So much for sleep
Sep. 5th, 2005 11:07![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
torquillI debated sleeping more today (I went to bed at almost 3 last night) but decided against it... I'm not sure I want any more of those weird-ass dreams.
The first one was definitely a nightmare; my OChem teacher handed out a half-page quiz. We had a quiz this last Thursday which was seven questions in twenty minutes, very rushed; it was a full page but whatever. So the dream wasn't a big surprise: the half-page was both sides, with about seven or eight questions on both sides in smallish type. I flipped it and started on the second side, hoping for the larger-point questions, but I was fumbling with stress... The guy behind me handed his up early and I handed it back. The teacher asked for the quizzes and I burst out in tears, "I haven't even had a chance to look at the first side!"
I was so upset I knew I wouldn't be staying for lecture, so I started packing up, but I couldn't resist crying at her back, "That was fucking crazy!" She stiffened, I said oh my god I'm sorry I never meant to, she told me I could leave now, and I replied that I planned to as soon as I was packed up. She had another student escort me out.
I woke up, threw the second comforter off, and went back to sleep. The next one was calmer... I need an English class before I transfer, so I was looking into what books I would need and what teacher I wanted. I found a teacher who seemed okay, so I went and sat in his class. Here's the odd part -- I was sitting at a lab bench, and when class started, he immediately announced a quick quiz. Not wanting to disturb the quiz-taking, I picked up and left by the back door. I had to take the book I had bought back to the bookstore; I don't know what I was thinking, buying books a semester before, though whether it was early is debateable... I was mulling over adding the class on the last day before the add/drop date. Muddled.
In the third dream, I showed up in that teacher's lab section (this is an English class?) and he came over to ask what I was up to. I explained that I wanted to see him in action before I took his class, and he seemed pleased and allowed me to stay, despite not having goggles. He lectured for a minute or two on what they were doing today, something about separating the phosphorous out of Coca-Cola (we're not in English class anymore, Dorothy) and then went to set things up.
That's when I realized that the reason the lab was so dark (other than having the support beams and trim done in mandarin orange paint) was that one whole wall was made up of large fans. The place reminded me of LMC's chem lab, in that the ceiling was about fifteen feet up; the fans were square, probably four to five feet across, and they were all running. As a couple of students detached a supplies cart from that wall to wheel it to the front, the noise became almost deafening with all the fans running -- the bass roar made me think of dramatic effect in movies, not least of which because the cart had to have been twelve feet tall. It tottered a little, especially with the TV perched precariously on top almost brushing the ceiling beams, but the students seemed to know how to keep it from overbalancing. Seeing this edifice gliding toward the front with the reverberating hum of the fans just seemed appropriate, though.
It made it to the front, and I discovered that one of the things on the cart was a UV light, to help in the experiment (I dunno, maybe it was to make the P glow or something). The light was about a yard long, and I thought about it being in lab and averted my eyes when he turned it on. I hadn't had a safety lecture in his class, but I thought that this might be a little stronger than the average blacklight, so it didn't hurt to be prudent.
He talked a little about what the light was there for, and how it would help in some reaction or other by exciting the molecules, but I was concentrating more on the slight sting on my skin. It felt like the sun does on one of the fiercest summer days, when the sunlight fels like a physical force; this was bad. I got as far away from it as I could, over next to the door, crouched down next to a counter so that the top of my head was toward it. (The theory was that at least this way, the light would be hitting me at the same angle the sun does, and getting the more tan bits of skin.) I nevertheless had some redness on my arms when a student came to me and got me to stand up, telling me that the teacher had suggested she assist me since I was new to the lab.
She gave me some mineral oil to put on my arms, even though the redness was fading, but she also urged me to put it on my cuticles. Here's the weird thing -- all of my cuticles had sprouted thick black hairs, some more than others. She looked at my pinky, with its bristle of black hair around the nail, and said, "Oh dear, he said that's the first symptom..." I promised to keep an eye on it, and, trying not to drip mineral oil everywhere, I drizzled it on my toes. Never mind the fact that I don't ever wear birks in lab, especially without socks... it's a dream, right.
I remember thinking that boy, when you get to the upper levels of chemistry, things really do get more risky...
I woke up and decided that was enough dreams for one night. Wherever that school is, I don't think I want to go there.
The first one was definitely a nightmare; my OChem teacher handed out a half-page quiz. We had a quiz this last Thursday which was seven questions in twenty minutes, very rushed; it was a full page but whatever. So the dream wasn't a big surprise: the half-page was both sides, with about seven or eight questions on both sides in smallish type. I flipped it and started on the second side, hoping for the larger-point questions, but I was fumbling with stress... The guy behind me handed his up early and I handed it back. The teacher asked for the quizzes and I burst out in tears, "I haven't even had a chance to look at the first side!"
I was so upset I knew I wouldn't be staying for lecture, so I started packing up, but I couldn't resist crying at her back, "That was fucking crazy!" She stiffened, I said oh my god I'm sorry I never meant to, she told me I could leave now, and I replied that I planned to as soon as I was packed up. She had another student escort me out.
I woke up, threw the second comforter off, and went back to sleep. The next one was calmer... I need an English class before I transfer, so I was looking into what books I would need and what teacher I wanted. I found a teacher who seemed okay, so I went and sat in his class. Here's the odd part -- I was sitting at a lab bench, and when class started, he immediately announced a quick quiz. Not wanting to disturb the quiz-taking, I picked up and left by the back door. I had to take the book I had bought back to the bookstore; I don't know what I was thinking, buying books a semester before, though whether it was early is debateable... I was mulling over adding the class on the last day before the add/drop date. Muddled.
In the third dream, I showed up in that teacher's lab section (this is an English class?) and he came over to ask what I was up to. I explained that I wanted to see him in action before I took his class, and he seemed pleased and allowed me to stay, despite not having goggles. He lectured for a minute or two on what they were doing today, something about separating the phosphorous out of Coca-Cola (we're not in English class anymore, Dorothy) and then went to set things up.
That's when I realized that the reason the lab was so dark (other than having the support beams and trim done in mandarin orange paint) was that one whole wall was made up of large fans. The place reminded me of LMC's chem lab, in that the ceiling was about fifteen feet up; the fans were square, probably four to five feet across, and they were all running. As a couple of students detached a supplies cart from that wall to wheel it to the front, the noise became almost deafening with all the fans running -- the bass roar made me think of dramatic effect in movies, not least of which because the cart had to have been twelve feet tall. It tottered a little, especially with the TV perched precariously on top almost brushing the ceiling beams, but the students seemed to know how to keep it from overbalancing. Seeing this edifice gliding toward the front with the reverberating hum of the fans just seemed appropriate, though.
It made it to the front, and I discovered that one of the things on the cart was a UV light, to help in the experiment (I dunno, maybe it was to make the P glow or something). The light was about a yard long, and I thought about it being in lab and averted my eyes when he turned it on. I hadn't had a safety lecture in his class, but I thought that this might be a little stronger than the average blacklight, so it didn't hurt to be prudent.
He talked a little about what the light was there for, and how it would help in some reaction or other by exciting the molecules, but I was concentrating more on the slight sting on my skin. It felt like the sun does on one of the fiercest summer days, when the sunlight fels like a physical force; this was bad. I got as far away from it as I could, over next to the door, crouched down next to a counter so that the top of my head was toward it. (The theory was that at least this way, the light would be hitting me at the same angle the sun does, and getting the more tan bits of skin.) I nevertheless had some redness on my arms when a student came to me and got me to stand up, telling me that the teacher had suggested she assist me since I was new to the lab.
She gave me some mineral oil to put on my arms, even though the redness was fading, but she also urged me to put it on my cuticles. Here's the weird thing -- all of my cuticles had sprouted thick black hairs, some more than others. She looked at my pinky, with its bristle of black hair around the nail, and said, "Oh dear, he said that's the first symptom..." I promised to keep an eye on it, and, trying not to drip mineral oil everywhere, I drizzled it on my toes. Never mind the fact that I don't ever wear birks in lab, especially without socks... it's a dream, right.
I remember thinking that boy, when you get to the upper levels of chemistry, things really do get more risky...
I woke up and decided that was enough dreams for one night. Wherever that school is, I don't think I want to go there.
