Nazrax

Side-note Lucid


Time snapshots
I'm driving in my car to go to my chiropractor. I realize it's still morning, and I don't have my appointment until early afternoon, but for some reason I don't turn around. I realize it's about ten thirty, and I know I have a conference call at eleven, so I just need to be sure not to miss it. I go through a light in the right lane which turns into a right-hand-only turn lane. I somehow end up letting the car coast to a stop. I'm really confused about what's going on. Two large trucks are to my left, also stopped. I remember there's an app on my phone that saves snapshots in time and lets me go back to them. I quickly pull it up and hit the Back button. With a sound like a timebug in World of Goo, I'm back at the last light, going through it. I know this is too late - I'm about to get stuck on the turn lane - so I hit the button again. Now I'm at the previous light, and I have time to switch lanes before I get stuck.

I'm really excited about this. If I can rewind time yet still remember everything that happened, the possibilities are endless! I can read all the books I want, then rewind time so that the reading took no time at all! I can spend a long time solving a difficult problem, then rewind time and remember the solution. I try to think if there's a way to bring something back with me, a completed piece of work, but I don't know how that could be done. Maybe there's a way to time-proof a USB stick? I start to think about sleep - surely being awake for a long time would take its toll? - but then I reason I can sleep whenever and then rewind time to before I slept.

I'm still driving. It's almost time for my appointment, so I can't turn around, but I'm still going to be pretty early. I'm on a two-lane road with lots of trees. Someone is trying to come out of a driveway on my left but waits for me to pass first. Now I'm walking into a strange structure. I'm in a short stairwell that's C shaped. The lighting is pretty dim. I start to walk up, then realize I'm still too early. I hear someone coming down and hurry out; I feel like I'd be embarrassed if I met them. Now I'm back outside walking down some steps. I pass a maintenance worker going the other way. I realize I'm wearing only my V-neck undershirt. He comments "nice neck." I'm a little embarrassed but I don't worry about it too much.

Now I realize that I can undo this whole trip if I have a snapshot from before I left. I go to pull up the time snapshot app, but I find that I have a bunch installed and it takes a moment to figure out which is the one I'd been using earlier. I'm disappointed to see that it only has three snapshots. The main listing only shows the time the snapshot was taken and not the date; I have to click the triple-dot icon to get a details page. One seems to be some kind of default snapshot - the date is 1-1-00 - and I'm not going to touch that. The next has a very strange label that I don't understand. In trying to get details about it I somehow put it into Sharing mode. I have no idea what it means to share a time snapshot, but I wish I hadn't done it.

Now I'm walking down a hallway in a building similar to the one I work in. Windows are floor to ceiling to my left, though there are occasional pillars and lots of moving boxes piled around. A wall is to my right, occasionally opening out into an office or other open area. I realize I'm now completely naked and don't have the phone any more. Oddly, I'm not embarrassed at all, more annoyed at myself. I have the feeling the phone is on my jeans on one of the piles of boxes further back in the hallway, but I'm not positive. I realize I have to get the phone: if I do, I can undo all of this. I turn around and start heading the other way. A couple of women come out of an office in front of me. I sidestep behind a pillar and use a hand to cover myself, nodding respectfully to them as they pass. Neither one takes any notice of me.

After the women pass without comment, I realize this is a dream. I do a nose-pinch RC to further convince myself, and I'm not surprised to feel air moving through my closed nostrils. I immediately try to remember my current goals. I know that number one on the list is to look at and count my fingers. I hold up my right hand and look at it. I have five fingers, but when I hold them stretched out, my middle and ring fingers are at a very obtuse angle - a little further and they'd be pointed directly away from each other. I keep looking and my hand kind of blurs; now it looks almost as if my left and right hands are superimposed on top of each other. I can see a thumb and pointer sticking out of each side, and there's a jumble of fingers in the middle. When I bend my pointer, I see it moving on both sides of my hand. I wiggle another finger and see both copies wiggling. I had been hoping I'd get an extra finger that I'd have conscious control over. Oh well, maybe another time.

I remember the next thing on the list was to try to become extra aware of my environment. To my left is what looks like a small section from a dollar store. Shelving units are filled with all kinds of junk. I decide to reapply the nose pinch (using my left hand) to help keep me focused, then start to look at the items on the shelves. The shelf nearest me has what look like baby bath toys. As I'm trying to slowly move my attention from one to another, I realize that I'm now holding my upper lip instead of my nose, so I readjust my fingers to once again hold my nose. I notice a couple of stacks of items on the shelf, and I realize they're shaking. I identify this as the dream not being as stable as it should be. I try to stare at them, willing them to stop shaking, but it doesn't work (in hindsight, focusing on them gave the vibrations more power; I should have just ignored them). I give up on it and keep walking along the corridor, coming out into a larger room. I get stuck with my eyes closed and I try to focus on breathing through my closed nose. After a few moments, the feeling of breathing through my nose changes subtly - more like my nose is stuffed - and I "realize" I've woken up so I can't breath through a pinched nose any more. I wake up for real moments later.


Fragment:
I'm trying to do something for a group of women. Nothing I do makes them happy, and I'm starting to feel really frustrated.