afford. We had been given a coupon
book with monopoly money coupons with which to pay. I had taken
a round loaf of bread and a small box the size of a toothbrush box
which contained candy treats. Since I did not know the price of things
I had not left any coupons on the table and an officer came by and
tore the proper coupons out of my coupon book. While this was
going on another man came by and made off with my bread.

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Detective Investigates- 2017-06-17

I heard a woman that lived near the end of my street was raped by a
man who lived just down the block. I do not know if I was a detective
or not but I set my mind to investigating the incident and bringing the
perpetrator to justice. I immediately went to the woman's home to
begin my investigations by interviewing her and any other witnesses.

There were many people gathered at her house, some even sitting on
the rooftop. I asked them to climb down and gather in the living
room for interviews. When all had gathered, I asked for a show of
hands of those that had witnessed the event and had them remain
with me while I dismissed the others. As I questioned a person others
would interject their own observations. It became so confusing that I
eventually gave up on interviewing the witnesses and concentrated on
getting a statement from the victim. However, no sooner than she
had said a sentence or two than one of the family members would
jump in and expound on that point. I warned the family members to
be quiet and continued my interrogation of the victim. However, my
admonitions had little effect since others in the family would dive
right into the conversation.

I became so frustrated that I had all of them remove themselves from
the living room. I resumed my visit with the poor woman and each
time I asked her a question one of her family would pop into the
room and answer for her.

I decided I would take her out of the house and to the crime scene
where she could demonstrate to me what had occurred. She showed
me just what had happened through pantomime and I felt I was
finally getting somewhere but, when I interrupted to ask her a
question, two men, whom I had not noticed before, appeared in the
room and said that they were lawyers for the defendant and had a
right to hear all my questions and her answers. Well, I blew my stack
on that one and threw them out of the house. I was totally frustrated

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by my lack of progress in the case and my inability to take charge of
the situation.

Air War - 2017-06-21

We were at war and in the air force in a front-line forward airstrip.
We could see the giant bombers roar overhead so close to the ground
that you could see the rivets on the airplane. They would land just
beyond the row of very tall trees along the side of the road. One after
another they would come in. We wondered how in the world the dirt
airstrip could handle these many behemoths. How did they get them
out of the way fast enough to land the next one? I jumped at the
chance to see the action for myself from the air when a pilot asked if
we wanted to go up with him for a look. As we entered the plane the
pilot handed us several hand grenades that we could use to drop on
enemy targets. He also shared with us a device about the size of a
large lighter than when worked properly would fire one high-
explosive round. You simply held it in your hand, armed it, and
pressed a very small button to trigger it off.

Gold Flakes – 2017-07-25

I was working in a large bank and had been singled out for rapid
advancement. The boss had often expressed his admiration for my
work. Our bank was right on the town square and we were preparing
to actively participate in the town’s annual fair that was held right on
the square itself. I had noticed that one of our senior execs was
preparing a booth for the square that displayed gold jewelry. As I
inspected the booth I accidentally bumped the counter and hundreds
of gold flakes spilled onto the street. I was aghast at what I had done
and dropped to my hands and knees trying to scoop up the gold
flakes. When the exec joined me, I shifted my focus to a fire engine
that had been alongside the booth. It appeared to me that gold flakes
had spilled onto the fire truck as well. I hopped onto the truck and
began to gather up what I thought were gold flakes. I was so focused

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on what I was doing that I did not notice that a fireman had boarded
the truck and had driven away from the square.

Luckily, the fire station was just a block away from the bank and I
was able to walk back to the bank with my pockets full of the gold
flakes I had salvaged. When the exec saw my hoard of what I thought
were gold flakes he laughed and said that what I had “salvaged” was
only gold-painted glitter.

After Hours – 2017-08-08

We had recently built a new administrative building and I was
working after hours in my new office trying to finish a report that my
boss wanted right away. I was only halfway done when the end of the
workday came and my secretary left for her home.

A young lady that had worked as my temporary secretary while my
administrative assistant was on vacation dropped into my office and
handed me a small flash drive that contained a report that I had asked
her to write. I was attempting to plug the flash drive into my desktop
computer when my high school football coach came in and began to
show me the various things he had designed for my new office.
Evidently, he was now a business interior designer. He showed me
the wallpaper he had chosen. It was light blue with white sailboats.
He had also printed up a bunch of tee shirts with our logo on them.

Just then two staff people marched in and began the installation of a
new interactive television. I happened to notice that the reason people
were walking in on me was that the wall that opened to the hallway
had disappeared. I could see that there were horizontal neon lights all
along the hallway that led right into my office.

So, there we were. My ex-secretary was trying to boot-up her report
on my computer, the media guys were installing the new television
equipment and the coach was trying mightily to make his pitch. And I
still had the report to my boss only half done!

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North Woods – 2017-09-01

I was in a region of the country with soaring mountains, deep valleys,
and forests. I deduced that we were in the North Woods. I was
traveling with a tall, rough, burly man who I took to be my father-in-
law. We arrived at a small community and he led me to a fairly large
wooden structure that resembled a dry goods store. He told me that
the building belonged to him but he had resisted the calls for him to
come and take over the operations there. His parents lived nearby and
he must have had deep-seated differences with them because he
would not even consider visiting them.

We moved through the town and into the deep woods and hills on
foot. As we crossed rivers and streams, hills and valleys we continued
to move upwards. In one area, we encountered a scenic overlook
where you could see for miles in every direction. A roaring fire was
blazing in a campfire as if someone had recently built it and had gone
foraging for some game to cook.

As we were climbing over a particularly rough hillside we encountered
a giant of a man, broad-shouldered and well-muscled. He greeted us
warmly and seemed to be very friendly with my traveling companion.
With him, was another, smaller, person. They welcomed my father-in-
law with warm embraces and asked him if he was, indeed, coming
home to stay. My father-in-law did not respond but gave every
indication that he was considering making the move.

We continued onward and upwards, ever deeper into the mountains
until we arrived at our destination, a beautiful river valley with forests
surrounding it. There we made a campfire and spent the evening.
From the conversation taking place, I surmised that this was land that
his family owned.

The next day we all retraced our steps and returned to town. By what
was said, I came to the conclusion that my father-in-law had made the
decision to stay in the area. On the hike back to town, we stopped
and put out the fire we had seen the day before. We also came upon a

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second campfire. My father-in-law motioned for us to remain where
we were and crept up to the campfire, slowly and silently. When he
was a scant few feet away from it rushed it and flung his body over a
log. Whoever had been there was gone so we extinguished that fire as
well.

Later, we stopped at a house where they served breakfast. There we
began to make plans for the future. My father-in-law would take over
the operation of the store. I volunteered that since I would not last
the year due to my health issues my wife should come and help her
father. Perhaps, she might even marry the large, well-muscled man
that was with us.

Regain Magical Powers – 2017-09-04

Just as I had thought my magical powers had atrophied they appeared
again. I was at an Army Summer Camp. It was during a break in the
training and I was staying at a hostel run by nuns. I was asleep in my
bedroom, wearing only a nightshirt and a nightcap when I heard the
voice of someone teaching about God. I cracked open one eye and
saw that there were others in the room with me and that a nun was at
the front of the room. She was asking rhetorical questions about God
and the universe. I slowly got out of bed, interrupted the nun, and
began to demonstrate to her, and to the class, that the universe was
infinitely mysterious and that we had only scratched the surface of
what was possible.

I asked the nun, “Do you think I can float up to the ceiling?”
Indignantly, she replied, “Of course not!” I proceeded to levitate and
float up to the high ceiling. There were gasps all around the room as
the others could not believe their eyes. To really drive my point
home, I asked her if she thought a person could walk right through
the wall. Again, she responded in the negative. So, I proceeded to
walk to the wall leading to the hallway and tried to go through the
wall. At first, the process felt as if I was trying to walk through a wet
cardboard. It bent all around me but would not let me through. I

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backed up and fixed my mind on the process and repeated my
attempt. This time I walked right through the wall and into the hall. I
woke up elated that I had regained my magical powers!

New Accounting Building – 2017-09-15

I was so pleased that the college administration had built a new
building in which to teach accounting courses. I had retired from my
work but was allowed to teach a couple of courses a semester at the
college and the Business Department chairperson had assigned me an
Accounting II course he had to staff at the last moment. I was elated
and hurried over to the new building and sought out the room I was
to use. It turned out to be an amphitheater with seats in a semi-circle
of gently rising tiers. I stood at the front podium and watched the
students filter into the room. When they had all entered I bid them
gather closer to the front and towards the center so that I did not
have to speak as loudly.

After they had rearranged themselves I began by welcoming them to
the class. Since I did not have a textbook nor a workbook I began by
eliciting from them what they had learned in their first accounting
course – the one that preceded this one. I carefully reviewed for them
the main concepts taught in Accounting I and proceeded to lay the
groundwork for what we would learn in Accounting II.

After an hour and a half of discussion, I dismissed the class. I left the
room very pleased with my performance, especially without any
preparation.

Failure- 2017-09-16

I found myself working for a national consulting firm as a junior
consultant who reported to still another person who had been my
fraternity brother in college. I had just recently completed a small
assignment for him with an important client. I felt it had gone well
but my boss had asked me to come to his office to discuss some
problems with my solution.

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That morning I was getting ready to go to work and meet my boss
but I could not find a clean shirt. I finally found a clean shirt and put
it on. But, I had not yet shaved so I borrowed my father’s razor to
shave. As I applied some shaving foam to my face I managed to get a
whole glob of foam onto my shirt, thus ruining the one clean shirt I
had. I felt like such a failure!

Landscaping – 2017-09-17

I had flown my yardman (who bore a remarkable resemblance to the
starting QB for the Seattle Seahawks) to the island in the Caribbean
where my family owned a resort to see what he could do to improve
the looks of the property. I took him on a tour of the many buildings,
some right on the water’s edge, others a little further back and
showed him the bare areas that could benefit from some type of
vegetation. I took him to the hotel and even through the automotive
training facility which was on the property. Just past the automotive
building, I took him to a ridge line from which you could see a large
plateau covered with grass. I told him that it was here that I had seen
a huge airplane land some time ago.

Daddy Park – 2017-09-29

In previous dreams I have dreamed that my father, upon his
retirement, was allowed to remain in the two-story concrete house we
had lived in before his retirement. Furthermore, as you walked north
from this house, you sauntered into a parklike setting adjacent to a
meandering stream that widened out to a small lake before it
meandered on. In this dream, my uncle had come to visit and my
father and I were showing him around the house and the park
alongside the stream. I mentioned to my uncle that the college had
allowed my father to purchase both the house and the park and, in
fact, towards the middle of the park there was a monument that
included a large bronze plaque with wording explaining the
significance of this park. My father, in bronze relief, was holding the
plaque. The park, unlike in previous dreams, was now beautifully

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landscaped, with rip-rap around the lake and stream and with park
benches under shade trees alongside the paved sidewalk.

Physics Test – 2017-10-21

I was enrolled in a college Physics class and felt I had been doing very
well. The end of the semester arrived and with it a Finals Test. I
expected to ace the test since I had been doing so well in
understanding physics principles. The first five questions were easily
solved with mathematical formulas but the next set of questions were
presented verbally in small plasticized cardboard disks that the
professor had recorded. I could hear the professor speaking but I
could not make out the individual words. I listened to them
repeatedly and from what I was able to piece together I had no idea
how to solve the problems. I knew that I was going to flunk the test! I
was very happy to wake up.

Extended Family – 2017-10-23

My wife and I arrived at my in-laws’ home in the central part of town
and were staying at their very large 1800’s mansion. When her sister
arrived, we welcomed her and ensconced her into one of the best
rooms in the house. My brother-in-law’s sister and her husband and
children arrived with a pair of dogs in tow. Then a cousin and his
family arrived. It seemed as if they had invited their entire extended
family to come and stay with us. I had wanted to take a shower before
I went to bed that night but each of the house’s five bathrooms was
being used by someone in his extended family. I was very perturbed
and stomped off to my bedroom. There I found a relative on my bed
chatting away with my cousin. I was apoplectic that he had taken the
liberty of lying on my bed!

Fraternity Treasurer – 2017-10-25

After my retirement, I called on my fraternity chapter to persuade
them to hire me as their business manager. As I entered the interview
room there were a few fraternity members there. I went up to each of

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them and asked them for their name and where they were from. I
then made some comment appropriate to each. As other members
came into the interview room I would greet each, in turn, and do the
same.

Once they had all arrived I began my pitch. I reminded them that I
had been treasurer of this chapter when I was in college and had
designed a one-write bookkeeping system for them. They inquired as
to my ability to collect the dues and I simply pointed out my track
record as to collections. I then enumerated previous jobs I had that
would help me bring expertise to the position.

Battlefield Casualty – 2017-10-26

We were very confident as we attacked the enemy position, but
fortune was not ours and we were shredded with withering fire. When
the smoke settled, we lay across the battlefield, some dead, some
barely alive. The enemy fighters walked confidently among us
shooting anyone that seemed to still have life. One enemy soldier
brandished a sword and swung down on bodies left and right. He
managed to slice me on my shoulders and back. I was badly wounded
and I braced for the final blow that would end my life when the
enemy leader yelled, “Not that one!” I wondered why I had been
chosen to live and had not been summarily executed. Suddenly, I
heard a rumbling noise and when I looked up I saw a herd of horses
being galloped across the battlefield trampling the dead and the soon-
to-be-dead. I covered my head with my arms and waited to be
trampled when I felt a body landing on top of me. That body was
absorbing all the blows!

Too Much Gas – 2017-10-26

I had returned home after two weeks with the Army Reserves to find
my daughter just fine under the care of my in-laws. They had
volunteered to stay with her during my absence and that of my wife
who had gone to an out-of-town training session for her new job. I
was driving my Dodge Dart and elected to drive my in-laws back to

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their town that same day. I knew I needed more gasoline, so I
pumped the gas tank full. When the gasoline hose clicked shut I went
ahead and topped off the tank to ensure I had enough for a round-
trip.

Unfortunately, my attention was drawn away from what I was doing,
and the hose continued to pump gas after the tank was completely
full. By the time I realized what was happening the inside of the car
was full of gasoline. I shut off the flow of gasoline and, grabbing a
water hose, I began to pour water into the car with the idea that I
could thus dilute the gasoline so that it was not flammable. I
continued to pour water into my car until I felt that the liquid mixture
was very low in gasoline content. There was still some liquid left on
the floor, but I judged that to be acceptable.

I loaded my in-laws, my daughter and her puppy into the Dodge Dart
and headed to the town my in-laws lived-in but I had great difficulty
seeing as one of my eyes was covered with an eye patch with many
tiny holes in it. I knew I had to get onto the interstate and frantically
looked for the signs that would lead me to the town I wanted to
reach.

I found the correct freeway and it took me through many parts of the
city and across another bridge that put us on the waterfront where
large container ships were being loaded. We drove on and across
another bridge that was still under a few inches of water from the
recent inundations.

As we were crossing that bridge we noticed a jetliner in the river. I
explained that the jet had made an emergency landing in the river just
a few days before. We managed to get across that bridge only to find
that the exit we needed had been washed away. I noticed that a
makeshift exit had been constructed out of rip-rap and used it to get
on the right highway and we drove on.

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Chicago Planning – 2017-10-29

I rented a car and drove all the way to Chicago to participate in the
periodic Long-range Planning for that city. A group of a dozen
citizens had been empaneled to provide input into what we saw as the
future needs of the city. Our efforts coalesced into a report that
would go to the city’s leaders. Why they had chosen me I do not
know for I was not from Chicago or even from that state.

Our group went through our process of brainstorming with all
thoughts posted on a large wall. Each of us, then, would distill what
was on the wall onto a summary card. Weights would be assigned to
how close our ideas had been to the overall thrust of ideas. We had to
prepare this summary card and then total it. I was always the slowest
to complete my card and the others were forced to wait on me.

It was starting to approach evening and I did not welcome the long
drive home, so I decided to fly home. I had done that the last time we
met, and it had worked out very well. I knew I had to get to a
telephone to call for an air reservation.

Open House – 2017-12-13

My father, who had been the Dean at the college from its inception,
upon his retirement, had been gifted the college house he had been
assigned. Upon my father’s death, the house passed on to me. It was a
very large house on the side of a mountain that overlooked a river
valley and the much larger mountains beyond the valley. After some
remodeling, my wife and I invited some of our friends to an open
house.

I had just donned a clean shirt and a pair of trousers when the guests
began arriving. The trousers were brown, like the shirt, but in a shade
that did not quite work with the shirt. So, I set out to find my closet
to put on another pair of trousers that matched better.

I could see down the grand entrance hall that some guests had
arrived. They soon caught up with me for I could not find my room

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with the clothes closet. As I searched for my room it amazed me how
large the house was. The main foyer had to be 30 to 40 feet high and
decked out with plush carpeting and marble statues.

I could see that the door to my room was there, three or four stories
above the foyer but I could not find a staircase to use. There was a
ladder propped up against the foyer wall but to reach my room it had
to be set almost straight up. I decided to levitate myself up to my
room. There I found another hallway that led by a small theater
room, a soda-fountain room and an ornate bathroom that was big as
a living room and furnished with Louie the 16th furniture.

By this time, hundreds of guests had arrived and were swarming
through the house. Coming out of a room onto a small hallway, I
happened upon a fraternity brother that I had not seen since we both
graduated. I found out that he was a disk jockey at a local radio
station and had never married. Other friends from past chapters of
my life streamed in. I saw people from my childhood, my high school
years and my college experience.

At one point someone told me that there was a problem back on the
first floor. Apparently, my daughter had inadvertently backed into a
water bowl and there was water everywhere. I set out to find towels
only to run into a dozen or so men who were dressed as waiters that
were already mopping up the water. I wondered to myself who in the
world had hired so many waiters for this open house.

I had given up hopes of finding different trousers and headed
towards the front door when I heard a commotion that seemed to be
coming from the inside of a piece of furniture. I opened the doors to
the piece and a small man fell out. He said that he was looking to see
what the inside looked like.

I went on into the living room and I could see a huge picture window
that covered the entire wall. There were drapes in the way, but
through the openings in the drapes, you could see the magnificent

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river valley below the house. I was quite proud to own such a
magnificent mansion!

Teaching Levitation – 2017-12-25

I was in a large atrium very similar to what you would find at a
shopping mall and I was demonstrating my levitation abilities to a
group of interested friends. I first showed them how to fly from one
point to another by simply extending my arms out to resemble an
airplane. They were properly amazed but seemed to think it was a
trick of some sort. I reassured them that it was an ability that all
humans had if they but would practice.

I then began to show them how to levitate straight up. They gasped in
amazement. As I rose towards the multi-storied high glass ceiling
they shouted up at me that I would crash into the ceiling. It was then
that I demonstrated my ability to pass right through solid objects.

When I returned to the ground level I demonstrated my pass-
through-solid abilities by plunging my fist and arm through a twelve-
inch wide column. My fist and arm did go through, but it shattered
the column. I placed both my hands on the column and using my
mind I solidified the column back to better-than-original shape thus
demonstrating the power of the mind.

I Won’t Go – 2017-12-27

My wife, daughter and I were staying at some relatives’ place. One
morning we awoke and found out that they had decided that we
should all travel to West Virginia and back that very same day. Since
we were in the Midwest I thought that their plans were ill-considered,
to say the least. I told them that I would not go and such a poorly
planned trip. I would stay right where I was! For some reason, they
did not like my decision and they took turns coming to my room to
try to convince me to go with them. They were so persistent that I
began to suspect that they had ulterior motives and that hardened my
resolve. They began to physically persuade me, but, one-by-one I

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fought them off. They then showed up in my room en mass. I knew
that I could fight them off one at a time, but I was not sure I could
hold off all five of them, so I grabbed an ax hoping that would
dissuade them from coming any closer. However, as they got closer
and closer to me I found that I could not swing the ax at them. My
muscles just would not cooperate. I ran from here to there hoping to
elude them! Then, I woke up.

Balancing Act – 2018-01-10

I was on a consulting project of some kind with a company and had
been working in a large room in the basement with others. I do not
know what my task was, but I did not consider it very important for
the whole project.

To one side of our large basement room, there was a small library of
magazines. When an employee took a break they could pick up one of
the magazines and read it. Next to my workstation was a tall, slim
Hispanic male who often read magazines in Spanish. During a break,
I happened to pick up a magazine he was reading and thumbed
through it. When he returned from his break he saw me reading his
magazine and spoke to me in Spanish. I responded and struck up a
conversation in Spanish.

He mentioned to me that the authorities were broadcasting that they
needed volunteers to combat the rapidly increasing gang-related crime
in the city. A volunteer would be teamed up with regular police
officers and would participate in only one case. The gangs were made
up of Hispanic immigrants so that Spanish speaking volunteers were
highly prized. The authorities had set up a demonstration station in
which you could see videos of gang members discussing crimes
among themselves and you could listen to them preparing for a crime.

I realized that I was not suitable for the volunteer job since the style
of Spanish that they spoke was replete with colloquialisms that I did
not understand. Apparently, in this subculture of the Hispanic

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community, they had developed their own slang words that regular
Spanish-speaking people would not understand.

A beautiful Hispanic woman joined him, and I took it from their
comments that they were in a relationship. I was included in their
conversation and we even joked about the natural inclination to
switch to English or Spanish right in the middle of a sentence as the
occasion demanded.

Just then, one of the senior partners from above came down to the
basement and began to open cabinets and remove books and things
that he needed upstairs in his office. As he gathered a handful of
books the Hispanic couple would take them and carry them to his
office upstairs. I tried to help but just as he had another armful of
things one or the other would return for another load.

The senior partner removed a heavy ceramic ball that looked like a
large pumpkin and since neither of the Hispanic couples was back he
handed it to me. I carefully carried it out of the basement and up the
stairs to his office. There I found that the Hispanic female was
carefully placing the objects she had carried upon a long set of
shelving. I started to place my large object on the shelf but noticed
that the shelf was tipping over from its added weight. Only then did I
realize that she had carefully placed every item on the shelf so that
they remained in complete balance. I tried to place my pumpkin-
shaped ceramic object right in the middle of the shelf thinking that
would be the best spot for such a large object.

The young lady then placed another object and the shelf and it threw
the entire shelf out of equilibrium. It began to slowly tip over and an
object was catapulted across the room to another part of that room
and struck one of the hanging ceiling tiles and knocked it down. No
sooner than that ceiling tile had fallen than all the ceiling tiles began
to cascade down. What a mess!

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Model T – 2018-01-14

I was in high school and driving my father’s Model T to and from
school which was some seven miles from our farm place. Two
schoolmates decided to come home with me to visit my sister who
was bedridden that day. We all piled into the old Model T and headed
out on the rough, country dirt roads. We traveled slowly since the
surface of the road was so rough. Deep ruts created the last time
people had traversed the road during a rainstorm made it difficult to
keep the car on the straight and true. At one point we had to ford a
low-water crossing where the creek had overflowed onto the road.

We finally arrived at the farm place and the schoolmates were able to
visit with my sister. By then, it was after dusk, so we invited the
schoolmates to spend the evening and return with me the next day as
I drove back to school. I do not know where my schoolmates slept
since our house was very small and only had three small rooms: two
bedrooms and a combination living room, dining room and kitchen.

When we awoke the next morning we discovered there was nothing
to fix for breakfast except toast. I tried to put mustard on my toast
and only managed to get it on my only clean shirt. I rummaged
through my small closet for another shirt but could not find one. By
that time the Indian housekeeper arrived with her young child and
began to straighten the house. So, I urged everyone to leave for
school. I had gone halfway out to the Model T when I realized that
later on in the day I might need a jacket even though right now it was
not cold. I went back to the house to get a jacket and a hat and told
one of my schoolmates to start up the Model T and come around to
the front of the house.

We were already late as I got into the Model T and headed for school
and I figured I would have to miss the first class period. I could not
remember what day of the week this was and what course was in the
first period. I speculated that I had missed that class so often that I
might as well drop the class and try it again next semester.

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We made pretty good time on the road until we reached the point
where we had forded the low-water crossing yesterday. The water was
now considerably higher but since we had no other remedy I plunged
into the water. The good news was that the Model T did not sputter
off while in the water. The bad news was that the water was so high
that it spilled in through our windows and filled the interior of the car
to our waists. We made it across to the other side and observed
workmen diligently working on creating a new road somewhat
adjacent to this old road.

Bamboo Rafters – 2018-01-15

Tonight, found me on an island in the Caribbean where I had
arranged for a group of friends to stay at some houses in the
mountainous interior of the island. Upon arriving at the rental houses,
I proceeded to use my electric power drill to bore several holes on the
front façade of the adobe-style houses into which I inserted some
bamboo lengths that protruded outwards from the houses. From
these bamboo rafters, the guests could then hang their hammocks
and enjoy the balmy weather. As I finished one house I would go to
the next and repeat the process.

Very satisfied with myself, I proceeded with a meeting with the owner
of the houses. I was very surprised to find that the owner did not
share my positive feeling about the bamboo rafters I had inserted into
his houses. I countered his objections to my actions by extolling the
benefit of the guest’s enjoyment of the houses. When that did not
seem to mollify him, I switched arguments and took the tack that the
bamboo would sprout leaves and would beautify the front of the
rather plain adobe-style houses. He countered with the very valid
argument that bamboo lengths would simply not sprout new leaves
once they had been removed from the earth.

Realizing I was not winning him over with my arguments, I changed
the subject and let him know that I was a local and lived in the nearby

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mountain town which was the center of the coffee industry on the
island. That did seem to satisfy him and we parted on good terms.

Uncle, the Professor – 2018-01-20

We were living in the cottage where we had lived as a child when my
wife and I decided to enroll in a course at the local college. When we
arrived at the proper college classroom and seated ourselves we were
astonished to find that my uncle, who was a doctor, surgeon and
lawyer, was teaching the class. It was an interesting course and as we
departed for home I sent my wife on ahead in the car while I attended
to some details at the Administration building of the college.

When I emerged from my meetings I ran into a former boyfriend of
my daughter who appeared to be inebriated to the extent that he
could not walk. I decided to help him get to where he was going so I
helped him to his feet and had him rest his body on my shoulder. I
asked him where he was going, and he indicated to the other side of
the Administration building. Half dragging him along, I got him to
the other side of the building only to discover that he had made a
mistake and the street he wanted was back on the other side of the
building.

By this time, he was so out of it that I got down on all fours and had
him just drape his body over me as if I were a pack mule. Slowly, inch
by inch we made progress towards his destination. Every now and
then he would slide off my back and I would have to stop and get
him draped over my back again.

As we ventured off the college campus a car drove by, stopped,
backed up, and the occupants came running over. It was the young
man’s mother and father. Between the three of us we got him into
their car and off they went.

Out of Gas – 2018-02-08

I was on the seashore visiting my family. They owned two side-by-
side homes right on the shore with docks extending out into the sea.

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The second house was being rented out. I noticed a small sailboat
that my folks owned moored on the adjacent dock and proceeded to
hop on board and sail around the bay. It was scarcely bigger than a
bathtub and closely resembled one, but it was a lot of fun.

Later that day, I happened to notice that the sailboat was gone and
went over to investigate. The renters claimed they knew nothing
about the missing sailboat but under relentless questioning admitted
that they had sailed the boat and had hidden it in the garage. Using
my own key, I opened the renter’s garage and, sure enough, there was
the boat. I also discovered that they had taken our 1960s Thunderbird
as well. I happened to have the key to it and took the occasion to
drive it out of their garage.

To celebrate the repossession of the Thunderbird I invited my whole
family out to dinner in a nearby town. We had gone only a couple of
blocks when I glanced down at my dashboard gages and noticed that
the gas tank was nearly empty. I turned around to go to a small
gasoline station that was right on the waterfront and used primarily to
gas-up boats.

The gas pumps were right over the water but there was a narrow
wooden dock to reach them from land. I carefully backed up since
the pumps were at the end of the dock and would not have reached
my gas tank if I had gone in facing the front. Unfortunately, my
backing skills had atrophied and one of the rear tires kept falling off
the dock. Once a tire fell off the dock I would have to pull forwards,
straighten the car out and try backing up again. After several such
incidents, I finally made it to the pumps and filled up. I did not have
cash but after a bit of wrangling, the proprietors accepted my credit
card.

Once my gas tank was full, I slowly pulled ahead and regained land,
only to discover that I did not have my credit card. I lined up on the
dock once again and began to slowly back up towards the boat

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gasoline station. This time I made it safely without falling off of the
dock even once.

When I demanded my credit card back the owners feigned ignorance
and would not even look for it. After considerable arguing, they
finally looked in the manual credit card machine and “discovered” my
credit card. However, when I looked out the small office’s window I
saw that my Thunderbird had collapsed the dock and was now
quickly submerging into the shallow sea. It finally settled on the
seafloor with water almost to the rooftop.

From the office, I called a wrecker and after an interminable delay
one arrived and winched the Thunderbird out of the water. Our
planned dinner out was now ruined so we settled for eating at one of
the local fish places.

Ford Roadster – 2018-02-15

My wife and I were visiting her father and he was showing us his
classic car from the 1940’s. He was very proud of it and maintained it
in tip-top shape. His house was along the main street in town and as
such did not have a garage, however, there was a small alley adjacent
to this house where he could park it.

We departed for our own hometown and stopped for gasoline just
out of town. A gentleman pulled up right next to us in a 1932 Ford
Roadster that looked as if it had just rolled out of the factory. We
ambled over and began talking to the owner who allowed us to climb
in and try the roadster on for size. Inside it was as pristine as the
outside. He mentioned that he had purchased it right out of the
factory and had it garaged since then, driving it only now and then.

I casually asked the man if he had ever thought of selling it and he
replied that he would consider it if the price was right. I asked him
how much he would have to receive to sell it. He thought about it a
moment and said that he had paid $350 for it back in 1932 but that
$25,000 would buy it. Thinking back at the prices we had seen on the

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collector-car auctions that were televised, I thought the price
eminently reasonable for a mint-condition original roadster and wrote
him out a check right then and there.

My wife and I thought that this roadster would make a perfect gift for
her father, so we turned around and headed back to her father’s
house, she in our car and I in the roadster. As I reached her father’s
street I noticed that there was a good six to eight inches of fast-
flowing water cascading down the main street but turned into the
street anyway.

Upon reaching his house I pulled the roadster into the alleyway
adjacent to his house and parked the car out of the rushing water. Her
father was flabbergasted at the gift we had brought him. He looked it
up and down and sat in it. Together we maneuvered it so that it was
out of the way should anyone want to use the alleyway.

Appetizers Anyone– 2018-02-20

I had stopped off at home after a meeting before returning to work.
My wife rushed in all breathless and said that we had been invited to
the home of a billionaire. She could not remember what the purpose
was, but we decided that is worth our time to go see what he wanted.

We arrived at his mansion overlooking the lake only to find quite a
few others there as well. Everyone was milling around at the base of
sweeping stairs that carried you into the home. While on the steps we
were offered drinks in large glasses. The drink turned out to be iced
tea. I drank mine and then put my empty glass down rather than
continue to hold it. A waiter stopped on his way down the steps and
seemed to be criticizing me for something, although I could not really
understand what he said.

I mingled among the growing number of guests trying to figure out
what this was all about. I could not tell since I did not know any of
them. There were men and women, some rather old, some younger.
There did not seem to be a pattern that would explain the invitation.

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Soon the guests began moving up the steps and heading for a large
patio that overlooked the lake. Tables had been set up and people
were finding their seats. I could not discern any pattern to the seating
arrangement but then overheard that the seating arrangement was
indicated on the bottom of the drinking glass that you had been
served. I returned to the previous rooms I had visited looking for my
empty glass but could not determine which empty glass was mine.

The tables on the patio had filled up rapidly and plates of delicious-
looking appetizers were being passed around. I stood there on the
patio totally confused and helpless. A cry went up and all the people
that had not found a seat began rushing up another set of stairs.
Apparently, another room was being made available. I joined the pell-
mell rush.

This meeting was taking much too long, and I needed to get back to
my office. I thought I should call my secretary and let her know I
would be detained but I could not remember the phone number of
my office. I was concerned because I thought that there was to be a
practice session for the play that was soon to be presented and I
needed to make sure I knew my lines and where in the play I was to
appear and say my lines. I tried to rehearse my lines to myself and just
couldn’t recall them.

The new patio we were ushered into was at a higher level than the
first patio and we could clearly see the lake and the show that was
being staged for us. I stood there with my phone in my hand
undecided as to what I should do when it rang, and rang, and rang. It
woke me up and it was my wife calling me from the grocery store.

Disposing of Gifts -2018-02-22

I worked in a large room in which there were many work desks. They
were all in the open with no separating walls between desks. Of
course, there were no file cabinets or credenzas to store your “stuff”.
Over time, I had accumulated little gifts from this person or that

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person that cluttered up my desk work area to the extent I could no
longer find enough space to do my job, whatever that was.

Most of the gifts seemed to be boxes of chocolates so I began going
from desk to desk offering them to my co-workers. Taking up a large
area of the desk was a small throw blanket. I carried that over to one
of the female co-worker’s space and placed it on her desk when she
was gone for a moment. That got rid of the throw!

Slowly but surely, I found co-workers who would accept my “gifts”.
Except for the co-worker that found the throw on her desk when she
returned. She indignantly returned it to my desk and told me in no
uncertain terms that she did not want the throw!

Visiting My Uncle – 2018-02-22

My family and I were visiting my uncle who was a doctor and very
well off financially. He invited us all to dinner at his Country Club.
We agreed and started out on foot. I ran back to the house to change
from a tee shirt to a regular shirt since a tee shirt would be rather low-
class for a country club.

It only took me a minute or two to change into a nice shirt but by
that time I was considerably behind the rest of the family who had set
off at a very fast clip. The house was about ten blocks from the
country club and there were two parallel streets that would get you
there. The family had taken the right-most street, so I took the left-
most, thinking it might be a shortcut and I would arrive
simultaneously with them. Unfortunately, I had suffered a back injury
a month before and my walking gait was rather slow. There was no
chance of arriving there when they did and I would be ten to fifteen
minutes behind.

The country club turned out to be a magnificent estate that occupied
the entire block between the two parallel streets and more. I really did
not know where to go for the dinner but headed up the circle drive
towards a central building that was larger than all the others. As I

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stepped into that building I ran across my uncle who had received a
page and was hurrying to the phones. He pointed me to where the
dining room was located and let me find my own way.

The dining room was huge and as I glanced around I could not see
my family anywhere. However, I noticed people lined up to go
through a cafeteria line, so I did too. I took this and that from the
food line and then began to look for our table. I had not worn my
glasses, so I could not see well at a distance and could not readily find
my family’s table. I began circling through the room looking left and
right but could not see anyone I recognized.

I could see people outside the dining room, so I took my tray and
maneuvered through the tables outside on the patio. There were
several patios, all facing the Caribbean Sea, and I checked each of
them in turn, to no avail.

By that time, I had somehow lost my tray, so I returned to the dining
room and secured another tray. I took only a few items from the food
court, so I could more easily navigate through and around so many
tables. I could see that individual family were dining at single tables
that dotted the acres and acres of the manicured lawn, so I tried to
nonchalantly amble by each table acting as though I was heading
towards another table but really checking out that table’s diners.

I wish I could say that I found my family, but in all truth, I didn’t. I
felt completely lost and bewildered.

Graduation Ball – 2018-03-06

Graduation from high school was approaching and our daughter was
super excited. One of the main events to be held was the Graduation
Ball. All the girls were to wear white wedding dresses and were to be
escorted by their fathers dressed in the Army dress blues uniform. We
shopped and shopped for the perfect wedding dress and a few days
before the dance she found the perfect dress. It was pretty expensive
but we thought it would be worth every penny for our daughter's

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