A New Job

This was a very detailed dream and although i can tell i’ve forgotten some important elements, there are very clear images that remain this morning.

My current job has ended and i am checking out what could be my new job at the company that took away the contract that i worked on. I walk across an expanse of well kept lawn to a large brick building. At first glance, it reminds me of my old high-school (which was very prison-like with no windows). I approach some automatic glass doors that open accordion style, and enter. Inside, there is lots of light and it’s very welcoming somehow. I am escorted to the unit where i will be working. I take my spot next to a guy who is picking up what appear to be insect larvae (but aren’t insect larvae – it’s a foamy, rubbery substance about a half-inch long and tubular shaped).   He picks one up from the carpeted floor and “swipes” it along a ?magnetic strip. If a tiny green light comes on at one end of the capsule, he puts is ?(can’t remember this detail). If a tiny red light comes on, the capsule has to be put back on the floor. It’s brainless work but the pay is tremendous. I’m trying to decide if it’s what i really want to do. The big money makes it very tempting even through the work would be soul-killing. There is a group of about six men at a cafeteria table eating lunch. These guys do that same “larva” work. One of the men is monstrous looking. His head is misshapen on the left side and his left eye shows a lot of the red inner lids (like a Saint Bernard dog) but i’m standing to his right side and don’t see that initially. He looks just like John Lithgow to me, and i tell him so. The other guys at the table kind of gasp and start laughing hysterically because they can’t believe i said such a thing right to the guy and they know what the other side of his face looks like (and i still don’t)  Dark Side Of The Face/Moon? JohnLithgow then turns to look at me straight on and i see the left side of his ruined face. It almost looks melted. I don’t react and continue talking and joking with the men at the table and think that working with these people (along with the big paycheck) would make the shitty work bearable. Two of the men at the table get up to give me a tour of the operation. They’re young (twenties?) and not gorgeous, but physically attractive to me. Healthy. Sporty looking. Apparently they find me attractive too and make several comments about my fluffy hair.

We go into an outdoor courtyard like space. Its brick floor/patio is in a parquet pattern. There are many (8? 12?) tables separated by low brick dividing walls so the effect is similar to booths in a restaurant. The tables are round and there are 4 – 6 chairs around each. This is the provider services/phone unit. I’m amazed. It looks so nice but i’m wondering how the reps can conduct business in this “outside” environment. One of the guys points out that it’s not finished yet and shows me the holes in the tables where the large umbrella will be placed which will keep the rain and sun off of the employees. It seems like a fine idea and i’m impressed how well this new company is pulling the work site together. It’s much nicer than my current work environment.  

We return to “our” department so i can practice “swiping the larvae”. I swipe one and the light turns green. It’s so easy. It’s a stupid job. I ask the guy working next to me why we are doing it. He explains why (but i can no longer remember the explanation – maybe i’ll come back later). I swipe another and it turns red. I know i’m supposed to put it back on the floor but it’s not natural to me – i’d rather throw it away. The guy explains that they get put back on the ground because even though it didn’t turn green that time, it might turn green the NEXT time it’s swiped. The capsules ?contain information that is read by the magnetic strip, but not all strips are compatible with all of the capsules so it’s like a random thing. The goal is to keep swiping and get as many green lights as possible in a work day. I’m extremely torn about whether to take the job or not, because it’s (to me) completely meaningless work that will provide no job satisfaction at all BUT the money and the guys i’d be working with are very tempting.

That’s all i remember right now.

Work dreams aka End of the Line

I am packing up my personal stuff from work to begin bringing it home. I have two empty boxes. They're the boxes that the reams of paper we use in the printers come in so they're a decent size and have lids. I fill both boxes full of stuffed toys and i'm surprised by how many toys i have at work. They're nice and very colorful. There's a plush tiger that's very soft and looks like new at the top of one of the boxes. The other box contains a brightly dressed clown doll. End of dream.

The Company is selling off all our equipment at work as we close down. My co-workers and i now work at communal "cafeteria" tables. Each table seats about ten of us, on benches, five on either side. It's very cramped. I have one person to my right and three to my left. Sylvia sits across from me. It's pretty cozy but i know it's just for a little while so i make-do.

All the people at my table are gone. There are a few people sitting along a table or bench attached to a wall (like at a beer bar or pub). There are five or six chairs along this wall and Wanda is sitting at one of the spaces. I'm trying to do my work but the format of the worksheet has changed and i'm having trouble finding the fields. I'm annoyed that this change was implemented by management without the workers being notified. I can still do the job but it's taking me a lot longer because i have to search for the relevant fields to conduct my review. 

I move to a seat next to Wanda thinking that she can help me because she's a keyer but she doesn't have any answers as to why the worksheet was changed so i move back to the table where i was working, but sit at the end closest to where Wanda is sitting. It's really slow going and i'm getting more and more frustrated. I'm beginning to worry because i have two different stacks of reviews i need to complete before the end of the day or i will either have to let one group recycle, or i will have to come in to work on Friday and i really don't want to have to do either.

Four younger people come and sit at the table with me and i don't know any of them or where they work within the company. Now i'm trying to get to the homepage so i can access the MMIS and do my job. Nothing is the same. I can't figure out where to put my ID and password to get in. I ask one of the young men if he can help me access the MMIS and he looks at me like i have two heads. I explain to him that The Company has changed the look of the access screen and i don't know where to put in my ID and password.  He takes my laptop to see if he can figure out what i need.

The man hands me back my laptop and tells me that the reason i can't access the MMIS is because i've dropped my laptop and bent a component. He shows me where the piece is bent but i can't see anything that looks abnormal. I tell him that i have not dropped my laptop (implying that he doesn't know how to help me and should just admit the fact) but he insists. He asks another of the young men at the table to take a look but i take back my laptop and move back to my original spot at the table and continue trying to access the system. I'm fuming over the company selling off the machines in operations before we (the contract) was finished using them and wondered what else they were going to sell off (take away from us) before our work was actually complete.

Spider, Moth, and Lion

I'm not sure if i'm actively present in this next dream or just an observer. From where i am ?sitting/standing i can see what appears to be a large spider in front of a hedge. I'm trying to figure out if it's real or a fake one but i can't quite see in the low light. It's dusk. The harder i look at the "spider" the more i can't tell, really, what it is. Maybe it's a moth caught in the spiders web, but i can't see the rest of the web so i'm thinking that maybe it's a dead moth that's been caught in scraps if an abandoned web.

As i continue watching, a medium sized spider scuttles into my view. She is remaking the web and i know that the original web was hers and she consumed it and is now rebuilding. Now i can tell for sure that what i took to be a spider is actually a moth. The spider doesn't disturb that moth but rebuilds around it. She starts with the center piece and drop lines before she begins making the sticky spiral. I love watching her make her web and how quickly she works. When she gets to the outer webbing she begins to move very fast. She finishes and returns to the center to wait.

As i'm watching, a very large male lion with an impressive mane sits down in front of me. He is between me and the web. The web is no longer in front of a hedge but is free standing somehow. It's probably four of five feet across and a couple of feet in height. More like a fence than an orb web, although i can still see the traditional octogon-like shape on the left-hand piece of it. Now i can see through to web to a vista of rolling hills beyond. Another large moth has gotten entangled in the web several inches to the right of where the already dead moth is caught (which is well right of the spiral part of the web). The spider runs over to the live moth and begins to prepare it. First is the bite to paralyze the prey and then she begins to wrap the still moving insect in silk.

The entire time this spider is working, the lion is just sitting between me and the show and i'm concerned that he is going to get up and walk away. I'm equally concerned that he will come my way and attack or walk away from me and damage the web by walking right through it. The spider continues wrapping the moth and, just as i feared, the lion gets up and walks into the main part of the web and tears through it. The spider and prey are still "safe" but the main part of the web is destroyed. I feel bad for the spider because she's going to have to rebuilt the entire thing but then i think maybe she won't since she already has food.