Okay, so last night I dreamed…

In the first part, I had a job interview at a big industrial complex/factory. I apparently did well enough at the interview that they just walked me out to the floor to start like right then. I knew people that worked at the factory -so that helped, but there was apparently no training video or process of any kind. They just sort of gave me a stool on this production line. The people who were sitting around me were nice enough to answer questions.

This long sausage-like trail of meat, loose ground beef or sausage, came down a narrow trough (about an inch in diameter) and inside the loose ground meat there were chunks of other meat. Apparently it was a sausage factory of some type, and we were supposed to sort of guide the chunks of meat so that they stayed together and consistently filled the ground beef sheath, before the sausage (I would assume) would go into sausage casings later. As I was attempting to do this with no idea as to how or what sort of process to use, the others were helping me and laughing with me about there not being a video.

A guy came up and told removed the tray of meat from in front of me, telling me that it was wrong ( I believe he may have used the term “Skewed” like we used to for badly soldered micro chips at Motorola) and had to be thrown out.

Suddenly, I saw my friend Matt Pearson, and was happy to know he worked there too. I had a female friend there, who was very Cindy Lauper-esque, and she was telling me about the hours (my shift started at 10 pm or so) and the schedule (Monday start, four day week). As we were walking toward a break or something I realized the factory also had a large office-like space with computers and cubicles. There were alot of 20 somethings there. Gradually I realized (or maybe I had known before applying, or maybe someone told me -hey it’s a dream) that this place was also in charge of making sure certain aspects of the game World of Warcraft were challenging enough for the players. Basically it was a dream job for geeky MMO addicts.

The next thing I know, I’ve been sort of adopted into this section of the workplace and I’m a courier for different tasks now with this section. There are several of my friends working here, including the female who I was talking with earlier. We discover a room full of dudes playing WOW and they’re actually supposed to be -but the play is constructive, basically they’re assessing what needs to be done in and to the game. This room full of guys is pretty casual (ala “grandma’s Boy” if you’ve ever seen it) and once the guys all leave my female friends enter. I’m called to the door and as soon as I walk in, they’re gesturing for me to smell the air. I’m congested from my cold (damn reality in my dream) but I can inhale just enough (and see a few feet away) to realize that they’re smoking pot.

This makes me quite nervous, despite the laid-back work place, and I decide to leave the room and stand outside because I don’t want to lose this job I just got (they play WOW at work, for crying out loud). I notice that someone’s cleaned the weed and left shake all over one of the desks outside, and this makes me even more nervous. One of the girls calls to someone outside, and people start noticing the smell. One of the office workers -a dude in a white business shirt and tie- walks over to the room and pulls out a shotgun or something. He essentially kills everyone in there, and then things become fuzzy. I’m frightened and uncomfortable, and I notice the body of my friend is sinking into this sort of well/very deep tub. I don’t know if she’s been drowned in there, or shot and just fell in. She dissapears into the water. There’s a drain auger sticking out of it, and after a while black liquid begins to come out of it. I start thinking about drowned bodies producing this black sludge.

There was another segment to the dream, which for some reason I remember as happening after this -but it feels like it should be earlier on the time line. I’m walking away from the room where the killing has occurred, and I see I guy I knew in high school journalism classes. His name is Eric, and as I say hello to him he acts as if I’m a stranger who’s bothering him. At first he’s like “hey, what’s up.” and goes back to his work. Then I say, “You don’t remember me do you” and he looks up and asks if he knows me from working somewhere. I say “Jefferson? Publications?” and his eyes light up.

The next thing I know I’m in a sort of classroom/conference room. Everyone has their own workstation with a computer, and there’s a big screen at the front of the room. There’s a very executive looking woman leading the “meeting”, and she’s going to show everyone something that people need to work on with they’re game play. There’s a very elitest player attitude to the meeting, which is almost kind of cool -like we’re the people you don’t want to screw with in-game because this is WHAT WE DO.

I’m playing my own character (not actually one of my characters iRL) and I have a flying mount. I’m in a section where you have to chase another flying creature and attack it, plus it has adds (add-on mobs=additional baddies that surround it and try to attack you). Some how the screen at the front of the room is displaying my display and I panic. I’m trying to close out the game or hit escape so I won’t get in trouble for playing instead of watching the video she’s trying to show us. I can her the sound from the movie, but my gameplay is being displayed still. I can’t tell if she knows who’s computer is doing this, but I really want it to close and it won’t.

Finally, in the last segments of the dream, I’ve left work and am somehow homeless living in someone’s car or barn. I’m way out in the country and I have to get to work, so I borrow a kids bike and I’m trying to ride it down country streets with nothing but cornfield on either side. Someone’s dad that I know (perhaps the person who’s property I was staying on?) drives by in a suburban pulling a camper.

The next thing I know, I’m on the sidewalk in a town talking to someone I don’t know and they’re complimenting me on the suburban behind me. I’m choking back the tears a little as I explain that it was my dad’s truck -but then I turn around and realize that it’s not my dad’s truck at all, and this one has a decorative boat propeller for a hitch cover. I realize that my dad’s suburban was white and blue, and this truck is an all-over silverish blue (my dad never owned a suburban in real life, to my knowledge).

Then I’m talking to my husband and he’s got these horrible cigars that are rectangular in shape, and about two inches wide. They look really strange, like one of those plastic keyboard/whistle things from when I was a kid, and have packaging kind of like a candy bar. A pizza delivery guy comes to the door and Mike give him one and lights it for him. They appear to know each other, and the guy appears to have bummed a cigar before.

…okay… think you can make sense of any of that? I *do* need a job, and I have been playing WOW lately