Thursday, May 31, 2007

Dream - Laid off at work

Normally, I work from home, but I have a local office that I occasionally go into. My boss & his boss live in other cities. Local HR called me into the office to let me know that I was being "downsized". They told me that the following Friday would be my last day. That Friday, I went into the office to clear out my things and saw my boss's boss in the building. He said "hi" as he passed me in the hall, as if nothing was wrong. I walked up to him and said, "you do realize that today is my last day, don't you?". To which he replied, "Oh, where is your new job?". I was shocked by his thinking that I had quit. I said, "I don't know. I was terminated. It was not my decision." Boy was he pissed. Apparently HR had done this without notifying him. Later that day, I got called into a meeting with HR. They explained that they'd been told my systems would be outsourced so they didn't think they'd need me. But, these were systems that I'd created before I got my current job. It was all a mix up. HR always seems to have a way to screw up everything. I got to keep my job. But I remained very upset with the company as a whole.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Dream - Wildcat in the Suburbs

Background:

In my waking life, there is construction going on in the park across the street from my house. They are clearing out the underbrush and smaller trees within our 100 acre wood. The intent is to make it more park like and a little less wild. Previously, a nature trail wound through the unmaintained woods. I always like it because it felt like you were in the middle of a forest even though it was in the middle of the city. The other day, I walked through where they've been cutting down the trees and ripping out the brush. I could sense the pain of the foliage and wondered about the fate of the animals who used to call it home (mostly possums, squirrels, and rabbits). To my knowledge, there are no wild cats left in Kentucky.

The Dream:

It was nighttime. I left my house to walk across the street in order to view the progress on the new playground being built in the park. A large wildcat (possibly a cougar), the size of my Labrador retriever, snarled. I looked up. He was standing only about 20 feet from me. As I began to back away, it approached. I realized that as I stepped back, it gained confidence, sensing that I was vulnerable. So, I stepped toward it and yelled, "get away!". It jumped back then started slinking forward again. I continued telling it to leave but to no avail. I then began stepping backward toward my house. I made it across the street, but it kept following. A small girl, 3 houses down came off her porch to ask me what was wrong. I yelled at her to go inside and call 911 and ask for animal control. I inched toward my own front yard. The cat lunched at me. I somehow managed to be missed by his claws and grabbed it around the neck. I cradled it with my body to keep its arms and legs immobile. I didn't think I had any option but to strangle it to death. After the cat lost consciousness, I felt sorry for it. I could only assume that the woods in the park used to be its home. It had probably been living off of rabbits while avoiding people. But now, without a home, it was displaced in the suburbs.

Interpretation:

Comments will be appreciated. I think it may simply represent the park fighting back and nothing more. The only thing is why did I have to defend myself when I wasn't the one responsible for destroying the natural elements of the park?

Friday, May 4, 2007

Dream - Co-Worker Dies in Accident

Brad, a co-worker is the business process owner for purchasing on my project. For whatever reason, we were supposed to assist a plant with their physical inventory. The day before inventory, Brad was on a mechanical lift, hanging a PR banner in the plant. The lift tipped over and pinned him. Workers covered his broken body with a cloth and called 911 for assistance.

Dream - Co-Worker Incriminates Self

For work, my team lives in a hotel 4 days a week. Each weekend, we go home to various parts of the world. Angela, who is quite outspoken and over-stressed, declared, "I'm a pot head. I can't wait to get home and smoke some pot." Everyone's jaw dropped. No one really thought any less of her for it but nobody knew how to react as being on drugs could be reason enough to get someone fired.