My Odd Little Nice Day

The freak snow "storm" that showed up today (more like rain/snow/occasional sleet with much of the snow and sleet melting upon impact and the rest disappearing tomorrow) was the setting for a weird, fluky but ultimately rather good day.

It started with my alarm going off at 9:15 this morning (well, technically yesterday morning since I'm writing this a little past midnight, but go with me here). I turned it off and went back to sleep. I dreamed that the Phillies were playing, and I was suddenly called in to play third base. I was so excited! Then the batter hit a soft line drive that clanked off my glove for an error that allowed a run to score. At this point there was a pitching change, and I decided to run into the clubhouse for some reason. I was walking around, talking to someone in there for a couple of minutes. Then I heard a noise and realize that the game resumed without me. I wasn't bothered by this. I was like "Oh, well" -- and then I went out into the seats and sat down to watch more of the game. (And then I found myself out on a street with all of my family. Not sure why.)

I woke up, looked at the clock radio...and it had no time. My power had gone out. I checked my watch -- it was 10:30. I looked out my bedroom window and saw that the rain that began while I was asleep had already mixed with snow, earlier than predicted by the forecasters. I went down into my basement to check the fuse box (although why would it be a blown fuse? Hardly any electricity was being used at that time). Then I called PECO to see if they were aware of it (their automated system said they were working on it). I checked the clock that's on my oven, and saw that it was stopped at 10:15, meaning it hadn't been out long.

A little after 11, the power returned. Just then, I looked out my window and saw a FedEx truck, and there was a knock on my door. The driver had left a package. It was maybe five feet long, but not heavy at all. It was marked "fragile." I don't know why but I thought it might be a fishing rod or two. Although it had my house address on it, it had someone else's name. Perplexed, I brought it inside, went upstairs to shower and get dressed.

An Irene Dream

"Jed! Jethro! Elly May! Vittles!!!"

As I start to write this it's 5:30 am. The center of still-barely-a-Hurricane Irene is just off the coast of New Jersey on its way north. At the weather station where official readings are taken (ostensibly at the airport but the physical location of the weather station is actually just across the river in New Jersey) we've had 5.50 inches of rain. There are a few hours where heavy rain can still fall, and the highest wind gusts may also occur.

Somehow there is still no water coming through my roof. This is borderline miraculous. For a short period, during an intense rainfall that was blowing against the back of my house, water was coming into my kitchen, where there's a door (leading to the deck) that is not particularly well-sealed. It was coming not just at the bottom of the door but also from the top. That was a little freaky.

And despite many dire warnings, the power has stayed on except for a blip of 15-20 seconds. This could change, of course.

Although I semi-planned to stay up all night, I decided around 1 am to try and sleep and I eventually managed to doze off. I got maybe 3 hours' worth, I woke up a couple of times, and now I think I may just stay up. Meanwhile, I had a weird dream about this crap:

Which TV Legend Invaded My Dream?

(Note: This picture of deep-fried Oreos is a placeholder. When the Networked Blogs Facebook app posts this it displays the first picture as a preview, and I don't want it to spoil the surprise.)




Normally I don't remember my dreams after I wake up. Sometimes they linger in my mind a little, and then fade. Now and then I have a dream that is so off-the-wall that it can't help but embed itself into my brain. The best example of this is the one where I was dreaming that I was in bed and someone I used to work with...wait, I'm not ready to discuss that one.

I had two dreams a while back in which guys I've played softball with were actors, or supposed to be actors. In the first, I was walking down the street and saw George sitting in a car. He was dead...or so I thought until someone said, "Don't worry, we're just filming a scene."  I will say that George was a very convincing corpse.

In the other, I was walking around the fields at a city recreational center and in the middle of the baseball diamond there was a big-screen TV there tuned to a show. People in the dream were all talking about waiting to see Freddy on the show. Then, the scene ended and a voiceover said, "Stay tuned for scenes from our next episode." No Freddy! Sorry, dude. I'm sure you were great, though.

This morning's dream, however, may top them all. (Except that first one I mentioned that I'm not discussing, but that's for a different reason.) I was watching a baseball game. I think it was on TV at first. Then, suddenly, up to the plate stepped...

Crazy Dream Of The Day

Now and then the dreams I have are so strange and/or vivid that they stay in my head long after I wake up. I've had dreams involving superheroes (duh -- comic books), I had one that ended with my mom pulling out a gun and taking a shot at me as I was going out the door of the house (she missed!), and one that featured sexual activity involving someone I know (well, I haven't seen him in years so maybe that should be "knew") that I will not discuss here. (Yet.) One such dream occurred this morning, as part of my fitful TWO HOURS' sleep (slept in late and very solidly yesterday morning, and that kept me up most of last night). Read all about it after the jump...